in your loving arms (preview)
AN: a short prologue to pregnancy au, as well as an introduction to dahyun's character ! that's right baby we're tackling internalized homophobia (trigger warning!)
pairing: dajeonghyo
pregnancy au
wc: 1107
Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord, your God, is giving you.
Exodus, 20:12.
It runs through Dahyun’s mind like a freight train with each droplet of water that hits her body.
Her hands, clinging to her arms and hugging her body, do little to provide warmth from the cold of the rain.
It’s cold.
And all Dahyun is wearing are her pajamas, if they can even be called that. A baby blue XL shirt with a print of a duckling waddling through the rain, and gym shorts that barely reach her knees. Both of them hugging her form, and doing nothing to help her from the torrential downpour.
“H-Honor…your father and mother…” She murmurs.
It’s cold.
Dahyun’s not sure if it’s the rain, or the gaping void in her chest, sucking in every coherent thought from her mind, besides that verse.
The streets are empty at this time of night. The moon, usually a source of comfort for her, is nowhere to be seen among the dark and heavy clouds that loom over her.
Skyscrapers tower over her, the city so oppressive it crushes every semblance of her personal space, streets so squashed together to form a concrete maze she can never find her way out of.
Flickering streetlamp lights are the only thing that guide her way, on the cusp of breaking due to the rain.
It’s cold.
Until suddenly, she sees it.
A glimpse of light.
The city passes her by as her bare feet slap against the concrete, puddles of rain water barely slowimg her down.
It’s so close.
She runs, and runs, like the verse that runs through her mind, the only thing keeping every part of her together.
Her feet take her across the street.
There’s a flash of light, and for a moment, Dahyun thinks it’s a sign of the Most Holy, shining down upon her.
And then she hears the tires screech.
Ears ringing, she can do nothing but hold her hands up to her face, what once was holy light now blinding her to the point of pain.
For a moment, or two, all she can hear are her heart pounding, and the merciless rain against the concrete.
Then she hears the car door open.
“Jesus fucking Christ, watch where you’re—!”
The name makes her wince, used in vain.
Whoever they are, they’ve stopped, or maybe their words have gotten softer, because there is barely anything to be heard over the rain.
“What the fuck? Kim Dahyun?!”
She lowers her hands, slowly, tentatively. But the light still blinds her, and all she can see is a silhouette by the car door.
“Damn it, Jeongyeon, use an umbrella, there’s—!”
The other car door opens, but still Dahyun cannot see.
“Dahyun?!”
She’s shivering, she realizes. Hair flat against her head down to her back, a few strands getting in her face. She can barely even feel her own skin, only the pelting of raindrops. Her feet are numb, and only now that she stands still can she see blood being washed away from the ground where she stands.
There’s the sound of boots against concrete.
Then the rain stops.
She looks up, and standing next to her are two figures.
Familiar ones.
“Are you crazy?! You just ran out into the road out of nowhere?! You could have gotten yourself killed!”
Jeongyeon. Yoo Jeongyeon. Her senior. She hasn’t seen her in years.
“What’s the matter with you?!”
Jeongyeon is still loud. What little she’s gathered from their sparse conversations in the past is that Jeongyeon is loud, aggressive, scary. It still holds true now.
“Jeongyeon! Look at her! She’s clearly in distress!”
Jihyo. Park Jihyo. Her senior. She’s seen her only once in recent times.
“Dahyun, what are you doing out here? There’s a storm out, it’s not safe.”
Big, worried eyes stare into her, and it’s only when they blink that Dahyun realizes she’s being addressed.
“I…”
Her mouth fails to continue, an anchor in her chest stopping her from speaking.
“Never mind, we can talk about that later. Come into the car.”
Jihyo was always nice. Even if everything about her alluded to the contrary.
“Wha-?! Ji, are you serious?!”
“Jeongyeon! Come on!”
Dahyun processes Jihyo running back to the car, jacket over her head.
Then she processes an arm hooking into her elbow, gentle, delicate, and caring.
“Alright, fine, let’s go.”
The voice that ushers her to the side of the car is the opposite.
The car door opens, Dahyun sits down, and the car door closes.
Heat, warmth, and some semblance of comfort are given to her only then.
Her clothes drench the seat, water pooling around her as the driver’s seat door slams shut.
“Fuck, that was scary. I thought a ghost just materialized on the street.”
Dahyun looks up, and she’s greeted by two pairs of eyes looking right at her.
“Dahyun-ah…what were you doing out there?”
Jihyo is looking at her, eyes so warm and caring. Her hands are by her chest, fiddling with the seat belt as her body is turned to look at Dahyun.
“I could have killed you, y’know. Be more careful next time, jeez.”
Jeongyeon is scratching the back of her head, sheepishly. Her head is turned downwards, embarrassed, but her eyes still look up at Dahyun’s, in concern.
It all comes rushing back to her, now that the rain no longer halts her every single thought.
“Woah, woah, hey, you’re okay. You’re safe, Dahyun-ah.”
Jeongyeon’s voice almost startles her, and it’s then that she feels the tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Dahyun, what’s wrong?”
When Jihyo asks, Dahyun can count the amount of raindrops that are hitting the car in pelts, and they still wouldn’t be as many as the things that are wrong.
Her throat trembles, her lips quiver, and she sobs.
“I-I was…I was looking for you.”
Jeongyeon’s eyebrows crease as she looks to Jihyo, as if for confirmation. Jihyo can only subtly shrug as she turns back to Dahyun.
“Why? What’s wrong, sweetie?”
Sweetie. The endearment rolls of Jihyo’s tongue so easily, like Dahyun is still the same old Dahyun that Jihyo had befriended.
Dahyun shakily exhales. And with her breath comes the expelling of fear, of hesitation, of sorrow, all easily captured in one simple sentence.
“…I have nowhere else to go.”
Silence fills the car.
It feels like an eternity passes, and it itches at Dahyun’s skin. She almost opens the door to run back out into the rain.
Until Jeongyeon’s voice, soft but purposeful, cuts through the thick.
“Alright. We’re taking you home.”
