I looked around, and the first thing I saw was Jungwon sleeping between Jayʼs arms. He was sitting in the armchair staring at the void. Then he looked up and his eyes met mine.
«Jungwon, Sunghoon has woken up» Jay shook the other gently and both stood up to come close to me.
«At last Sunghoon, we thought you wouldn't wake up»
«W-what do you mean? How long have I been like this?»
«For about two weeks»
«What?!» I was about to get up but they blocked me and made me lie down again.
«Keep calm Sunghoon, you just woke up, don't do anything rash»
«Whereʼs Heeseung?»
«He's better now, but he's still recovering from what happened that day»
«Anyway, someone wanted to talk to you when you woke up. He might come later»
I rolled my eyes when I realized who it was.
«Ok»
«Iʼll leave this little recorder here. Surely he will spit it out and so the case will be solved»
I nodded and Jungwon and Jay went out. It was still too early for my brain to process all these facts, so I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I felt a warm weight on my hand. I looked at what it was and realized it was Jake's head, sleeping like a puppy.
I moved a little and he opened his eyes.
«Sunghoon»
He got up and helped me sit on the bed. After that he hugged me, hiding his head in the crook of my neck.
«I was so afraid, Sunghoon. If you died, Iʼd already have been dead. I couldn't bear your absence»
«Jake, don't say that. We're alive, we did it, this is what matters»
I forced myself to comfort and hug him. I remembered that Jungwon had left the recorder somewhere, so I had to make him talk.
«Jake, why did you do it?»
He sat down, grabbed my hand and held it between his hands, he sighed and looked me in the eye.
«Every evening, after the day you left me, I always walked by your house, I looked at you for a while and then I went away. I couldn't accept it. Before we broke up, I met Jean by chance. He dragged me into it. He forced me to do things I didn't want»
«What kind of things?»
«I can't tell you, they're too disgusting to be told. Moreover, he made me smoke, drink, use and sell drugs so that he would not get his hands dirty»
«And you never thought to oppose or rebel or do something?»
«Of course I did, but the only three times I tried his punishments were too heavy, so I just gave up. As for what he did to me, I think you can already imagine»
«He was certainly demented»
Now he looked down and I saw he was about to cry.
«However, I found out only yesterday that he killed my parents. In that period I never went home, I didnʼt want to stay in a place where such a crime had happened. Sometimes I'd come to you, sometimes I'd go to a friend. I never had decent meals, so I lost a lot of weight, I weakened and started to live on cigarettes and nothing else»
Looking at his body, I realized how evident everything heʼs been through was.
«Is this the reason why you were distancing yourself from me?»
YOU ARE READING
When 00:00 Strikes || heehoon (English Ver.)
Mystery / ThrillerHeeseung, a young student whose mother died and who lives with his father, will soon have to move in with Sunghoon, his new stepbrother. What will happen between the two? Will they get along or not? In the meantime, terrifying events take place in...
