"mom! when's sannie coming?" wooyoung asked, his thirteen-years-old self being excited over at his best friend coming over for his birthday party. he invited almost the entire grade over to his house for a massive birthday party for his thirteenth birthday and almost everyone was here, except for his best friend.
mrs jung chuckled at her son's cuteness, "wooyoung ah, you're thirteen now. you gotta learn how to be patient. i'm sure they're just stuck in some traffic. do you want to call sowon ssi if that'll make you feel any better?"
wooyoung immediately nodded his head. his mother chuckled and handed him her phone, wooyoung quickly dialling san's mom's number without needing to look at the number pad: he had memorised that number ever since he was five.
"wooyoung ah?"
"sowon ssi! hi, i'm just wondering when you and sannie are gonna come!" wooyoung said into the phone. he could hear a break and sowon sighing, "i'm so sorry, wooyoung ah, but we're just stuck in some traffic. the traffic's been horrible! if you don't mind, i'll put you on the phone with sannie because i'll have to focus on driving. is that alright?"
after wooyoung gave a hum of agreement, he heard some shuffling and then his best friend's voice, "young ah!"
"sannie!" it was obvious to everyone that the boy immediately lightened up and his entire posture perked up as well. his smile was larger than before and his eyes sparkling more than ever. choi san really had an effect on jung wooyoung.
san chuckled on the other side of the phone, "i'm so sorry we're late. but, i'll tell you a secret, young ah, we've got the biggest gift for you! it'll be the biggest you've ever seen before!"
wooyoung laughed. he could almost see san using his hand gestures to try and tell the younger the gift was huge despite knowing wooyoung wouldn't see it. san was always a person that talked with his body. everybody knew that.
"well, i really look forward to it. where are you guys right now?" wooyoung then asked.
"uh," san paused for a while, "i'm pretty sure we're just a few streets away from yours. we'll be there in— mom! mom, look! mom-"
there were some intense crashing and tossing going on on the other side of the phone. wooyoung frowned as he started to panic. he knew those sounds from tv shows. those were the sounds of a car accident. wooyoung immediately leapt off the countertop he was sitting on and ran towards his mom. he started telling her about what he heard and his mom tried calling out for sowon and san, only to have the sound of the gas leaking from the engine to be heard.
his mother told him to call the police using another phone so she could at least try to see if either of them were still breathing. and so wooyoung did just that, all the while holding in his tears and trying to smile at his fellow classmates, convincing them that everything's alright, convincing himself that everything's alright.
it all happened so quickly. one second wooyoung was throwing his birthday party and having the best time of his life, and the next second wooyoung's parents called everyone's parents to come pick their child up while the family of jung drove to the hospital. throughout the entire car ride, wooyoung was jittery. he was bouncing on his leg and biting on the nail of his left thumb. he just couldn't help himself.
no matter how many deep breaths he took; no matter how many times he told himself 'they're okay'; no matter how many times he tried to push his leg back down and steady them, he just could not calm down at all.
they've soon arrived at the hospital and they did not hesitate to go in at all. the jung's dashed towards the front desk to ask about wooyoung's best friend and his mom. they've been told the mother and son were now in operation and they were told to wait outside the operation room.
and so they did. wooyoung's mom and dad took turns to stay by wooyoung's side as the thirteen-years-old boy refused to leave his seat.
"what if sannie wakes up and they push him into his room and he doesn't see me? he'll be worried 'bout me." was what wooyoung told his parents when they asked him why he didn't get up.
they've waited for ten hours and even wooyoung knew that the chances of san and his mom surviving were slim. he didn't allow himself to have a tear drop from his eyes though. he would not cry until the moment they tell him. he would not cry until the moment they tell him his best friend had gone to a better place.
another three hours passed before the surgeon came out of the operation room. all it took was a shake of head for wooyoung's world to break apart. his heart was shattered into pieces, his world was shattered into pieces. wooyoung was standing when the surgeon came out, but it didn't take him long enough to sit on the chair again. only this time, his head was buried in his hands and the tears just wouldn't stop flowing.
the next few months were a blur to him. even now he just couldn't bring himself to remember what happened in those months after choi san and park sowon died. he remembered going to school and have everyone asking him 'are you alright' or telling him 'i'm sorry', as if that's going to change the fact his best friend died on his birthday. he remembered yeonjun, his seat partner in english, offering to help wooyoung take notes if he wanted to.
wooyoung didn't, however, remember anyone else other than him being affected by this. sure, wooyoung was san's best friend, but san was much kinder and much prettier than wooyoung was and therefore had more friends other than wooyoung. he had a huge social group and everyone basically knew san. however, no one mourned for him. no one talked about him. no one brought him up in conversations. it was almost like choi san never existed to them. and that was what made wooyoung so mad.
it made him so mad that eventually, he had to pull out from that school and start a whole new life in another one. his parents didn't even question why he requested to change schools. they knew how close wooyoung and san were, and it was completely normal for him to feel like this months after san died.
it wasn't just any other day your best friend dies on your birthday.
but wooyoung got through it all. sure, he still feels sad and regrets making that phone call that damned day, but he couldn't change anything about it now. as much as he hated this phrase, he simply just could not dwell in the past. he must move on. and wooyoung did just that.
now, he's seventeen-years-old, fresh out of high school and saying his goodbyes to his parents as he was going to a university in a different city. sure, they're living in the same country, but it'll take wooyoung three and a half hours to get there and that's quite far for him to be living at his childhood home throughout the semester. so, they've applied for wooyoung to stay in the dorms instead. of course, the boy will come back to find his parents when the breaks were long, but otherwise, he'll be staying at campus.
"it's not like i've gone to another country, mom. you'll still be able to call me every week." wooyoung said as he hugged her tightly. he had outgrown his mother three years ago and the height difference between them was somewhat awkward. but the mother and son didn't mind, all they needed was just an affectionate hug with each other.
his mom hummed, "you wouldn't want me calling you every night though, would you?"
wooyoung laughed, "no, not really. you're the one that told me to socialise and go out there to meet new friends. how am i supposed to do that if i'm cooped up in my dorm talking to you and dad every night?"
"he does have a point, sweetie." his dad agreed with wooyoung, throwing his son a grin, "come here. give your old man a hug, too."
wooyoung chuckled at how influenced his dad was by american tv shows as he adapted so much of their culture. he, of course, gave his dad a long hug and smiled gingerly when he was about to leave.
"i love you guys. i'll see you guys soon and, oh, don't forget to send me birthday gifts!" wooyoung said. his parents laughed and jokingly told him they wouldn't do so. but they would. they always did. it was just something to get wooyoung's mind off of... well, that.
wooyoung soon boarded the train and started his journey towards seoul. he glanced out the window and sighed, putting his chin on his palm as he stared out at the passing scenery, "i wish you were here with me, sannie."
