oneshots

Must have been The wind - YS

While having my lunch alone on a Sunday, I heard a violent shatterring sound akin to glass hitting a wall emitted from the apartment just above mine.
At first I just thought that I was daydreaming.

I vigorously shook my head from side to side and tried to listen more attentively.

Through my alert ears rang a muffled shout followed by the voice of a girl and on clearing up, it sounded like she had been crying.
Now I can barely think of taking my preplanned nap.

After cleaning the dishes, I lay down to take a power nap but to no avail.
KANG YEOSANG THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, I stubbornly slap my cheeks in annoyance. 

In the pristine silence clouding my apartment, the cries turned into clear sobs and the next moment I knew, I was up and about.
With a head full of many thoughts but none so impulsive as this one, I ran upto the floor above mine and knocked on the door in front of me.

No sooner did I ring the bell, than the sound of sobs was vacuumed away.
Subsequently, the scene became devoid of noise until a couple of steps were heard approaching the door.
I gulped with a dreary expression on my face.

To my surprise, a girl answered the door.
She was about 153 centimeters in height and had upon her, a jacket whose zipper was pulled all the way up to her neck.
Without daring to make eye contact, she asked,

"yes?"

It was the moment my limbs felt as numb as if they were literally detached from my body. Nevertheless I mustered up the courage to inquire,

"ah..I happen to hear some noise up here....Ahh.. Is everything alright?"

"noise you say?", she took a minute to herself.

"I think your ears are playing tricks on you sir", she zipped her jacket up to her chin.

"oh.. Well", I scratched the back of my head out of habit.

It was, until a masculine voice called for her in a demanding tone.

"thanks for caring sir that's nice of you but I have to go back in"

"but.. -", she cut me off before I could say anything while loosing some sweat.
"Wish I could tell you about the noise but I didn't hear a thing"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"It must have been the wind... Wind from the rooftop."

With this she unamiably closed the door on my face leaving me stranded on an empty fifth floor.

.
.
The following day, I returned from work a little earlier than usual. I was exhausted from all the socializing at office and didn't even care to join a team dinner, ditching my coworkers.

There was a certain thought stuck in my head I just couldn't shake off.
Was the girl hiding something?
Perchance if she was;
She hid it way too well.

A stream of thoughts lead my mind into a shallow sleep on the couch itself until I was vigorously awaken by another 'thud' sound from the apartment above mine.
This time I was sure I wasn't dreaming because the stomping footsteps were still persistent.
Once again, my chest pounded ruthlessly as I walked towards the elevator.

I wait almost negligibly after pressing the button because the lift was already at my floor.
There was a middle aged man in the lift who rudely signalled that he was going down.
So I ditched the elevator and ran upto the floor above mine, once again with fast pacing steps.

This time when I reached for her door, I noticed that it was
already ajar.
As I connected the doors in my head, the picture got clearer;
I deemed the man I met the moment ago, to be related to the noise above my apartment.

It was after a few minutes of realization, I retraced my hand from her door right before knocking and stood still in my tracks,
thinking about what had actually been happening with her.

I had no courage, yet I wished it was as easy to ask someone if they were being abused as it was
to blame it on the wind.

Thus, with a heavy heart, I walked across the small park under my apartment building.
A few minutes into walking, my eyes widened at the sight of the girl from the previous day who also seemed to have arrived for a walk.

After another round in the park, I was practically walking just behind her.
Suddenly I had an idea.
I took off my earphones and tapped on my screen.
In no time, a song started playing.

'Lean on me' by Bill Withers.

I walked ahead with unambiguous hopes of her listening to this song just so that she gets to know that she could lean on me and I was sure,
when she hears those words..
I know she'll be okay.

We silently walked at the same pace maybe knowingly or unknowingly.
At times she rubbed her shoulders feeling the trembling cold breeze penetrating into her light, zipped up jacket.
How bad I wished to give her mine.

Right when the song stopped, she suddenly turned around catching me by surprise.
We stood face to face and for the first time, she looked into my eyes.
I looked at her with tender eyes as I noticed tears surging up in hers.

Then out of the silence, her voice escaped the void,
"Why are you doing this?", tears rolled down her cheeks in a linear manner, one by one.

"You know i told you nothing has happened then why do you keep toying with me?", I could sense hypersensitivity in her words and chose to silently listen to her vent.

"I HAVE NO ONE TO LEAN ON AND YOU ARE JUST ANOTHER STRANGER WHO..", her voice gradually calmed,
"will not even ask for me tomorrow."

This time, her words pierced to the core of my heart making me feel the tingling shame of not being able to see what was happening right in front of my eyes, to my neighbor.

Words finally escaped my lips as I moved close to her, gently and cautiously taking her in a
comfortable hug.

"I promise I'm not playing tricks on you. I promise I will not abandon you.", her grip on me tightened as she returned the hug; tears still strumming down her face.

"You're always welcome to come to my place in case you feel suffocated in your own."

"You can stay there for an hour or two if you ever need a friend to talk to.", I could tell that she made a quick nod from within my embrace as her sobs gradually subsided.

Finally, I said,

"You can tell my about the noise when you're ready but till then....

Lets just say
It must have been the wind."

"Wind from the rooftop."

______________________________________

A/n: (Do read!)

This is a song imagine from Alec Benjamin's Must have been The wind.
Honestly this songs hits really deep so I was inspired.
I want more and more people to feel this comfortable feeling that there is always someone who's willing to be there for you.

Just know that you're not alone in this abyss.
The people around you definitely care about you.
All you need to do is open up to them.

Also, I want people to notice these little things and try to initiate conversations about such sensitive topics like child abuse for one.
It could even be your neighbor.

Let's bring in more acceptance and comfort in the actual world before everyone just keeps blaming it on the wind.

Care about the people around you!