"izumi, what are you doing here?" izumi's eyes glanced over to the boy stood beside her before closing them again.
"i should be the one asking you that, seungmin." izumi sighed. seungmin took a seat on the swing next to her, using his feet to lightly swing back and forth a little.
"here." izumi opened her eyes once again, turning her head this time to face him. he held out a chocolate milk, sipping on his own banana milk. she didn't know how seungmin knew that she needed comforting at this moment, but she was grateful for it.
"how did you know i'd be here?" she questioned, accepting the milk.
"i didn't. that's for my sister." he explained after izumi had already stabbed the straw in.
"yah, you could've said that sooner. why are you offering me it if it's for your sister?" izumi questioned, trying to give it back to him but seungmin waved her off.
"have it, you look like you need it anyway. i'll get her another one on my way back." seungmin shrugged. izumi sighed, not wanting to argue any further, she began sipping on the cold beverage.
a silence enveloped the two as they stared at the bright night sky, gently swinging back and forth. "so, will you be telling me why you're out here so late at night by yourself?" seungmin questioned, finally breaking the silence.
izumi sighed, her gaze falling down to her lap. "well, i just found out..." izumi pursed her lips, unable to word it so her secret doesn't get out. it was ironic, she was getting angry at her father for keeping it a secret, when she did the exact same thing.
"found out?" seungmin questioned.
"nothing, it's nothing." izumi shook her head, pressing on a smile to reassure him. however, seungmin wasn't buying it one bit.
"izumi, i can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." izumi couldn't help but mentally chuckle, she had the same argument the other night with felix. the young girl sighed, she was such a hypocrite.
"i know, i just don't know where to begin." she mumbled, frustrated at herself.
"how about from the beginning?" izumi nodded, sitting up straight. she turned to seungmin, her serious gaze immediately worried him. he wasn't used to this type of expression coming from her.
"i'm about to tell you something i haven't told anyone. i'm a hundred percent serious and i'm also very scared to tell you, but please believe me, okay?" seungmin gulped, nodding his head.
"okay." izumi sighed, turning back around so she was facing straight ahead.
"i know when you'll die."
silence.
seungmin blinked twice, processing izumi's words. "you can what now?" he questioned, looking over at the girl. he was hoping that it was some sort of joke, but her expression was too serious to take it as a joke.
"i know when you'll die. i know when everyone will die." she repeated. seungmin blinked again, trying to understand what izumi meant, but nothing was adding up.
"izumi, what are you saying?" izumi took in a deep breath, preparing herself to finally tell someone the truth that had been eating her away since she figured it out.
"i have an ability that allows me to see timers above your heads which show me how long you have until you die." izumi explained in one breath, closing her eyes as she hoped that seungmin had barely heard it.
it took time to process, but he was definitely astonished by the sudden news. "timer? so, there's a number above my head telling you how many days i have left?" he questioned. izumi nodded, looking over at him to see his expression.
"crazy, right?" she chuckled, finding her own words unbelievable too. seungmin wasn't listening as he tried to piece everything together. his eyes suddenly widened, realising one big thing. "what is it?" izumi questioned, noticing his surprised expression.
"is this why you blame yourself for that day?" he questioned. izumi's gaze fell down to her lap, meekly nodding her head.
"that's why i'm out here actually." she mumbled. she sighed, looking back up at the sky as she attempted to blink back her tears. "i found out that my father has the same ability. he knew too," izumi chuckled, tears escaping her eyes no matter how hard she tried to hold it back. "he knew, but still let me blame only myself. he didn't say anything, he could've done something, but he-"
izumi exhaled as seungmin rubbed her back in comfort. "he let her leave with jisung." izumi mumbled, sniffling.
"it isn't your fault izumi. even if you both knew, you said yourself that your mother had been suicidal for so long. what could you have done?" seungmin questioned. "if your mother wasn't in the right state of mind, then trying to take jisung back would've made her even more unstable, it was clear to you both that jisung was close with her, right? you thought that jisung would calm her down, you had no idea what the outcome was so you can't blame yourself."
izumi covered her face with her hands as she could feel the tears never ending. "i could've saved him. i should've still done something, i shouldn't have risked his life like that." izumi cried, sobs escaping in between her words.
seungmin couldn't say anything. he knew that in that moment she didn't need advice, but instead comfort from a friend. and that was what seungmin was going to do.
seungmin was probably the only one; other than jeongin, who had seen izumi's broken side. the tears and the self hatred that izumi hid behind a smile, seungmin was the one who had seen it all. but he could do nothing to help her, he didn't know how to.
he wasn't any knight in shining armour that could save her from her darkness, but he can help her back onto her feet when she's fallen over.