Aehyun

In the hills of a single tea estate in Boseong, South Korea, it was a little late on a brisk evening in 1994 whenJungkook finally opened his eyes. It was quite dark. He laid flat on his back with his neck stretched downward, and he could see tall forest trees hovering over him, as well as a beautiful moon behind these trees, with fireflies covering the entire view. As his vision moved to the side, he noticed an upside down Taehyung. Taehyung, on the other hand, was plainly not as enamoured with the setting, the feelings, or the fireflies as Jungkook was.

Now Taehyung had devised his perfect plan only a few hours ago. To kidnap Jungkook and demand a ransom from his family. It went through, despite the fact that many things did not go as planned. But here they were, with Jungkook lying in the back of his van, with no one following them.

It was now up to Taehyung to initiate the second step. To contact or send a message to Jungkook’s parents, right? Ideally, that is what he should be doing.

Instead, he moved slightly, turned the corner of his beanie a little, and released a firefly.  If Taehyung’s goal was gaining attention, he had Jungkook’s undivided focus.

Jungkook, who was silent, wide-eyed, and looking around, turned his entire focus on Taehyung.

Then came a second firefly from one of his pockets and a third from the cuff of his sleeve, and a fourth, a fifth and a sixth. It was as if he was trying to create a world for Jungkook to focus on. The magic was completed with the big soapy bubbles he built around each of those fireflies.Once Taehyung seemed sure that he is the focal point for Jungkook, he turned and started to walk a little, towards the road in the estate, out of the trees.

Jungkook turned quickly on his stomach to try and understand what Taehyung was doing. While batting his eyelids and chewing on his lower lip fiercely, he realised in a minute or two that Taehyung was walking away.

Stepping gingerly off the van, he attempted to regain his footing on the uneven ground. At that moment, it appeared that his trust in Taehyung was greater than his trust in the ground beneath him. Also, it would be incorrect to assume that Taehyung simply walked away, because he made sure to check his peripheral vision to ensure that Jungkook was following him, safely. He took the next step only after the wide-eyed boy behind him took one step.

Why was Taehyung treating Jungkook, the person he had kidnapped for ransom, with such kid gloves? Why was Jungkook unconcerned and following Taehyung so blindly?

Was there any history between them? Yes and no.

Did they know one another? Yes and no.

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There was a SIX-year journey between this yes and no, which requires us to go 6 years back.

Before that, though, who exactly was Taehyung? A 22 year old, Taehyung was born into a modest family; both of his parents were involved with the tea estate in some way. His father worked as a driver for the owner of one tea estate, and he was a very trusted hand. The man was unfailingly loyal to both his job and his wife. To say he loved her deeply would be an understatement. When the couple found out she was pregnant, they were overjoyed beyond words. Unfortunately, his mother, who was a plucker on the same estate, died while giving birth. And left behind a distraught and harrowed single father and a newborn baby boy.

His dad struggled with doing his job and raising Taehyung, as he lovingly named his boy. Taehyung, meaning all dreams will come true, was that dad’s only wish for his boy. Even though he recently lost his wife, whom he loved so dearly, he was still always to be found in a happy disposition. They had some kind neighbours, it being a small estate, but in terms of a “family” it was only the two of them, for each other.

Struggles never seemed to end for the Kim Family though. When Taehyung was just 6 months old, his dad already tired from accomodating with the new challenges, realised that he couldn't hear. Was it partial or complete deafness was something to be seen.

How was he going to overcome this challenge? How were his son's dreams going to come true now? Of course, the father panicked, as one would. However he just knew 3 things:

He loved Taehyung more than anything else in the world.

Taehyung deserved a life as much as anyone else who was given an opportunity or a shot at it.

Taehyung had ONLY him to do so.

Need is the driving force behind all inventions. Thus, his father and the other caregivers manoeuvred. But how do you deal with a child who is extremely curious, has no fear, and always disregards caution? All Taehyung wanted to do was discover everything . He wanted to touch everything, taste everything, and see everything. It was inevitable that he did, given that it was his sole means of experiencing the world. He could not hear, which only meant that his other senses were heightened, but a village family was having difficulty understanding why.

They came up with strategies to keep him safe while calling him mischievous (in a cute way). His little feet and hands were adorned with an anklet and a bracelet that had little bells attached as charms. As a result, when he began running or fell, those nearby could hear the sounds. The latches in those houses were slightly higher than those in the rest of the village.

They could tell exactly which room Taehyung was in thanks to the little cycle bells and other beeping sound-making instruments that were drilled into the floor of their house and a couple of their neighbours' houses.

Most houses also had a charming feature: a blinking light. When turned on, the light would blink rapidly, much like a festive light. Getting Taehyung's attention in that way was a breeze; he would just look around with his large eyes and puffy cheeks, pretending like he wasn’t  caught red-handed.

As he grew, he noticed that people kept repeating the same word as they approached him. He was a very bright child; he could tell everyone was agitated and running behind him, and he assumed the word they were all saying was his name.

The family's neighbour was a nice lady who had grown to like Taehyung. As a result, Taehyung spent the majority of his time at their home while his father was away. Her husband was the supervisor for a few pluckers and other administrative work, and since they made a little more money, the lady decided to stay at home. She gradually established a small creche for neighbourhood children while their parents worked in the estate.

Taehyung was, unsurprisingly, her favourite. She saw the spark in him before anyone else did. He had one weakness (so to speak): strawberries.

When a bowl of it lay unattended on the table one day, Taehyung attempted to climb to get it. She noticed that as she was about to blink the lights on (because the switch was closer to her than Taehyung), the 6-year-old Taehyung came to a halt, turned towards her, and uttered in a broken tone, "Aehyun, ooooooo."

Taehyung, Nooo - Everyone used to say. Like any other child, Taehyung also grew up listening to Nooooo, the only difference was, all these years, he thought they were saying Aehyun oooo.

Correcting Taehyung was the least of anyone's concerns, and the joy that he said something outweighed everything else. For the next three days, his father simply told everyone he met that Taehyung spoke. That he could speak. They had no way of knowing before then.

That day, Kim Sunghun went to work, telling everyone that Taehyung could speak. Every single person—from the gate guards to the bungalow gardeners to the young boy who cleaned the porch— named Hoseok. A young boy and also a new helper on the estate of the Jeon family, he was a boy just around 12 or 13 years of age. Nobody ever heard him because he barely spoke.

On that particular day, the elderly cleaning lady of the house whispered a few additional blessings while holding Sunghun's face in his palm.

The Jeon family, of which Sunghun was a driver, included the young couple and Jeon Eunkyung's elderly, fragile father. The family also had a small boy named Jungkook, who was about a couple of years younger than Taehyung, but he was supposedly away at boarding school or something. Nobody was clear or knowledgeable enough to know or ask.

Sunghun remembered the boy. As a toddler, Jungkook had a bright smile that lit up the room he entered. His eyes sparkled with a lot of wonder, and his curiosity was infectious. However, Jungkook was different from the other children of his age. He was autistic, a condition that his parents, Mr and Mrs Kang, found themselves struggling to come to terms with.

For them, social outings with Jungkook were always challenging, and borderline embarrassing. They often felt the weight of judgmental stares and whispered comments from strangers whenever Jungkook exhibited behaviours that were outside the "norms". Their pulses raced as they witnessed the confusion and discomfort on the faces of others when the child struggled to communicate or regulate his emotions.

Despite their best efforts to keep Jungkook tucked away from the public eye, Mr and Mrs Kang couldn't shake off the feeling of embarrassment that often accompanied their son's "not normal" traits. They longed for acceptance and understanding from those around them, but they never understood the importance of advocating for Jungkook and embracing his unique way of experiencing the world.

Instead, at the age of around 4 or 5, when keeping him holed up in the room became difficult, they shipped him off to a facility a few hours away from Seoul. It was a foundation run for kids like Jungkook, as in the 1980s no one was ready to deal with or understand what autism was. His only outings or holidays were when he used to visit his grandfather in Boseong.

Mr Jeon had only one daughter, Eunkyung, and was extremely fond of Jungkook. He was the only one who loved Jungkook unconditionally and understood him in a way no one else did. He knew his son-in-law was a good-for-nothing fellow, thus he made sure that  Jungkook would carry the Jeon name for financial security and legal rights.

Shifting to the foundation home came as a blessing for Jungkook. As time passed, a 60-year-old man who ran the centre and the 30-year-old woman who took care of the kids became Jungkook's home. They began to see the beauty and resilience in Jungkook's way of seeing the world. They marvelled at his ability to see the different hues, to find joy in the simplest of things, and to love unconditionally. What he didn’t know was just how to express that love openly, but he loved them. They knew it, they felt it beyond simple words. They learned to celebrate his victories, no matter how small, and to stand proudly by his side, knowing that Jungkook was perfect just the way he was.

Despite the challenges he faced in communication and social interactions, Jungkook possessed an extraordinary talent for noticing details that others often overlooked. His fascination with patterns and repetition had a way of drawing him into a world of his own making, where paper and shapes danced around him like old friends. Origami was his partner in crime. He left shapes of birds, ships, houses wherever he went.

It was said that when Jungkook was sent away, the grandfather became even more ill, but the matter was kept quiet. And Sunghun understood better than to probe.

Eunkyung's husband was not a polite or respectful person toward the staff or in general. They spent a lot of time away in Seoul and only came to the estate a few times a year for short visits. When the couple was present, everyone learned to simply dig their heads, eyes, and ears into their work.

Overall, life was going as smoothly as possible for any employee of a wealthy employer. Taehyung absorbed everything he came across. As he matured into a young man, he displayed self-assurance, enthusiasm, playfulness, and independence.

On a typical spring day in 1988, Taehyung walked through Boseong’s market square, a place always bustling with tourists throughout the year. In fact, tourism was one way that the locals earned money; tea estate money was for the plantation owners.

Taehyung’s dark black eyes always seemed to hold plenty of silent stories, a playful spark always burning within him. He walked silently, vibrant silence, if one might say. But his smile spoke volumes, always bridging gaps words could never.

In the middle of the market, he stopped and unfolded the bundle draped over his back. His fingers released balloons that disobeyed his silence, sprouting like flowers in colours of red, blue, and yellow.

A child pointed and tugged at her mother's sleeve. She looked at Taehyung, who made gestures like he was leading an orchestra. The air around him seemed to be alive with his enthusiasm, but not a single chuckle escaped his lips.

He animatedly and exaggeratedly wound a rope around a fat green balloon, the same hue as the well-known tea farms in Boseong. With wide eyes, he bent down and gave it to her. Taehyung grinned even more, thinking to himself, "Even though I could not hear it, her joy must have echoed off the stone-paved market street. At least I could see it."

Taehyung nodded, his smile spreading as the girl hugged her new treasure. A mandatory coin was exchanged, but the transaction was far more delightful. 'Just another day, another opportunity to spread joy in little corners of the world—this is what I live for.' Taehyung strolled away, his mind filled with cheerful thoughts.

That being said, he was never without mischief. In fact, it called to him like a charming wonderland. Taehyung's eyes narrowed, the colourful bazaar becoming a single point of focus.

A man wearing polished shoes, a clean suit, and the signature bulge of a wallet protruding from his back pocket—everything that screamed luxury. Moving closer, Taehyung felt an unspoken challenge ignite inside him.

Silent and fluid in his movements, he closed the distance with ease. The wallet began its journey from one pocket to another with a soft bump, and handling balloons had taught the delicate fingers the art of lightness. This was a dance he knew, therefore his heart did not race.

Detective Kim Seokjin, meanwhile, stood like a pillar in the reeds at the edge of the scene. His eyes had become razor sharp from years of chase, and he saw the subtle exchange. His muscles clenched, but his appearance remained unreadable and calm. Step by step, he moved forward, getting closer to his target.

With his wallet in hand, Taehyung scanned the crowd. The feeling at the back of his neck might have been intuition. He looked over the faces, feeling as though a pair of eyes were watching him from somewhere. A figure detached from its surroundings, walking purposefully. Detective Kim Seokjin.

He made his way among the tourists. His rapid, purposeful steps conveyed to his prey in silence that there was little chance of escape.

Taehyung turned away, revealing his actual feelings with a smile on his face. It was like, "Come on you tall boy, come, let the games begin," in his head. It was difficult to determine if he was looking for excitement, for money, or was just having fun being chased by Detective Seokjin.

The man everyone called "Detective Jin" was only a few years older than Taehyung. Now, maybe, just maybe, Jin would have chosen a different career path if someone had warned him that there would be this youngster who would become the misery of his existence as a detective. Because, if he had worked a total of 5 years, he felt that an average of three were spent chasing Taehyung.

When asked how much he wanted to capture and imprison Taehyung, he would always react passionately, as if it were his life's mission at the time. Now, if you asked him what his biggest struggle was, or why he couldn't catch Taehyung on most instances, he would have no idea. He was completely captivated by the charming boy, as was everyone else in town. But he refused to admit it.

Taehyung dashed out of the shadowy alley, his heart thumping. His thoughts filled with smiles as he remembered Detective Jin's face. The crowd had lessened, giving him a brief respite. He hurriedly walked out the opposite side of the hilltop.

He noticed his father's shadow against the majestic exterior of the Jeon estate, which was a welcome sight in the midst of his daily chaos. He took gentle steps towards Sunghun, whose back was still turned towards him.

The elder man felt his presence before seeing it, and his posture relaxed slightly. His eyes met Taehyung's, and a slight smile appeared on his worn face.

Sunghun's hands flowed with grace as he inquired about his son's day through the wordless language of gestures and expressions they shared. Taehyung's hands moved with equal ease, weaving stories that required no sound. Their gestures told volumes; their private conversation was filled with affection and understanding.

Sunghun's face became sombre, and his fingers paused in mid-air, forming a question between them. Taehyung nodded, promising that he was fine, always fine. They exchanged looks, a silent pact of reassurance and love that filled any void that words couldn't.

"Ate, Aehyun Ate," Taehyung stuttered, raising both hands in a good sign. (Great, Taehyung is great - that is what Taehyung said to Sunghun)

Sunghun responded, "Aehyun is the greatest," unsure if Taehyung understood. Taehyung, however, did. He bowed slightly to his father and proceeded along the winding road.

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