Trigger ↬ [ P.JS ]

Chapter 19:

Rain fell.

Astrid's most hated weather. She never really adored the rain nor hated them. They're just drops of water coming back to the ground after being sucked up by the clouds, pretty boring. She thought they were just a nuisance; wet roads, damp hair, they ruin everything. She never liked the darkness it gave either. She hated it when dark clouds formed together and washed the land.

But today, maybe she likes it.

There's this burdensome weight on her somewhere, and she just can't figure out why. It's like a gut feeling of something terrible, something so bad, and that they've missed it.

The dark sky is the only one that comforted her. The small dripping sound that the droplets made, maybe she hated them before, but it calmed her now. Maybe she learned to accept the dullness of it. Maybe she learned to not mind the colorless reflections it gave. Or maybe it just simply became meaningless after the apocalypse.

"You've been silent for a while now," A voice suddenly spoke.

She turned to her side and saw Jisung. She had honestly forgotten about him. You see, this is why she preferred to be alone, she can drown in her thoughts and not mind anyone else, but she can't just push the owner of the place they're currently staying at, right?

"Wanna talk about it?" Jisung tried to be friendly. He would rather be silent, but seeing how Astrid trembled when she found out about Gray, there must be something heavy on her shoulders.

Astrid tilted her head slightly to the side, still breathing calmly. That actually sounded nice and genuine. What could go wrong if I tell him my problems? It's not like I will overshare and accidentally tell my whole lifestory including the small details right? Ah, right. That'll probably happen, again. Fuck, what do I do now? He's probably waiting for me to say something. Shut up and just speak!

"I met Gray first," she smiled softly. "I met her when we were at our lowest. We helped each other out, like, you know, friends. We actually got really close fast. She's the only person that actually liked me." Astrid rubbed her shoulders, debating if she was sharing too much.

"And?" Jisung gently lifted his brows, giving Astrid the signal that it's okay to continue.

"Oh, well, we're friends for 10 years already. I kinda accepted it, you know? It's not like we can do anything about it." she sighed, dropping her head to her hands.

With her saying that, Jisung widened his eyes. "Really? No crying? No five stages of grief?" he scrunched his nose in confusion.

Astrid chuckled at his words. "Nope, I jumped through all four and started at level five," she raised her head and looked at him before saying, "I kinda felt numb ever since you called me Asteroid."

"Hey! That- oh my god!"

Astrid started to laugh hysterically, remembering the moment. She had her hands on her abdomen again, cackling. Jisung felt nothing but embarrassment. His ears turned red and he hid himself between his palm.

"They're actually getting along," Jaemin whispered from the other side of the door. "How are we going to tell them?" he turned to Jeno.

"I don't know. Astrid said that she already accepted it," Jeno walked away from the door slowly. "Just go do it."

"Hey, I'm not the one doing it." The other argued, not wanting to be the one that'll tell what they just did to Astrid's bestfriend.

Gray was turning really warm and sweaty. Her body temperature was 'almost as hot as a pot of boiling water', lines of Jeno, and she had already stopped convulsing. One thing that they're still not aware of is the still pulse and unmoving chest the girl had.