Phoenix: Blow a spark || ATEEZ

16| Stranger

Wordcount; 1,000 words

Earth rocked, calming under his feet at the path where he was walking. It felt nice breathing in the cool autumn air while he took in his colorful surroundings. The boy let a small smile rise to his lips when he saw a little chirping bird flying from a branch. Now it was quiet, almost too calm for what had happened earlier this day. But it was nice, nature must be feeling at peace, which affected his own feelings deeply.

A couple of other people were walking by, but Jongho didn't mind them. He squatted down at the rim of the path and placed his hand at the damp surface, feeling the ground's energy surge up through his body. His mind felt at peace, something great must happen right now. Perhaps that was a good sign for his friend group to finally heal.

"Miracles," he mumbled for himself, not really aware of what he said.

Then his eyes caught sight of a small animal that slowly came closer. Four legs gently crawled across the dew grass, eyes searching curiously and tail following its small body. Jongho smiled at the little squirrel and placed his other hand on the ground beside the other. He wanted to show the little guy that he wouldn't hurt him. The squirrel stopped a half meter in front of him, an innocent look in his eyes as he lifted his head and sniffed the air. When he didn't feel any fears, he came up the last way and smelled Jongho's back of his hand before it went to look up at him again.

"Hello to you too, little friend," Jongho whispered in a calm way.

The squirrel was frozen in his motions when he slowly took in Jongho's voice. The boy smiled, as it caught eye contact with him, but in the next moment, the little guy peeked his head up high and scrambled away again. Jongho didn't feel sad about it, but instead, he held his smile and followed the animal with his eyes until it disappeared up in one of the treetops again. Just a second more, he held his hands at the ground before he lifted them again. They were wet and dirty now, but he simply just shook them and scrubbed them together. He didn't really care.

A tapping sound echoed in the background of the lazily rustling leaves and he turned his head around to the sound. Slowly, he rose from the ground.

His eyes stuck at the person that calmly walked down the path in the park without really minding anything other than his own business. Jongho squinted his eyes slightly, trying to get a look at the person's appearance, as he couldn't really see them. He certainly didn't knew why, but the closer the stranger got, the more his heartbeat rose. Soon he realized how the stranger was holding around a white cane and by that made his way through the park. It was a boy, maybe around his own age or even younger, but the first thing he noticed about his facial appearance, was his blue-ish eyes surrounded by fluffy blonde hair. As the boy got closer, Jongho wasn't able to take his eyes off him again. The boy was breathtakingly beautiful, beyond all the people he had seen before. All his sharp but soft features played well along with each other, making him look like he was sculptured into perfectness.

With scratching nerves, Jongho gulped as he watched the stranger now stop a few meters before him. He could see him wrinkle his eyebrows, probably in confusion, making Jongho think if he was staring too much. His eyes fell on the white cane again and then up at the boy's eyes, realizing that the stranger was blind; without the ability to see.

The ground crept under his feet, where he set his steps with pure consideration. He had never seen anyone so neat and elegant with such deep confidence and determination cross his path before. The air was drawn out of him until the oxygen let the flames die out.

Jongho cleared his throat before deciding to speak up.

"Excuse me, may I help you with something," Jongho asked as politely as ever, not wanting to scare the boy away.

But the boy's confused expression didn't halter the smallest, making Jongho slowly drown in his writhing nerves. When the boy didn't say anything, Jongho started considering that his ability to speak wasn't there as well. Perhaps he couldn't hear him?

Relief went through him and stilled some of his raging nerves when he finally heard the boy's voice.

"I wouldn't cross the road at 9.13 pm tonight if I were you."

The wrinkle above the stranger's left eye dove deeper as he informed Jongho.

He didn't understand one bit of the situation, finding the vibrating energies from his surroundings and the stranger very odd.

"Pardon?"

Jongho's feet suddenly felt too cold, as nature held its breath while the foreign boy's words still lingered in the air like an unfinished spell.

Then the boy bowed his head in apology before walking past Jongho, "I'm sorry sir, have a nice day."

Bewildered about everything, Jongho stared after the supposedly blind boy who slowly faded from the path he was standing on. The blonde hair flushing into the autumn hues and the tapping from the white cane disappearing into the distance. A part of Jongho wanted to follow him, asking the boy about what he actually meant by that. But the other part of him decided it would be a foolish play, running after a stranger like that, and not to add, that the stranger didn't even see him. He was probably just one of those weird kids who still believed in fairytales.

Jongho didn't believe his own thoughts of conclusions.

☯