1, 2, 3 Oneshots || NCT and The Boyz

🟢 I've known [Jungwoo Centric]

A/N: This is the first time I'm writing a oneshot in 1st person... Let's just say, I needed an outlet for what had happened

(it's been a few months since the situation but I'm only posting this now 'cause I want to give you guys an update and also I think it's been long enough for me to get over the situation)

I've known. I've known since the night before. I should have expected this. I expected this. But that didn't make the news any easier to hear. I got over the initial shock last night but hearing it all over again with new information. It hurt.

Last night, I received an alarming text message from Taeyong. I didn't really think anything of it. The group chat was usually noisy and the notification didn't faze me. I thought it was something random, that was until I saw the first message sent.

'A TVL student just died'

A TVL student died. TVL student died. Student died. Dead. My heart stopped beating momentarily. I just couldn't believe it. A student, one I didn't know, died just like that. He was from our grade level. He was our age.

I didn't know any of the TVL student. They were a different strand after all. Other than that, they were pretty isolated from the rest of us— their classroom was on the 5th floor and they don't really interact with any of us. Understandable really.

Most of us have been together since junior high school, primary school even. I would understand if they felt awkward and out of place if they do interact with us and try to make friends. It was sad, our batch wasn't as tight nit as before, but that's life.

Even though I didn't know the guy, it hurt to hear that they died. I wanted to ask more about what happened. Why did he die, how did he die, where did he die, how did you find out— Taeyong answered how he found out, nothing else.

It was probably the empath in me that felt the pain of his friends and family. I would never actually understand the pain they're feeling but I knew I was feeling pain. "How would his family feel? His friends?" I just kept thinking of that.

I told my parents the news, I always told them news. The moment I got to their room and sat on their bed, I teared up. I couldn't even speak for a moment. How do I even bring it up. Someone around my age, their son's age, had just died.

It was sad but no one cried, not even me. The initial tear up didn't progress the moment I started to talk, telling them of the news I just heard. They asked for more information but I couldn't provide any. I didn't know anything other than the information I was given.

I fell asleep with a heavy heart that night. It was the end of the day and tomorrow was a new day, a new start. Tomorrow would never bring back the boy that died but for me, it would be a chance to restart my day, my feelings would be brand new.

Going back to school was not an easy task. I was pretty sure no one else knew about the TVL boy's death but I still found it sad that everyone seemed like they were having fun, the knowledge of death not hanging above them.

I was numb as I walked all the way up to my classroom. Usually, I was tired from going up 4 flights of stairs but this time, it was accompanied by a heaviness in my heart. My classmates seemed unknowing of the news. Good ignorant blissfulness.

Then it all came crashing down. At today's assembly, it went on as usual. The energy was quite high but something wrong. There was barely any energy and yet, it still looked like everyone was blissfully ignorant of what had happened.

As the announcements went by, the dreaded news I wished to ignore got closer and closer. Soon enough, our principal stood in front of the whole high school student body. She began speaking, asking of everyones silence and attention.

"Last Tuesday, a student was found dead a few kilometers away from the school." No one spoke. "The police found his ID on the floor and came to the school yesterday to investigate about him... His mother confirmed that it was his body."

I looked around and saw some students wiping their eyes and leaning on their friends fro support. "Dong Sicheng, a grade 11 TVL student was said to be walking home after watching the school play last Tuesday night. It was reported as a hit and run."

The students responsible for the school play audibly gasped, most likely feeling guilty for putting on a performance which unintentionally led to Sicheng's death. If I were them, I would feel guilty as well. But it wasn't their fault.

"The reasons why he was walking alone all the way back to his home that late at night is unknown. I request that everyone sends up their prayers for Sicheng and his family. May he Rest In Peace." With that, the principal left the stand.

The gym was quiet; I was quiet. Even more tears were shed once the announcement was over. I barely even held back my tears. I turned around to see Yuta, a friend of mine, balling his eyes out. I had forgotten how close he was with the TVL students.

His cries broke my heart even more. "Jungwoo," I turned around when I heard Mark say my name. "Are you ok?" I wanted to nod, but I couldn't. I just stared at him with empty eyes and a frown on my face. "He's our age, Mark. Our age..."

Mark patted my shoulder in comfort but had to leave to go back to his class. I balled my hand in a fist before releasing it. I knew that he died. I knew it before the announcement was made. That didn't make it easier to hear.

I half expected the school team leader to dismiss us at that but she didn't. Her voice was sullen and yet, she still briefly reminded all of is about some announcements— proper uniform, hygiene, ect. Once that was done, the school song started playing.

It was loud and cheerful, not something one wishes to hear after such sudden news. No one sang. Some of the teachers did, mainly for participation, but everyone else was silent as the loud and cheerful backtrack kept playing until the end.

How does the school expect us to go about our day after knowing that news first thing in the morning. The poor TVL students. His poor parents. His class advisor. This wasn't fair. None of this was even remotely fair.

He was just a kid. He just entered senior high— he had his whole life ahead of him. But all because of a hit and run, his life has come to an end. Everyone's life comes to an end sooner or later. Everyone hopes it was later but sometimes, it was sooner.

I should have known.

04/11/24