Note: So one of my favourite fanfiction writer in another, completely non-Kpop fandom did a series of drabbles following a list of one hundred ways to say I love you. Each drabble is short and sweet, so I want to do the same for Heedragon. I’m picking a few numbers at a time but if you want to request for certain numbers, feel free to do so!
1. Pull over, let me drive for a while
It was 01:00 AM when Sohee was jolted awake by some unknown force that caused her to sit up straight. It took her a while before she could fully take in her surroundings. The road was now empty and the music was playing silently in the background. She looked to her left to see Jiyong, both hands on the steering wheel and eyes focused on the road, blinking one too many times.
"How long have I been out for?" she asked gently. He turned to her with the gentlest smile and answered, "Just an hour."
"G-d, I'm so sorry," she shook her head, "I went to Daegu so that you don't have to make the drive back on your own and here I was, falling asleep."
He laughed, "It's alright. I didn't know the track meet was gonna end so late too. We shouldn't have stayed for the after party." She chuckled, trying to ignore how much she loves hearing him say 'we' in reference to them. Like they're a unit.
They sat in a few more moments of comfortable silence when Sohee noticed Jiyong's grip of the steering wheel becoming tighter, a sign of him fighting for concentration.
"Pull over, let me drive for a while," she finally said. He looked like he was going to argue but he realised that it was no use. This is how he knew that they're a unit - he doesn't need to hide his exhaustion or weakness in front of her. He doesn't need to pretend or to act like something else. He can just be himself and that moment, he was grateful to hear her offer.
"Thank you," he softly whispered before he fell asleep on the passenger seat.
10. I'm sorry for your loss.
It happened without notice - no warning signs, no onset illness, no nothing. She was completely fine one day and the next, she was gone. Sohee was on her way to organic chemistry class when she received the phone call, and the world seemed to stop spinning when she heard her dad's stuttered words and breathless whispers. "She's... she's gone..." he uttered before Sohee lost all power on her legs and collapsed on the ground. A few people in her surroundings that recognised her immediately ran to her aid and got her where she needed to be: by her dad and sister.
She didn't speak much - she couldn't. She didn't know how to verbalise her emotions. When Krystal arrived, huffing and puffing with Minhyuk trailing close behind her, she thought that she could maybe let all of her emotions go in her best friend's embrace but she remained speechless. All she could do was lean into Krystal's embrace and let herself shed some tears. The days that followed went by in a blur. Her sister and dad were too emotional to talk to the relatives and visitors, so Sohee took on the job. While her dad was sitting quietly with her sister asleep from too much crying, Sohee was walking around the funeral home to answer questions and accept condolences from everyone. She couldn't count how many times she had bowed and nodded and smiled. It's a punishing form of distraction as it didn't allow her any time to grief but it also constantly reminded her of what she needed to face eventually. Regardless, she welcomes the distraction. Right now, she needed to be the pillar of their family.
The third day was winding down with relatives returning to their hometowns and only a few close friends around. Krystal was speaking to the funeral home staff who was cleaning up the area while Minhyuk was talking to the caterer on the phone. So she stretched out her leg on the corner of the room, letting her shoulders slumped. She surveyed her surroundings before her eyes landed on the picture of her mom, sitting atop a collection of flowers. "I'm doing a good job, right?" she asked quietly.
"Hey..." Minhyuk walked quietly to her with a phone in his outstretched hand, "It's for you." She looked up at him quizzically for a moment before taking the phone.
"I'm sorry for your loss..." a voice on the other side spoke softly, and it acted like a switch to the dam because Sohee found herself sobbing and taking in the full depth of her emotions.
Krystal ran over, alarmed by the sound of her heaving sobs but was pulled away by a knowing Minhyuk who later explained the situation to Sohee's dad and sister.
"I'm sorry..." that voice repeated again, the pain palpable, "I... I'm sorry..." he repeated again.
Sohee let herself cry for hours, her ears pressed to Minhyuk's phone and her hand clutching the device like it's her lifeline. She didn't know that she needed to hear his voice until she did. He didn't say nothing more than those two words over and over again, and it was enough. It was more than enough.
It was only later that Minhyuk told her that Jiyong had been trying to reach her for the past three days. Krystal had apparently blocked Jiyong's number when he left Sohee for New York (bless her soul), and Jiyong finally got a hold of Minhyuk after a series of long phonecalls with Minhyuk's acquiantances. "He said he wanted to fly here but he couldn't get a flight because of the hurricance in New York," Minhyuk explained, making Sohee smile a bitter smile.
16. It's okay. I couldn't sleep anyway.
It was not unusual for Sohee to stay late at the office. Her work as a R & D for a pharmaceutical company meant that upon deadlines, she and her team would have to work through the night on a batch of formula to cure whatever illness they have on hand. Being the workaholic and perfectionist that she is, it's customary for her to be last one to be at the office. It normally doesn't faze her - being in the office on her own until the crack of dawn, but a few muggings have been reported in the area lately and Sohee couldn't help but to feel anxious.
The clock on the computer showed 01:45 AM and the lab is empty. She just needs to print the report that she just completed and put it on her boss's desk before she could leave, but the eerie quietness was getting to her. So she grabbed her phone and dialed Jiyong's number.
"Did I wake you?" she asked when he answered the phone without a noise. She heard the sound of him clearing his throat, "It's okay. I couldn't sleep anyway. Where are you?" he asked in turn.
"At the lab. I'm kind of terrified of walking to my car since no one's around," she answered truthfully as she balanced the phone with her shoulder, grabbing her bag at the same time as she tries to open the lab door with her key card. "Do you want me to pick you up?" he asked without skipping a beat. She laughed, "No. I'm just being a scaredy cat," she answered sheepishly.
"Alright. Well, I just finished watching Season 3 of Parks and Recreation..." he began to chatter.
