synopsis: ni-ki goes on late night walks to clear his head and deal with his minor insomnia. but when he walks to his favorite park, someone’s already there on his favorite bench. and they’re. . . crying?
note: this is a fem!oc story, if that's not your jam that's fine. pls give it a chance if your thinking about it. i know that a lot of people are against oc stories, and i get that but i'm shit at writing y/ns that i enjoy reading. i tried to make the fmc enjoyable to read, and for ni-ki to be as accurate as i could. i purposefully didn't tag anything x reader. this is an on going story, i don't really have an "end" in mind. i have thirty-ish chapters already written so do with that what you will.
warnings: fluff, nsfw humor sometimes (i'm looking at you, jake sim), angst, some tame nsfw content, closed door romance, profanity, idolverse/real life with slight deviations
The Moon Is Beautiful, Isn't It? ✧masterlist✧
song: understand by keshi
Once again, Ni-ki found himself slipping out under the cover of darkness. It had been about two days since his last excursion, partially because he was nervous about running into that pretty girl again, and because he didn't want it too seem like he was looking for her either. But, he'd had another rough day filled with recording, dance practice, and even more recording, and he got antsy as he'd tried to fall asleep. So, he'd given in, threw on a warmer set of clothes, a jacket, some high-tops, a pair of headphones and crept out of the dark dorm as quiet as possible.
He walked back through the hedges and into the green park. His steps were slow as he reached the edge of the hedge path, because the moon and stars were brighter this time and he could see the shape of someone sitting on the far bench again. His stomach flipped as he stared at the silhouette, and dared his heart to stop hoping it was who he was wishing it was.
Approaching the bench with his headphones already hanging around his neck and his music paused, he couldn't tell if he was relieved or not that the figure became clearer and it was exactly who he'd wanted it to be.
This time, she saw him coming, and grinned at him brightly. Which was a stark contrast to how they'd first interacted a couple days before.
"You seem happier," He remarked, a small smile on his face as he took the space on her right.
She laughed, "Really? How could you tell?"
"The lack of tears might have something to do with it," He teased back, noticing how he could see her slightly better with the faintly brighter night sky. She had dark wavy hair that was chopped just above her shoulders and was layered perfectly for her face. And her dark brown eyes caught the moonlight and shimmered like dew in the early morning hours. This time her outfit was more different from his, she had blue spiderman sweats on and a zip-up hoodie that was simply dark gray. She also had a pair of black glasses that were shaped like curved trapezoids, he believed they were normally called square frames. "You a fan?"
She glanced down at her sweats when he gestured towards them. "Oh, yeah. He's my favorite Superhero."
"You have a favorite actor?" He asked, leaning his elbows on his knees.
She thought for a second, "For live action, it's got to be Andrew Garfield for me, but in general? I really like Yuri Lowenthal."
"You play the ps4 game?"
She chuckled at his shock, and nodded, "Yeah. I've played all three that are out, plus the new 6v6 hero shooter one. Are you a spiderman fan?"
"Hell yeah," He grinned, and she giggled.
"Well, that's good to know," She shifted towards him, propping one of her legs up on the bench and rested her arm on it. "What's got you out a whole hour and a half later than last time? Still work or something else?"
He let out a sigh and looked at his hands, "I messed up the choreo. For the first time in years, I forgot some of the choreo right after being taught it. . . it's been plaguing my mind and I can't seem to let it go. It doesn't help that I just barely got over a nasty cold and my stamina isn't quick back fully yet. And insomnia is still a bitch. . . what about you? You seem in a really good mood for someone out at 3am. Did something good happen today?"
"I guess you could say that," She said, looking up at the stars with a small smile.
He adjusted his hood, "Could you tell me about it? I could use some positivity after today."
"Sure, though I'm not sure you'd care all that much," She shrugged, and glanced at his face. "There's a couple things that happened. They were all small, but they just made my day. First, I had to pick up some groceries and this little old lady complimented me with the cutest smile I've ever seen. She was just the sweetest, and it made me smile. Second, at work my friend ranted for a long time about how her new fictional crush shouldn't be making the decisions he was and how stupid he was for making a rational decision. I laughed a lot with that one."
"What was the 'rational decision'?" He questioned, "And what character was it?"
"I don't actually remember what the decision was, but I remember thinking about how ridiculous she was for judging him like that," The girl chuckled, "And the character is from this anime I got her hooked on a bit ago, Kenma from Haikyuu. The next thing that made me happy. . ." She thought for a second while a sense of irrational pride went through Ni-ki from the fact that she liked cartoons from his home country. "Well, when I came home from work, I found my cats cuddled together as they slept which was super cute. Oh!! And the last thing!! I was able to use my friend's family's extra dance room in their studio! I haven't been able to dance in a long time and it felt amazing!"
"You dance, too?" He didn't want to acknowledge how that simple bit of information lifted his mood.
"Not professionally, I've just always danced ever since I was little," She replied, "It helps me feel better and detox from life."
Oh, how he could relate heavily to that. They both got quiet after she finished talking, letting the crickets sing to them softly. The silence that overcame them wasn't uncomfortable, which was unusual but not unwelcome. Picking at the fluff on his sweats, Ni-ki leaned back against the bench, his eyes flitting over to the girl and back to the fuzz. She was staring at the sky once more, a soft smile gracing her expression, perfectly matching the gentle look in her eyes. His hood fluttered as a chilly breeze grew out of nowhere, he had to pull it back into place. He just managed to catch her shiver out of the corner of his eye.
"You cold?" He asked, looking fully at her.
"A little," She replied, rubbing her arms to create more heat. "And I'm getting antsy. Would you mind taking a short walk with me?"
To answer her question, he just got to his feet and held out his hand to help her up as well. She giggled as she accepted, and lead him over to a small dirt path that lead in a direction he'd never been before. Shoving his hands in his hoodie pocket, he gazed at all the scenery around them as their shoes scuffed against the dirt. It was so green, one side of the path was the field of grass stretching wide, and on the other there was rows of flowers mixed throughout the bushes in very pleasing patterns. He noticed rose bushes, maybe some daisies, daylilies, carnations, and many other flowers that he couldn't recognize or name. And beyond the decorative plants was a playground that looked to be well taken care of. Now that he really looked around him, he noticed the place was in perfect condition and he wondered who took care of it.
"The playground over there is really nice," She stated, pointing towards where he'd already been looking. "It's got sand instead of woodchips, and I appreciate that way more than I should."
She giggled the last part out, and he smiled with her. "I always appreciate when it's not woodchips."
"See! You get me!" She threw her hands in the air, relief and playfulness pouring through every word she spoke, "Iseul, my friend I talked about earlier, insists that it doesn't make a difference what the ground is composed of!"
"She sounds like a lot of fun," He remarked, his gaze shifting to her face.
She shrugged, shoving her hands into her pockets. "She's cool, talks a lot though."
"More than you?" He asked. He really wasn't trying to be or sound mean, it was just a genuine question asked out of surprise.
"I normally don't talk," She answered with a chuckle. "This is actually very unusual for me. I've been told that I'm the quiet, smart, stoic, antisocial friend or anything even similar to any of those. I really don't talk very much at all."
"Must be the lack of sleep," He reasoned, playfully. "Or you just don't like silence."
"Oh, I love silence," She contradicted, "I also love having alone time, and all the things that go along with being an antisocial homebody who only works cause they have to."
"You really are an introvert, aren't you?" He mused, running a hand through his hair then fixing his hood back in place afterwards. Nodding, she returned to gazing at the world draped in the blanket of night.
The crickets still sang through the darkness, calling to each other in their own beautiful way. The breeze still brushed around and through their clothes and hair. The moon still shown calmly in the dark sky above. Her hair still glinted in the faint light of the stars. The only thing different was that he now appreciated them slightly more. Whether it was because of his lifted mood, or because he seemed to noticed things around her like it was second nature, he didn't know. But, he was happy to walk in the cool air with someone who seemed they couldn't care less about his fame or his looks or even the fact that he towered over her so much that she only came up to his shoulder.
She was relaxed in the chill of the night, as if she owned the calmness and oozed out that same comfort. The air around her seemed to effortlessly blend with his, as if their "aura", for lack of a better word, mixed so well together that it was hard to explain why. Her quiet confidence was something he admired, and he'd only known her validly for a couple hours. He wondered what else he would admire about her or what else he would learn about her if they kept meeting up in this secluded secret.
He didn't want to break the silence, and he didn't want to ask for what he really wanted, but his brain wouldn't stop bothering him about it. He'd noticed so many nice things about this mysterious girl, yet he still didn't know her name. He wanted so desperately to ask her for it, but he didn't want her to think he was being weird. But, if he was being honest, what was weirder than meeting someone in the dead of night and not being terrified of them? She'd given him the grace to talk to him that very first night, when she had every right to scream and freak out, in either fear or fangirling, he'd expected both.
"You know," Her voice broke him away from his thoughts. "I thought you would ask me why I was out so late if I had a good day."
He blinked for a second, then his brain stopped lagging and he responded, "I was going to, but I forgot."
She laughed, "Do you normally get distracted that easily?"
Only when someone that pretty and nice was standing right next to him. "It's not uncommon, but not a regular occurrence. So, what's got you out so late tonight?"
"I was around a lot of people today, and my dad even had a friend over tonight," She explained, swinging her arms beside her as they continued on the now curving dirt path. "My social battery was drained, and I couldn't spend another minute around them. So, I came out here and wondered if you would show up too."
"Were you waiting for me?"
"In a way, I guess you could say that."
His heart fluttered, and he had to hold back a smile from overtaking his face. "Already getting attached? That's awfully fast for me being a stranger you met in the middle of the night."
"You would rather I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran away?" She raised at brow, a smirk playing at the corner of her mouth.
"I never said that," He replied.
"I know, that's why I asked," She teased him more, nudging his side with her shoulder. "Since you consider us strangers, why not play a game with me?"
"I don't get how playing a game will change the fact that we're strangers."
"Oh, just answer the question!"
"Depends on the game."
She paused on the path and turned to face him, "You ask me anything within reason and I have to answer honestly."
"You trust me that much?" He asked, surprised.
"I do," She nodded with a smile. "I also know I'm probably more comfortable with you asking me questions than me asking you questions. So, if you want to play, ask away."
"How many questions do I get?" He looked down at her, quite liking towering over her so much.
"Twenty is a good basic number, let's go with twenty." She said it without even having to think about it. "Go ahead and throw out questions."
"What's your favorite color?" He started simply.
"Really?" She deadpanned, "I say you can ask anything and that's what you choose to start with?"
"It's a totally reasonable question," He poked her arm, and turned to keep walking down the path. "Now, answer."
"I have three favorite colors," She sighed, jogging a couple steps to catch up to his long stride. "Green, blue, and black."
He glanced to the side of the path, "Favorite flower?"
"I like black roses, even if they don't really exist naturally," She responded. "I just think they're super cool, plus their symbolism in all different countries is one of my favorite things."
"Favorite language?"
"Easy. Japanese."
That's question #3 taken.
"How tall are you?"
"Exactly 160cm. Come on, ask more interesting questions. Challenge me."
#4
"Alright, alright! If you had to choose, the sun or the moon?"
"Moon."
#5
"What's something that's considered 'For Kids' but you still love it?"
"Legos or a Lego tv show called Ninjago."
#6
"If you were to choose between dc and marvel, which would it be?"
"I can't choose. If you'd asked me that a couple years ago, I would've said marvel without a doubt, but I can't decide anymore."
#7
"Favorite movie?"
"Probably the original animated Aladdin."
That's #8 already.
"Is Aladdin your favorite Disney prince?"
"Hell yeah."
#9
"How many anime have you watched?"
"I've lost count."
#10
"Favorite anime character?"
"Mikey from Tokyo Revengers."
#11
"Have you ever watched One Piece?"
"I've gotten almost two-hundred episodes in but I haven't watched anime in a while. You went back to basic questions."
#12
"I'm really trying here," He chuckled as he thought up as many questions as he could. "If you drop a bar of soap on the floor, is the soap dirty or is the floor clean?"
She let out a cackle, and dissolved into giggles, "Both."
#13
"How old are you?"
"I'm turning 19 in a couple months."
#14
"What's your favorite holiday?"
"I know it's really boring, but I really like Christmas."
#15
"I don't think that's boring at all. Do you read?"
"Yes."
#16
"What's your favorite book?"
"It used to be Lord of The Rings, now it's Twilight. You're running short on questions."
#17
"What are the names of your cats?"
"I have a black cat named Hades, and a mackerel tabby named Ziggy."
#18
"What's your favorite dance style?"
"Probably hip-hop, but I like a lot of styles."
#19
At that moment, he stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, his final question spoken in a deeper, softer timbre that quite literally took her breath away. "What's your name?"
She swallowed thickly, her ears twinging with pink, "Jack. My name's Jack."
He let out a small breath, and repeated her name as if testing the word, "Jack." He said it again, and grinned at the sky above them. He finally knew her name. He knew her name. "Jack."
The Moon Is Beautiful, Isn't It? ✧masterlist✧
song: overflow by evan
He let out a soft sigh as the cool night air washed over him after he left the dorms building. Ni-ki immediately turned right and walked through to the edge of the apartment buildings and over to the hedge wall in the back. He slipped through the hidden pathway in the hedge to the left of the middle. Pulling out his phone, he hit shuffle on his Night Escapes playlist and let his exhaustion dissolve in the music that played through his headphones.
The darkness of the night blanketed over the world, the moon was barely in the sky so he could only see through the faint light of the stars. As the path in the hedges came to its end, he stepped out into the hidden gem in the middle of Seoul. His shoes crunched against the green grass of the hidden park while he headed to his favorite bench.
The park was huge, grass spanning as far as was visible in the little light that was granted by the interspersed lamps that bordered the paths that weaved through the grass.
He'd found this place in one of his earlier midnight excursions. It was after he'd first seen the hate he was getting for simply trying his best and not meeting the standards of nobodies who thought they controlled his life. He'd wanted to run away from the pain and had stumbled upon the break in the hedges. And he'd been coming here ever since.
The bench came into sight and he paused. There was someone sitting there. He was about to turn around and go back, when the person tilted their head back with their eyes closed and the dim starlight glinted off the tear tracks streaking down their face.
Startled, he realized the person was crying, causing his heart to drop into his stomach. There was clear ache written across their face, and he couldn't bring himself to walk away. It would've been easy to just leave, the person wouldn't even know that he'd been there at all since they had headphones on too.
Making a quick decision, he slowly approached the bench. The closer he got, the clearer he could see the person. It was a girl. A small girl, in a body type way not a young type way. She looked around his age and they wore almost the same outfit of a baggy hoodie—that drowned her—with the hood pulled up and some baggy sweats. Though, her hoodie and sweats were black while his hoodie was black and his sweats were gray.
She was slumped against the back of the bench; her body shaking from each new tear that slipped down her cheek. The tension in her shoulders was visible even from his distance, and he rolled his own shoulders from the sight as if he was trying to release it for her. Her hands were clasped tightly together in her lap. Her breaths were brittle, like she was barely keeping herself from shattering completely.
The more he identified with her body language and features, the more empathetic he felt to whatever was causing her to cry in a secret park at two in the morning.
He paused his music, pulling his headphones down to rest around his neck and gently tapped the girl's shoulder. She jumped violently, which made him feel horrible. But once her eyes locked onto him, she visibly relaxed. Whether it was because they looked to be in the same type of situation, she recognized him, or he wasn't that scary to her, he didn't know. He was just glad that she wasn't afraid of him since he was a complete stranger who'd appeared out of thin air.
She wiped her eyes and pulled her headphones off. "What's up?"
He almost winced at how fragile her voice sounded, but he elected to ignore that fact and spew out the first thing that came to mind. "Can I sit on the other side of the bench?"
"Sure?" She spoke with a hint of surprise, scooting over to make even more room for him. She tucked her legs underneath her in a crisscross and motioned for him to take the seat. He shoved his hands into his hoodie's pocket as he sat down, dying to just ask her what was wrong and if he could do anything to help. There was a moment of silence as they both awkwardly just sat there.
"I noticed you were crying," He remarked, cringing as the words came out bluntly and without tact. "Do you. . . do you want to talk about it? Or I can go if you want, I don’t want to invade."
She stared at him and blinked a couple times, "Uh. . . I mean. . . it would be nice to tell someone about it who's not involved at all, but I don't want to burden you with my problems, you probably have enough of your own if you take walks in the middle of the night."
He furrowed his brows--not in response to what she had said, but in response to what she hadn't said. She didn't recognize him? Usually when someone did recognize him, they would’ve said something by now. Well, it was a pretty dark night and he was wearing a hood so he couldn't blame her for not knowing who he was. And, if he was being honest, it was kind of refreshing to meet someone who either didn't know or didn't care enough to say anything about it.
"I don't mind listening if you want to talk," He shrugged, his hoodie rustling in the slight breeze. "It'll distract me from the rough day I've had."
She took a deep breath and looked up at the night sky above them, "I'll keep it short."
"You really don't have to," He said, shifting his body slightly so he was tilted in her direction. "You can rant as long as you need."
"You're awfully kind for a strange teenage boy," She commented, her hood slightly slipping as she kept staring upwards. "But, if you really don't mind, I guess I would like to talk about it. It's about my birth father, if I can even call him that. My sperm donor," She corrected herself, and took another deep breath, "He's from America, and he randomly decided he wanted to show up to see how 'his kids' were doing. He invited my siblings and I out for dinner. . . it was awful. I haven't even spoken to him in years and he thought he could just show up out of the blue and tell me and my brothers what he thinks we should've done with our lives. . ."
Ni-ki sat there quietly listening to her speak, and while he listened he realized a couple things. One: that he was insanely blessed with the family he has. Two: that she had a very pretty voice and he wanted her to keep talking. And three: he was already ready to punch this 'sperm donor' in the face.
"He said some pretty awful things about my mom too. It was really hard to sit there and listen," Her voice got softer as she spoke, "And I was my younger brother's ride on top of that, so it I couldn't leave simply because I wanted to. But as soon as the sperm donor started talking shit about the decisions my little brother has made, I had to leave. I wasn't going to let my brother hear any of it, so I grabbed him and just. . . left. I was furious as I drove my brother home. I barely spoke to my mom when I dropped him off and headed home as soon as I could. When I got back, my dad asked me how it went."
"Your dad?" Ni-ki asked before he could stop himself, though he was grateful it had come out, because he was full of questions and any of them getting answered would be appreciated.
"Yeah, my older brother and I were put into foster care when I was young, because my mom could barely afford to take care of one kid, let alone three after returning to her home country. And the man I now call my dad was the one who took me in," She explained, a smile pulling at the corners of her lips as her face softened with affection. "He's been a real father to me since I was twelve, which means he's been my dad for, let’s see, seven years? Damn, that’s a lot longer than I thought."
"Wow, okay," He nodded, then prompted her on, "Please, continue."
"Right. . . well, when I got home, he asked how it went. And I told him, but I couldn't stop thinking about what that man had said to me," Her voice broke off here, as she choked up and tears started to slip down her cheeks once more. "I told my dad that I needed some fresh air, and I took a long walk around the neighborhood and then trailed back here. And as soon as I got here, I got a text from the. . . the-"
Her words totally cut off as she tried to breath evenly. So, he jumped in and finished her thought, "From the dick."
She nodded, her shoulders trembling, "He expressed how horrible of a person I was for leaving the dinner like that and I was acting like a spoiled bitch. He started badmouthing my dad and calling me all sorts of names for not being who he assumed I would be, or thought I should be. I. . . I just broke down. I couldn't stand it. I've been crying about it for about an hour now."
She spoke rather well for someone who had tears pouring down her face. Sniffling, she wiped her entire face with her hoodie sleeves. She took a shaky deep breath, trying to stop her sobs.
"I. . . I'm sorry," She said, "I shouldn't be crying like this in front of a stranger. I really shouldn't burden you with all this."
"Hey, I asked you to tell me," He immediately contradicted. "Don't be sorry for having to express the emotions you're feeling."
She shifted in her seat and turned to look at him, "So, what brings you out here at this ungodly hour?"
He chuckled softly, leaning his elbows on his knees and staring at the ground. "I'm just overwhelmed with a lot. My schedule is insanely busy and I barely have time to relax and rest. But when I do have the time, I can't sleep. My insomnia keeps getting worse and nothing I've tried has helped."
He was surprised at how easy it was to open up to this unknown girl. Maybe it was the fact that she'd just spilled her guts out to him, and he was returning the favor. Or it could be the night air and the sleep deprivation that was messing with his barriers, but he voiced what was worrying him and stressing him for the first time in what felt like years.
"I'm stressing with the amount I'm expected to be able to do, and meeting expectations," He sighed, fiddling with the one ring he currently wore.
"Who's expectations?" She asked, quietly.
He let out sound that was half sigh and half laugh, "Everyone's. My company's, my friends', the world's."
"Well, not mine," She smiled softly at him, wiping a stray tear. "You already exceeded my expectations by listening to me rant about my horrid evening."
"I guess I have one person on my side," He joked, nudging her shoulder. "A very small person."
"Hey!" She laughed, shoving him gently, "I may be short but I'm not that small. You're just fucking huge."
He smirked at that, "You're deluding yourself, but sure, I'm the odd one."
"I said you were huge not odd, there's difference," She pointed out. Her hand raised to her cheek, then paused in mid air. "Oh shit." She burst out laughing and he just stared at her until she explained. "I just tried to push up my glasses! I completely forgot I put contacts in when I got ready this afternoon!"
He smiled while imagining what she would look like with glasses, and guessing what style of glasses she had. She would look fantastic with glasses, he was sure of that. It would fit her sharp and striking features well if they were the right type.
Right at that moment her phone buzzed loudly, and she hesitantly checked with tension filling her whole body. When the screen flickered to life in the darkness, she relaxed at whatever was on the screen.
"I have to go. My dad's getting worried about how late it is," She stated, quickly sending a reply and shutting off her phone and shoving it into her sweats' pocket as she got to her feet. He followed her, checking the time and realizing they'd been out there for around an hour or more and it was nearly 3:30am.
"Can I. . ." He hesitated, then decided 'fuck it' and continued to ask his question, "Can I walk you home? I would feel more comfortable knowing you made it home safe."
"Uh, yeah, I guess," She responded, surprised.
He sighed in relief and smiled once more, "Lead the way."
She attempted to hide her smile by turning towards the opposite side of the park then where he'd come from. Leading him to the hedges in the far corner, she showed him a little pathway almost identical to the one he'd followed to get there, though it was slightly shorter than his pathway.
It turned out, her house was only a block or two away from the hidden park. It was a humble house, though much larger than one needed for only two people. They didn't speak much as they walked up to the house, but when they got to the driveway, she turned to face him.
"Thank you," She said, honesty shining through her soft expression. "I had no idea I needed to talk to a complete stranger, but thank you for listening to me. And sharing your concerns with me."
"Yeah, no worries," He replied, shrugging it off like it wasn't a big deal, though his heart pounded in his chest. "Hopefully we'll bump into each other more often in the park, yeah?"
"I'd like that a lot," She nodded, slowly backing up before actually turning around and walking up to the front door. She placed her hand on the doorknob, but turned back to him before going inside. "Thanks again. . . for listening. See you later."
She slipped inside, and Ni-ki let a long breath slide out of his lungs. Who knew he would bump into someone like her on a night like this? Who knew he would end up walking a stranger home? Who knew someone so pretty lived only a couple blocks, barely over a ten minute walk, away from his dorm?
He whistled softly as he turned to walk back home. His day hadn't been so bad, and he wouldn't mind having the same thing happen all over again if it meant he could talk to her again. Then, the worst realization he'd had in a long time, clicked.
He'd forgotten to ask for her name.
@𝘶𝘻𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘰 ~ thx for the dividers :)
pls don't be afraid to comment, I love everyone who does
also i've been thinking about a tag list, lmk if you're interested
He let out a soft sigh as the cool night air washed over him after he left the dorms building. Ni-ki immediately turned right and walked through to the edge of the apartment buildings and over to the hedge wall in the back. He slipped through the hidden pathway in the hedge to the left of the middle. Pulling out his phone, he hit shuffle on his Night Escapes playlist and let his exhaustion dissolve in the music that played through his headphones.
The darkness of the night blanketed over the world, the moon was barely in the sky so he could only see through the faint light of the stars. As the path in the hedges came to its end, he stepped out into the hidden gem in the middle of Seoul. His shoes crunched against the green grass of the hidden park while he headed to his favorite bench.
The bench came into sight and he paused. There was someone sitting there. He was about to turn around and go back, when the person tilted their head back with their eyes closed and the dim starlight glinted off the tear tracks streaking down their face.
Startled, he realized the person was crying, causing his heart to drop into his stomach. There was clear ache written across their face, and he couldn't bring himself to walk away. It would've been easy to just leave, the person wouldn't even know that he'd been there at all since they had headphones on too.
Making a quick decision, he slowly approached the bench. The closer he got, the clearer he could see the person. It was a girl. A small girl, in a body type way not a young type way. She looked around his age and they wore almost the same outfit of a baggy hoodie—that drowned her—with the hood pulled up and some baggy sweats.
She was slumped against the back of the bench; her body shaking from each new tear that slipped down her cheek. The tension in her shoulders was visible even from his distance, and he rolled his own shoulders from the sight as if he was trying to release it for her. Her hands were clasped tightly together in her lap. Her breaths were brittle, like she was barely keeping herself from shattering completely.
The more he identified with her body language and features, the more empathetic he felt to whatever was causing her to cry in a secret park at two in the morning.
lmk what you think and if i should post the rest of the story :)
