You Don't Know Me ➳ Taesan [COMPLETED]

Nineteen

Taesan hit his alarm clock which had just woken him up from a nightmare. It was probably due to all the horror movies he used to like watching back in the city – back then, it would be him and his friends screaming and throwing popcorn around the room from the scares.

The nightmare was surely better than his life anyway. He wished he stayed there rather than having to wake up to Green Haven. Each day felt like torture, there was no expectation of something good or something fun happening. Instead, he had to constantly dread Jaehyun and his friends. Of course, there was Amy-Janett, but that was just one person whom he had to avoid either way.

The only reason he still decided to get out of bed was his mother. He was the only thing his mother had, and she valued him more than anything. He knew he had to be strong and pretend he was alright, even though deep inside, he felt like he was going through hell.

When he had gotten ready for school and his mother had seen him in his particularly different outfit, she was neither pleased nor displeased.

'Have you started dressing like the boys in this town?' she asked him as she placed a plate of cereal in front of him.

'Yes,' he nodded and sat. 'I just want to fit in.' that was an obvious lie.

'Since when did you care about fitting in?'

'I don't know,' he mumbled. He took three spoons of his cereal before he stood up. 'I'm gone.'

'Taesan,' his mother sighed. 'You hardly ate. Is everything okay?'

No, it's not, I feel like I'm dying every day now, and everything keeps getting worse. But he couldn't say that, he didn't want to worry his mother.

'Maybe you should try making friends,' his mother finally said something she felt she would never say, she had simply wanted him to isolate himself and avoid trouble. But now, she felt it could be important for his mental health.

'I don't want to,' he walked towards the door. He definitely was not going to make friends with the boys from this town, none of them liked him and were all loyal to Jaehyun. But he wasn't going to tell his mother that either.

'Um...have a nice day at school.' She waved sadly at him.

He forced a smile then shut the door.

Mrs. Han sighed; she didn't know what to do to make her son happy.

...

'Why would you tell my mom that I didn't visit Jaehyun!?' Amy-Janett complained to her best friend Lily in pottery class.

'Well, I think you're too much, Jaehyun surely doesn't deserve this. He's a good person and he's always been kind to you.' Lily deadpanned.

Currently, the students were sitting in the special art class that happened once a month at the school. Aside from pastries, the town also had a rich culture in pottery, and students were all encouraged to learn pottery to keep on the tradition. The special class was longer than usual, and would only be finished once the pottery was done and it had dried.

Taesan listened in to Amy-Janett and Lily converse about visiting Jaehyun at the hospital. He knew she didn't go because of him, and he wondered whether that should make him feel happy that someone cares for him, or to tremble in fear at what Jaehyun and his friends were going to do next with how stubborn Amy-Janett was.

'I just don't think it's a good idea to be nicer to a stranger than someone you grew up with,' Lily said as she sculpted her long-necked clay creation.

Taesan looked in their direction, making Amy-Janett and Lily realize he could hear them.