Chapter 1

The breeze ruffled my hair as I pushed the swing forward, the Autumn sun beginning a slow descent into it's sleep. Sophia let out of a peel of laughter as she kicked her feet with excitement. "Higher, higher" she shrieked in her sweet voice, bringing a huge smile to me face. She had just turned three and was the light in what had been the darkest of years. When I had married my childhood sweetheart four years ago, being a widow at 25 hadn't been on my radar. I wouldn't have made it but for Sophia and moments like this.

The momentum caught up with her, sending her back and forth and her joy was infectious. Grabbing the swing next to her, I propelled myself forward, using my legs to send myself up and up towards the changing sky. As I leaned back and felt the wind rushing past me, I felt the stirring of a change. Even if Winter would be heading our way soon, I could feel like part of my soul was beginning to lift. I might actually be happy again.

The swing slowed down and I jumped off reaching for Sophia and catching her hands in mine as it came to a stop. As I lifted her out and set her onto the ground, she took off across the park, spinning and galloping as only small, carefree children can. I stopped on the ground for a moment to watch her, scanning the surroundings to make sure it was safe to have her a little distance from me. It was a quiet neighbourhood on the outskirts of town, right on dinner time so most families would be home by now. It was a day of sun after a few days of rain so I wanted to let her play a little longer and burn off energy after being stuck inside.

There was an elderly couple sitting on a bench, a small dog tucked in at their feet. A teenager zipped casually past on a scooter and off under a tree, a young guy sat writing in a journal, his satchel tossed on the ground next to him. Out the corner of my eye, I saw her stop and flop to the ground, rolling over and over in delight and I grinned noticing that everyone in the park had seen her and were smiling at her antics before returning to what they were doing. After a few minutes, my super extroverted child stood up and started walking over towards the guy under the tree so I jumped quickly up from the ground, heading off to intercept her. She was quicker however and raced up, coming to a stop in front of him before I got there.

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously as I jogged up next to her. He held up his book. "This is my words" he said, repositioning himself so he was sitting cross legged in front of her at eye level. "I write what I see and feel."

"Why?" she asked reaching out to touch the book, then shyly tucking her hand away behind her back. A smile broke out across his face as she asked, mesmerised like so many by her innocence and sweet face. Her little blonde pigtails were in disarray from rolling on the grass but her charming way had always won her many new friends so this interaction with a stranger wasn't new to me. "It is what I like to do to think" he answered and his accent made me realize English was not the only language he spoke.

"She is very beautiful," he said in a low, smooth voice, watching as she skipped off again to ask the elderly couple if she could pat the dog. He stood up and turned to me as he spoke, the impact of his brown eyes immediate as I got my first look at him. My breath caught momentarily as I noted that he might just be one of the most beautiful men I had seen.

"Thank you, she has her fathers' outgoing personality" I answered in a rush, "I hope she wasn't bothering you."

"No problem, I was finishing up anyway. I go soon but wanted to come to a quiet place and see nature and the sunset. I like to take photos so the light is good here soon." His words flowed a little slowly and haphazardly as he explained himself and I was trying to listen while evaluating the person before me. He saw me looking and glanced quickly away, towards the car park then the ground. Reaching down into his bag, he pulled out his phone. "Ah, I show you my photos?"

"Sure" I laughed, keeping an eye on Sophia who was now very quickly winning over the couple and their dog. Why not look at someone's phone photos while I waited, stranger things had happened.

He unlocked it and scrolled to an album of some of the most creative and artistic shots I had seen in a while. I had done photography at high school and as a hobby ever since, these were fabulous compositions. And so varied. The locations seemed scattered and out of order. Some Winter shots, some at the beach, one after the other, art, sculptures and snow followed by flowers and occasionally people in the distance giving perspective to the scale of some of the scenery. "I recognize some of these places, do you travel a lot?"

His face hinted a little at discomfort "Ah yes, for work" he replied, avoiding my eyes. "I like to gather memories when I go to new places."

"And are you here for work or is this your home city?" I asked, making small talk while Sophia continued to chase the dog around and around in the grass. "For work and then small holiday for a few days."

Sophia came running up at that time, interrupting us with a "Mummy, the puppy is Bo. He licked my hand" and she snuggled in next to my leg, thumb in her mouth, content to rest a moment. I reached my arm to tuck her in next to me as he spoke again. "Her fathers personality but her mothers eyes" and I looked up quickly to see he was staring down at her as he spoke. Clearing my throat, I went to reply when she piped up before me. "Daddy is in the sky" she said and my heart wrenched for a moment, still affected when she said things so matter of factly. "Oh in an airplane?" he asked, crouching back down to address her at her level. "Up, up, up into the clouds, to heaven," she said, repeating some of the comforting words we'd spoken to her when her dad didn't come home. His head snapped up to look at my face, noting the sadness that had crept back into my eyes. "Heaven is a good, happy place," he said to her and stood up again taking a small step back. Bowing slightly, he softly spoke. "I'm very sorry."

"Thank you" I replied, looking down. I couldn't talk much about it without still welling up with tears. "It's been a year and we're learning to get by." He stopped and waited, possibly deciding what to say next when Sophia took off galloping again, her words thrown into the wind as she sang a child's song.

"Can I, ummmmm." He stopped speaking and I looked up, waiting for him to finish. "Sorry, I wanted to ask but I do not know if it is ok. Can I take photo of her for my art? Not her face, I see her far away in my photo. No problem if not, it is a personal question."

"You want to take a photo of Sophia?" She was cute and all but I was a little surprised at his question.

"Yes, to remember today. I take and show you and if you do not like it, we can make the photo go away?" he finished earnestly. His intentions were pure and it seeped into his eyes.

"Sure, why not" I replied and he turned straight away, moving a little to position her in the part of his lens that he wanted to capture. She was twirling and her hands were out as she spun. He snapped once, looked at it, then twice again and held them up to show me. The sun was catching her hair, setting it alight and the momentum of her twirling was captured in the movement in the image. They were great and he grinned as he showed me. "You can not see who it is, just that she is a sunbeam," he said and my heart skipped a beat at his description.

"You are very good, yes, that's fine to keep them" I answered. "Can I try more to show you?" he asked and I nodded as I sat back down on the grass. She was having fun, I was happy to watch and there was something delightful about someone else taking joy in the beauty that was your child.

He stepped back behind me, then back a few more paces, lining up different shots and I hugged my knees to my chest, content that, for the moment, the world was a good place to be. After a few minutes, the sun was dipping low enough that the light was drifting towards purple skies. I stood up, brushing myself off and calling to Sophia. "Time to go beautiful" and spun towards the gentleman. "I'm Marley by the way, nice to meet you."

"Marley?" He turned the name over on his tongue a few times and I had an instant reaction to the way his mouth moved when he said my name, cheeks flushing slightly. "Marley, I'm V" he replied, sticking his hand out a little hesitantly and when I reached out for it, a zing hit our fingers, setting them on fire. I gasped a little as he pulled it away and then bowed while holding his fingers in a V shape. "Nice to meet you little one," he said, patting her on the head. She spun a few more times, ran back, grabbed his hand and squeezed it then ran back to me. He looked delighted and I didn't blame him, today she'd been charming.

Looking at the sky he said "I must go too. Do you drive or do you walk. It is dark soon" he finished with a frown.

"That little place in the distance with the bright blue letterbox? That's us" I answered, taking Sophia's hand. "We'll be home in only a few minutes."

"Ok" he said "but we can walk with you if you want?" We? I turned around, looking for who he was meaning and he pointed to a car parked only a few hundred metres away. "My friends waited in the car for me."

Surprised, I smiled. "It's really ok but thank you. I'll be fine. Your photos are beautiful, thanks for showing me."

"I only take photos of things that light up my heart" and again his words struck down into part of my soul. Before I realized it, my hand had involuntarily pressed itself to my heart and then dropped down again. I felt flustered and a little overwhelmed by whatever was happening.

We started to walk in the direction of both his car and my house, hesitantly falling in step next to each other with sideways glances. "I hope you enjoy the rest of your time here" I ventured as we approached his car. "and that you get more time to relax in between work. Your photos are gorgeous."

"You are very kind" he answered, a little distracted. We'd arrived at his car and one of the two sunglasses clad men had gotten out of the car, seeming like he was going to open the back door for V. I noted a shake of V's head and the man paused with his hand on the handle then he withdrew it and waited next to the car instead. He looked a little intimidating. V sighed "My friends like to make sure I'm ok" he explained. "New city, I could get lost."

"It's always good to have friends watching out for you" I answered with a smile. "Well, ah, nice to meet you V."

He bowed in return and said "I liked our talk and meeting you Marley. I hope to do so again." Then he opened the back door himself, climbing in and shutting it behind him.

Sophia waved and we set out towards our house, swinging our hands between us. "That was a nice afternoon" I thought to myself. "And he was..., a refreshing encounter." There was a stirring in my soul that made me think, maybe I wouldn't mourn forever and that was both heartbreaking and worth celebrating. Grabbing Sophia I spun her around in my arms, her giggles ringing out and we walked the last few steps home. As I turned the key in the lock, I noticed that V's car had started but not driven away yet and I wondered if he had waited to make sure I got home safely. "How incredibly sweet" I thought if it was the case. On the off chance he was watching, I waved my fingers in his direction as I closed the door, gathering my thoughts for the evening. Dinner, bath, bedtime stories for Sophia then me time.

Putting the book on her bedside cabinet, I reached down to press a kiss to Sophia's forehead. Her thumb was tucked into her partly open mouth, having fallen into the deep slumber of those that have played hard all day. Switching on the night light, I went out, leaving the door ajar in case she woke up.

The few kitchen dishes that had gathered from dinner needed to be washed and then I could put my feet up and watch some Netflix. Powering up my laptop, I switched the world on, checking in with the news while I waited for the sink to fill for the dishes. The news tab popped up and I read briefly about all the disasters around us before scrolling to look for a moment of happiness, something less bleak than what I had been reading. I scrolled for what seemed like ages and was about to close down the laptop in disgust at what news had to offer before doing a double take and scrolling back. An article had caught my eye and I needed a moment to put the pieces together in my mind.

"Kim Taehyung from BTS seen out and about today" was the headline and a picture of V popped up, dressed just as I'd seen him at the park. The article went on to talk about how BTS was in town for a few concerts and how during their down time, various members had visited attractions under heavy security while V had opted for a stroll in a quiet part of town. They'd inserted an Instagram post he'd made but my mouth fell open at the sight of it. The park was so familiar to me and I saw straight away that there were more than one photo so I clicked the link, heading through to the full Instagram post. The second photo was also the park from another angle as the sun was beginning to set and then I leaned back against the bench with a gasp as I took in the 3rd photo. In the very background was Sophia, spinning and not distinguishable apart from the fact I knew it was her but I was there clearly too, the sun hitting and lighting me up as I rested on the grass, my head pressed against my tucked up knees. Noone would know it was me but my heart started beating really fast, we were the only two people in the photo. And then I read the caption. "Beautiful day. Mysterious. Perfect" and a smile broke out over my face. When he'd stepped behind me to take more photos of Sophia, he'd clearly taken a few with me in them too and I was flustered. I had heard one or two BTS songs on the radio but, in the midst of my grief, I hadn't paid attention to much going on around me so I wouldn't have recognized them anyway if we'd passed in the street. And here I was momentarily interacting with one of the members, blissfully unaware.

I slight flush crept up my face as I scrolled down through his Instagram briefly before flicking back to the most recent one. "I'm glad he had a beautiful day but to include me in them, did it mean something? He posted that it was perfect." I thought, chaos spinning in my brain as I remembered him saying he hoped to do it again. So, he had pictures of me on his phone. How did I feel about that? I'd given the OK for the ones of Sophia, did it feel invasive that I was in his personal world too? And honestly, it didn't. It felt somehow significant. Like the post wasn't an accident or maybe I was overthinking it.

I heard a sound and realised I'd left the tap on in the sink and it was about to overflow. I quickly turned it off before staring blankly at the water. Matty had been gone 13 months, was I allowed to feel flattered, honoured, even happy that V had posted about the afternoon. And then I second-guessed myself. He loved photography and had taken some really beautiful photos he wanted to share with his world. Why was I over analyzing this.

Surprisingly saddened at that thought, I dipped my hands in the water and started washing up after emptying out a little of the excess. The hot water on my hands brought me back to reality with a small laugh. What was I thinking? A chance encounter with a beautiful soul on a leisurely afternoon was only that. He was in town for a few days and then gone. In fact, while I was standing in the kitchen scrubbing a pot, he was likely on stage, performing to thousands, how did I even think it could mean anything.

Standing the pot up to drain, I slid onto the couch, putting my hands behind my head and staring up at the ceiling. And I stayed that way for the next few hours, thinking of brown eyes and small smiles until I fell asleep, tucked up in a memory that was brief but had hit surprisingly hard.