Until the Days of Spring || NamJin [✔]

Prologue

⊱ ────── {☽.⋅✿⋅.☽} ────── ⊰

March 30th, 2020

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom.

Kim Taehyung hums happily as he passes underneath the branches. The petals sway and fall around him like raindrops, twirling under the rays of sunlight. Like a shower of pearly blooms.

"Pearly blooms, that's a good one," he mumbles before pulling out his worn out notebook and scribbling down the passage.

His horse whinnies. Taehyung chuckles and pockets away his notebook. He reaches down and brushes a hand through her mane.

"It's alright, Tannie. We're almost there."

Tannie huffs again. Taehyung grabs a hold of her reins and redirects her back on the road.

He's been on horseback for a number of hours now. The city in which he lives in has disappeared far behind him. The sight of towering grey walls and stretching highways has been replaced by rolling fields and trees. The place he's visiting really isn't much more than a village. It's the kind of small community where everyone knows everyone. It's a peaceful place, a breath of fresh air for Taehyung, who hasn't realized how much he's been drowning in concrete walls and car smoke until he got away from it.

See, Kim Taehyung is a writer. Or an aspiring one, at least. He's written a few books in the past, and they sold...well enough.

But now he's come to a bit of a problem. It's been months now and he still hasn't had the slightest idea on how to start his newest novel. He's tried everything to get over the writer's block, but nothing seems to be working. So far, all he has is a blank document and far too many empty coffee cups in his trash can. He felt just about hopeless.

Until one day, he found an old family picture album and saw a face he's never seen before. A distant distant relative of his - someone by the name of Kim Namjoon.

Intrigued, Taehyung decided to look him up. And interestingly enough he uncovered decades old articles about this Kim Namjoon. He read that the man lives in a beautiful house surrounded by a bamboo forest in a remote village far away from the cities.

There were more articles, some involving a storm and a fire. Everything about it captivated him with curiosity, especially since Taehyung wasn't even aware of this side of his family. It would basically be a goldmine of inspiration. It was easy to track down this Namjoon figure, what with the articles and all that.

He spent no time packing his bag and heading out to the open world. And Taehyung never felt like he belonged in the cities anyways. He always felt a true calling for nature, to the rushing wind below clear skies and the wild bushes rooted on warm soil. His heart yearns for it.

So to the village he goes, riding his trusted steed Tannie.

Now, he doesn't know the exact location of where Kim Namjoon lives. So along the way he asked the locals who he crossed paths with. And each of their answers are. Interesting, to say the least.

"Ah, old man Kim," said a fisherman who was on his way to the river. "Yeah, he lives at the end of this road. His house is the one a bit deeper into the trees. Just knock, he'll be there."

"He's very kind," said a man who was chopping down a tree, "but he's quite the odd fellow. Every sunset he'd come out to sit on his porch and watch the moon rise. Every night, without fail. He's been doing that for years now. No one knows why."