Strangers (jaemin ff)

Chapter 5

Chapter 5
His Gaze

That night, dane tried to escape her thoughts. Sadness was already making it's way to her system when the sun disappeared. The feeling of loneliness emerged. She slowly removed her clothes. As she entered the bathtub after a tiring day. her eyes were lifeless when she winced as she felt the stings from her wounds. Pitying the cuts all over her wrist and the blood flowing through it. Dane's a foolish girl. She's deluded. Trapped. Hoping for everything to go smooth in her life. Thoughts of happy endings clouded her mind. Still dreaming of the things she's currently deprived of.

Hurting herself remained a mystery. Why must she feel pain as day goes by? For it is a sign of her endless battle.Her humanity being trampled by reality.

Although, she will continue drowning herself in sadness. Without even noticing it. Cause without her anchor, she can't stop herself. A missing piece to a puzzle that joined the deep waves of the ocean. Sinking deep with sorrows. That's why she needed him. Her missing piece. Unfortunately, her anchor is better off without her.

But this time, she had once chance to see a glimpse of him again.

She grabbed the opportunity to see her anchor again.  She wanted to see him despite of the odds. Dane can't deny her feeling after all these years. She's still the same dane. The weak and naive.

Time is ticking fast. She doesn't even know whether she's gonna last.

7:30 PM, the showcase

Dane was already at the venue. As the line grew closer to the entrance, she felt her heart beating fast. It's as if it wanted to escape her body. She gripped her bag tightly. The sea of people made her even more anxious. It was unfortunate to watch the showcase alone. She had no friends aside from the people at the restaurant. Dane tried inviting Aria but she instantly refused, Since she offered to cover dane's shift for today.

With dane being anxious as usual, she decided to dial Aria's number. She needed someone to listen to her worries. Her hands were cold as ice. She placed the phone to her right ear and waited for aria to answer.

Every staff at the restaurant knew dane as a person that's like a tough onion. You're just gonna struggle trying to peel the truth of her situation. She placed walls around her life. No one ever dared to enter her doleful zone. Aria on the other hand, was the only person that can hear her out. Despite of the colossal walls she built to isolate herself. Aria tried to reach out but when dane feels the urge to lock herself back in, her connection with aria would just return back to it's 1st level.

"Hello? Is it already starting?" She finally answered. Dane sighed at her friends first sentence. 'That's not helping' she thought to her head.

"I-I think I should head back to the restaurant, Aria." Dane stuttered.

"I can cover your shift. Don't worry about it." Dane can feel Aria's assuring smile. Aria was aware of dane's situation. Aria has always been supportive and caring towards dane. That's why when she heard about dane's plan on attending the showcase, Aria didn't think twice. She was willing to cover for dane's shift at work.

Dane was now awfully silent. She couldn't talk. She can feel jitters all over her body and her legs were starting to shake. It's like she's having her panic attacks again.

"Are you still breathing, Dane? You've never been this nervous before. I guess that boy really did have a huge impact in your life." Aria teased to lighten the mood. Dane brushed her hair and sighed. After two long years she didn't see this coming. She thought that once she cut all of her ties with jaemin, everything would surely fall apart. That she wouldn't be able to see him again.