Jaemin the Icy Prince and Me - Na Jaemin NCT

43. First Time

I'm sitting here writing this, propped up against my pillow on my upper bunk bed in a guesthouse on the mainland, away from Nami Island. 

Junnie sleeps beneath me, and across the dorm, my two other dorm mates are fast asleep, tucked up warmly beneath their thick comforters.

The moonlight slants in from the open window, and its luminous glow lights up the words that tumble forth beneath my questing fingers.

Why questing, you ask?

Because I am writing these words to seek an answer to what happened today on Nami Island. Maybe, if I make myself write, I shall find the answer.

All I really want to write about is what happened just before I left you. But if I start with that, I might forget to write about some of the things which came first. And everything that came first led to that...

Walking down the long shady paths of Nami Island with the tall straight trees on each side was the oddest sensation. 

How well I remember that drama. My mum and I cried watching it. We must have watched it ten times between us, and each time, we wept anew. 

Walking down the same path the young lovers took was like walking down the path of memory lane. Every step I took led me deeper and deeper into the mists of my memories, long buried, but never forgotten.

Junnie had disappeared somewhere with Leean. Thank God Junnie was here to help me fend off Leean; he'd stuck to my side like glue ever since we arrived by ferry. Mutely, I'd looked to Junnie for help, and she knew, she understood at once, and dragged him off, allowing me to escape.

I strayed off the path, and wandered to a strange little enclosure in between the trees.

There was an opening at the entrance, and I had to dip my head to go in. Inside was a long tunnel that led all the way beyond, where light glimmered in the distance. I walked slowly along it, and soon, I reached the end of the tunnel. I stepped out into the light, and I saw before me, a tiny little bubbling stream, the clear blue water meandering gently over the rocks and the boulders strewn haphazardly all along it. 

A light drizzle began to fall.

What a beautiful, magical world this was. Like a dreamer, I had stumbled upon this enchanted realm, and it welcomed me, it embraced me with open arms, and cradled me in its warm breast.

A sudden sound broke the silence, like an ancient gramophone crackling rustily into life. It was coming from above, from the top of the trees. There was a recorder, or a music box strung up there, and it was playing a tune, a tune from my memories.

I knew this tune.

It was a piano piece.

I remembered it.

It was the piece Joonsang composed for Yoojin when he fell in love with her in high school. 

He was her first love, as she was his. 

He named the piece "Cheoeum". 

"First Time", that was what it meant, because it was the first time he had ever fallen in love, and she was his first love.

I closed my eyes, and listened to it, I felt the notes swell and surge in my heart, I felt the pain and the joy of first love all over again.

In this enchanted world, far away from hazy reality, with the tender, poignant music swirling all around me, and tugging at my heartstrings, I felt quite different from any way I had ever felt before: softer, very beautiful, very fluid, as if a lot of men were in love with me, and I might very easily be in love with all of them.

A twig snapped behind me.

I turned.

It was you.