You Smell Like Hope

1. so why am I like this?

Mimosa Pudica.
Touch-me-not planet.
The touch-sensitive plants known as mimosa pudica have small and beautiful pink flowers. The leaves of this very small plant fold up from gentle touch and remain like that for a few minutes. If you touch the plant stems, the plant itself will look like it has slept, because it will fold all the leaves and even bend and collapse a little. The leaves also remain folded after sunset and they actually look like they are sleeping at night.

it appears that they react more to touch in comparison to variations in temperature or light.

Jisung's pov.

Sometimes I wonder how free the leaves feel.

They're always out, they're pretty, and they're high from the ground where no one can touch them.

However, on days like today, which is most likely every day, while I'm walking to the building that hides my tears with a lock and wipes them with a pillow, I accidentally step on one or more dead leaves, and it makes me confused why did they chose to escape their luxurious life on the tree and be on the ground instead.

Maybe they were curious, to know how the ground would feel like.

Maybe they were searching for freedom after being trapped for so long to the same tree.

Or maybe, they're like me, they didn't have a choice, they didn't choose to fall and now they're on the ground where no one cares about what they were once, now people step on them while they're looking at the tree admiring it's beauty, they just don't know that you too, one day so long ago, were so high from the ground in your mothers arms and no one could touch you.

That's until the tree becomes weak, and it has no other option but to let you fall, and now you have to manage and create a life where you are, until maybe one day, a beautiful teenager will go outside of her room to collect leaves for her Journal, and she'll choose you, you'll be confused why she did when there's so many better ones on the tree, but she saw what's in you not just the outside. And she choose you for you.

Or at least, that's what I like to think.

"Where the money?" A voice I've been waiting for said from behind, I opened the bag and took all the money I made tonight to him with no words, he doesn't know I kept a couple pounds to get breakfast in the morning, but it doesn't matter what I'm giving him is so much more than the cost of one meal. "Good job now go to sleep cause we need to double this tomorrow," I just nodded not bothering to look at him when I could already hear the smirk in his voice.

I climbed the stairs to reach my studio apartment, my body aching with pain and begging for a rest that we haven't got since we fell from the tree, it'll be over soon, I hope.

I don't know how long it has been since they let me get a place alone, they only agreed cause they needed my place for another child, since I make enough money daily that would buy me a whole apartment they didn't mind giving up this small amount for the rent in the cheapest building in the city, they of course, still follow my moves and keep a close eye, waiting for me to make a small mistake so they can take their anger out on me.

Or for me to try and escape so they'd shot me on the spot.

Sometimes I thought about doing it, you know, try to escape and get shot so I'd finally be away from this hell, but something always stop me.

Maybe it fear. Maybe it's hope.

I like to believe it's Fate.

I sighed to myself as my body synced into the mattress, I can't quite decide if it's comfortable or no since my body doesn't remember what was before the floor and one pillow, so for me, it's the most comfortable I got in years.

I wish I could close my eyes and sleep but instead my brain drifted to another thought of what's Tomorrow going to hold.

Tomorrow is going to be different, I'm going to another part of the city, the same part I was in when I was still stuck to the tree, one of the clubs is holding a performing show that's going to pay 4 times what I get in half 24 hours, it's the rich part of the city were people like me are only made to entertain.

However, something about going there, so close to where I was supposed to be sits my heart on fire.

It's not hope, that's something I'm sure of, I know what hope is and there's no need to have it in a situation like this, it's not like I'll find my parents, or even if I did, they would never recognize me.

My brain finally decided to shut down and let me drift to sleep where I can be free in my dreams.

The only problem in these few hours being that I can't dream. But it's okay. I'm going to be okay.

I want to be okay.

I want to redo my life where I can get another stage, this time fully clothed.

This story is detected to @mxnhos3