Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
By the time we finish, it's half past nine.
"Where do you live? I'll walk with you," Taehyung offers. I hesitate.
I don't want him seeing where I live. Not now. Not ever. Especially when I live in an area where all the people on minimum wage reside.
But it's late. And even though I told Eomma I am with Taeyeon studying at the library, I still have missed calls from her. I never stayed out this late for anything, not even to study.
Plus it's too dark to walk alone.
Taehyung peers at me expectantly. Eventually, I nod. "Okay. Follow me."
The night is crispy cold, as it always is this time of year. I am grateful for my long coat, but the cold still seeps through, causing me to shrink into myself, falling into my old habits. He walks just a little behind me, his footsteps a constant reminder that I am not alone, although I still get those looks that make me shiver with fear and apprehension, looks that make me wish I were invisible, or braver. Why are men so creepy?
As we reach my street, a dark forbidden place with a flickering streetlight, my heartbeat quickens. He's going to see how poor I am, how sad and pathetic my living situation is. But before I can even feel any embarrassment, an arm slithers around my waist. I hear a cackle and look to my left. A drunken old man with two teeth and scraggly facial hair swears out at us while a group of teenage boys on the other side of the street holler as they shake their spray cans, tagging the pavement and any bare space they can find.
It's dangerous, it's chaotic, and I want to thank Taehyung for holding me like this, even if it does send tingles through every fiber of my body. His hand rests on my hip while his chest presses against my shoulders as we walk, slower but safer, towards my house, one of many tiny double-story terraces in a consecutive row, with walls so thin you can hear the neighbour's tv. Once we are in front of it, I quietly announce, "It's here," before extracting myself from his arm, stepping away to finally take a deep breath. Why does his touch affect me so much?
"You live here?" Taehyung looks around, before fixing his gaze on me. He looks concerned.
All I can do is nod, tucking my chin into my coat as a smooth breeze lifts my hair back slightly. "I know it's a shithole, but don't look so worried. I'm used to it."
"No one should get used to this..." A loud shout diverts our attention to the group of boys who now run away as the owner of the house they were vandalizing chases them with a stick. It is the third time this month, yet those boys never learn that you don't mess with Mr Kristopoulos.
I shrug. "It's better than nothing. For now. One day I will make enough money for us to move away..."
I trail off as another breeze blows through the dark street and I remember my dream. The dream that gets me through all the hardships, giving me an incentive to persevere, to keep going, even though all I want to do is curl up in my bed forever.
