NOT THE EPILOGUE. I have decided to gift you guys a special-ish bangtwice chapter. hehe
special chapter 1/2
2 years later / graduation day
"camping!!!!" hoseok beamed, loading the camp equipment in the back of their rented van.
freshly out of highschool, the youngests' graduation just a couple of hours ago, the group now load a van, preparing to go to a campsite a few hours drive away.
on the first van, jungkook and tzuyu were in the front seats, jungkook in charge of the wheel. behind them were three rows of seats, divided into two (a two-seater on the left and a one-seater on the right), a gap in the middle that led to the back seat that could seat 4 people all at once.
for the first half of the drive, music was blasted, and everyone danced and sung to their heart's extent, now, their high coming to a low, all had gone off to their own world,
mina and jimin who sat behind jungkook, together as usual, jimin cradling mina in his arms.. chaeyoung who sat on the one-seater, scribbling lyrics and doodling on her notebook, feet on the seat, comfortable
behind chaeyoung was momo, who's busy chitchatting with a certain someone, while snacking on her chips. to her left, sit dahyun and sana, dahyun who was fast as sleep and sana who attempts to doze off, however fails to as taehyung behind keeps poking her from the gap of their seat. dahyun ends up kicking sana out from where they sat and is now awkwardly seated with taehyung who was previously alone.
yoongi who gazed out the window behind momo, lost in his own world as he silently captures moments in his camera.
and of course, namjoon, seokjin and hoseok occupied the 3-seater back seats, playing games of their own, the three the loudest bunch out of everyone in the van, energy level still at its peak. namjoon with his constant screaming, seokjin with his booming laughter and hoseok with the occasional cute sounds he makes.
jungkook who drove had one hand on the wheel, and the other holding tzuyu's hand. tzuyu gave up trying to escape his grip since whenever she swatted his hand away, he would pout and be all whiney, so to make him focus on the road, she places her hand in the middle for him to hold.
nayeon and jeongyeon who would have protested at the sight of their display of affection, are in jihyo and daniel's car, who were just a few distance away from the van.
"focus your eyes on the road you jungle cook," tzuyu finally pulls her hand away to open a bag of banana kicks. jungkook pouts in return, his other hand slowly returning to the wheel, tzuyu chuckles at how much of a kid he was acting. outstretching her arms, she offers a banana kick, the banana shaped little chip hovering in front of his lip,
when he opens his mouth to eat it, tzuyu retracts her hand, putting it onto her mouth instead
. "hehe,"
"you know what I could have done if I wasn't on the wheel right now," jungkook scoffed,
"too bad you are~"
he gave her a look. a knowing look that preceded of revenge, he kept his eyes on the road.
tzuyu decided to mess with him once more.
but this time, jungkook quickly grab ahold of her hand, his other hand still on the wheel, he uses his free hand to bring tzuyu's fingers close to his mouth, successfully attaining the banana kick.
only, before he pulls away, he glances at her, teasingly licking the crumbs away from her fingers with a smirk.
"JEON JUNGKOOK YOU LITTLE FU-"
"you kNOW WE COULD SEE YOU FROM THE BACK????" seokjin screams from his seat, tzuyu wipes away her fingers on his shirt, glaring at him,
jungkook merely returns her glare with a grin.
_
"we're hereeee!" the group goes out of the car with excitement, inhaling the fresh breeze. they arrived mid-afternoon, the sun, although covered by cotton clouds, timidly peaks its shine through.
they picked a camping location nearby a stagnant but alluring lake. they stray away from the crowd and gather at a spot that outlooked the beautiful view.
the lake stretched far and wide, a forest of trees far in the distance. where they were at, there were a couple of trees that stood on each camp group, signifying where one group must be located.
the men in the group all bunched together to set up the tents, there were 6 in total and one could fit a maximum of 4 people. they set the tents up in a semi-circle, facing each other with space in the middle for bonfire.
the rest divided up the labor, setting up chairs & bringing out the grill and what was loaded in the vehicles,
although some have already gone out to the lake to go for a quick swim.
"i don't have children yet why do I feel like we're looking after a few," jihyo looks at daniel and glances toward seokjin and nayeon trying to forcefully grab each other and push one another in the lake... taehyung who just floats up the surface of the water, staring at the sky and sana, dahyun and momo who were taking selfies nearby, doing multiple poses.
like a bunch of animals who had been let out after a long time behind cages,
like a bunch of beings who have been quarantined in their homes for months, finally able to roam about freely
"what you're trying to imply.. yoU DON'T WANT MY CHILDREN?????" daniel looks at her wide-eyed and before jihyo could speak, jeongyeon slams down the packaged meat and containers in front of them,
"now this is why couples are prohibited from sleeping in the same tent," she starts, "let alone the opposite gender,"
"PFFFF she's just salty she's still single after 3 years," jimin comments and runs away quickly before she could chase him.
"now THIS is going to be a long day," tzuyu sighs, observing, yet appreciating the sight of her friends who were making a ruckus. she reminisces about her memories with them, and thought of how much they've been through and how long they've come, even if only 2 years had passed.
"as long as i'm with you i'm not complaining,"
"ew, get away," tzuyu shrinks away, jungkook easily catches her on the back by the waist, lifting her up, "why don't you want my huuuggsss,"
she had a sulky look on, mumbling what she says next,
"because I worry if you get too much of me, then you'll soon get tired..." her voice trails off when jungkook puts her down, turning her around, he caresses her cheek, gazing gently
"I know this is your first time in a relationship," he hugs her before pulling away to look at her again
, "there's a lot of uncertainties and though it's been 2 years, I feel that you're still unsettled by the fact you aren't my first..," he kisssed her on the forehead, trailing down to her nose, and to her lips,
"but babe. tzuyu. chou tzuyu. I know for a fact that you're my last,"
jungkook embraces her, though tzuyu was only getting back at him for revenge, she began to melt by the way he acted. she trusted him as much as he trusted her and she already knew that the past or firsts didn't have anything to do with their relationship,
"hehe, i got you." tzuyu mumbles. he pulls away confused,
"of course we'll be each others' lasts, stupid," she brings him close for a hug, "we'll make it happen,"
he sighs in relief upon catching up on his girlfriend's acts.
"we'll keep this burning flame of love alive until death do us part," she reassures, "and i know you won't get tired of me," she catches his gaze, matching the smile jungkook wore,
"i'm chou tzuyu, who would get tired of me?"
they hug once more, swaying in each other's arms, she adds, "and you're jeon jungkook, why would I get tired of you?"
maintaining relationships require both efforts of two parties. it isn't only done by one, for it would crumble to a one-sided love. trust, time, commitment, connection and love are all interconnected and needed to keep one alive.
there are always such cases where one falls out of love, though that often occurs when one's vision is blurry .. when one fails to create efforts in keeping the flame alive, and to see their partner in the eye,,,.. when what is required not met.
things may get tiresome, too familiar, or boring, but it won't be. as the flame of love prevails and glows brightly among the darkness and gloom that surrounds it.
fire burns out, but with tzuyu and jungkook, they'll only start a new one.
they'll keep on starting a new one.
_
"ouch!" hoseok overreacts, shielding his shoulder, responding to yoongi's soft punch
"for every lovey-dovey display of affection I see, I will hit you,"
consecutive blows of soft punches follow after citing his response.
"NOOOOOOO
STOP YOONGI
UGH
STOP HITTING ME,"
"you mean, stop hitting on you?" namjoon chuckles from behind the trees, and yoongi stops, walking away from hoseok who started to become flustered.
"ew what did you wipe on me," namjoon jumps back from hoseok's touch,
"yoongi's cooties..
and possible gayness,"
_
i'm really dropping many foreshadows for the next book i'm working on......... catch on the italics ;-)
ANYWAY. again, I wanted to gift a final 2-part special chapter for you all. I hope it suffices!
don't worry, future books are to be published after begin ☻︎ look forward to it!