A Blind Truth

 

It was almost cliche how they met. They, quite literally, ran into each other. She bowed deeply and apologized profusely. He was counting down the seconds before she realized who he was...and recoiled from his face, disfigured after a pyrotechnics mishap some time prior. After all, she was beautiful. And those who are beautiful tend to recoil from those who are not.

 

But she never did. Even when her eyes fell directly on his face, she didn't even flinch. He began to wonder if she was simply pretending not to notice, but then he looked down at her hands.

 

She was holding a rod.

 

She was blind.

 

He began to understand, then, why she didn't run away from him, or stutter when she spoke to him. She couldn't see him. She introduced herself to him, and then asked for his name in return.

 

“Kim Myungsoo,” he said softly, using his real name instead of his stage name.

 

“Oh, like Infinite?” she asked with a tilt of her head. She dropped her blind eyes from him and held a clenched fist over her heart. He tilted his head at this peculiar act, strangely intrigued by the girl.

 

“Why are you doing that?” he asked, tapping the back of her hand. She jumped slightly in surprise at the sudden contact, but smiled sadly up at him.

 

“I heard he was in an accident recently. We're pretty close in age, I was born a few months after he was, so I guess it hurts my heart to know that someone as young as we are is having to go through something so painful. And I feel bad because many people are lacking in compassion.”

 

He blinked at her in surprise as she continued on about how Infinite is seven members, and if there were any fewer members, it wouldn't be Infinite anymore.

 

“Music is about what you hear, not what you see. If that one voice was missing,

 

from the harmonies, from his parts during any future live events,

 

if that one voice is missing,

 

Infinite is not complete.”

 

He was touched by these words. Somehow this girl, who was his age, had retained that innocence of a child that she should have lost long ago. For a moment, he wondered what it would be like if the whole world was blind. Would they think the same as this girl?

 

She apologized for rambling so long about his name, to which he told her that he didn't mind. She thought that was the end of their meeting, but he stopped her and asked if she had a cellphone. She nodded and opened her phone remarkably well for a blind person. He put his number into her phone and sent himself a message so that he had her number in return. Because he figured that he'd have to be the one to initiate the calls if he wished to speak to her again.

 

Because he did wish to speak to her again.

 

And she wished to speak to him again, as well.

 

-----

 

The months passed quickly. His fate had not been decided yet, and Infinite had been put on hold for that reason. Which meant the members had plenty of free time. Myungsoo had been meeting up with the blind girl since the day he met her. The way she still smiled brightly at him despite his face made him smile in return, a sincere smile that he felt with his heart.

 

He finally told her that he was Kim Myungsoo from Infinite, known as L. She didn't question him at all. She believed him, because he hadn't given her a reason not to. When he told her, she didn't say a word at first. She simply hugged him tight and asked over and over if he was alright.

 

But other than that one time where she attempted to make up for the lack of compassion from society, she acted the same towards him as she did before. They got along famously and found they had a lot in common.

 

-----

 

 

This was a day Myungsoo would never forget. It was their four month anniversary, and as with every monthly anniversary, he showed up at their meeting spot with a guitar. They spilled their confessions for one another three months after they met, which lead to this day.

 

He sat down on the bench in the park, taking his spot beside her as she smiled, trying to aim her eyes in his general direction. He smiled back and took her hand gently in his before tuning his guitar one more time.

 

Then, he played, singing for her a song that he wrote himself. She had no idea how important she was to him, and with each monthly anniversary, he tried to show her through music. It was a different song each month, and she loved each and every one of them.

 

Her bright smile lit up her face as she swayed to the music. The lyrics never failed to make her feel special, happy, warm.

 

But then the music stopped. Her face fell in confusion as Myungsoo stopped playing. She didn't realize someone else had approached until he spoke.

 

“What's a pretty girl like you doing with someone so ugly?”

 

The girl jumped in surprise and faced the direction the voice came from. She felt a flareup of anger at how incredibly rude, shallow, and naive the stranger sounded in that moment. She shot a glare at him before turning back towards Myungsoo, feeling for his knee first, then up to his shoulder, and down his arm to find his hand. He turning his hand palm up and she laced her fingers with his.

 

It was then that the stranger knew she was blind. She turned her face back towards him.

 

“You know, they say I'm the blind one, but really, it's the ones that can see that are really blind. To me, this boy is the most beautiful boy in the world, because he has the most beautiful heart.”

 

Those words would stay with Myungsoo forever. At that moment, it didn't matter to him anymore what everyone else thought of him.

 

Because those words would echo in his head

 

and he would smile.