celestial strings | h.js

one.

Jisung wanted to comment on the event but he clasped his mouth shut instead. He didn't know what to say. Nothing felt appropriate at the moment, not even a simple 'I am sorry for what happened' because it did happen and it was terrible. An overused, sympathetic line would not suffice for anything.

"The family of each election candidate is supposed to attend that ceremony. You can imagine how big and glorified the process actually is–everyone is supposed to be there! But I couldn't because I got the flu that day." You glanced down at your hands, where you squeezed your nailed to the skin of your palm as a sore laugh left your throat. "People like to tell me I got lucky that I wasn't there. But you know... sometimes, I kind of wish I had been there."

What was it like? Hwondered. What was it like to receive that many death news in one goes? Were you too sick and too young to comprehend it at that time? Had you been sleeping the night away, only to wake up and find out you've been isolated from the world completely? Were you lucky to have slipped away from death's grip or were you unlucky to have lost everyone you've loved at such a young age?

"Since everyone was dead and the only person who could replace my father's place was stuck in a long coma that I am not smart enough to reverse, I thought they would elect someone else," you said, then you shook your head as a dissatisfied expression confused your face. "But they didn't. They waited a few years until I turned ten, then they started to force me to learn about everything the council stands for."

Jisung furrowed his brows. "What about that? Is that bad?"

"I didn't think so originally but I am slowly coming to an understanding now," you told him, your tone gradually lowering as you started to glare at the empty air. "My family has always done well in the council. It is so much easier for our family to gain trust from people because we rarely mess up. It is one of the reasons why one of us is always elected to be on the council."

"But, with this sudden mess, the other households finally saw a chance of breaking the pattern, and that was through me." You pointed at yourself. "Working with people so much older than me and who has more knowledge about the inner-workings of the council than I do, who is it to say that they won't fuck me over? And if they do successfully mess me up, my failure will inevitably lead to the downfall of my family's reputation, even though only two of us are left now."

Jisung's jaw dropped in thoughts. He was piecing the information together now and, thankfully, it was much easier to understand than he expected it to, albeit definitely much more dramatic.

"Besides, I don't even want to be in the council. The whole authority thing just doesn't sit well with me, even if I am the one having it." You shivered with a grimace. "But it doesn't seem like I've got a choice. I tried my best to give them shit for trying to teach me anything but that was proven to be unsuccessful."

It is for sure troublesome to have a child who is unwilling to obey, but it is even worse to have an adult who refuses to listen. Everything you did, including trying to straight-up ignore those who attempted to pamper you to be qualified enough, has gone completely unnoticed on purpose.

"Eventually, I decided to just pack my bags and leave for good," you sighed, a troublesome pout forming on your lips. "It is hard for me to visit my uncle now. I can't guarantee I won't get caught if I go back, so I haven't seen him for some time. I doubt that he had woken up, though. I am pretty sure people are pulling strings to make sure he never does."

Jisung clicked his tongue as if he was the one with an uncle laying on his almost death-bed. Just listening to the story was infuriating for him; if he had the power to beat those adults asses, he definitely would do it. Not just for you but for the greater good of the city those people have much control over as well.

You laughed at his scoff. "Yeah. me too. But it doesn't matter much now. I am here, he is there. There is almost nothing I can do about the situation, so I am focusing on laying low and making sure I won't have to run off somewhere else anytime sooner."

Jisung fiddled with his fingers. His head was hung low in thought, thinking about the possibility of you ever being discovered. He certainly wouldn't hope for you to leave. Mostly because he would want you to stay, that thought deriving from very friendly reasons. But also because he would love for you be to able to settle down somehow.

Find a home, perhaps. And find people who could and would take care of you; that was an important goal on the bucket list he made on your behalf. Frowning a little, Jisung's mind twinkled within the obscurity that if you permitted him, the boxes on the list would have long been checked off.

Not once did the thought crossed his mind that he may be put in harm's way simply by being your friend. Frankly, to calculate the harm a victim can do unto you immediately after they have told you their story was indecent to him. He was more humane than that. He has better morale than that.

Things were pretty much out and clear now. At the very least, he thought he knew what he should know. Not that he wouldn't dig deeper into your traumatic childhood experiences. He most definitely would like the share the burden a little if allowed, but the night felt too full already and he didn't feel like adding more pressure to it anymore.

"Okay," he responded quietly to accommodate the night time. "Thank you for telling me everything."

"You are welcome." You offered him a faint and unsure smile.

Jisung was taking things too well for your expectations, and you have told him a lot more than what you have told previous people. You only used to talk about your magic, never about your family. No one was ever interested in your family. Pursing your lips, there came a thought that maybe Jisung was different than everybody else. From the way he reacted to your story, to the way you always feel this strong magnetic pull towards him.

What was up with that? You still have not figured out why you felt so drawn toward him.

"[Name]?" Jisung called, tilting his head to the side questioningly. When you looked at him, he asked, "Are you feeling okay? Do you want to go to bed?"

"I'm fine, it's just... I didn't tell you anything about the strings, actually," you muttered. "Just thought you might want to know."

Jisung laughed after a moment, his eyes widening in realization. You had branched off from his initial question and he forgot what he asked because of the intensity of the information dump. Grinning at you, he shrugged with a dismissive wave, "You can tell me tomorrow! Just go to sleep, on the bed. Sleep on the bed."

You gave him a furrow of your brows as protest, and you tilted your head when he stubbornly held your gaze.

"Okay, fine." You rolled your eyes, turning around to adjust the pillow on the bed so you could lie down after Jisung left for his desk.

Covering yourself with the blanket, you felt a rush of fluff drowning down your chest. The warmth and the softness of this little cocoon you've created was none that you'd ever thought you could have again. You pulled at the hem until it reached your shoulders, and you peered over at Jisung slightly.

The lamp illuminated his back, almost as if casting a natural glow around his heavenly self. Your heart slowed down at the peaceful sight and you fidgeted with your mind to check whether you wanted to say something.

"Um... Jisung?"

He turned at your timid voice, brows raised in concern, "Yeah?"

"Thank you for not being weird about this," you said.

Jisung softened, his grip on the pencil lightening up and the eraser tip tapped against his textbook. Whatever has left you with the impression that you needed to thank people for not acting out on a life you didn't choose to live, he wished you had never needed to go through that again. And all that life has thrown at you by far, he wished you never had to go through that again either.

"Yeah, of course," he replied with a mutter.

You gave him faint snores as a response, and Jisung breathed out a short laugh of relief. He left the blessing of a good night's sleep for the dimming of his lamp and the fact that he would be just a few steps away if anything were to happen.