Meridian ◈ Seungjin

19 ◈ A Little Bit Different

His steps were light against the concrete walkways.

Above him, the solid steel street lamps dotting the sides curled in to illuminate the path of distant wanderers finding solace in the disquiet of the sleepy hour. A violet blotched the sky, smeared with a galaxy spurring wanderlust and pricked with glistening bursts of enigmas existing beyond the grasp of a common man. The sun which protected the world dipped below the horizon.

Far, it dived past the surface tension of the crashing waves to be submerged in an eternal night, to sleep as the Titans once had when they carried it's weight upon their backs. Shadows stretched long in the wake of the artificial lamps, attempting to chase down the bursting enemy they ran from in the day time. It's absence, brought upon a cycle for the nightlight of the moon, helped usher in the monsters which shadows hid from. Even their umbral forms, dusted on the floor, had a beast to fear. When the sun was away, there was no one left to protect them.

Hyunjin tabbed at his soft drink newly gained from one of the many vending machines on campus. Since agreeing to assist Seungmin in his death warrant, there were a few things he realized he could consume without an issue. Water was one, certain liquids but specifically carbonated soft drinks, and strangely enough, salted crackers. The remainder of sustenance was out of the question, except of course, the one which threw them into this issue in the first placr. With the angering thought, he violently yanked the tab back and the can opened with a resonant pop, followed by a hiss protesting the force as he carefully sipped at the carbonated drink to pass the time though he knew the caffeine would most likely keep him awake.

Even if curfew came soon, there was a reason he was out on the grounds at this hour of day instead of in his dorm room preparing to rest for the night. Namely, his roommates. Chan and Changbin. With the former being a social butterfly at every moment he could get, his chatter usually kept them up. And Changbin...

His grip around the soft drink tightened. He emptied the rest of the can and tossed it into the nearest garbage bin, pace quickening as he began his final patrolling lap around campus in the crisp dusk air. Lazily, he swayed side to side as he drifted towards one of the two brick dorm buildings standing tall above their heads. An impossible rock wall to scale the side of. Though the white ledges protruding from the windowsills might act as a stable foothold, if the experienced climber was risky enough to step on the placement barely wide enough to balance a palm on. Maybe that's a challenge Minho could take on one day. When no one else is watching.

Unfocused on the world ahead of him, he rounded one of the many corners leading around the dorm buildings to the other paths stretching around the academy campus. Only for him to collide with a solid obstacle. Immediately, Hyunjin lurched back from the blindspot of the corner and from whatever object he managed to bump into. His nose was assaulted with a familiar aroma. Like a warmed cinnamon bun, drizzled with a sweetened icing designed to create tooth pains and headaches. Before he had the pleasure of spotting the person for himself, he already knew who it was.

Jisung was standing in the pathway like a deer caught in the headlights of a semi truck; Both eyes widened and stretched beyond terrifying limits, the jittering pupils shooting around their darkened surroundings, unable to take in enough information; His skin, clammy and pale, snapping away it's color as if he was nothing more than a lost ghost running under the artificial lights until someone was able to recognize it's ghoulish existence; His arms were clutched tightly to his body, both curled in a way to protect his chest but they weren't folded over one another. Simply defensive, unwilling to move, and prepared to fight with whoever dared to touch him; And finally, his hands were trembling.

Though, Hyunjin couldn't tell if the unusual jumpiness was from their collision, or if there was something that put the human into his current state. The second wasn't likely.