Waiting on Hope (Pt. 1)

Finding hope was always an easy thing for Suri. Above all, trying to share that hope was one of her dreams. The one thing that Suri desired the most was to keep shedding that rare light that is missing in between these cold and brutal brick walls. Every corner that she turned to was a projection of those walls. Those walls that have pained through lie, betrayal, fake personas, and aggression. Though, she thought, there must have been much heart expanding moments here, as she walked towards her bus stop to commute to work.

Now, at this time, because everything was so dull and Suri was mentally not ready to go into work, she put on her own curated playlist that definitely might not fit everyone's palette but was essentially a life saver. Her earphones were not the usual Apple earphones. In fact, she was a quirky 20-something with purple headphones with the best noise cancellation you can possibly have unless you are crossing the road and do not hear a car coming in full speed at you. You see, music is her life. Wanting nothing to do with the world, but ironically preparing herself to immerse and interact with people, she hit up 'Save Me' by BTS. Mood.

"In 10 minutes," Suri whispered to herself, as she waited for the bus. As time passed by and as she closed her eyes, the sky seemed to get darker. Sign of the rain coming. She leaned her head back on the glass where she was sitting, and the cold of the glass did wonders to her upcoming migraine. At this moment, nothing else mattered, but feeling every word, every sound from the music she had in her ears and the wind blending in. Still restless, random other people started joining the bus stop and Suri could sense a few of them from her peripheral vision. Hmm. Looks like a woman with a petite figure and black, straight hair with a baby in her arms, cradled so close to the mummy's chest that it makes one wonder whether the baby might be having trouble breathing. Suri sighed empathetically. Oh, who are you? A golden retriever appears in mere sight. Wagging its tail and looking around frantically, almost as if it is waiting for its owner to throw a ball or something. Suri's eyes start becoming observant around her to see where the dog's owner could be and thinking that she would guess the owner by peering at their eyes, which would be peering back at their dog on and off. Nope. No sign of an owner. That is strange. What would a very cute retriever with a YSL collar do here early morning on its own? The music shuffles to a more mellow tune this time. Suddenly, Suri hears a distant playful whistle. She flips her head around, searching for the noise, and there she studies a man with a black cap, black mouth mask, black jumper with ordinary jeans and black boots. Oh. The dog runs to the all-black-style-everything man, tries to jump on him and he catches the dog swiftly just on time as the bus approaches."Not my bus, unfortunately," Suri creates an internal dialogue with herself. She takes another glance out of curiosity. The guy feels familiar, but why so mysterious? His face can barely be seen from all the accessories. He sure has a cheerful attitude compared to his outfit. About four songs must have passed already and her eyes start to shut again. Something pokes at her feet as she is brought back to reality. It's fluffball! The guy's dog starts pulling at something out from Suri's bag that's close to the floor from the way she carries it. The guy chases to pick up the fluffball and turns to Suri."Uh, sorry, excuse me. I think this must be yours. I apologise for my dog." Boy, he looks nervous. "Ddosun! Give that back now!" He manages to snatch whatever Ddosun got out of my bag and hands it to Suri.

"Here." He smiles, oh so deeply.

It's hard for Suri to see this mysterious man's smile due to the mask, but it is evident with his cheeks lifting up into the softest and mushiest form. A slight chuckle escapes from the man as he puts his head down to check out what the Ddosun has stolen before fully handing it over to Suri.

"Thanks," Suri blurts, finally. She was confused as to why he let out a laugh. She quickly averted her eyes to the necklace she got handed over...the ARMY necklace. Oh. No. He. Didn't. Suri huffs and hesitantly thinks to herself, "he's one of those goddamn haters who think us fans are psychos!""What's so funny, huh?" She says. "Who are you judging when you are looking like you just came out from a coffin or attending a Halloween event in all blacks? You do not know us, fans, and how we are!" Her speech comes out fast and she breathes rapidly.

He slowly puts his hand on his cap, his fingers stocked with silver rings of a different kind that you see at street markets, however, more high quality. Meanwhile, the bus honks at the smiling-army-hater and Suri is frozen as to what to say or do. The guy bows down before taking off his cap as a gesture of respect and goodbye, his ruffled up, charcoal hair coming into a delightful view. Now, Suri gets to fully explore the guy's appearance, the silver earrings dangling, his rosy cheeks and his full set on eyes. "The all-black-everything guy now has a new colour," Suri's internal dialogue exclaims quite exquisitely.

Wait! Suri blinks twice, thrice and four times in a row. She can't believe her eyes. Her surprised reflection could be picked out of the man's eyes. What the actual freak? Suri's heart goes roller-coaster. Is that... is he really- "Park Jimin?"