TRAIN 247 • Park Jongseong

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟶𝟾: 𝚜𝚒𝚡 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜

The next morning, she got out of bed earlier than usual. She couldn't sleep all night, the memories still haunting her. Every time she closed her eyes, she would be taken to the backseat of the car before her father lost control of the steering and... She shook her head to brush off the thoughts.

Sadness and guilt.

She couldn't help but feel both, because that night there were three bodies. And she knew one of them should've been her... but it was that boy.

"Jay, are you up?" She called from the kitchen.

Her thoughts, however, were conflicting between what happened six years ago and what happened last night. She felt a little foolish for letting the thought of losing him get to her.

After a few moments, she felt a pair of arms wrapping around her waist from behind, "Need any help with cooking?"

Y/N turned her head sideways to glance at him as he rested his chin on her shoulder, closing his eyes. She softly smiled, placing a quick peck on his cheek, "No, I'm almost done."

He hummed in response as a smile reached his lips. "I missed you so much." He spoke groggily, which only accentuated his deep voice.

"I did, too." She replied, "Especially when I sat at the dinner table alone."

"I'm sorry." He slowly opened his eyes, "Now, you'll never have to eat alone. I'll even feed you if you wan--"

"No, thanks!" She cut him off, laughing. He was the only one who could get her to be like this. "Now sir, if you would let go of me, I could work much faster."

"No, I ain't letting go." He lifted her off the ground, shaking her left and right like a little doll.

She yelled at him as she playfully hit his arms that still grabbed onto her, "Stop it! Put me down!"

After a few seconds of messing around, he let her go, giving her a big smile. "This is why you're my one and only girl." He said as he kissed her cheek and strolled back into the bedroom to get ready for work.

One and only?

Those words rang non-stop in her head as her thoughts landed back to the phone call when Jay didn't want to come home. That woman's voice. Who was she? She tried to suppress the negative thoughts as she knew Jay would never do anything as such, but was she right?

-

jay's pov (in the evening)

"As I've promised, I'm trying to stay strong." I looked at my feet, trying to fight back the urge of crying. "It's hard, but I'm trying."

As a child, I never understood the point of visiting a columbarium, let alone talking to the urns. How could the dead even hear you?

But as they say, experience makes you understand. And I've realised... whether they can hear you or not, it seems as though they're still here. Even if the feeling lingers just for a moment, it's worth it.

"There's a lot more I can talk about," I continued, adjusting the wreath I hung at the niche, "But, I don't want to tire you. Maybe, next time."

My fingers grazed the silver bracelet in my hand, tracing along his initials: JW. It was a memory he left for me, before he left this world.

It was quarter to nine in the night. Jaeyun, Sungjoon and I were waiting for him when we got a call from his father.

He was struggling to speak, saying he was taken to the hospital, undergoing surgery. When we arrived, they never told us how he ended up there, they didn't want to talk about it, and they couldn't. His mother wouldn't stop crying the entire time he was inside, afraid to lose her only son.

The doctors came out after an hour or so, and the wave of relief that washed over us when they said he was fine and out of danger was overwhelming. I had never been more relieved.

We went inside, his gaze already directed towards the door, waiting for us. He was surrounded by beeping monitors and numerous pipes that supported his lifeline, but he still wore that sweet smile. As always.

"Hyung." He called for me after a while, "Don't be so nice to everyone." He let out a small chuckle amidst the tears flowing. "You won't know how cruel the world is till you're laying on a hospital bed."

"And promise me." His voice was breathy as he reached out for my hand. Holding it, I felt the sudden touch of cool metal, "Promise me that you'll stay strong and happy." He spoke as if he knew...

Before I could react in any way, his heart monitor began pulsating rapidly. The doctors rushed back into the room. It was chaotic. It was all a blur as they forced us out. I remember the chaos. I remember the loss.

They told us it was a case of internal bleeding that caused the lack of oxygen supply to his vital organs, and no matter how much they tried... there was simply no way.

And that was it, my whole world came crashing down. Losing my best friend... my brother...

I took a step away from the niche as I gripped the bracelet tighter, exiting the place.

• • •

"Bartender!" A stranger excitedly walked up to the counter, an arm around his partner, "Six shots of Tequila!"

"Coming right up, sir." I turned around to grab six glasses and the bottle of Tequila. From the corner of my eye, I could sense the intimacy between the couple. It made me miss Y/N even more.

I began pouring the drink into the first glass. It's been almost four months since our last date.

Second glass. We were too busy with our worn out lives, where were we even heading?

Third glass. If only our financial situation was much different.

Fourth glass. I would take her out to fancy dinners, expensive bars and luxury resorts.

Fifth glass. We would've enjoyed our time together.

With every passing thought my irritation peaked as I was bound to this job. We were shackled by invisible cuffs which forced us to continue living this way.

Sixth glass. Why couldn't life be any different?

"Your order, sir." I slightly bowed, placing the tray on the counter and strolled away to the far end, avoiding the couple. I decided to take a short break, considering it wasn't quite crowded, yet. I leaned on the counter, hiding in the shadows.

That was something I began doing. Hiding in the shadows. Running away from my problems, not being able to face them head on.

Thinking about my situation, I let out a heavy sigh. Could life ever be different? Would it change? As I was losing myself in my inevitable thoughts, I heard mumbling from the room next to me.

"Why can't you understand?" A female voice reasoned.

"Ma'am, please relax." A male voice replied. He sounded like our manager, "I can assure you, it isn't anything serious."

"You should call the cops... We should inform the police... Why? Because I fucking saw it!" The woman yelled restlessly. The conversation was quite hazy and really confusing. What were they talking about?

"Ma'am, please lower your tone." He said firmly, "Someone could hear you."

"Let them, at least they'll know how incompetent you can be." She spat those words with disgust. "And how could you be so relaxed when I say I've seen someone being shot!"

✧──────✧

𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 • 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪!