Perpetual Rain ✓

Smile

You spotted a wooden boat just downstream that housed a single man dressed in black. His clothing was outlined with white trim and a traditional coned hat made of bamboo topped his skull. He was working a long paddle into the creek, pushing against the canal's carved outlining and heaving himself to propel the boat downstream. 

Taehyung walked you down the steps, reaching a small cherry wood dock where the boat was heading and finally the two of you came to a stop. Despite your irritation with his sudden sprint, you took the moment to control your breathing in place of chewing him out for his carelessness. You knew you had just agreed to 'run from the gods' - whatever that meant exactly was still unclear - but maybe he took that acceptance too literally. 

His blissful and carefree expression was still plastered all over his features, he was still flying high in the clouds, and part of you didn't want to bring him down. Still, you had to ask. 

"So, exactly what are we doing now?" Your labored breathing came to a slow stop as you glanced up at him standing stoically at your side. 

"Boat ride." Was all he said, with the tone of an excited child that had too deep of a voice. 

"Well, I figured that, but--" Your words trailed off as the wooden boat, big enough to house at least six people, floated up to the platform and began to come to a stop. "You know what, never mind." You dismissed it with a shake of your head. Trying to understand his reasonings half the time only brought on a migraine. Perhaps you were too uptight. 

The man politely asked Taehyung if he would like to ride, so you guessed he was choosing to be seen right now. Taehyung agreed and released your hand. His warmth leaving you made your hand feel a bit more chilled than it overall would have normally. 

He climbed in first, and you could see the boat rock under his weight which instantly put you on your guard. Standing on top of a skyscraper in the middle of the night? No problem. Getting on an unstable boat that was likely to turn over as soon as you touched it? A bit concerning. 

Taehyung planted himself in the center of the boat and looked back at you. He held out his hand, gesturing for you to hurry up. You inched yourself closer to the dock, bringing the tips of your toes to the lining of the wood. Hesitation filled your vision as you stared at the simple three-foot gap that separated you and the boat, all that was between it was cold water. 

"I won't let you fall." Taehyung whispered, taking a step closer as he rattled his hand for you to take to help brace yourself. 

There was the whole trust thing again. You felt as though, for the most part, you had forgiven him for his trickery but part of you remained hesitant in offering your faith so blindly. You couldn't let go of the part of you that questioned if this was all just an elaborate trick to get you to do what he wanted. 'Haven't you ever wished in your life that you had taken more risks?' 

You sucked in a deep breath as a sense of determination filled your senses. You weren't going to allow yourself to be caged and bend to the whims of another, not in life or in death. You extended your hand and boldly slapped it into Taehyung's. Your hesitating gaze left your eyes as you replaced it with one of perseverance. 

Taehyung's lips shifted into a content smile as he wrapped his long fingers around your palm and held on tightly as you took your first step. You flung your foot into the boat and felt it shift under your weight. Crap, there went your courage. 

His hand snaked up your arm and swiftly moved to twist around your back as he could fell you tense under his fingertips. Quickly, you yanked your other leg to you, the boat rocking from your sudden motion causing an embarrassing squeal to leave your throat and make you curse your own existence. Your balance was thrown off and out of instinct, you grabbed the closest thing to you to stabilize. Your fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt as he pulled you close against his body and held you steady, riding out the motion of the water until finally, it calmed. 

Your lips spread thin, releasing the breath you had been holding. You smiled in triumph that you actually managed to get onto the boat, as small of a feat as it may be. But it was the hand cradling the small of your back that brought you back to reality. Your gaze darted up to his eyes, but quickly averted, looking anywhere but his face. 

"Thanks." A curt word of gratitude as you released his shirt from your nails and pressed your palms into his pecks to put some distance between the two of you. 

Taehyung just nodded, taking the hint and releasing you as he remained standing. He made sure you safely sat yourself down on the small wooden bench near the center of the boat, your back to the man that was waiting for Taehyung to sit down so he could start the journey. 

You glanced behind you, seeing the older gentleman's expression almost blank of emotion. You wondered what it was he was seeing. Clearly he couldn't see you, so what was he watching? Did he just see a strange guy enter his boat and enact a scene as if helping another person inside when there was no one around? If that was the case, he probably thought Taehyung was mentally unstable. Which at times, maybe he was, you thought jokingly.

It made you start to wonder what it was everyone saw when he would interact with you. There had been a few times you'd watched him engage with the general public and, thinking back on it, they had never really acknowledging you. A scuff escaped your lips as you realized how easy it was not to notice all of those times. You were used to be being overlooked and ignored, but you hadn't realized that people had been doing it because they actually couldn't see you over the fact that they just simply didn't care to notice you. 

At the coffee shop, you had never really interacted with the barista. You didn't order your own drink that day, Taehyung had. She hadn't even offered a 'you're welcome' when you had thanked her for that newspaper. Your mother had been crying in the doorway to the kitchen, but despite your attempts to calm her down, she just walked away. The ramen shop. The waitress never once spoke to you, and once again Taehyung placed the order for two instead of letting you try and speak to her yourself, and despite her brash attitude, she never once responded to your bold claims against her flirtatious attitude, though she had ended up looking your way. When you had called your mother on the payphone, desperately seeking help, she acted as if she couldn't hear a thing. It was only when you called Taehyung did someone finally acknowledge you. 

It was starting to piece together now, and you began to feel a bit foolish for not realizing it sooner. The signs were there from the very start, but you had just been too blind to notice.