beginnings
rated pg
word count 744 words
prompt beginning
That would be me, he thinks, the apple that he'd barely lifted to his lips, red light blinking, there's still enough time to cross the road, the countdown three, two, one but sometimes life has other ideas.
The world continues on, that's the thing. Even though everything has changed, everything has turned over and under and inside out and Sunjoo can feel his heart beating, ringing in his ears as he catches his breath, everything is the same
"Thank you," he says, his voice mostly air as the stranger pulls him to the curb. Sungjoo sees the crushed apple on the road, the juice running off to the edge of the road, the crushed pulp, split red skin, gravel in the pulp.
That would be me, he thinks, the apple that he'd barely lifted to his lips, red light blinking, there's still enough time to cross the road, the countdown three, two, one but sometimes life has other ideas.
Sometimes the road you cross becomes the ferry man rowing you to the other side, your name written on stone, red petals fluttering down to the dirt, the shovel flinging earth into the air.
"Watch out!" Sungjoo had turned, wide-eyed, too slow, too slow his eyes, turning, caught in the headlights, a rabbit on its way to road kill, but the warm hand on his wrist tearing him from the dark had changed endings to beginnings.
The truck had rushes by, the sickening crunch of the apple in his hand the only testimony to what had nearly happened. No one had noticed; no one notices now; traffic rushing past, pedestrians under umbrellas bobbing along, feet splashing in puddles, the hum of the city and the rain.
"Are you alright?" the stranger says, his forehead furrowed in concern, and Sungjoo opens his mouth to say yes, of course, because that's just how things are, the world moves on, you die a thousand times after you leave the safe confines of your bed, until you reach it again, slip back between clean sheets and dream of the deaths you didn't die, until one day you die for keeps.
"No," he says, and the admission feels raw in his mouth, a private confession blurted out to the crowd, he's bared his chest to someone he doesn't know, admitted he's vulnerable.
You're not supposed to show the wolves, the world, that you're scared. The world is a vicious place.
Sungjoo blinks, swallows, gathers a smile up to plaster onto his face—it was just a momentary lapse, just a blip in the radar of life, because life moves on, people walk past the beggars on the street, eyes skim past the headlines of death, death, death—every earthquake is private—he takes a breath and opens his mouth—
"That was pretty scary," the stranger laughs, but he sounds a little shaken too, his breathing just a little heavy, and Sungjoo realizes, maybe it's okay to stop for a moment, take a breath, admit you can't move on just yet,
"Do you have time to grab a coffee or something?" he asks, and the smile on his face is only the faintest flicker but it's real this time. "I feel like I need to catch my breath."
The stranger hesitates a moment before nodding. "Yeah, actually, I think I need that." He gestures to a coffee shop just back a few buildings down, "Is over there okay?"
Sungjoo nods. "I don't think I can walk any further right now," he admits, "My legs are still a little shaky." The stranger smiles back at him, walking side by side, pushing into the soothing hum of the coffee shop and the rich smell of coffee.
"Can I get you something?" Sungjoo asks at the counter.
"A latte," the stranger says, "I need the calories right now." Sungjoo nods, takes the buzzer and they make their way to a table tucked into the corner, hidden from the windows because neither of them feel like watching the cars rushing by on the road right now.
"I'm Sungjoo, by the way," Sungjoo says, reaching his hand across the table to shake the stranger's hand. "Thanks for saving my life." It feels good to say it, laid bare on the table between them.
"I'm Yixuan," the stranger, Yixuan, says, and his hand is warm, fingers soft against Sungjoo's skin. "And it was my pleasure."
The world is still moving, but it's on their terms now, sitting across from each other, tucked away in the corner of the coffee shop, warm gold light and the comforting clatter of cups in the background, as the buzzer vibrates and Sungjoo stands up to get their order.
