voice | kim mingyu

seven

Crying. He heard her crying.

Mingyu came back home earlier than he had planned. Worried sick as to the fact that he called his home phone several times and she didn't pick up. He did say stay for the night but he was hoping she would stay until he found out who her father was.

He had quietly entered and taken his shoe off with no sound at all, afraid he would wake her up if she was asleep. But she was crying and he heard it right away. He rushed over to the sound to see her holding her head while squatting in the middle of the living room.

"Hyein," he called out to her as he bent down and tried to look at her. She was shaking a lot and didn't want to make eye contact. Her feelings had got the best of her. Hyein was scared. She was scared of Mingyu. Maybe she shouldn't have left the house. Maybe it was for the best to stay at home.

Maybe it was best to listen to her father.

She had memorized the sound of his passcode and decided that she was to leave and come back before he could find out. Hyein walked all the way to school. It wasn't as far as she thought it would be, in fact, it was closer.

But the whispers and the stares.

Hyein had run back all the way to Mingyu's place and ended up breaking down in the center of the room. He was confused about why she was suddenly so scared of him. But he stayed calm, "Hyein-ah, don't worry, I won't hurt you."

She continued to cry and looked around anxiously but she was no longer backing up as he got closer, inch by inch, "Now it's okay. Don't think about them. Don't think about it." he coaxed as he grabbed her hands into his and sweetly looked at her, waiting for her to calm down.

It took a while but the girl he knew this morning was back. He reached over and slowly wiped her tears away with his thumb, not wanting to scare her with any large physical contact. Her sad eyes looked at his and she caught the sadness in his eyes.

And she knew she wasn't alone.