It Follows {Book One}

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Monday, July 30th
33 days

·Jungwoo·

"What are you thinking about?"

Jungwoo was momentarily pulled from his thoughts at the sound of Yukhei's low and—at the moment—gentle voice, speaking the way he only did with Jungwoo. "Nothing." He lied, leaning his head back on the arm of the chair, his legs hanging over the other side. The two were in his living room, where Jungwoo spent most of his time now that he was alone, and never had to move around the house based on where the rest of his family were located.

In actuality, Jungwoo's thoughts were on the week before, on the day of the announcement. He had been under the willow tree in his backyard, a copy of 1984, a book assigned to him over the summer that he hadn't quite gotten around to until that day, one of the hottest days in July. The temperature had increased significantly over that year, and Jungwoo's friend Doyoung had irritably stated, I told you a carbon tax was the only viable solution to climate change, it's too late now.

Jungwoo had felt particularly at ease that day, sitting under the blossoming willow tree in his favorite hoodie with the not-too large book in his lap. He thought maybe he was getting a cold, or the humidity was intense, because the air seemed heavier, but he didn't think anything of it at the time.

Once the announcement was made, people all over the world were thrown into hysteria. Very few people went on mass killing sprees because, "we're all gonna die anyways", most others traveled to places they've always wanted to visit but never did, because they were waiting for the right time, only to find out that the right time would never come.

Jungwoo lived in what seemed like a ghost town now, almost everyone, including his own parents, left to spend the rest of their days with loved ones. Jungwoo was supposed to go with them, but instead told his parents he wanted to live quietly on his own, to get a sense of adult life since he would never get to experience it for real.

That was another lie, Jungwoo just didn't want them to be around when he finally broke down. He was waiting for it, he knew it was coming and at this point, he was surprised he hadn't cried at all. And yes, he missed his family, but what did it matter if he spent his last month with them? What could he possibly gain within a month that he hadn't already gotten in the last twenty years?

Jungwoo was well aware of the tiny blue capsule in his pocket at all times, the one that had been handed out to everyone by government officials. And despite it's small size, it seemed to weigh him down. Or at least, his heart. He wondered if his parents had taken theirs yet. Or if he would ever gather enough courage to take his own. Maybe, when the day got close enough, and he would decide he'd rather die peacefully, totally pain free, than...well, he wasn't quite sure what was going to happen.

Still, the idea of taking his own life, even if it was the better option, seemed almost impossible for him.

He had spent the last week feeling like his heart was going to beat out of his chest, his fingers fumbled with even the simplest tasks.

He'd never finish that book now.

But there he sat, book in hand, reading the same paragraph over and over and over and over and over, until Yukhei pulled the book away from him and tossed it over his shoulder.

"You haven't turned the page in almost twenty minutes."

"I just...really liked that page." Jungwoo said with a shrug, trying not to look Yukhei in the eye as he knelt down in front of him so the two were now eye level. Yukhei rested his elbows on the chair, one hand reaching for Jungwoo's and the other cupped his cheek.

"Stop thinking about it."

"I can't, I'm out of weed."

Yukhei pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. "Let's go out then. We can do pretty much anything for free now, and you need a distraction."

"Taeil's worse than I am..."

"You want me to take Taeil out?"

Jungwoo blinked, trying to ignore the smirk on Yukhei's face, the one he wasn't even trying to hide because for some reason, the suggestion was funny to him. "Well no, but-"

"So, let's go then."

"Where?"

Yukhei stood up and stretched. Jungwoo shivered at the popping sound that never failed to gross him out for reasons he could never figure out. "Who knows and who cares? Let's just drive until you see somewhere you want to go. Preferably somewhere with food, I'm starving. You have nothing good here."

"That's because you ate it all."

"If I wanted to be shamed, I'd go home."

Jungwoo let Yukhei pull him up, insisting that he was totally okay, Yukhei was just worrying too much, and that he was only agreeing to go out of boredom.

"And your love for your boyfriend, right?"

"That too."