ᴏʙsᴇssɪᴏɴs: ʀᴀᴠᴇɴᴡᴏᴏᴅ ᴅɪᴀʀɪᴇꜱ || c.bg + h.k

20.2: Second Chance

TWO YEARS AGO

"That'd be two-thousand won."

It was still hard for him to leave home all by himself, even though it had already been a month since the incident. Kai considered dropping out of school, but he was too scared to face Lea just yet. She'd probably be very disappointed, maybe even mad. Not like he was ever gonna disclose the real reason ever, he had to fabricate some story as an excuse.

'Maybe they'll kick me out anyway, not that I was the brightest of students.'

Taehyun tried to change his mind, almost convinced him to go back to school, but Kai had his reasons.

For one, Daewon was still very alive. He knew what had happened that night. He was there. He witnessed everything and had all the reasons to drag him to the police, or worse, kill him with his bare hands. Taehyun had mentioned about his absence from classes, yet Kai couldn't help but keep himself on alert.

But he would have to go out eventually. He couldn't depend upon Taehyun for every one of his inconveniences. He had his own life to see.

Thus, that morning, Kai decided that he'd win over his anxiety and step out of the same four walls he had confined himself to.

But as soon as he did, he was hyper aware of every single gaze that lingered over him. It suddenly felt like everyone was watching him and only him. His eyes had followed every single face in the subway, but all he could see was them pointing a finger at him and saying,

"You are a criminal, just like your mother."

Those fifteen minutes he spent in the subway was almost like going through hell over and over again. Even when he had entered the café, he felt no different. And that was when he regretted the whole idea.

Finding the most secluded corner was easy for Kai, and he swiftly slipped into his seat with his milkshake, keeping his back to the rest of the café.

His heart was racing as he shakily raised the glass to his lips and took a sip of the beverage.

'It's okay, you are just hallucinating. No one knows it, they'll never know."

Kai let out a sigh and slumped his head against the table. His head throbbed with an unfamiliar pain and his eyes burned with what seemed like his welling tears. Life was beginning to get tiring for him, and he was too close to breaking and falling apart. A tip over the edge, and he'd lose himself to insanity, or death. He wanted to end the suffering for both himself and Taehyun. He wanted to die, if that's what it took for him to attain his inner peace once again.

He raised his head back up and almost dropped his drink when he came face to face with someone sitting right in front him. His hand reached for his chest, resting upon his crazy heart as his widened eyes stared back at a boy who looked to be no more than five or six.

Kai gulped and straightened himself, begging his heart to calm down.

"M-may I help you?" He tried, his voice coming out hoarse. He mentally cursed himself for it.

The kid smiled and raised his hands, making weird shapes with it.

Dumbfounded, Kai blinked and leaned back in his chair. "Umm..."

The boy scrunched his nose as his shoulders slagged. But then he raised his hand again, pointing a finger to his mouth and shaking his head.

Realisation dawned upon him.

The boy was mute.

"I'm so sorry! I-I thought...well, I can understand sign language. You can go on."

The little soul displayed huge, toothy smile, his cheeks spread wide and his eyes mere crescents. It was a heart warming sight.

Guess you don't often meet people who can understand you, and Kai could relate to that to a great extent.

Kai also made note of how the boy's features weren't very Korean.

«Why are you sad?» pointed out the boy in his own language of signs, looking earnestly up at the elder one once again.

Kai shifted a little in his seat to create enough space, and sent back his reply. «Life hasn't been great for me in the recent days.»

He nodded. «Mom says that milkshakes make you happy.» And to demonstrate that, the kid proceeded to pick up his own glass of milkshake and took a long sip before setting it down, a smile plastered on his face.

Kai let out a giggle, the one after a whole month. It felt good. «You are so cute.» The boy mirrored his stance and gestured towards the milkshake Kai had forgotten about.

«Your turn.»

Kai obliged, taking a sip as well. And then he smiled again, a genuine one. Unbeknownst to him, had calmed down, his heart beating in a rather normal pace as rapture finally glazed over his eyes.

"Riki," came a womanly voice from behind Kai. He turned around to see a woman with jet black hair and a beautiful face, her eyes settled over at the kid he had been interacting with.

The boy, Riki, giggled again while clapping his little hands. Kai assumed the lady was his mother and felt a dull ache in his chest.

His smile fell by a fraction, his gaze dropping to the milkshake. It must be so lucky to have a mother who cares, actually cares for you.

"Has he been bothering you?" Kai's eyes went back to the woman, who was now seated across him with a playful Riki sitting on her lap. He immediately shook his head.

"No, n-not at all! He is actually very cute and kind."

The woman smiled. "You are quite handsome yourself, young man. How old are you?"

Kai felt his nervousness rushing back to his senses. "I...uh- f-fifteen."

"Ah, I see. You live here?" She asked.

The younger fidgeted in his seat, feeling uneasy beneath the warm gaze that the other gave him. "I- not really. I l-live in Jamsil a-as of now."

"So you are a student, I assume."

"Y-yes."

At last, the woman shifted the topic back to Riki, to Kai's pleasure. He didn't hate her, not even in the slightest-- but the questions were starting to get a lot more personal, at least for him. "Riki and I shifted here from Japan last month. His dad had been working here for a while now."

That explained the different feature. Kai nodded, reaching for his beverage and taking a sip. "Do you l-live here?"

"Yes! Right across the street. You can come over if you wish to meet Riki...."

"Kai, Huening Kai."

She smiled. "Kai. Alright."

And that day remained engraved in Kai's heart forever-- the day where Nishimura Riki, a mere kid, saved Huening Kai and showed him the bright side of the world without even uttering a word.

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A/N ¡! ❝I personally love Ni-ki here TT❞