Silence ○ Lee Haechan

○ 17

"You really didn't have to come," Mari spoke out as white swirls of air flowed out of the warmth of her mouth into the chilled night.

"You sounded in distress, of course I had to come," the boy made his way over to the girl, handing her his large hoodie that he grabbed from the back of his car upon seeing the shivering girl.

"Thanks" she said lowly as the boy stood next to her.

"You should really come to the car, you could catch a cold," the boy said and Mari looked out at the skate park with a sigh.

"I just- wanna stay here for a bit," her words felt raw and the boy nodded his head, sitting down beside her and letting his legs hang off the side of the ramp.

A silence washed over them, a comfortable one at that, as Mari looked up at the stars with tired hooded eyes.

"Did you want to talk about it?" The boy asked hesitantly, breaking the silence.

Mari looked over to her side, capturing the boys side profile before he turned his head to meet her gaze.

Ever since Jinyoung had found the girl crying in the desolated hallway, he kept on messaging her to see if she was alright and she felt surprisingly comforted by him.

His eyes sparkled under the moon light that join with the lamp posts to illuminate their figures.

The breeze blowing slightly through their hair and making the loose strands flow with the wind.

Mari reached up to tuck the loose hairs behind her head as she looked away, shuffling in her spot and pushing her arms under her armpits to gather warmth.

"I had a dream, well it was actually a nightmare- and I guess it just felt too real and it scared me," Mari said with an exhale as she looked back up to the sky, feeling the boys gaze on hers.

"I understand, nightmares really suck. Did you want to talk about what happened in it?" He offered calmly, not wanting to push any boundaries.

The girl took a few deep breaths in before shaking her head, "not really."

Jinyoung just nodded his head, letting out a soft 'okay' and allowing the night time silence to surround them once more.

Jinyoung had his hands stretched behind him, leaning back slightly as his eyes fell upon the dark blue painted canvas. A thousand little white glowing lights scattered sparsely.

Mari could feel his body warmth radiate onto her right side, warming her up even more in the chilled night.

The two didn't say a thing as they basked in each other presence. Both not know what to say in the middle of the night.

The skate park was quite big, with many ramps and large concaved slopes. The odd graffiti mural here and there really captured the aesthetic of a typical skate park, all that was missing was the teenagers with their skate boards and bikes.

But instead it was just them two, sitting silently in the quiet atmosphere and it was comfortable.

"You are friends with Jeno, right?" Jinyoung asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Mhm, why's that?" Mari asked, raising her eyebrows as she looked towards the boy who was already meeting her gaze.

"No particular reason. I play Hockey with him and I thought I saw you at some of his games."

"Ahhh yes, that man and his hockey. He sure does love that game," Mari said with a small laugh, "I guess you could say that he is kinda like my guy best friend. We spend so much together during sport and English and Science that we've grown so close. Plus he's apart of my friend group so we just naturally got really close."

"The friend group with like Renjun and Karina and stuff right?" Jinyoung asked as the two started to make small conversation.

"Yeah that's the one. To be honest I don't know how I got dragged into that group, it was probably Daeuns fault or whatever, but they're cool I guess," Mari shrugged her shoulders and Jinyoung just nodded his head up and down in thought.

"Are you planning on coming to the next hockey game?" Jinyoung asked, poster rising a little bit in anticipation.

"What day is it again?"
"Saturday."
"I don't think I have work so I should definitely be able to come," Mari said with a hum and a smile pulled at the boys lips.

"Awesome! I mean- uh that's cool that you can come," he stammered out rubbing the back of his nape, which Mari found cute, before peeking up once more "oh yeah, they're going to be a small party at one of our teammates house after the game. You should come if you want to."

Mari's eyes sparkled at the mention of a party, "party? Yes, count me in. Can I bring Daeun along?"

"Uhh, yeah sure, I'm sure Jeno will be inviting the others anyway."

"You know, that's kinda rude that he didn't ask me," Mari said with a huff, coming to the realisation that her so called boy best friend hadn't thought about inviting her.

"Oh no, I'm the only one that knows as of yet besides like the host. We were talking about it today at school and after school," Jinyoung confirmed and Mari let out an 'oh' feeling slight guilt that she was so quite to accuse her friend.

"I guess that's fine then, I'll let him off the hook," the girl said and Jinyoung laughed, amused by the girls behaviour towards her friend and his teammate.

The silence consumed them once more as Jinyoung looked down at his phone.
"It's 3:39- We should really get going. We have to wake up in a few hours and you need sleep," Jinyoung said looking at the girl and shoving his phone back onto his pocket.

"I guess you're right, I'm sorry I woke you up."
"Nonsense, you needed me so of course I was going to be there for you," Jinyoung said sincerely and Mari could the churn in her stomach, although this time it felt different.

Jinyoung extended his hand in offer and the girl below him placed her smaller hand into his, allowing for his strength to help her to her feet as they both made their way back to his car.

He unlocked it and she slipped into the passenger seat, allowing the leather below her to greet her comfortingly as he started up the engine and turning the heater up high.

It took a few seconds for the heater to start working and soon the two were met with a comforting warmth.

The Bluetooth connected to his phone and soon chill melodious tunes seeped through the cars system. The indie/ lo fi music soothing her ear drums as she snuggled in close to his hoodie, allowing his cologne to bless her senses.

The car ride mostly consisted of a comfortable silence or the odd direction given by Mari.

Jinyoung pulled up to her house in no time, watching the girls figure that did not budge from his seat.
"Mari you should probably get inside and sleep," Jinyoung said with a small laugh, watching as the girl pulled down the hoodie sleeves to cover her reddened finger tips.

"You should get home too, so you can sleep. I'm sorry once again for waking you up," Mari said not maintaining eye contact.

"Mari I really don't mind, you are worth waking up early for if I get to know you're safe. I am here for you if you ever want to talk," Jinyoung spoke in a sweet tone, eyes glistening under the street lamp and Mari nodded her head.

Diverting her attention to her laps her cheeks glow a slight hue of pink.

Pushing open the door she slides out of the warmth of the car.
"Thank you once more Jinyoung, I appreciate it. I hope you have a good sleep. Message me when you get home safely. "

"I will. Sweet dreams, Mari."