Perilous

Chapter 34 - As We Fall Below and Rise Beneath

Snow is still falling,
I keep forgetting it's autumn time.
Everything is stopped in motion
Like a breaking lullaby caught in a rewind.

I can barely feel my legs;
that's expected.
I knew I would be affected,
because I wasn't protected.

This isn't the lullaby I want to tell my future children.
I don't want to lose this villain.
I can feel my body aching from my feet to my teeth.
As we fall below and rise beneath.

As the poem ended, Taehyung closed his notebook and put it to the side. It had already been five days since the attack, and five days in the hospital; in the cold.

It was now November 6th. It didn't feel like it, but it was. Especially with the snow falling.

Not many had come to visit him like he'd assumed. Though everyone was busy—he knew that. But it didn't help. The nurse's check-ins should have been enough.

But it wasn't enough.

When you lose everything, including the passion and dream you worked so hard to find and pursue, as well as lose someone you love....that loss....only made the loneliness all the more freezing. Taehyung wasn't satisfied with loving and losing.

Even though it wasn't new, the sound of someone knocking at the door of the room caused him to jump a little. It had been almost an entire day since someone had visited him.

"Come in," he called in a shaky, excited voice, sitting up.

The visitor walked in, "may I come in?"

It was a male Taehyung didn't recognize, who wore a turtleneck sweater with his hair parted in the middle and hovering off of either side of his forehead. He even had a jacket tied around his waist. Handsome.

"Yes, of course," he licked his lips a bit nervously, and the boy stepped in and closed the door behind him ever so carefully.

"I hope I haven't gotten the room wrong. I'm looking for Kim Taehyung."

"That's me," Taehyung sat up even more.

"Ah, I'm glad," the boy smiled softly. "My name is Kwon Songgi, but you should call me Song. I am a new student."

"A new student..?"

"I joined at a very awkward time, didn't I?" Song chuckled with his mouth shut. "Nevertheless, I wanted to meet you."

"You did..?"

"I have heard so much about who you are. I've learned about your destiny, and your unique witch abilities. I've never heard of such a powerful witch gene," Song explained. "Nevertheless, most of it came from my stepbrother—and my dormmate."

"Your stepbrother?"

"Jackson Wang," Song answered, causing Taehyung's eyes to grow wide and then small again in surprise. He had no idea he had a step brother. "His father is my stepfather, and only parent."

"Oh....that's interesting," Taehyung hummed. "Well uh, wait—your roommate?"

"That's the other reason why I wanted to meet you. Since availability is quite small, the three of us will be sharing a room," Song told. "I tried to avoid your side of the room, until you get there at least."