WITH YOU - haechan

| 31 |

— HER TRUE VOICE.
unedited

The way his calloused fingers molded with hers made her heart race in her chest. She couldn't stop staring at their intertwined hands as he continued to drag them through the crowds of sweaty people.

"Good comeback, but," Rinyoung began but her mind trailed off as her cheeks flushed bright red from just rethinking of his words to Hyejin. "Where are we going?" She meekly asked.

Donghyuck quickly glanced over his shoulder and rolled his eyes.

"On a drive."

The raven haired girl was too in her head— the thoughts of the last car ride with him swirling around her mind— that she didn't notice they were already outside.

At a loss for words, she continued to follow his lead to his car. She chewed on her bottom lip with butterflies fluttering in her stomach from the nerves that filled her.

Stopping at the passenger side, Donghyuck halted his steps. Unfortunately, Rin couldn't stop spiraling causing her to bump into his hard back. "Oh."

"Get in," Carefully, the Lee opened his hands and unwove his fingers from hers before opening the car door. "I don't like it here." He muttered under his breath, but Rinyoung could hear his confession as clear as day.

She nodded hesitantly and ducked down to enter, and as she settled in her seat, he closed her door and began to walk to the other side.

Rinyoung's eyes followed him through the windshield, stuck on him like glue until finally he slipped into his seat. She looked away, almost too fast that she swore he could see her.

But he never spoke.

Donghyuck simply ignited the engine, turned on the radio— allowing a Ruel song to enter their ears before reversing and bolting out of the neighborhood.

Swallowing down her nerves, Rinyoung intertwined her own fingers on her lap— trying to fill the lightness.

Her eyes were trained on her hands, until she had enough of being pathetic. Her head lifted and turned to the right, towards her window. Trees and city lights were blurred as they raced past, and though they were just blobs of colors from the missed chances to gaze at the sights, she was still in awe.

Something about drives made her calm down.

It felt nostalgic.

When her father used to drive home from being at his office all day, and Rinyoung being there straight after school, she was always allowed in the front seat during the ride home— given the best view of the night streets.

Her dad would turn on some old jazz songs, and he would hum to the melody and rhythmically tap his forefinger on the steering wheel.

It was the only time she felt like a normal teenager.

Her father drove instead of their family driver.

She wasn't told to sit straight and face forward as her mother was expecting them at home, but instead she was able to lean and slouch against the leather seats of her dad's vintage car.

And she wasn't scolded for smiling in a daze, as her mother always hated when she did that— said it made her look utterly stupid.

But her father didn't care, he chose to not care about how his daughter presented himself.

Unfortunately, that mindset couldn't stick.

Seeing her fondly gaze out, Donghyuck silently slid the windows down, allowing the cold night breeze to nip at their skin.

Something washed over Rinyoung.

She unbuckled her belt and zipped down the leather jacket that sat on her shoulders, opening it up. With zero hesitation, she maneuvered her upper body out of the window and leaned out.

She struck her hands up in the air as the wind rippled through her hair and clothes. The way her dark locks flew rapidly behind her and how the night breeze added pressure to her large grin made her fall in love with car rides all over again. The feeling was euphoric. It was freedom.

Not getting enough of it, she began to do what she always wanted to. She cupped her hands around her mouth and belted out the words she held in so desperately until now.

"Fuck you Im Nara!" She swore her mother's name as if it was a nothing but dirt.

Donghyuck's eyes widened when hearing her yell into the night. He craned his neck to the right, gazing at her outstretched figure. Quickly he shifted his eyes back to the road, anticipating her to come down from her high and buckle herself in again.

But she didn't.

"Fuck you, Im Jaebum! Fuck you, Im Jin Kyung! And fuck you Kim Hyejin!" She belted out into the thick air, disrupting the serene state of the quiet city.

She didn't care though.

She felt satisfied.

Rinyoung lowered her hands and slipped back in her seat, allowing Donghyuck to raise the windows once again.

She craned her neck to him— him doing the same— and she couldn't help but let the large grin stay plastered on her face.

Her eyes twinkled through the dark and her smile reached her eyes, the first time in a long time.

And then . . .

She felt it.

His heart clenched in his chest.

how was this chapter 🥺

pretty different from the others :,)
my heart is about to burst.