HYYH 1 Notes (ENG)

After Returning from the Sea (PT 1)

SeokJin
13 June Year 22

After returning from the sea, we went back to our solitary lives. As if we'd  made a rule, no one called each other. We just vaguely assumed how the others were doing based on the graffiti we saw on the streets, the bright light 
of the gas station, and the piano sounds coming from the dilapidated building.

The lodging on the beach was empty when I came back after failing to find TaeHyung when he ran out that night. There was nothing except for a photo on the floor. In the photo, we were smiling together with the sea in the background. It had only been a few hours earlier, but it seemed like such
a long time ago. Had we worked so hard and for so long for no reason? Were we destined to fall apart like this?

I passed the gas station without stopping. We'd meet again someday. We'd laugh together someday as we
did in the photo. I'd gather enough courage to face myself someday.
But today was not the time. Damp
wind blew just like that day. At that moment, my phone rang as if
sending me a warning. The phone
sent reverberations to the photo
hung on the rear view mirror.
HoSeok's name appeared on the
screen. "SeokJin, JungKook got into
an accident that night."

JungKook
13 June Year 22

I heard faint voices and opened my eyes to find HoSeok and JiMin gazing
at me. Every time I blinked, their faces kept disappearing and appearing again. "Are you hurt? Are you in pain?" JiMin asked. "I'm fine, I'm not hurt." It was a lie. It was a serious accident and I almost died. The doctors kept warning the others for days that they should be prepared for the worst-case scenario. I regained consciousness after ten days and began to recuperate at an astonishing rate.

"You should've called us. What are
we to you?" HoSeok sounded mad. "HoSeok, it's not that I•••" I began to
talk but couldn't finish the sentence.
As soon as I came to myself at the hospital, I thought of them. If I
would've been able to think straight,
I would've called them first. But my mind was blank, and I was in pain.
The sedative they gave me was so strong that reality, dreams, memories, and illusions all seemed to be knotted up in my head and were impossible
to disentangle.

The unbearable pain finally subsided. But the strange images that flashed before my eyes while suffering from fever and insomnia kept coming back.
I wasn't sure whether those scenes had actually happened or they were just twisted nightmares triggered by severe pain. I couldn't trust my memory. But I still couldn't contact them. I didn't know what to say or even how to start talking. I just smiled at them. Or I tried to smile at them. My face must've looked like it was all twisted up and I was about to cry.

HoSeok
13 June Year 22

I walked out of the room because I
felt tears welling up. JungKook saying he was fine was heartwrenching. I had just heard of JungKook's accident that afternoon. The burger joint was packed with pedestrians taking shelter from the rain. Some of them were JungKook's classmates. "How come JungKook doesn't show up anymore?" I didn't ask this question for any particular reason. I'd lost contact with all the others after returning from the sea, including JungKook. Then, an unexpected
answer came my way. "Oh, he was in
an accident so he's been absent." "An accident? Is he hurt badly?" "We don't know. He hasn't been to school for what, twenty days?"

I called him immediately, but JungKook didn't answer. I was about to call again but decided to open our group chat instead. No new messages over the
past twenty days. The last message
was when we were at the sea. Was it then? That night when we all parted and went back home. Was it that night?

I left a message that JungKook
was badly hurt. And that, whatever everyone was up to, it was ridiculous not to know what had happened to him for over twenty days. The number next to my message didn't budge, meaning none of the others opened the chat to read my message. Did our days together mean nothing? Were "we" fair-weather friends? I got mad at myself. Mad for not contacting him earlier. Mad for letting him return home alone. JungKook was not a child. But he was the youngest. He was still just a student.