Remember Me

#1

"You want me to be a doctor?" Jiho asked as calmly he could, even though every syllable that escaped his lips was dipped in venom. He didn't want to do it but he knew he would never refuse what his father asked. Jiho's mother sat beside his father, who sat facing Jiho. She was visibly upset about this whole ordeal since she knew that medicine was not a career option Jiho wanted. She knew it wasn't his dream but she was well aware of the fact that Jiho would never refuse his father's commands.

"Yes. I want you to become a doctor. The area of specialization is up to you" He handed Jiho an envelope with the words "Johns Hopkins Medical School" printed on it.

"They were pretty impressed with your marks and decided to give you the admission form" his dad explained. He fought back the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.
"You're very lucky, son, this School just happens to be the very best in the world"
Instead of speaking up for himself, Jiho just nodded, took the envelope and left for his room.

The moment he entered his room, he locked it from inside and fell on the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Tears fell uncontrollably.

A doctor? He thought to himself.

They want me to be a doctor? And how do they think that I am fit for this profession?

Jiho brought his hand up to wipe his tears but they wouldn't stop so he just gave up. He sat there hugging his knees, trembling as he sobbed.

He then finally looked at the envelope. With trembling hands, he tore open the envelope and read it's contents in a very shaky voice, quiet enough just for him to hear.

Dear student Woo Jiho,
The academic record of your time in High School was emailed to us. We were extremely impressed by your performance in High school and we will be very happy to have a student like you studying in our school. To enroll, you will have to fill out the admission form attached to this and send it to us before 1st March 2009. Since the new semester will be starting on the 1st of July, we expect you to buy your books for the semester after your interview once your admission form has been accepted.

He turned over the letter and found the form attached to it, which only brought more tears. Suddenly his phone buzzed. It was a call from Kyung. He debated whether he should pick it up or not because he had never missed a single call from Kyung. He didn't want him to know that he had been crying but at the same time, he wanted his beloved Kyung by his side right now.

In the end he decided that he wouldn't pick up his call. But then his phone was flooded with more misses calls from Kyung. After a while when Jiho had stopped crying and he thought his voice wasn't shaky, he picked up the next call from Kyung, which was the fifteenth.

"He-hello" shit, I stuttered. Jiho thought as he spoke into the phone receiver.

"Jiho? What's wrong?" Kyung spoke with concern in his voice.

"Nothing at all," Jiho replied, calmer this time.

"I don't believe you," Kyung spoke and hung up the phone.

Jiho looked at the phone, confused. He wanted to see Kyung so bad but he wasn't in the state right now. His eyes were puffed up and red from crying and his cheeks were torn stained. He kept the phone on his desk and groggily got up just to fall back on the bed. He buried his head in the pillow and groaned.

I wanted to be an artist, he thought. The very thought made his head hurt.

Why am I such a coward? He asked himself. Why can't I stand up to my father? Why can't I speak up for something I don't want?

Suddenly, there was a bang on his door. He didn't want to get up from his bed so he didn't acknowledge whoever that was. The bangs only grew in frequency and then he heard a familiar voice

"Jiho-ah," It was Kyung, "Open up, what's wrong?"

He slowly got up from his bed and unlocked the door, only for Kyung to almost pounce over him.

"Hey hey hey," Kyung spoke in a soft voice as he held Jiho's face with his hands. "What happened baby?" 

Jiho squeezed his eyes shut and Kyung felt a bit damp where he held Jiho's cheeks. He automatically brought his thumb up to wipe Jiho's tears. Jiho quickly hugged Kyung while Kyung soothingly rubbed his back. Kyung slowly closed the door and once Jiho had calmed down, he made him sit on the bed.

"What happened?" he asked again. Jiho just pointed to the envelope on the ground. Kyung raised an eyebrow and went over to pick up the envelope, and then he knew exactly what was wrong. He read the letter just to make sure.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," came Kyung's voice. He ran over to hug Jiho while Jiho was silent the whole time.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Kyung slowly whispered. 

"What's the point?" Jiho spoke. He looked so hurt that it broke Kyung's heart. Kyung gave a small peck on Jiho's lips while Jiho just gave a weak smile back.

"Go off to sleep for a while,"

Jiho nodded and laid his head on Kyung's lap. Kyung slowly and gently stroked Jiho's hair as he slept.

It broke Kyung's heart to see him like this. He really loved Jiho and he really wanted him to do what he wanted. He looked so peaceful sleeping, his lips slightly parted and his face so calm.

Kyung sighed. He really wanted to help Jiho, to protect him, but this time, he just didn't know how to.

He remembered how he first met Jiho.

Jiho met Kyung the first time on the roof of their school. Jiho was slouched in a corner of the terrace, trying to wipe off his tears. Jiho had just transferred to a new school and somehow the guys here found out that he was gay. Hence followed the bullying. At home too, things weren't nice for him.

Kyung, on that fateful day decided to head to the terrace and sleep for a while. And so, they met. Jiho was a 9th grader while Kyung was his senior, and when he saw him in a corner, crying, for some reason, his heart sank.

The moment Jiho saw Kyung, he started to stand up and leave the terrace. The moment Jiho opened the door, he heard a voice, "What's your name?"

"What's it to you?" he murmured.

"Yah! I'm a senior" he spoke, hands crossed over his chest.

"It's Woo Jiho." Jiho replied and left.

Jiho. Kyung mouthed the name so as to know how it would feel on his lips.

Kyung then made it his mission to find out more about this guy. Later he found out that he was being bullied by a bunch of students who were in the same grade at Jiho and that too because of his sexual orientation. Kyung then made it a point to save this child from these bullies. And eventually they became what they are now.

Kyung softly smiled at these thoughts as he continued stroking Jiho's soft hair. He gently entwined his free hand with Jiho's, watching him sleep.

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Author's Note:
Hi if you're reading this!