Ineffable 𓇢𓆸 || Jakehoon

🍂 Chapter 66 🍂

The night settled in quietly, the sound of distant winds the only thing breaking the stillness. I lay on the soft blanket, my body sore and aching from the explosion earlier today. The pain was there, but it was easier to ignore in the dark, with the cold air sweeping through the cracks in our shelter. Sunghoon lay beside me, the warmth of his presence a comfort, though the silence between us was heavy.

I turned toward him, propping myself up on one elbow. His face was soft in the dim light, eyes half-closed, like he was already drifting into sleep. But I couldn't sleep-not with everything on my mind, not with the weight of everything we had lost, everything we were running from.

"Sunghoon," I whispered, my voice quieter than I meant it to be, as if the very night itself might hear. "You know some people, because of this war... imagine their lives and live in those moments, like they're still there. Like they're still living like we used to."

Sunghoon didn't answer right away. He lay still, breathing evenly, but I knew he was awake. He always was. After a moment, he exhaled slowly, like he had been holding something in. Then, his voice came, low and measured. "They... they are running from the truth. They don't want to believe it, Jake. They want to stay in their fool's paradise."

I felt a knot tighten in my chest at the words. There were so many people like that around us-people who couldn't face the reality of what was happening, the destruction of everything they knew. They clung to hope, even when it didn't make sense. But maybe... maybe I understood why they did. "Maybe," I said softly, "sometimes it's good to think like that. To hold on to hope, even if it's a lie."

Sunghoon shifted beside me, his eyes now open, staring at the ceiling of our shelter. "It's better to know the truth," he replied, his voice almost cold, as if he had already made peace with the world we now lived in. "It's better to face it, even if it hurts, than to be a fool and hide in a lie. Because that's not living. That's just... surviving."

I didn't say anything for a long time. The truth was, I wasn't sure if I could agree with him. I wanted to. I should agree with him. But sometimes... sometimes it was easier to close your eyes and pretend everything would be okay. It felt like hope, and in this war, hope was a luxury.

I just smiled, a small, tired thing, and let the silence fall between us again. Sunghoon didn't say anything more, but I could feel his eyes on me, like he was waiting for me to make up my mind, to see things his way.

But for now, I didn't have an answer. Maybe I'd find one tomorrow. Maybe we'd all find something to hold on to in this wreckage.

For tonight, though, I just let the quiet take over. I let the world spin its broken, terrible way, and let the peace of Sunghoon's presence settle over me, even if only for a moment