𝘖𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 | JJK |

21 pt. 2

Many minutes later, Heiran and Dohyeok walked down the moonlit sidewalk. Cars were zooming past on the road and the street lights were bright. The two individuals sauntered towards Evergreen Apartments in tranquil silence. The immensely kind man had asked to accompany Heiran on her walk back home and she had to accept. With the kidnapping incident that happened not too long ago, she was in no position to turn down such an offer. It was better to be safe than sorry.

The summer night breeze was still warm, the night sky empty. Heiran tilted her head back and observed the vast expanse of the sky, stumbling slightly in her steps.

"Whoa... Look at that! It's empty. Not a star in sight. Reminds me of my own hopeless life." Heiran wasn't sure where all the pathetic self-pity was coming from. She attributed it and her loose tongue to that of her intoxication. She must be incredibly drunk.

Dohyeok inclined his head back to take a closer look, "You sure about that?"

She couldn't tell what he was referring to but she nodded her head anyway. Whatever it was that he meant, it was all gone anyway. It was all empty, void, absent.

"I see one right over there!" He pointed at the sky, towards a faint, ghostly glow of a star.

Heiran did not believe his words until she fumbled inside her bag and found her reading glasses to observe closer. When she found what he was pointing at, she gasped out loud.

"You're right. It was there!"

Dohyeok offered her a dimpled smile, shards of glittering moonlight in his eyes. "There's always hope, Heiran. You just need to find it."

That was some deep sh*t, she thought drunkenly. Nevertheless, she had to admit there was truth to his words. Heiran just didn't feel that it would be easy to find it.

As if reading her thoughts, he spoke out loud, "He will come back to you. I can feel it."

She scoffed bitterly, "I doubt that."

Now that she had found one, her intoxicated self felt determined to find all the stars in the night sky that she couldn't see with her naked eyes. There were three more and she felt a tinge of joy as she discovered each. Lost in her stargazing, she hadn't realized that she had stumbled off the sidewalk onto the road, right into the oncoming traffic until a car's horn startled her back to reality. Before she could let out a scream in horror, she felt the pull of a strong hand on her elbow. Heiran lost her balance and crashed right into Dohyeok's firm chest. She quickly grabbed hold of his jacket before she could miserably drop to the ground and clung onto it, terrified at how her life had flashed before her eyes mere moments ago.

His hands came down on her elbows, supporting her up. "Heiran. You should be careful. You almost got seriously hurt!"

She managed to regain her balance, looking up at him to apologize for her stupid mistake when she noticed their proximity. Suddenly, she was hyper-aware of the unusual position she was in. As her eyes found him, Dohyeok froze, his mouth halting mid-sentence as the breath left his lungs. There was silence again, one that felt strange. Heiran blinked slowly, surprised by the intensity of his gaze. A heavy tension descended on the atmosphere, something strange and immense hanging in the air. He swallowed, blinking as if he was beginning to wake up from a long, distant dream. Alarm bells began to ring in her inebriated brain and she immediately pushed herself off of the poor guy and dipped into a ninety-degree bow. "I am so sorry! I should not have done that!"

He awkwardly cleared his throat, evading eye contact. "I-it's fine. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have pulled you that hard."

"No, no, you were only trying to save my life. I'm the stupid one here." She cried out loud and he shook his head, opening his mouth to counter her but no sentence made it past his lips. Unable to handle the awkwardness in the air, Heiran quickly tried to change the topic, pointing at the series of apartment buildings that emerged from the ground at a distance.