Abyss - Kim Seokjin AU Fanfiction

Chapter 7 - Ela

For as long as Ela had known, the room on the top floor of the South building was reserved for the art students. This meant that only fine arts and architecture students whose degrees fall under these departments were allowed to use it. Ela was not one of them. She was not allowed inside the drawing-room but found herself sitting on a chair at the far end of it. This was her safe place. No one came here during the noon hours on Thursdays.

It was always quiet and peaceful. The breeze from the mountain behind the school was cool and blew just enough to keep her pages flat. Here, Ela was worlds away within the pages of the book she read. The bustle of the school gardens always distracted her. There was unnecessary screaming and running around, she could not bear it.

"There you are." Her friend's voice echoed in the empty room. On the doorway stood Arysta Zhao, a long-time friend of hers. She carried with her a gray tote bag, most likely containing her laptop and other tech materials that Ela could not enumerate.

"How did you find me?"

Her friend paused and gave a slight smile. "I guessed. Maybe it's telepathy?" Her hair was flaming red this month. Who knew what it would be for the next. Ela had seen her friend go through different phases and this was perhaps the one that suited her best.

She had known Arysta since primary school. They had been seatmates on the first day of school for a  year she could not recall anymore. Ela was minding her own business when Arysta spotted her pillbox. It had been an opaque pink one with daisy stickers on it. She asked her what was inside and young Ela, afraid of being judged, said that it was candy.

Arys knew for a fact that it had not been candies contained in that pink box. She had seen her brother go through the same situation, eventually taking him away from her for good. Arys always told people she was an only child, and it was true. She was the only child her parents had now.

"Be honest, how did you find me?" Ela said, not lifting her eyes from the page.

"I had a hunch." She lied. Well, not really. As soon as she saw Seokjin walking away from the last room with a smile on his face, she knew where Ela was.

Arys was one of the few people who saw the way Jin looked at her friend. She cursed Ela for being oblivious to it. When she asked her friend's opinion about Jin, Ela would say 'he's alright. I don't think much of him.' Which was true. Ela did not speak about anything other than books and places. She did not like gossip or boy talk. Taking all those pills at such a young age must have altered her perspective somehow.

Arys remembered Jin's face as she walked past him in the hallway.

"She's in the last room isn't she?" She said to him.

Jin looked up at her, his eyes were worried. A nod was all he could give. He continued to take a step forward when Arys spoke again.

"I won't tell her if that's what you're worried about." She said. "But your eyes give you away Kim Seokjin. I doubt you'll be able to hide it for much longer." Arys said, and turned around in the direction of the room where her friend was.

That was the first time Arysta Zhao had been wrong. Jin had not been caught. And when they met years later, he gave her a smirk that said: I win.

They were eighteen. And that had been eight years ago.

* * * * * * *

Ela did not know how she ended up following Jin to his car. But she found herself sitting on the passenger's seat, her bag clutched close to her chest. Now, they were driving to Mari's. It was a restaurant owned by one of his friends that had just opened. 

She knew that Jin had a limited amount of friends that he kept close by. What was interesting about it was that they were all friends together. It was rare to see seven boys of different ages come together like that. The only thing Ela knew was that they had met in a club - and not the kind you go to just to party. She wondered if they would be there tonight. 

"Where did you say this restaurant was?" She asked him. "Will the drive be long?"

He kept his eyes on the road as he answered: "Yes, it will be a little far away. It's up on a hill." 

"I don't think I am up for a drive that far. I have to work tomorrow and if we end up staying late-" 

He looked at her this time, just as he stopped at an intersection. "We won't. I promise I will bring you home just in time for you to get some rest Elara. You have my word." 

Peter. That was the face he showed her right now. Peter Pan, a mischievous character from the animated movie she adored as a child bore the same face as Jin. It was as if he sprinkled pixie dust on her and would probably push her off a cliff, knowing she could fly. The thing is, you could only fly if you believed you could.  And Ela, though she wanted to, did not believe in herself at all. The only pixie dust she knew that worked was the tablets she would crush and sprinkle over the juice she drank twice a week, just to keep herself sane. Ela was flying indeed. 

They began to ascend the hills on the outskirts of the city when Ela began to feel anxiety creep up her throat. It might have been all the coffee that she drank that afternoon in place of a meal. Why was she here with him? Why had she agreed so easily? She glanced to her left and his eyes remained on the road. It was getting darker, and harder to see. Lights were farther apart than they had been on the highway. 

Impatient, Ela fished her brand new pillbox from her bag. She took a small, white tablet the shape of a triangle and tossed it in her mouth. She closed her eyes as she let her shoulders ease. But then, she sat up straight as she felt a pair of eyes glare at her. 

"Do you have a problem?" She stared back at him. The pill she took was something that made her relax, but a little aggressive towards him. 

Jin turned his eyes back on the road and said nothing. This. This was the Seokjin she knew. She knew that he had always looked down on her problem. It was her little toxic trait that branded her to be something incomplete. As if she could have been more than what she was if this little glitch did not exist inside her. 

Nevertheless, Ela continued to ease herself. She needed to do this, otherwise, she would embarrass herself in front of the people in the restaurant. And she could not bear to see him be ashamed of her more than she knew he already was.