Abyss - Kim Seokjin AU Fanfiction

Chapter 17

Ela did not know that Jin was to be the one to accompany her to the show. When she saw him arrive at the lobby of the theater, she immediately hid. This was to no avail as he spotted her immediately in her light blue dress. Their eyes met for a moment, and his gaze narrowed, reducing his eyes to sharp slits, brows knitted together. Once again, Jin looked like he did not want to be there at all. As he hopped off the car, he adjusted his suit and walked over to her.

"Hello-"

"I did not know you would be the one to come tonight." She said first. In her state of panic, her mouth moved before her brain could think.

"My parents insisted that I come." He said in the softest tone he could muster. 

She shook her head and raised her hands slightly, in defense, "It was not me. Mama insisted that I go with someone. And I was going to, but Arysta had to leave for Europe to do shows."

Jin's lips tilted upward in a smile, he opened his mouth, parting his lips slightly before the lights flickered signaling for the show to start. Not wanting to humiliate herself further, she gave up on explaining to Jin that she was not behind this, and dashed away to the assigned entrance to the theater and disappeared.

Confused and at a loss for words, Jin followed after her, his smile still lingering on his lips. He had wanted to ask if she wanted something to drink to take inside, but he had been too late. Perhaps afterwards instead.

Settling into her seat, Elara spotted Jin among the crowd of those who had just entered. She tried her best not to mind him as he sat in the seat next to hers. She draped the shawl she brought with her over her knees to keep her warm. The visible discomfort that Ela had on her face made him want to leave. To make it right, Jin thought of moving his chair a little further from hers, but these seats were bolted to the floor, so it was not an option. Instead, he sat a little away from her, giving her both of the elbow rests. He hoped that it would ease her a little.

As the orchestra began to play the overture, she leaned forward, listening intently to the tunes. Jin, instead of paying attention to the concert, focused his eyes on her. He watched every flinch, and twitch of her eye, every smile and sigh that escaped her lips as the music took on different heights.

Ela, in one moment, was soaring. The rising notes of the violins felt as if she was climbing through the clouds. And as the drums and gongs grew louder, her chest too brewed a storm from within her. She melted herself into the music, dispersing her being into the different sections of the orchestra. She swayed to and fro in her set as the melodies played, as Jin watched her from where he sat.

He was in awe, as he had always been with her. His straight and stiff composure did not fail him, however. On the outside Jin looked like he did not want to he there. Those tick eyebrows of his, remained in their observing state, knitted together as he looked on. To give himself away, even the slightest, would only require so little for him to do. His lips were parted, to aid his breathing, as she took his breath away. Ela had the ability to do this. It was all too easy, and how could he - after a decade of seeing her so in love with life - not be overcome? Jin found it impossible not to fall in love.

The quiet began to reign, and under the dim lights, he could make out the contour of her lips, the bridge of her nose and then the wisps of lashes that moved up and down as she blinked. When Ela turned to Jin, the look on her face was that of guilt.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly, looking down at her hands that had been a mess of tangles. Music unmade her, and now her fingers resembled a grotesque sculpture.

Jin shook his head and mustered a smile. "Why?"

"Because you got dragged all the way here." She said. "You must have had something important to do."

He released a short laugh, and toyed with the ticket in his hands. Jin relinquished all thought of convincing Ela that he did want to be there. In fact, it took all of his will not to appear giddy when his parents presented the ticket to him. About two days before, he had scoured every ticketing office to secure two tickets for them. But it had already been sold out and he had given up.

Jin did not believe in a god, not really. But whoever was commanding the occurrence of things, he thanked them for being in his favor.

* * * * * * *

Ela and Jin were now walking along the banks of the river. They ate supper quickly as the restaurant became a little too crowded for Ela's liking. The rustling water drowned out their footsteps on the concrete pathway dotted with leaves. Street lamps glowed a greenish-yellow as if they were walking within a forgotten painting whose varnish had oxidized.

She turned to Jin who walked beside her holding the binder under one arm and wondered, how was he able to stand her at this very moment? Why was he being so kind to her all of a sudden? This was unlike him. The past few weeks had been so confusing to her, and she didn't know what to do or how to feel. From him taking her hand that night at Yoongi's restaurant, to him cutting up half of his steak to share with her just moments ago at the dinner table. Every night she would drink two glasses to drown out the voices in an attempt not to take any more of her pills. Her doctor had already warned her that they would inform her parents if she stopped by for another refill.

Jin noticed her staring at him and he raised his eyebrows to say: yes?

Ela shook her head to mean, nothing. She continued to walk with him and took in the cool evening air. A quiet panic overtook her and she began picking at her nails. Suppressing her anxiety was extremely difficult when she was around him.

"Elara..." Jin spoke after a while, stopping at a rounded balcony overlooking the water, just a little way after the underside of the bridge they passed through. He took in a breath before he spoke. "You have nothing to worry about. I'm agreeing to take this project." He said, and then added. "You're lucky to come at a time when I am turning over a few residential projects. This one should be the last before the wedding."

"The wedding?" Ela repeated, her eyebrows raised, and knitted together. "Jin, you're not actually serious about pushing through with this are you?"

He let out a breath that sounded like a scoff. "And if I was, what would you do?"

Ela did not know what to say. Instead, she decided to direct the conversation back to the Barnes Gallery account. "Thank you," she said. "You're really doing me a favour here. Amelia will be pleased for you to join the team. And I look forward to working with you." Right then, she had sounded like an automaton, programmed to speak for the first time.

Jin could not believe how she had switched from pure confusion to indifference within seconds. How could she be this way? After everything that he has done for the past few weeks, how could she still now know? Was her mind so drowned in medication rendering her incapable of seeing clues within his actions? No, he could not think that way about her. Not like that.

From the first moment Jin saw her in that bookstore with her hospital band on her wrist, he loved her then. And even now, when she dodged his words that so clearly state his affections for her like a summer day. He loved her. A decade of this, and lifetime of this, with her; he could not, and would not complain.

"Me too." Was all he said, and smiled with his lips closed.

Ela blinked. And just then, the strangest feeling overtook her. Behind Jin, was a streetlight, and behind the streetlight was the moon. A waxed crescent smile shining above them despite the majority of it was plunged in darkness. He looked different. Why? After a decade, she was sure to know every crevice and wrinkle of his face. She knew which eye was smaller when he smiled, or which brow raised when he affirmed something. When Ela realized that she had been staring, she quickly snapped her head away and looked at something else.

Jin bit his lip, and reached for the box residing in his pocket. He fiddled with it, and thought he possessed the courage to take it out, but this was not the time.