The Train Of Life [NCT Dream]

the strength

-

The train had come to a calm rumble and it felt like a dream. Was it over? It wasn't because the moment you were able to open your eyes, you realized that you were no longer on the ground but in the sky.

Everything was surging up, up, and away.

You knew better than to question this whole experience so you looked beyond the horizon and you take note of how hard it is to breathe. But this is not suffocating like how you felt with Renjun. It felt heavy yet liberating, like you could make an offer to the heavens.

"The only offer you should have made with was to the one before me."

Once again, with the voices and their greetings. The male who stood by the cabin had glasses on. They were thick-rimmed and they bordered his pupils. He has the universe in his eyes, you found yourself thinking. There were specks of black and brown and he was wearing suspenders.

Blue suspenders and a white shirt underneath. His pants were a light beige and his cheekbones were sculpted to the point you wondered why God had favorites. He seemed to be just a head taller than you. You took a seat, ready for the next therapy session to start with him.

He laughed. "Therapy, alright." He seemed younger than you, but not as young as Innocence was.

"I am the one who comes after one makes peace with reality. I am what everybody needs," he voiced and it was like a game to you, thinking of the things he might be. Integrity? Determination? Endurance? His lips lifted up, words entering your mind at the possible things he could be.

"Close," he pronounced, allowing you to believe that he was everything that you had listed in your head. "I'm Mark."

Mark, you repeated his name in your mind. So simple yet so strong.

"I am what brings you through the storms, Miss." He speaks like a child, yet an adult at the same time. His energy is pure yet timeless and it leaves you confused. "Tell me, what do you do when you're in pain?"

"I mourn silently," you answer honestly, Mark snickering slightly at your answer.

"Why would you mourn?" he asked. "Pain does not mean the death of happiness; it simply means you've moved away from it for a moment."

"Throughout this whole train ride, I've realized that all of you say the same thing." You cleared your throat. "You all keep saying happiness will come back to me."

"Because it's a promise that it will. Time is never-ending," Mark snapped his suspenders and you wanted to thank him for his open-mouthed smiles that made you feel a surge of motivation. You couldn't remember the last time you smiled like that. "But we tell you, don't we? That it is not here to stay."

You nod at his words. "My best days are yet to come and to go."

"That's why you need me," he replied slyly, a hand going to nudge your shoulder as he would a friend. "Some flowers bloom at night and they may be different, but they bloom just the same. Look, a shooting star!"

"In the day?" you asked, distracted by his words and he frowned at you.

"It's nighttime somewhere else in this world," he told you and you agreed. "Can you see it?"

No, you did not see it, but because he looked so excited you said you did. He chuckled as if he knew that you were lying but he let it pass. He reached out over the window and with a palm in the air, you felt a pull.

You stared in awe when a sparkly star landed in the palm of his hand, Mark bringing it closer to both of you.

"This is for you," he finally said. "I must leave."

"You're leaving already?" you asked, his stay much shorter than the rest. His shoulders shook as he laughed.

"You already have me, my lady. You just needed to be reminded that you had me in you." He tilted his palm downwards and you opened up your hands, the star dropping down from his. "Before I leave, I must ask you to bring it with you wherever you go."

"The star?" you ask and he shook his head before pointing at himself and bounding towards the carriage. "I don't even know what you are yet, Mark!"

He turned and gave you a final wave.

"I am strength!" he called out, and with that, the train dropped down to the ground and he vanished like the rest of them.