— selfish
it was colder than usual in the streets of seoul, minseo rubbed her palm together to atleast keep her warm but to her dismay, she still felt cold. she doesn't even know what she was doing in that abandoned playground early in the morning. maybe because she misses a certain someone.
sighing, she averted her gaze from the swing and turned her attention to the words carved on a tree. tracing it with her cold hands, she let out a bitter chuckle.
"minnie heart jinnie huh?" an idea popped into her mind as she took a scissor from her bag. carefully, she started to carve something just under the words he did himself. her hands were starting to hurt but she didn't mind. sweat started forming on her forehead as she stick her tongue out and finished her work with a smile on her face.
she dropped the scissor onto the ground as she mentally read the words. she misses him. she misses hyunjin, his laugh, his teasings, his grin, she misses everything about him. the smile slowly faded from her lips at the thought of him.
they weren't okay and she blamed herself for it.
she could already see a glimpse of light in the sky, it was already dawn. a new day means a new hope to begin again and to hope for something different. for her, hyunjin was dawn itself. her life was dull and dark, not a glimpse of hues can be seen in there but when hyunjin entered the picture, she saw light. he was the beginning of something different. she was her dawn, her hope, her light.
minseo looked down at the ground and bit her lip, a tear dropping onto the grass until it was followed by another and another. she can already feel the metallic taste of blood upon biting too hard to keep any sound from escaping. hastily wiping her tears away, she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.
"didn't i tell you to stop doing that?" quickly turning around at the sound of that familiar voice, she wrapped her arms around his waist and cried on his chest. hyunjin heaved out a sigh as he closed his eyes and caressed her hair. he didn't care if his uniform was already soaked with her tears, he will let her cry until she was feeling okay. he will let her tears fall from her eyes but he will always— always be by her side.
minseo was the one who pulled away. she gave him a small smile as she held his hand. "what are doing here?"
hyunjin tightened his hold onto hers as he let out a chuckle "shouldn't i be the one asking you that?" the younger girl pouted at his words.
"i was the one who asked first." his laughter filled the dull area and minseo found herself looking at him with a wide smile on her face. she love seeing him like that, being carefree and happy but she promised herself that she would also be there for him everytime he cries. just like what he did to her.
"it's because i miss you, this place reminds me of us, you know?" he said as he looked away from her gaze.
"i miss you too hyunjin." silence engulfed the both of them as they walked hand in hand towards the swing.
"remember when we watched the sunset together when we first met? i want us to witness the sun rising now." their hold from each other broke as they sat down on the swings.
"i really love your story back then." minseo said as she looked at the sky above.
"my sister told that to me when i was younger."
"you must really love her huh?" she looked at the older boy who has a solemn look on his face.
"i do. i really do." once again, silence surrounded the both of them but it wasn't awkward. having each other's presence was enough for the both of them. no words were needed to be exchanged.
"hyunjin?" she was planning on telling him the words she longed for him to know. at first, she didn't have the courage to tell him those but right now seems to be the right time.
"yeah?" raising his head up, he met her eyes.
"i want to fix every part of you just like what you did to mine." it was those words that rendered him speechless. he can feel his heart beating rapidly on his chest as if it's gonna jump out anytime soon. it wasn't good for he was just being selfish but it feels so right. his friends already warned him, they already told him that he should stay away from her but he can't.
his friends were ignoring him so where would he run to? hwang hyunjin already admitted that he was afraid— no, terrified of being alone. minseo became his sanctuary.
with a wide smile on his face, he reached out for her hands and held it tightly on his own as if he was afraid of letting her go.
"thank you minseo." the girl smiled back at him and asked "are we okay now?" hyunjin nodded like a child and minseo laughed at his cuteness.
"oh by the way." he pointed at the tree with a pout on his face and furrowed eyebrows. "what are the new words written in there?" minseo's cheeks flushed red as she looked away from him.
"y-you— i'll show it to you at the right time." the boy hummed and pinch her cheek. "okay, if you say so."
"look!" together, they witnessed the sun rising. a few months ago, they saw the sun setting, they saw how a day ended and was replaced by night and they witnessed how the sun appeared once again to light the world and keep it warm. looking at their intertwined hands, minseo no longer felt cold.
"hyunjin?"
"i—" she averted her gaze from the boy and smiled at herself. "nevermind." the boy shrugged it off and got up to get his bag.
"let's go now minseo." the younger girl nodded and walked along with him but she remembered that she still has to buy something for an activity today at school. she forgot to buy it on her way home last night.
"you go now hyunjin, i still have to buy something." hyunjin looked a little worried but later nodded when she saw her reassuring smile.
"alright." he leaned in closer. minseo furrowed her eyebrows and her cheeks flushed once again at how close he was. he then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and laughed at her reaction. minseo hit him on his arm.
"don't do that!"
"ouch ouch! okay! geez."
"my heart can't take it everytime you're that close." she thought.
"minnie? be careful okay?" he ruffled her hair one more time before walking on the opposite direction. minseo smiled at his retreating figure and walked her way towards the shop that sells school supplies but after a minute of walking, she felt like someone was observing her every move and was following her.
looking behind her, she saw a black car but she chose to ignored it because maybe it was just a coincidence, instead she walked faster hoping that it would speed past her.
but it didn't.
a man who was covered from head to toe got out from the van and forcefully pulled her along with him.
"let me go!" she struggled against his grip and she succeeded at first but the man pulled her back again before she got away.
"stop being stubborn." he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and covered minseo's nose with it. the last thing she saw was the face of a man smiling wickedly behind his mask before everything went black.
"sleep tight minseo."
—
a/n:
what's your favorite quote so far?
mine's "trouble comes in the brightest
days, what more when it is dark?" :D