I.

The rain was pitiful, just like the ten year old girl sitting beneath it listening to the rhythmic beat of the raindrops hitting the ground as if it was a melodious ballad. And as if it was wailing, tears that fell from the sky slipped off the petals of flowers, the leaves of trees, and the rusty chains, brown from age and grime, of the swing the little girl was sitting on.

Two emotionless brown orbs gazed out into the colorless environment, gripping the rusty chains of the swing until her knuckles turned a pale ghostly white. Like it was the only thing keeping her from falling. She loosened her fingers from a chain and stretched her hand out, watching the rain slip off her palm and onto the floor. She released the hand that had unconsciously tightened around the other chain and cupped both her hands together. A pool of water started filling up in her hands but before it filled up to the top, the water trickled out from the crevice in between her small hands. She separated her hands and watched as gravity caused the excess water to fall down to the floor, the impact causing water to splash up.

The bitter wind lashed her with bitterness and numbness, a feeling that slowly consumed her with pain. She ignored the pain on her cheeks from the rain that shifted directions with the wind, like little pricks from a needle. She lowered her head to the ground, her wet, brown locks stuck to the side of her face. Her clothes were completely soaked through and she trembled furiously. The freezing temperature in America didn't help at all. Anyone who saw her might think that she'd frozen to death, considering that she hasn't moved from her spot for a few hours. She exhaled, her breath visible in the unusually frosty air. Frost coated her pale cheeks, pinching the soft skin.

Why are they so stupid..?

She sat there for hours, pondering why the rain was so stupid. She thought the rain would eventually figure out that after endlessly falling, nothing would be able to catch it. The water would just slip through her fingers whenever she attempted to catch it, just how everything slipped through her life in mere seconds.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice how difficult it became to breathe. Her heartbeat was beating so slow that it seemed like she didn't have a pulse. She thought it was because of how serene she felt with the presence of rain. Her limbs felt like they weighed a ton and her head throbbed painfully. She thought it was because she didn't get enough sleep. Her pale body shivered uncontrollably, but she thought it was because of her soaked through clothes. She didn't care though, she didn't care about anything anymore. Her heart was covered by a barrier of ice, like the frost that covered her now purple skin.

The young girl lifted her stiff neck up to the dark sky and closed her eyes, the ominous feeling making her feel uneasy. She let the rain pound against her face, mixing in with the tears that streamed through her closed eyes. The girl that people have never seen cry ever since that day full of angst was silently wailing out all her pain and frustrations, the tears flowing even harder down her cheeks. Instead of an answer, she was responded with a warm zephyr in the middle of the December and it was as if it was a warm pair of hands caressing her cheeks and somewhat drying her tears though they still fell.

She leaned into the invisible hands, yearning for the comfort and burning warmth it provided. Her eyes leisurely closed and let herself succumb into the lingering exhaustion she has been fighting the past few hours, feeling her will to live slowly fading.

Her hands brushed over the top of the grass blades that reached up to her waist and felt the morning dew slide against her fingertips. She gathered a bunch of blades and curled her fingers around them gently, afraid that the slightest pressure would break the fragile stalks. With a mind void of any thoughts, she let her heart lead, taking.. one, two baby steps.. three, four baby steps.. five, six baby steps.. until she reached a stone wall that stretched far beyond what she could see.

She slid the tips of her fingers over the rough surface of the stone wall, feeling every crack and every valley in the hard material. Ignoring the mist that suddenly surrounded her like a veil and blinded her sight, she relied solely on her sense of touch. She felt along the crumbling stones until an abrupt change into a smoother surface had her fingers flinching. Leaning her body forward, she used all her weight to push open the wooden double doors, revealing a blinding white light.

Squinting at the painful light that shone on her face, she instinctively brought a hand over her eyes. Once her eyes adjusted to the new atmosphere, the scenery that greeted her left her speechless. Thousands of dandelions scattered among the vast field swayed along with the gentle zephyrs. Millions of spores fluttered in the air, dancing along to the silent music the wind played. The sunlight seeped through the cracks of the rolling cumulus clouds that shifted shapes every second in the clear sky, illuminating the endless dance that glistened in her eyes. Her eyes blurred until the water overflowed, the warm liquid slowly trickled down her cheeks yet her lips curled up into a smile. She was giggling. She, who looked at people with emotionless eyes, who people have never seen smile since that day, could not stop giggling. The surreal melodious music of the flora, wind, and the dancing spores created a symphony of pure serenity, a feeling that she had not felt in a long time.

"Sooyeon...."

The voice was just a whisper yet it sounded like it was shouted right into her ear. Spinning around on the balls of her feet until the blood in her head was pounding, she followed the voice until she saw them, waiting for her in the middle of the field. They stood there with smiles graced upon their faces and their arms wide open... just waiting for her. Their mouths opened and despite the distance, their voices caressed the shells of Sooyeon's ears, slowly melting her frozen heart.

"We've missed you..."

Everything in her wanted her to run, to feel the warmth radiating off their skin and the love emitting from their embrace. So the princess who built her life on her motto "Never Run No Matter How Late You Are" ran into those outstretched arms until the muscles in her legs were screaming and burning in protest.

She buried her face into the woman's raven colored hair, desperately trying to inhale the scent emitting off her skin. Two hands placed themselves on top of her head and the small of her back, leisurely comforting the young girl with slow . Sooyeon smiled against the woman's damp shirt despite her falling tears.

"Umma.. Appa.. I missed you guys so much.." she whispered, her voice muffled by fabric.

"Sooyeon..There wasn't a day that had gone by when we haven't thought about you and your sister."

She lifted her tear streaked face from her appa's chest to gaze into her umma's gentle brown eyes that would never lie to her. Whenever she did something wrong, her umma would never get angry and scold her like her appa would. Rather she would take the time and explain to Sooyeon why her actions were considered wrong through loving words and actions. She would always defend and protect Sooyeon from the harmful comments that stated her child had no manners just because her personality caused her to be blunt and direct with her words. Despite the different methods in teaching their child, Sooyeon loved them both unconditionally.

"I don't want to stay here anymore.. I want to be with you and appa again," Sooyeon pleaded.

Sooyeon's umma stared down into her daughter's quivering eyes. She could see everything that her daughter had to endure alone while she was gone and the pure loneliness that they reflected.

"Oh Sooyeon.." she sighed while cupping her daughter's cheek, using her thumb to wipe away tears that fell from Sooyeon's closed eyes.

"Please let me come with you...." Sooyeon continued.

Sooyeon's umma lifted her gaze from her daughter to meet the concerned and anxious look of her husband. And with a lift of her brow as if silently asking what they should do, her husband heaved out a deep sigh before kneeling on the ground before the two females until he was at eye level with his daughter.

"Sooyeon," he called, his deep voice pierced through the silence like a knife.

He saw his daughter bury her face closer against the front of her umma's shirt, too ashamed by her tears to look up to the sound of his stern voice, afraid of seeing the disappoint splayed across his face. Growing up, Sooyeon was always taught that tears were only shed because one was weak and she never wanted her parents to see her as a useless daughter.

"Sooyeon," her appa repeated.

Sooyeon couldn't refuse the commanding finality in his tone and lifted her tear stained face to meet her appa's eyes. She involuntarily shivered at the intensity of his stare, as if he could see just how weak she really was. But what happened next was something she never expected to see. She held her breath when she saw the man that she had never seen shed a tear once have tears slowly trickle down his cheeks.

"Appa.." she whispered.

He lifted both of his arms from his sides and gently clasped his daughter's hands, a small smile tugging at his lips as he felt how small and fragile his daughter's hands were in contrast to his own rough and callused ones. 

"Who would take care of your baby sister then? You don't want her to be left alone do you?"

Sooyeon lowered her head and gazed at the floor in shame, thinking about how selfish she was being.

"No.."

Sooyeon's umma placed a finger under her daughter's chin and tilted it upwards to meet her soft expression. One thing she loved about her daughter was how terrible she was at hiding her emotions so it was easy for her to read Sooyeon just like an open book. She could tell her guilty Sooyeon was by the way her daughter kept averting her eyes to anything but her own.

"You're the only one that she has left.."

She felt her husband's warm fingers wrap themselves around her wrist and she knew that they didn't have much time left. She crouched down besides her husband and pulled Sooyeon close against her chest, needing to feel her daughter's warmth once last time in the little time they had left. Leaning down until her brown locks tickled Sooyeon's cheeks, she placed a shaky kiss on the top of her daughter's forehead, letting her lips linger there for a moment.

Sooyeon closed her eyes to the comforting sensation, knowing that it would be one of the last times she would ever know how a mother's kiss felt like. All of the sounds surrounding her became fainter and fainter until it was just a faint hum in the background.

"Never forget that we love you and sister and even if you don't see us, we will always be within your hearts, watching and protecting you two."

Her umma's voice became softer and softer until it was just a whisper lost in the wind. Sooyeon could feel herself drifting away, as if she was falling down into an empty, endless, and pitch black abyss.

"Wake up.."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Hey.. Wake up."
 

Warm fingertips reached out cautiously to trace a line up and down the sleeping brunette's arm, feeling the bumps of the veins that ran up her arm. She ran her fingers across the outline of her collarbone before running her fingers across the brunette's cheekbones, feeling how cold her baby skin was. Flinching at the coldness, she gripped the comatose girl's upper arms and shook her violently, trying to get any kind of response.

"Get up! Please get up..." she pleaded through choking sobs.

She pushed her raven colored bangs that fell in front of her eyes away as she squeezed her eyes tightly, trying to prevent the tears from falling. Lifting her head up, she looked around desperately to see nothing but blurry images of twisted slides and wooden benches that haven't been fixed in years. Beating her tiny fists against the brunette, she buried her face against the brunette's chest and whimpered.

"Get up!! Get up.. Get up please..."

What is that annoying sound...?

Stirring from her sleep, she shuddered at the warm feeling trailing up her arm that left a burning icy trail. She felt the ground shaking and she panicked, thinking it was an earthquake until something tightened around her, squeezing the air out of her lungs. She brought her shaking arms up and with all the strength she had in her ten year old body, she pushed the weight off of her.

"Ahhh!" came a high pitched squeal followed by a hollow thud.

Gripping the metal chains, she tried to pull herself up on the swing. A low groan had her glaring down at a raven haired girl sprawled out on the gray asphalt, clutching her lower back with both hands. Unfazed by the tears cascading down the girl's pained face, she spoke in melancholy tone.

"What are you doing here."

It seemed like more of a demand than a question, a demand that had the younger girl scrambling over her own feet to get up. Forcing a smile on her face, she limped towards the brunette rocking back and forth nonchalantly on the swing and stuck her hand out.

"Hi! My name is MiYoung. Hwang MiYoung." 

Without sparing a single glance at the girl named MiYoung, she lowered her head to the ground. She stared at the dirt covering her worn out sneakers, the dirt covered leaves scattered among the floor, the dirt covered slides, anything but the dirt covered girl standing in front of her.

"I asked you a question."

This time, her head snapped up to look at MiYoung. To look at the fear that flashed in those warm brown eyes that should never have been tainted by her harsh voice. To look at the same fear that reflected in those innocent eyes that she saw in every other person that looked in her lifeless eyes.

"I-I-I..."

MiYoung's words got caught up in the middle of . She cowered at the way it seemed like the brunette's eyes could see right through her before something made her gaze soften. Swallowing a gulp full of air, she took hesitant steps towards the brunette who had returned her gaze back to the ground. She stretched her arm out, only managing to graze the brunette's cheek with the tips of her fingers before it was slapped away. It wasn't just the piercing gaze that sent shivers up her spine but the look hidden behind it. It was the first time MiYoung had ever seen pure hatred in someone's eyes.

"Why...."

MiYoung cupped the brunette's face and fanned her pale fingers across the surface of her cheeks, the delicate skin. She looked into those brown eyes, searching for a reason, a reason why. Tears dropped onto the back of her pale hands as she gently thumbed the brunette's lower lids.

"Why are you crying...?"

Her voice came out nothing more than a whisper yet it was the loudest thing the brunette could hear in the abandoned playground. Reaching up, she replaced the younger girl's fingers with her own to feel her dry skin, free of any trace of moisture.

"What are you talking about? I'm-"

"D-Don't cry anymore..."

Stepping closer to the confused brunette, MiYoung placed her palms on the older girl's shoulders, looking at her through her tears before falling to her knees. Burying her face into the older girl's chest, she clutched a handful of the brunette's shirt and spoke through muffled sobs.

"Please don't c-cry anymore.."

Puzzled. The feeling of confusion was the only thing the brunette felt. Lifting her shaking arms, she looked down at the trembling girl. The second she touched MiYoung, the hands clutching her shirt tightened and pulled her closer until the older girl could feel the warmth radiating off her skin, the only warmth she's felt since her parents. She hated it, how scared MiYoung made her feel with her mere presence and she would do anything to calm her pounding heart. As she hastily pushed herself off of the swing, she heartlessly slammed her palms against MiYoung's chest, sending the raven haired girl back against the ground. Clenching her fists against her sides until they turned a ghostly pale, her whole body trembled in irritation at this annoying bright girl.

"I told you! I'm not-... Huh..?"

In the midst of her screams, she watched her own vision blur before tears fell one by one until they blended in with the dark asphalt. Pressing the tip of her index finger against her lower eyelid, she brought her hand down, looking at the single tear slide off the edge of her finger in disbelief.

"What is this..?" she quietly murmured.

Continuously rubbing the back of her hand across her eyes, she tried so hard to get rid of the tears that endlessly streamed down her cheeks. Crumbling to her knees, she buried her face into her hands, letting MiYoung watch in sympathy as the tears leaked through the brunette's fingers. Without hesitation, MiYoung wrapped her arms around the brunette's trembling body once again, tightening her hold every time the brunette resisted. Unable to even lift her arms or resist the advances of the raven haired girl, the brunette just clenched her fists on the front of MiYoung's shirt and listened to the soothing words whispered in her ears.

"It's okay.. It's okay.. It's okay.."

Raking her fingers through the brunette's soaked locks, MiYoung looked down at the face buried in her chest, tracing every feature of the brunette's angelic face with her eyes. It made her heart hurt to see tears stain something so beautiful. Leaning down, she tilted her head and pressed her pale cheek against the crown of the brunette's head.

"Why couldn't anyone see you were crying all this time...Sooyeon..?"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

MiYoung sifted thin strands of Sooyeon's hair in between her thumb and finger, indulging in the silky feeling on the tips of her fingers as words flowed out effortlessly from between her lips.

Sooyeon shifted inside MiYoung's arms, adjusting her body accordingly so her right arm was pressed in between her side and MiYoung's abdomen. She tentatively reached out for MiYoung's hand, lacing their fingers together as she traced invisible figures on the inside of the younger girl's wrist with her thumb. She ducked her head and tucked her chin into her chest, too shy to look at the girl who had just witnessed her tears.

"Why did you stop?"

Sooyeon liked the sound of MiYoung's voice because it made her feel the same way her umma's voice would. It was like melting honey to her ears, the sound entrancing her more and more with each word that MiYoung sang.

"My umma used to sing this to me every night before I went to sleep."

Sooyeon lifted her eyes to meet MiYoung's soft gaze, letting herself get lost in its warmth. She remained silent as a gesture of consideration because she knew how hard it was for them to mention anything related to family. Instead of using words, she hoped her actions could console the raven haired girl.

Placing bother of her palms on either side of MiYoung's leg, Sooyeon used her hands to push herself up until she could stare straight into MiYoung's eyes. Dragging her finger along the brunette's cheekbone to the shell of the younger girl's ear, Sooyeon brought MiYoung's face closer, kissing every tear that fell from her eyes. From her closed eyelids, Sooyeon slid her lips upward to kiss the latter's temple, hoping to comfort her the same way her own umma used to whenever she had nightmares.

"Don't worry.. You're not alone anymore."

MiYoung struggled to keep her eyes open but, the sincerity in Sooyeon's indirect promise gave her enough relief to let herself succumb to sleep's endless calls. The last words she heard murmured from Sooyeon's lips pressed against her temple before she fell asleep managed to make her heart skip a beat.

"I won't ever leave you alone.."