When the Moon Watches

Come to me my sweetest friend

Can you feel my heart again

I’ll take you back where you belong

And this will be our favorite song

-Goo Goo Dolls

╚═════════⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅═════════╝

Jina:

I stood by the kitchen window, with my back to the room, staring out at the bricked courtyard as I slowly put down the last clean dish. I took my time with the chore at the end of a busy day because I enjoyed looking out at the stillness. I let my thoughts wander as I watched you sitting so still I sometimes wonder if you are real. An unexpected sound startles you and you momentarily look towards me. Escaping the shadows, I get a good look at your surprisingly amused face. I can’t help smiling.

Every night, I see you sitting under the stars, your beautiful silhouette outlined by the moonlight. I wonder why you are alone, why you can’t sleep. You look so defeated as if you have suffered a great loss. Is this why I am drawn to you? Is this why I think about you all the time? I wonder if you are suffering from depression or something else along those lines. You are always alone. The way you look up at the sky seems like the moon is your only friend. I want to be your friend. I want to be your sky. I want to be your moon. I don’t even know you but I worry about you. I hope you haven’t given up. I stare out the window always looking for you, my mysterious loner neighbor.

“Jina, bring me some water please,” my boyfriend, Jaden, asked, taking me out of my thoughts. He didn’t even look up from his book and continued to read, preparing for his exam.

“Sure, I’ll be right there babe,” I say, bringing myself back to the reality of my life.

If the university dorms weren’t so expensive, perhaps I would not have made this choice. At the time that we started dating, it made sense to split the cost of this apartment to save money. We were roommates with benefits more out of convenience than love. He said he would rather live with me than a bunch of messy guys anyway. How romantic. I was glad to have him close but living with him wasn’t what I expected. Yes, he was physically there but his mind was always on something other than me. We had made a mistake but ending it was harder than continuing how it was.

We had met at a school social. He was the best looking guy in the room and my friend Mia had dared me to go talk to him. Before long we were dating and starting living together soon after. Too soon. With the pressures of school and work, we soon found out we had little time for each other and we weren’t that compatible.

Jaden never expressed how he felt and I felt awkward and stiff around him. I felt I was the problem and I honestly just wanted to escape and be alone.

I brought the water and told him I was going to walk Molly.

“Thanks, come back soon,” Jaden says and continues reading his book.

Molly is a little dog that we adopted together. Lost and dirty, we found the tiny fluff ball with matted fur and sad little eyes and instantly fell in love. It was so sweet how grateful he was to be taken in. We put up pictures of the dog around our building but nobody came to claim him. I was glad because he made the apartment less lonely.

I’m glad of the excuse to walk Molly hoping to chat with the boy in the courtyard. I’m hoping he doesn’t notice my nerves.

Opening the door, the cool air hits me as I put down food for the neighborhood stray, another lonely soul I want help. I reach down and try to pet the calico cat but it avoids my hand, afraid to get caught. Molly sniffs the bowl and I pull him away before he eats the poor cat’s food. It seems no matter how much I feed him, the little cat is still very thin. I look up searching for my neighbor when I notice his eyes momentarily meeting mine. I smile thinking he’s like the little stray hanging by my door, pretty and thin with small expressive eyes.

“Hey,” I greeted him.

“Hey,” he responds. He held my gaze as he lifted the bottle to his lips and took a large gulp of his drink. I admire his long fingers and the bracelets dangling from his wrist.

He holds out the bottle offering me some. I accept the intimate gesture with a small nod eager to touch where his lips have been.

He smiles at me as if he knows the effect he has on me. The wind strokes his hair that shines in the moonlight. He’s even better looking up close. My eyes hold his gaze as I admire him. There is something about him that I find so attractive. His features are not perfect but they are striking and I want to keep staring at him. He is neither tall nor short and he looks more on the thin side in his ripped jeans and a black t-shirt.

He returns my gaze with an arrogant smirk as if he knew what I was thinking. I want to say something interesting but my mind is blank. I shiver nervously, wrapping my arms around my body against the breeze that funnels between our buildings.

“Aren’t you cold?” I managed to say.

“I’m fine. I enjoy the night sky. It’s hard to feel alone with the heavens looking down at us ... so many stars, but I’ll go inside if you join me.”

I looked up to see what he found so special and felt judged by the heavens.

“Thank you, that’s kind but I need to walk Molly. You can join us if you like.”

“Another day perhaps,” he says, leaning down to rub Molly’s head.

“She’s cute,” he says.

“Thanks but it’s a boy.”

“Oh, I thought I heard you call it Molly.”

I laughed a little, bringing a smile to his face. “Yes, we thought it was a girl too when we found him. By the time we realized our mistake, Molly had stuck.”

“I guess it doesn’t matter. What is in a name? A rose is a rose and by any other name would smell as sweet.”

His cute smile makes me smile in return. I feel reassured. Maybe he’s not depressed. He seems friendly enough but staring at his pale face the dark circles under his eyes betray that he had not slept in days.

“A pretty girl like you shouldn’t walk alone at night,” he warns. “There are dangers out there.”

His comment makes me think he wants to come. “Then join me.”

“How do you know I’m not the one you should watch out for?”

I watched Molly lick his pale hand as he tried to touch the soft fur. “Well, my dog seems to like you, I trust his judgment,” I said, making light of his attempt

to scare me.

“But you know nothing about me.”

“That’s not true. I know where you live.”

He is quiet for a second, making me feel strange, “Just be careful.”

Are you trying to scare me?” I said, arching my eyebrow, “You know we don’t have to be strangers. We can be friends.” I suggested.

“I’m trying to warn you. I’m not as innocent as I look.”

He puts on an innocent wide-eyed look, making me wonder how old he really is. How dangerous that sweet face is, making me fall for him.

“Oh!”

He smirked and his face changed as if mocking me, suddenly sexy. There was a hint of danger there that made my pulse race. I couldn’t deny I was very attracted.

A rustle from a nearby bush startled me, making me jump. I realized it was probably the calico as my gaze was drawn back to his sultry eyes.

“Okay. If you want some company, come to me. I’d like to get to know you too. If you are not scared that is,” he suggested. “I’m at number 3.”

“I suggested friendship and nothing else. I have a boyfriend which you have probably seen. I’m not interested in you that way,” I lied.

“Oh, but I think you are. I’ve seen how you look at me from your window.”

“You presume too much. You are nothing but a stray hanging out by my door. Goodbye, kitty,” I say annoyed at his boldness.

“But you care about the stray, don’t you?”

I shrugged watching the little smirk on his face as he waited for my answer.

“Yoongi, my name is Yoongi, in case you wondered. Goodbye, Jina.”

“How do you know my name?”

He didn’t answer and just smiled and turned away.

Thanks for reading. ❤ Please vote and react if you enjoyed the chapter. I appreciate your feedback.