Sunoo lied on his bed, feeling under the weather. His mother knocked his room and when she went inside, she saw that the jjigae and rice bowl were not finished.
"Sunoo-ya, didnt you eat your jjigae?"
Sunoo didn't respond, he is lying sideways in his bed.
"Sunoo-ya? Are you sick?"
Sunoo shook his head no. His mother was confused, why is he not eating even though he's not ill? Sunoo's mother then slowly puts the foods on Sunoo's desk before approaching Sunoo on his bed.
"Hey, why wont you eat, sweetie? I'm your mother, you can tell me anything. You dont like the food?"
"No, eomma, I love your cooking but... I just feel guilty whenever I eat."
"Guilty? Why? What do you mean by guilty?"
Sunoo stayed silent, not wanting to explain any further.
★
"Sunghoon-a," his mother called.
Sunghoon, sitting on his spinning chair, turned back. "What? Knock the door next time."
"Yeah, yeah, not important. Anyways, can you please tell me the dream you had that night?"
Sunghoon paused, dropping his pen. Reminded by his mother, the "I hate you" were repeating in his head.
"Sunghoon-a! Snap out of it!"
"O-oh, sorry..."
Sunghoon's mother sighed. "Just tell me, I wont judge, I just want to know."
Sunghoon breath became shakey. He took a deep breath before telling her. "I-its about Sunoo... He told me that he hated me in my dream, but its not true of course! It's just a dream..."
"Are you okay, Sunghoon? I mean, mentally."
Sunghoon sighed. "I dont even know at this point."
His mother broke hearing that from her own son. Sunghoon's mother then sat down on Sunghoon's bed, a sudden smile appeared on her face.
"You know, Sunghoon-a, you were so difficult to understand as a kid, I mean you're still difficult but you were an emotional kid back then."
"But I don't show much emotions back then, mom..."
Sunghoon's mother chuckled. "Yeah, people thought you were emotionless as a kid, but you weren't always like that, at 5 years old, you would always cry about something."
"Or you would wake up crying saying that everyone's gonna leave you."
Sunghoon stayed silent, listening to his mother explain about how emotional he was as a child, this was really unexpected for Sunghoon since he didnt remember half of his childhood.
"You have been through alot even when you were a baby, you deserve much care and love from everyone, Sunghoon-a. And please, dont try to hide your sadness to me, I'm your mother and you can tell me everything."
Touched by his mother's words and care, Sunghoon nodded with a smile and said, "I will, mom."
★
(BACKGROUND MUSIC: Kalam Eineh - Sherine)
"Lets continue hanging with each other for this week! Since graduation is coming."
Sunghoon nodded. "Yeah, lets do it!"
Sunoo and Sunghoon held hands as they walked through the forest, searching for flowers.
"The forest is covered in snow, its beautiful."
"I agree. Look, Sunghoon-a! Primroses!" Sunoo pointed before dragging Sunghoon to the primroses.
"W-woah! I almost slipped! Be careful... What do you want to do with these?"
Sunoo smiled softly before crouching down to touch the primroses. "Maybe I'll give these to my mother."
"That's sweet of you, Sunoo."
Sunoo then grabbed a couple of pretty primroses before putting them inside his shoulder bag. Sunghoon watched Sunoo with a smile, adore sparkling in his eyes.
"Its nice, I like this peaceful moment."
Sunghoon nodded, agreeing with Sunoo. But then Sunoo suddenly collapsed on the snow, his nose was red, and his eyes were closed.
Sunghoon panicked and immediately crouched down to Sunoo, trying to wake him up. Unexpectedly, Sunoo started to smile and laugh out loud. Sunghoon was extremely confused...
"You really believed it!?"
Sunghoon sighed. "Of course! How could I not...!?"
Sunoo chuckled before pulling Sunghoon's scarf, making him lie beside Sunoo. Both of them lied down on the soft snow while snowflakes falls gently on them. Sunoo exhaled before turning his head to Sunghoon.
"Hoon-a, thankyou."
Sunghoon turned his head to Sunoo before chuckling. "Ehh? So sudden?"
"You gave me strength in life, Hoon-a."
Sunghoon giggled softly. "You too. You changed me."
Both of them laughed softly together before getting up.
Both of them started to run around the forest while wind blow their hairs. The sound of their laughters reminds them that true happiness is possible. The both of them started to chase each other, throw snowballs at each other and laugh with each other.
The smile on their faces are real. The laughters are real. This is true happiness.
As Sunoo stopped to catch his breath, Sunghoon crashed onto Sunoo and fell on the snow. Sunghoon hugged Sunoo with a bright smile and both of them laughed.
"Hoon-a! Let me breathe!" Sunoo said.
"Okay, okay." Sunghoon then lets go of Sunoo before sitting up. After he sat up, Sunghoon saw a river.
Turns out, they ran to the cliff Sunghoon introduced without even knowing.
Sunghoon then walked up to the edge of the cliff, looking at the view with a smile. Sunoo approached and said, "Are we normal people?"
Sunghoon nodded. "We're normal, Sunoo. We're free."
Both of them smiled as the sunlight beams on them, creating a perfect and beautiful lighting.
★
"Eomma! I'm home!" Sunoo yelled out.
Instead of getting greeted warmly, he was greeted with his mother crying on the floor. Sunoo got so worried he threw his bag of primroses on the floor and ran to his mother.
"E-eomma! What happened!?" Sunoo asked as tears start to develop in his eyes. He cant stand seeing his mother cry like this.
Sunoo's mother stuttered, her arms shaking. "Y-your father..." She paused for a moment before continuing with a shaky voice. "He passed away..."
Sunoo went weak. As a tear dropped from his face, Sunoo's mother hugged him tightly as she cried and cried for hours.
Even though his father was a terrible person, Sunoo never wanted to lose him.
★
Sunoo stood silently beside his mother, his stare was blank, his eyes were puffy and looked like they were just tired of everything.
As Sunghoon walked with his mother to bow down, he looked at how sad and tired Sunoo looked. Sunghoon then bowed twice infront of Sunoo's father's picture frame sorrounded by flowers.
★
"I just can't imagine how sad Sunoo and his mother is right now," Sunghoon's mother said as she walked beside Sunghoon.
Sunghoon sighed. "He was happy until this happened."
"But I also heard that his father beats him up often, I guess he's free from the fear but not free from the pain."
Both Sunghoon and his mother continued walking home silently, until, Sunghoon's mother stopped walking and decided to break the silence.
"Sunghoon-a, I want you to cheer him up this one week. Graduations are coming, dont you want to graduate happily?"
Sunghoon looked at his mother while the wind blew his hair, Sunghoon then nodded. "Yea, I will."
★
Chapter 14 guys!!! I'm sorry it took very long🥹 But thankyou so much for reading this chapter, see you in chapter 15!!!!!!!