How to Be Human [EDITING]

26 | glass shards of a broken heart

26

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THE SUMMER OF 2007
Inconsistencies

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There's a strange kind of beauty in the way things end.

When something ends, there's a kind of finality that comes with it—the knowledge that this is how the story will close. The book is closed, the curtains are drawn, and the play has come to an end. The final words are read, and the show is over. The stage fades to black as applause sounds throughout the theater.

It's a kind of closure that Jisung desperately needs.

Things never ended with Minho—not with the constant promise of a longevity between them that couldn't be broken. A part of Jisung expected that if he were to run into Minho again, that things would fall slack into normalcy. Although, Jisung's brain would be riddled with electricity, he's still the same Jisung, he's certain of it. In essence, the 'Minho Lee Chapter' is left unfinished, and Jisung's been forced to turn the page anyway. It was naïve of Jisung to believe that the book would remain open forever. It was also naïve of him to assume that things could ever go back to normal.

There's an invisible barrier keeping them apart and there's no way around it.

And Jisung was wrong.

Everything's changed.

(He just doesn't realize how much.)

As it turns out, a lot can happen in six months. A lot can happen in a month. A week. A day. An hour. A second. Things can change in a heartbeat.

That's the funny thing about life: things change when you're least expecting it. When you think that your world is finally stable, when you're finally able to breathe and live and not simply exist—that's when shit goes wrong. That's when the universe decides that it's okay to kick you until you're down. That's when God decides to punish you prior to Judgment Day.

Life isn't fair. There's a cruelness to this world that Jisung has grown accustomed to.

The worst part is that the universe is merciless. It's unforgiving and it doesn't care how badly you're hurt. It's not human. It's not compassionate. It doesn't feel the slightest bit of sympathy. God is supposed to be a shield against the ruthlessness of the universe...but it seems He's turned His back on Jisung as well.

"Where were you last night?"

Jisung is sitting in the kitchen when John finds him—or, rather, stumbles upon him in the middle of his pre-office work routine. It's a rare occurrence when John looks presentable and not like an alleyway, homeless drunk. Today, his hair is pressed neatly and he's dressed in a crisp, white dress shirt with a plaid tie and black slacks.