Make it Right

Chapter 07: Dream? Or Reality?

TRIGGER WARNING: TRAUMA, BODY SHAMING, EATING DISORDER MENTIONED

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Ho Seong was deep in a dream... well he thought it was a dream, but it felt more like a reality than a dream, but what was happening... could only be a dream... he hoped.

He was sitting on a train with all the members.

They were wearing school uniforms, but they were not normal school uniforms. They looked like hanboks, but the year was definitely 2009. The uniforms were a fusion between hanboks and school uniforms.

All seven boys were laughing, giggling and catching up after spring break. This paused when the train door slid open, and Marvel was standing between all seven of them. She too wore the school uniform. Ho Seong was enamored with her the moment he saw her, and he gazed at her while she spoke with Yun Gu. Marvel winked at Yun Gu before leaving the doorway of their cabin. The five other boys started to tease Yun Gu for flirting with her, but Ho Seong watched the empty doorway hoping she would return.

This was the moment Ho Seong fell in love with Marvel... but it could not have been, because this was a dream... but he knew in his heart, that was the exact moment he fell in love. What was she saying to Yun Gu that captured my heart? He thought to himself.

Then the dream seemed to fast forward like an old VHS tape.

Ho Seong and Marvel were in the same classroom which looked like it was the interior of an old hanok. Ho Seong and Marvel sat next to each other, and became lab partners together. He could not remember what the class was, but he knew he was bad at the subject because Marvel was a year behind him in school and he had to retake the class. Marvel instantly made Ho Seong feel at ease in the class with fun conversation, and helping him work through the problems in a helpful way.

Then the dream fast forwarded again.

Ho Seong and Marvel were walking together on the campus. The campus looked like it was an old palace hidden between the forest. Ho Seong stared lovingly at Marvel as she talked, and he listened. Marvel asked him a question, but he was distracted by her beauty, so Marvel turned to look at him to get the answer to the question. She smiled at a flustered Ho Seong, trying to hide the fact he was staring at her.

Fast forwarding slower to the next point, Ho Seong tried to see what the dream was skipping, but it was only glimpses he could not interpret.

The VHS like dream stopped on Ho Seong studying something he did not understand in an old library inside another Hanok. He was getting frustrated, but Marvel was there and she calmed him down. They looked at each other, and Ho Seong leaned in to kiss her when Yun Gu appeared. Marvel turned away from Ho Seong, and smiled at Yun Gu. This hurt Ho Seong's heart.

The dream fast forwarded again, starting to give Ho Seong a headache, like he had been staring at a computer screen for too long.

Ho Seong was watching Yun Gu and Marvel hold hands as they walked to the Chuseok Festival. Marvel looked beautiful in a traditional hanbok, and the smiles she kept sharing with Yun Gu were enrapturing. Marvel turned to wave at Ho Seong, and Yun Gu dragged Marvel away from him. Ho Seong's feelings of jealousy were building... and the jealousy was turning to rage.

Again. The dream fast forwarded again for what Ho Seong hoped was the last time.

This time, Ho Seong and Yun Gu were fighting, and Yun Gu punched Ho Seong so hard in the jaw that he lost a tooth and was knocked to the ground. Ho Seong said some cruel words and then threw a bracelet at Yun Gu. Yun Gu then stomped on the bracelet and the two men walked away in separate directions. A few moments later, Marvel appeared and started to pick up the pieces of the broken bracelet. As she did this, she cried. Ho Seong had decided to come back and collect the broken bracelet, to discover Marvel was already doing so. She carefully set each piece in her hand, and was slowly starting to mend the shattered bracelet. Ho Seong walked to Marvel, kneeled before her, and cleared her tears away. Marvel's mouth made the movement of "I love you", but everything was silent. As she finished sawing the word "you", an intense neon yellow light burst between Ho Seong and Marvel.