FINALE: THE BOY WHO CRIED JOHN

Once there was a shepherd boy named Seungkwan. He has a passion for singing even before he could spell ABC, or even memorize Hangeul. But given the condition that he was born into a poor family, he was forced to become a shepherd instead; and a shepherd he became.

A terrible shepherd he became indeed.

Every day in the morning, he would bring the sheep at the grassy, green hillside, where the sheep would graze on the untouched grasses of the hillside while he would sing to perfect his singing voice. And maybe someday strive for the Diva career. But going to a bigger and richer city would cost a lot for a townsperson like him. Not to mention, the so-called 'civilized' city dwellers would insult him, just because he came from a town. People originating from a town would be viewed by the city-dwellers as poor, someone way below their social standing.'

Well, dreaming is free, right?

After the day was done, he would come back with the sheep from the hillside, sing a song that was made by Jihoon. Or Smol Red Riding Hood. What do they call him nowadays? Anyway, the sheep returned to their places and he went home, endlessly singing the same damn song on his way to home. It was so repetitive that the same neighbors who praised his singing voice soon grew irritated with him.

He still sang the same song until he got home. He greeted his beloved mom, who wore a sad smile. Seungkwan stopped for a moment and got worried quickly. Usually, his mother would greet him back, ask how his day was, and provide him the most delicious dinner he could ever have in his life. But today was different. The lit fireplace illuminated his mother's figure, which made the situation even tenser. Seungkwan closed the door quietly, the song never to come out of his mouth again.

"Seungkwan-ah," her voice was loud and clear, even echoing inside the house, "I think it's time for you to stop dreaming."

His eyebrows raised. Does she mean...?

"Sengkwan-ah," she called again, but this time, her voice lowered. She looked straight into his eyes, giving him a pitying look, "You do know that we're poor; no matter what your father and I do, we can't provide you the money to go to the city, can we? We're born into a poor family. Please face the truth, Seungkwan-ah; you can't become a singer."

His life was simple: Wake up in the morning, tend the sheep, go home, sleep, and repeat.

And now she's asking to stop 'dreaming'. She's asking to throw that dream away like it's just a meaningless pebble hurled away carelessly on a pond. His passion for singing, his love for music, his wish to become a famous vocalist; desires that he clung onto that made him endure the fact that his only purpose in life was to be a shepherd, although a terrible one. A frown crept at his face, unaware that his fists were curling. He can't shout at his mother, no, he would never do that even though she's being hard on him. He bottled it up instead. He broke eye contact and emotionlessly made his way to his room, slamming the door shut. He lied down on his not-so-comfy bed, wishing that he would forget today's events and hope to drift off to dreamland. Ignoring the slight sounds of creaking chairs and faint footsteps, he slowly slipped into dreamland; his only escape at the moment.

The next day, he woke up earlier than the usual. The sun was still rising since there's not a single of sunlight penetrating his window. He stood up from the bed and sneaked out of the house; he doesn't want to see his mother today, never mind the breakfast. The crisp morning air greeted him as he strolled outside. There are a handful of people awake, already starting the day by working and organizing their workplaces. He stopped by a bakery, the one that Mr. Park owns. The aroma of freshly baked bread attacked his nose, making him drool at the smell. Mr. Park glanced up from the tray full of different types of bread, ranging from buns to baguettes. Sometimes he wonders why Mr. Park hadn't transferred to the city yet. His shop would trend there much better than here.

"Good morning, Seungkwan-ah. Early today, hmm?" the old man smiled while placing the bread on display. He looked around, trying to find the person who was usually present in the shop every morning.

"Good morning, Mr. Park! Where's Mrs. Park?"

"She's sick today. I didn't bother to wake her up."

"I hope she gets better..." he said in a sad tone, but before he could leave the shop, Mr. Park called out to him.

"Wait, why don't you grab some buns? You have a long day ahead, I'm giving these for free," Seungkwan thanked the old man and exited the store, a bag full of bread in his hands. Mr. Park was such a father figure to him. Every time he would visit the shop, he always gives him free bread, so he just avoids visiting the shop at all for the sake of the Parks' profit.

When the sun has completely risen and he had already consumed his breakfast, he took the sheep to the hillside to tend them. It was odd that he hadn't bumped into the infamous Smol Red Riding Hood yet; maybe he overslept. Again. Lucky him that he was famous and feared, something that Seungkwan desires—except for the last part. 

Today was just boring. He didn't feel the need to practice his singing voice, nor jog around the hillside and exercise. He was bored, really. Observing the area around him, he spotted the familiar huge tree that towered over the few small trees. He decided to rest under the shade on the tree's thick branches—maybe even sleep. Wolves rarely go out in the morning, so he can sleep until noon. He climbed like an expert up the tree and spotted a figure far way. His eyes squinted, trying to figure who it is. The figure swiftly kicked, punched, flipped, and done sorts that almost looks like dancing. Just from the style of how it was done, he could already tell who is it. He hastily jumped down from the tree unharmed and neared the figure until he was sure that he could be heard from that distance.

"John-hyung!" he shouted, even putting both of his hands on the sides of his mouth in hopes of emitting an echo. The figure stopped and turned towards the source of the sound. A scowl was evident on the figure's face as he got nearer. Seungkwan just jokingly smiled when he was right in front of him rather fast, only consuming a minute or two.

Jun crossed his arms, "It's Jun, not John." 

"But I'm learning Yeong Eo*," Seungkwan scratched the back of his head, but he suddenly remembered something, "Right, why are you here? Don't you live in, uh, Jung Gug?*" Jung Gug's like mountains away. He knows he didn't come here in the hillside to practice Wushu. 

Jun smirked, "I'm not alone."

"Minghao's here too?"

"Yep." he replied.

"We're doing a favor... for a friend." he continued on before Seungkwan could protest that he came here to do odd 'mercenary jobs'. Sometimes he wondered how Jihoon befriended these types of people without getting killed. Normally he would've avoided people like Jun or Minghao, but then he's friends with Jihoon. 

"Favor for a friend? You mean Jihoon-hyung? What happened to him?" Seungkwan bombarded him with questions, but the latter just stared above at the clear, blue morning sky.

"As far as I know, his grandfather's sick when we visited him but Jihoon knows nothing about it. As for the favor, well, we're just going to borrow some chicken from him." Seungkwan followed his gaze and saw a bright light coming out from the clouds. Does he mean...?

"John," Jun glared daggers at him again, Seungkwan's mouth hung open, even dropping the honorific on accident and used his nickname for him instead, "Are you planning on suicide?" 

"I—we—aren't just called 'mercenaries' for nothing." still crossing his arms, he stood upright and continued staring at the calm morning sky. The two fell in silence. Jun cut Seungkwan off when he tried to speak, "Tend the sheep instead of chatting with me pabo, some wolf might eat it without you knowing it." he waved him off and rushed towards the spot he practiced on before. Seungkwan wanted to ask some more questions, but he just pouted. He didn't exactly tell what happened to Jihoon but instead his grandfather instead, Also stealing something from Jisoos? The Jisoos? Goodness, he should break his ties with them before he gets burned, tormented even, by the Yoon or Jisoos himself, for being affiliated with those two—make it three— pabos.

He too rushed back at the tree and climbed up again. An hour passed by so slowly that Seungkwan eventually got bored. Forget sleeping, Jun-hyung's here. The said person was still practicing Wushu on the distance, his moves never ceased to slow down. Good for him, he better practice a lot because he's going to deal with Jisoos sooner or later. Speaking of practice...

How fast can you run, Jun-hyung?

"John-hyung! John-hyung!" he called him in Yeong Eo accent, "There's a wolf! Awhooo~!" Seungkwan tried to howl like a wolf as he eyed Jun's figure. Jun stopped for a second before rushing full speed at the area he was in. After a few minutes, he reached the area. When Jun saw that the sheep were unharmed, he looked around, confused, before hearing loud laughter from above the huge tree. He fou