The Ghost of Us || SKZ

6

Seungmin walked a few minutes into the woods, following against the direction of the creek. He was enjoying the fresh air, the sunlight piercing through gaps in the leaves and branches, the soft sounds of birds chirping, and the stream gently trickling.

To his delight, he came upon a wide portion of the creek with an adorable wooden bridge going across it.

Smiling to himself, Seungmin sat on the bridge. He took off his shoes and socks and dipped his feet in the water; it was cold and crisp, and the sensation of it billowing around his ankles was comforting.

While this morning had been awkward, Seungmin now felt at peace. He took out his journal and began to write. He needed to do work later, but right now he wanted to clear his head. He was really more into the arts than into law. But he felt pressure from his family to pursue something more 'realistic'.

He'd done nothing but school for so many years, and now he was teaching it. It was like he never experienced things outside of college. Seeing Jisung, Felix, and Hyunjin doing such artistic, creative works made him jealous.

He'd rather be a singer.

With that thought, Seungmin heard himself humming a sad but pretty melody of a song he'd written. He started to sing, and the sound of his voice echoed through the trees. A gust of wind flew by; his lavender hair blew in his face, and he moved it aside to keep writing.

Hyunjin walked slowly down the path next to the creek, hands in his pockets and taking in the fresh air with deep breaths.

A strong wind blew in his face, his blonde hair flying back and tears stinging his eyes. Suddenly, he heard a voice on the breeze. It was obviously Seungmin's voice, but Hyunjin didn't know the younger could sing.

Not that he knew much about him at all.

As he got closer, the voice got prettier. It has a simple grace to it; like he barely had to try at all, and beautiful singing just spilled out of him naturally.

Hyunjin poked his head from behind a tree and saw Seungmin sitting on a small wooden bridge, his pen moving quickly in his hand as he wrote in a journal.

The designer didn't know how to approach without scaring the younger, so he just walked forward to him.

Seungmin saw something out of the corner of his eye and stopped singing, shutting his journal quickly.

"Oh...hi." The younger said, pulling his legs out of the stream and crossing them underneath him.

"Hey, Seungmin. You have an amazing voice." Hyunjin said, smiling down at the younger. "Can I sit next to you?"

Seungmin nodded. "Sure. How are you?"

Hyunjin raised his eyebrows. "Is that a serious ask?"

"Yes, it is." Seungmin said, nodding again. "You behaved like a jackass this morning, but I'm guessing it had less to do with me and more to do with your own hatred of yourself. I overreacted, and I'm sorry."

Seungmin opened his journal and began writing again, leaving Hyunjin to stare at the younger, mouth slightly open.

"W-Why did you apologize to me? I'm the one that should be sorry. I am sorry. It was rude by itself, but to speak to you like that in front of everyone..."

"Thanks for apologizing. It's really okay. I have my own shit going on too, so I get it." Seungmin didn't look up.

"How do you know I have shit going on?"

"I guess I'd like to think that you're not usually a fuck head and that you're usually a nice person. I tend to give people too many chances, so I hope this one isn't wasted on you." Seungmin finally looked up, smiling at Hyunjin.