On the Other Side of the Waves • BTS AU
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“Some memories don’t stay in the past
Sometimes a shoreline, a voice, a familiar summer heat is enough to pull everything back.”
A story about childhood summers, the people we become, and the things the waves never really take away.
childhood nostalgia • soft angst • mild swearing • messy friendships • summery vibes • jungkook pov • emotional flashbacks
❗ Note: English is not my first language — there may be small mistakes, but I hope the emotion comes through. 🌊
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When I turned to my left, Noeul was still fast asleep.
Even though she hadn’t drunk much last night, she’d been completely knocked out—she’d dozed off somewhere between the lighthouse and Yoongi’s truck.
I pushed the light blanket off and headed downstairs.
The air wasn’t too hot yet. With the windows open, the morning breeze actually felt refreshing.
I walked into the living room and found Lia stretched out on the couch.
“Morning. Our room gets direct sunlight in the early hours, so I escaped here.
Is it like fifty degrees today, or is it just me?”
I laughed and sat on the couch across from her.
“The little one is definitely going to be a troublemaker. You’re already having a hard time.
Good thing the baby will have an uncle like me.”
“I’ll make breakfast. You guys came home late. Does Noeul want anything special in the morning?”
I stopped her with a gesture, gently pushing her back into her seat.
“Please, sit. Is this the time for you to be working? I’ll make breakfast.
You didn’t want kimchi, right?”
“Ah, okay. Thanks. I’ll go wake your brother then?”
I told her no, that it wasn’t necessary, and quietly continued preparing breakfast while chatting with her.
We were debating baby names when my dad appeared in the kitchen. Both of us straightened up and greeted him.
“Jungkook. We never got to catch up yesterday, son.”
I set down the sausages in my hand and hugged him.
“Yeah… it just turned out that way.”
I went back to fixing breakfast.
“I’ll set the table outside then,” he said. “Where was the umbrella? Did your mother tell you, dear?”
Lia stood up and headed toward the basement.
“It should be downstairs. I’ll go get it.”
But just like me, my dad stopped her immediately.
“You don’t have many days left before the baby comes. Enjoy them.
If the baby turns out like his father, he won’t let you sleep at night.
If he takes after his uncle, though, that’s different. Jungkook was the calmest baby I’ve ever seen.”
Floating on the water’s surface, I let myself drift.
I wasn’t really planning to join the others playing ball.
Taehyung’s words kept echoing in my head.
Was I really supposed to always be the “agreeable” one?
A splash hit my face, throwing off my balance, and I stood up.
We were in the shallow part of the pool—my feet touched the ground.
“It got in my eye,” I said.
Hoseok swam over, laughing.
“Sorry, man. You were lying there so still, I thought you died.”
I shoved him away with the shoulder he’d leaned on and splashed him back.
Before I even understood how, we were all in a full-on water fight.
But that heaviness inside me didn’t go away.
I slowed down, turned to Seokjin, and mumbled,
“I wish Taehyung were here.”
He didn’t hear me over the sound of splashing, so he asked me to repeat it.
“I said—I wish Tae were here. We never invite him. He didn’t come to play spin-the-bottle last time either.”
“You’re right, Gguk. We should’ve called him. Maybe Yoongi can go bring him.”
I started shouting toward the beach umbrella where Yoongi was sitting.
After a long moment, he finally tore his eyes away from his book and yelled back, already annoyed,
“Can you go get Taehyung?”
He thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
He slid a bookmark into place, put the book in his bag, slipped on his sandals, and headed toward the stairs.
Namjoon and Hoseok swam over.
“To get Taehyung,” I said.
Namjoon raised his eyebrows. “Your idea?”
“Good job, Jungkook. Smart thinking. One day, when we go off to university, it’ll just be you three left.”
Hoseok butted in, “Ara will be here too.”
None of us answered. We just kept splashing around.
Boramhae Temple, Namhae, 2025*
“Come on, let’s make a wish first. We’ll take pictures after.”
Noeul dragged me toward the wishing box at the temple entrance, her fingers wrapped around mine.
I watched the way her hair moved—how each strand shifted as she walked.
I didn’t know what shampoo she used, but even the slightest breeze carried her scent straight to me.
After we made our wishes, I asked what she had wished for.
“I wished for my legs to get slimmer. Your brother’s bike destroyed them—my thighs kept rubbing against the seat.”
I couldn’t hold back a laugh.
I slung my arm around her shoulders.
She looked up at me. “What did you wish for?”
I had wished to forget. And not to care.
“I wished for the baby. You know—they lost their first one. I don’t want them to go through that again.”
She suddenly pulled away.
I felt horrible for lying.
She ran back to the wishing shrine.
“I’m so selfish. I’m going to wish for Lia and your brother too.
That baby is my niece or nephew as well.”
Feeling even worse, I followed her back and made a second wish—this time an honest one.
Afterward, we took a couple of pictures because Noeul insisted.
“From here you can see all of Namhae—look, the beach, our neighborhood, the fishermen’s market, even those rice fields over there.”
She squinted. “You know, I’ve never been to a rice field before.”
I stared at her. “Never? Not even once?”
“Jungkook, I’ve lived in Seoul my entire life.
Where am I supposed to find a rice field? Next to the subway station?”
We were riding our bikes through the village when Seokjin suggested we go up to the temple.
Taehyung and I were at the very back.
Hoseok stopped and turned around.
“How’s the bike, Taehyung? Isn’t it too big for you?”
“No. Thank you for the bike. Your sister doesn’t need it, right?”
“I don’t think so. She probably doesn’t even know I borrowed it.”
He hesitated for a second, but once Namjoon called out to him, he started pedaling again.
I laughed. I couldn’t let him pass me.
We kept trying to overtake each other, laughing like idiots.
Jimin noticed and yelled from the front,
Yoongi, who’d been watching us with an unreadable expression, made a suggestion.
“Why don’t we all race to the temple?
Loser buys everyone Jaws Bar*.”
I looked at Jimin. I didn’t say a word, but he already knew what I was thinking.
“Oh, please. Your legs are the shortest here. You’ll be licking your palm before you beat me.”
I pushed down on the pedals with all my strength.
What mattered was passing Namjoon, Yoongi, and Seokjin—and that was nearly impossible.
But at the last second, I managed to pass Taehyung… and then Jimin.
“Watch me overtake you!” I shouted.
Jimin turned around laughing, but then he suddenly glanced past me.
Because I was distracted, I pushed even harder and surged forward.
By the time we reached the top, Jimin was dead last.
“I can’t believe you lost,” I said, patting his shoulder.
“As if you won. Whatever. When we go back down, I’ll buy everyone Jaws Bar.”
While we were bickering, Taehyung stood behind us, watching quietly.
Yoongi helped him park his bike properly, then slung an arm around his shoulders.
He told him he did great—especially for beating Jimin.
“Wooo! God, look at this view!”
She was speeding downhill ahead of me.
I started pedaling faster.
“Noeul, slow down a little! You’re going to trip and fall. The roads might be muddy.”
She didn’t even turn around when she answered:
Sometimes she didn’t feel two years younger—more like ten.
I slowed down and let myself take in the scenery.
Instead of returning through the neighborhood, we’d decided to come down past the rice fields.
Noeul wanted to see them up close.
The sound of my brakes echoed along the empty road.
A little ahead of me, Noeul stopped too.
I got off my bike and stared at the rice fields.
“Are you okay, Jungkook?”
Her hand touched my shoulder, and I flinched.
I only looked toward the electric pole at the corner.
There were nine handprints on it.
We had to be standing in front of Namjoon’s father’s rice field.
Without saying anything to Noeul, I stepped into the field.
July rice fields were usually green, wet, and muddy.
I didn’t care that my white pants and shoes—worn for the temple—were getting covered in mud.
I walked deeper between the stalks.
Noeul was calling after me, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying.
“Why are we checking the rice, anyway? What do I know about rice?”
Jimin grumbled while running his hands through the stalks.
To be fair, he wasn’t wrong.
But this was probably the first time Namjoon had ever asked us for a favor—so we had to do it.
“If my dad’s foot wasn’t hurt, he’d do it himself. But it is, and my mom is taking care of him.
So stop complaining and check the field, Jimin.”
I was inspecting the stalks like everyone else, but honestly, I had no idea what we were even looking for.
I turned to Hae-won beside me.
“What exactly are we checking?”
“The condition of the rice, I guess.”
The girls had followed us out of the house earlier, so they were here too.
Ara was whispering something to Yoongi, who told her to stop slacking and help.
“Hoseok, look, it’s your relative.”
Before I could fully react, a handful of mud flew past me and splattered right across Hae-won’s shirt.
We all went silent, waiting for her reaction.
She grabbed a handful to throw back at Hoseok—but it accidentally hit Seokjin instead.
A few minutes later, we’d completely abandoned checking the rice and were just playing in the mud.
“Is that Taehyung coming?” Seokjin asked, squinting toward the entrance of the field.
“Taehyung! Taehyung! Hey! Over here!”
He finally noticed us and came to the edge of the field.
Taehyung greeted him—and then all of us—the same way.
“What are you guys doing?”
“We’re checking my dad’s rice field.
Jimin added, “Now we’re having a mud fight. Come here.”
Covered head to toe in mud, we stared at Taehyung while he stared back, unsure.
Jimin grabbed a handful of mud and trudged through the field until he reached him.
Taehyung did, without hesitation.
Jimin dropped the mud into his palm.
He did—again without hesitation.
“Okay, now you’re a mud warrior too. Alright? Just loosen up, man.”
“Where do you even learn these lines?”
Jimin responded by throwing mud at him as well.
Taehyung still looked a little stiff at first, but soon enough—his laughter mixed with ours.
“Jungkook. Jungkook. Jungkook!”
When I felt Noeul’s hand on my shoulder again, I turned toward her in alarm.
She’d stepped into the field like me.
“Hey… are you okay? Why are you crying?”
Even though my hands were covered in mud, I wiped my cheeks.
I guess I got a little emotional remembering the past.
Let’s go home. We’re covered in mud.”
Before she could ask anything else, we left Mr. Kim’s field together.
I later learned that he’d sold that land years ago.
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Jaws Bar*: A shark-themed Korean ice cream bar that was extremely popular among kids in the 2000s. Known for its bright colors and icy texture, it’s a nostalgic staple of Korean summers.
Boramhae Temple*: A traditional Buddhist temple located in Namhae. It’s commonly visited for making wishes, praying, and enjoying the scenic views of the island.
