Namjoo's PO.V

The stereo thumped out a drumbeat. Though it was already blasting, I could see Hyun Jae’s hand heading towards it as she turned the volume up to full blast. Everyone was yelling and singing along to the song which I had never heard of before but they seemed to be enjoying themselves a lot even though they probably had no complete idea of who was singing what. So in order to not be the odd one out, I nodded my head to the beat of the song and smiled as though I was having a good time.

I wasn’t.

But they didn’t need to know that.

Being squashed to the corner of the back seat wasn’t a nice feeling; especially since Hyun Jae was dance-jigging on my knee. And as much as I wanted her to quit doing that, I had far more important things to worry about; like Jackson’s driving.

I wanted him to slow down. The lanes we were driving on were the type to make my stomach lurch and clearly, he wasn’t supposed to be driving that fast.

But what would he know; he was drunk.

I watched as they passed a bottle of alcohol around and drank some of it. I shivered inside. My parents would have gone nuts if they knew just the kind of people I was hanging out with. Plus the fact that I was wearing Hyun Jae’s halter neck top and mini skirt would only add fuel to the fire if they saw me. Soon, it was my turn to take a sip. Hyun Jae passed me the bottle but I simply stared at it. Shaking my head, I passed it on to Sung Hee, who eagerly gulped some of it down.

I didn’t want to be there. I wanted to go home; watching TV with my parents and Choomie, my dog.

But when they invited me to a club, I took on their offer. Why? Because I didn’t want to be laughed at. I wanted to show that I was worthy of joining their clique. I wanted to show them that I could easily blend in with them. I could show them that I was as brave as Hyun Jae; the outgoing and sociable girl whom could easily fit in.

But as the minutes went by, I regretted accepting their invitation.

I didn’t know who that girl was. It definitely wasn’t me. Namjoo wasn’t the kind of girl to party and dress inappropriately. Namjoo wasn’t the girl to go against her parents’ principles. No, apparently that Namjoo was so different from the real Namjoo.

I took a look around me. Jackson was still at the wheel but his attention was on Hyun Jae’s lips. Yes, he was making out with my best friend when he was by right, supposed to be driving. Breaking the kiss, he told Alexander to take the wheel from the passenger seat. Once the driving was taken care of – not really, Alexander wasn’t that better of a driver – he went all out on Hyun Jae’s lips. She liked him, I could tell.

Finding that an uncomfortable sight, I turned away and focussed my attention on the rest; only to end up seeing Sung Hee making out with Minwoo. Eventually, I looked out of the window instead.

The car swerved and my stomach clenched.

The car then surged forward and its speed grew faster as it went down the winding road.

. I want to go home. Now.

But it was too late for me to regret.

Everyone was drunk. Everyone but me. So I was fully aware of what had happened at that one point of time. Still in the driver’s seat, Jackson’s leg accidentally slammed down on the acceleration pedal; hard. Alexander tried to regain control but failed. One by one, they started screaming. I would’ve been screaming too but my throat was dry and nothing would come out. And so I watched; I watched as the car veered towards an electricity pole.

Darkness.

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It was choking dark. The screams reached me again and they were deafening. I opened my eyes and found that I was pressed against the window. Sung Hee was pressed up against the side window too but unlike me, she was unconscious. Minwoo was at the very back seat, his head pressed up against the rear window as blood flowed out continuously.

Hyun Jae wasn’t on my lap anymore. Instead, she was in between of the two fronts seats and her head was on the dashboard. Her eyes stared up; lifeless. Jackson and Alexander were nowhere in sight.

A familiar stench filled my nose but I couldn’t bring myself to recognise it. I wondered why it was suddenly so bright in the car. And that was when I knew.

Orange flames approached me at rapid speed and I recognised the stench immediately; the stench of burning. I tried to force out a scream and successfully did so but even that couldn’t stop the fire from nearing towards me.

The flames touched me but I couldn’t move away. My leg was stuck in between the driver’s seat and door.

The pain…it’s unbearable.

The flames my skin and I suffered in agony as I watched my life flash before me for the second time.

That was when I heard someone yell. “Hang on, Namjoo-ah, I’ll get you out!”

I heard the door being forced open as a pair of hands grabbed onto my waist and pulled me hard and fast, away from the flames.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I knew that voice anywhere; it belonged to Alexander. He continued to apologise to me as he half dragged, half carried me away from the car. I noticed that his other arm was limp and left by his side; completely useless.

I was howling in pain. Nothing had ever hurt that bad before. Out of energy, Alexander collapsed onto the concrete floor along with me. Meanwhile, Jackson’s body was bent double right next to me as he rocked back and forth on his knees.

That was when I remembered.

Hyun Jae; she was still in the car.

“Oh my god.” I heard Alexander whimper as I shifted my attention to the car.

And at that point of time, the same thing happened again. But this time, it wasn’t my life that was flashing right before my eyes.

It was Hyun Jae’s.