ramen | nomin

✿

10
he should crack open like a coconut
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

4:36am.

was the time that glowed on jaemin's phone screen once he finally collected himself and moved to sit on the sidewalk with his chin in between his knees and suitcase wonkily propped up to the left.

the moon was still shining amongst the stars for the sun wouldn't make its appearance until 2 hours later. not that it really mattered much anymore. nothing seemed to matter after what he had just gone through.

maybe giving up was the best move. maybe he could just sit here until he was nothing but bones.

not a single thought behind his dull, lifeless eyes. if someone in a white van stopped by to kidnap him, he'd just go with them at that point. whatever. at least that would give him something else to worry about.

the streets were eerily quite tonight. there was a flickering street light he could see from his peripheral, his ears caught the chirping of the crickets although they were faint. the slight breeze in the air that he had once enjoyed so much felt like nothing but pins pricking his cheeks.

an occasional car would pass by, but only every 10 minutes or so. there goes his dream of getting picked up by some guy in a van.

usually at this particular time of night, jaemin would be wrapped comfortably in the duvet of his bed sound asleep.

yet here he was on a saturday night crouched down on the sidewalk.

it's only when his ears hear something other than the crickets that jaemin finally snaps out of it.

crying...? who could be out crying besides me now?

it wasn't much of a surprise for someone to be crying outside at 4am, really. jaemin just wasn't expecting there to be more than one person (so himself) out crying... on the sidewalk... at 4am...

maybe it was someone who came from the bar down the street? they were pretty scattered around his neighborhood, so it wouldn't be too far fetched... right? then again, who the hell would be coming from the bar sobbing their eyes out outside? that's what barstools were for...

these places didn't really close until 5am– or at least until the sun comes out; since they open once the sun goes down.

unfortunately, jaemin was just as nosy as jaehyun was. he needed to see what was going on and if there was anything he could do to help the person.
with some slight hesitation in his move to pull jimself off the ground, jaemin finally stands up after what felt like hours of sitting and brushes the dirt off of himself before grabbing a hold of his suitcase and following the distant sound of crying.

it takes him a couple minutes before he finds himself staning outside the doors to the apartment complex that was about a half hour walk from his aunt's house.

least to say when he spots the source of the tears, jaemin's jae nearly hits the ground once he recognizes the face of the person sitting in the swing by the entrance to the complex.

"mr. kim...?" jaemin's voice is just barely above a whisper, but the man hears him anyway and looks up from the ground, eyes widening when he sees one of his students standing in front of him.