It was a Tuesday night when Kim Namjoon spotted a girl sitting on the dark side corner of the playground, head resting against her knees. The street light shone rays of yellow against the figure. Her body was lifeless and Namjoon would've thought that she was dead if it wasn't for the slow movement of her shoulders. Her arms drooped motionless on her sides with the occasion of her right thumb budging now and again. Namjoon was watching her warily, contemplating whether to approach her or leave her be and continue his journey way home. But he felt a rush of guilt once his footsteps led away from the park and his heart unknowingly tugged towards the lonely figure in the dark. He closed his eyes and sighed before retreating his footsteps back to her. Deciding not to freak her out, he sat quietly on one of the swings closest to the girl. The girl raised her head and rested it against the green fence of the playground while her eyes remained closed. She hummed an unknown tune. 

The hairs on the nape of Namjoon's neck stood up and he felt himself shudder. Just a mere hum from the girl and he couldn't help himself gaze at her in awe. Her hum was simple and effortless yet she managed to capture the emotional state she was in at that moment. Feeling the moment, Namjoon looked up to the night while the stars glistened above him. He sighed and shut his eyes momentarily, listening to nothing but his low breathing in rhythm to the unfamiliar tune. The humming faded away. Namjoon opened his eyes in surprise to see the girl watching him blankly.

Namjoon cleared his throat out of embarassment. Not knowing what to say, he came out with, "Aren't you afraid of being alone in a dark, empty park in the middle of the night?"

"Shouldn't you be the one who's afraid? Finding a girl sitting alone, humming a tune in complete darkness? Isn't that creepier?" She gave a fraction of a smile.

"Yeah, I should be," Namjoon smiled back. 

Namjoon noticed her sad smile and slightly swollen eyes. She was unusually pale. He didn't want to pry but then again it wouldn't hurt to ask the question out of concern. "Are you okay?"

"You're the first person to ask me that," she murmured avoiding his eyes.

"Well then I'm honoured."

She averted her gaze back to him and smiled a little, "I will be. Hopefully."

"What are you doing here wondering around at night?" She asked changing the subject.

"I just needed a breath of fresh air." 

"Sounds like I'm not the only one dealing with problems." Namjoon was surprised at how well the girl can demasked his lying face.

"I, uh, I'm having a hard time with work lately and I was thinking of maybe quitting it," Namjoon didn't mind telling her his problems. After all she was a stranger that he may not see again in the future. It was his first time seeing the girl around the neighbourhood. The area where he lived was rather small and more or less everyone knew each other around. Namjoon thought that the girl was only a visitor in the place, found an empty playground and poured all her emotions out and go back where she came from after a long relief of self reflection.

"What makes you want to quit your job?" She switched her position from leaning against the fence to crossing her legs and leaning against it with the support of her elbows. He noticed a white band around her right wrist that was half-hidden in her jumper. Her eyes claimed intrigueness from Namjoon's story.

"Boss is giving me limited time to submit my work and on top of that he wants me to compose songs out of my usual genre of music. On top of that top, I'm in my last year of college. I don't have time to balance them all.'' Namjoon gave himself a soft push to let the swing move back and forth.

''The problem is always time, isn't it?'' a hint of sadness was evident in her voice. She shook her head as if to get away from the thoughts she had in her mind. She looked up and asked with fascination, ''Can I hear one of your songs you composed?'' 

Namjoon was taken aback by how straightforward the girl was,'' Uhmmm, it's kind of embarassing and-''

''Please? I might not be able to see you again and I want to hear it first before the rest of the world before you get famous,'' her behaviour was childlike and Namjoon couldn't help but to chuckle.

''Okay, you can listen to it, if you let me hear you sing.''

The girl kept silent and bit her lips, contemplating to make an agreement or not. Finally she shrugged and answered, ''Deal, but I'm not good of a singer though.'' 

Namjoon just grinned, ''I'll be the judge of that.''

''If you say so,'' the contours around her lips moved up. Namjoon thought she smiled beautifully.

Namjoon stopped the swing and cleared his throat. He started singing softly.

Don't think about it too much, too much, too much, too much

There's no need for us to rush it through.

Don't think about it too much, too much, too much, too much

This is more than just a new lust for you.

The words from his mouth paced and soon he was rapping ardently with his eyes closed.

Everyday like a machine I wake up,
automatically put on make-up
That kind of life has grown familiar to me, breakup
Since when have I been so satisfied with myself?
Did I, after achieving my dream, indulge in it?
To live 'comfortably', 'appropriately', I swallowed the flames that had welled up to my throat
That's right I'm quite disgusted with myself as well, the sharp knife has dulled
forming the wrinkles of my twenty year old self, I  was afraid of such changes
If somebody could look inside my head, they'd probably mock me smirking at the me who's lost his path,
I can I can hear my old friends laughin' 
Hey but I just wanted to show what I got.

He pronounced every word with much emphasise and passion leaving the girl stunned.

All I ever wanted to do was rap, you said I'm a puppet, I'm not
There's too many of these countless, infinite thoughts in my head
Now I'll put myself aside and wait for the endless waves of negativity
Yeah I'm a monster, once you become a monster you can no longer be a person
I can no longer be a human like the likes of you all, even if that's the very reason why people curse me
I don't give a this is my life.

He finished with deep shallow breaths. He found the girl's mouth agaped.

''...Wow...You're going to go far.''

''Why would you say that?''

''Because you just are. Trust me.''

''And I should trust a random girl that I just met 20 odd minutes ago because....?'' He replied sarcastically but in a playful tone.

''Because I said so,'' she said in a commanding tone, riding along with the joke.

Namjoon smiled melancholy. ''I don't know, seems like life is screwing me up right now. Enough about me. Go on, it's your turn,'' he started swinging his seat again.

The girl looked down playing with her fingers. For a while Namjoon thought she backed down on her words but he heard her took a deep breath and her voice filled the silent night.

Here I am waiting, I have to leave soon, why am I holding on?
We knew this day would come, we knew it all along. How did it come so fast?

Her voice faltered at first but soon gained confidence once she closed her eyes and felt the words. 

This is our last night but it's late and I'm trying not to sleep cos I know when I wake I will have to slip away.
And when the daylight comes I'll have to go but tonight I'm gonna hold you so close,
and when the daylight we'll be on our own, and tonight I'm gonna hold you so close.

Her voice was soothing yet powerful and Namjoon couldn't help the hairs around his body to stand up and a stream of sensation shot up in his spine. He saw every detail of her face while she sang. Her curled eyelashes, her pale pink lips and the smooth complexion of her skin against the yellow glow of the light. Everything else was blurred out except her beauty. From then on he couldn't keep his eyes away from her.

She finished the song with a heartfelt vibrato and a smile but once she opened her eyes, it was glossy and a bead of liquid looked like it was going to drop down her cheek any second.

Namjoon didn't realise he had his mouth unclosed and tried to cover his stupified reaction by mouthing 'wow' and clapping his hands.The girl couldn't help but to chuckle at his response.

They continued their conversation randomly while getting to know each other obliviously, telling one another their favourite past-times and unusual encounters with strangers. Namjoon talked about his past addiction with sunglasses, how he would wear it all day even if it was indoors or raining outside, while the girl discussed about wanting to be a tattoo artist yet she wouldn't pass as one because she suffered from shaky hands. Laughter, excitement and disgust were all shared after every topic they discussed, not realising how much time they spent. 

''Here's a crazy idea, I'll compose a song and I want you to sing it.''

''No way! I'd love that. But no, you have a lot of things on your plate right now,'' her face was a mixture of flurry and dismal.

''Oh come on, it'll be fun! I'll finish it by the end of this week,'' His face showed full enthusiasm. The girl however conveyed the opposite.

''I won't be here by the end of this week.''

''What? Where are you going? Do you live far from here? We can exchange numbers and I'll come visit wherever you reside if you live far away.''

''No it's not like that.'' The girl looked disconsolated and she couldn't look at Namjoon in the eyes. Namjoon's eagerness faded and his smile dissolved gradually.

''Don't take this in a bad way I mean I love the idea and I would love to listen to more of your songs but-''

''Minah!'' Their conversation was cut off by a dark figure coming towards them. The figure turned out to be a female dressed in all white, jogging towards them with a relief look.

''What are you doing here? Your parents are looking all over for you! You have to return to the hospital immediately, you went without oxygen all day,'' the girl said inbetween breaths.

Minah slowly tried to stand up and the woman dressed in white helped her in the process. Namjoon only then clicked in his head how weak and tired Minah really was. It explained why Minah was unusually pale and the half-hidden band around her wrist was actually her hospital nametag. 

Namjoon was in a state of shock and he suddenly felt a rush of unrecognised emotions that clogged his throat.

''Yura, can you give me a minute with him? Don't worry I'll come back with you.'' 

Yura nodded, ''I'll be by the top of the road waiting.'' She looked at Namjoon for a brief second before turning her back and leaving them two alone again.

Minah's smile was frail towards Namjoon, ''I should have not made a new friend.'' She tried to laugh to ease the thick atmosphere. Namjoon however was still disquiet.

''I'm..permanently ill. I don't have time left, maybe I'm only able to handle until the end of this week. I wanted freedom for the last time and I knew my parents wouldn't allow me stress and worsen my state right now so I broke free from the hospital and let my feet take me to random places and I eventually got here . I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, I didn't think our conversation would last longer.''

Namjoon felt a lump in his throat getting bigger especially seeing Minah with glistening eyes. He felt like they've known each other for a long time instead of meeting each other just a few hours ago. The thought of Minah's life being timed was what made his eyes sting and his heart wrenched with ache. And there he was pouring out his own problems and misery where in fact Minah's complications was nowhere near unavoidable than his. The pit of his stomach was squirming around and he felt guilty and useless at the same time. 

He tried to look unaffected to lessen Minah's worries.  

                                                                      
''Don't say sorry, you didn't do anything wrong. I..don't know what to say, I'm speechless right now. I...can I still compose you a song? I want to give it to you as a token of our.. friendship even though it was only a short period of time.''

''I'd love that.'' This time Minah's smile reached her eyes. Namjoon's heart tugged with another ache.
Namjoon asked which hospital she was staying and they exchanged numbers to keep in contact for the remaining of Minah's days. He wasn't sure how he was going to handle his emotions by the end of the week but he knew he'll regret not spending his time with the remaining of Minah's.

They bid farewells and Namjoon avoided the growing feeling of pain in his chest when Minah turned to leave. The growing feeling soon turned to regret and a hint of anger. Why did he only met Minah now? 

''You sure you're going to be alright walking at the top of the road? I can lend you a hand,'' he blurted out of concern and mostly he was stealing just a little bit more time to be with her.

''I'll be fine,'' she responded before turning back to continue to walk.

Minah turned towards him one last time, ''Just in case, if you really like your job, don't give up and work hard on it.On the other hand if you despise it, I advice you to look for another one or venture out on your own, you're capable of achieving your dreams without anyone's help. Either ways, I just want you to enjoy what you do without a load of stress. Life's too short if you fill your surroundings with negativity.''

She gave a final wave and a smile and left without looking back until she was out of Namjoon's sight. He stood frozen on his spot letting her words sink in his mind. 

Namjoon would never forget that blissful and painful day.

Forgive me but I won't be able to update until the end of June due to my graduation preparation and end of school exams.

Jimin is next on my list once I get my freedom. Meanwhile I hope you're all enjoying your summer while I suffer the next coming weeks with stress and endless, irrelevant work I just realised I've been taught for the past 2 years :(

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Do comment and express your thoughts so I can enlighten myself reading them once I finish my exams.

Hello new subscribers :) Till the next update~