CHAPTER 21

Normal POV

“Let me help you. If you could do that for me then I’ll do the same. I won’t go anywhere, I promise.”

These words escaped Jessica’s mouth with no hesitation at all. She knew where these words will lead to but even so she wasn’t afraid anymore. Although Jessica did not have the slightest idea of just what ‘everything’ meant to Yuri nor was she prepared for it, nothing mattered anymore. What she was sure of was that Yuri would never hurt her because she realized that they were just the same. Both of them were hurting on the inside without letting anyone know. They knew the same pain, they had the same scars.

Yuri hadn’t said anything after Jessica’s offer. He gave her a small smile, released her hand and walked away. The latter watched as Yuri’s back got smaller and smaller, until she could not see it anymore. She didn’t go after him because she wanted to let him decide for himself. Jessica didn’t know what that smile meant but she silently hoped that it was the answer she wanted to hear. The brunette went inside her apartment and sought for immediate rest. Kris was hanging around their living room when his cousin arrived however no words were exchanged for Jessica went inside her room as soon as she stepped inside their humble abode. This left Kris wondering how his beloved cousin’s day went.

On the other side of the neighborhood, Yuri had already stepped inside his apartment. He did his mundane routine and when that was done he felt restless. He wanted to do something, anything that would calm his nerves down. Something at the back of his mind was gnawing his consciousness. It was like his brain was trying to remember a particular memory but could not get to it at all. Yuri found himself in his bathroom, blankly staring at his reflection on the mirror. For whatever reason, he was starting to feel anxious. It was as if there was a rope hanging around his neck, slowly getting tighter and tighter. Soon enough, his body started to shake vigorously. He took deep and uneven breaths, an effort that was futile for he couldn’t just put himself at ease. He grabbed hold of the sink to support his weight. His head started to throb, his vision getting hazier by the second.

Yuri once again lifted his head up to look at his reflection on the mirror in front of him. His eyes tried their best to focus on the reflection he was seeing, even though his vision wasn’t all that clear, he knew something was off. The mirror was reflecting somebody else. After seconds of haziness, the image before him started to get clearer but there had to be a price. Yuri felt like his head was getting drilled as the reflection got more lucid. Yuri’s fears rose from the deepest and darkest pit of his existence. His eyes widened in disbelief of what he was seeing. The mirror showed him a representation of someone he knew but refused to remember. It was his fear in its rawest form. In that moment he didn’t know why he was afraid, he didn’t know why he felt so hostile towards the image and most important of all, he did not know who he was seeing.

He was flowing along with his feelings, completely disregarding anything his sound mind was trying to process. The minute Yuri gained control over his body, he took a step back only to gain momentum to destroy what he was seeing. The mirror shattered into pieces, leaving Yuri’s hand bathing in his own blood. He fell down and his body started to shake once again. Slowly but surely, the voices in his head crept back up into his consciousness, the ones he thought he had already thrown away. There was nothing Yuri wanted more than to make them stop but nothing was going his way. All he managed to move were his eyes, he felt numb everywhere else. Yuri lied there on his bathroom floor, bloody shards surrounding his almost spirited away body. Even though it didn’t look like it, he was fighting to stay in reality but the battle had already been long won. The darkness seeped through and consumed Yuri leaving no trace at all.

--

Dr. Kim was still in his office, listening to one of his patients rant about her day and what not. He was listening but it wasn’t going through him. His mind was occupied by something else or rather someone else. This was rather unprofessional of him but he has heard the same story from this particular patient of his for months now and by now he can practically tell this woman’s story without falter. His patient went on and on about how she can’t seem to move on from her ex-lover and how it was affecting majority of the things she does. The sound of the clock ticking echoed alongside with the woman’s voice. Just like a miracle much needed by Dr. Kim at that moment, a piano melody came out to disrupt the atmosphere inside his office, signaling the session was now over

“We’ll continue this next week then.” Dr. Kim said as he closed his notebook. He stood up from his seat and guided his patient out of his office. He went back to his desk to check his schedule for the next few days.  Dr. Kim proceeded to scan the list and when he found the name he wanted to see, he grabbed a pen from one of his drawers and crossed it out. After doing so, he reached for the phone and called in his secretary using the office line.

“Ms. Cha, can you come in for a sec?”

“Be right there, Doctor.”

The door opened and in came Dr. Kim’s secretary, Ms. Cha. She wore a simple pastel colored dress and a cardigan to top it off.

“Yes, doctor?” Ms. Cha waited for his boss’ order.

“Ah yes. For the rest of the month, cancel all of Yuri’s appointments.” Dr. Kim said with a bright smile.

This took Ms. Cha by surprise but she gave her boss a nod and went out of the office immediately after. She was surprised because even she knew that Dr. Kim was very fond of Yuri, in fact he was his favorite patient. It seemed strange to her that her boss would cancel his appointments but then again Ms. Cha was not the type to ask more than what is needed and so she quietly did what she was told.

When the door closed, Dr. Kim turned to his right and opened his mini-vault. It contained all of his patient’s files. The ones with Ms. Cha were just progress charts however there were no explicit information on them. He punched in the code and when he heard it beep, he opened it and pulled out a specific envelope.

Kwon Yuri

Dr. Kim opened the envelope and looked at the files from the first time he met Yuri. Even after that one year that Yuri was mandated to attend Dr. Kim’s counselling, the latter still watched over him from afar. For years he’s been observing Yuri which led him to begin a collection of notes in an attempt to make him a subject to further expand Dr. Kim’s horizons in his field. This was all revealed to Yuri when they met again last summer, though Yuri had been aware of his shrink keeping tabs on him, he didn’t mind it nor did he mind being a subject for trial exercises.

Dr. Kim had 5 notebooks in total. All of them were filled with notes about Yuri. He started on the 5^th notebook, right around the time Yuri found him again. Dr. Kim took that particular notebook and wrote down today’s events. For the rest of the month, he will not see Yuri professionally. Instead he will let another variable into the equation which would be Jessica. He had no idea just what the latter is capable of making Yuri do but he was very much curious to see.

“And now we wait.” Dr. Kim said with his usual bright smile as he finished writing. He kept all of the notebooks and placed them back inside his vault.

The doctor was now ready to call it a day. He gathered his things and headed out of his office. Surprisingly, a man was talking to his receptionist, Ms. Cha, when he got out. The man handed over a box to his receptionist and then asked her to sign a piece of paper. From the looks of it, it must be a delivery of some sort. Both Ms. Cha and Dr. Kim found it strange that deliveries ran this late.

After doing his protocols, the delivery man made his way out while Dr. Kim approached Ms. Cha, intending to find out what was given to her. The former looked at the clock and made sure working hours were over.

“Yeonseo-ah, what was that?” Dr. Kim asked, addressing Ms. Cha informally.

“It was a delivery, oppa. Did you know that deliveries ran this late?” Ms. Cha dropped the formalities as well.

“No idea. Who is it for?”

“It’s for you, actually. See? It says Kim Dohan, right there.” Yeonseo pointed to the sticker that was on the upper right corner of the box. She handed over the object of curiosity to Dohan and waited for him to open it. There was no return address nor was there a name of the sender. Dr. Kim or Dohan raised his eyebrows. He has never gotten a delivery sent to his workplace before and that made him all the more curious.

He set down his things and grabbed the box with his two hands. Dohan shook it, although it was light he was able to hear faint sounds of rattling inside. It sounded like a stack of cards to him. To put an end to all the curiosity in him, he grabbed the scissors from Yeonseo’s table and gently traced the packaging tape with one of the blades. He set aside the scissors and opened the box. His guess was right, they were a stack of cards but they weren’t ordinary cards, they were pictures and a whole lot of them.

“Oh? Aren’t those pictures of you and Sun Hee unnie? Are those candid photos?” Yeonseo asked as she peered into the contents of the box.

Dohan took the photos in his hand and flipped over them one by one. He saw pictures of him and Sun Hee on their dates, they were taken from afar and in peculiar angles. Dohan’s eyes widened as he flipped through more of it. The next pictures no longer showed him with Sun Hee. Instead they were candid pictures of Sun Hee in various locations. There were photos of her crossing the street, walking around a mall and even at Whimoon but what caught Dohan’s attention the most were the last few photos. They showed Sun Hee at her apartment, judging from the angle, Dohan figured they were taken from the building across from her apartment.

“Oppa… I think you should call the police.” Yeonseo said

Dohan set down the photos and looked inside the box once again. There was a tiny note that was neatly folded in half. He took it and read its content. The letters were roughly cut from different magazines.

John 8:32-33

“And you will know the truth, and that truth will set you free.”

Dohan took a deep breath and released it slowly to calm him down. He took out his phone and proceeded to call someone.

“Oh hey. I was about to call you.” The person on the other line picked up

“Where are you?” Dohan abruptly asks but kept his voice calm to avoid alarming the other.

“I’m about to leave my parent’s house. I took a day off to visit them. Did I forget to tell you?”

“I see. Sun Hee, I want you to stay there. Wait for me, I’ll pick you up.”

“Huh? Is there something wrong? I brought a car with me. I’ll be fine.”

Dohan tried to think of an excuse so that Sun Hee wouldn’t suspect anything.

“I’ll ride a taxi then. I’ll drive you home. I just miss you that’s all. Wait for me, okay?”

With those words, Sun Hee was convinced that nothing was wrong and agreed. Dohan ended the call and returned all of the pictures alongside with the note inside the box.

“Don’t tell anyone about this. I’ll handle it. Let’s call it a day then.” Dohan instructed Yeonseo to which the latter followed without asking any questions. He grabbed his things and carried the box with his other hand.

The two left the building together and went their separate ways. Dohan took a taxi just like he said and went to his destination. Dohan kept his cool all throughout the ride despite having worries for the safety of his girlfriend. In an honest man’s eyes, Dohan never felt threatened. He took the little care package as a joke and nothing more. The only reason why he felt a little bit uneasy was because he didn’t want to involve Sun Hee into anything. His first priority was to keep her in the dark of the things that would unfold soon when time permits it to do so.

The truth will set you free, huh?

“They yearn for what they fear for...” Dohan muttered under his breath.

“What was that, sir?” The taxi driver looked through the rear mirror

“I was just thinking out loud. Sorry for that.” Dohan flashed a smile and the driver deterred from asking any further. The latter figured Dohan was just one of those strange passengers he gets from time to time, especially at this time of night. He looked again over at his rear mirror, only to see his passenger smiling brightly while staring off at the night scenery the streets of Seoul offered.

--

Taeyeon’s POV

Ahh. Another day, another chance to make a new memory! I woke up feeling extra happy today. Besides the fact that I got to see another day, there’s just this feeling in me that today will be a good day. I got out from the clutches of my bed and stretched for a bit. I opened my door and the smell of love and pancakes invaded my senses. I made my way to our kitchen and saw my mother happily flipping pancakes.

“Oh hey. Come on, eat up!” my mother said sweetly.

I love mornings like this. Everything just falls into place. I sat down and dug in. My mother and I talked about everything under the sun. It was there that I found out that my father left early this morning to attend a food expo. My family’s been thinking about putting up a traditional Korean restaurant around our part of the neighborhood. It seems like my parents are pretty invested in that idea already. The optical shop, we’ve had that business ever since I was a kid. It was passed down to my dad by my grandfather. I guess my dad wanted to try out something new and well my mother’s very supportive of almost everything my dad does so that’s that.

I prepared for the day ahead of me. I need to make the most out of my last year in high school and that means making more friends and awesome memories with them. High school friends are treasures people carry with them all their life and I intend to make mine the same. The culture festival is coming up so that should be something to write down for the books. I don’t know about other schools but Whimoon has this whole different idea in terms of celebrating the culture festival. Every year a party is held the day after the festival since it’s a school holiday for Whimoon students. They do it at the beach about 3 hours away from the city. It’s not only for present students, you’d be able to see alumni from years back. Those people pitch in every single year for that party to happen, it’s basically a tradition already. I’ve attended it religiously ever since freshmen year and although in all of those times I had fun, this year would be different. Why? Simply because I’m a senior now. I’m also of legal age already. That means I can drink with my sunbaes and have this whole new different experience.

Okay, I haven’t had any legit drinking experience before. Maybe that one time on my 18^th birthday where my dad poured me my first drink ever. It was just rice wine but boy was it strong. I didn’t get knocked out or what but I remember feeling a little bit woozy with just one shot. I’m not planning to get wasted or anything stupid like that but I think it would be a different kind of fun since I’ll actually be able to be part of the whole tradition. Not that I wasn’t before, it’s just different when you’re finally old enough to hang around and do stuff with them older peeps. I took a shower and got dressed. I said goodbye to my mom and walked out of the house, still feeling pretty good. I got on the bus and waited for my stop to come. The bus dropped me off and I started walking the rest of the way to Whimoon. I wonder what’s so good about today. I just feel this different kind of vibe, almost euphoric really.

I arrived at Whimoon with 10 minutes to spare before my first class starts. I leisurely walked into class and found my classmates chattering the day away. Well, it seems like the issue on Yuri and Jessica is still on its all-time high. At this point, I think both of them are aware of the current situation and I think both of them just don’t care anymore or at least that’s how I see it. I went to my desk and was greeted by one of the main characters of the current hot topic in school.

“Good morning!” Jessica smiled at me

“Hey there. I see you’re having a good morning like me.” I replied back

“I guess you could say that.”

I looked at the back and saw Yuri’s seat still empty. That’s odd. Oh wait. He fainted yesterday! I forgot all about it.

“So uh did you find out what happened to Yuri?” I awkwardly asked.

There was a long pause before Jessica answered my question.

“Oh uhm he told it was just from fatigue.”

“I see. Maybe he took the day off. He’s not here yet and knowing him, he should’ve been the first person here.” I said.

Fatigue, huh? I guess even Yuri has his own limits. I wonder what happened. I’ve never heard of him being tired or whatever. Everyone looked at him as some sort of superhuman. Especially during their soccer trainings. He’d always be the last one standing in those cases.

“I guess so…” Jessica said almost in a whisper.

A few minutes passed and the school bell rang. Ms. Sun Hee entered the room and we all stood up to greet her.

“First off, I want to apologize for not being able to attend class yesterday. I took the day off to attend to personal matters. Now that, that’s out of the way, I’ll be taking the attendance now.”

Ms. Sun Hee started calling names one by one. Each student were to raise their hand and speak up when called.

“Kwon Yuri?” Ms. Sun Hee called out while looking down at her list. When no one answered, she looked up and scanned the back part of the class and saw the empty seat in the corner.

“I heard Mr. Kwon fainted yesterday. Does anyone know what happened to him?”

A faint sound of murmuring started but once again no one answered our teacher’s question. I looked over to Jessica and it seemed like she wasn’t gonna say anything either. She was wearing this uneasy expression and she kept her eyes on the door as if she was waiting for someone. Her hands were fidgeting quite a lot too. For whatever reason she may have, I’m pretty sure she didn’t tell me the whole truth about Yuri. I’m not mad or anything, she’s entitled to do whatever she wants. Our teacher, Ms. Sun Hee, was about to sign over Yuri’s name when the door suddenly opened.

“Good morning, ma’am. I’m sorry for being late.” Yuri bowed his head but remained outside.

“Not at all. You’re right on time. Come in.”

Yuri entered the classroom and made his way to his seat. His hand caught my attention, it was wrapped up in bandages. I don’t know if it’s just me or what but he kind of looks pale, almost lethargic really. Something’s telling me whatever happened to him wasn’t just because of fatigue. I’ll have to ask him about it later even though I’m 99.99% sure that he won’t say anything to me.

--

Normal POV

Yuri had his gaze fixated on the board while deeply in thought. The boy was split into two, one part of him was in class quietly listening to today’s lesson while the other half was still in his apartment reliving the events from the night before over and over like a broken record. This half of him moved like poison in his veins. Slowly but surely it began to take over the seemingly unfazed boy. Eventually, that part of him distorted Yuri’s sense of reality.

From the drawings of his intricate mind, a figure appeared at Yuri’s side and sat on the empty seat beside him. The figure started to take shape of someone and that someone was Yuri but not the Yuri now but the one from last night. From the clothes he woke up to this morning to his hand covered with blood, it was all the same. The boy looked around the room and confirmed the fact that it was only him who could see whatever it was that was sitting beside him. The other Yuri stood up from his seat and dragged itself towards the front, towards one particular person. The real Yuri couldn’t move at all, he was paralyzed by the whole situation happening in front of his own two eyes. He knew where his counterpart was headed not because of the direction it was taking but because it was him and no one else. No matter how Yuri or anyone else would put it, that thing was still him, real or not.

It stopped right where Jessica was seated. The reflection of Yuri looked back and met the gaze of the real Yuri. Out of nowhere a chain appeared in its hand and it started to wrap it around the clueless brunette. Jessica didn’t move or falter a bit. Seeing this, Yuri felt a little bit relieved for it was yet another sign that the scene appearing in front of him was indeed not real. After wrapping and locking the chain around Jessica, the other Yuri forged the key onto the other end of the chain, making it a part of the sequence. The reflection looked back at the real Yuri once again but this time with different eyes. The weight of the stare sent shivers down the Yuri’s spine. The latter kept reminding himself to calm down and remember that whatever he was seeing was not real and that all of it was just a product of his wild imagination but no matter how much he repeated that in his head, Yuri couldn’t make everything stop.

The reflection grabbed the end of the chain which had the key on it and forcefully pierced himself right on the chest with it. The suddenness of the action put Yuri’s breath into a halt. His heart started to pound uncontrollably and soon enough a burning sensation spread across his chest like wildfire. Yuri’s eyes kept bouncing back and forth between his reflection and his view of Jessica’s back. The line he drew between what was real and what wasn’t was fading away. Yuri closed his eyes in an attempt to redraw that line but no matter how far he got, the line kept on disappearing. For the first time in his life, Kwon Yuri asked for help. He hoped that something or someone would bring him back to reality. He didn’t want to open his eyes because of the fear that he might see the same scene from earlier. For Yuri, time was stretched and each second lingered longer than the next. Why this was happening to him, Yuri had no idea but then again reasons and logic had no place there anyway. Just when everything was about to turn for the absolute worst, he felt something touch his hand. It was an all too familiar touch, it was the one he silently hoped would come for him. With all the strength he had left, Yuri opened his eyes and found his silent wish granted.

--

Jessica’s POV

Yuri came in right on time. When he entered the room, I couldn’t help but stare at his right hand. It was wrapped up in bandages. The worrywart in me kicked in. It’s not only that. He looks quite pale and weak for some reason. He should’ve stayed at home. Why does he have to force himself to go to school when he’s not in any condition to be in the first place?!

This guy…. UGH!

Well, technically I did want to see him but definitely not under these circumstances. I wish he could take care of himself better….

The voice of our teacher hauled me back to reality. Our lesson started and went on its way to our brains. Ms. Sun Hee was discussing a new topic which I was sort of familiar with. I remember it from last year. Back in Daewon, I was put into an advanced class with other students. It was kind of like an in-school ‘academy’ where the school gives free advanced lessons to chosen students. It didn’t cover all subjects, they followed a certain course which I’m not really sure where they based it on. Well whatever that maybe, that experience of mine is proving to be of use now. Tiffany was in that class too, she was chosen like me and at first I didn’t want to do it because I’ve always felt like someone else deserved my spot but my lovely best friend convinced me to stay and take the lessons with her.

I allowed my mind to float away but it didn’t really go that far away. My thoughts immediately led me to that guy sitting at the corner. I sincerely want to help him but I can’t do that if he doesn’t let me. We’re the same in many ways. I also hated myself for several reasons but the people around me were patient enough to save me from ruining myself even further. Unlike me, Yuri has no one. No one to help him, no one to save him. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t last a day, how he does it, I don’t know. What I know is that I don’t want him to go through that any longer. No one deserves to feel that way, no matter what the circumstances are.

*Ding Dong Deng*

The sound of the intercom stole me away from my thoughts. Ms. Sun Hee stopped her lecture and proceeded to hear out the announcement.

“Good Morning, everyone. I would like to request all faculty members to immediately come to the board room for an emergency meeting. As for the students, they will have their break earlier than scheduled. That would be all, thank you.”

Emergency Meeting?

“Did everyone hear that? You guys are lucky. I was supposed to give a short exercise after my lecture.” Ms. Sun Hee simply shook her head and smiled

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then. Read up on chapter 2, we’ll have quiz tomorrow.” Our teacher left the room right after saying that. Everyone was preparing to leave the room except one particular person.

I looked at Yuri at the back, he had his head slightly down and his other hand, the one without bandages, balled up into a fist. What’s happening to him?

I told Taeyeon and the others to go on without me. The room was completely empty except for me and Yuri. I walked down the aisle and stopped in front of his desk. I’m not sure if he’s asleep or what, I can’t really see his face from my position. I reached out to touch his hand and slowly but surely, he looked up at me. Yuri’s eyes looked so tired and his face was even paler than earlier.

“Are you alright?” Panic was starting to set in within me.

He didn’t answer my question but instead just wordlessly looked back at me. I let go of his hand and put it against his forehead. He was practically on fire and that made me more anxious.

“Stay here. I’ll get help okay?” I turned around and was about to walk away but then Yuri stopped me. I felt his hand on my wrist. I turned my head around only to see him stand up and walk towards me. Yuri put his arms around me and rested them on my back, completely engulfing me in his space. I was too stunned to even move. I just stood there not knowing what to do or what to say.

“No. Stay with me.” He said breathlessly. 

--

HELLO MY DEAR READERS :D 

Welcome new subscribers :D 

I'm still quite shocked at the response my story is getting! I want to thank everyone for your support! 

What do you guys thing about this update? Tell me! I would love to hear from you guys, down at the comment section :D 

For this update's music, I would like to share to you an Urban Zakapa song, 지겨워  <-- CLICK THIS FOR THE SONG :D 

Oh and I want to know if there are any VIXX fans here? I like their music a lot. Their concepts are quite different from other groups so yeah, I'm quite interested in them. 

I hope you guys liked this update! Things are about to get uhm.. more interesting in the next few chapters so stay tuned for that! There will be a slight revelation about certain characters' pasts! :

That's all for now! Bye! 

-ymllama