summer's upturned lips, her head stuck out the window, breeze fluttering her hair about. jeongguk glanced at her, a small smile playing across his lips. she sang along to khalid playing on the radio.

"can you not stick your head out?" he laughed at her belting out the tune a little off key. "it's nice. i like the air." she replied before returning to her singing. he remembered it was the first thing she ever said to him. a breathy chuckle left his lips with a shake of his head, eyes on the road.

they were driving to the next town. summer had discovered it had a river with a cascade and really wanted to see it. so it was their chosen getaway. if he was being honest, jeongguk did too.

an hour later, the car rolled to a stop in the parking lot of a quaint bed and breakfast. eyes glanced in the direction of the now quiet blonde next to him who was staring up at the building. her hand slipped into his naturally, eyes still on the house. he gave a small squeeze, pulling her attention to him. the corners of her eyes creased and her lips curved upwards. "let's go."

jeongguk lodged them in, the old lady at the front desk making him comfortable as she gave him tourist suggestions while summer explored the floor. dropping off the little luggage they had, the young couple headed back out.

summer turned the map around for the third time, a small frown pulling her features. glancing at her from his peripheral vision, jeongguk laughed heartily. "can't read it?" he asked. she shook her head, a cute pout on her face. he snuck a picture of her when she held her arms out as if the distance would suddenly make the paper she held more understandable.

"let me." he offered quietly. without hesitating, she dropped the map onto his open palm. tongue swiping over bottom lip, his eyes grazed over the open map. "this way." he pointed, leading them towards the river.

summer squealed when the clear body of water came into view, running towards it and leaving him to leisurely walk the rest of the way. lifting the camera over his eyes, he began to record.

as he stared through the lens, he realised that in an odd way, summer's soul was like a flowing river. clear, steady, soothing, ever moving. sometimes it was slow and calm, sometimes it roared with tenacity.

it flowed through every nook and cranny, touching everything, rippling, swirling, gliding towards the sea. it reflected everything it was and everything it saw. and it quenched the thirst that jeongguk's soul felt.

she knelt at the riverbank, dipping a hand into the clear water and scooping up a handful of it. she let it drip through her fingers back into the river. through the lens, jeongguk watched her eyes narrow as she stared at her reflection, leaning forward ever so slightly. twisting around, she glanced behind her.

"jeongguk!" she gasped with wide eyes. pulling the camera away from his face, his brows raised in question. her hand lifted, pointing excitedly. "plums!" his gaze followed her hand to rest on the trees. sure enough, one of them had the purple fruits covered in dusty white coating hanging from it.

getting on her feet, summer hurried towards it. "you think it's okay if we took a couple?" she turned to him, eyes blinking in waiting.

he shrugged in reply. "there's no warning so i guess it's okay." he answered quietly. smiling widely, she plucked two of the fruits and hurried back to the river, grabbing his hand on the way.

they sat at the riverbank for a while, eating the juicy fruits, feet dipped in the flowing cool water. neither of them said a word and summer leaned her head against jeongguk's shoulder, staring at the water. her eyes lit up whenever the occasional carp swam past, finger pointing excitedly at it.

"can we go see the cascades?" her voice was quiet. "sure, let's go." he got on his feet, helping her up. "beat you there!" she chirped, running off. "oh my god! sum, be careful!" he groaned, running after her.

"don't be such a fusspot!" she called out, laughing heartily. his lips unwittingly curled up at the sound. large arms wrapped around her as he caught up to her. she giggled, hands coming up to dance over his arms. "you wild child." he mumbled, nuzzling her neck.

he felt her shiver in his grip, a small sigh escaping her lips. "ggukie," she whispered softly. "it's beautiful." her voice was breathy. lifting his head, he looked in the direction she was staring wide-eyed at.

a steady flow of water streamed down a stepped pile of smooth dark rocks covered in green moss. it made a loud, somewhat roaring sound, making jeongguk wonder why they hadn't heard it much earlier.

"it sort of reminds me of you." she remarked softly, moving them slowly into the water. "how?" he asked, regarding her close up. "calm and beautiful, strong and refreshing. and kind of loud." she chuckled at the last bit. "and you're the river i fall into." he murmured into her ear.

the squeak she let out had him laughing. "you've spent too much time watching the notebook with jimin." she remarked, jumping out of his arms and right under cascade of waters. "i'm pretty sure i know every line by heart now." he followed her, feeling the water wash over him, his hair and clothes clinging to him.

summer lifted her hands, palms up so that the water poured on them. her butter blonde hair matted to her scalp, eyes blinking as the water ran down her face which was full of mirthful wonder. "jimin's such a romantic. whoever his girlfriend turns out to be, her life would be full of love, magic and poetry."

"hey!" jeongguk called, a pout on his face. eyes crinkling in amusement, summer moved closer to him. her hands cupped his cheeks softly. "you bring light, magic, love and hope into my life. everyday feels like a dream. a beautiful beautiful dream. one i wish i will never wake up from. i feel alive with you. and i'll be forever grateful for that. for you."

reaching up, he grabbed her hands from his face, pulling her closer to him. "i love you, summer isaac." as the shaky words left wet lips, jeongguk realised how true they were. "like the sun loves the moon. like the sea loves the shore. like day loves night. the way the stars burn to give light to the dark night."

it was true. it was why jeongguk couldn't stop seeing summer in everything his eyes beheld, everything he touched, smelled, heard. she almost seemed to consume his being and he didn't mind it one bit. and he knew it was because he loved her.

under the showers of the cascade, he couldn't tell if she was crying or if it was simply the water getting in her eyes. "jeongguk," she choked out on a shaky breath, confirming that she was, in fact, crying. "i love you too, so much. i love you with every fibre of weak being. i love you so much it fills my soul and strengthens my bones. you make me feel whole."

jeongguk kissed summer, his heart swelling with ecstasy. he loved her and she loved him. it couldn't get any better than that. but jeongguk knew things were never really that simple. maybe that was why he could taste a hint of pain on her lips.