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Chapter 4: Their Secret Garden – August 12, 2019

She was standing in her rose garden, in her secret garden, with the boy of her dreams.  They were standing under their apple tree.  Jungkook had taken her dream and turned it into reality.  Could anything else in her life ever be this perfect?  This beautiful?

There would never be a more perfect moment than this one.  That was for sure.  She gazed up at him with stars in her eyes.  She was going to enjoy this minute in time. 

He was staring down at her with an intensity that made her stomach flip upside down.  Very slowly, he was lowering his face towards hers.  Just as she longed for him to.  The corners of her lips lifted in a tender smile as he brushed his soft lips across hers.  Her eyes fluttered shut.  And she lost herself in his kiss. 

Jungkook was a little lost himself.  He’d dreamed of kissing her under this tree.  Every day as he’d stood under the hot sun and slapped mortar on smooth gray stones and used a level to make sure he set them all perfectly straight.  His Pop had helped him. And a several of Pop’s friends.  They had all wanted in on the project when they’d discovered how romantic the boy’s heart was.  Without all of them and their expertise, he never would have finished this quickly. 

But as his lips enjoyed hers, he reflected that every single bead of sweat he’d leaked for her had been worth it.  All those hours working to earn the funds necessary to buy the building supplies and the rose bushes.  All the days he’d spent working on his tan under a blazing, August sun.  Every single second of toil had been worth it.  For this moment right here.  The feel of her soft lips under his own.  The caress of her breath across his skin.  The sweetness of holding her in his arms.

He tasted like a sun-kissed apple.  Kookie was definitely the sweetest thing she’d ever tasted.  And his arms were so comforting.  He felt like this garden he’d created for her.  A safe haven.  A shelter from life’s storms.

So she blocked out the past for this one moment in time.  She refused to question the future either.  How a boy who had known her for a few short weeks could be contemplating spending the rest of his life with her.  But that was exactly what he had implied.  That, someday, they would live here together.  Was he planning on raising a couple of children with her here too?

But she pressed against all those questions and concentrated on the feel of his lips as they moved across hers.  She could feel his breath sliding across her lips too.  It was sweet from the apple he’d just eaten.  His arms were strong and were pressing her against that solid chest.  The one she’d cried on a few weeks ago.  But today she wasn’t weeping.  She was reveling.  In his touch.  And his taste.  And his sweet breath.  If only this moment could last forever…

––

Yunseong gazed up at Tae.  “What do you think they’re doing?  What do you think the surprise is?” 

She was bouncing up and down on her tiptoes as she peeked out the back window towards a gray wall.  She’d seen them disappear around it a few minutes ago. 

Tae shrugged.  “Knowing Jungkook, it’s probably something terribly romantic that will make the rest of us look like a bunch of amateurs.”

Just then, Gran walked into the living room with a plate of freshly baked cookies and a couple glasses of milk.

“Please come enjoy some cookies,” she invited Yunseong as Tae grabbed one off the pile and began to devour it like he hadn’t seen food in a month.

“Thank you,” Yunseong responded happily as she also reached for a cookie.  “Do you know what the surprise is?  Can you tell us?”

Gran chuckled.  “I do.  I could.  But I have a feeling your sister may want to show you herself.  I wouldn’t want to spoil it for her.”

Yunseong grumbled quietly to herself.  Tae snickered.

“You’re such a baby sometimes, Yunseong,” he remarked.

She shot him an angry glare.  She’d had about enough of him today.  First, arguing with her in the car over their favorite video game.  Then ignoring her to stare out the window at the passing cars.  Cars!  When she – beautiful girl that she was! – was sitting right next to him.  Within arm’s reach of him!  And now making fun of her because she was excited about her sister’s gift and didn’t want to wait one more moment to find out what Jungkook had spent weeks planning for her twin.

She looked up at Gran.  “Would you mind if I take a walk outside?  I need to get some fresh air.”  She didn’t realize how angry she sounded.  Nor that her eyes were spitting fire at Tae right now.

Gran glanced back and forth between her and Tae.  “Certainly, my dear.  Feel free to explore the farm.  Just stay away from the gray wall for a little while.  I’m thinking your sister and Kookie may want a few moments alone. Wouldn’t want to spoil the moment now, would you?”

Yunseong grimaced.  She sure didn’t.  She’d waited years for her sister to recover enough from Eunho’s poor treatment of her to find a new beau.  She wasn’t about to interrupt any tête-à-tête they were enjoying.  She just wanted to get away from Tae.  She reached down and grabbed two more cookies before sailing out the back door.

Perplexed, Tae stared after her.

“Did you two have a lovers’ spat?”

Tae choked on the cookie he was eating.  Gran was obliged to smack him on the back.