that night last summer - kth + jjk

one

After the Summer of 2011 Kim Taehyung had convinced himself that Park Molan was dead. He observed her mourning rites in dark garments and tearful dispositions; he laid flowers by her grave - a rusted gate at the front of an empty house with a newly erected 'sold' sign - and he did this because it was easier to kill her than welcome the possibility that she had chosen to leave without saying goodbye. For him, the death of his first love was a more comforting prospect.

Sometimes, when his thoughts strayed from that notion, he would wonder what she was up to: circumnavigating the globe in a kayak, perhaps... dancing in the national ballet... posing as a North Korean citizen on a spy mission for the government... He believed whatever it was, couldn't be something ordinary.

For Taehyung, Molan had been the type of person you're told you can't meet easily – if at all. A spring day with melting frost on the cherry blossoms. A winter night spent under warm covers. A person who wanted love but was afraid of it. Each day they'd been together he'd been terrified that she would fly away and break; each moment they were apart he doubted if he could see her again and one day, at the end of a fever-like Summer, those fears were given merit.

Only, it wasn't that Kim Taehyung never saw Park Molan again. It was that she didn't reappear in the way he'd imagined she would. Before Molan's departure Taehyung had accompanied his friend to an audition for an Agency called BigHit Entertainment and ended up auditioning himself after one of the casting agents suggested he give it a try. The week after her disappearance he received a call from that same casting agent telling him he'd been selected to proceed to the next round. Taehyung had never really thought about life beyond high-school. He figured he'd become a musician of some sort and had picked up the saxophone to facilitate that wish. If that career plan fell through he thought he might become a farmer, like his parents. Fame wasn't on the cards; nor was a change of scenery but after Molan left; he wanted nothing more than to be as far as humanly possible from his hometown. He needed to escape from his memories and his heartbreak and that started with escaping Geochang. Taehyung became determined to pass the auditions and make it all the way to Seoul.

Now an official idol trainee for BigHit Entertainment Taehyung lived with 5 other boys at an apartment in Seoul. The boys were pre-debut and yet to find a name for their group so for now were solely focused on honing their skills in preparation for the band's eventual formation. Compared to the other members Taehyung had joined relatively late and so whilst they had been attending school in the area for years already - today was his first day.

The boys all attended a school called SSOMA (the Seoul School of Music and Arts). Many trainees went there and their roster of alumni was hardly anything to look down upon. Anybody who wanted to be anybody went to SSOMA; and with enough luck they got in. Taehyung was excited to be in a place with other students just as passionate as he was about performing. He was also grateful to escape the Studio and the Dorms... Despite having been in Seoul a month already he hadn't seen much beyond the company building and their apartment so going to school was strangely a liberty rather than a punishment.

"Hyung are you sure that the parting should be on the right and not the left?"

"Yes, I'm sure. You know nothing about style." Jung Hoseok, one of the trainees, says. The brunette has a youthful face with smiling eyes and smooth, honey skin. "Namjoon tell him I'm right."

"Neither of you are." Says Namjoon. "This whole debate is ridiculous. It doesn't matter how you wear your hair just hurry up so we aren't late."

Namjoon is the trainee who's been at the agency the longest, and although he's not the oldest of the boys he's often the voice of authority. He still respects seniority despite his position and makes sure to call his elders by their proper titles.