▲▼▲ JEA - WHILE YOU ARE SLEEPING

Minyoung sighed as she sat in her room that was back to normal. She looked around, finding that the only thing that changed was her replaced desk and all of her books were gone. She couldn't help, but feel happy to be back at home. She looked at her desk, imagining herself sitting there for hours, her lamp was as well, books everywhere, and along with papers. Walking towards her desk, she pulled out one of her drawers, finding a bottle with one last blue pill inside. Sighing, she closed the drawer right as her door opened. Her parents stood at the door with an emotionless face. "How are your grades?" her father asked in a calm voice.
"Decent. All A's," Minyoung replied.
"How long do you study each night?" her mother asked.
"One to three hours a day."
Her father sighed and turned away. "You can stay for the night, but first thing tomorrow, you must leave," he said. "That's all we have to say."

Minyoung pressed her lips into a firm line, and abruptly stood up from her seat. "Can I say something?" she asked, looking at the ground. Her mother looked at her and nodded. Minyoung took a deep breath before speaking, "Mom, dad, you both expect me to be better at Jaesun at just something, don't you? I'm not a robot, you know. I made mistakes ever since you gave birth to me, and I will continue to make these mistakes, and I am truly sorry that I'm not the perfect child that you wanted like Jaesun. But truth be told, Jaesun also isn't perfect. Neither is Hyunchan," she said. "But have you realized that perfect isn't a real term in this world? Perfect is just another word that has no true meaning, like normal. Being imperfect is the only perfection in this world. Without it, we'd all be emotionless and just... Not human. There's also no such thing as a perfect family like us... We're an imperfect family, and that's what keeps us together," she whispers the last part. "I've been thinking, the only reason why you both always put so much pressure on me is because you care about me... You want me to try hard and to keep my head up at all times, you want me to have a good future. I was immature back then when I left the house, but even if I didn't leave, I wouldn't have understood what life is like. I wouldn't have known what you both have been trying to do for me. But I also found that because of what you're doing, it's keeping me back from reaching my future, and as much as I want to graduate out of high school with a good grade point average, I want to focus on my future most. I don't want to be caught up in too much of the present. If I do, I won't be able to reach my future..." She looked up from the ground, looking at her parents who stood at the door.

Her father sighed, "Tomorrow, I don't want to see you first thing in the morning," he whispers before closing the door. She heard her mother mutter something to her father as they walked away.
Minyoung sighed, looking at the ground as she sat back down on her chair.

She took a deep breath before hobbling onto the small stage in her rilakkuma costume with her two other classmates. She heard the parents giggle and murmur about how cute the elementary children looked in their costumes. Minyoung smiled as she stood in the center of the stage. Her eyes wandered around in the audience beyond her. Her eyes glistened when she found her parents proudly smiling at her, along with her two brothers. Her mother clasped her hands together while her father held out a palm-sized camera, recording everything. Minyoung heard the song 'Three Bears' start to play and she got into her position. She started to sing along with her classmates and swayed side to side, her eyes on her family. When the song ended, she found her family giving her a standing ovation, smiles on their faces. Giggling, she ran down the stage and waited until the day was finished.

Finally, the event ended, and Minyoung was still in her costume as she ran towards her family. "Mom, dad!" she said. "Did you like my performance?" she asked, batting her long lashes, and swayed back and forth. Her father smiled at her, while her mother bent down, fixing her bangs.
"You were very good out there," her mother.
"Good? She was perfect!" her father said, bending down to pick her up and throw her in the air, catching her and hugged his daughter proudly, making Minyoung squeal and giggle. Her father sets her back down on the ground with her brothers.
Her mother chuckled, "There's no such thing as perfect, honey," she said.
"You're right. But in our family, it does, when one of our children makes us proud," he said.

Hyunchan ran up to their father and looked at their parents. "Daddy, I want ice-cream," he said, as he held his baby blue blanket close to him.
Their father smiled and said, "Let's go get some ice-cream then, as a family." He picked Hyunchan up with a chuckle, while their mother took Jaesun and Minyoung's hand, making their way out to the car.

Minyoung flipped to the next page, finding a picture of her in a party hat, her fourth birthday.

"Smile, Minyounggie~" her mother cooed from behind the camera. Minyoung pouted and shook her head as she watched Jaesun and Hyuncan play video games. Her mother sighed and sat down beside her. "Minyoung-ah, we're truly sorry that we couldn't hold a birthday party for you," her mother said. Minyoung turned her back to her mother and crossed her arms.
Hyunchan turned around after he got tired of his video games. He crawled towards Minyoung and started to sing and clap, with his blankie in hand, "Happy birthday, noona~ Cheer up~ Don't be mad~ It's your day, so smile~" His hands were above his head and he smiled proudly at his sister. He always wanted to see a smiling Minyoung.

Jaesun stood up and grabbed a birthday party hat from the table, walking over to Minyoung, carefully clasping it over her head. He sat down beside the youngest sibling and started to sing along with Hyunchan. "A pretty girl like you, shouldn't be crying and pouting like that," Jaesun said. "You should smile. Smiles brighten people's days, and a smile from you is beautiful."
"Aigoo, aigoo, aigoo~" her father said as he rushed out from the kitchen with an apron on. "I heard that my beautiful princess is crying. No princess should cry on her birthday," he said, wagging his finger at her. "A princess must sit up straight, wipe those tears away, and smile... As she enjoys her birthday with her family, and with cake!" He rushed to the kitchen and soon came back with a plate of cake.

Minyoung sniffled a couple of few times, as her mother wiped away her tears that were flowing down Minyoung's chubby cheeks. "Cake?" Her father smiled, handing her the plate of cake. Hyunchan crawled towards her, taking a small handful of cake. Minyoung blinked, and watched as Hyunchan quickly stand up and walked towards Jaesun, smacking the cake on to his face. Hyunchan giggled happily at Jaesun, as the elder wiped off the cake from his face. Jaesun reached for the cake, grabbing a handful, smearing it all over his little brother's baby face.
Hyunchan wiped his cheek, and ate the cake and icing. "Yummy~" he said, giggling.

She sighed as she found the next page blank, unfinished. But she continued to flip through her scrapbook until the very end. Finally, she reached the end, reading 'Imperfect is Perfect. Our family is nowhere near perfect, but we're the most imperfect people on Earth...' She grabbed a pencil, as a tear managed to exit her eye. The tip of her pencil landed on the page, she started to write: 'Life is complicated, no one will be able to understand each other. That doesn't mean that you can just give up. Keep your head up high, and keep trying.' Her pencil dropped from her grip and she started to wept into her hands. *Life is just a challenge.* She grabbed her phone. The only person she wanted to be with was Sehun. She unlocked her phone, finding a picture of her and Sehun as her wallpaper.

Minyoung felt a tap on her shoulder. Wiping her tears away, she turned around, finding Sehun behind her with his sweetest smile. "Don't cry," he whispers, wiping the tear from her face. She sighed, and another tear fell from her fragile face. So confused about what was going on with her life now. "What would you do if I never came into your life?" Minyoung looked up and found Sehun suddenly beside her, looking at the ground. "What if I was... Your fantasy?  A figure that your mind created, but not real?" he asked.
Minyoung sighed and rested her chin on her arm that was on her desk. "If you weren't in my life, by now, I would be insane. Stress takes over that I've gone completely crazy. I'd cry myself to sleep every night, hoping the nightmare would end. I'd be dead by now..." she whispers the last part.

"Commiting suicide won't solve anything, Minyoung." Sehun sighed and looked at his folded hands. "If you never came into my life..." He suddenly paused and lets out a half laugh. "Never mind..."
Minyoung kept an emotionless face, "Why is everyone suddenly disappearing from my life? Like Ilsung..." She heaved a sigh. “Do you think I’m... Hallucinating? Because of the blue pills I took a long time ago?" she asked. He looked at her, his lips curved into a smile, but he did not say anything. She tried to look at him through her blurred eyes. Every time she’d blink, her vision was getting more worse. She wiped away her tears and got a clear look of him. He was still smiling.

He reached to touch her fragile face, and she closed her eyes, but felt nothing. She opened her eyes and found his smile gone. Suddenly, it seemed as if he was fading away. As if his own image was fading away like a hologram. He at last touched her cheek and smiled at her, making her close her eyes. When she opened her eyes, he was gone. Looking down at her hand, she realizes the wallpaper on her phone was different. Sehun wasn't there. It was just an ordinary picture as her wallpaper. She looked up and around, finding no one around her. Her vision begins to blur more with the tears, and she closed her eyes. "Sehun... Sehun... Don't go..."

Her worse nightmare had just occurred.

This is why I was worried that you guys weren't going to like the ending. but don't worry, I'll make this a happy ending. So don't unsubscribe if you want to find out what happens to Minyoung and Sehun. I'll be explaining a lot in the next few chapters if you guys are confused. But this is all for tonight. c:
Anywho, I just recently posted my new story, A Different Cinderella Story. I'll start writing it once I'm finished with this.