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Trauma
chapter twenty three

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PRIVATE MESSAGES

dohyun | aera

aera
hey, are you awake?

dohyun
kind of

aera
oh. sorry.

dohyun
its no worries. the floor isn't as
comfortable as i had hoped.

aera
yeah, i agree.

dohyun
can't sleep?

aera
i feel like a kid again, waiting for
the field trip the next day.

dohyun
i'm guessing you're still nervous, though.
right?

aera
oh, definitely. i have to film my first
scene tomorrow, and i have to do it alone :(

dohyun
not completely alone. i'm pretty sure
jinwook hyung's character is in the
background. and i'll be behind the
camera, supporting you quietly. :)

aera
really? 🥺

dohyun
of course! you're my friend now. i've
got to be supportive.

aera
AWE

aera

aera
me right now

dohyun
i can literally see you since you left
your brightness up so much

dohyun
oh, you really are smiling.

aera
we should learn sign language

dohyun
why?

aera
so we can communicate when we aren't
able to verbally do so.

aera
i remember the basics from when i learned
in my elementary years.

dohyun
that's actually a pretty good idea.

aera
i can come up with good ideas every
once in a while 😊

dohyun
would you rather travel the whole
world once or go to your favorite
place as many times as you want?

aera
ooh, that's a tough one.

dohyun
think long and hard.

aera
why do you always ask such deep questions?

dohyun
i have my reasons :)

dohyun
if you find yourself unable to choose,
we can always talk about what happened
earlier today.

aera
i choose traveling the whole world once.

dohyun
why?

aera
i don't want to limit my sights. i may love
my favorite place, but i think that i would
eventually grow tired of it. and i wouldn't
want that to happen, either.

dohyun
you shouldn't keep your troubles
bottled up, you know. you can talk
to me.

aera
i know but it's all just so stupid

dohyun
do you want to talk about it?

aera
on new years, the paps got a picture of
me and jongin from EXO kissing at midnight.
it was innocent. i know that it looks bad,
but we were so close and drunk that we
didn't see a problem with it. but it got a
lot of bad attention and i had to go on a
small hiatus.

dohyun
oh, wow.

aera
this is another reason why i don't drink.
my judgement is hindered.

dohyun
are you and jongin still friends?

aera
i suppose. we aren't allowed to hang out
outside of the building anymore. and no
one trusts me with the other artists
anymore, either.

aera
because of my outgoing personality, i am
slut shamed regularly. my own company
won't let me speak to the male artists under
the same company. and the media has placed
me under a microscope.

aera
its draining, honestly. and i know that i can
push through it, and yet i get so down to the
point where i want to quit.

dohyun
what's stopping you?

aera
what do you mean?

dohyun
if it's getting so hard, why don't
you quit?

aera
i went through so much to get to where
i am today. why would i throw that away?

dohyun
i don't know.

dohyun
things may get tough. and i know
that i'll never truly understand, but
trust me when i say this: you will get
though it. you will succeed regardless
of the people trying to ruin your life.

aera
i don't know what to say

aera
of course there's thank you but i
don't think that'll exactly express
my gratitude.

dohyun
you could always use a meme

aera

—

rumi says!

we've got some background about
the kai situation. of course it isn't
everything that happened, but it will
be more thoroughly explained later.

i'm really loving dohyun and aera's
relationship so far. they genuinely
seem like the best of friends. it
makes my heart go whoosh.