STORMS

un

01 —
YOU.

it was raining again. the city of busan mimicking her emotions lately with her cloudy heart and rain like tears. she wanted to sit outside drowning in the cold droplets that blend in with her salty substance that drips from her eyes. the cold droplets that paint pictures on her cheekbones and hold on with their last remaining strength to not fall onto the gravel. because once it fell it was gone. the art that left, the art that never stayed.

she was waiting for him. this time no intentions of running away. jiho was a girl who could always face her problems, fight her fears, but after meeting taehyung he'd become the only thing her fears revolved around. his cold touch stinging and lingering onto her skin leaving monstrous purple marks, his cold touch that had the ability to wrap around her heart like a baby to its mother only it lacks the love. kim taehyung who was nothing but a cold winter taking over a warm spring, wilting the sunflowers and roses. he could not differentiate between love and hatred. fingers playing a piano tune that screamed of his loathe, only sometimes would the pressing of the keys sound beautiful. cognitive dissonance it's called, blaming his actions on her to find no fault in himself. her intentions to finally tell him she needs to leave.

kim taehyung with the blonde hair, kim taehyung with the rectangular smile that masked his nature behind the scenes, kim taehyung who was never taught how to love. only to touch.

she soon learned it was never meant to be. the boy was a stolen puzzle piece placed in the wrong corner. he wasn't hers to begin with, originally a pair with her best friend who was now on her second year of being missing.

the frail girl was almost terrified to break up with the tall man, her anxiety creeping in like the ocean waves on a beach. it started at her toes then up to her head, the sudden courage she'd worked so hard on building slowly disappearing as his car pulls up in front of the old playground near her apartment complex. jiho was different, example: thinking a children's playground on a rainy day the perfect place to break up with her boyfriend. his lean frame walks up with his heels pitter pattering onto the numerous puddles. "what is so important that i had to meet you at a playground? in the rain for christ sake." jiho starts to quaver at his intimidation, a lump in her throat preventing her from saying what she wishes to say.

"i–i don't want to do this anymore." her voice is shaky caused by the mix of her nervousness and the rain that no longer felt like soft snowflakes, felt like hail. the man crosses his arms, hair becoming damper by the second. her heart thumping in her chest like an asteroid crashing onto earth. "we should just stop this. i'm only getting hurt."

taehyung scoffs, lip rising in disbelief. "you want to end it with me?" the small girls breath becomes heavier with each word he spoke as if the air was becoming nonexistent. he walks forward the sounds of his feet meeting the ground coming again causing her to flinch thinking he might try to create another disastrous symphony. but the sound comes to a stop, taehyung is only inches from her. his hands snake into the pocket of his black slacks. "whatever." that was it. that was the last word that came from his voice that sounded like honey was lodged in his throat, a soft and sweet deepness. kim taehyung was finally gone, making quite the exit with the roaring of his engine and tires screeching against the wet gravel.

was it always so easy to let things go?

jiho couldn't get over how easy it could have been this entire time. the image replaying of the final time she would have to see him. she was comforted by the squeaking sound of the metal swings and the rain meeting every object around her harshly. supposed she wasn't the only one who felt that way, since a boy who looked around her age was sitting on the bench with a cigarette between his slender fingers. his hair was dark, wet fringe hanging over his eyes. ears decorated with piercings and a sloppily buttoned flannel with untied timberlands. something about his aura had lured her in, the darkness that flattered him. "a cigarette in the rain?" she asks from the swings, not too far from where he was seated. instead of responding he drops the unlit cigarette onto the ground and watches it drown. "hey mystery boy, i'm talking to you." jiho's heart was functioning more than her mind as her legs led her toward the quiet boy.

"yes, a cigarette in the rain. thought if i watched it drown i wouldn't want to smoke it. turns out i was wrong." mystery boy speaks through a low tone, his voice hoarse obvious he hadn't slept in days.

"you shouldn't smoke, mystery boy." he turns his head toward the girl, finally looking at her eyes that were puffy from crying and smudged mascara underneath her mocha eyes. she was a mess just like him, but he couldn't take his eyes off of the addicting mess. her jet black hair that fell across her pale face, sticking to her plump cherry colored lips. her defined collarbones that peaked through her shirt defying the laws of innocence. her smile that was broken.

he turns away before he feels the jump in his stomach staring at the only lamppost that lights up the area. the cheap area of busan. "i hate not knowing when i'm going to die. but since i'm going to pass eventually, why not make it sooner?" he shuts his eyes becoming one with the rain, the only form of weather that made him feel alive. "and my name isn't mystery boy, it's jeongguk." jeongguk had been cursed with a sooner or never death, his body slowly losing control of itself. brain tumor. wakes up every morning wondering why he didn't die yesterday, or the day before. it was already changing him in the worst ways. his interest in the rustling trees and dew–dropped flowers turning transparent ever since he was diagnosed with a life timer. not even the purple lilies could grow him another chance at life.

"well, jeongguk, what makes you think you're going to die so soon?" she stares deeply at his ethereal existence, loving every curve of his profile. the slope of his nose down to his cupids bow that lead to his lips of cotton candy, looking soft and pink even in the dark rain.

"well, mystery girl, what makes you think the rain could hide your tears so easily?"