𝐀𝐋𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 ‣ jjk

五十 ; through daegu

day 18
10.50 am
lee haru

through daegu

i wake up with a throbbing pain
in the back of my head
the urge to throw up, and a sore body
with a blurry recollection
of the events of last night

jeongguk starts my morning with tomato juice
something he says he got from a nearby cafe
and he says that it can help with my hangover

"didn't you get drunk too?"
i ask as i very slowly
gulp down the juice in my hand

no one knows how much i despise
tomato juice

he shakes his head
smiling innocently
"unlike you
i have high alcohol tolerance"

"but you look pretty pale
are you okay?"

my question clearly catches him off guard
and he quickly turns around to see his reflection
in the rear view mirror of the car
"ahh, i didn't realise"

"here, have some"
i hold out half the cup of
tomato juice to him
but he shakes his head
insisting that i finish it

"you're not just offering it to me
because you don't want to finish it
do you?"

i make a face at him
before staring down at the cup in my hand
and muttering lowly under my breath
"who even drinks tomato juice these days"

jeongguk snaps his fingers at me
and i groan

for some reason he looks really tired
and there's bags under his eyes

maybe it's because of the club last night?
what else could it be?
unless he was sick
but he claims that he isn't

after finishing the juice
jeongguk suggests we go out for a walk
after all, it's daegu
i've always wanted to come here
because of all the stories
i've heard from people around me
about how beautiful it is
and how delicious all the food are

we find ourselves strolling in the streets
with a dizzy head on my part
my steps are unstable
and jeongguk laughs at my struggles to
walk in a straight line

"please tell me i didn't do
anything embarassing last night"
i whimper
rubbing my face with my hands

jeongguk laughs
a hand reaches out to pat my head
"you were amazing
the whole crowd was hypnotised by you
even the dj couldn't work properly"

i recall back to when i was
rushing towards the stage
still half sober at the time
but oh god, what was i even thinking?
making a fool out of myself like that...

i'm pulled back to reality when i see a child
tugging onto jeongguk's sweater
he looks like 10? maybe 11
but the way he looks at jeongguk
with sparkly eyes wide and excited
tells me that this child recognises him

but instead of running away
jeongguk leans down
smiling as he takes the child's hand in his
then he looks around
"hey there
where are your parents?"

"jeonggukie!" the little boy pipes
and he reaches up to
poke jeongguk's nose with a cute finger
"nunkochi tteoreojyeoyo"

i can see the light burning behind jeongguk's eyes
the way it curves in happiness
"tto jogeumsik moreojyeoyo"
jeongguk continues softly
"bogoshipta"
his voice is so beautiful it could put all the
bells and angels' voices in heaven to shame

the child claps excitedly, turns around and runs
towards a middle aged woman
who he grabs by the sleeves and shouts
"jeonggukie!" pointing at our direction

jeongguk takes my hand and tells me "run" he says
and we do just that

"even children recognise you"
i say when we finally
push our way between the crowds
to stay hidden
"you stand out too much"
because you keep shining rays of blinding light

jeongguk looks touched to the soul
and his grip around my hand is still there
tightening at that
but i feel it; his freezing hands

they're cold
why are they cold?
and why does he look so pale?
and sick
it pains me

"jeongguk are you sure you're okay?"

he glances at me
"yeah, of course i am"
and averts his gaze away
"don't worry about me"

"how can i not when you look... like that"

"like what?"

"lifeless"

he smiles
but he doesn't reply me
we keep walking until we're passing
by an alleyway
apparently a shortcut to get to this
beef place that jeongguk says
he wants to try out
(particularly because his daegu hyung
kept talking about how great it was)

all of a sudden i feel a hand
sneaking from behind me
pushing a cloth against my
mouth and nose

i breathe a whiff of toxic air
it smells like alcohol, chemicals
i don't know what
but before i have time to fight back
or to do as much as to shout out for jeongguk
darkness takes over my vision, my mind