La Vie

5. éloigné

Jihoon throws himself on his bed the moment he reaches his house. He swears he is too lazy to even wash himself, but he knows better, he needs to do it, or else he wouldn't have a good sleep.

He undressed himself and went to the bathroom. His toes flinch over the cold bathroom tiles as he showers with warm waters.

He can't help but think about his friendship with his friends. The way they are friends were very unexpected. They weren't even friends from the start.

Jihoon and Mingyu were always annoyed by each other. They can't stand each other presence, but they are friends when they both feel Seungcheol is much more annoying. And then there's Wonu, someone who happens to be their friends because he let them copy his homework.

Then, high schools over. All of them go into different pathways. That's where they all got distant. Their constant chats decrease, they often ditch catch-up sessions, and they no longer have group phone calls. None of them thought they were going to end up like that.

Jihoon understands that everyone gets busy except for Kim Mingyu. Mingyu was the one who always replied when someone texted on the group chat. He was the only one who never ditch catching up sessions & he will always be the one to ask how everyone was doing. Jihoon was thankful for that. He thought if they didn't have Mingyu, their friendship would have ended.

Then, he gets reminded of what he experiences today. He was kinda surprised that Wonu's mother still acted the same as she was 10 years ago. He thought that as time went by, Wonu would be more free and able to live independently, which he was wrong. He felt bad for Wonu because even at this age, Wonu was still stuck in the same cycle of life.

As for Seungcheol, Jihoon knows why he hasnt been coming back. He knows a few details about it because they spent the night together before Seungcheol left. Seeing him now makes Jihoon sure that he is doing much better than before.

He rubs his hair with a towel softly while thinking how time has flies. Thinking back to the time they were young again made him smile by himself. It kinda made him miss those days.

The only burden they had that time was mostly school related stuff, and those things could be paused. Hasn't finished yesterday's homework? Copy from friends. Test? Pretend to be sick & then resit after asking Wonu what the tests were about.

Being an adult means life doesn't have that pause button anymore. Everyone needs to keep moving forward, no matter what happens.

As Jihoon lay his head on his pillow, trying to sleep. Suddenly, a feeling of guilt hit him. He was the one who started being distant from his friends. Not because he wanted to but because he has to. His life now might look comfortable. it's because he has been working his ass off to be in here.

He remembered how he had to work multiple part-time jobs just to make sure there's food at home. He had to give up college because he had to make sure that his siblings could continue to study. He had to sacrifice his time, his youth, and even his friendships for his family.

However, none of his friends knew about this. Its not because they don't care, but its because Jihoon doesn't want them to feel Jihoon is a burden in their lives.

Jihoon comes from a well-off family, but then things happen to his father, so they had to start again from the start. His father was a victim of a scam & they had to clear debts with people. With Jihoon's help, his family is able to live comfortably again. They managed to own a restaurant, thanks to his mother cooking skills. When the restaurant started to give them profits, Jihoon tried his luck on other things, and it went smoothly. That's practically how his life gets better day by day.

As Jihoon thought how his life had changed, he didn't realize he had already been off to dreamland.