Sehun stared passed his hospital room’s window, observing the fallen leaves gracefully dancing with the soulless sound of wind in the garden. It’s almost October, the season of fall where enthusiasms of ‘winter coming soon’ from little children could be heard from miles. He used to love the scent of autumn leaves mixed with crisp air and the smell of fresh, ripe apples dangling on the tree.

He used to love it.

But now he hoped for summer to remain longer and for fall to never exist.  He has had enough; of trauma that haunt him and tried to destroy everything he loves, even his dream. It was as if he was stuck in a maze, lost in confusion and darkness with a hope for someone to guide him. To let him know what life usually means to him before he lost the will to live again.  

Sehun slowly heaved a subtle sigh as he let his eyelids draped over his eyes; taking in the desperate scent that he never knew existed in the air. But whatever it is life has to go on, he though. Chasing after the past will never help him and ever since the last few years, he had tried his best to fight it.

He fluttered his eyelids open and placed his right hand on midair. Staring at the back of his hand, he softly smiled, feeling glad and grateful. At least, his dream will never betray him unlike the people that surrounded him and it kept him going, trial after trial.

Gently, he picked up a blue fountain pen and fished out a blank paper from his bedside table. The pen skidded lightly as his emotions were transferred and mixed together in a piece of lone paper, where his utmost wish was put down into words.

How he wished for someone to share his past with, someone with honesty that could understand his pain and would encourage him to struggle for his dream. He was tired and exhausted; of people ridiculing him because he was too young, immature and mute to become a writer. Even his girlfriend ran away when she realized a mute boyfriend was a pain in the .

He really loved her. But what can he do?  After all, he can only lowered his gaze as his girlfriend stormed off and threw their first anniversary ring in the dustbin. He still kept the ring, and whenever he saw it, tears would slipped despite he tried his best to hold it back.

How could they not understand ? It’s not like he wanted to lose the ability to talk.

Did the thought never occurred to them ? How he felt so useless and his soul started to crumble to pieces.

He wanted to hang onto something, to escape and prevent himself from falling deeper into the darkness.

Someone…anyone would do.

Surviving all this pain alone was much harder than he thought.

---

One day, when he was relaxing his back on the hospital’s bed frame, he heard a soft melody carried by the same soulless wind. Almost comforting, the melody somehow healed his soul, though he doesn’t knew the slightest meaning of it. He wanted to know what the song actually means to the singer. Is it because of loneliness, just like him ?

Every evening, he would sit nearby the window, letting the gentle breeze caressed his cheeks. The faint sequences of notes gently wrapped him in comfort, as if telling him that he was never alone.

Little by little, he began to learn the song’s meaning.

Day by day, he started to love the beautiful melody.

Week by week, he yearned for the singing voice.

A few weeks passed and he decided that he should be looking for the owner of the voice. He wanted to sent a letter of ‘Thank you‘ to the unknown person; as thanks for making his day seemed a bit brighter than how it used to be and as thanks for lifting his spirit up.

Folding his letter along the creases, he gently placed it in an envelope. He moved the temporary table aside before slipping himself into a sweater. The temperature outside started to drop, and he had to watch over his health as he caught cold pretty easily.

Gripping the letter tightly, he poked his head outside to the hallway and checked for any presence of nurses. Sehun know that they wanted for him to get better, but to him they were nothing but a bunch of troubles. Forcing him to stay in his bed for months developed the stubborn personality in himself and whenever he felt like going out and take a stroll in the garden, the nurse will held him back, saying that his bedroom is the safest place on Earth. His smile would faltered and Sehun would just shook his head, wanting to tell them that he wanted some fresh air instead of the stuffy air reeked with sickness and loneliness.

 After making sure the coast is clear, he carefully tiptoed to the garden outside and was quite surprised to know that the place was much nearer than he thought.

It’s been a while since he last went outside and the mellow sunlight instantly blared against his pale skin.  Walking passed a few trees and some patients; he carefully scanned through the garden, searching for the owner of the voice.

 Since he didn’t recognize how the singer’s face looks like, he went out few minutes earlier, so that he could find him just by hearing the soft tunes floating with the breeze. As the wind blew across his ears, he instantly caught the familiar melodies that give life to his soul and waltzed towards the sound.

Observing his surrounding, the voice led Sehun to a rather young guy who was sitting alone on a bench. His mop of brown hair almost covered his face as his facial features shrouded in sadness. The guy’s gaze was fixated onto the floor, not noticing Sehun was there. Sehun tilted his head, wondering why the young brown-haired male sang such a beautiful song with a mournful face. 

Don’t judge him on the outside. His journey might be longer than you think.

Sehun nodded his head at the thought. The said male might be in total despair and desperately singing, as if reaching to grab a stranger’s hand.

The latter’s voice trailed off and he suddenly lifted his head up, aware of the other’s shadow looming over him. His face quickly returned to normal, as if nothing ever happened as he took a glance at Sehun, seeming a little confused and bewildered. A soft smile instantly graced Sehun’s lip and he placed the letter on his hand onto the brunette’s lap before turning his heel as he slowly went back inside the hospital.

The latter stood still and stared with shocked written all over his face.

Because a handsome guy suddenly came out of nowhere, no words spoken, gave him a letter and even a smile. The most sincere smile he had ever seen.

And somehow, the smile was stuck firmly inside his head.

He nervously diverted his gaze back onto the letter, curious whether he should read it or throw it away. His parents told him not to receive things from stranger, but he finds himself attracted to strangers. He flipped the envelope back and forth, searching for any clue of what it might be but nothing adorned it. It’s just a plain, off-white envelope that he had just seen anywhere else.

He gently tore the envelope and took out its content before carefully reading it, sentence-by-sentence and word-by-word.

To the owner of the soulful voice,

I want to thank you for the gentle voice that brightens up my day,

Thank you for keeping my spirit up through the darkness,

And thank you for being born with such a beautiful voice.

The boy stared at the letter, his face suddenly flushed. It's the first time, someone praised and love his voice, much less from a guy. Somehow, deep inside, he also wanted to know the sender of the letter. Who are you? And what was behind that gentle smile of yours? 

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Wah, I love all of you for reading <3 Since my sister and DevilsPetal want me to continue, so I shall continue it~!!