dream ticket | jhs

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lights out!

officer min: hello mr ju- oh dear sir your aura isn't very good today... did something bad happen? you're feeling really sad, judging from your puffy eyes, you've been crying too...

mr jung: my lil puppy, my mickey, he's sick... plus... yesterday's dream was really emotional.

officer min: my deepest condolences, sir, i hope mickey will be in good health soon!

picks ticket

officer min: well mr jung! looks like you'll be having a blissful dream with someone you truly love to the moon and bacl! happy dreams, sir! off you go!

mr jung: oh yeah, officer min, just curious, how did you end up with this job?

officer min: that's a story for another day! off you go!

officer min sighs as he waves mr jung away. sitting down next to the machine, he switches on the machine screen watching mr jung enter his dream fantasy.

~

*woof! woof!*

mr jung: mickey! my lil buddy! who's a good boy?

yoongi: yah! mickey! didn't i tell you not to run away? come back!

mr jung: yoo- yoongi- is that you?

yoongi: oh my gosh mickey! you're safe!

mickey: wOoF wOoF wOoF!! WOOF WOOF!! WOOF WOOF!!

yoongi: mickey shush! you're being a nuisance here! do you need to pee? there's some grass there!

mr jung: yoongi!! yoongi!! can you hear me??

mickey: *woofs more aggressively*

yoongi: mickey, i can't understand you here, what are you trying to tell me?

mickey: wOof wOoF!! *points snout to mr jung's leg*, wOoF wOoF!!

mr jung: calm down mickey ah, hobi's here...

*mr jung pet's mickey*

yoongi: mickey ah, there's no one sitting on the bench...

mr jung: YOONGI IM RIGHT HERE!!

mickey: *starts whining* oouurrf

yoongi: let's go, mickey, this bench is making you see things...

it hit mr jung.

yoongi couldn't see him.

mr jung sat there, gazing into the distance, his eyes glossy with tears. he saw yoongi, he was very sure it was yoongi. but, why was mickey with him? why couldn't yoongi see him?

~flashback~

"YOONGI AH, YOONGI AH, STAY WITH ME, PLEASE!!" mr jung was shaking yoongi who laid unconscious on the stretcher. his torn ribs shook back and forth, crimson blood oozing our from all angles of his head.

"sir, please stay back." the nurses rushed him into the emergency room, leaving a weeping mr jung behind.

"yoongi... yoongi... please... if you can hear me... come back..." he whispered prayers, hiding his face with his palms. slowly, he squatted down, tears streaming down his cheeks as he tucked his arms around his legs, letting his emotional dam break. he was hurting, his chest felt as if he was stabbed. his internal self felt like it was crumpling down. bleeding. with regret. pain. sorrow. worry.

"why didn't i stop him? why, hoseok, why?? why weren't you brave enough to stop him?? why did you leave him alone? why didn't you comfort him? why did you let him suffer alone? why didn't you interfere? you should've threw away the alcohol. why didn't you? it's your fault, hoseok, your fault!! why?? why?? why yoongi??" mr jung hit his chest with every "why", with the last "why??" he collapsed, shaking.

"useless hoseok! useless, useless, you've always been useless!!" he yelled between sniffs. "i should've jumped off when i had the chance... why did i think i would have a chance at life... ive only broke people, broke trust, and now my best friend is on the line because of me... because of ME!!!" he screamed all his frustrations out one last time, a puddle of tears forming around him.

lights on!

wife: HOSEOK AH, HOSEOK AH!

mr jung suddenly wakes up, alarm blaring in the distance, beads of sweat drenched his pillow. his wife sat beside him, hands on his shoulders, shaking him awake.

wife: was it a nightmare? jagiya are you alright? answer me!

mr jung: yeah, just a bad dream.

wife: is it about... yoongi...?

she lowered her tone knowing his past with yoongi. reading the atmosphere she hugged her husband and laid against his bed.

hoseok returned the embrace, hugging the love of his life as tight as he could. all of a sudden he was scared. scared to lose the ones he loved dearly. scared god will take his precious ones away from him.

wife: it's alright jagi, im still here... he's up there protecting all of us, living a better life above the clouds...

his wife always knew the right words to comfort him, that was something he loved about her.

the two lovers stayed in each other's arms for a while in serene silence

mr jung: i got you, jagi, thank you...

♡

meanwhile, officer min watched in silence from the screen, crying tears that could never fall again.