armour (minsung)

chapter 16

seungmin

it was a dreary tuesday, clouds spreading across the sky like a cover on a bed - it's materials encompassing the exapanse with it's myriad of colours.

the raindrops fell in the pattern of a song unwritten and unrecorded - a constant beat to accompany the busy, bustling life of the people which went on even on such a day when nature had come to lay her emotions bare.

the cracked sidewalk looked no different than any other day, the only thing setting it apart being the soft pattering of relentless rainfall against it.

the black and white of the zebra crossing stretching across the tarmac endured the wheels of a few more vehicles before the signal changed to red to put an end to it's agony.

i raised my eyes from where it had been trained to the cracked asphalt coating the pavement to behold a heavenly sight.

him.

time stopped and stared, the atmosphere shifted a bit; from loud and unforgiving to soft and sweet, welcoming almost.

a myriad of emotions jostled within me; each distinct and vivid; each demanding attention, demanding to be noticed.

the familiar, but faraway feeling of awe was present, but so was the heavy weight of sadness, for i knew that i'd never see him again.

his hair billowed softly against his shoulder, caressing it with a gentle touch.

his all black ensemble looked fit for a funeral; and if he were to attend one, let it be my sanity's; for he had plucked it away from it's nest and threw it to the wind without a care in this world.

his eyes encaptured mine, pulling them to a trance and holding it there.

had we been nearer, it would be dangerous territory, but across the expanse of a bustling street, it felt safe; secure almost.

the stranger bumping into my shoulder from behind me broke my trance, shook my hastily constructed shrine to it's core.

i started to walk, stepping ahead. when we crossed each other, the hurt in my heart became prominent.

i turned back to let my eyes rest on him features one last time, and he had looked back for some unfathomable reason.

a soft smile was exchanged, as one would be between strangers.

and then we looked forward and continued walking, my newfound feelings buried in my heart as we turned to strangers once again.

---

hyunjin

i did not have the heart to tell him that we were not strangers.

not strangers at all.

i may have been a stranger to him, but he was not one to me, not after invading my thoughts for nights at an end.

i had caught glimpses of him at school; across the hallways and at the opposite end of the canteen.

i had seen him.

but he never spared even a glance in my direction.

it was almost as if i was forbidden to him, like a cigarette to a lung cancer patient; only providing whimsical happiness and leaving a disastrous consequence to their health, and i probably was.

people of his stature did not mix well with mine.

he was purity in all it's glory, i was the shadows that made his purity prominent.

he was a lily in the mud, a beauty surrounded by muck, and all i could ever hope to be was one of the countless gudgeons surrounding it, never touching in fear of contaminating him.

he was all i ever wanted, a prince's palace in a pauper's dream.

it would be an outright lie to say that it didn't hurt to stay away from him.

it was as fatal as staying away from the air that bestows us with this life to cherish, but as necessary as the air, for the inevitable rejection would only cause further damage to my already broken heart.

that day, on the street, i had looked back to check if it was really him who had looked at me like i held the cure to the whole world's misery.

i had felt intimidated by the stare; i felt unworthy and small, like it was only an assumption that lead me to believe that.

but it also felt peaceful, like home and comfort, and like the woods; dangerous territory but open for all to build a nest, to take a life.

and we had successfully remained strangers for a long time, before our teacher had enough of me pining after him and decided to make us seatmates.

one glance at his face was enough to see that he recognized me.

his eyes took up the universe's place to to hold up all the galaxies, to home all the stars.

he looked at me like i was worth looking at, and not like i was a mere speck of dust.

the first words were never easy, but they lead me to let me call him mine.

---

812 words

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did i just take a hiatus and return with a 800+ word chapter?

yes. yes i did.

aLSO OUR SCHOOL PUBLISHED A SKZ FANFICTION IN THE LITERATURE BOOK WRITTEN BY THE STUDENTS I CANNOT STOP WHEEZING TF??!?!!!!?!!!!!????!?

um chile anyways.

yeet.