his hands gripped on the grocery bags as he dragged his feet up to his apartment. the cold air could still enter the hallway through the opened windows, and it blew sending a shiver down his spine. fishing out the keys from his pocket, he struggled to unlock the door until he finally did.

exhausted from all the walking and weightlifting (of bags), seokjin dropped his carry-on's and plopped himself down on the couch. he rolled his broad shoulders in a circular motion, trying to excercise his strained muscles.

considering that the wind actually felt pretty generous today, seokjin decided to go up to the rooftop to inhale some fresh air. he was completely not expecting to see someone there too. more perplexed when the stranger - or girl was standing on the edge, arms hung low on her sides.

her hair was disheveled, and it reminded her of the same girl from that night. something told him that it was no longer a coincidence this time, noticing that the universe kept on conspiring them to meet. at first meet, he would describe her as suicidal. but maybe she really was?

careful not to startle her, seokjin did his best to keep his steps silent as ever, eyes never leaving the girl's figure. he couldn't dare to see someone die on his watch, not again. not now when he had saved someone.

she lifted her arms up leveling her petite shoulders, taking a step closer to the edge. seokjin was again, quick to respond; grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back to safety.

he didn't care how his back instantly became sore for landing on the concrete floor. snapping out of trance, he himself was still trying to register everything in his mind. it all came to pass when he realized that the girl had been on top of him for almost a good half minute.

her eyes met his, and he saw how her eyes were still slowly drying from tears. they both sat up while she got off him, now seated on the floor. absentmindedly, seokjin reached for her face and traced the corners of her eye gently with his thumb, wiping away the tears.

all she got was a blank stare, holding not a single hint of emotion. it was clear to him that she was just exhausted with life, like any other suicidal person. there it was, in front of his eyes, confirmed that she really was the girl from that night.

wondering how many times she tried to kill herself, seokjin's eyebrows creased in slight confusion - and a little concern. okay, maybe not a little. maybe he was too concerned for a complete stranger.

"you." he met her gaze with a stare turning into a glare. "what is wrong with you?" of course, she never bothered to answer. he placed his hands on her shoulders, gripping them a little too tight that it made her flinch when he spoke. "are you out of your mind?"

he realized that he was being dumb for talking it out to the girl who almost seemed like a mute. it was fine until he accidentally landed his look on her wrist. for some reason it gave him relief that it wasn't flickering - because flickering basically means dying.

seventeen hours, thirty nine minutes, and 9 seconds ticking very very quickly. maybe she was plotting something to kill herself again? even though he had enough of her, he couldn't just leave her to die when he could try to prevent it.

mustering up the biggest amount of courage, seokjin asked her a question. "tell me." he paused when the cold breeze suddenly hushed the two of them standing in the cold. "what is your name?"

there was hesitance obvious in her expression before her trembling lips spoke a word, "hyuri."

now that he found himself able to save a life, he knew that he couldn't, shouldn't stop. maybe it was never a coincidence that he found her. maybe he was destined to save her.

after a string of thoughts, he finally gave up to a sigh and looked at his wrist. to his surprise, it decreased - again. he wasn't ready nor scared to die.

he fixed his gaze on hyuri who was walking away without any more words. "i have to save her."

— 注定 —
D E S T I N E D

"at least before i die."