WORDS. |Kim Seungmin

Sixteen.

Hours were passing by the two partners working on their project in Aria's room. The breakfast was cleaned up and coffee cups were already empty. The room was quiet except for Aria's voice since she was the only talking one. They finished the primary research that they needed to do to settle on the topic of the project.

Aria exhaled loudly and dropped on her back to her bed. Her arms were sprawled out at her sides and she was staring at the ceiling. Seungmin was still sitting cross-legged on her loveseat by the window. His laptop had already left his lap and he was leaning to the window, watching the quiet street.

Aria peeked to find him lost in his own world. He looked peaceful and quiet. He looked calm and warm. He looked innocent to be anything close to being a bad person. He can't be the bad guy.

He wasn't quiet at all. Inside him, storms were ragging as always. He wasn't peaceful, there was a war burning up his mind. He was curious about something. There was a question that kept him thinking since he stepped into that house. He didn't know if it was okay to ask or not so, he kept it to himself. But he needed an answer to this question. He needed it to be able to tame his thoughts a little.

"Are you doing the watching thing?" Aria asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. He shoved his eyes to her. She was propped on her elbows.

Seungmin nodded while smiling at her. He looked through the window again that was having a full view of his house, especially his room. Just before he falls back into his thoughts, he decided to ask. He sighed before he shoves his eyes to Aria to find her staring at him. The girl jolted. She forgot that she was looking at him that way until he looked back.

"W-What?" She stuttered once she cleared her throat. She pushed herself up and sat upright.

Seungmin stood up and made his way to her bed. He sat down next to her which made Aria get nervous. She gulped still, keeping her questioning eyes on him. She was trying to read his face. Seungmin handed her his notebook. Aria knitted her brows but eventually took the note and read what he had already written before leaving his previous spot.

"I don't want to be rude or mean. And I don't want to cross any lines so, if you are not okay with this, don't answer. Your brother earlier was wearing sunglasses which I found weird. Is h-"

Aria didn't complete the sentence and closed the note, handing it back to him. Seungmin's face fell the moment she did so. He was afraid. He thought that he crossed the line. He thought she would be angry with him.

"Don't overthink. I'm not angry." Aria said, grabbing his attention to her again. She had a tight, slightly broken smile. "Yes. He's a Punished."

Seungmin nodded.

That was the answer he wanted to hear to calm himself down, to give him the glimpse of hope he needed. It's not like he was happy that her brother was a Punished. It just confirmed that Aria was different. She wasn't judgmental.

"You are not asking why?" Aria questioned. "Or what crime he did commit?"

Seungmin shook his head while smiling politely at her. He then grabbed his pen and notebook to write something down after he checked his watch.

"Maybe one day I'll be listening to the whole story. When we both are ready to open up and talk. And that's not today as you have work in half an hour and I have to go hand those papers before we miss the deadline."

Aria read his neat words. She checked her watch to find that it was really close to her shift starting time. She nodded at him thankfully and got to her feet. Seungmin did the same. He wrapped up, collected his belongings, and left Aria's house after bidding his goodbye.

Aria stood behind her window. She was the one watching by then. She watched him walking down the street to the bus stop. Her mind was going in every possible direction. He doesn't seem to be a bad person at all but there were many question marks around him.

Was he a Punished?

What did he do to lose his voice?

If not, then how he lost it?

Why was he confusing?

Why wasn't he curious about what happened to her brother?

Why was he living alone?

Where was his family and why didn't they move with him?

Those were the questions running through Aria's mind lately.

She shoved her eyes to his bedroom window which had thick curtains.

"And most importantly," She whispered to herself. "Why are all your windows always shielded with those thick curtains? What do you hide inside, Seungmin?"

***

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