He dreamed of the accident. He was in the passenger seat, the door crumpled from the impact and jammed shut. Through the broken window, he could see the blurry outline of a familiar face. Bright eyes were looking at him with a mixture of fear and desperation.
"Suho-ah, get out of there!" Jia's frightened voice stunned him for a moment. Where had she come from?
Suho strained his eyes, trying to make her out. She was pulling at the door handle, but it wouldn't budge. Suho knew that door wouldn't open easily. It never opened. A sense of inevitability flooded everything around him.
"Come on! Come on!" Jia kept pulling at the handle, her voice starting to tremble more and more. "Suho, I can't open it!"
"It's… it's okay," Suho said quietly, swallowing the uncomfortable lump in his throat. "Jia, don't worry. I'm f-fine," he managed to get out, feeling nausea creeping up from the fear.
Suddenly, a droning sound rang out in the distance. Suho knew what was about to happen in the next few seconds. The drone grew louder, but it seemed like only he could hear it.
"Listen," he made his choice without hesitation. "Jia, listen to me!" Jia looked at him with tears in her eyes. "You need to get out of here. Right now!"
Tears streamed down her cheeks as Yoon shook her head desperately, yanking at the door with renewed ferocity. Realizing it was useless, she let out a cry and started pounding it with her fists.
"No! No! Open up! No!"
Suho shouted: "You have to run!"
"I'm not leaving you!"
Suho stared at her through the broken glass as the sound grew louder and louder. The realization that he couldn't do anything made him want to scream. He didn't know how to convince Jia to leave. He was out of time. And he was completely powerless. The next moment, the screech of brakes crashed down on them like thunder. Everything before his eyes flashed with a blinding white light, and then went silent.
Suho's eyes flew open as he jolted upright in bed.
"No," slipped from his lips in a whisper. He covered his face with his hands, trying to catch his breath.
Outside the window, it was still raining. The hands on the clock were approaching three. Feeling his shirt sticking to his back with sweat, Suho sat up and pulled it off over his head. His skin broke out in goosebumps, and he grimaced.
"It was just a nightmare," he repeated to himself several times before picking up his phone. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an unknown number appeared on the screen.
"Hello? Suho?" Jia's soft voice, such a contrast to the screams from his dream, made him shiver.
"Hey," he answered, his voice hoarse, pressing the phone tighter to his ear. As if that could somehow bring Jia closer to him. "I'm awake. How are you?"
"Sorry for calling so late anyway. I was going to let it ring a couple of times and hang up if you were sleeping," Suho drank in the quiet sound of Jia's voice. "Everything's okay now. My little sister got into a fight at school, and then she didn't want to come home and was hiding at the playground. While we were looking for her, I thought I was going to go gray," she said, her tone suggesting a sad smile. "But everything's fine now."
"Is she badly hurt? Do you need to contact a lawyer?" Suho asked, feeling like he could breathe again after hearing "everything's fine now."
"What? Ah, no, no, apparently she started it," Jia hesitated for a moment. "To be honest, this isn't the first time. Kids her age can be cruel to anyone who's different. And my sister just can't ignore them…" Jia stopped abruptly, then said: "Sorry for dumping all this on you. I guess I'm still not quite calm yet."
Suho thought that Jia was probably fidgeting with something right now, trying to calm her nerves.
"It's okay. I'm glad you called."
"I must have worried you, running off like that from dinner…" Jia said regretfully. There was a rustling sound on the line. She was probably in bed too.
"Don't worry about it," Suho said. "Next time, let's eat somewhere nicer."
Jia let out a quiet laugh, a smile clearly audible in her voice.
"Ohh, are you inviting me to a restaurant?"
"What if I am?" Suho smiled widely, hoping Jia could sense it and relax.
She laughed into the phone.
"A place that serves three-course meals?"
"How about five?"
"And with beef as the main course?"
"And for dessert too."
Jia burst out laughing. Suho thought fondly that he'd say anything, no matter how silly, if it would distract Jia from her worries.
"There's no restaurant that serves beef for dessert," Jia said through her laughter. "Thank you," she added softly.
Suho's heart fluttered.
"I'm glad you're feeling better."
They stayed on the phone a while longer until Suho heard Jia trying to stifle a yawn.
"Are you falling asleep?" he asked quietly, glancing at the time.
"Yeah, sorry," Jia replied, immediately letting out a long yawn.
"It's late. You have an early day tomorrow."
She mumbled something unintelligible in response.
"Should I call you tomorrow?" Suho offered.
Jia murmured softly, almost inaudibly: "Okay. I think I really am falling asleep."
"Good night," Choi smiled into the phone, listening to the rustling on the other end — Jia was probably settling into bed.
"Yeah, good… night…"
Suho decided to hang up first. There was an unusual lightness in his chest — the kind that only comes after a long bout of worry. He fell asleep to the sound of rain, thinking that Jia was probably listening to it too.