Luminous • Jisung

44 • Soft

the entire rooftop fight video was so chaotic and I loved every second of it 

Also, I can't believe they actually made a video for it. I have so much love for those crackheads in NCT's management and production team 😭

• Chapter 44 •

Cold. 

Grey. 

The long way down followed nothing but a sea of asphalt. Cho-a gazed down, legs dangling over the edge of the building's rooftop. 

Sitting there made her feel light. Neither close to the sky nor close to the ground. Free, as nothing was above her head, nothing below her feet. 

She was just sitting on the edge to a void, wrapped up in cold fresh air. Before her, spread out over the city's skyline, hovered specks of light in the night's darkness. They stuck to buildings or lamps or cars. Moving or standing still. 

The night wasn't as quiet as it should have been. 

Still, Cho-a felt calm. 

So much so, that she didn't even mind the warm sigh that floated through the cold air behind her. 

"You're going to fall down one day," Jisung nagged. 

"Can't wait," she joked.

Clicking his tongue disapprovingly, Jisung came closer before he stopped behind her. He put a blanket over her shoulders. 

"Don't say things like that," he warned. "And wear more. Just because you don't feel the cold doesn't mean it's good for your body." 

The way he talked reminded her of Kun. He liked to nag, was strict, was careful. Cho-a had always seen them as opposites. 

She hadn't realized that she was wrong. 

She nodded. "Sorry." And just a moment later he sat down next to her.

His eyes found the way up to the starless sky, forward to the bright and colourful skyline, to the side to where the girl that was watching the scenery carefully. 

She seemed to like the view, even though it wasn't unique and it wasn't exciting and it wasn't particularly pretty. 

She seemed to like coming here. 

"What are you doing up here?" he asked. 

"I couldn't sleep." 

"So you come to the roof?" Jisung questioned with a frown, attracting Cho-a's attention. 

She crossed her arms before her chest. She was awfully defensive of that rooftop, making the boy smile. 
"It's nice," she argued.  

Accepting her explanation, Jisung just nodded. 
"Do you want to talk?" he asked instead. "You couldn't sleep. Is something on your mind?" 

Was there something on her mind? 

The question echoed in her head next to the countless thoughts that ran in circles there. It was an odd question. Her mind had been outstandingly loud ever since she could remember. 

"Actually, it's really exhausting," she said through a sigh. "It's always about me or because of me." 

Jisung understood her well. It hadn't been much different for him. However, he was sure they experienced it differently. He never had to run away or hide who he was. 

He felt like she and he experienced a different kind of exhaustion. 

"Tell me something about you," she suggested instead, glimpsed at him briefly before looking away. "I feel like I know you well - your present you, at least. But I don't know much about your past."