'Summer Breeze' - SF9
Unedited
.•*•.•*•.•*•.*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.
It was after college. Zayn was getting ready to meet Syra at the mall. He was standing in front of his wardrobe, debating on what to wear. Yes - the same person who wouldn't even look twice in the mirror after pulling out some random shit. He barely wore jeans - the boys in London didn't seem to know what they were - unless there was a special occasion. He only owned hoodies and T shirt and bottoms - but he had a nice range of those so his fashion sense wasn't so shit.
In the end he opted for a black Balenciaga hoodie with light blue jeans, and his black Adidas zx flux with the smoke design on them. He even switched up his jewellery - his normal chain replaced by a thicker base choker chain, matching bracelet one on hand and the monogrammed bracelet on the other. He decided to keep his plain silver rings on. On his left hand he wore one on his middle finger and one on his pinky. On his right he wore one on his index finger and one on his ring finger. When he got married, he planned to switch them around so he wore his wedding ring on his ring finger on his left hand - but no one needed to know that.
Now for his hair. Normally he just rubbed in some leave in conditioner and mussed it up, but this time he combed it back, still keeping it a bit messy with a few strands here and there, like the signature Zayn Malik style with the one strand in his face. He rubbed on some nice smelling beard conditioner too. He shaped up his beard every day anyways - it grew so quick.
He wasn't one of those boys who thought doing skincare was gay - his mum gave them all cleansers, moisturisers and sunscreen - but that's where he drew the line; his skin was fine he didn't need no sticky shit on his face for fifteen minutes. A quick spritz of cologne and he set off downstairs to go wear his shoes, not before grabbing his wallet and lighter. He looked at his dirt bike keys longingly.
"Well well well. Itni tayaari kiske liye?" asked Ammi after she saw him putting on his shoes. (So much preparation for who?)
Great. He was trying to quickly leave to avoid confrontation. He was out all day alone or at his thingy so his parents didn't get to question him but it had been a while since he went out dressed properly. He definitely wasn't going to admit the truth, however.
"Just to meet someone. Nothing special," he replied. Yeah right, he scoffed mentally.
"Well I assume it's no girl as you so vehemently rejected the idea of getting married young before." said Aboo.
"Umm, yeah," he said, unsure. Before he'd scoffed at the idea of love - he imagined settling down with a decent woman in the future but now he only saw Syra. And he knew the only way to keep her in his life was the proper way, the halal way. (Permissible).
.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.
Zayn exited the bus which stopped just a few shops ahead of the mall he was going to meet Syra. He saw her walking down just as he got off. She wore a navy silk slip dress, reaching her ankles with a black shirt underneath, along with her signature black scarf. She wore laced up black ankle boots and a shoulder bag. Ma Sha Allah, he thought. They met each other at the entrance.
"Salam," she greeted, smiling, pulling his gaze down to the curve of her luscious lips, the pointy cupids bow.
"Walaikumasalam. You look... really good," he answered. She looked way more than just really good but he didn't want to scare her off.
"Thanks. So do you. So where are we heading?"
"I was thinking we grab a quick milkshake and head to the balcony upstairs to chat,"
"Sure," and they set off.
Once settled opposite each other in a more secluded part of the balcony on the second, they made small talk about college and family until one mentioned what happened the other day.
"Zayn... why do you do it? I just, I don't understand," she spoke, concern and confusing etching her features, her mouth drawn in a line, her fingers linked together tightly.
"Lame reasons. I wasn't even that stripped for cash. I wanted my own money so I can leave my house the moment I'm done with my A levels - cuz I don't want to be around people who see me as a disappointment. This was a quick way - who'd wanna employ an inexperienced and underage guy for a good job? I have no qualifications; I do have a legal job, but I receive such little money. It's just foolishness, greediness and selfishness," he said, just saying whatever came to his mind. Not even he knew the actual reason for starting the illegal activities.
"When did you start?" her eyes were soft, no judgement. He relaxed a little.
"Close to my GCSE exams. Earlier this year - Jan or Feb. I was sixteen then. I've wanted to stop ever since the Summer holidays. Yet I'm still here. The money is defo not worth all that, it really isn't."
"You should've told your friends earlier. But at least now they are willing to help you. I would too, but I feel like I'll end up more as a liability than any help,"
she laughed without humour, her eyes bright.
"Syra - about that - if you -" she cut him off.
"I suppose you want to hear how I ended up in Jaxon's clutches. Well, before I wasn't so much of a saint. I was one of those girls who took of my hijab the moment I left my house - my parents would not force me to wear it if I took it off but I was too cowardly to face them. I was meeting a boy. Some guy I met at an event or sum, he asked for my snap and I, being an absolute idiot, gave it. You could easily tell by the tags tattooed on his body that he was part of some sorta organisation. I -" her voice cracked as she struggled to reign in her emotions.
"Don't hold your emotions in. Let it go. Who am I to judge." Zayn soothed her. Normally he would've easily panicked at the sight of an emotional girl, but this ain't no girl - this was his Syra.
Her emerald eyes glistened with tears, slowly slipping down her smooth caramel skin. Zayn wanted nothing more than to reach out and dry her tears, to hold her in his arms and comfort her, protect her. But that was not his place. Not now. He only hoped his expression was one of sympathy but he doubted it, he wasn't used to this. He fished out a couple of tissues from his pocket and handed them over, their fingers brushing ever so slightly. They snatched their hands away as if electrocuted; like a spark ignited at their contact.
She continued, "He asked to meet around seven. Missed that blatant red flag. I told my parents I was at my friends, and she almost too willingly covered for me. It was later on that I pieced together that they both were working together - apparently some guy she was after liked me. Tf.
Anyways, I didn't mind going cuz it was still summer; the sky didn't darken so quickly. He gave me an address of a building, said there was a party going - and with the atmosphere within the building it didn't seem like he was lying. I met him a little away from the entrance but he didn't take me straight to the entrance, he took me around. At this point I was suspicious but I felt like it was too late to run. I should've. He takes me to a room where it's just us, and it's like an office. He tells me to sit while he gets something. He goes and that's the last I see of him. Two bulky men come in and demand that I remove my bag and coat. Thanks god I wore no party clothes - just jeans and a shirt. I was scared shitless so I did whatever they told me to do. Then they tied me up and waited for their boss to come.
Jaxon. He comes and tells where we really are. Explains the whole planning with my friend and the boy. The whole prostitution thing. And explains I'm one of the special volunteers. That he was keeping me for him and his associates with similar high positions. I was so sickened. So scared. I still remember the feeling. I still struggle to sleep, to be alone in the dark. I think he was gonna do - do something to me right then, but thank god he was called away. He orders his men to blindfold and gag me, and they take me to the basement. I stayed there for god knows how long, till you found me. You found me and I wished I hadn't lost you then, but here we are," she ended on a lighter note, trying to smile through her tears.
I wish I hadn't lost you then.
He didn't completely understand what she was trying to get at. He had no time to dwell on it because his kind swirled with an undeniable rage at her friend and this boy. He was going to find him. He didn't give a shit. His stomach churned when he thought about how he almost didn't go that day. If he hadn't - there's no point beating yourself up about the past. Focus now. Help her.
"Syra. I wish - I wish I could comfort you the way I want to. I know you haven't told anyone and it was eating you up inside. And I'm very thankful that you chose to confide in me. Tell your family - they love you -" and so do I - "- and they can help you get through this. So will I. Needing help doesn't make you weak. But bearing such a heavy burden on your own will only destroy you on the inside. And you're so strong for coming this far. You were tricked into it by that sick bastard - not because you were out defying and lying to your parents - yes that was wrong but that didn't mean you deserve what happened or what would've happened if I hadn't come. Stop punishing yourself. Move onto healing yourself. Focus on you - surround yourself with your family and friends and they will support you, kasmeh." he spoke from his heart, surprised at the clarity of his words, the conviction in his voice.
He wasn't one for motivational speeches; he was saying whatever came to his mind. Funny how he should also be taking such advice from himself; and he saw Syra thinking along the same lines.
"Thank you. I really appreciate that. A lot. It feels better confiding in someone. I'm just scared of being judged you know - a stupid reason. The irony - I'm no longer scared of being judged by society by wearing hijab but by my parents when they find out the reason why I started being more attentive as a Muslim and a daughter and sister. But, Zayn, you really gotta take ya own advice. Tell your family about your situation. Please -"
"Look - sorry for interrupting - I do plan on telling my siblings, the older ones, so they are aware and in case I need their help. But my parents? They'll try to stop me to protect me, which is what any parent would do but that'd bring about suspicions and they'd bother me and my family. They shouldn't pay the price for my stupid actions. I will, I deserve to, but never them. Once it's solved I will come clean to them."
Syra pursed her lips, digesting his words. He knew she didn't agree, but she didn't argue his point - he was being reasonable. Instead she asked something that he wasn't prepared for,
"Did you do drugs?"
He was stunned into silence. He answered after a bit,
"Yeah,"
When she didn't reply, he added,
"I helped transport them. And I used to go to shisha lounges - but these ones were private so they prolly did add certain restricted substances. I felt funny afterwards. I stopped that after I stopped doing the dodgy delivery cuz I was no longer permitted. I - I know if that didn't happen I would've gotten addicted to whatever that was. Not the shît like crystal, ecstasy, brown or coke - but like marijuana - cannabis. I started doing vape after that - to get something similar to those shisha lounges. The normal ones didn't have the same feel so that's how I knew the other ones had some shit mixed in. I'm trying to stop vaping - it's getting hard hiding my breath from my parents. The last time I did was a week before I met you - I'm trying not to go back to it."
"If you took a urine test would it...?" she faltered.
"If you had marijuana in the last month, then the urine test would show I have marijuana in my system.
But I stopped that a while ago, in the summer. The hair test - that's 90 days - I'd test clean as well. But nicotine - it would come up. Not in the urine test - I've stopped that for longer than 15-20 days - but the hair test. I want to be clean for 90 days before I try go to the authorities about the prostitution cuz my vape pen wasn't nicotine-free."
He stopped, realising how much of a hypocrite he sounded. Waiting till he was drug free to rat others out. The irony. He felt ashamed about all his knowledge of these drugs and drug tests. Going out of his way to prevent getting caught. Bile rose in his stomach - what had he become? He'd promised he'd never do drugs after the shisha incident. He wasn't ready to admit he was still taking nicotine underage. He was too humiliated with himself to meet Syra's eyes, she had every right to hate him, to be revolted by him. He was one of those who had tried to hurt her - whether he rescued her or not. He was just like them.
"Zayn - I have a proposal. You helped me now I help you. I want to. Don't hate yourself. You have to stop hating yourself in order to learn from your mistakes. It's funny how I'm basically saying what you said to me back to you. I don't know if I'm imagining this - this, idk - understanding between us - but I think I know I don't want you to disappear from my life after this International Day thingy ends. Call it a coincidence, but I see it as qismat - you freed me from the basement and freed me from my thoughts, and I don't think it'll let us drift apart - it'll bring us back together, regardless of the circumstances. Our qismat is interwoven - how? That only God knows,"
Zayn stared at her, utterly stunned. She wanted him in her life. Holy hell. She definitely wasn't imagining anything - not even a twat would miss what you as happening between them. He was about to answer her until her phone rung. She looked at him, apologetic.
"I'm just at the mall. Okay. Alrightttt," she spoke into the phone.
"I gotta go, sorry. I'm sure we'll get to continue talking about this. But now that we've got the main story from each other we won't have to worry about anyone knowing what we are talking about. See you tomorrow,"
And she was gone, leaving him with her scent of lavender and his raging thoughts.
.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.
Experienced MAJOR writers block at the start of this chapter & got carried away reading other books.
Do u guys read the Shadowhunter series? It's a masterpiece. Legit. Can't describe how amazing it is. Recently one of the trilogies second book came out The Last Hours - Chain Of Iron - AND IT ENDED IN A CLIFF HANGER. AND THE NEXT BOOK COMES OUT NEXT YEAR! AM I SUPPOSED TO DIE AND COME BACK TO LIFE TILL THEN? I think about it every night before going sleep -_- tell me I ain't alone.
Another one my favourites at the top. SF9 is one of the most unique and underrated group in Kpop - their music is different - wait till I show you Good Guy and RPM by them.
Bruh I wanna start writing the second book cuz the ideas are like bursting in my head but I'm just jotting them down for now. I even begun planning the third book but I definitely cannot start that as the plot for this book needs to be set in solid, you get me? And I write this as I go.
Bro I'm so excited to write the rest of this book, you guys don't even know.
Also am I the only British person who kinda wants to use the word 'y'all', like???? Idk I just rlly like it. It sounds bad with our accents but I don't mind typing it u get me. :)
2880 words!