Damn. I skidded to a halt right before running right off the side of the steel road. Fast moving cars were flying across the highway in many shapes and colors. I turned around and came face-to-face with the man who called me his son. The army of uniformed soldiers stood behind and to the side of him with their guns aimed right at me. My father stared right back at me with nothing but pain in his eyes. He raised his hand, holding a small device that had a glowing red button on the center. His thumb lingered over the top button, continuing to look at me with so much shame. A major feeling of dread washed over me, and I tried to call out to him, begging him to not push the button. A single tear fell from his eyes as his thumb pressed down on the button. The glowing red button on the center of the device dimmed and went black, along with my vision.

 

 

 

My eyes snapped open and I breathed in and out shakily. Sunlight was pouring in through my window, illuminating my one-room apartment. I blinked several times, realizing I was dreaming, and slowly moved my hands over my face. That was the third time in a row that I had such an intense dream. The weird thing was that all three of these dreams were connected; they continued off of each other and created as story that I was forced into acting out. The dream I just had made me the most anxious because I seemed to die at the end.

 

Just as I turned to my other side and closed my eyes, my phone alarm rang. I lay still for a moment, then reached onto the floor below me to pick it up.

 

8:00 AM. I had an hour to get dressed, eat some kind of breakfast, and get to my college so I could take my history class. As much as I didn’t exactly care for college, I did find that class somewhat interesting. And it was the last class I needed to take in order to get my Bachelor’s degree, then I’d finally be free. From college anyway.

 

I sat up and stretched. As I made my bed, my phone rang and I glanced over at it. I pressed the “Answer Call” button and put the phone on speaker.

 

“Hey Sunwoo.” I said, smoothing out the blanket and moving over to my closet.

 

“Hey Dongwoo! Are you still home?”

 

“Yeah, I’m leaving soon to go to class. What’s up?” I slipped off my white t-shirt and pulled out a black t-shirt and my blue plaid flannel sweater.

 

“It’s almost seventy degrees right now and it will only get hotter as the day goes on. When are we going to enjoy the summer before it’s too late?”

 

“You know I have class.”

 

“Come on Dongwoo! You’ve been studying for forever and we haven’t hung out a lot for the past few months! I miss you!”

 

I chuckled and pulled on some light blue skinny jeans. “I promise we can hang out after my history final. It’s next week.”

 

“That’s too long! How could I possibly wait?”

 

“Don’t you have to go to work?”

 

“Not until tomorrow. I got the day off!”

 

“Then why are you calling me so early? Aren’t you tired?” I grabbed my phone and moved into my bathroom to wash my face.

 

“Yeah, but that’s not the point! I wanted to talk to you and this is pretty much the only time you seem to answer my messages.”

 

“I message you at night.” I the faucet, checked the water temperature, and let my palms fill with warm water.

 

“Yeah, once in a while.”

 

“Sometimes I need to go to sleep early.” I washed my face and reached for the towel hanging next to me.

 

“Dongwoo…are you mad at me? ‘Cause I don’t want to break up with you…” Sunwoo’s voice was filled sarcasm.

 

I sighed and chuckled lightly, patting my face dry with the towel. “No I’m not mad at you. I’m just really busy these days. I need time to study and do well on my final.”

 

“Yeah well the instant you finish your final, I’m kidnapping you and we’re gonna go do something fun.”

 

“What if you’re working on the day of my final?” I ran a quick brush through my hair and picked up my toothbrush.

 

“I’ll skip.” I could imagine Sunwoo shrugging as he said that.

 

I chuckled again. “Okay, if you say so. I gotta get going now. I’ll message you after class, okay?”

 

“I’m holding you to that. You better not forget.”

 

“I won’t. Talk to you later.”

 

“Bye.”

 

We hang up and I slipped my phone into my jeans pocket. After brushing my teeth, I grabbed my backpack, walked to my door, slipped on my sneakers, and opened the door, making sure it locked behind me.