Drifted Away - Shinyu from TWS | ✅

Love

I moved into a slum. I loathed every part of it. Queuing up to get water every morning was not easy. I had to wake up at sunrise to start forming a line. Not to mention, all that water was gone only by taking a bath. And my bed was nothing but a couple of blankets on each other. At night it was colder and I shivered in my sleep. And despite having a few clothes, washing them was also a task every day. 

Food was a daily struggle. The money I found in my mother's purse from the day she passed away was used to buy some small affordable snacks which I had to hide under a blanket in case someone came stealing it. 

Using a piece of chalk, I drew a calendar on the wall of my eighteenth birthday and crossed it daily. The room was tiny and packed with bugs coming out now and then. On top of the grief of losing my parents, the unsanitary conditions of the slum made me want to puke and I had to get a job too soon. 

The thoughts became overbearing and I would break down very often, wishing the day that I could get out of that hell hole would be here soon enough. 

~

On the fifth day, I finally got the hang of it. I would manage my tasks and complete them at a given time I mentally memorised. I applied for a job at a convenience store. They said that they would be willing to hire me if I showed signs of responsibility and the ability to handle pressure. 

At the end of the day, I would go to the graveyard and visit my parents. Then sometimes, I would see Shinyu and I would talk to him. We grew closer during the past few days. Hyeri was even more comfortable around me. 

I managed to help Shinyu buy a book for Hyeri by giving him 5000 won. He kept thanking me all afternoon. 

On that day, I was walking down the road with Shinyu. We did not plan anywhere to go or anything to do. But we were alongside each other and improvising along the way. He turned left and right around the narrow streets. 

We were passing from tall buildings to smaller ones. While stumbling upon a 10,000-won note on the ground. Shinyu picked it up and analysed it. Both of us smiled profusely. 

"Lucky you," I said, playfully hitting his arm. 

"I will share half of it with you." I would have refused if money did not play such a vital role in my life. 

There was no one around except us. While strolling past a dilapidated building, Shinyu did not miss the chance to slip his hands in mine, gripping them softly. It sent a million butterflies to my stomach. He was smirking and he did not bother to hide it. 

As we kept walking on to nowhere in particular, it started drizzling. The tiny raindrops fell on my clothes with a soft splat. It later turned into a torrential rain, hitting the ground harshly. Shinyu tried to shield me from the rain using his bare hands. 

I laughed and asked him to put his hand down. 

"It's only water, Shinyu." 

He smiled. We both ran to find some shelter under a battered shop. Then his face looked like he had forgotten something but was suddenly reminded of it. He shuffled, looking for something inside his pockets, which had patches on them because they were probably torn and mended. 

He took out a small bouquet. It had flowers I could not recognise because they were odd and not sold anywhere. But somehow, the bouquet looked like it was blossoming of life, lively and more stunning than a boring bouquet of uniform flowers you would buy from a florist. 

"I wanted to thank you, but I did not have enough money to buy you a bouquet of roses, so I handpicked wildflowers for you instead."

He shyly scratched the back of his neck and handed me the flowers. I accepted them and put a bright smile on my face, although I did not know if I had faked that smile because of temporary joy, because for all I knew, my life was a mess. 

I took a step forward and hugged him tightly. He did not hesitate to put an arm around my torso. 

After a while, Shinyu pulled away and kissed my temples softly. My heart raced, and my knees felt like giving in on me. My cheeks probably went hot pink but I was looking at his shoes to avoid being embarrassed. And he did not even loosen his grip on me even once. 

 And at that moment, just for a few seconds, I could feel a spark within me, and it would probably ignite a wildfire too large to stop. 

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Let me know if there are typos :)