home, jaemin

chapter eight

at the end of the school day, nayeon had given jiyoung her phone number, "text me whenever you'd like. jeno says he likes texting me because he knows i'll respond quickly since i'm always on my phone."

she gratefully took her new friend's number and the two had managed to text back and forth throughout the entirety of saturday until nayeon got tired and left for bed.

it would be an understatement to say that jiyoung was grateful for nayeon's kindness and will to get to know jiyoung as a person.

in all the years she had been alive, jiyoung could easily say she had never met someone quite like nayeon.

a bonus of being practically best friends with the girl was that she had a boyfriend in their friend group who was practically just as sweet as his girlfriend.

nayeon had added jiyoung and jeno to a group chat earlier and jiyoung watched as jeno practically exposed her through text messages. it was quite a funny experience that she would love to see again.

but it was finally dark out and jiyoung was, for some reason, quite restless. no matter what she did or how she laid in her bed, she just couldn't get comfortable.

and now she was sat on her bed, lurched over with her feet dangling down the side as she contemplated what to do next.

"maybe get food? that usually helps," she thought aloud, "no. i shouldn't eat if i'm not hungry." seconds passed as she tried to think some more.

"i don't even know anything around here. i miss the pond back home."

the pond. a place right outside of her house where she always went to when stressed or just needing a breath of fresh air.

to be honest, now that she thought about it, she didn't actually know why they had a pond basically in their backyard back home.

they lived in the earth nation where the only water-related things were rivers that only ran through specific parts of the nation, nowhere near where she lived.

there wasn't a need for water outlets since everyone was either a non-bender or an earth bender. usually the former.

but she didn't question it for long, honestly not really caring enough for an explanation at the moment.

"republic city park isn't too far from here..." she trailed off, unhooking her phone from its charger and standing up.

she walked over to her closet and saw herself in the body mirror on the door. she stared back at her slim reflection, the only visible clothing pieces on her body being the loose white t-shirt she had paired with black sweatpants and fuzzy pink socks.

opening the closet door, she grabbed the first jacket she saw and black slides, immediately placing the two articles of clothing on her body and walking out of the room.

she quietly walked through the house and to the front door- grabbing her car keys from the key rack hanging on the wall.

she decided it would be best to walk, enjoying the cool breeze that subtly lifted the ends of her hair.

although she did enjoy it, the wind on her exposed color bone made her body a bit chilly, thus resulting in her pulling the hood of the coat over her head lazily.

she had finally made it to the park. unlike usual ones she had seen growing up, this park didn't have swing sets or regular playground equipment.

instead, it was practically just a piece of large land, a few bridges stretching out over the water outlets and some benches spread here and there.

she found her body making its way over a bridge and to a bench where she'd get the perfect view of the moon in all its glory.

sitting there alone with no sound or anything distracting her was more than relaxing. the sight in itself being something she never thought she'd ever see.

the moon and river were both calming in so many aspects but just feeling the wind cross her skin was somehow freeing.

she had always loved just sitting around and enjoying the peaceful sound of nature or letting wind cascade over her body.

the breeze was gentle and soothing. she would probably stay in the moment for eternity if possible but she sadly couldn't. in a little bit, she would have to leave the scene and return home.

she really didn't want to. it felt like she was finally let loose and away from all the new changes that she had to face from moving to the republic.

time passed by slowly; a slow drizzle of rain beginning to form around her. in all honestly, she didn't care about it.

the smell of rain refreshed her body even more. she couldn't describe the way it smelt but she loved the rain. she didn't dislike lightning but she definitely could live without the loud noises of thunder.

lighting could be so beautiful. the purple colors radiating from the bolts of energy always made her awe at the sight.

her train of thoughts were stopped abruptly when another figure had made its way over to her, their voice familiar.

"jiyoung?"

i wonder who this could be