How I Wonder What You Are (A Byul Fanfiction)

Chapter 19

Hopefully, my nightmares will all disappear tonight... or Byul could make them even worse.

Minhyuk checked his watch for the umpteenth time, trying not to shiver despite the warm, humid nighttime air of the park that he was standing in right now -  Byul's favorite park, as she had told him many times in their late-night conversations. Minhyuk recalled their many Katalk messages with the familiar pang of bittersweetness.

It's been a long time since we last chatted.

It was almost June. 4 months since his first - and for now, only - hug with Byul. In those 4 nightmare-ridden months, Byul had become silent. His phone never buzzed with a message, never rang with a call from her, not even an email. With the brightest star in his sky hidden behind the clouds, Minhyuk's entire world darkened.

But then, an "unknown contact" had brightened that world up again.

True, he shouldn't have set his hopes so high - he was dreading the painfull fall which he knew would certainly come. "I'm Moonbyul's favorite person." Minhyuk believed Solar. "I wish I was your favorite person," Minhyuk sighed out loud, his deep, smooth rapper's voice clear.

"Um... o-oppa?"

Minhyuk spun around at the sound of that familiar voice, his breath catching his throat at the sight of someone he had missed for too long.

Byul.

With wide, hungry eyes, Minhyuk drank in the beautiful woman playing with her fingers before him: the oval eyes lightly accentuated with perfectly-applied eyeshadow, the thin nose perched on top of smooth skin, and the small mouth tinted with a rosy colour that matched the blush on her already-flushed cheeks. Her hair, now dyed a pale blonde, matched the baby-blue blouse and black jeans in a way that made Minhyuk dizzy from the perfection. Standing so close together, waves of Byul's sweet scent drifted into him, and for a while he forgot where he was...

"Is that you?" Despite the obvious awkwardness, Byul's voice was like sweet honey - it soothed the painful wounds of nightmare-infested memories, and he craved for more.

"It's m-me, Minhyuk. How are you? How h-h-have you been doing? Where do you wanna gooo?" In his excitement, Minhyuk stumbled over his words and struggled to end the sentence, gripping his brain for something sensible to say. To his unutterable joy, Byul giggled at his silliness, covering her grin with a small hand.

It might have been the dizziness in his head, or the excitement of seeing the one person he loved so much, or a combination of both. But out of an impulse, Minhyuk reached out and took that hand.

For a second that seemed like an eternity, Byul froze. Minhyuk could see clearly the emotions that danced in her eyes in that instant, a galaxy of nervousness, surprise, happiness, uncertainty.

But no confusion glimmered in them, not a trace. Byul seemed to have understood something, which now registered most in her eyes; it was something Minhyuk couldn't quite describe, though. Just an understanding of something.

In his hold, Byul's hand quivered slightly, even jerked from the surprise. Minhyuk didn't regret or let go, though. He had suffered for long enough, and he wasn't about to let Byul go so easily. And his pain might've shown in his eyes, or it might've been her own willingness, but finally, Byul relaxed.

"Where to?" Minhyuk asked Byul, suddenly calmer than before. It was as if a storm raging inside him was now calmed, quietened. Byul's smile brightened the rainbow that had appeared after his rain. "I know a place here that only I know about - and now you do, too."

Byul led Minhyuk off the park's path, both treading lightly on the dewy grass. As they strolled hand in hand, Minhyuk noticed how Byul's eyes strayed towards the benches that lined the beautifully lit path, particularly the couples that sat on them, cuddling or just enjoying the peace of the moment. A pair of lovers or two would go by them, holding hands and sharing the events of the day to the other. Now, walking under a canopy of trees with Byul's warm, soft hand in his, Minhyuk felt like one of those couples for the first time. Judging by the looks Byul gave them, he wondered if she thought so too.