AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Story heavily inspired by One by Lewis Capaldi.

Excerpts from the song were lightly used in conversations. If you have a chance, please have a listen. I highly recommend it!

You know, I wish I could say,
"Thank you for all the mistakes"
"Thank you for all of the pain"

I guess somebody else's loss is another's gain.

She was lonely.

Her eyes seem to hold an ocean of unsaid poems; her lips a barrier of lost and forbidden words; her hands a carrier of unrequited love. She was captivating, mesmerizing even. Every person that laid their eyes on her wished to touch her, to reach the depths of those mysterious orbs, to solve the puzzle of her tangled heart.

For years she walked alone, shouldering all the burdens the world could give and offering a smile to those who seem to drown in misery. She was an angel in everyone’s eyes, the kind of creature that will lift your sorrow in exchange for nothing.

She’s an enigma. Untouchable, unreadable, barely human. Yet, she was lonely.

She was beautiful.

Perfection. If there would be a word to describe her, it would be perfection. From her ravishing features, a body to die for, and that cute, little mole that rests right under her left eye, no one could ever ask for more from this lovely being. Not even the gods who sculpted her and gave life to her, nor the humans who cared and deeply admired her, nor the creatures who equally hated her to mask their insecurities. She was too perfect.

And yet, she was lonely.

She was abandoned.

Just the night before their debut, she saw the beautiful creature, as human as she could be, curled up under the moonlight in her dimly lit bedroom. Her eyes glistened with crystals, each drop creating a splash of broken emotions; her knees moved closer to her chest to hide herself in between her arms, an attempt to stop the muffled sounds of silent aches that threatened to break into loud cries of grief. She looked painfully vulnerable.

“Soojin?” Shuhua called softly, carefully, moving one step at a time towards the older girl. “Hey, it’s okay.” She cooed, a hand reaching slowly to touch the shoulder of the broken creature before it slowly wrapped around her figure protectively. “I’m here.”

Soojin flinched at the sudden warmth, but she never pushed the hand either. Instead, she welcomed it, and surprisingly, craved for it. The darkness that surrounded her slowly faded into nothingness and was replaced by a bright, shining light that momentarily blinded her eyes.

“Shuhua…” She breathed, one after the other as if the name sounded foreign on her tongue but she could somehow taste the sweet familiarity. It almost felt nostalgic. “Shuhua.”

Shuhua could only offer a forced, painful smile. She could never pretend in front of the woman she deeply admired, but she was hoping that somehow her embrace could make up for the frown her face made when she saw how broken Soojin looked. She wished she could cast the same magic Soojin enchanted her with, create the same effect of the older girl towards her, make her feel safe, and loved. But she knew she was too weak, and could only offer a grain of her warmth through her embrace.

She was just nothing to Soojin. 

At least, for now.

“Shuhua ya,” Soojin called softly, her eyes fixed on the raven-haired maknae across the room who happily bounced towards her, wearing that bright, blinding smile that seems to captivate every person in the room. Like herself.

She felt her cheeks warmed at the thought, and before Shuhua could see the pink clouds of dust that spread along her cheeks, she took a deep bre