One

Paper Skies (4444)

"Enjoy the one-shot guys:) 

Don't go too crazy reading this alright? xD OvO 

See you guys at the end of this one-shot~~

E.N.J.O.Y!

 

 

 

 

He frowned when a plate of food was pushed towards him.

Kwon Ji Yong didn't understand why anyone would want to eat broccolis.

He also did not understand why his wife would send him here.

In short, Ji Yong didn't understand anything anyone expected him to understand.

He had always lived a simple life. Growing up, going to work, falling in love, proposing, marrying. Oh why did he marry such a woman? 

He swore he was in love with Hye Min. He swore he did. Hye Min swore too. But when Ji Yong fell silent one day, Hye Min didn't know what was wrong with him.

The usual decent, chirpy man was gone and instead, an almost mute, lifeless man replaced. Hye Min didn't believed in aliens but if you told her Ji Yong has been abducted, she will be the first one to believe.

They went to a many different doctors, all with different results. Depression, cancer, autism...you name it. Pills didn't make a difference, neither did she.

Finally, Hye Min got bored of him. She made the decision that she wanted a new man. After months of searching, blind dates, she finally found one. The only burning question in her head was, how to get rid of Ji Yong?

By law, she was still his spouse. So she made him sign the divorce papers. Ji Yong just scibbled on the blank space, not caring and not knowing what was it. 

But of course, Hye Min wasn't that heartless to just leave him, especially now that he seem like a one-year-old. Not moving from the bed, not speaking, not doing anything. She took sympathy on her ex-husband and sent him to the place where all the mentally ill go to.

The asylum.

The funny thing was, this asylum doesn't even have a name. It did have one, thirty years ago, there was a sign where the asylum's name was displayed, just like other asylums. But for no absolute reason, the sign fell and crashed right in front of the main entrance. No one knew why and no one did anything. Without the sign, people didn't know what it's name was and soon, everyone started calling it 'The Asylum'.

After filling out a few forms, sending him for a few tests, Hye Min waved for last time and then she disappeared, leaving Ji Yong confused and lost in the old, white, 11 storey building.

The whole asylum was splitted into two, the female section on the left and the male section on the right. Right in the middle of the building are the canteen, the multi-purpose court, the park and...the library. 

There's a reason why the library is special, but we'll save that for later.

A ward number tag, two sets of the asylum attire and an unwholesome tray of lunch. That's all that was given to him.

Ji Yong doesn't like to speak, but listening has never been a problem, just that he moves a little too slowly. After being told to eat his meal and bringing his bag up to his ward, the dazed man shuffled into the main canteen and plonked himself down on a squeaky bench.

As he spooned in mouthfuls after mouthfuls of tasteless rice and soggy vegtables, Ji Yong observed everything around with weary eyes. Almost everyone here was clad in a uniform attire, a light blue and white stripped shirt and long bottoms. It looked a little like..what was it again? Ahh..prison attire, that was it.

Subconsiously, the divorced man's mind had drifted off into space as he stared blankly ahead. It was only when a huge pat landed on his back when he turned, facing two males.

The first male was grinning so brightly at him that it almost looked unnatural. He had tiny eyes and Ji Yong also noticed he had hairy arms. Another man was standing behind him, staring at him intimidately as he leaned closer to look at him.

Mr Smile-a-lot spoke first. "Hey man! You new?"  His voice was cheerful, just like his face.

Ji Yong did not respond, but continued to stare at the duo.

"It's okay, don't be shy!" Tiny eyes continued. "I'm Joon Gu, nice to meet you Ji Yong!"

Ji Yong frowned a little, giving Joon Gu a look which said how did you know my name?

As if understanding him, the other man behind folded his arms and stared back at Ji Yong. "Everyone knows your name, it's on your tag, stupid."

Bewildered, Ji Yong still continued to stay mute. He stared at the other man's tag, which said Dong Suk.

"What's your room number?"  Dong Suk asked as he picked his nose.

In response, Ji Yong held up his room tag. Sewn on it, was the numbers '4444'.

Dong Suk rolled his eyes. "Hah, unlucky." Beside him, Joon Gu had suddenly started muttering to himself, something that sounds like "Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock..."

Ji Yong did not think that it was unlucky. In fact, getting such a number like that, isn't that luck instead? Who else has a number like his?

Two minutes has passed and Joon Gu was still chanting to himself. The same two words over and over agin.

"Tick tock tick tock tick tock..."

Dong Suk jabbed a thumb in his direction. "Gu thinks that he is a clock, he counts the time."

At the same instant the word 'time' was said, Joon Gu jumps up. "Time! I'm late! Gotta catch up with the time ticktockticktockticktockticktock.."

And just like that, Ji Yong met his two friends at the asylum. 

In the evening, when he had just finished dinner, he wandered up and down the building. He wasn't paying attention to anything or anyone, until klunk! his head hit something hard.

Looking up, he saw an old tattered piece of paper pasted on a wooden door. Only the back of it was ripped off, leaving the letters Asylum Libr behind.

Without a second thought, he pushed the door opened. It was not because he was curious, but just because he had no where else to go and nothing else to do.

Behind the door revealed a pleasent sight. Something Ji Yong had not been able to see ever since he stepped foot into this asylum. Rosy peach coloured walls, vases of fresh flowers, and lastly, filled from ceiling to floor, was books.

So the sign once said 'Asylum Library'...

"Hello." A warm voice said. 

An old man stood at the counter, wearing actual clothes instead of the asylum uniform. In spite of the wrinkles on his face, he looked friendly, and full of live.

Ji Yong hesitated. Should he speak? Or should he not?

"Hi..." Ji Yong whispered, barely audible.

But nevertheless, the man seems to hear him. "I'm the librarian, just take a look around and tell me what you like. You can do anything with the books, they're all either second or third-handed. No one comes here at all, so I get a bit lonely at times."

Ji Yong felt a bit surprised. No one comes to this nice and cheerful place?

He walked around the library, looking at the covers of the books. He wasn't interested in reading, but being in this room makes him happy, somehow.

Suddenly, an idea pops into his head. Grabbing the nearest book, Ji Yong almost ran over to the table in the middle and sat down.

The man is actually excited, for once.

Opening up the novel to the first page, he grabbed the top corner and started to tear the page. After successfully removing the page from the novel, Ji Yong folded the page in half and continued folding...until a paper plane was formed.

It doesn't matter where the idea of folding paper planes came from, but Ji Yong liked it.

Beaming happily at his masterpiece, he threw it, sending the tiny plane on a three second flight before it tumbled and crashed to the ground. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

Without him actually knowing it, the divorced man had spent about a total of 5 hours in the library, turning one and a half books into 427 paper planes. 

It soon became a regular routine for him to visit this library every single day. He would gobble down his breakfast in lightning speed, have a quick 'chat' with Joon Gu and Dong Suk, and then rush to the library like a mad man. Excuse the pun.

A month had passed since he started living in the asylum. Uncountable numbers of paper planes were created, forming giant mountains on the library tables.

On day, on a windy evening in August, Ji Yong was in the library, doing what he usually does; folding paper planes when suddenly, a movement caught his eyes which caused him to look up.

A person, or rather, a girl was settling down on a table with a book in her hand. Backfacing Ji Yong, she earned a curious stare as Ji Yong watched her flip open a book.

Ji Yong himself doesn't know why, but something drew his attention. Whether is it the straight chocolate brown hair or the whatever spell she had casted on him, he could not, for all the paper planes in this room, take his eyes off her.

He was in such a trance that he dropped the book he was holding, making a loud sound echo throughout the whole room. 

With a wide-opened mouth, he stared at the open book on the ground as if it was his first time laying his eyes on a book. He was frozen, like a block of ice.

She must thinks that I'm a rude person, dropping books in library. 

Ji Yong was about to bend down to pick up the book, when milky white fingers reached for it first.

The girl had picked the book up, offering a small smile to Ji Yong's goldifish-like expression, she read the title of the book. 

"'How to became a mushroom recipe chef genius; for dummies'. Not bad, I'll take this one, if you are done reading it?" Her voice was sweet like wild honey, with a hint of class.

"U-u-uh..I-I am te-tearing it." He muttered frantically, instantly regretting saying that. What if she thinks that he was crazy?

But then again, everyone was crazy here.

"Oh okay, can I help you to tear it?" She said cheerfully.

Surprised with the unexpected answer, Ji Yong turned into a goldfish again.

She sat down beside him, her straight brown locks silently brushing his arms. Ji Yong felt his heartbeat quicken, what is this? Another spell? 

"D-do you know how to fold paper planes?" Ji Yong asked, almost sounding as if he was afriad of her.

To his utmost delight, she nodded happily. "I love paper planes. Paper planes fly. Do you think we could fly too?"

"Why not?" He smiled, passing her something that looks like a page from a medical related magazine.

The girl smiled back. Why not, right? Finally someone that did not push away her dreams of flying.

"My name is Lee Chaerin, I'm 25." She said, shy all of a sudden.

"Kwon Ji Yong, 29." He held out a hand and she shook it.

Another friend made.

With Chaerin by his side, he was no longer lonely. Strangely, he never saw her at breakfast or at the sports court. But she was always there, smiling brightly whenever he walked into the library.

He learned that her family had sent her here, one reason is because they were too poor to feed another mouth, and another is because they suspected that she was slightly delusional, just because she kept asking the same question over and over.

"Do you think humans could, like fly?" She asked, yet again.

Ji Yong couldn't even count how many times she had asked that question. Each time the question left her lips, her eyes would well up in tears, for absolute reason. 

"I just really want to know why." She muttered.

Ji Yong was always awkward when comforting people, especially since he avoided speaking. He placed his warm hand on hers, and gave an enouraging smile.

The amount of paper planes had flooded the library, almost leaving no room to walk. But that's okay, since no one comes here anyways.

"I don't listen to people, I think humans could fly, but they keep insisting that we couldn't, so I don't listen to whatever they say. But you didn't say that humans couldn't, so I like you, and I'll listen to you from now on." Chaerin confessed, as she fiddled with her completed paper plane.

"Then I'll only speak to you from now on." Ji Yong captured her slender hand in his.

Hye Min was long gone in his mind, now replaced with Chaerin. She looked so fragile, so enchanting that it made Ji Yong want to spend his entire life here with her. 

Say it was yet another spell, but Ji Yong doesn't care anymore.

Months had passed and it was now the cold month of december. One night after Ji Yong had just finished dinner, he was just about to push open the door to his ward when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Ji Yong, let's get out from here." 

Chaerin was staring up at him, her eyes filled with the same emotion he saw in Hye Min's eyes when he didn't respond to her. 

"How did you get here, this side of the building is the male's section." He whispered, afriad that someone would hear.

Chaerin shook her head, tears sprang to her eyes. "I don't want to stay in this building anymore, Ji Yong let's get out from here, please! We could go and live in a small house, I don't care if it isn't big. We could fold more planes if you want and we could be happy, we just have to get away from this place!"

"We just had to get away from this place!"

​"We just had to get away from this place!"

Those words echoed in his head.

"Get away from this place..." He muttered. "Get away..."

Chaerin nodded frantically. "Yes, yes we need to get out."

"But how?" Ji Yong asked.

She grabbed his hand, and with a knowing smile, she pulled him towards the library. "It's time to test out my theory."

"But the library is closed after dinner-"

"No it's not, the library is never closed." 

True enough, when Chaerin pushed open the doors, he could see that the library was still brightly lit, with the pile of paper planes in a corner.

"My theory is, we stick the paper planes we folded on our backs, then we can jump off the roof! And we can fly! We can fly to wherever you want, Australia, India, China...wherever you want! What do you say?"

Ji Yong nodded. "Why not?" 

Just had to get out of this place...

Get out...

Get out...

We can fly..

Fly.

Humans can fly..

Yes,

do it.

Jump off the roof.

Jump off.

Fly.

 

They spent an hour in the library, securing the pieces of flimsy paper on their blue and white asylum attire. 

"It's now close to midnight, no one should be around anymore, let's go to the roof now." Chaerin whispered.

They creeped silently, looking like theives in a house. Slowly pushing open the door to the staircase so that it won't squeak, the two climbed to the roof.

The cold winter air sneaked to their fingers and toes as they huddled together, barefooted as they inched closer and closer to the edge of the rooftop.

Chaerin held out a palm. "It's snowing." She whispered.

Ji Yong mirrored her, catching a couple snowflakes as he watched the mist of hot air form whenever he breaths out.

"Are you ready?" Chaerin asked as they stood right at the edge of the roof, hand-in-hand.

Ji Yong stared at the bright city below, cars were whizzing past and people were walking fast and briskly. 

The ground doesn't matter, they're going to fly, right?

Do it.

Hurry up.

Now.

Jump.

Jump off!

"You ready?" She asked again.

Say yes.

"Yes."

"We count to three." She breathes.

"One."

You can fly.

"Two."

Really, just jump.

"Three!"

JUMP!!!

His grip on Chaerin tightened as they leaped off the roof, the icy air now in their nose and throat as they gasped.

But no, they weren't floating.

No, oh no.

They are falling. 

The ground is nearer, so much nearer.

"CHAERIN!" Was his last word, before he felt his body crush.

 

_____________________________

The next morning~

 

"Doctor! Doctor! There has been a death of one patient!"

"What?!"

"How many?"

"One sir! And the patient is a male!"

"How did he die?!"

"Name? Ward number?"

"We suspected that he leaped off the roof sir!"

"I need the name! And ward number!"

"It's Kwon Ji Yong sir! From ward 4444!"

 

Pure, white snow glisten from the morning rays as two doctors and one nurse rushed to the entrance of the asylum.

A man laid, lifeless and covered with the snow from the night before. Beneath him was another layer of snow, except that it was mixed with red.

"Is that..."

"Paper planes?"

The nurse began to sob. 

"Are there any more who was hurt?" One of the doctor asked softly.

"No sir..." The nurse replied. "He was the only one who died." 

"Ask for this man's friends in this asylum and ask if they know anything about his reason of suicide."

"Yes sir."

 

______________________________
 

"Dong Suk and Joon Gu-shi?"

Dong Suk raised a hand lazily, while Joon Gu twindled with his thumb as he muttered "ticktockticktock..." Under his breath.

"Does Ji Yong had any weird behavior or did he tell you any reason for being...upset maybe?"

Joon Gu shook his head, still chanting.

Dong Suk thought for a moment. "Eh...nope. Except for saying 'Lee Chaerin' repeatedly, he wasn't weird in any way, pretty nurse."

"Thank you both very much, you two may leave."

 

"Doctor?"

"Have you found out anything?"

"Yes sir, Lee Dong Wok said that he said 'Lee Chaerin' repeatedly."

"Oh...okay."

"But sir,"

"Yes?"

"I looked up the hospital particulars, there was no Lee Chaerin."

"It's okay, maybe it was his close relative or someone."

"Yes sir, I will tell that to the police."

"Oh and do you think we should reopen the library? No one goes there anymore after the earthquake had messed up the whole place."

"I will tell the manager about your suggestion sir."

"You may go now."

"Yes sir."

 

 

_________THE END_________

Soooo..

For those of you who doesn't get the plot:

Ji Yong was actually really crazy. There was no librarian, no Chaerin, and the library was wrecked and messed after an earthquake. The pleasent library, the librarian and Chaerin was all a figment of his imagination.

In short, Ji Yong jumped off the roof and died, from his own imagination.

Spooky right? Dying from your own imaginaton.

*Evil laughter*

The story might make no sense, since I have no idea what an asylum is really like :/

DO COMMENT DOWN 'HOOT HOOT!'  If you liked it OvO 

If you are reading my fic for the first time, hello and welcome to the Owls world! That is...if you want to join us...of course...haha..:3

DO GIVE THIS ONESHOT A VOTE AND MANY LOVE <3

CHECK OUT MY OTHER STORIES IF YOU LIKED THIS ONE ;)

LOTS OF LOVE AND SKYDRAGON!

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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babyda91
#1
Chapter 1: Omg..even if spooky, crazy, sad..but interesting! You hv great imagination & good writer..oh poor jiyong T_T this so sad..suddenly change from being normal like HOW.. WHY..uhh like it btw
grldrgn
#2
Chapter 1: OH MY GOD YOU REALLY SOMETHING AUTHORNIM!!!! I like you!
Skydragon28
#3
Chapter 1: Woah! That story really make me jaw-dropped! Gosh! You really nailed it author! Please make more (but with no crazy Jiyong or Chaerin please... ^U^)... Love you author-nim! <3
longlive #4
Chapter 1: CRIES WAILS AHHHHHHHH
iKON_winner #5
im speechless aft reading......... woah you totally make me rocket all the way to the moon and back
bingudork #6
Chapter 1: Hi! I have this school project about short stories, technically oneshot ffs are short stories right lol, and I was wondering of I could use this ff? And also translate it to my language? I promise I'll include your credits! Please? >< thanks before♥♥♥
teevee
#7
Chapter 1: Wooow...that's about all I can say. It was just wow.
addy88 #8
Chapter 1: Hahahhahha i went menboong after reading this.. good jobbb authornim
aljin0109 #9
Chapter 1: OHHMYYGOSHH AUTHOR-NIM YOU REALLY ARE CRAZY!!!! I REALLY THINK EVERYTHING WAS REAL BUT I STILL LOVED IT!! HOOT HOOT!!!! I AM YOUR OWL RIGHT??? OvO HAHAHAHA TOO BAD CHAE WAS'NT REAL.... BUT I LOVED IT!!!