「❀」she watches as night passes before her in a whirl. carrying the day's whims with her were responsibilities succeeded into relief. she thinks about the faces seen today, young and old, some nameless and with names she remembered. something that should've been memorized to certain feelings and expressions, that even she forgets how to react. on her skin is orange to yellow lights, reflecting in her eyes as they are shown with distress. she watches as the vehicle whips passed glassy buildings. along the broad street is where it drives, lonely and desolate. she doesn't acknowledge the time, though it's lateー in the night, or early in the morning, the hours are more silent. she feels the consequence of delayed slumber in her bones, the heaviness in her eyelids. tears the phone from her ear as the screen lightens to the details of the contact. his picture illuminates but his voice is muted. without thinking, acting on poor judgement, did she respond recklessly with what stood on the back of her mind. stephanie feared that she had spoken to soon; or too harshly for that matter. the guilt results in the furrowing of her eyebrows when taking the device up to her ear again. the other end was silent as she frowned, leaning her head against the window.
in the backdrop was a drowning medley of some sort. it was difficult to make up out of it; both the song and notes lifting into the air's deadness. she exchanges her tired gaze from down in her lap to the world outside of the car. stephanie hears a break in his voice, and her eyes have fallen onto the gold-gleaming pavement. her sight bores into the little specks, cracks, a green leaf that looks brownish due to the lighting of the street. the weight of waiting has always been subjective, but she'd been patient. she understood his conditions as well as she would hope he'd fathom hers. unaccompanied by a response with lacking expression, she breathes when he apologizes. knowingly, a smile lifts her face. discreet and kept with exhaustion, she maintains gratitude.
moments are lost when thinking of words to say. "i understand," she murmurs. with this, she believed in a certain hope rather than the downhearted sneers from earlier. glancing up at the sky, seeing as small stars scattered from above, jongin continued and continuedー almost lulling her to a brief snooze. "you're here but you're tired, i can hear it in your voice. now's not the time that i'd like to have your full attention," she began (the smile still lingers). "i know how much you treasure your sleep, in which that should probably be in your best interests as of now." the car stops, out she exits with the keys to her dorm, "what's your day like tomorrow?"
