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Chapter Fourteen:Lee Yongsoo

That was just unexpected. Since when did he suddenly want to flirt with me? I didn’t even know he could. I’d always expected him to be this innocent guy who doesn’t seem like the type to hit on somebody, but God he did me well. Not in that way, of course, but as in hitting on me. He was damn good at that.

But I could tell that he wasn’t used to it, judging by how embarrassed he was right after. Yet the thought of it still makes me laugh, and it makes me flustered at the same time. He was just too adorable that time.

I grab my laptop from my bag (which I always seem to bring wherever I go; even at school) and log into my Windows account. I was meant to finish the English homework that I received a couple days ago, but I just couldn’t find the time to ever do it. Along with math, and science homework that’d passed it’s due date long ago, but no one in my class has ever gotten the motivation to actually complete it.

I go into my student portal and check through all the overdue homework that’d never been completed. It’s probably been more than 2 months since I ever made an effort to make good homework, which meant that a majority of them were sent back to me as well for a retry. f**k, I thought as I scrolled deeper into the due homework section.

I knew I would be here for a while. It’ll probably take me hours to finish this. I plug in my earphones and turn on Spotify, immediately going to the playlist Wook-jin had made me. Roses by Finn Askew had started blasting through the speakers, yet it was one of the most blissful pains I’ve ever felt.

That meaning the song was good, just it was too loud.

. . .

Around halfway through the 20+ homeworks I’ve gotten, my eyelids start feeling heavy, and I just really wanted to fall asleep at that point. But I knew that I’ve already went through halfway of the homework. I would be done in lightning speed if I kept doing it.

But my eyes just couldn’t bare it at that extent. They’ve been staring at blue light for over 2 hours now, and they’d started to hurt like hell. Without me even knowing, I probably drifted off into a light sleep.

“Yongsoo,” I hear a woman say. She sounded a lot like my mother, if I were being honest. I woke in a car; the exact same car that my family had around 7 years ago, when I got into the car crash.

“Yes, mom?” I asked.

“Are you exited to see Grandma tonight?” my mother asked.

“Yeah!! Then I finally get to eat her cookies again!!” I exclaimed happily. Grandma’s cookies were always some of the best cookies I’ve every tasted in my life. Mother had finally gotten the chance to meet Grandma this week, which was why we were out so late. I don’t even know what time it is right now…but I’m guessing it’s 10:00 p.m.?

Rain had been pouring down from the sky onto our windows, creating a soft thump that could’ve been part of a sweet tune. Mother had been driving through the rain amazingly, and I almost couldn’t believe how she could do it so easily.

“Mom,” I say, “are we almost there yet?”

“15 more minutes,” she said, hands still on the wheel, “You could play a game with your father if you’d like.”

“Dad’s boring,” I say. Immediately, Father turned around in his seat and looks at me with an offended look in his eyes.

“Oi, son, don’t say things like that about your own father!” he joked, “How will I convince you that I’m not boring?”

“Hmm…Sing No More Dream in a Joseon accent,” I told him.

“Why you little rascal,” he whispered to himself. He then clears his throat, a fist raised up to his lips. “거짓말이야, you such a liar. See me, see me, ya 넌 위선자야. 왜 자꾸 딴 길을 가래? 야, 너나 잘해. 제발 강요하진 말아줘,” he sang in a concerningly accurate Joseon accent.

As he went on, I let out a small laugh, as it was just overly humorous not to laugh. And by this point, even Mother was laughing. Father then falls silent, letting out a deep exhale. “Is that enough?” he asked.

“Very much,” I said through chokes of laughter.

“Thank the Lord,” he said to himself, “I felt like I was about to suffocate to death.”

“I would’ve been so happy if you did,” Mother joked.

“Why you—” he said, holding up a fist, “Son, don’t listen to what your mother says about me. She spouts nothing but lies!” And that just made me laugh even more. Could today get any better than this? I thought. Just then, everyone falls silent. I didn’t know why, so I stood up in my seat to check the windshield.

“What’s wrong?” I asked them, yet there was no reply. Just then, I hear the honk of a…truck, maybe? And the sound of it slowly became louder and louder, as though it’d been coming closer to us.

Then that’s when it happened.

A lorry speeding towards us at—who knows how many mph. Mother’s breaks didn’t seem to work in this rain, and instead the car slipped on the wetted road, colliding with the lorry. Shards of glass from the window were scattered upon the surrounding roads, and the friction from the asphalt had caused flames to rise upon us.

And there I lay, inside of the burning flames. A shard of glass hand completely stabbed through my stomach, and I felt like I was about to die with the pain. I won’t , I thought, I’m not gonna die. I can live through this, I’m sure.

The rain had stung whenever it reached my skin, yet I didn’t hate it. The water actually felt good as it dripped down my cheeks. The flames had still been burning, but I don’t even know how it didn’t get extinguished yet. Shouldn’t the rain have put it out already?

It felt as though the flames were about to engulf me, and I could feel the heat in my surroundings, despite the biting coldness of the rain. It can’t end like this; I still want to live. Yet it seems utterly impossible.

Hushed sirens could be heard in distance, slowly growing louder with every second. Breathing had gotten much harder than before, and I felt as though I was about to suffocate to death. My eyes were getting heavy amidst the horror I felt, and I could’ve fallen asleep at any minute.

Yet I had to keep my eyes open to show that someone’s still alive. I didn’t even know if Mother, nor Father, was even breathing. They seemed unconscious, yet there’s almost no difference from being dead or unconscious. It’s just that when you’re dead…you’ll never wake up again. That would be considered the end to your life.

I always said to myself that when you’re unconscious, it’s just death being shy. Same with sleep. But I didn’t know what to think at that point. Maybe it really was the end for us. Maybe Mother and Father were already dead, I just didn’t know they were.

Red and blue lights flashed upon me as the sirens went on in its repetitive tune. I was going to be saved. My family would finally be okay. There’d also been a fire truck on standby, waiting patiently so it could get close to extinguish the fire.

Beaming lights of white had flashed upon my eyes in an instant; the type of lights you would see in a flashlight. Someone then lifted up the car door that’d crashed upon me earlier, soaking me in the cool rain. “Help me…” I mutter, even though I had been starting to lose hope.

“We’ve got one!” the person shouted to another who had been stood by an ambulance. His head then turns around to face me. “You’ll be alright,” he said, his hands still holding up the broken car door. How would you know if I’ll be alright? You’re not me; you don’t know how I feel.

He slides a hand underneath my back and lifts me up, wounding my arm around his shoulders. I was weak. I couldn’t even move an inch at that extent. I was still aware of what’d been happening; I could still see what everyone had been doing. Yet all I couldn’t do was move. I probably could’ve talked. Yet moving my jaw would be too much of a pain.

The wails and screams that my parents made still lingered in my ears, along with the horrible sound of sirens as they inched closer. I had been placed in the back of an ambulance, an oxygen mask wounding around my head, mouth and nose. What even was happening? Are we still gonna see Grandma tonight? Or will I just die before I can even see her?

Thoughts had been running through my mind unstoppably, and they didn’t seem to go. Is Mother okay? And if she is, is Father okay as well? Will I still get to see Grandmother? I just wanted to finally visit her after so long. I don’t even remember the last time I saw Grandma.

From the blurred and condensed back window of the ambulance, I could see a fire truck and police car following right behind me. And to my left, there was one more ambulance. I guessed that Mother and Father were in there.

A tear drop slowly trickled down my cheek, and my eyes shut themselves closed until I drift off into a deep sleep. I couldn’t tell if I died yet, or I was still asleep, but I begged to my heart that I was still alive. The sirens faded into a hazy memory, along with the crash. I felt at peace for once.

Please tell me my parents are okay. If they’re not, I’m sure I’m not gonna be okay. I can’t live without them.

I jolt back up after what felt like a long nap, my breaths heavy and panicked. A trickle of sweat had formed against the skin on my neck, and my heart was racing. I realized I was back in Wook-jin’s house, rain still pouring outside like in my dream.

As though it were on command, tears had automatically started streaming down my eyes. Why does it have to be that dream again? I thought, crouching my legs up to my chest. I hide my face into my knees and wound my arms around my legs, grasping them tightly.

I don’t want to live like this anymore.