1945; Love during War

Chapter 10: The Golden Closet Book Club

A/N: I know it might not be a big deal but I am so thankful for the 100 views on this story. It means the world to me. A double update on the occasion of first 100 reads.

Taehyung plunged himself into his bed without even taking his shoes off and opened the parcel in such a delicate manner, hoping not to tear it. He saw the letter and the book and a huge smile formed on his lips. He carefully opened the letter with a lot of anticipation in his heart,

Dear KT,

I hope you are doing well and you receive this letter in the best of your health. Firstly, I want to express how much thankful I am for the thoughtful gestures you made in your last reply. Even though it was not your writing, I thorougly enjoyed the book, infact I reviewed the same book during the club gathering, the very club whose formation I will discuss in today's letter and fulfill your curious mind. (Tae was biting his lips and smiling like an idiot while reading the letter )

Also, the painting that you send implying flowers, it was indeed a marvelous piece of work. If that is your work, I would have to say you have very amazingly talented and I would definitely love to see some of your other work.

Coming back to the club, like I said last time, our club comprises of rather very unique individuals who have different stories and were brought together by war. I am what they call the Golden Jeon Jungkook, for they believe I am capable of doing everything. I think they are being modest by labelling me as the "golden" one but I let them since it makes them happy.

Second, we have our oldest member who likes to call himself General Hitman. A lot of the times he's drunk so we are barely able to make sense of what he says, but he is one of the most liveliest soul in the club. He was also the one who introduced us to the second youngest member of our group, his grandson Jihoon. Jihoon is the curious kid who is, with no doubt a lot smarter than his grandfather. This duo together have been able to stick togther throughout the war and are the only members left in their family. Together, they run a book store down in the main town and the both never miss any of the gatherings.

Third, we have the shy yet crazy spirit of the club, Jessie. She can seem off as a shy and timid person until she's drunk, then you face the wrath of gods depending on which side of her the liquor has triggered . I might as well add that she makes all those liquor by herself. Vodka, wine, gin, you name it and she can make it all. She always surprises with us a new drink during the gatherings. I hope you get to taste it some day as well.

Then there's the old lady of our group, Mrs Park. The sweet and scary lady who is also an amazing baker. She looks quite tough on the surface but deep down, she has a very soft heart.

And finally we have the most kindest and bravest soul of our club, Park Jimin. When I had first met him, I thought how could someone be so selfless despite being in such a difficult position themselves, but you know what they say, kindness is not conditional, it is something you have and do, irrespective of the circumstances. In fact, the formation of our group is credited to Jimin because he was the one who came up with the name and brought us together. Before I share about the club, I will share how all of us came to be together.

When the Germans invaded our town in 1940, all of our belongings were taken away. In my case, all of the lambs from my farm were stolen and when I tried to protest, they pushed me off and ordered me to grow potatoes. It was against the law to keep even one lamb. Food was already scarce by the first winter of the occupation, a proper meal was had only in our memories, like our radios which they had taken, and the posts they had suspended and the telegraph lines they had suspended.

Then one cold day, I received a letter under my door which had asked to me come to the Park house with my butchers knife. I was quite puzzled but decided to go. I met Jimin and Mrs Park who took me to their basement. To my biggest surprise, I saw they had one of my lamb, hidden in there. "I hope you don't think less of me" is what Mrs Park told me and I told her it was understandable. The idea of them hosting a dinner with the lamb skewers for dinner had filled in our hearts with excitement, for none of us had the chance to have a proper meal in a long run. The beautiful aroma of the roasted lamb skewers for dinner filled in the whole Park house. I heard another knock on the door only to see that Mr. Hitman, Jihoon and Jessie had also been invited. Jessie brought in her drinks while Mr Hitman brought in a pie made from potato peels, which tasted awful. When the lamb dish was ready, we gathered around it and took in the smell as if we had seen food after years. We all had been hungry, but it was Jimin who had realized our true starvation for connection, the company of other people and fellowship. The night was beautifully spent with chatters, laughs and most importantly, happy faces.

One night when the adults of the club were returning back home from a celebration, completely drunk, we were stopped by a group of soldiers. In a panic state, Jimin told them we had returned from a club gathering. They asked us what was the name of the club and that is how the club was formed.

You still must be wondering why the name. The name was an outcome for the cause of celebration that very night. After the first dinner, we had started spending more time together. Occasional meet up in the Park residence had become a part of our routines. Then during one of the meets, I decided to do the most unexpected and courageous thing. I decided to open up about myself, my true-self. You see homosexuality is still considered a taboo in this side of our town but after spending so much time with these people, I knew they would accept me for the way I am. When I first opened up about it, they were all taken aback. In fact, Mrs Park had the biggest gasp and others were pin drop silent, but then breaking the awkward silence, Jimin stood up and said that the announcement needed a celebration. Thus, when the five adults were completely drunk from the celebration of me opening up and coming out of the "closet" and at the same time, caught for interrogation by the soldiers regarding the club, Jimin, being the most sober one added my tag of "golden" to the reason and thus, the "The Golden Closet Book Club" was formed.

The soldiers in order to check the authenticity of our information ordered us for a gathering after two days. So, we did the most unexpected thing the next day. We all went to the public library, which I might add is highly guarded by soldiers, and stole books. Thankfully, the soldier who had come for the check was a light headed man, for whom our reviews worked like sleeping potions. The moment we started the review, he was fallen into deep sleep, leaving us laughing and mocking him, right in front of his face.

Gradually, our Friday night book club became a refuge to us, a private freedom to feel the world growing dark around you, but need only a candle to see new worlds unfold on paper. That is what we found in our Golden Closet Book Club. But I don't need to tell you this, because you already know what books can do. Something we share, different as our lives maybe.

It was amazing how Taehyung was in tears after he had finished the letter. He didn't know if he was happy or sad but one thing was for sure, he needed to meet the author and others from the club. He slowly stood up from his bed and took tiny steps to his type writer. He touched the keyboards and sat down with a smile. His fingers floated on the keyboard like magic and he wrote a letter to the author, a letter about his arrival there, a letter that was going to change the lives of many people.