city lights - jaemin

20

THE door opened and revealed Jaemin, standing there with a surprised look on his face. Maybe it was because she was at his door, or it was because she had red eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"Hi.."
She mutters quietly. Jaemin, still with a surprised expression, spoke to her in a gentle hushed voice, as if speaking any louder would upset her further.

"Are you okay... I saw you storm out earlier when I got home late.."

Micha only looked back down at the ground, trying to hold her tears back. It was embarrassing how he was the one she went too. Why did he have to be the one who was closest to her.

Jaemin decides her silence was good enough of an answer, and he steps back and puts his shoes on. He peeks into the lounge room, making eye contact with his mother.

"I'm going for a walk. I'll be back soon."
He swung a jacket off the rack and over his shirt. micha heard his parents say things like "okay, be careful." and it only made her heart swell more for that kind of parental love.

Jaemin walked outside and closed the door behind him. He stopped in front of her before gesturing her to walk.
"let's walk around together then."

She listened to him and walked towards the street. She cautiously eyed her house, even if she knew her parents didn't care where she went.

The two silently walked down the street, it was dark out and no one was out walking except them. There was a sweet smell of rain, and there was a warning for rain on the weather forecast but neither of them said anything about it. They enjoyed the silence while it lasted. She enjoyed just having someone with her for once during this moments, even if it was him.

"Do you want to talk about?"

"It's just...."
She bit back the urge to cry again. She cried her heart out at a park just before going to Jaemin's and now she was about to cry with Jaemin next to her. She walked slower as she thought more and more about the events she went through that day.
"stress."

"What happened?"
Jaemin asked as he started walking slower to match her pace again.
It felt weird to have someone care about her life, though it was more her fault for never going to others when she was upset.

"I messed up at the swimming event and my coach was pissed even though it was only a practice run and she didn't let me join in the actual event at all. she said it was too embarrassing."

"and then when I got home my parents yelled at me because I didn't participate and then they started yelling about god knows what, but they kept saying I'm a disgrace and- and that I keep failing them and that it isn't hard to just listen to their rules."

Her words were mushing up all together as she choked on her words. Jaemin nodded his head understandingly, a frown was evidently across his face. He looked at her and saw some tear drops running down her face.

"it's just too much happening all at once."

The smell of rain grew stronger and there was a sound of light patter on windows not to far away. Jaemin stopped walking, Micha noticed and also stopped, turning around to him. They were directly under the street light, the yellow light pouring down onto them under the dark sky.

Jaemin stepped towards her and opened his arms, offering her a hug if she wanted. as much as Micha wanted to resist and not hug him, her body was faster than her brain and she had already stepped into his arms and wrapped her arms around her neck, her face in his neck as she started crying. Just as his arms wrapped around her waist, rain came pouring down from the sky, blending in with her tears.

"It's okay."
He whispered into her ear as rain drenched the two of them completely.
"You're not alone now."