As usual, when his father had finally woken up the day after the incident, he couldn't remember a thing. 

Mr. Moon was upset, and demanded that Jongup tell him what had happened.  Things like this shouldn't happen to a "man's only son."

Jongup lied and said that he had fallen out of a tree he had climbed to the top of.  Although a little suspicious, Mr. Moon rushed Jongup to the hospital nearly an hour away. 

The doctor and nurses were surprised at the damage done to Jongup, who merely brushed it off as him being "extra clumsy."  They were even more suspicious than Mr. Moon, but they simply did their job and didn't ask any further questions.

Only a few days later, Jongup was starting to get sick of the hospital's super-sterile smell.  Everything was white--the room, the sheets, the bed, the hospital gown he wore. 

Two whole weeks passed before Jongup was released from the hospital.

Although he was finally home, he had to stay in bed.  Jongup wanted to go outside and see Yongguk, Zelo, or Himchan again.  It felt like he had just spent a lifetime away from them.  Would they think he was avoiding them?

But he was still confined to his room.  He could only stare at the plain furniture, walls, and ceiling.  He must've looked at that picture of his mother and him a million times. 

He’d keep strong, just for her.  He prayed his injuries would heal soon so he could go outside.

Two more weeks of waiting around passed before Jongup felt well enough to walk.

Mr. Moon had gotten a job to pay off the hospital fees.  This left Jongup home alone to do whatever he wanted to do. 

The first thing he did was go to the forest to see Himchan, of course.

It was peaceful today.  The birds sang their songs happily in the trees.  The sun and the shade from the trees made the forest a comfortable temperature.  It really was a beautiful day, and Jongup intended to enjoy the outdoors as much as he could.

Slowly walking through the thick trees,  he made his way to the small waterfall where he had first met Himchan.  To his surprise, Himchan was sleeping, propped up against a smooth rock close to the water. 

Himchan seemed to be in a deep sleep.  Jongup took a step towards him, contemplating whether or not to wake him.  He missed talking to Himchan, but didn’t want to disturb Himchan’s sleep. 

He then noticed that Himchan was wearing his blindfold. 

“That’s odd.” Jongup thought.  “If Himchan was just hiding how his eyes looked, he wouldn’t need to keep that on when he’s asleep.”

Curiosity got the better of the younger boy and he silently made his way over to Himchan.  His heart was beating a mile a minute as he carefully pulled the blindfold off.  He just wanted to see what Himchan’s eyes looked like...

Himchan’s hand darted out and grabbed onto Jongup’s wrist.  He opened his eyes which met with Jongup’s.  The two stared into each others’ eyes, not moving at all.

Jongup gasped.  Himchan’s eyes were eerily beautiful.  The irises were metallic black and they shone in the sun.  He felt like he couldn’t breathe as their eyes locked onto each other.

Himchan quickly realized that he could see Jongup clearly.  “Crap, my blindfold!” Himchan thought, cursing inwardly.  He shut his eyes tightly and grabbed the piece of cloth from Jongup’s hands.  Himchan quickly tied the blindfold on again as a million thoughts raced through his head.

“Why do you hide them?” Jongup asked bravely, surprised by Himchan’s reaction.  He now knew that Himchan could see. 

Above them, rain clouds began to appear.  The sky and forest grew darker. 

Himchan knew the damage was done.  Although he had tried to look away quickly, he had met eyes with Jongup.  A few drops of rain started to fall. 

“I...I have to go.” Himchan said softly, looking warily towards the sky.  He pushed Jongup away and ran off into the trees. 

“Wait!” Jongup started after Himchan, but rain started to pour down in sheets.

Although still confused at Himchan’s actions, Jongup decided to go home.  He was getting soaked and he didn’t know the forest as well as Himchan did. 

Thunder boomed above him, echoing in the mountains.  Lightning illuminated the sky. 

Jongup quickened his pace and he rushed to get home. He frantically ducked under branches and leaped over tall roots.  He started to sprint as his house came into view.

Suddenly, lightning struck the tree right by his window.  The tree lurched forward then started falling straight towards Jongup. 

Jongup leaped out of the way, but he painfully landed on his ankle—the same one that he had broken.  He cursed and used a tree branch to pull himself up.  His house was close by, he could ice his ankle there. 

He limped, basically hopping on one foot, towards his house.  Jongup scrambled inside and shut the door.  Closing his eyes, he sighed in relief.  He was finally out of that storm.  It seemed to appear out of nowhere.  Just a little while ago, it was the nicest day Jongup had seen in a while.  And what was the deal with Himchan?

He grabbed an ice pack from the refrigerator and glanced at the calendar hanging from it.  His dad wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.  Jongup limped towards the television and fell exhausted on the couch.  He was wearing his drenched clothes but didn’t want to go up the stairs with his bad ankle. 

“Might as well watch TV...” Jongup muttered, pressing the power button on the remote while applying the ice pack to his swollen joint. 

“Breaking news, two rookie idols have been killed in a hit-and-run.  It is believed that the driver was an anti...” The newscaster droned. 

Jongup’s heart dropped.  He had a bad feeling. 

Jongup turned the volume on the television up and listened closely.

“The rookie idols killed were Jung Daehyun and Yoo Youngjae, two of the most promising...”

Jongup didn’t hear anything after that.

His best friends were dead.

Shocked, he turned off the television.  He couldn’t stand to watch any more.  Slowly he limped upstairs to his room.  After changing, he collapsed on his bed. 

His heart felt like a part of it was missing.  Daehyun and Youngjae were the only people left who knew about his father’s drunken behavior.  Now they were gone out of his life.  He hadn’t even gotten to talk to them after he moved.  It had been well over a month.  Jongup took it for granted that he would see them again. 

Jongup felt emotionally and physically exhausted.

“Why?” He thought, crying as he fell into a restless sleep.

~~~

I'm sorry I killed DaeJae. ; o ;