Taeyong was always quite the romantic. He read endless books on true love and fairly tales that, try as he might, would never come to life, and he waited for that special moment when he would fall in love too. And yet, that moment never came. He was approaching his twenties, and still had not fallen in love. Sure, he'd had a few crushes here and there, but it was nothing ever concrete. He'd never truly fallen in love.
It was becoming tiresome, in fact, to hear his father ramble on about this girl and the next. Every time he pushed the door to their small house in the village open, his father's yells would instantly echo through the walls, yells of some girl he could marry. He'd had enough. But as much as he wanted to find love one day, the clock was ticking and nobody set off that fire in Taeyong's heart like he'd read in all the books tacked up in his house.
It wasn't a secret amongst the village that Taeyong was handsome and single. Though he didn't know it, the boy turned the head of every young girl in the area, each one hoping to woo the boy into falling for her. And yet, he never did. He happily accepted every bouquet of flowers, every basket of bread, every compliment was humbly received and it only made the girls fall more for the gorgeous and kind-hearted, yet unattainable son of the local blacksmith.
Taeyong longed for someone to whisk him off his feet, to dazzle him with the blinding lights of love and to provide him with the feeling he'd only ever read about in the endless books he owned. He had fallen in love with the emotion, and yet, could never find the one true love.
It was the middle of winter, snow trapping the village in its confines as the people were left with no access to any outside supplies and could only rely on one another to get through the harsh winter. A famine was ripping through the nation, food in the shortest supply it had ever been in years, and everyone was feeling the effects. Even those who were rich were still lacking many of the luxurious meals they freely ate before, the winter crushing all hope for crops.
Taeyong had watched many of the children he'd come to love fend for even dirt to eat, eventually weakening out and dying from the various diseases spreading easily. It was devastating, and protest as they might, there was nothing the villagers could do except wait for the sun to return and grant them mercy.
"Hey Taeyong, go get some wood from the forest!" Taeyong heard his father yell on one particular morning. He'd been made to go out and fetch some wood every once in a while, where they allowed it to dry before burning it as firewood or using it as resources for various instruments that his father was crafting. Taeyong didn't dare protest, instead he heaved the heavy bag over his shoulder and ran out into the bitter frost. The faster he got enough wood, the faster he could curl up with a book and warm up again.
"Hi Mrs Kim!" He shouted with a short smile as he walked past their neighbour's home and down the frosty path towards the dark forest before him. The said lady waved to him, wrapped up in a small blanket. She was a lovely old woman, one that Taeyong had come to see as a mother figure. She often invited Taeyong to her house after he'd helped his father, and they chatted about various things such as Taeyong's favourite book at that time. And of course, her husband also owned the local bookstore, where Taeyong spent all of his free hours, so they were extremely close.
"Careful, Tae. If you catch frostbite or bring a disease back here I will not forgive you." She joked with a gentle laugh, and Taeyong could only laugh in return as he crossed through the small gate into the endless labyrinth of trees.
"I'll try." He simply said and walked off into the abyss, shivering with bright red hands only a few minutes into his venture. He should've brought his gloves, but he didn't want to dirty them. Sometimes the pain was worth the prize.
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AN;
hellooo welcome to this fic! it'll only be around 4 chapters long, since it's a short story, but i hope you enjoy! nice to meet you all (๑>◡<๑)
- andré
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sweet & bitter || yutae
Fanfictiontaeyong fantasised all his life about falling in love. he never imagined it would be like this.
