~||  F R A G M E N T  #  O O 2  ||~

The boy who says he isn’t afraid of the dark…

            His surroundings are loud, but Daehyun finds it somewhat peaceful as he slumps his body comfortingly on a park bench. He takes a second to adjust himself before blankly looking out at nothing. He then takes in a shaky breath and winces from the thumping pain that pulsates on his back. At least, his bullies went easier on him today unlike yesterday. He’s thankful for that, but he knows there’s bound to be a variety of new bruises blossoming vehemently on his skin now. Daehyun sighs. His mother was most likely going to question him about this later tonight.

            The wind is now blowing against his face causing the pain on his cheeks from his fresh cuts to be intensified. He does his best to ignore it and focus more on the tinkling laughter of the children who are playing tag with one another out on the grassy field. He gives off a bitter smile wishing he could be like them too, to be so innocent and carefree, yet most importantly be able to see the world as a happy and beautiful place. Children have no idea how dark the world could really be and Daehyun hopes it stays that way for them for a long time. He knows there is no such thing as a beautiful world because in reality the world is just a cruel and cold-hearted monster that harbors a black heart.

            Daehyun believes he’s starting to carry a black heart too.

            The sky is now a purplish pink hue, the sun barely setting and almost hidden behind those rolling green hills from afar. Daehyun still hasn’t moved from his spot on the park bench. It feels extremely uncomfortable, and the pain in his back hurts even more now, but it doesn’t really do a good job of convincing him that it’s time for him to stand up and have his feet carry him home.

            Daehyun knows he has to leave soon, but he doesn’t want to. He really doesn’t because then he’ll have to lie to his mother again. He’ll have to tell her that he’s perfectly fine when really, he’s anything but fine. Daehyun just wants to rest. He wants to forget everything. A few more minutes sitting here wouldn’t hurt him, would it? No, it wouldn’t, so Daehyun decides to stay and listen to the wind soothingly sing him a soft lullaby.

            He suddenly thinks back to the children from earlier. They have already all gone back to their loving homes, and he misses their adorable tinkling laughter. He hopes he can hear them again soon because listening to their laughter is what makes him feel comforted to know that there’s still some purity left in this world.

            His thoughts of the children are leaving him now just like how the sun is too. It makes Daehyun shudder knowing the warmth of the sun’s setting rays are leaving him behind to be engulfed in the cold shadows of the soon approaching night. He becomes anxious at the thought. 

            Daehyun tells himself that he isn’t afraid, but he is.

            His shoulders start to tremble. He always feels the most vulnerable and alone during this time when the light of day nearly fades. It feels like it’s snatching away all of his hope, but what is Daehyun hoping for anyway? It’s inevitable. He can never escape from the darkness. It’s permanent like the black ink of a Sharpie marker streaming down lines on a white piece of paper, tainting it forever.

            Again Daehyun tells himself that he isn’t afraid, but he is. Daehyun has always been afraid.

            A sliver of what’s left of the sun’s rays slowly travels down from his eyes to his mouth.
It begins to trickle away almost as if it’s disintegrating. Daehyun hangs his head when he no longer feels the light’s warmth. He knows the sun is finally gone now, but what he doesn’t know is that someone has already come to replace it with their own warmth.

            “Oh, so it is you.”

            Daehyun snaps his head up at the unexpected voice. It sounds familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time.

            “Remember me?” The stranger asks.

            Daehyun blinks in question as he continues to stare straight ahead. He gives the stranger no response. The stranger chuckles and it makes Daehyun frown. He doesn’t know if he’s being laughed at by this person.

            “I’m Yoo Youngjae, you know, the one who helped you out with those bullies that were picking on you yesterday.”

            Oh, so it wasn’t a dream after all Daehyun thinks to himself. Someone really did come to his aid. 

            Daehyun just turns his head away from the voice and keeps silent. Frankly, he doesn’t really care, well, that’s what he tells himself anyway. He is thankful for the boy helping him out with those bullies yesterday but really, he just wants the boy to leave him be. He doesn’t need pity.

            A finger suddenly taps the bottom of his chin gently lifting his head upwards. Daehyun tries to flinch away, but relaxes when something soft is dabbed against his cheek. It was a handkerchief.  

            “You have some dirt here. Let me clean it for you.” And to his own surprise, Daehyun lets him.

            The boy who calls himself Youngjae doesn’t just clean off the dirt though. He also cleans Daehyun’s open cuts that are on his face, the ones that he had received from his earlier encounter with his bullies today. Daehyun has no idea where the boy got the band-aids from or why it was even in his bag when he heard him rummaging his hand through the pockets to find it, but he decides to stay silent and let the boy do his thing. When Daehyun is finally patched up and cleansed of all the dirt and blood, Youngjae immediately takes Daehyun’s hand into his own, ignoring the fact that they were practically strangers. 

            “C’mon, I’ll take you home.” Youngjae says cheerfully.

            Daehyun doesn’t say anything mainly because he was unsure of what to think of this boy. Was he as nice as he sounded to be? No one has ever been nice to him like this before. Youngjae’s voice was too angelic and genuine to be deceiving though, so maybe just this once he could throw away his doubt and trust the boy. Daehyun’s fingers clench Youngjae’s hand a little tighter for reassurance.

            Youngjae smiles gleefully. He’s happy that Daehyun is willing to trust him. He then carefully pulls him along humming a quiet tune as they walk underneath the stars that are now starting to twinkle up in the night sky.

            Daehyun quietly listens to Youngjae’s voice having this strange feeling of being at ease. This feeling is foreign to him, but it also feels extremely good like a heavy load has finally been lifted off his shoulders.

            There’s suddenly no reason for Daehyun to be afraid of the dark now. As long as Youngjae’s light continues to guide him home he doesn’t need to be afraid.

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A/N:

Because I’m in a happy mood I decided to update this second chapter earlier than I planned to just for you guys. Trust me I’m a snail when it comes to updating my stories so I hope you enjoy this.

I feel like there are way too many gaps in this chapter, but it's supposed to be kind of like that...I just hope my writing isn’t confusing you guys.

<3 dububrit-on