This man

"‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

In the heart of a bustling city, the Park of Eternal Childhood shimmered with the echoes of laughter and joy. On a warm summer day, two young brothers, Jeonghan and his younger sibling, played beneath the sprawling oaks and vibrant flowerbeds. Their world was a canvas of endless possibilities and unblemished happiness. But as the sun dipped low, casting long shadows across the park, a game of hide-and-seek took a tragic turn. The younger brother disappeared, vanishing into the ether of the park's enigmatic corners. Despite a frenzied search and frantic pleas, he was never found.

For Jeonghan, the loss was a wound that never healed. Days turned into years, and the ache of his brother’s absence was a constant companion. As he grew older, the reality of his brother’s disappearance became too painful to bear. Instead of confronting the void, Jeonghan retreated into a sanctuary of dreams. At twenty-two, he was enveloped in a cocoon of sleep, where he could relive the cherished moments with his brother, where every sunrise held the promise of reunion.

Jeonghan’s dreams became his haven. Here, he lived in a world of eternal summer days, where his brother’s laughter rang true and every memory was a vivid reality. The boundary between dreams and reality began to blur. Jeonghan’s obsession with this dreamworld led him to a dark revelation: he could control the dreams of others. With a mere thought, he could cast them into a slumber, where their misery and sorrow could be forgotten.

In his misguided benevolence, Jeonghan used his newfound power to put the entire city to sleep. What began as an act of comfort quickly spiraled into a nightmare. People, entranced by the allure of their dreams, forgot to eat or care for themselves. As weeks passed, their bodies languished, unattended, while their minds roamed through a utopian dreamscape designed by Jeonghan.

Among the few who remained awake was Wonwoo, a man with a deep sense of justice and a tenacious spirit. He wandered the empty streets, his heart heavy with the knowledge of the unfolding catastrophe. Realizing the magnitude of the issue, Wonwoo set out on a desperate mission to wake the dreamers. He chanted "nox and nox," a phrase he believed could pierce through the enchanted slumber and rouse them to reality.

The challenge was monumental. Each time Wonwoo ventured into the dreams of the sleeping masses, he faced two formidable figures. One was Jeonghan, perpetually bathed in the glow of his idyllic world, convincing dreamers to remain. The other was Wonwoo himself, striving to remind them of the real world, a world where pain was inevitable but also where life was genuine and worth living.

People began to see the two figures as manifestations of their inner conflict: “This Man” who wanted to keep them in dreams, and “That Man” who urged them to awaken. The dreams became a battleground of ideologies, with Jeonghan and Wonwoo each pulling at the strings of hope and despair.

Wonwoo’s struggle was grueling. He encountered countless dreamers, each torn between the allure of Jeonghan's perfect world and the harshness of their waking lives. Some resisted, their hearts heavy with the burdens they would face, while others were tempted by the siren call of eternal happiness.

In a climactic confrontation within Jeonghan's most cherished dream, Wonwoo faced the man who had unknowingly become the architect of collective suffering. “Jeonghan,” Wonwoo called out through the dream’s fog, “you cannot save them by keeping them asleep. True salvation lies in facing reality, no matter how painful.”

Jeonghan, lost in the paradise of his dreams, initially resisted. But as Wonwoo’s words resonated, a crack formed in the facade of his perfect world. Memories of his brother, both the joy and the pain, surfaced with clarity. He was forced to confront the fact that he had traded one grief for another. The dream that had once been a sanctuary had become a prison.

With a final, wrenching cry, Jeonghan let go. The spell over the city was broken. People awoke, disoriented and weak but alive. The park where Jeonghan had last seen his brother was overgrown and silent, but it was a real place, filled with the remnants of memories rather than the idealized fantasies of dreams.

Jeonghan and Wonwoo emerged from this ordeal changed. Jeonghan faced the reality of his brother’s absence, not as a dreamer, but as a man who had lived through the consequences of his choices. Wonwoo, having wrested the city from the grip of dreams, was hailed as a hero, but he understood the delicate balance between hope and reality.

As they worked to heal the city and help people reconcile with their own experiences, a deep bond began to form between Jeonghan and Wonwoo. Their shared journey through dreams and reality forged an unspoken connection, one born of mutual understanding and compassion.

Wonwoo saw the pain behind Jeonghan's eyes, and Jeonghan, in turn, found solace in Wonwoo's unwavering support and strength. They began to spend more time together, their conversations shifting from the trials they faced to more personal revelations. In each other's presence, they found a kind of healing that transcended the physical and emotional scars they bore.

One evening, as the sun set over the city they had fought to save, Jeonghan and Wonwoo stood together on the park's quiet edge. The once-chaotic space was now a place of renewal, where life slowly returned to its natural rhythm. The soft glow of twilight enveloped them, and in that peaceful moment, they shared their first tender kiss. It was a promise, both of love and of a future where they could find joy amidst the imperfections of reality.

In the end, Jeonghan and Wonwoo's love became a testament to the power of connection and understanding. They continued to support each other, guiding others through their pain and dreams, finding strength in the reality they had fought so hard to reclaim. Their bond was a reminder that while dreams may offer solace, it is in the embrace of reality and in the companionship of another that one truly finds hope and love.