New World | SOOKAI

Goodnight, Sweet Prince (Part 5)

I gripped the branch above me, pulling myself back up to sit beside Beomgyu, but the added weight on my back from the guitar made me lean back a bit too far and I was losing my balance.

"Ahh!" I was falling backwards until I felt a strong grip upon the front of my shirt and looked down to see Beomgyu's fist gripped into the fabric, stopping me from taking a rather long fall to the ground.

He pulled me forward and I steadied myself "Uh.. thank you."

"Can't have you falling onto that pretty face of yours, can we?" he smirked and kept his gaze away from me, slightly dismissive of having helped me.

"I guess not..." I gave a small smile as I lifted my gaze to the city in the distance.

There was silence between us for several minutes. I just.. didn't really know what to say to him. There was so much that could have been said, but I couldn't figure out where to make a start.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Kai. It's even more beautiful than I thought it would be," Beomgyu eventually whispered, his eyes moving over the night lights with a gentle smile.

"You're welcome.. I wanted to keep at least one of my promises to you, I guess.." I trailed off, still feeling a bit awkward about him sitting there next to me. I was having trouble reading him. He seemed at ease, but I was unsure if he still held resentment towards me or not, under it all.

I started to think to myself, questions popping up in my head from every corner. The memories he shared with me had made a small amount of sense, but maybe I could coax some more out of him to try to understand him a bit more.

"Do.. you mind if I ask you something?" I said cautiously, eyeing him up from the side.

"What?" he answered, still staring off into the distance.

"Were you ever.. truly happy during your lifetime?"

I stared at him as he thought about it, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards for a moment to resemble a very brief smile, his eyes now cast down to the ground several hundred feet underneath us.

"Not truly, no.." his voice deepened in thought.

"Did you.. want to tell me more about your life..?"

Beomgyu's lips were now pursed together as I saw a flicker of disapproval glance across his features. "I think I've shown you all I'm comfortable with."

I swallowed and looked away from him again. I somehow expected that answer out of him, but it was worth a try. He didn't want to dwell on the past, that was obvious to me.

"Sorry," I said simply.

"Heh.. don't worry about it" his hands were playing with a strip of embroidered cotton along the edge of his pant leg, almost like a nervous habit.

I thought of perhaps one question I could ask that might not bring up terrible memories. Of course, I wasn't certain, but I got the distinct feeling it would lighten the almost non-existent conversation between us.

"What type of music do you like?"

I watched his expression carefully and I faintly saw his hidden eyebrows underneath his perfectly presented hair arch slightly.

"I don't really have a 'type', genre doesn't matter to me. As long as it sounds good."

I gave a sincere smile. His opinion of music was the same as my own.

"I agree. I feel the same way about music."

I was suddenly conscious of his guitar on my back again and I fiddled with one of the shoulder straps sitting across my collarbone.