Summer was always a shit time for Jundo. The loud buzz of the cicadas, the sweltering hot heat, and the utter boredom he felt left no room for enjoyment. He lay on his bed staring off into space as he brushed a stray strand of brown hair out of his eye. "JUNDO!" a gruff voice called out. The teen in question shot up, accidentally knocking over a photo of him and another teen. The other teen was about two inches shorter than Jundo, with straight black hair reigned into two individual buns. She had ruby red eyes and had a face adorned with freckles. She wore a white t-shirt and grey shorts and held a peace sign while flashing a wide grin towards the camera. Jundo picked up the photo and set it back in its original resting place before jogging downstairs to complete whatever task his grandfather had wanted of him.
Across the town from Jundo's location was the town's port, where boats deported and docked throughout the day. At this port we see a woman lugging her belongings off of a boat and into an awaiting car. "Welcome back honey!" the driver said, wrapping the girl into a hug. "Mom please, stop," she said pulling away and fixing her now ruined hair into its original buns. "But I've missed you" the mom replied before spotting a familiarly shaped piece of luggage. Her brows furrowed as she turned her focus back towards her daughter. "Hana, are you seriously still trying that guitar nonsense?.". Hana stopped fiddling with her hair as realization dawned upon her and her eyes shot towards the luggage lying in the car. "OH N-No I just hadn't got the chance to get rid of it yet, that's all," she answered with a lie. The mother looked upon her daughter before turning towards her car and signaling for her charge to enter.
After Jundo finished the chores he was assigned he decided to grab something sweet, as opposed to the typically salty fish he'd usually eat at this time, and so he grabbed his keys, tied his sneakers, and wiped his olive-green eyes clean of any disturbances before heading towards the door. As he was walking through the streets of his town, he came across a small cafe that caused an upspring of memories and emotions within him, particularly the time he spent with her here. Jundo shook his head and walked into the aptly named Café Léblanc: Crépes and Coffee because their specialties were well Crépes and coffee. After ordering he walked into the booth towards the back and that's when he saw her. Sitting in the backmost booth sat a teen no young woman with black hair tied into two messy buns, sharp ruby red eyes, and freckles scattered across her face. Jundo stood shocked, unable to move in his stupor. The woman turned towards Jundo and soon mimicked his expression. The two bore into each other's soul for what felt like hours before Jundo scrambled into the booth seat parallel to her. "What are- You're- When-....Hi." Jundo stammered, unable to ask all the questions swarming his thoughts. "Hi..." Hana responded. The two sat for a while in an uncomfortable silence that was only broken once their orders came. They each shot off a quick thank you and started to eat, a dark chocolate crepe for Jundo and a strawberry one for Hana. "After all these years you still refuse to accept milk chocolate superiority" Hana commented with a giggle. Jundo shot his head up for a retort but stopped short, entranced by the woman's smile. He soon snapped out of it and asked the question that had been plaguing his mind from the moment he saw her. "Why?" he questioned, barely a whisper. "Why what?". "Why come back now, after you disappeared....after you left me". Hana had no answer and instead decided to focus her efforts on contorting the crepe with her fork. Silence ensued for three gut-wrenching minutes before Jundo abruptly stood and exited Léblanc, Hana giving no chase as a lone tear stained the strawberry that lay rest upon a bed of whipped cream.
Jundo walked back home with his head down, dodging the crowd until he arrived at his destination. Once inside he was greeted by his grandfather resting on the couch, medicine beside him. "Oh yeah, some girlie came to see you didn't get her name though, she's in your room." his grandfather mentioned almost uncaringly. Jundo offered a nod in response and trekked up the stairs towards his room. Once he opened the door and saw who it was, he was trying to close it once more. Hana leaped up and stopped the door with one of her arms, using the other to yank Jundo inside. "I need to talk to you," she said as the taller boy landed on his bed. The room was silent for a moment as Hana collected her thoughts. "I was sent to Germany," she said looking downwards. "If that's all you came to talk about then yo-" Jundo was cut off as a teary Hana enveloped him into a hug. "My parent's shipped me off to Germany to go to med school, I never wanted to leave town, and Jundo I-I.......I never wanted to leave you" she sobbed out before collapsing on top of Jundo. The two stayed that way for a while as Jundo rubbed her back in circles. Soon the crying ceased and the two pulled apart from each other. Jundo used this moment to ask a question he had nagging at the back of his head. "What do you mean forced you to go, didn't you want to become a doctor?". Hana looked at the boy and blinked before sighing and shaking her head at her carelessness. "The whole doctor profession wasn't my thing, rather my family. In all honesty I'd rather play music for a living" she answered. The room regained its quiet atmosphere until Hana noticed an olive green electric guitar resting against the wall and a small amp accompanying it. She made her way towards the two and picked them up, setting them on the bed and turning towards Jundo. "What's this?" she asked with a slight tilt of her head. "OH uh I'd been trying to learn it so I could probably y'know play music with you maybe" he replied, a rose tint dancing across his face. Hana only nodded and turned her attention back to the guitar. Running her fingers against the low E chord, an off-tune rattling noise played causing her to retract her hands and look back to Jundo. "Hey...could I maybe y'know have this? Only if you're not using it of course. My mom most likely got rid of the one I have," She asked/stammered out. She got a nod in response causing her to flash a small smile. "Oh, and Jundo?" she called causing the boy's head to perk up. "Let's go out sometime. Yeah?" she finished before walking out, not even waiting for his answer.
This encounter was the start of a sequence of dates all used to rekindle the flame of love they once held. And soon enough they grew to love each other once again. Corny I know.
Jundo and Hana sat on the front porch of the house/fish shop and engaged in conversation that held no significance. "Hey Jundo, what do you want to do in life," Hana asked innocently. Usually, anyone asked this question would answer with relative swiftness but Jundo was stumped so he flipped the question. "I have no clue, and you?". "I want to make a living off of music not only that but I've also kinda always wanted to play at a concert, silly I know" she answered, looking off to the side. Jundo sat and pondered for a minute. He could at the very least help her so he started to formulate a plan. "Hana...what if I could make a dream of yours come true?" he asked, turning towards her. Hana started to laugh but stopped seeing the determination dancing on his irises. "I'd be unable to express my gratitude." she finally answered with a slight smile. Soon the sun fell and Hana left for home and Jundo set his plan in motion.
The next day came quickly and Jundo shot straight up, yanking off the covers in haste. Barely staying on foot he ran down the stairs, skipping steps as he went until he was met with his grandfather, Sojiro. "I need a favor" was all the man understood out of the large uncontrolled jumble of words that shot out of his grandson's mouth. "Slow down and tell me what exactly you need" he ordered causing Jundo to straighten up before inhaling and speaking again. "I need a favor" he repeated. "And this favor is what exactly?" Sojiro responded. "I need a venue of sorts, nothing extravagant but just enough so that the town can fit comfortably with a nice view of the stage" The brunet explained. "And something tells me this isn't all" Sojiro commented, mainly to himself, as he brushed off his pink shirt. "You'd be right in your assumption. I need speakers and microphones just take it all out of my existing money and future paychecks." Jundo practically begged his granddad. The man in question just gave a nod before picking up a phone and calling in a few favors. Jundo smiled and ran towards his grandfather's office to use the printer. It was poster time. He spent the next 2 hours designing the perfect poster to advertise the event until he found a design satisfactory enough for his tastes. He decided on a sea-green background with white urchins adorning the sides and the event details in white cursive in the center. He then printed the posters and full sprinted out the house once they were done as he knew exactly who was getting the poster first.
Hana was expecting an open and shut summer filled with nothing but niceties for her family. Sure reconnecting with her ex and reestablishing a relationship with him was a good surprise but that same man being outside of her house with a poster advertising a concert that SHE would be the center of was not at all a turn she was expecting this summer to take. Sure he'd mentioned the idea a day prior but she had thought wholeheartedly he'd been off his rocker hence why she answered him but she wasn't expecting him to go through with it. "Is this....real" she uttered unconsciously. "Yup," Jundo replied with a wide grin shoving the poster even further into her face. She took it and thought for a minute. "This could be my only chance to live my dream and besides what's the worst that can happen". She looked up towards her boyfriend and smiled grabbing a poster. "I'll perform. Expect a crowd wowing song to be performed in a week". Jundo smiled and ran off to plaster the posters around town.
A week came and Sojiro kept his word producing the perfect venue for Hana to perform, even getting additional band members that Jundo forgot to find. "You ready to wow the town...god that was corny," Jundo asked the ravenette as she tuned her guitar. "As ready as I'll ever be" she replied shakily plucking the strings. The two sat there for a while until a loud alarm rang telling her to come on stage. "Wish ya luck," Jundo said slightly pushing her out of the locker room. As she climbed up on the stage the crowd cheered in anticipation for the only special thing to come upon this little town. The makeshift band stared into the crowd with Hana front and center. She closed her eye and took a deep breath as they started to play.
As the band played, albeit shakily at first, the crowd cheered ecstatically. Jundo, however, stood in the far back watching with a small smile that seemed to fade with each song played. By the time the concert ended Hana was surrounded by people congratulating her on the performance. Jundo stood and watched as men offered their *AHEM* appreciation towards Hana causing her to blush in embarrassment. "She's perfect," he thought a small smile gracing his face once more. "Too perfect to be with someone like me" and the smile was gone. Jundo went to the entrance of the venue and waited for Hana to come out, standing for hours until it was dark but she didn't come out. He eventually went home and up to his room falling asleep on the floor immediately due to exhaustion.
Two days later Jundo awoke with his face stuck to the carpet of his floor and pain in damn near every bone and join in his body. He stood and cracked his joints before going towards his dresser and opening a drawer looking for something. "They're not here," he said to himself. "My meds...they're not here". He slammed the drawer shut and ran downstairs in search of Sojiro but was met with a note instead. "To the freeloader, I'm off for a few weeks to take care of some problems your sad excuse for parents needed me for. Help yourself to the house but don't you dare go in my room.". Jundo re-read the note countless times in disbelief before setting it down and heading back up to his room, sitting on his bed. "This is only a minor problem, yeah, It's only a couple of weeks, I can last that long without some dinky antidepressants," he said in reassurance towards himself. He decided to call Hana, as he had yet to see her since the concert, but instead saw a voicemail from the very person he intended to call. Needless to say, he opened it. "First off let me say THANK YOU SO SO SO SO SO SO VERY MUCH for the opportunity you've given me. But not only that I've received a record deal from some big shot label however this means I won't be able to see you for a bit but when I come back we can have tons of snacks and watch movies just like when we were younger. Alrighty, I gotta go but I'll see you soon. Love you. Bye.". Jundo closed the voicemail and fell backward onto his bed falling back to sleep.
Once he awoke he checked the clock and saw it was midday. Sitting up he grabbed his laptop and checked the news out of pure boredom. There he saw a news article relating to Hana's record deal and clicked on it. In the article was a video of an interview between the reporter, Hana herself and some guy Jundo could only presume was the head of the label she was signed to. In the interview, Hana and the label head were seen joking around and smiling with a small blush scattered across her face. "Seems like she'd rather be with him. To be honest I don't blame her especially compared to me". He slammed the laptop shut and shook the thought out of his head instead, choosing to get something to eat. Opening the kitchen fridge he spotted some leftovers and warmed them in the microwave standing there as they spun in the machine. "That guy on TV with her is really nice looking and I'm at best average....the irony is almost funny". His self-loathing was interrupted by the microwave beeping indicating the finished cycle. He took his food and sat sifting through the news once more as he ate. "Hana Takamaki and Hebi Sakamoto: New Power Couple In Music? Read a headline. Jundo immediately clicked on it and with each passing word his mind grew more and more frantic. He shut his phone off, stood up dumping the virtually untouched plate, and went back to his room.
It had been upwards of two weeks since Sojiro and Hana had left and Jundo's condition only became worse and worse. He hadn't left his room in five days with his mind overcome with self-loath. His eyes were excessively red and puffy from crying day in and day out. He'd sleep for ten hours straight and still feel restless and he seemed thinner than ever from lack of eating. His thoughts were an endless cycle of hate-filled lies. "Does she love me?", "She'd be happier with someone else", "She's so talented and I can't do anything", "Would she care if.... If I die?.
One week before Hana and Sojiro came back and Jundo felt like complete shit. He'd lost interest in everything including his usual pastime of sifting through news articles. and would just lay there crying silently thinking or would be asleep trapped within a nightmare. He'd been eating just enough to keep him barely alive, convinced he was full he'd throw the rest away and return to his fortress of solitude. And worst of all his thoughts of suicide became more and more enticing
It was the day of their return and Jundo had been running in circles in his head. "She doesn't love me", "There's someone else", "I'm not enough", "I was never enough" "She has talent, I don't", "There's no point". He hadn't left his bed nor had he showered or changed clothes. He heard a beep from his phone but ignored it. He truly felt as if he wasn't enough, that no one cared for him. Today was the annual fireworks festival and he'd been alone and this thought seemed to only add to the crushing weight on his mind, the weight that pushed down any and every sort of bond he had and painted it as a lie. He stood for the first time in weeks and entered his grandfather's room, grabbing a bottle, and going back into his own. He shut the door and wrote five words. "Sorry for not being enough". And with that, he opened the bottle swallowed the contents, and fell to the ground.
When Hana came back to the small town she called home she immediately rushed to Jundos house practically throwing her belongings at her awaiting parents. She had sent him an invitation to go to the festival and had decided to swing by and walk with him. She opened the door to the house ignoring the fact that all the lights were out and rushed to his room opening the door.....and falling to her knees. There lie Jundo motionless, an empty bottle of prescription pills resting in his hands. She couldn't think nor speak only scream in pain, terror, and sadness as a firework rang out.