Hold Me [OnHo] Oneshot

            Could you hold me?

            His whisper fell into thin air, entrapped by the sounds of whispering spirits lingering in the veins of the colour shifting leaves of the hibernating trees. Like if he were in a sound proof room the question was absorbed, never to be returned to him.

            MinHo raised his hand, hoping his fingers could at least catch the wisp of an echo, though in the dankness of the night he wasn’t sure he’d be able to catch much.

Down the street, at the very corner that turned onto the boulevard he’d driven down, four cars drove by. Their head lights swept over the empty street for a minute then disappeared to light their proper path. The last car illuminated the side of MinHo’s face marked by his tragedy. It was a glare harsh enough to make him cringe and shy away, pressing into the wall so he could camouflage into the scenery and make himself invisible. But like the others it carried on its way, not even noticing his suspicious presence.

That was close…

            That too fell into the air, save this time the bark lapped it up like a vampire would blood. Into the core of a tree his words slept, warmed by the surrounding bark and wood. They would grow there until they were ready to make a paragraph and soon a story… They would flow into the branches and foliage and make a grand appearance in the suburban forest.

            It’s cold… Could you hold me?

            A delicate breeze shoved his hair away from his neck, the beads holding the braids together clicking together to make a quiet tune. It brushed out the frizzies and with agile fingers it slid down MinHo’s bare chest to trace the thin, white scars crisscrossing the tan surface.

            Shivering, the built boy’s eyes closed and let the rush cascade over him. Goose bumps arose on every inch of exposed skin, though he paid no mind as he took a few steps forward, advancing ungracefully to his destination.

            It felt as if something was holding him back, however… Maybe trying to hold him like he’d been pleading for… He highly doubted that…

            My feet are cold…

            Bare toes with the nails grungy with caked dirt and scratches carried him foot after foot down the destroyed pavement. What remained of the summer’s weeds peeked out from the abysmal crevices, waving hello to the man making a statement. Tree whispers turned to something a bit louder, attempting to drown out the actions of their nemesis and breathe some wisdom into MinHo. But with eyes closed he wasn’t able to pick up on any of this.

            Even his ears were closed to the begging words of the broken window frames encouraging him to come take shelter in their fragile abodes for the nights.

            Could you hold me well?

            To this they all silenced. The weeds stopped their mechanic waving, the trees drew their leaves in and shrouded themselves in what was left of their coats, the window shards sank deep into their rotting frames, knowing that the future was no longer up to them to persuade. None of them would be able to provide MinHo with the comfort her needed… They could try, but as much as they wished they wouldn’t be able to simulate the feeling of flesh against flesh or a heart beat. They only had a pulse in their core that was reachable by words alone. Touch would be rough and jagged; smell would be dusty rather than musky… Their hairs would simply never match the standards of the silken strands woven by angels…

            One stride led MinHo to the edge of the nest, the next left him dropping. A bittersweet smile curled his lips, eerie and beautiful at the same time.

            A willow wept a couple paces off, the dandelions commenced their waving again, the wind whistled and bellowed and tried to pull the body up…

            Could you hold me…?

            I’m trying.

            The whistling turned to shrieking and the wildlife hid. Squirrels burrowed between clumps of grass and leaves, trees felt their last leaves shrivel and drop… The final dandelion puffs whipped their manes with a mighty roar full of horror and drifted into the tornado working to hold MinHo back.

            Are you holding me…?

            I am, I am, so stay with me.

            But he was gone… Debris from the nest swirled around him, hitting the crystalline waves lit by the moan before his bare feet did. The heels hit first, breaking the white foam and scraping on rocks that hadn’t quite been cleared. Mud stained pants followed suit, followed by the bare chest dipping into the bone chilling water. A wave swept MinHo away from the rockier sides. The last thing that slipped under was the two little braids, one bead blue, one bead red dinging against the walls before becoming mute.

            You never held me like this…

            MinHo’s whisper came out strangled, bubbles leaving his nostrils instead of a sorrowful sigh. The full circle of the moon was blurred as if being seen through a neutral coloured stain glass window. It jiggled and swayed along with the current, getting smaller and smaller the more he sank…

            He did not recognize the cold arms of the water or the slick whips of algae…

            Are you still holding me?

            I can’t hold you any more…

            And MinHo remembered why he’d fled from his nest… Why he’d driven down the boulevard… Why he’d “lost” his shirt, and let his body get filthy… Why he’d braided the beads into his hair in the first place…

            You’ll be able to hold me again soon…

            He promised… Soon… Soon the blue and red would reunite.

            I’m sorry… But I won’t be able to…

            And like that the rocks settled… The dandelions had never been waving hello, but rather goodbye. The world would be frozen in time now, MinHo’s body would sink and then float down the river onto the banks of pebbles and mud where he would shiver and his lips would turn blue and a little old lady walking her toy poodle would discover him and dial 911 on her ancient cell phone. A crowd would gather and he’d be in a padded white room with a suited man jotting down stick man as he sat silent and was expected to spew excuses…

            I just wanted you to hold me again…

            I know… But I can’t…

            There was no one else who could… If Onew couldn’t, then who would…?

            Could you hold me…

            Like this… I’ll do it one more time… But…

            I don’t want to live…

            After this… You’ll have to live…

            Squirrels threw nuts, trees unfolded their branches… And the nest rebuilt itself… MinHo was back with the twigs and branches kneading his hair with finger tips burnt by matches…

            Could you hold me like this…?

             His whisper fell into thin air, entrapped by the sounds of whispering spirits lingering in the veins of the colour shifting leaves of the hibernating trees. Like if he were in a sound proof room the question was absorbed, never to be returned to him…