Dreaming A Dream | An ONF Fanfiction

Chapter 4

That day... It was just crazy. A mix of emotions, good and bad, were whirling in my head and messing up my thoughts. But it wasn't even over. Although an encounter we had that night definitely helped us get closer to the truth.

After our dinner ended on a pretty light note, we were in a good enough mood to go out for a drink in our favorite pub.
"The Lair" was pretty busy, like every night, but the owner somehow always had a table for two for us. No wonder that place is always so full, the drinks and snacks they have there are top tier.
Seungjun said he wasn't hungry after that pretty generous dinner; weirdly enough, not even I was hungry. I still remember Seungjun's shocked face when I told him I wasn't.

"C'mon Hyojin, why don't you get a snack?"

He started teasing me, putting an arm around my shoulders and winking at me.
I looked him dead in the eye, and the only thing he did was giggle. Sometimes I really wonder why I still live with him...

(Of course I'm just kidding. I would do anything for Seungjun. If you actually fell for that, then you definitely don't know us!)

We sat down with two beers and some fries. Yeah, Seungjun convinced me in the end... He said he'd pay! And he is indeed a man of his word!

Briefly after sitting down and taking a sip from our jugs, someone approached us. His lemon voice could be heard even from miles away.

"Hyojin! Seungjun!"

Minkyun leaned on our table, a wide smile plastered on his face, showing all his perfectly aligned and pearl white teeth.
Seungjun and I smiled as soon as we saw him. It is impossible to put on a serious face when you're around Minkyun. He just emits this aura full of happiness and energy which brings everyone up on their feet. He's been like that since we met him in high school. You really can't withstand this guy's cheerfulness, no matter what, he will find a way to make you smile, and everyone loves him for that.
He's also a very respected hunter and also the leader of a small group of them. He will always be there if you need a helping hand, and his extroverted but caring self makes every introvert actually feel very comfortable, which isn't something that common. And this is coming from an introvert like myself!
Despite being a bit too loud at times, you really can't be angry at him. That's why I still don't understand who started those malicious rumors about him in high school. I will never forgive those people. At least his reputation was saved by...

"How are you guys?! It's been a while!"

Minkyun couldn't hide his excitement, a pinch more of it and he would be running and jumping around the whole pub. His legs were shaking, ready to spring.

"Hey Minkyun! We're doing fi..."

Seungjun stopped in the middle of the sentence, and his smile faded. He was about to answer with the usual "We're fine" literally everyone says when they're asked how they're doing. It has almost become an automatic response at this point. Sometimes we don't even realize we aren't really doing fine when we say it, but this time, we were feeling way too awful to lie at that moment. We both knew meeting him would mean having to tell him everything.

Minkyun's smile and mine vanished as quickly as they appeared as well. I looked down at my beer and tried to calm down by looking at the slowly dissipating foam. A long conversation was awaiting us, and it wasn't going to be a light one.

Minkyun was there with some friends, but he understood the gravity of the situation immediately, and proceeded by telling his friends to leave him alone with us for a while, as he grabbed a chair from the nearby table to sit at ours.

After what felt like ages, Seungjun and I were finally done explaining everything that happened that morning. Minkyun was awfully quiet throughout the whole explanation. Seeing him in that state was... unsettling. I've never seen him that quiet and with such a serious look on his face. It was as if he analyzed every single word we said, trying to piece the story together in the best way possible for him. I knew that it was absolutely unbelievable for him to hear these terrible things about Jaeyoung, about the one who helped him regain confidence and smile again after the made up rumors about him that circulated for years. We really wish we were there to help him, but once you start training it's basically impossible to keep in touch with people outside of your own training group.
But Jaeyoung was there for him, always. Despite knowing about the rumors, he approached Minkyun and helped him get back up on his feet. He was a guide for Minkyun, someone who'd support him no matter what. Thanks to Jaeyoung, Minkyun was finally able to debunk the rumors and ultimately start gaining a very good reputation, which led him to where he is now.
"If I wasn't for Jaeyoung, I'd still be crying myself to sleep every night like a baby" he sometimes lightheartedly says, but only he knows whether it really is the truth or not. Despite this, it is undeniable how much Jaeyoung meant to Minkyun. That's why no one would have expected something like this from him. Especially Minkyun.

Minkyun was visibly shaken, trying so hard not to let tears fall. But alas, he couldn't stop them.

"This... this wasn't the way I would have wanted to hear about Jaeyoungie-... about Jaeyoung again."

His voice was extremely fragile, and it broke as he pronounced Jaeyoung's name.
If it was someone else, I wouldn't expect them to believe us immediately. But we all knew what Minkyun went through, and he knew we would never lie to him about something someone has done, especially if it's Jaeyoung.

"Minkyun, we're so sorry..."

"It's not your fault."

He stood up hastily, raising his voice a bit too much. The pub fell silent as everyone looked at him, their attention averted to the sudden movement and the loud tone of his voice. Seungjun looked around, and with a vigorous arm movement, he hinted to everyone to stop staring and go back to their own business. Don't get fooled by his round face and big, puppy eyes; Seungjun knows how to look intimidating. After his cue, everyone turned around and stopped paying attention to us.

Another moment of silence passed. Minkyun finally sat back down, his hair partially covering his bloodshot eyes. He wiped away the tears with his sleeve.
Suddenly, he violently thrust his head up to move his hair off his eyes. His expression changed and now he looked extremely determined, even though his eyes were still very much red.

"Ok. Crying won't get us anywhere. We have to do something about this. We NEED to find him!"

Minkyun said, banging his fists on the table so vigorously he almost spilled my beer. I knew he would immediately want to take action and look for any clues that might lead to Jaeyoung as soon as possible. For all we knew, he could have endangered other people and animals with his experiments very soon. And also endanger himself...

"And I know exactly the place we should start our search for him."

Minkyun smirked. Seungjun and I looked at Minkyun, then we looked at each other and nodded, confident smiles adorning our faces. We all three knew damn well where to start.

"Let's do this!"

— — — — — — — — — — — —

I am awake.

This feels... odd. Too odd.

But I can move. I'll get used to the feeling.

I'll finally be happy with myself again.

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