Dark Haze

1st Chapter

I kept running, I'm following that silhouette like a shadow hunter. I'm clueless as to the direction it will take me. Run. Pant. Run. I need to catch it. I need to uncover the person behind that shadow. I will chase it like my life has been dependent on it. Yes. One thing is for sure, I won't get the peace I've been yearning for, not unless, this haze dream will reach its ending.

I gasped for air. Perspirations are all over my body. I felt like running a marathon with a dry throat. I get up and sit at the center of my bed, leaning my body on the headboard. It's just a dream. Another dream with the same vague scenes. The same dream that kept on haunting me for two years. A dream that consistently stirs up my nights and keeps me restless until the broad daylight eats the darkness of the dawn.

I looked at the table clock beside my bed. It's still nine pm. I get up and head to my treadmill. I took my drenched shirt off and left my PJ clinging onto my waist. I need to run my thoughts off.

The city lights. They are enough to bring light around the color of the night. As I am running in front of my huge window, the light, it will just be light in my sight. It's bare, as bare as the answer to the questions I've been digging up for quite some time.

I ran without a pause or a cease in between. I need to breathe. For the past years, boozing myself up has been my constant remedy for sleepless nights. Loud music has been my silent companion to get me through the dark.

I stopped and drowned myself under the flow of a warm shower. Closing my eyes, memories of the past crosses my mind. When will I be alright? When will forgiveness be easily given? When will I forgive myself? Who is to be blamed aside from me? When can I say that I have finally freed myself?

Hwang Ji Sung with chaotic thoughts, hands settled against the wall of his shower room, head bowed down with dripping water from his head... uses all his strength to punch the wall repeatedly, blood gushing out from the cuts on his knuckles. It's frustrating, and it's making him crazy.

"Ji Min-ah. Han Ji Min." He whispers.

***

It's nine in the evening. Hwang Ji Sung turned his back after grabbing the glass of Chivas Regal from the bartender of one of his favorite high-end bars in Seoul. Dressed in black faded trousers, white plain tees and a black sport coat, he rose the dashing tracks to the rooftop.

He looks around, scanning the crowd of hybrid party goers. He wants to enjoy his drink tonight, escaping the threats of the unanswered questions inked on his mind.

The cold breeze of air in the night... He knows it is cold, but he can't feel a thing. He takes a deep breath while staring into a vast blankness. He looks at the clear glass of his liquor and circles it around before taking a sip, a sip that turned into one gulp. He closes his eyes as the heat from his throat diffuses to his stomach.

An image. Another image flashed in his clouded mind.

"Oppa? Don't fetch me later. I have tons of deadlines at school. I need to finish these." Her voice matched her sweet face. It's very soothing.

"I will. Tell me if you are done, I'll come by." He smiled at the thought of her, creasing her eyebrows because he was opposing her plan.

"You won't listen to me, will you?" Her voice toned down a little, making her sound upset.

"Call me or the other way around. I'm taking you home, Min-ah." He was not swayed by her using her serious tone on him.

"I see. You wouldn't really listen. Okay. Bye, Hwang Ji Sung." She sounded like she's not in the mood.