Now And Forever : A Twice x Male Reader

II. The Stranger

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"Oh no... Boo..." 

It was a complete mess. Despite this woman's angelic beauty, reality slowly hit us as we looked around our surroundings, and both of us were drenched in mud.

My stuff was left back on the bench, most likely reeking of the dog's mark.

It didn't take long for the both of us to head to the side and try to clean ourselves up. We sat down on the benches, wiping ourselves and getting the mud off of our clothes.

"I'm sorry, I was tasked with watching my friend's dog for today... I'm so sorry for what he did..." The lady said as she handed me some spare wipes from her bag.

"It's fine..." I replied as I looked at our filthy state. "Though I'm going to have to wash a ton for this..."

It was all fine and all until I looked up to see the girl looking as if she was going to tear up anytime. Her eyes were now watery and I didn't know what to do at all.

"E-Eh?! W-Wait! Don't cry! I'm not angry! See? It's okay-"

"I'm so sorry..."

Her voice quivered as she looked away trying to wipe the tears and hold them in. I noticed the look in her eyes, seeing quite an emotion of burden and unexplained sadness. For some reason, I feel like I need to talk to this woman.

"... Hey..." I started. "Are you alright, miss...?"

"...Y-Yeah, of course, I am..."

The girl sniffled and wiped her tears, she tried to reassure me that she was fine, but it was painfully obvious that she wasn't.

"You don't look like it... Is something wrong...?" I asked.

"I just feel like, I'm not doing well enough recently..." She finally gave in. "No matter how hard I try... I feel like I'm not producing any results like the others. It's as if my efforts are not doing enough..."

"...Not enough, huh...?" I muttered. I looked at her physique and outfit, it's as if she came from a recent rehearsal or maybe she just exercised and walked her friend's dog.

"From the looks of it, you're a dancer...?"

"You could say that." She replied. It didn't take long for the woman to finally open up about her feelings and situation in life.

"Recently, I was... I scolded for my lackluster movements... I was even told that my vocals were weaker than the other members, and... just recently I've seen many hateful comments about myself..." She continued.

The girl teared up as she opened up. Her voice quivered and her eyes were filled with confusion and sadness that she couldn't even understand. The more she opened up, the more I could feel how it was to be in her situation. 

As an artist and performer, many people do have high expectations they want to set when they see someone onstage. It's the rather sad reality that, you cannot please everyone with the skills and talent you have. Even with your purest intentions and greatest efforts, not everyone in the world can see and understand it.

...As someone who always ends up being left in the dust, just because there's always the better option... I feel that... A lot.

Every single day I see my friends succeed, I jump and burst into joy, but at the same time, there is always this lingering sadness that they've left me all behind.

And at times, I never even felt appreciated for the deeds that I do... It's as if I don't even exist at all... and only talk to them when they need me... It just sucks having to live that life.