promenade

The sky is peppered with stars; the wind hums a pleasant lullaby; and the entire world is asleep. 

She leans her head backwards and swallows the cold evening air. Leaves die and wither in the bitter cold as winter looms near. But Changmin's hands are warm and Sooyoung suddenly finds the death of leaves something not worth thinking about.

Their fingers fit into each other like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Like it was meant to be. She feels the warmth on the tips of her fingers, climbing up to her belly and ends as a red tinge on her cheeks. It feels like a warm soap bubble is being inflated inside her chest. Sooyoung is immobile; for a moment. For a lifetime. But she could care less.

She tries hard to make her breathing sound normal. But then breathing feels like a laborious task to do. Not when your heart is hammering against the roof of your chest wildly. Not when your toes curl silently inside your socks. Not when all you ever want is to close your eyes and wallow on that warmth forever.

Changmin squeezes her hand gently. Whether it was intentional or not, she does not care. No words are exchanged. The evening is enveloped in a blanket of comfortable silence. The pavement scorched under the heat of the sun four, five hours ago failed to exist. Now there is only a stretch of concrete and two people sitting on it; staring but not quite looking at the world in front of them.

She longs for the night to last forever but somehow half-hopes that it would end too. For when the night ends, Changmin will have to leave. And interlaced fingers, though warm and comfortable, can be exchanged willingly for a serene embrace.

“What are you thinking?”

He nudges her. She fails to answer, like she always does whenever he opens his mouth and talks to her. But  this time, Changmin does not wait for an answer like he always does. He's tired of playing the same game over and over. So he moves closer and Sooyoung's eyes grow larger.

The sky is peppered with stars; the wind hums a pleasant lullaby; and the entire world is asleep. Warm breath tickles her skin but she feels nothing else; thinks about nothing else, other than that of Changmin's lips, softer and much much warmer, dancing over her own.