One More Time

Around the Campfire

I awake in an unfamiliar room. It looks similar to a hospital room. I don't know why I'm here. It looks rather gloomy with the limitation of the lighting. I am covered in a white sheet. I try to stand but my legs feel so numb I can't move an inch. I look under the sheet to see that I am wearing a blood stained gown and there is a stitched incision up the sides of both legs. I started to freak out. HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?!

I see a tall hooded man walk in, revealing it's my dad. I grow angry. I have nothing to do with him? Why is he here? Even though I'm very confused and want answers, I would rather hear them from a stranger than HIM.

"My son..." He started but quickly paused. 

I cross my arms. 

"If I am that to you... What do you want?"

He shows me a paper with 10 paragraphs and both his and my mom's signature. Bold letters on the top of the paper said: CUSTODY APPROVED

He grabs my arm.

"Get dressed your coming home with me."

Fear struck me as I resist his grasp and clung onto the side bars of the bed. My mom walks in holding Mary Kate in a tight grip. She shakes her head and tears run down her face washing off her make up revealing fresh bruises.

"I-I'm so sorry sweetie. The baby is more important. I lost the battle."

I shake my head forcing myself to stand but immediately falling onto the floor. I look up at her.

"Mom! Y-You promised!"

Dad tried to grab me again when I did a weird wobble run out the room and down a dark hallway. I see a nurse desk in the distance. The ceiling fluorescent light constantly flickering barely lit the entire station. I look for someone. No one was around to be seen, even though I knew that it was no use I screamed out hoping someone will hear me and come over to help.

"Please! Someone help! I need someone!"

The swivel chair that was facing the wall and I first assumed was empty, somehow turned slowly by itself to face me. Sitting in the chair was that creepy dummy of Harper's. It's dressed like a surgeon and covered from top to bottom in blood. It looked like it went on a murder rampage. The eyes were showing cracks similar to being blood shot. The iris is completely dark red and pupils were smaller than normal. Every so often it's head twitched left or right. 

"Hi JiYong!"

I jump back nearly falling. I grab a pair of dirty crutches that lay beside the desk. 

"GET AWAY FROM ME!

The dummy lets out that scary cackle that shook me to the bone. Dad managed to grab a hold of me from behind. The dummy gets down from the chair rushing toward me with a bloody scalpel. 

"I'm gonna getcha! I'm gonna getcha!"

I shake my head rapidly trying the hardest to my ability to free myself but failing. I scream loudly in terror. The dummy lets out a loud evil laugh as he lunges toward me with the sharp scalpel pointed out toward me. 

 

"NO!"

I shot up in my bunk taking loud gasps. My hands trembling and sweaty. After a moment I realize that I am in my bunk in the cabin. 

It was just a nightmare... I'm safe and sound...

A roll of thunder made me jump. Talk about bad timing especially for a summer middle of the night thunderstorm. I clip my flashlight on and take my book out of my bag pouch. I might as well read for a bit to get the jitters out of me before I try to doze off. I hear a faint whimper from under me. 

"What the hell?" I whisper climbing off my bunk. 

I see Seung Hyun wide awake clenching his pillow for dear life. He's curled up almost into a ball. He whimpers again when the thunder rolled and lightning filled the room for a split second.

"M-Mommy..." He whispers curling up tighter.

I really can't help but feel bad for him. He's just scared. A moment ago I was scared myself. I lightly sit beside him giving him a tight hug.

"It's okay Seung Hyun. You're alright."

He sniffs wiping his cheeks. 

"I'm sorry if I woke you up. I'm really scared. Are you okay? I heard you crying a little bit ago.."

I nod hugging him tighter when he whimpers in fear again. 

"Hey this is what buddies are for. We're there for each other no matter what. This storm will be over soon. I was crying a bit over a bad dream but I know that it's nothing real."

Seung Hyun smiles.

"I bet you just needed a hug."

I smile back. 

"Sure."

The storm did not last long. In fact Seung Hyun had fallen asleep on my shoulder. I try to lay him down without waking him but he had a hold of my waist. There is no way to lay him down without waking him up. I try to at least loosen his grip.

"Seung hyun... I need to get back into my bunk."

After a second I somehow managed to loosen his grasp and lay him down.

"Goodnight buddy."

I slowly get up and climb up the ladder to my bunk.

 

-A few hours later- 

"Alright guys it's to rise and shine. Lets see those hind ends up and at em."

I open my eyes and lightly groan pulling my blanket over my head. 

"Gabe... Five more minutes please...?"

Gabe taps the end of my sleeping bag with a bright smile.

"Come on you need to wake up."

 Honestly, no matter how many times I see this man, I will never get over that the fact that he's that big of a morning person really irks me. I get out of my bunk fixing my bed hair. 

"Good morning Mr. Ji Yong."

I sleepily wave as I change into an outfit. Seung Hyun gets out of bed. 

"Hi buddy. Thank you for helping me."

I nod.

"No problem."

We go outside once we are dressed and Gabe sits us down for a second to explain to us what the agenda is. 

"Okay campers after breakfast we're going to bake cookies with Phyllis and bring them to the Main Hall for the visitation, after the visitation we'll go to the pavilions to practice driving our go karts, then it'll be dinner and a movie."

Oh yeah I forgot all about the visitation today. Our parents are coming to see how we are doing and what fun activities we did so far. I guess for our team we show them our go karts and how they work. I'm super excited to see my mom and my aunt, and to meet my baby sister. We go to the cafeteria to eat our breakfast, we had: eggs, bacon, toast, and home fries. After breakfast we all go into the kitchen to meet up with Phyllis. 

"Hello Campers."

I sprint to her for a hug. She smiles so big and returns the affection.

"Hi how's my Sprinkles?"

I smile walking back to the group she instructs us to wash our hands and put on gloves and hair nets.

I cringe. We have to wear hair nets?? Seeing she won't let us bake without them on I put the hair net over my head. We got to mixing the ingredients in the world's largest mixing bowl.

I nudge Hong Ki's elbow.

"Hey why don't we fill that thing with hot water we'll have a instant hot tub."

Hong Ki literally thought about it before agreeing with me. We got all the ingredients mixed and we started to roll out pieces of cookie dough into balls so we can place them on the possibly 4 foot baking sheet.

"Are we baking for giants?" I ask with my eyes widened. Phyllis laughs.

"No sweetie don't be silly because we are expecting over 50 people today at the visitation we need to make tons of cookies it's less time consuming to use the big trays and dishes."

We manage to get about 40 cookie dough pieces on the sheet before Phyllis greases another big sheet and puts the cookies in the oven. It takes about 30 minutes but we made about 80 cookies: 40 chocolate chip and 40 oatmeal raisin. 30 more minutes to help clean up while they cook.

The cookies took about 15 minutes to cool in the big freezer. Phyllis allows us to have one for our hard work. She says she would bring them to the main hall if we could carry the 3 large coolers filled with various cans of soda and ice. Seung Hyun and I carry one, Hong Ki and Seungri carries the second, and Daesung and Taeyang carries the final one. Gabe helps phyllis get the cookies off the baking sheets and onto large round pans. 

We carry everything down to the main hall and set up the refreshment and snack tables. Everything is looking awesome we have table cloths of all different colors along with streamers and balloons. We see the back parking already halfway filled with waiting family members. I grow super excited. I quickly run back to the cabin to get my guitar to show my Mom. I return seeing parents starting to come in. Janie is greeting them all. 

Seung Hyun gets greeted by his mom and dad. He hugs them elated to see them. He grabs their hands and walks them toward me.

"Mom! Dad! Come meet my best friend Ji Yong!"

I smile shyly and wave.

"Hi."

They look at me like I am dog poop on the bottom of their shoe and walk away from me with Seung Hyun.

Nice to meet you too. 

Five minutes pass, I am constantly looking around for my mom and aunt. So far nothing. I can't even see her van. I look down at the floor. I think that she couldn't make it to the visitation. The least she could do is tell Janie so she could let me know so I'm not wasting my time. I grab a couple cookies and turn to walk away. 

"Ji Yong?"

I turn around to see my aunt and my mom. I quickly run to them to give them hugs. I was ready to give up when they manage to surprise me. They were extremely happy to see me. I go outside to the patio where it was quieter so I can talk to them. My aunt and Mom take a seat in the chairs and I sat on the window still.

"I missed you guys a lot."

"We missed you too dear. How's camp are you enjoying it now?"

I nod happily.

"Yeah I'm doing sports and activities. I made friends in my cabin. The meal server named Phyllis she adores me and calls me Sprinkles. I hated it here at first but now I don't ever want to leave."

Mom smiles.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it here sweetie. I got some news that I want to tell you in person."

I tilt my head. She grasps my hand. I knew that this wasn't good.

"On the good side the divorce is being processed and is starting to work in my favor. The bad news is recently just before Mary Kate was born the nursery caught fire and everything was destroyed. We weren't home when it happened and thankfully it was just that room that com busted. I got some stuff back in donations."

My mouth dropped.

"Oh no. How are you getting everything back Mom?"

Mom nods.

"This is where you come in sweetie. Since your room is the largest I did some rearranging and I put the donated crib, changing table, and swing in your room. I hope you can share just until I find another place. I'm so sorry I hope you're not too upset and understand."

I smile and nod back. I pat her shoulder.

"It's cool with me. I always wanted a roommate."

Mom hugs me tight thanking me then she shows the carrier covered in a pink blanket. She uncovers it to show this chubby baby girl in pink PJs looking around at the world. She picks her up and lays her in my arms. I smile big seeing this cutie and give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi sissy. I'm your brother. I'm happy to finally meet you."

She returns the affection by simply sticking her tongue out at me. I mimic her and laugh. Mom and my aunt takes pictures of me holding Mary Kate. My cabin mates find me and circle around me adoring Mary Kate. 

"Oh my Gosh she is too cute!"

"Ji Yong you're a great big brother!"

"She is so chubby!"

I look at her and then at my guitar. 

"Hey sis. I have a song I wrote for you. Do you want to hear it?"

I give her back to Mom. I strum the intro and sang the song proudly. It's crazy how well I do when I don't have a kid threatening to kill me. When my song was done I didn't receive much of a reaction to Mary Kate but I did receive an applause from Mom, my aunt, cabin mates, and about everyone on the porch who silenced when I started singing. I smile again shyly and take a small bow. Janie comes up to me putting a star sticker on my shirt. 

"I knew you had it in you Ji Yong. You're amazing. You're in the talent show."

I look shocked at her.

"W-What?"

"When you left angrily I saw Connor laughing at you I knew he must've made you nervous. I was going to remind you that you have a second chance until I heard it myself. You're in the show."

Mom and my aunt hug and congratulate me. I introduced them to Seung Hyun and Hong Ki. We all go to the pavilion to show our parents our karts and they had a chance to meet Joe. I saw Gabe talking to Janie. 

Something came to me. Yes, Gabe does irk me and likes to be a dork. He would be perfect for Mom though. She is looking for Gabe's personality in guys. He's fun but stern. In a way he's been like a father to me. A father I really wished I had. I took her hand and walked her over to Gabe. 

"Hey Ji Yong! Is this pretty woman your Mom?" 

I nod. He looks at Mary Kate and absolutely adores her. I hug my Mom's arm.

"Mom. This is Gabe."

 

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Comments

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Cinderelly12
#1
Chapter 19: This is cute. I’m really enjoying the read. Thank you.
NiNiBeee0 #2
Chapter 6: Interesting! Nice story:)
Dragontop #3
Okay love it - i love JIYONG character here - Gtop moment next please <3 it's interesting u know
JojoTheCrookedSaint
#4
Chapter 1: An interesting plot and a rebellious boy who thinks he's in control of everything. I LIKE IT let's just wait for everything to go downhill for Jiyong XD
vododoll #5
Chapter 3: Hahaha I'm in love with ji hahahah I love your story , pleaseeee update, fightiiiing
anna_pagnin
#6
Chapter 3: Oh yeah, finally an update eheheh, it's okay that you added hongki, if you want you can also add the others FTIsland member eheh. This story seems interesting and I'm looking forward for more!
vododoll #7
Chapter 2: I love jiyong personally kkkk please update authornim :)