eternal summer.

1.9/3

29th DECEMBER, 2013

the cushioned seats are supposed to make her feel at ease, but tae eun finds herself in a state of anxiety, palms sweating profusely at the thought of seeing jeongguk up close. face-to-face. talk to him. throwing quick glances at her watch, she wishes time can pass faster.

as if on cue, all 7 members enter the stage, earning squeals and camera shutters from the spacious theatre. as they bow and wave to the fans, tae eun whips her own camera out as well, taking quality pictures of jeongguk goofing around with taehyung. her heart simply swells at the sight of him being happy.

she's so trash for him, to be very honest.

15 minutes later, tae eun finds herself being ushered into the queue line with her small, personalized paper bag. it contains a packet of cookies and a small handwritten note, all of which has the sticker with the logo 'eternal summer' printed on it. since other fansites are probably giving expensive gifts, she figured that a thoughtful one would suffice.

after all, what matters most is the sincerity. of giving back your idol the happiness he gives you on a regular basis. make him feel appreciated, and let him know you're proud of what he's doing.

after interacting with 6 members, tae eun finally arrives at jeongguk's seat. in contrast to the other members, she can barely lift her gaze to look at him. to look at the guy she loves and treasures so much. 

"what's your name?"

the question throws her off even though she knew she should've expected it. probably because she's been going over questions repeatedly in her head — words that refuse to form on her tongue. how are you, jeongguk? was practice tough today? you are really good looking.

if only this was as easy as writing the letters.

"t-tae eun." she mentally chides herself for stammering. now she just looks like a love fool.

he smiles, and the ends of her own lips curve automatically as well. "that's a nice name." on the pink sticky note, he writes down the answers to her questions before lifting his gaze. this time, their eyes meet. 

her mouth runs dry.

thump. thump.

to escape his stare, the flustered girl bends down and hands — shoves — him the paperbag. accepting it gratefully with two hands, he peers in and picks the packet of cookies out almost at once before the paperbag is kept away. since they still have ample time, tae eun stays where she is and looks on as jeongguk plays with the packet of cookies. 

then, he spots the sticker.

"eternal... summer." he reads the words aloud, volume decreasing drastically with each syllable. then, in a barely audible voice, he whispers to himself, "always hoping for you to blossom." 

that line isn't printed on the sticker. nor is it found anywhere on the gifts.

beside him, seokjin notices the sticker as well. "oh!" he exclaims. "isn't that your newly opened fansite? from the girl whose letters you re-read every night—"

"hyung!" eyes widening, he glances at tae eun instinctively. at the same time, she ducks her head down, not knowing what to say. 

out of the corner of her eye, she sees jeongguk doing the same as well. fingers twirling the marker skillfully, eyes darting around, the other free hand raised to scratch the tip of his head.

she knows him well enough to know that that is a habit of his whenever he's nervous.

as soon as the interaction between seokjin and the girl is over, the line moves again. tae eun gets ushered back to her seat ; back to her comfort zone. from afar, she sees jeongguk smiling again as he talks to the fans after her, chit chatting like nothing has happened.

nothing probably happened. people probably write to him as well. he probably receives more than 10 letters per day.

but why does it feel like her heart is about to explode?