C2 Chapter 1: A Rough Start

It was around the early month of June Jin was seated comfortably in the backseat of a car. The atmosphere around him was surprisingly dead quiet. He can perfectly hear himself breathing through his nose and the engines rumbling beneath him.

With his eyes tightly shut closed, he pictured numerous things inside his head as the car continued driving straight without interruption.

The scenarios painted inside his head were as futile as how he thought of the car wheels running over the crusty road and listened to the sound of dust and dirt against the dark tires.

He can also hear the harsh breeze rushing towards the opposite direction from theirs, brushing against all sides of the car, and he listened to its conflicting pleads like it was whispering something to him.

For some reason, he felt uneasy on his seat, but he kept his tired eyes closed and clutched unto the soft object between his arms, tightly.

What is it? What is he holding?

It was at the last minute Jin realized the wind was warning him for tragedy before he could even see it coming.

He should have paid more attention to his surroundings.

It was hard balancing himself in his seat with his pitch-black vision and hands unavailable to support his body from swaying in every direction.

Before he could even think of avoiding accidents, his head bumped onto something hard beside him, causing Jin to flinch at the pain on the side of his head, but he did not make a sound as he was not alone in the car.

Who was he with?

He just...can’t seem to remember. No matter how deep he brainstorms for information. It was all in a blur.

Confusing even.

He wants to open his eyes and see where they are, where they were heading to, and see the person he's with, but his eyes seem to be too tired to cooperate.

All he could see was darkness, nothing more special than the art of nothingness.

Unexpectedly, the car suddenly turned, causing the wheels to screech against the road. The sound of it was gruesome as it rang to his ears.

Because of the abrupt shortcomings, Jin's body leans towards the other side while his head feels nauseous of the car's sudden movement and quick speed.

In a blink of an eye, his tiny body was slump across the backseat. This time, a word naturally came out from his lips as his body slammed against the cushioned seat.

“Dad.”

As he opens his eyes, two strong lights welcome and flash right before him, blocking his sight to see the person in the driver's seat. Before he could even glance at the person's figure, a loud horn of a truck followed.

“Ji—”

CRASH!

_____________

Jin yelped and jumped out of bed, horrified. Bullets of sweat rolled down his forehead. His skin was moist, but he felt cold. He paled more as he was in a state of shock for how many seconds.

His beautiful amethyst pupils were unfocused and it took him a moment to notice the wetness of the corners of his eyes and his flushed cheeks. His heart wavered by the unknown and the intense sense of fear he felt.

At that moment, Jin felt his heart was about to burst out inside his chest as he could hear and feel it thumping loudly inside him. His body was already shaking nonstop and his stomach was not in its best condition. He felt uncomfortable and he felt anxious.

It was another dream of his that replayed again inside his head for the past ten years.

It felt more like a memory than a dream.

His widened eyes scan around him, despite feeling his head was about to tear in half.

The school clinic.

His tensed shoulder relaxes.

Jin was not alone in the room, there were students with him along with their school nurse, and it was not quite like he feared it would be noiseless. Low murmurs fill up the room, the sound of mixed-up conversations and noise from students who pass by the hallway echoed throughout the room.

That alone put him to ease.

He glances at the clock hanging up on the white wall just above the water dispenser in the corner.

Two in the afternoon.

Jin’s eyes shift down towards his hands that are clutching and crumpling the sheets beside him. Slowly, he loosens his grip, but his fingers couldn’t stop trembling.

Again with that nightmare.

Is this his consequence of watching countless horror and thriller movies lately? Jin doesn't know the reason why it felt surreal like he said it would be more believable if it was a memory of his than a mere dream.

But if you ask him, it seems like a scenario that came out fresh from a television drama.

Jin shook his head side to side, cleared up his mind, and snapped out of it. He must not put pressure on it as his head has been throbbing a lot lately every time he does.

He must have watched it somewhere that shaken him to be this terrified about it.

If anyone were to find out that he's been afraid of something so irrelevant in life, they would surely laugh at him for acting like a child.

But he does find it suspicious, it’s always the same scenario repeatedly playing on his sleep. Everything from the start until the end, not more and not less, his dream exactly ends where it used to, and he would always find himself in tears every time he opens his eyes.

Then, he would feel a tiny lingering emotion within him that he tried to brush off as not knowing the reason why he felt a longing for someone.

Like something part of him was missing and he couldn't fill in the gaps because he was clueless about what it is.

“Oh, you’re finally awake,” their school nurse, Euna Do walks towards him and stops midway between the bed he's sitting at the next one beside his, leaving some distance after observing his intense sweating and trembling.

The tears that he wiped off his face with the sheets didn't escape her line of sight. Her hands were on her waist and she had worn an unsightly expression on her face.

Right there, Jin prepared his ears for her naggings.

“Tell me young Saesang, do you miss me that much that you for you to come to the clinic again? Or do you plan on making this place your sleep reliever? What have you been doing youngsters nowadays for you not to get an adequate amount of sleep?”

Euna sat and took up a little space on Jin’s bed, her warm hands touch and tap his forehead and neck like she was checking something. She pouted her lips in annoyance and it made Jin control his laughter.

If he does laugh in front of her face, who knows what she would do to him.

“Seriously, you need to take care of your body. You’re young, at this age, you should be enjoying life not sulking here in my clinic! It’s good that your fever has dropped, but to be honest Jinnie~ you’re a pretty boy, but you’re just not my type.”

And so Ms. Euna’s blabbering of the day continues.

Jin could only look at her and smile at her so-called flattering health advice speech she's giving him.

It just never gets old.

Well, Jin can’t blame Ms. Euna, she’s after all a campus bell on her college days and she had taken care of herself to maintain her physique and beauty throughout the years. It’s not shocking anymore how many students would visit or sneak in her clinic and act as being in pain just to see her.

To Jin, Ms. Euna was like his second mother and a friend to rely on.

How could they not be this close when he’s been her everyday patient for the past years.

But he was thankful to her, despite her rants, in the next day, she will always warmly welcome him to her clinic for him to rest when he has no class scheduled in the afternoon.

He sighs, why does his PE class have to be scheduled on Tuesdays?

He didn’t have much sleep yesterday, no, it was more like he couldn’t at some point.

He wasn’t paying attention, but now that his head is clear. How did he end up here in the clinic again?