In an Instant

2: In which trauma-dumping in private thoughts became a new fad (2-5)

08/17/22: Revised. Details at the end.

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Cale* is studiously avoiding eye contact with everyone, rolling the bottle of alcohol back and forth in his hands like it's the most interesting thing on Earth. The Henituse families are all shocked silent.

The screen waits for no one. Instead of just words though, an image appears as well. How convenient for those that possess no imagination.

-

[Story begins]

[On screen is a lavish room. A red-haired man is asleep, buried beneath the fluffy blanket. An old man in butler uniform is reaching for him.]

-

Ron. Kim Rok Soo stoically watches the screen. Death truly has dulled many things, he vaguely thinks, for nothing more than an ache resides where his feelings had once lived.

-

The man could feel someone gently tapping his body. The rough hand made the man think of the hands of an exhausted parent. It was that warm.

-

Cale* feels his mouth twisting into a bitter smile.

Once upon a time, Ron* had been like a father to him. Someone who took care of him when no one else did. Someone who cared for him. Someone who was there.

Once upon a time, Cale* had loved Ron* like a child does their parents.

And then Ron* had left, without even a goodbye.

There must have been something about him that makes him inherently unlovable, Cale* thinks.

Why else, then, is he always doomed to watch the people he loves walk away?

He knew then, when Ron* left, that all that care Ron* had once shown him was nothing more than an act. How else can you leave someone you care for so easily? But it's hard, sitting here, seeing the proof being thrown into his face.

It hurts. It hurts.

Clap.

Jerking his head up, Cale* looks into the reddish-brown eyes of Kim Rok Soo. There is understanding in that gaze, and Cale* looks away.

The older man is probably the only one in the room knowing what he's feeling right now, but he needs no sympathy, even from his older self.

He's made it this far without anything, after all.

-

"Young master, it is morning."

But the voice was very profound. The man felt chills throughout his body and his eyes subconsciously opened. Rather than the bright sunlight coming in through the window to warm the man's eyes, what he saw was an old man standing there with a satisfied expression.

"It is surprising to see you wake up after a single attempt."

"Huh?"

"The master wishes to dine with the young master since it has been a while. It looks like it will be possible today."

The man could see a mirror past the old man's shoulder. Inside the mirror was a red-haired man who seemed to be confused looking back at him.

'I guess that guy is me.'

"Young master Cale?"

The man turned toward the source of the worried voice to find the old man, who looked like a servant, looking toward him. But that concerned man was not the problem.