Catch, 22!

Chapter 7: The Red Thread

"What do you mean?"

Whoops. She doesn't know I'm a vocalist. I'm not ready to let that particular cat out of the bag just yet.

He thought fast. "Ummm...I mean, I want to sing the rest of it. What's the chorus again?"

She took a deep breath, and this time she wasn't quite as self-conscious as she sang to him. The whole time, his eyes rested intently on her face. She felt like she was his whole world. It was a warmth that wrapped around her heart and made her feel so loved.

When she finished, Jungkook sang it to her, "The red thread that winds around my heart, it's been held in her hands since the start."

On an impulse, Jungkook reached out and took her hand in his own. Then he drew it upward until his left hand came to rest on top of the hand he held cradled in his right palm. Hyejin quit breathing again as a wave of warmth crashed through her, beginning in the hand he held and continuing outward up her arm before descending into her belly.

"My eyes unveiled to her beauty." His eyes traveled the length of her as he sang. "My heart inhaled this brand new duty."

He sang the next lines like a prayer, lifting his face towards heaven and closing his eyes. Her eyes widened in wonder as she gazed at him. He was so beautiful with his eyes closed, his coal eyelashes fanning his pale cheeks. There was such passion written in his countenance as he sang the words her heart had written for him.

"Come now and weave our hearts together. I'm praying this will last forever."

His voice was so sweet. She couldn't get over its beauty. How was he not some famous singer by now?

"We've found our red thread of divine fate. Let's grab it now before it's too late." He harmonized for a moment as his eyes opened to watch her once again. "Remind me of the second verse." It was a whispered command. As though he were reluctant to break the spell he had just woven.

She had to close her eyes. His were getting to her. She opened her mouth once again in those clear, sweet tones that had wooed his heart upon his entering the park today.

"Saw him walking through the park. Then Love's arrow found its mark."

This song was about him! He was sure of it. They had met in the park! She had written it just last night!

"One glance, my heart is undone. I'm the true love he has won."

He had won her heart? Oh, how he wished she would open her eyes! She was closing her thoughts to him. But they remained hidden as her voice overcame his heart.

"Taken by his smiling eyes, I'll give him all my aching sighs. I've seen his gentle, red lips. Do they hold some kind of bliss?"

Why don't we find out?

He bent his head towards her as his hands drew her own hand closer. Immediately, she stumbled backward. He looked down. He was still holding her left hand in his own. But her right hand was linked to the leash of a certain gigantic puppy, who was currently tugging on it. Jungkook tightened his hold on her hand to prevent her from falling. He was now in a tug-of-war with an infuriating pooch!

He heard his voice resounding in his own ears in a sharp command. "22, sit!"

Instantly, the puppy planted its rear on the ground.

Jungkook smiled. "Good puppy."

The dog wagged its tail violently as it looked up at Jungkook, its eyes mirroring the adoration seen in its owner's as she also gazed at Jungkook. He turned his attention from the irritating dog to the beautiful girl standing directly in front of him now. Her face was less than a foot from his. His lips opened as he began to sing the last verse to her, letting it pour not just from his voice box but also from his heart.

"Saw her walking through the park. Then Love's arrow found its mark. One glance, my heart is undone.

I'm the true love she has won." Wow, these words were so true! Oh, he hoped this was really how she felt about him too!

"Taken by her smiling eyes, I'll give her all my aching sighs. I've seen her gentle, red lips. Do they hold some kind of bliss?"

Of course, his eyes landed on her mouth at this line. But then he looked her in the eye again as he prepared to sing the chorus through once more.

"Sing the chorus with me, okay?" His voice was soft, sweet, wooing her.

"The red thread that winds around my heart," they sang together, though their voices diverged on the next two lines.

"It's been held in his hands since the start. My eyes unveiled to his beauty," her crystal clear tones blended with his breathy ones, "It's been held in her hands since the start. My eyes unveiled to her beauty." Then their voices sang in unison once more, "My heart inhaled this brand new duty. Come now and weave our hearts together. I'm praying this will last forever. We've found our red thread of divine fate. Let's grab it now before it's too late."

Why did it feel like they had just sent a prayer straight into the heart of heaven?

Jungkook ended the song on his own, his dulcet tones drawing her close to his heart, "Before it's too late..."

They stood for several moments just staring at each other, both unwilling to disturb the atmosphere by so much as a breath. Their voices had woven them into a beautiful daydream, and they were each reluctant to wake up from it. But then Jungkook realized something and knew he had to speak to it.

His eyes caressed her own as he whispered, "You know your voice is magnificent, right?"

He saw the shock in her face and knew his suspicions had been confirmed. "No one has ever told you so?" he asked it a little incredulously.

"I've never sung in front of anyone before."

His mouth opened in shock. "Never?"

She shook her head as she pressed her lips tightly together. He was still holding her hand. This was the sweetest moment of her entire life.

"Well, I'm very thankful that you sang in front of me. You gave me a precious gift."

Were those tears filling her eyes?

She blinked, and two teardrops escaped her lashes to begin sliding a straight path down each of her cheeks.

Jungkook's heart took a tumble. He lifted his left hand from her own and his gentle fingertips brushed against her right cheek, taking her tear with them. She gasped as a thousand shards of electricity traveled from his skin into her own, finding every single nerve ending in her body and taking them for a joyride.

He could love this girl. He knew it with a certainty he'd never felt before. A lasting love. Not some fleeting fancy but the real thing. And for a split second, it terrified him. Everything would change. It would be like the moment he'd signed the contract with Big Hit Entertainment. There had been no going back to his old life. He'd left the desert for a vast ocean. He was standing on another shore now, staring out at another great sea. And if he chose to dive in, he would emerge an entirely new person on some distant shore. But he was beginning to think it was too late. He was pretty sure he'd fallen headlong into her ocean the first time his eyes had met her own midnight pools. All that was left to him was to prevent himself from drowning. Perhaps that was what the red thread was for. She could use it to pull him ashore when they reached their destination.