Dear future self,

If you are reading this.
Please know that,
This

Is not a dream.

It might seem that way, and you might think that this is all part of your illusion.
But it is not.

This place is that absurd.
Its hard to believe.
I don't ask that you must believe me.

But please, all I ask for you to do is

Get out of this place.

I don't know how long this torture will go on.
You shouldn't be here.
No one should.

It might seem so magical at first.
Unreal, it really is.
But no,
Don't indulge in it.

It's trying to lure you.
This isn't its true form.
It traps you.

Like a drug.
Once you get addicted you can never stop.
Get out of here while you still can.
Don't come back here a third time.

You might not believe it.
But this is how she died.
She got consumed by the wealth and ignored everything else around her.

But don't mistake it,
Its not your fault.
You didn't know as well that things could've turned out like this.
What's done is done.

The past can't be changed,

But the present can.

Listen to me.
I am you, you are me.

I know what's best.
You don't wanna fuck this up.
Now what you should do is.

Get them away.

Kill her.

***

Seonghwa
Hey
Where are you

Mingi-
Have some business to take care of
Can't come to school today

Seen

Mingi placed his phone down and held his head back up facing his wretched reflection.

Bruises bloomed on his face and bandages from the school still stained with dried blood.
He can't possibly go to school today looking like this.
Not only will he be the talk of the school, but hell he'll also very likely have a tense interrogation with seonghwa.

Who knows what seonghwa will do once he manages to find out that the supposingly best fighter of his group got absolutely trashed.
Mingi gripped the porcelain sink of his bathroom,
he didn't even dare imagine what will happen to him...

Its like he could already hear seonghwa's voice.

'how dissapointing...'

Mingi jumped, looking to his left and right.
Stupid.
There's no one here.

He looked back up into his reflection where his eyes blazed with determination.

No one.

Absolutely no one.

Can find out that it was a literal nobody that beat him up.

***

"So, here's the main work area"

Jongho stood in a place filled with heavy machinery and neatly uniformed people.
They all sat in front of long white tables, boxes and different kinds of materials placed in front of them.

Suprisingly enough, jongho had passed the interview with only few questions asked.
Surely the judgemental looks and questions of skepticalism of the interviewer couldn't go unnoticed, but jongho guessed it was just how job interviews were.
Being young and already out in the work industry definitely raised questions.

The woman which stood beside him tapped on her note board, while jongho waited.
She then lifted her head and directed jongho to another area, "though this isn't the place you will be working at, let me show you the storage room."

That sounds more like it.

He followed the lady into a room with ear screeching loud whirring noises of machineries.
In front of the two, many boxes and a few masculine figures already carrying a few boxes around.
" this is the place you'll be starting at"
The woman raised her voice at the whirring noises.
"you'll be starting by moving the boxes onto the trucks over there, you should be done before 1 o'clock"
Jongho nodded and turned towards the direction of the pile of boxes.

Usually anyone would be more than annoyed by the mere sight of the mountain that stood in front of him, but jongho couldn't help but smile like an idiot.
After roaming the state for months, he finally got his first ever job.
He eyed one of the boxes, picking it up.
It was heavy of course, but fortunately not as heavy as he thought.
Not five minutes gone by and he already had quite some boxes on the truck.
Though they were still no where near finish, jongho figured that he might be done in no time.

Quite some time gone by, and jongho almost had half of the boxes on the truck.
He walked back to the pile to pick yet another cardboard box when he felt a heavy arm slung around his shoulder.
"hey! So you're the new guy around here."
Jongho turned to where the booming voice sounded and saw a friendly looking face smiling right beside him.

"yeah, just got here just some time ago!", jongho responded in the same loud voice in hopes that the man would hear him over the noisy metal sounds.
"say, you look pretty young.
At least, your face does, how old are you?"

"turned 16 three months ago, how about you?"

"wow I'm almost turning 27, seems like we have a pretty large age gap, I almost feel old around you", the man chuckled, jongho smiling in return.
Although, the boy never liked people talking about his age, especially with the circumstances he's in.

Jongho freed himself from the man's over friendly grasp and continued with his work.
The man leaning against a nearby pole, his eyes not escaping from him.
A small pause landed in between, jongho was pretty sure what sentence was coming up next.
The man stared at him, then turned to the nearest clock.
"shouldn't you be in school by now?"

The question did sound judgemental, but jongho knew it was nothing more than just dumb ignorance.
He sighed as he dropped yet another heavy box on top another.
"nope, haven't been to one in years"

The man seemed to have yet another idea in his head as he walked towards jongho yet again and leaned his elbow on the boy's shoulder.
"look kid, me and another few around here just happened to be hanging out after work and maybe you could tag along and introduce yourself to us, what do you say?"
Jongho sighed, knowing how much he hated any type of hangouts with people but the way the other looked at him, he just couldn't say no.

" sure, I'll go"
The man patted his back and beamed.
"that's great, I'll call you whenever we're heading later"
He nodded and the man seemed to turn on his heels, jongho secretly releasing his breath as he saw the man turned in another direction.
"wait, I forgot something"
Nope, never mind.
The man turned to face jongjo again and held his hand out to him.
"my name's Jinyoung."

The boy internally sighing but still shook his hand anyways.
"my name's jongho", he replied coldly.

"great then, I'll catch up later, see you!", Jinyoung said as he ran off.
Jongho, not even caring to spare one more glance at him and continued with carrying the boxes.

***

Yeosang opened the door to his house, dropping his bag and shoes on the floor.
He threw himself on the couch and groaned as his feet felt sore from all the walking he did.
He didnt come home at all for the past two days, figuring that his brother would probably question what happened to his arm if he saw the dark stained bandage on his arm, he would rather dissappear for the next few days.
His head felt like it was about to explode from the terrible hangover he felt, he almost even mistaken the room for spinning.

But alas, he got to his feet and headed towards the bathroom for a shower despite how he felt.

The shower was definitely a refreshing break from everything that had happened.
It gave yeosang some time to think.

Especially with his meeting with wooyoung and...
"jongho..."
That was his name, was it?

He didn't remember as much from what had happened since he was drunk but it was something along the lines of...

"hey, stay put!"
Jongho lead the boy to a nearby convenience store.
Yeosang sat on one of the prepared seats, smashing his head onto the wooden counter.

Jongho had never actually dealt with a drunk, not sure how to respond to the situation.
He was hesitant and seemed to second thought about every move he took.
"um.... I'll go get some water, maybe...
You stay here"

And through his dizziness, yeosang somehow managed to hear the other, nodding.
Jongho quickly grabbed a bottle of water from the nearest shelf and went to the cashier for payment.
The cashier's eyes bounced back and fourth between the two, as if questioning the situation especially with how yeosang was drunk in broad daylight.

He ignored the judgement lurking from the and returned to the counter where yeosang laid after picking up the bottle.
He placed the bottle down on the counter and yeosang looked up at him.

"Allright, look, I don't have anything to do with you.
I just happened to pass by and.... It'll feel immoral to leave you all by yourself like this."

Huh?
Yeosang felt a wave of deja vu, he felt as he had heard something along the lines of it....
....
.... Wooyoung....

Yeosang chugged the water, tilting his head back in the process.
Jongho then showing a look of disapproval, immediately stopping him by holding his hand.
"No, nope.
Not like that", he said in a hurry.

Yeosang glared at the warmth on his hand, wanting to swipe it away but ultimately he didn't.
Jongho sighed loudly but kept his gold on yeosang's hand anyways.
He guided the boy's hand to the bottle, then guided it to his mouth.

When jongho was doing so, yeosang's eyes wasn't really paying attention to his actions but rather jongho himself instead.
Seeing that the boy had a small pout due to his concentration.

Hm.
Cute.

Now the boy couldn't really recollect his memories of what happened next.
He remembered that he may have choked a bit , maybe even blacking out on the spot.
All he remembers was that jongho was there for him.
To catch him when he almost fell, help him regain his stance and freshen him up even a little bit.

And.....
Yeosang didn't actually ask his name directly, but it was somehow confirmed when yeosang took a glimpse at the notification of his phone.

"Jjong...?", he mumbled sleepily.
"yup, Jjong as a nickname, jongho as full name"
.....
"hm.....", yeosang nodded.

Yeosang passes by the mirror of his bathroom, his hand reached up to caress his bandage that was no longer the brownish red that he used to remember.
Instead it looked clean and neat, the end of the bandage was tied up into a neat knot.

"did.....
Did he do this?"

Now that he thinks about it, he knows jongho's name, but he doesn't think that jongho knows his.
Who knows, maybe the next time they meet, then he'll tell.

Yeosang scoffed.
He doubts that.

Passing by the mirror, he headed for his room.
His steps pausing at the sight of a small ant trail.
"Ew...."
He opened the door to his room, curious to whatever had lured the trail.
He didn't remember leaving any food inside, nor has he ate anything in his room for the past few weeks.

"what the....."

Yeosang's face turned pale.

A small puddle of blood.

And.....
A bird

The head of a bird, actually.

***

Wooyoung stepped inside the lobby of the hospital, nurses and patients passing by every second.
He smiled softly at the nurse by the counter and she smiled back in an instant.

He passed by all rooms of the corridors and stopped at the last one.
With a huff, he knocked and opened the door and caught sight of a nurse who was folding a piece of cloth.
She nodded at him and he nodded back.
The nurse seemed to have got the signal and got up from her seat and left the room.

Wooyoung walked past all the other empty beds and took a Seat by a chair beside a bed to the furthest right.
He stared down at the pale face and picked up the piece of cloth that the nurse had supposingly prepared for him.
He leaned in towards the face and wiped the sweat of the figure's face.

Then, he turned his head to the door, making sure no one was there.

He sighed and leaned down near the motionless face.

"Choi San,

I know you can hear me"

He smiled at the unmoving face.
"Do you feel warm in here?
You're sweating way more than you usually do.", wooyoung stood up to readjust the temperature of the room.

"I said I'll make it up to you today, since we didn't get to hangout yesterday all because of a stupid party I was forced to go", wooyoung grumbled, returning to his seat.

"so that means now, I have the whole day free, and I can spend time with you again.
All my attention would be on you for today, nothing else.

And maybe if I can,.....
I can even spend the night this time."

Wooyoung lifted a knife from a tray that the nurse had left behind.
With his eyes closed, he pricked his finger onto the tip of the knife, his mind mentally chanting 'this will only sting a bit'.
A hiss escaped from his lips and wooyoung felt the small droplets of blood drop onto the fabric of his clothing.

Seeing the red stain on his fingertip, the boy quickly grabbed a mirror from the bedside drawer that he had hid and smudged the bloody fingertip on the glass.
The mirror he held already had a crimson red frame as a design, once the nurse had found it and was questioning why there was red, even on the glass.
"it's their design" he replied nonchalantly.
Odd choice for a mirror to bring around, especially to a hospital, but he knew the nurse couldn't do more than give him a weird stare.

He exhaled loudly, feeling a gush of wind flow by his ears.
The boy placed the mirror on the bed and rested his head on it.
His eyelids felt droopy, and his limbs felt heavy.
Wooyoung felt so comfortable in that moment, letting his mind drift away to where ever.
He felt limp, but that was okay, he turned tired so quickly, he didn't feel like moving an inch.

He prepared himself for what was about to happen next.
Closing his eyes shut, wooyoung let his soul wander off.

'you know where to meet me' his last thoughts were.

"hey, don't go in there, a patient is resting in there."
A nurse froze her hand on the doorknob of a hospital room by the end of the hallway.
"but there's a boy in there, no one is supposed to be in the rooms when it's the patients resting time"
The nurse that stared quickly understood the situation and smiled.

"oh,
you must be new here then"

"everyone here knows that he's an exception"

Wooyoung woke up with sleepy eyes, he lifted his head from the white sheets beneath him.
The blankets before him were tucked in neatly and not a single thread was out of its place.
The hospital bed before him was empty.

The boy shook his head in an attempt to shake himself into the current situation.
He dug his hand into the pocket of his jacket and his phone.

mq74:11

It's only been less than a minute

He stood up with one hand on his head, wooyoung wandered the empty room.
The room seemed quite cool over here compared than the temperature it was just now which was way warmer.
Wooyoung approached the windows which were hidden by sheer white curtains.

With a quick swish of the curtains, the room instantly filled with a little more warmth.
Wooyoung leaned his head against the glass and watched as the lifeless trees swayed outside.
"that's more like it"

Wooyoung admired the well-kept hedges beyond the hospital grounds as he waited for what's next.
Taking a deep breathe, he counted down in a soft tone.
"1"
"2"
"3"

'Creeeaaaaaak..... '
Wooyoung's lips flattened to form a smile, he turned around to meet the silhouette of a taller figure.
The man leaned against the door frame with a grin a little too bright too match up with his husky figure.
Wooyoung couldn't contain his excitement seeing that man, he rushed over to him with a high pitched squeal as the man pulled him into a warm hug.

"San!
I missed you so much!", wooyoung hopped in his place as san tried to hold down the overly energetic boy.

"woo, it's only been a day and a half since we last met", san ruffled the shorter's hair.
He rested his face against the top of the other's head, appreciating the homely familiar scent that wooyoung had always radiated off.

"but it felt like agggeeesss.
Being at those useless events are always so boring and tiring, I would much rather be here over any other stupid party.", wooyoung whined.
San having to distract him from the negative thoughts right now.

"well, but you're here now.
So let's not focus on anything bad right now since you promised all your focus today would be on me, didn't you say so?"
Wooyoung nodded without hesitation.
"yup, like I said, I have the whole day free, so maybe I can even spend the night this time!"
And hearing so, san's face went noticeably worried.
"but what about when it turns night?"

Sighing at the man's over worryness, he knew it was
"San, don't worry so much.
Its not like we have to go outside for it to be considered hanging out anyways"

Seeing that San was still not convinced, wooyoung thought of his next plan.
"look, see
I actually already have it mapped out in my head already"
He freed himself from the man's grasp and roamed the room.
"we can just stay inside, build forts, grab some headphones, watch movies or something.
Or if you want to do catching up with each other, that'll work too.

I mean, it's really only been a day and a half but,...
Alot could happen in a day and a half, right?"
San felt his shoulders tense up with what wooyoung said, quickly relaxing himself while he wasn't looking.
'alot could happen in a day and a half, right?'

I suppose.

San snapped back into his vision when he felt two smaller hands that held on his larger ones.
"trust me, sannie, we're gonna have a great time"

Oh and how much san absolutely adored that nickname.

San held the smaller hands, rubbing circles on the skin.
He exhaled, feeling a bit more relieved.
Maybe that was what he needed,
reassurance.
"it's a perfect plan, woo."

The two travelled through the deserted streets.
Each taking turns to point at every single arcade or claw machine in sight only for them to ransack the ticket machine of it's tickets and cheat the systems of the arcade games.

San having all the experience in the world quickly won tons of prizes in no time, his hands were full with bags of plushies and anime figures as he watched wooyoung grumbling in frustration with each try.
San then laughing whenever wooyoung fails miserably only for them to just grab the keys from the counter and rob all the machines of their prizes in the end.
They could have done that in the first place anyways, but what's the fun in that?

After robbing what felt like the nth arcade that day, the two decided to hang by the gas station.

"hey woo, do you want a slushie?"
"um, no thanks, I'm good"
San nodded his head and went back on working on the slushie machines to create a rainbow slushie.
"um.... Anything to drink then?
There's sodas, coffees... And...."
Wooyoung turned to san with a forced smile then said, "nope, um....yeah....
Not really feeling like it today."
Wooyoung then turning his attention to a fashion magazine, supposingly the latest season.

"alright then...."

A melodic bell rang as san pushed the see through door of the gas station.
Sipping on his slushie which was definitely highly intoxicated with food coloring, san plopped himself next to wooyoung who was sitting by the sidewalk.
The other practically drowning himself in the contents of the magazine, not even paying attention to san when he ruffled his hair.
"...."
"the food here doesn't affect you, you know that, right?"

Wooyoung slammed the magazine lightly onto the ground, tilting his head back into a dramatic sigh.
"of course,...
I know that, but..."

"but what"

"I don't want to get addicted to it"

San turned to wooyoung, his face already showing signs of disbelief.
"woo, we've been over this."

Wooyoung looked down to the rocky grounds, not wanting to meet san's eyes.
He ran his finger's through his hair,
"I-I just think I need a little more time on it
I already tried the chips and the sandwich last time, although it didn't turn out too great but,....
It was still an improvement wasn't it?"

"yeah, you're trying and that's all that matters", san hummed and finished the last of his drink.

The two stayed in silence for the next two minutes until san peeked up at the sky.
"do you wanna go back to my place now?
The sky seems darker now"

"oh, yeah sure, let's go", the two picking up the bags of plushies, wooyoung holding on his unfinished magazine in one hand while san tossed his plastic cup on the ground.

mp15:6

"wow, it hasn't changed a bit since I last came here! "

"san, this is your house"

"right"

"you can just put your stuff on the ground somewhere, maybe on the couch if you want to", san huffed and tossed the bag over his shoulder and onto his messy couch.

Wooyoung didn't quite hear as to what san was saying as he was busy scanning the area.
He could barely move an inch without stepping on another one of san's items scattered on the ground.
Clothes piling up at the front door, even opening the door itself was a hard task.
Food wrapping papers and ramen cups piled on the dining table while ice cream tubs where placed everywhere on the couch.
His plushies that were supposed to be displayed neatly on his couch were now rolled onto the ground and thick blankets that took their place.
The kitchen scattered with packet seasoning on the counter tops, some used pots and pans there as well.
Wooyoung was so glad there was no possibility of there being bugs here or not he would have to have burned the house down already.
He picked up his foot of the ground, already wincing at the worn clothing that hung on his foot.
"san, its only been less than a week since I stepped foot in your house..."

"yeah?"

".... Sannie,...
I know I'm not the most organised person in the world, but this is...."
San finally acknowledging what wooyoung was referring to, his face flushing a light pink from embarrassment.
"oh, I'm sorry", san ended his sentence in a nervous laugh.
Quickly bending down to pick up some of his belongings that he threw carelessly on the ground.
"I guess that I've just been so caught up with myself that....
I didn't really notice how messy it was getting"

San's cheerful tone immediately turned soft and solemn, wooyoung stared at the boy in deep thought.

"D-Do you need help around here?
I can tidy up the place for you right now?"

"oh there is absolutely no need for that, woo.
You didn't come all the way here for this and,....
I don't want you to be cleaning up my messes here", yet again, another nervous laugh.
The usual San would have just played it off in a cheerful or joking manner whenever he was embarrassed, but this....
Seemed different.

Wooyoung approached the man and placed a hand on his shoulder.
San seeming to pause his movements and might have even flinched a little.
There was no way there wasn't anything wrong.
"san, it's okay.
I want to do this.
Plus, who said it was only going to be me to do the cleaning, we can do it toghether"

San bit his lip, still tense.
He didn't like the idea of having to make wooyoung clean for him.
But, the other seemed determined and as long as san knew wooyoung,
He didn't really understand what it meant when someone says 'no'.
"fine......
I'll do the laundry and maybe you could start by taking the trash out?"

"no san, I want to do the laundry"

Wooyoung wasted no time and headed for the laundry room of the house but san quickly grabbed him by the arms and turned him around.
"No, wooyoung....
There's too much of it.
Its probably the most troublesome part, let me handle it."

All these signs yet san still hides.
He didn't think wooyoung was that gullible did he?

Wooyoung held onto the arms that had a firm grip on his.
"sannie"
There was no point in trying to hide anymore.
San knew that wooyoung already had known from the start.
"you encountered another one of them again, didn't you?
Those creatures..... "

At first it was just a plain prediction, but now, it was confirmed.
Wooyoung had to bite his lip to hold back his whimper when the grip on his shoulders became a little but too tight.

" I-I didn't..."

San stared at wooyoung who stood in front of him.
At the reminder of the incident, his mind immediately travelled back to that night.
Where it was dark.
When he didn't even feel like breathing.
Where his hands were soaked red.
And....
The figure before him was nothing but a headless corpse.

San gasped loudly and his vision was now in place.
He stepped back from the other in front of him, and glanced down towards his hands.
They were clean
It was just wooyoung who was in front of him.
San was at a loss for words.
"how did you-"

Wooyoung's face is now replaced with a worried one.
Fighting the urge to go up and hug the man immediately, but he knew that right now all san needed was space to breathe.
"san,
Its all in your behavior."
San turned away from wooyoung, covering his face from sight.

"you didn't want me to do the laundry because of the....
'mess', right?"

San covered his face with both hands in distress.
"san.

San you know its not your fault."

He felt two warm hands, the size of them smaller than his own hold onto to his hands gently.
Wooyoung then removed san's hands from his eyes that were so ashamed that they were welling up with tears.
"but..... I was the one that went out during night when I knew I wasn't supposed to..."

Tugging on his arms, wooyoung pulled him in for a comforting hug.
San finally not avoiding wooyoung and giving in as well.
He couldn't even finish his sentence without feeling like his voice was breaking.

" their the ones who came after you first, remember?"
Wooyoung reassured as he rubbed circles on his back.
He sighed as the sniffling over his shoulder continued.

Softie.

***

Mingi leaned his head back on the head ret of his car.
The vehicle rumbling as the headlights lighted up the multiple trees that barriered the parking lot.
But still, it seemed to remain completely dark.
The boy looked through the Sideview mirrors seeing that not another vehicle was in the place except for his.
Closing his eyes in relief.
The empty parking lot did seem like the best place to be at after all.

Much to his displeasure, the boy's phone has been ringing multiple times that day.
All times from different friends from school, all questioning his whereabouts.
Mingi didn't pick up any one of them.

The loud rumble of his car sounded then with one click his keys, everything went silent.
The boy tossed the keys aside and stepped outside the vehicle.

He leaned his body against the closed door of his car.
'bzzt'
The small vibration in his pocket alerted the boy.
In annoyance, he held his phone out of his pocket with a "tsk".

Oh.
Never mind, just a reminder to attend one of the weekly events.

That's right.
Usually every week during this time of the day, mingi would meet up with seonghwa and a few other friends for an underground boxing match with many other kids from other school.
Many other intimidating individuals attended the event, usually the best fighters from other schools who would want to take a gander.
Mingi being the best one at his own.
Well, it was not like it was them who was going to do the fighting anyways, it was just a match were the elites could sit back and watch.
And maybe place bets on who's the better fighter once in a while if they wanted to.

Not many people knew about it.
Only the people who were personally invited by the host themselves knew the best, of course.
Maybe some people had heard of it around the place, but it was known as nothing else than an underground boxing match.

Well what's the point anyways, he doesn't plan on going this time anyways.

He checked the notifications on his phone.

Hyunjin, missed call.
Haechan, missed call
Johnny, missed call.

And a few others that followed.
But much to his dissapointment,
No seonghwa.

Realizing the thought in his head, mingi scoffed to himself.
What was he expecting?
Mingi held a cigarette up to his lips.
Seonghwa was cold.
He always has been.
It was hard to predict what he thought most of the time because it was always the same stoic face.
Well, on some occasions it was maybe a smile, but....
Never a genuine one.

And that was just how he was.

Mingi reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a small lighter and lit the cigarette between his lips.

The air here seemed colder than usual.
The place was located up on a hill.
Not a very tall hill, but tall enough for the colder wind to reach.
To the side of the parking lot was a skater's park.
One that was littered in innaproprite spray paint graffiti and writings.
Some younger teenage boys will come up the hill some times to practice their skatings.
Most of them came either during the evening or night, if mingi had to take a guess, he would guess that the kids maybe have snuck out.

Of course there were times were the kid's parents actually followed, but then they would have to use the parking lot space.
And mingi never really liked that with how most of the times, the parents were quite loud with their talking.
He mainly saw it as a disruption of his peace.
This was his spot after all.

'riiiiiiiing'

Its been a while since mingi stood in the empty space.
Maybe and hour and a half, who knows?
The sudden melodic tone startled the boy.
Him groaning as he lost count to how many times his phone has ring that day.
He decided to ignore it and let the caller wait, just like with everyone else.
But ultimately, he still took a glance at the device in his hand to see who that was calling.

Oh its.....

Seonghwa?

Immediately, he pressed the green button and held the phoen up to his ear.
Although just a second ago he told himself to just let the phone ring, now seeing it was seonghwa calling, he had a change of mind.
He could let any caller in the world wait,

But not seonghwa.

Over the phone, not a voice sounded.
Mingi sighed,
Seems like it was going to be him to break the silence.
"hello?"

"ah, mingi.
I was worried you weren't gonna pick up"

"... Oh?
Why is that?"

"the other's said that you weren't picking up to any of their calls.
People were worried about you
With where you've been and all...."

Mingi chuckled lowly with his statement.
Them?
Worried about him?

As if.

"you weren't at the event either, what's up with that?"

"oh, did you just return from it?"
Between the small pauses of the conversations, mingi could faintly hear the familiar rumbling of the other's car.
"yeah, been a while since I left the place"

.....

"yeah man, I did tell you through text this morning that I wasn't gonna attend school today and all, did you not transfer the message or something?"
The other end of the phone remained silent.
Mingi thought the call couldn't get more uncomfortable when he heard him scoff.

"oh I didn't think there was a need for that."
Waving his hand in the smoke cloud that was wavering in front of his face,
"why did you think so?"

"well, I didn't know what to tell them"

"dude, you could've told them it was just because I wasn't feeling well, do you have any idea how many times those bastards have ringing my phone?" , mingi chuckled in a joking tone, though if it were someone else, he knew that the playful tone of his wouldn't be there.
Through the corner of his eye, he could see a faint image and the noise of a rumbling car pulling over right beside his parking space.
Mingi wasn't able to see clearly the image of the vehicle through the smoke so he just decided to not bother about it, though he was quite annoyed that his space was now infiltrated by someone else.

"mingi?", seonghwa's voice sounded through the phone.
Oh right, distracted by the vehicle parked behind him, he almost forgot about the call he was on.
"yeah, I'm here."

"wow,......

You're a terrible liar, you know that?"

"W-what do you mean by that?", originally leaning on the side of his car.
He put out his cigarette on the roof of his car, turning his body to look around his place.
His eyes landed on the black car beside his.
His face freezing up quicker than anything.

And in that instant, a freezing cold hand landed on his shoulder.
Mingi glanced towards his phone to see that the call has ended.

"I know what happened"