XXXVII
Plectrum of Hope"Chanyeol?"
"Chanyeol?"
He's snapped out of his reverie, returning to reality. He looks up and his eyes find Soo Yun's, staring at him.
"Are you okay?" Soo Yun asks, her eyes are soft but underneath the layers, she looks worried.
Chanyeol sighs and rubs his face with hands. "Did I zone out again?" he asks.
"A little bit," she smiles, and takes a seat beside him on the floor of the dance studio. They sit in silence, staring at the glass window outside that has a view of the trees coated with snow, and Chanyeol's glad Soo Yun's not asking him what the hell is wrong with him, because he honestly doesn't know the answer to that question.
"Is Jongin okay?" He looks down, unable to look at what he assumes will be her disappointed expression looking back at him, but he's greeted with a small laugh. Chanyeol looks up confusingly, and Soo Yun shakes her head in amusement; the little impression on her left cheek appearing.
"He's fine. You gave him a pretty hard blow to the eye, but he'll be fine," she assures him, the smile never leaving her facade. He side-glances her, and his lips curve into a small smile too.
"God, I'm such an idiot." Chanyeol shakes his head, a nervous laugh escaping his mouth. "I didn't how I managed to elbow punched him that hard," he admits, and looks down again at the spot between his legs.
They were at dance rehearsals, and Chanyeol couldn't keep up with the new routine. His mind was seriously distracted and he couldn't concentrate at all. One moment he's stepping on Baekhyun's foot, the next he's stumbling into someone else's position and not long after that, he accidentally shoves his elbow into Jongin's face who was standing right behind him. Jongin cursed under his breath, and glared at him the whole time before he was brought out of the room to get his eye cooled with some ice. Chanyeol had to admit that Jongin looked hilarious with one eye closed, but he shouldn't be laughing when he was the one who actually assaulted him.
"You know, my mum used to tell me when I was little...that the sun is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating. There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of weather." Soo Yun says, and her eyes glint in happiness. She glances at him, and offers him yet another soft smile. "I wish she was still here. To give me advices on things that I found no solution to. But it doesn't feel like she's really gone. Not to me. It feels like she's somewhere far away, on a nice vacation, and if I wait long enough, she'll appear on the front door and me and Jihoon won't be so lonely anymore."
This time, it's Chanyeol who glances up at her. Soo Yun doesn't look at him, but instead she stares outside at the leaves shivering to the slightest breath of air. She doesn't look sad, nor is she shedding any tear. Soo Yun's facade is calm. And he's mesmerized by her.
After a while, she finally averts her eyes to him and they stare at each other. Chanyeol can feel his heart pick up speed and it beats feverishly against his ribcage. He opens up his mouth to speak but the words are stuck in his throat. Is this possible? To have a girl staring at him and make his heart feel like it's going to leap out of his chest? To make his mouth go dry, and his palms sweaty? To make him suddenly feel nervous as hell?
He didn't think it was possible, but the emotions swirling in him proves him wrong.
She reaches out and brushes away the hair that's falling into his eyes. Her fingers brush his skin slightly, and Chanyeol wants so badly to lean his face into her palm. Soo Yun's breath hitch on when he looks at her, and she tries to steady her rapid heart beat.
Chanyeol doesn't flinch when she traces her fingers on the scars criss-crossed on his eyelids. He lets her, and closes his eyes as she does so. She cups his face as he peels open his eyes slowly, and Chanyeol reaches out for her hand on his face and covers it with his.
Soo Yun knows he's hiding something from her. The secret that brings out the tiredness in his voice, the presence of prominent eyebags sagging under his eyes, and his cautious and hesitant actions. It pains her that he isn't willing to open up to her entirely; and it pains her more that he's purposely making himself carry all the weight on his own.
"Can you promise me something?", she asks, and it takes a while for him to register the words. She drops her hand and puts it on his chest, where his heart is located. Chanyeol nods slowly, and he waits for her next words.
"Promise me...that you'll never lose who you are."
Chanyeol blinks. He doesn't expect that at all, and the surprise is clearly written on his face. Then the look of confusion slowly eases and he holds her hand tightly against his chest; and gives her a crooked grin, a hint of dimple on his left cheek. "That's a y demand. But yeah, I promise."
"Yah, I'm serious!" she hits him lightly on the arm and earns a hearty chuckle from him. She starts to pull her hand away from his chest but Chanyeol holds it tighter. She looks up at him expectantly as he tries to form the right words to say.
He takes a shaky breath. "I don't deserve you, Yun-ah. I could live a thousand lifetimes and still don't deserve you." he says.
Her heart beats faster by the second, and hearing him say that makes her feel lightweight. She tries to hold back a smile but he's being too adorable when he's nervous and she can't help it.
"Damn right you don't. Only a prince deserves me." she smirks, and Chanyeol raises his eyebrows in surprise, not expecting that kind of response from her. He was expecting some sort of humble remark but then he shakes his head and starts to laugh; showing his perfect arrangement of white teeth and the dimple that form in the crevice between the corner of his lips.
"I can be a prince if you want me to."
"God, no. Princes are for cheesy twelve year olds." She huffs and crosses her arms and leans against the wall.
"Then what's for a twenty one year old sarcastic queenka?" Chanyeol asks, his eyebrows arch.
Soo Yun pretends to be deep in thought before she smiles playfully. "Hmm...perhaps someone who's six feet tall, who grins like an idiot most of the time and laughs like a maniac. A vitamin. A happy virus."
"Damn, I'm not sure if there's anyone like that around here. You have a pretty high taste." Chanyeol grins widely.
"Well what can I say. If you do find him, let me know." Soo Yun shrugs indifferently, but inside the butterflies flutter nervously and her stomach starts to do backflips.
Chanyeol chuckles. "Guess you have to stick with me for now, until you find the vitamin of your dreams."
The moment he looks back at her, he has a seminervous, endearing gleam in his eyes. The honey-like brown hue of his eyes always gets to her, and everything about him causes her lungs to fail and her heart to go into overdrive.
"If I'm too good for you, then you should stop staring at me like that," Soo Yun tries to cover her flustered expression with sarcasm; the only thing she can think of at this moment.
Chanyeol laughs again. "Quit ruining the moment." he says, and pulls her into his arms.
Chanyeol rests his chin on her head, and Soo Yun buries her face in his shirt and slowly wraps her arms around his waist. He smells of soda and mint, and Soo Yun doesn't realize it makes a good combination until now. He pulls back a little and kisses the top of her head softly. Then he says:
"Can you stay? I don't think I can be left alone right now."
If there's a place he can choose to avoid, it would be his room. Where the plectrums are aligned on the wall near his desk. He can still smell the iron-like scent of the red stains, and the word Hopeless floats indifferently in the capsule of his mind.
Will the letters keep coming until the days come to an end? If so, then what would happen? And who is the sender of the plectrums? Is the person hurt and needs help urgently? But why ask help from him? What can he possibly do under whatever the circumstances is?
He doesn't know what to do. What could someone possibly do when they receive anonymous letters counting down the days to God knows what. He wanted to report it to the police, to help trace who the sender is. But Kwan stopped him, saying that involving the police will not be a good solution. They'll probably dismiss the case; considering the fact that there's no significant clue that will help and no distinct motive behind the plectrums.
And to make matters more confusing, when the night falls on the 37th day, there's no sign of the envelope marked with his name. No plectrum carved with the letters XXXVII arrived.
A first in the last two months.
A beginning to a new mystery.
Tuesday | 11.50 p.m
Hope is a treacherous thing. It can break you. It can turn you to dust. But it can cure you. And I'm holding on to that kind of hope.
Writing his name gives me hope.
I've waited for the day that someone would be able to cure me. And I've always hoped it would be him.-
It is time.
The time has finally come.
{ A/N }
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