Hatching

Delicate, and Vulnerable

Oct 24, 2017

It was late morning. All boys were sleeping in, except for one. Dawa had gone out to the rooftop garden. He couldn't get much sleep these past few days, and he was too anxious to feel the tiredness. The more he tried to rest, the more his mind kept buzzing; it kept getting louder. The voices asked him questions he didn't have answers to.

He stood, holding his violin and bow in one hand, surrounded by flowers that were starting to shrivel. Some were losing colors, making them look less vibrant. Dawa stared at them, taking in the small details of how the petals curled down at the edges. He didn't particularly mind the way the flowers slumped over. In fact, he thought it was bittersweet, the way these flowers grow, bloom, and then die; the way they have lived many lifetimes, but also have faced many deaths, and many more deaths to come. He couldn't really remember the last time he admired simple things, like flowers.

"You all aren't what you seem, huh?" He said to no one in particular. "You look beautiful and fragile, but in the end, when faced with defeat, you bloom again and live again..."

The garden was peaceful; it quieted down the voices in my head. He closed his eyes and faced the sun, inhaling as he did. Feeling the warmth of the sun gently against his skin, he brought his violin to his neck and placed the bow on the strings. He exhaled.

He could feel his heartbeat loud in his ear. He could feel the mild wind going through his hair, he could feel the flowers hanging onto the colors. As he closed his eyes, he could see Do Hwan's smile as he played the first note. A small smile appeared as he recognized this familiar melody. However, as he gracefully brought the bow back and forth on the strings, the notes felt different this time. They felt sincere in a way that they never did before. The tune finally felt as if it truly reflected the air around him. He felt as if he finally understood this song fully. He understood his heart. His love.

As he finished the last note, he heard clapping from behind, causing him to grip his bow tighter, and end the note aggressively. The hair of the bow snapped, causing Dawa to softly curse under his breath. He wasn't all that surprised as it had been a while since he had replaced the hair of the bow.

"Dawa! Wasn't that your audition song?" It was Jin, now facing Dawa, his phone being used as a camera. No. Dawa looked closer and realized that Jin was on life.

"Y-yes. Can't Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley, I guess this was a violin cover. Hyung, I didn't realize you were watching me. How long were there for?"

"Since you started the song. It was really beautiful, but, different. It was like something I'd hear walking down the streets of Paris, at night with a flower in my hand-type vibe. Armys loved it." Dawa looked at the camera, reading the comments, and sure enough, all the comments were praising his musical skills.

"I'm a pretty good cameraman, it actually looked like a cover mv." Jin smiled proudly at himself. "Army, if I see this on Youtube, I better get some credit for the camera work!"

Dawa laughed at this comment and faced the camera again, this time, not so close up.

"Good morning Army. I hope you enjoyed my violin playing. Hyung, why were you on live anyway?"

"I don't know, just felt like making everyone say good morning to armys. So, I woke everyone up and made them wish Armys a good day. And then I realized you weren't with Namjoon, so I had to look for you. Took me...Army, how long did it take us to find him?" He questioned.

Dawa saw the comments rolling in, all with the same numbers. 15. "It took you 15 minutes to find me?"

"Ye-"