YOUTH. | JK | COMPLETE

nightmare

"Well, by the power vested in me, I pronounce you—"

"I OBJECT!!!" A female voice echoes through the meadow. The audience turns to the source to see a woman standing at the edge of the linen. She runs down it, and Jeongguk sees the blood drain from Jimin's face. "Jimin, you cannot wed him!" She exclaims, grabbing Jimin's wrists and tearing Jimin's hand from Jeongguk's grip.

"Unhand me." He demands under his breath, typically bright eyes dark.

"No. You cannot marry this man. This—this abomination!" The woman snaps, and Jimin's jaw pulses. A sweat breaks out on the nape of Jeongguk's neck.

"You will not speak of my love that way, Jisung." Jimin murmurs, voice dripping with toxicity.

"I absolutely will, because he may be your love, Park Jimin, but I am your soulmate." She hisses. Jeongguk feels a lump in his throat and his knees feel weak. And then, all hell breaks loose.

Jisung grabs Jimin by the lapels of his white jacket and crashes her lips against his own, and Jeongguk feels his heart torn from his chest as Jimin's mouth molds to hers willingly. The crowd is a mix of cheers and angry shouting, but the shouting isn't directed towards Jimin or Jisung, but towards Jeongguk.

"Disgusting!"

"Abomination!"

"Wanderer!"

"Wanderer!"

"Wanderer!"

Over it all, the minister reads from his book.

"By the power vested in me, I pronounce Park Jimin and Jung Jisung husband and wife!"

Jeongguk sits up straight as a pin in his bed, his head pounding, tears wet on his cheeks mixed with sweat. He wonders where he is, where Jimin is for a splitsecond, but remembers it was all just a jarring, eerie nightmare. The same one he's had every night for decades. He wonders why some part of his subconscious can't remember it's all a lie, at least so he can wake up before the awful, gut-wrenching part. Jeongguk shakily stands and collects his phone and towel, taking his nightly walk to the bathroom.

As per usual, he strips down to nothing and takes a glance in the mirror—no changes. No surprise. When he turns on his phone to see the time, he sees a notification that lightens his dark mood. Texts from Haneul—only ten minutes ago, to his surprise.

4 MESSAGES FROM: choihaneul

for fucks sakes can you get any CUTER

a frat boy is a boy who goes to college and joins a fraternity, and they're typically super irritating and they get hammered at parties and make fools of themselves on a daily basis, often due to doing illegal shit

that's all for today's segment of "explanations of random modern things" with haneul

shit i'm fucking exhausted i think i almost fell asleep driving home

You should not do that. Then the expression "I'm dead" will not be an expression.

PAKSKAKSKS

Is that also an expression?

PAKSKAKSKS?

Perhaps an abbreviation of some sort?

oh no no

that, my friend, is a keyboard slam to show laughter or the general malfunction of the brain in funny situations

very useful

Ah.

HANG ON A SECOND

WHY ARE YOU AWAKE YOU LITTLE TWERP

YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO GO TO BED EARLY

I did say that.

However, I could not manage to sleep.

damn if i were able to go to bed at a normal time i'd do it in a second

do you have insomnia or something

Something of the sort.

hmmm i'm sensing that someone's lying to me

Whomst?

you know wHoMsT

How do you tolerate the alternation of capitalization?

'Tis quite unsatisfying.

lol no it's fun it really eMpHaSiZeS yOuR pOiNt

hOLD ON

SNEAKY SNEAKY JEONGGUKKIE

you about got me there you sly dog

almost made me change the subject but NO

your "something of the sort" is the old fashioned version of "somethin like that",,, which MEANS that you're only saying that to generalize your actual issue !!!!

Haneul, I pray you take a breath.

i'm breathing boy don't u worry

just wondering what your real affliction is

I must attempt to sleep, Haneul. But please sleep well, you deserve it for performing in your line of work. I bet the baby girl you delivered was beautiful. Goodnight.

And with that, Jeongguk shuts off his phone and steps into the shower. He feels somewhat guilty keeping his real problem from Haneul, who is open with him and helps him with his other problems, but he can't make himself tell her. What would he tell her, anyways? "Surprise, I am actually 212 years old and my lover from over a hundred years ago still haunts me nightly!" Yeah, right. His demeanor that she finds interesting now would only be odd, or even scary to her if she found out about his past, just like most people think when they find out about his Wanderer status.

Jeongguk sighs, letting the hot water wash the guilt and the sweat from his dream down the drain.

Some things are just better left unsaid.

edited 05/08/20