Serendipity {PARK JIMIN FAN FICTION}

One

 Aria clawed at the alarm clock at 4 am.

A hint of light from the neighboring supermarket creeped in through a crack in the window, giving the dark room a velvety green glow. She had been awake for some time already, only waiting for the loud blare of her alarm to push her out of bed. She stumbled on her way to to the window, pulling the curtains shut. She stood in the darkness of her room for a while before turning on the floor lamp in the corner. Aria shook the stem of the lamp, and the bulb flickered before offering its muted orange light.

Aria hated waking up so early; the silence often made her uneasy and afraid. She would lay in bed looking at the ceiling, waiting for her alarm to go off like it did that morning. Aria preferred waking up much later to spend the morning by her bedroom window with a cup of coffee, watching people as they passed. The streets below her apartment were always busy, and the sight of it became comforting after nights spent without sleep. There was one man she loved seeing in particular, who always stopped by the supermarket to buy white carnations every Sunday. Stories ran rampant in her brain, imagining the lives of the different people passing by her window, but she always came back to the man with the carnations. Thoughts of the man offering flowers to a wife or daughter warmed her heart, and though the idea wasn't likely, it gave Aria hope.

Aria would watch him as he left the market with a young nurse pushing his wheelchair onto the sidewalk. On those days, Aria would drink her coffee nice and slowly, stopping only when the liquid turned bitter and cold. However, most days, Aria found herself waking at a lonely hour, when the sky was a wistful shade of grey and the moon was hungry for a companion.

Aria dug through the mound of clothes at the entrance of her closet, finding the all black ensemble she usually wore to work. She placed two bobby pins carefully in her hair, knowing exactly where she would need them to keep her hair out of her face. She was used to this routine. After brushing her teeth and freshening up in the bathroom, she made her way out of the apartment building and started on her way to work.

The air bit at her skin as she walked down the sidewalk. The streets were often still empty in the morning, and she often found herself craving the presence of others, even if only to accompany her on the way to work. She put her hands in her coat pockets in an attempt to conserve her body heat, kicking an occasional clump of snow in front of her feet. Even through all her layers, the cold seemed to slice her skin.

"Why don't you get a car? Or at least a bike or something?"

"Taehyung, you know I don't have money to be spending on a car."

Her brother gave her the furrowed-eyebrow look that she'd been getting used to lately.

"And you know I can always help you out with money..." He suggested. Aria looked at him with a tight lipped smile.

"I'm really okay. Don't worry about me too much Tae."

Aria's pace quickened, and she made sure not to slip on the icy parts of the sidewalk.