76: 10 minutes– Valen and rain

10 minutes– Valen and rain

"My room… in 10 minutes…" he walked out after that.1

Jeslyn suddenly felt her throat go dry. Is it really going to happen tonight? She touched her reddened cheeks and couldn't help but feel embarrassed. From the way her heart was pumping, she was very sure that her face was as red as a tomato right now and Maverick must have seen it too. 

"Was that why he changed his mind?" She asked the rhetorical question to herself and then shook her head, "I don't think so." 

Jeslyn glanced at Valen, then shifted her gaze towards the window. The striped black and white curtains were pulled apart. Although she couldn't hear the pitter-patter of the rain, she could clearly see the lightning and thunder flashing across the sky. 

Before Valen went to sleep, they were discussing some random stuff when the rain started to stream down from the sky. At first, Valen wasn't aware of the rain but when he accidentally saw the lightning flashing across the sky, the child subconsciously gripped Jeslyn's nightwear tightly. 

That was when the observant Jeslyn got the hint that the child had a traumatic experience with rainy days. 

Instead of letting the curtains down, Jeslyn didn't. Her reason was that she wanted the child to stop running away from his fears and embrace them.

"Valen, I can't close the window, shutting your fears away isn't the best solution to overcoming them. Take for instance you go out with your friends or you are somewhere in the open and the rain unexpectedly starts to pour, what would you do then?

Showing your weakness at that moment means you have given your enemies the bullet to kill you with."

"T–then, how do I embrace it?" Valen tried to not show his dread but he couldn't help it. Mulan didn't tell him how to embrace his trauma. She only told him to seek refuge in his room and put down the curtains.

Looking at the child, Jeslyn almost couldn't stop the tears that had gathered in her eyes to not run out. She pulled the child into her embrace and said: 

"I read a book called 'Mom is Mine' written by Hassy_101. The female lead was just like you, she had a very bad experience with rain at the age of… I can't remember, but you are older than her. From that day onwards, the female lead started to avoid rainy days, not like she could though, but she made sure to seek solace where there were lots of people and loud music to shut out the cry of thunder. 

The villain tried several ways to get her but couldn't and in the end, her weakness which was the fear of thunder and rain was used against her and she suffered terribly. 

That was where I learned that if the male lead had made her get accustomed to her weakness and made her embrace it instead of running away from it, Wei Yang wouldn't have gone through that much trouble.

So, Valen, I don't want you to be like Wei Yang, but instead, I want you to look at that thunder with bravery. It won't harm you physically. It's just what your fears want you to believe. See…" 

Jeslyn pointed at the window. Valen's eyes followed her finger and the child just happened to see the brightness of the sky. If the room wasn't soundproofed, Valen could have heard the deafening clap of that thunder.

The child shook and held tightly unto Jeslyn's pajamas. He was really frightened however, Jeslyn asked: "After you looked at it, did it hurt you?" 

Valen shook his head. 

Jeslyn nodded and placed her hand on his head as she brushed his hair backward. "That is how it is. The sound and lightning of thunder will not hurt you nor would rain harm you. Also, there are people around you, I'm here." 

After that, Valen's eyes started to linger on the window. Although he still feels uncomfortable with every flash of lightning in the sky, it wasn't as before where he would immediately pull a cover over his head while shivering from the fear that something bad would happen to him.

Seeing that it was getting late and Valen wouldn't sleep, Jeslyn started to sing him a lullaby, and that was when Pink came in. 

Jeslyn snapped out of her thoughts and got down from the bed. She walked to the window and stared at the dark sky for a while before she pulled the curtains closed. 

The lesson she taught Valen a while back was what she learned from her grandfather. 

While leaving the room, Jeslyn was thinking of the old man. If there would be a life after this and she was allowed to choose who her family would be, she would choose old man Lee as her grandfather again and again. 

...

Inside Maverick's room…

Just like before, the room didn't change, darkness shrouded the room except for the lamp beside the bed, illuminating a small part of the room in a faint yellow glow, though enough to see the activities happening on the bed. 

Maverick, who was lying on the edge of the bed and reading a book with the help of the light coming from the lamp, heard the sound of the doorbell. He glanced at the alarm clock which was placed on the drawer top by Rex a few days ago.

He picked up the remote lying close to the lamp and pressed a button with his hand stretched towards the door but his eyes lowered to his book.

Once the door was opened, Jeslyn walked in.

"You are ten minutes late," he said nonchalantly without raising his head.

Jeslyn answered while walking towards him, "I couldn't leave Valen alone." 

Maverick stayed silent for a while before he asked: "Have you experienced it before or you are new to It?" 

Jeslyn stared stupidly at the man reading and couldn't decipher if he was talking to her or reading aloud.

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