#minshi writes

"May your gaze be on me"

"Never part my soul tearing to yours"

Prayers of chants sung into a melody began as she prayed to a rhythm known to heart, lowering her head as she thought of a prayer, a wish that could possible be pliable to any god alone, but just the god she followed for.

She wished for love, for a devotion, a man, anyone so she wouldn't be alone after her eighteenth birthday. She wished for that much, and hoped it was plausible for it to come true.

she stood up and let out an indignant groan when the wet dirt stuck to her knees, she knew it was going to happen but she had to do it. she couldn't really do much about it as she walked back to the lower grounds.

She didn't have an umbrella, a pity it was, she walked inside the house that was her "home", she had took off her shoes and put them to the side before walking inside.

The house was empty besides her brother in the living room, her parents never come home this early anyways. They needed to keep the house. She understood it well, yet it didn't make it hurt less. Her heart could stay hollow, but she couldn't dwindle in trivial matters such as emotions.

She went to go to the kitchen to clean the dishes to lessen the work so her parents won't have to stress.

"(Nameeee), can you come over here?"

(Name) scoffed but the corners of her lips twitched upwards

"Haha no—just give me a second Jun!"

Jun only let out a huff as (Name) took care of her chores before walking to the living room, her steps light yet the floorboards creaked softly under the weight. Sitting besides Jun as she watched the game he played

"..Why is there a rainbow fur toy chasing you"

"HIS NAME IS YARNABY!!"

(Name) pursed her lips to straight line and it created a crease downward at the right corner of her lip. Whoops…

"Uhm..yeah…him."

Before she could speak another sentence, Yarnaby opened his mouth, revealing a bloody gnaw with sharpened teeth and a second mouth at the center before eating him, and the screen went black.

"There's NO WAY….im gonna give up what the hellll–"

Jun exasperated as (Name) noticed, giggling a little.

"Your so dramatic..what did you need anyways?"

Jun got out of his dramatics despite being frustrated and looked at her

"Mom and Dad said you gotta get them some package..and some medication for mom too."

"..oh. Well just be sure-"

"Don't burn the house down, don't make a mess, use the fire extinguisher if theres a fire, call you if I need anything else, and I won't open the door for anyone else besides you."

She only smiled a bit and nod her head

"Alright..i'll get going..i'll get going.."

She frowned softly and acted sad as she got up and went to go get her shoes and grabbed a black umbrella with flower patterns at the underside before opening the door

"Lock the door when I leave Jun!"

She didn't hear anything from him. She stepped outside and closed the door, opening up the umbrella to shield her body from the water, walking a few inches away before hearing a soft click that was almost drowned out by the rain, she only continued walking until she saw the pharmacy a few feet away.

She began walking until her feet stopped moving, rooting her spot in place, a chill up her spine. She touched the back of her neck yet there wasn't any rain on it, she looked around to look for something, turning around.

"...huh..that's..weird.."

She quickly got her phone and went to her best friend's phone number, keeping it on speed dial as she walked a little hastily, her body calm, but she was speed walking to get there. More aware, nervous.

Her hand rested on the handle as she stopped for a few seconds, listening in to see if someone was following her, when there was nothing, a footstep not heard, a sway of clothes with the wind, she only then got inside and closed the umbrella, letting the door close behind her as she walked through the aisles, searching for the medication.

Her skin prickled and her arms hugged around her body to get some warmth to seep into the pores of her skin, deep into her flesh, it was futile to puncture to the skin but it provided temporary warmth.

She didn't even noticed until a voice got out of her stupor.

"Miss..are you alright? You seemed cold."

She looked over and saw a man, he was taller, sure. She was used to being shorter than men but taller than women. but she couldn't help the way his body was lean with muscles underneath, the way he dressed, and his face. Downturned eyes with champagne gold pupils, black ebony long hair yet it was kept and a bit wavy for volume, he looked absolutely ethereal, she had to wonder if he was a model or a divine being to grace her eyes.

"I..I am..maybe..?"

She could've died in a hole, her voice was meek and the words she said sounded hesitant, doubting her own words. She let out a gulp and stuttered a few times before stopping early to prevent the embarrassment from eating her inside out.

"Uh..sorry. I am cold.."

He only smiled patiently and took off the jacket he wore to drape it on her shoulders

"There we go..do you feel better now?"

She nodded her head, it was warm, so much so that the AC and the rain still pouring heavy outside couldn't dampen the heat from the jacket.

"Well, thank you so much- oh there it is!"

She grabbed the medicine her mother needed, she grabbed it too often that she knew what her mother needed, then looking back at the beautiful man.

"Oh by the way, do you want your jacket back?"

The man shook his head softly.

"No its fine, you can keep it. You might need it more than me."

There were no words to say, she could smiled politely in gratitude, what was there to say now?

"Thank you so much sir.."

She went to the counter and put the medicine of the flat surface as the girl behind the counter glanced at her, then at the man.

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"I mean I- wait what?"

"I'm not repeating myself."

She was taken aback and cleared her throat, she never thought she would get a question like that.

"No- he's not, we just met and he was kind enough to give me his jacket."

The girl behind the counter let out a low whistle, almost surprised even if she knew the other girl in front of her gave a shit before scanning the medication.

"Wow. There's a lot of nasty men out here these days..just giving a jacket for free without anything in return? Suspicious. You should probably watch your back alright?"

She nod her head and paid for the medicine with money inside her phone.

"Have a good night."

"You too..!"

She walked out of the pharmacy and opened up her umbrella again, walking to the post office next, that feeling from earlier was gone, was she imagining things? It must be paranoia from walking alone in the rain heavy as it is.

The bell rang softly in the semi-empty space as (Name) walked in. walking to the man behind the counter and smiled politely

"Good evening..is there any packages for Mr and Mrs (Last name)?"

"Let me go check."

The man didn't waste time with pleasantries and checked the boxes and packages before grabbing two packages and slid them over to her

"It's already paid so take it, its almost time to close."

That was..strange to say the least. However she couldn't complain and nodded her head, skepticism already planted in the brain. A thump happened and she glanced at the window, and her heart almost stopped.

Blood smeared on the window, transformed to a hand print as she blinked a few times and it was gone, what was that?

Was she imagining things? But it couldn’t be, her throat started to tighten and the man saw but didn’t comment

“Did you see something?”

She looked at the man and shook her head no. She was probably just sleep deprived right?

"Uh….have a good night."

She didn't stick around for long to see if the man responded and her steps quickened, they echoed in the quiet streets as cars passed by in a blurring haze, waiting for the stop lights to be red, the pedestrian signals turning white with the person walking in one place, the heartbeat deep inside her chest seemed to be loud, trying to burst out of the ribcage and the same feeling of paranoia came back harder the second time.

Her palm had the door on the handle and quickly checked for her keys, her hand trembled, clammy-like as sweat started to slick with the rain, making it harder to put it in the key hole before finally getting the key into the lock.

She quickly stepped inside and shut the door behind her with a soft thud.

The man from the pharmacy observed her hasty figure and watched her deep in the forest, a smile crawled its way to his lips and a laugh so soft came out of him.

"Oh…my follower, my great, only one..you are the one still keeping me alive..after all these years while I was exiled, you kept me alive when the world had forgot someone like me existed. Your wish is such a meaningless prayer..but i will grant for it so your soul can be tied down to mine."

For the first time in centuries, the god had his heart skip a beat as he dragged a dead man to the shrine that was the last remnants of it, his smile slowly turned cold as he glanced at the corpse, his hands bloody and crimson dripped down, the rain washing away its residue

"Pitiful mortal. You dare try to watch my follower? If you were at least a bit smarter, you would've seen me from behind you."

The man didn't speak, he was a fresh corpse after all, he had been watching her, an obsessive crush ever since he found her social media. He considered it to be parasocial, and continued.

“Another gift? Cheol this is like the third one this month,” you pout as you take the bag from your boyfriend’s hands, already knowing what’s inside. He simply smiles as he leans in and presses a kiss to your cheek. “Sorry about that, but you know I love spoiling you,” he says, pressing a quick kiss to your lips. 

You roll your eyes but there’s no malice behind it, you know how Seungcheol gets when you try denying that you don’t deserve everything that he’s bought you over the months you’ve been together. The one time you said that you didn’t deserve all that he’s gotten you he gently tackled you onto your couch, smothering you in kisses until you recanted your sentence, finally accepting your fate of your boyfriend coming to your apartment, gift in hand. 

As of late, however, you noticed a trend in the gifts he would get you. Originally they were normal things, like your favorite treats from the cafe near your apartment, maybe some jewelry he thought would look nice in your collection, or some outfits he’d thought would look pretty on you. Lately, he’d buy you books, which you loved of course, it’s just after the fifth book he’s bought, you realized something. 

All the books he’s gotten you were all on your wishlist of books you wanted to read, and that’s all great, except you never shared the list with Seungcheol.  

You never shared that list with anyone in fact, so how he knew which book to get you, was beyond you. He even buys you the book you’re especially wanting to read that month, putting a star by its name on the sticky note you keep on your desk of all the books you want to read. Hell, half the time you forget where you keep the sticky note, so if he knows where it is, he does a better job at remembering than you do. 

You open the bag to see the book you’ve been wanting to read since the author announced a sequel in the works a year ago. You let out a small gasp before looking up to see him watching for your reaction, a bashful smile on his face. 

“I know you’ve been waiting for the sequel for a while and when I saw that it was finally out, I knew I had to get it for you,” he muttered, his cheeks an adorable shade of pink as you ran your pointer finger through the pages of the book, still in a bit of awe of having the book in your had as well the fact that he remembered. 

How he always knows what book to get you doesn’t matter to you, all that matters to you is the fact he knows you so well, and he wants to treat you like this just because. You put the book down and wrap your arms around his neck, “thank you Cheol, I love you.”