Dreaming A Dream | An ONF Fanfiction

pmk & sjy 3.

I licked my chocolate and vanilla ice cream as I looked at the sun rays reflecting on the lake before us. It was a perfect day for ice cream, pretty warm but not hot enough to make the ice cream immediately melt and stain our clothes.
As I was peacefully enjoying my delicious ice cream, Jaeyoung suddenly spoke.

"Hey Kyunie, do you remember when we first met?"

It was an odd question, but I had nothing against discussing the past for a bit. In the end, meeting Jaeyoung saved me.

"Of course! How could I forget!"

"Well, would you be up for discussing something from that time? It's pretty important."

He sounded extremely serious. I stopped eating my ice cream. What did he have to tell me? How can it be important? I was in too deep. I had to know. Even if it was something that might have hurt me.

"Go on Jaeyoung."

He took a deep breath.

"Didn't it shake you when I told you... that I knew about your past? Especially about your mom? Have you ever wondered why I looked into your past? Why I truly wanted to help you?"

I froze. I realized I never really thought about it. Jaeyoung knew about my past. About my mom's tragedy. But why? Why hadn't I realized this sooner? Was he somehow involved in the accident at the factory? Hundreds of possible scenarios started playing in my mind. I didn't know what to think of that sudden realization. It really hit me like a truck.

"I... No I didn't..."

I wasn't able to say much more. Jaeyoung noticed I was struggling with talking, so he just went straight to the point.

"Well you see... How do I put this... Do you remember the names of the higher-ups of the factory? The ones behind the incident?"

Of course I did. I would never forget those bastards who lead the factory my mom worked at. It was their fault the rumors spread. They made my life living hell. I quickly scanned through the culprits' surnames in my mind, from the lowest executives all the way to the boss of the whole organization.

"Jung, Son, Choi, Jeon, Min and..."

I dropped my ice cream on the ground. It splattered and stained my white shoes. But I didn't care.
For all that time, I've never made that connection. It could have been a coincidence. Even if it wasn't a common surname. But if it was just a coincidence... Why did he ask me if I remembered the names of the people involved?! My head started spinning. I couldn't move. I think Jaeyoung was calling my name, but I went deaf for a moment. I only heard him when he shouted my name. His vigorous voice brought me back to reality. I turned my head and looked at him. He was blurry because of the thick layer of tears covering my eyes. I spoke, but with great effort.

"The boss' surname was... Shim."

Jaeyoung lowered his head.

"My father was the boss of the factory. But that's not all I need to tell you."

My best friend's father was behind all this. He was the one my mom worked under and the one who ultimately led everyone to believe my mom was a drug addict. But suddenly, there was more? What could be worse than that?

"I hope that bastard rots in hell."

Jaeyoung's voice was trembling.

"As I said, I need to tell you something else. I assume you stopped following the case, right? You thought everything had been found out. And I don't blame you for that. But the reality goes deeper. One of my cousins works in the police's narcotics department. Since I was tightly tied to this case, she gave me some classified information... which made everything even worse."

I couldn't stop shaking. I couldn't stop tears running down my face. I wanted to run away. But I had to stay. I felt like immobilized by a higher power.

"My father... used to secretly test ingredients of his drugs on employees. Apparently, he put very small amounts of them in candies he gave out to his staff. These ingredients... turned out to be extremely dangerous. They were never used before, and the health of a lot of the people who took them worsened. Almost all of the people got better after some treatments, but there was one casualty related to this case. This is why the doctors couldn't figure out what health issue your mother had. Minkyun. I am so sorry."

He broke down as he spoke my name.
All I could do was stare into the distance. I couldn't move an inch. I couldn't believe it. It was not real. It wasn't.
At one point, I couldn't take it anymore. I got up, not taking my eyes off the random spot on the lake I was staring at. I slowly walked towards it. All I wanted to do at that moment was disappear. Forever. My mom wasn't sick. She was slowly killed. By my best friend's father.
I got dangerously close to the lake. One more step and I would have fallen in. I would have disappeared. That's all I wanted at that moment.
.
.
.
But I couldn't do it. I wouldn't have done it. It was not the right thing to do. She wouldn't have wanted this. Even if I tried, I wasn't there alone.

I wasn't alone.

That's right. I wasn't. Jaeyoung was with me. For a moment, I hated him. But it was irrational. He wasn't the same person as father. He wanted to atone for his father's terrible crimes. He reached out to me to help me get back on my feet after his father ruined my life. And it meant the world to me.
I took a step back. I didn't even notice Jaeyoung was right by my side. He was staring at me, with tears flowing from his eyes. If I attempted something stupid, he would have been there to save me. Again.

I broke down completely. I kneeled down and screamed. I screamed as loud as I could. I needed to let everything out. It hurt. It hurt so damn much. Soon my throat started hurting too. But I couldn't stop wailing.

When I stopped, Jaeyoung was still by my side. Tears still running down his face. I couldn't speak. I couldn't even feel my throat. But as if he read my mind, he told me:

"I will always be by your side."