~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Who am I? I’m Charlene Choi…” Charlene muttered, though she thought she knew what he was talking about. 
“Charlene, you and I both know what I’m talking about.” 
Charlene disliked the seriousness in JJ’s voice; she was not used to it. She would much rather have him kid and laugh around as he usually does. She liked hearing his soft, kind voice. 
Charlene’s hands clenched into fists…he was going to call her a monster, that’s what he’s about to do-without even hearing what she has to say. 
He was going to blame her one way or the other right? But what frustrated Charlene the most was how he would remember yet she knows nothing of it, and if he knew earlier, why didn’t he confront her earlier? Revenge…but had she hurt him enough, he’s still alive after all. 
Charlene then realized his hand was still holding her wrist, but he wasn’t pulling it or hurting it, he almost delicately pushed up her sleeve to reveal the scar. 
The carving of JJ Lin on her hand was revealed instantly. 
He traced his finger across the letters. 
Charlene didn’t flinch. 
“Did-did it hurt when you got this?” JJ asked, bringing her wrist up to eye level, almost as if he was going to kiss it better. 
Charlene shook her head. “I think I was unconscious when I got it.” 
JJ smiled, but Charlene saw the thoughtfulness in his eyes. 
JJ still held her wrist as he lifted a bandage off his own left wrist. A faint pink line was drawn across his blue-green vein. 
“Oh my god, JJ, did you attempt suicide? Why? No, don’t do that!!!! Imagine how Show will feel, imagine how I’d feel!! If I didn’t kill you, it means you won’t EVER die, why did you do that??? Did you want to waste my pain? What, did I do something? Did I hurt you or something…but why would that make you want to kill yourself? Tell me, tell me JJ, is it my fault? I’m so, so, so, so, so SORRY!!!! Who found you? Did they find you in time and save you? Did you tell them what happened?” Charlene asked so many questions that soon she was just looking at the ground muttering to herself. 
“Char, stop it.” JJ said forcefully, looking down at the scar across his wrist. 
“I wasn’t trying to kill myself.” 
“Then I must’ve done that!” Charlene dropped her head into her hand as her expression grew pained. 
“I didn’t WANT to hurt you!” Charlene cried, trying desperately to take a calming breath, but her breath came out shaky, and she couldn’t breathe back in. 
“Charlene, I know what you are.” What Charlene didn’t notice was that JJ’s expression looked just as pained as hers, and he was holding BACK tears, which is more painful than letting them flow freely. Charlene knew how that felt like. 
“I-I don’t want to hear!! I don’t want to hear of what I could’ve done!!!! I didn’t hurt you- and I’m trying to not hurt anybody else!!!! It’s true, I’m trying!!!!!!! I’m trying-hard, I-”
Charlene pulled her hand away from JJ, covered her ears and shook her head from side to side. She had tried to be strong for so long; she couldn’t take it anymore. She isn’t a monster by choice. 
“Char-Char, listen to me!!!!” JJ yelled, but his voice was still kind. 
JJ pulled Charlene’s hands away from her ear as he forced her to look at him. “I know, I understand, you have to trust me.” 
Tears were still dropping from Charlene’s eyes. JJ felt as if a knife had pierced through his heart when he heard the pitiful sobs Charlene was trying to hide away from him.
“It-it’s not your fault. Fate likes games that create torture. Fate likes to see tears fall like rain and cries are music to his ears. But I’m not fate, so your tears feel as if it’s coming from my eyes.” JJ patted the back of Charlene’s head and pulled her into his chest. Charlene’s tears soaked up his proper white dress shirt. That only made him more conscious to the fact that cries were the permanent source of sound in this world. The ones that don’t cry are causing the cries. 
Charlene bit her lip as she cried. She bit and bit until blood seeped through the thin layer of skin of her lip. There was no pain. Pain was no more a thing inflicted onto her outer body; it was no longer physical. Charlene was crumbling on the inside, and nothing could stop it. 
Until Charlene realized how safe and warm she felt hugging JJ. Charlene could breathe normally again as JJ her soft, raven black hair. 
Charlene really believed JJ when he whispered quietly into her ears that it wasn’t her fault. Charlene started to quit crying when she realized JJ’s heartbeats were right beside her ear. Every thump made her feel more and more relaxed, not intensifying her need to kill. 
“How did you know?” Charlene whispered more to herself rather than to him. 
JJ didn’t hear, he rocked back and forth as if cradling a delicate baby as he hummed the song “Cries in a distance.” He surely can hear cries right now, except it was from the girl he was hugging to his chest-to himself. 
Charlene’s hands were dead at her side a second ago, but they suddenly came alive, and Charlene came out of her trance as she brought her arms up and hugged JJ to herself. 
JJ blushed a deep red when he finally realized he was actually HUGGING Charlene. Charlene blushed red and her face grew hot as she noticed JJ’s heart had started beating uncontrollably. 
The beats didn’t follow a normal pattern. 
Charlene brought her hand to JJ’s heart, wishing that she herself also had a heart that would betray what she was feeling. 
Charlene pulled herself, even though she didn’t want to- away from JJ to look into his eyes, to communicate to him in another way other than using speech. Speech can’t explain half of how she was feeling. 
Once she looked into JJ’s eyes, Charlene smiled through the tears still springing freely from her eyes. 
JJ didn’t wonder anymore why he loved Charlene even though she tried once to take his life- to him, and probably almost everybody else, Charlene was the cutest girl ever. 
JJ laughed gently once and smiled back at her. If anybody were to look at the pair now, they would see two red-faced people embracing each other and smiling. 
JJ bent down slowly and kissed Charlene gently on the forehead. Charlene closed her eyes. The slight pressure on her forehead made her smile. JJ grasped Charlene’s chin gently and lifted her chin to lightly kiss her on the lips. 
Then he pulled her back against his chest, and like that they rested for the next half an hour until Show called JJ screaming for the pizza that was supposed to cure his starving stomach.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~