Fosters | [A Myoui Mina, Kim Taehyung, Choi Beomgyu, and Shin Ryujin story]

Chapter 14

"Are you ready?"

Ryujin nods at Lia as she pulls out her phone and rings Yeji.

"Hello? Is Ryujin here?"

Lia holds Ryujin's hand tightly and replies, "Yeah and we brought lunch." Yeji replies, "We'll come down to get you."

Yeji glances at Beomgyu who stayed indifferent to this all. What's going to happen now? Is she just going to reject me and everything will go back to the way it was? It can't though... not after you ruined it with your stupid feelings... what's going to happen now?

Yeonjun glances out the window and says, "We should hurry, it seems like the weather is getting worse."

BANG!!

Yeji jumps in shock as Yeonjun whispers, "Thunder... let's go before they get wet and cold. Beom—" He pauses seeing Beomgyu was already gone.

"RYUJIN! RYUJIN!"

Lia glances at Ryujin in utter fear. They were just waiting at the lobby of the apartment complex until they heard the thunder. Ryujin immediately crouched down onto her knees and covered her ears.

BANG!!!

Soobin says in a worried voice, "Ryujin, what happened? Is it the thunder?" Ryujin could only stutter as tears started forming in her eyes and her hands start to shake in fear. She slowly looks up speechless as the two stare at her not knowing what to do.

BANG!!!

Beomgyu finally made it down and ran to Ryujin. He quickly put her in a hug as he whispers, "Hey, it's okay. I'm here. Listen to me, Ryujin. I'm here. I'm fine. Hey! Answer me. Can you hear me?" Ryujin gasps for air as she whispers, "Y-yeah..."

Beomgyu smiles, "It's just thunder. It can't hurt you. We're all in here and safe. Just breathe in and out, okay? Copy me." He inhales and she does the same as he exhales while she continues to mimic him.

"Can you walk?"

Ryujin slowly nods her head as Beomgyu turns to the other two. He smiles, "You can head up." They were left alone as Beomgyu helped Ryujin stand up.

BANG!!!

Ryujin's knees grow weak as the thunder claps through the air. Beomgyu catches her and continues to help her stand. He carefully leads her into the elevator while she slowly fixes her breathing.

Ryujin had a terrible fear of thunder. It stemmed from the trauma of the tragedy of her parent's death. The day her parents passed, Ryujin was in the car with them. They were driving carefully on a stormy night where the rain and wind made it impossibly hard to drive. Unfortunately, this caused the accident that took her parents. The car flipped as the tires skid from the wet roads. Ryujin was the only one conscious after the several flips. And she couldn't do anything.

Ryujin was stuck in the same car her parents just passed in upside down. She couldn't do anything but listen to the rain slam the ground and the thunder roaring through the skies. It happened when she was young and it stuck with her to this very day. On rare occasions of thunderstorms, Beomgyu was always there to comfort her. They shared a room so he'd always see her reactions to them.

Beomgyu and Ryujin slowly rode the elevator as Ryujin whispers, "I didn't mean what I said back there..." he turns to her as she replies, "I was just flustered and your confession freaked me out. I-I... it's pretty funny because I ummm... I actually—"

Ryujin stops as the power shuts down and the lights in the elevator turn off. "Beomgyu?"

"I'm still here."