hayoon has always liked jungwon.
jungwon has never liked her back.
but after the most humiliating ex-
perience of his life, the thought of
hayoon grows a little less badly day
by day. but just as he realised he
was chasing the wrong girl, he also
...
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— SEOUL, NOVEMBER 1999
❝stay in the middle, like you a little, don't want no riddle, 말해줘 say it back, oh, say it ditto.❞
─────────
to say jungwon slept well would be an understatement. the first time in months he slept fully without waking up once, throughout the whole night. it felt good, and he felt electric. and then he checked the time, before he realised he would be late to school.
of course, he slapped his uniform on, running down the stairs with a small smile on his face. jungwon had never been a morning person, but something about that morning exactly felt different. as he approached the end of the fleet of stairs, he couldn't help but notice the quiet. normally his family would be up and about now, and yet, there was no sign of his mom.
instead, his dad stood there against the kitchen counter quietly, staring at the counter adjacent in quiet, deep thought. jungwon tilted his head with a curious smile before he spoke up softly, his voice taut with sleep. "appa?" he approached closer, noticing that the tip of his nose was red, and that he seemed unsettled. "what's up?"
"go get jangmi, please." he spoke softly, though with an odd sense of finality. jungwon nodded obediently, rushing up the stairs to get his older sister.
he grinned at the sight - she's still asleep, but with her, it's nothing new. he put his school-bag down, before plunging onto the bed annoyingly, earning a sharp groan. "jungwon! get off me, you piece of-"
"shh!! appa's calling us, noona!" he laughed, his eyes crinkling with amusement. "get ready for school, we're late." he grunted as he got off her, waiting outside of her door patiently.
once jangmi was ready, they rushed down the stairs. the sight was unfamiliar; his father's posture was stiff, his shoulders slumped. jangmi stopped short, her eyes widening as she took in the scene. "appa? what's going on? where's eomma?"
his father finally turned to face them, his expression heavy with something jungwon couldn't quite grasp. "it's your halmeoni," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
jungwon's heart skipped a beat, the smile on his face fading into a distant memory, one he wasn't sure he'd like to keep for much longer. "what about halmeoni?" he asked, the words hanging in the air like a thundercloud waiting to burst.
"she... she passed away last night, peacefully. in her sleep." his father said, his voice breaking just a little.
jungwon felt the world tilt beneath him, the ground beneath his feet suddenly feeling unsteady. "what?" he whispered, disbelief clouding his mind. "no, no. she was fine. i just saw her last night. we laughed. we talked, she- she was knitting!" his heart raced, and a dull ache began to spread in his chest. one that was suffocatingly empty, a feeling that made him feel like he couldn't breath for much longer. "she was better.." he weakly added, staring down at his hands emptily.
