Catch, 22!

Chapter 6: The Songbird

On the fourth day as Jungkook had entered the park, he'd heard a crystal clear, lovely voice raised in a melancholy song. He paused for a moment and closed his eyes to listen to the voice of an angel. It pulled on the cords of his heart, drawing him toward that siren's song.

What a beautiful sound! He suddenly desired to find her. He wanted to sing along with her. His heart was overflowing with a longing to pair his voice with that one which was drawing his soul and melting his bones.

He followed its lilting tones all the way to the river. Her back was to him, but he would have recognized that long, raven hair anywhere. It was Hyejin! That mesmerizing voice belonged to her!

His heart stopped. It just stopped beating in his chest as he came to an abrupt standstill. She was everything he was looking for in a girl. Stunningly beautiful. Brilliant. Sweet. Funny. With the voice of an angel.

His heart instantly jumped back into movement, jolting him. Now it was racing like a wild stallion. He swallowed. Then he inhaled deeply. She didn't yet know he was here. He had a moment to compose himself.

Then she pivoted toward him, and the breath he was inhaling caught in his lungs, and he stood rooted to the ground, his eyes devouring her face. Several moments passed. Was he turning blue? Or red?

Hyejin stood transfixed, her eyes on Jungkook. She was so embarrassed. She had believed she was safely alone, so she had uncaged the songbird within her, letting her ascend to the heavens in a sad song of longing. And Jungkook had heard her! She felt herself turning crimson as heat flooded her face.

Oh, well. She couldn't get the moment back. He'd probably be too nice to tell her how awful she sounded. She blinked back tears. She really couldn't handle it if he did critique her voice. It was her one wild and crazy dream. The one she'd kept locked in her heart until today. Normally, she sang in the shower and sometimes when she was alone in her room. Often under her breath when she was walking somewhere. But she never just belted it out for the world to hear. Until today. This fateful day that she would always remember. The day she touched someone else with her voice. Would it turn out to be a velvet touch? Or a far cry from it?

It was very early in the morning. She hadn't been able to sleep for thinking of Jungkook. She couldn't get him out of her head. It was beginning to scare her a little. Her life had always been so neat and orderly. Everything had its own box where it fit perfectly. But this didn't. So many unknowns were being introduced into her heart. She knew virtually nothing about him. He could be anybody. He could have done anything. He could be dangerous. To her heart, even if he were no threat to her body. The possibility of falling in love was wreaking havoc in her mind. She knew it would introduce an element of chaos into her universe. So, waking from a dream in which he was the prevailing star, she had known sleep was now evading her. She had decided to rise early and take Twenty-two to the park.

Because the sun was just beginning to rise and since she'd seen no one else around, she'd walked far along the path before stopping by the bend in the river. Still alone, she'd begun to pour out her heart in a song. It was one she'd composed herself in the wee hours last night before she'd finally succumbed to sleep. She'd been thinking of Jungkook as she'd written the lyrics in her notebook. But her heart still knew both its haunting melody and its aching lines. So she'd raised her voice and sung to the heavens above of a heartfelt love.

"I'm still waiting for the one

Who holds my red cord undone.

Will he look my way today?

Will he fly some other place?

"Is he tall and dashing dark,

His lips leave a gentle mark?