05: The Epilogue

  They told me his father had beaten him up. That his father came home one night, intoxicated from the alcohol he had consumed. His father was furious at him for leaving to Seoul again. He took out all his anger on his son, blindly thrashing at the younger male. That was how he had died.

                He as in Kim Myungsoo.

                His father was why Myungsoo was depressed. When Myungsoo turned twelve, he had applied for the Seoul therapy camp as a way of escaping his father’s demands. There were a few relatives he knew who resided in South Korea’s capital. He stayed with them for every summer and they didn’t question him. To them, they were merely helping out their nephew. What they didn’t know was that the reason of Myungsoo staying there.

                Myungsoo had to escape his abusive father’s clutches.

                In Seoul, that was where we met for the first and last time.

****

                In those five minutes of silence, I think back to our kisses. I think back to the time where he told me life was supposed to be spontaneous, like the summer weather. Summer was the season where I met him. When I look up from my desk, I fight back the tears that threaten to spill out.

                I cough out the word, “summer” before breaking down in tears.

                I don’t believe I’ll meet someone as understanding as Myungsoo.

                “…Min Jung, would you like to be excused?” My English teacher’s voice rings back into my ears, pulling me out of my reverie. I nod my head meekly before I head out of the classroom. Out of reckless attitude, I call a taxi to take to the hospital. Within thirty minutes, I arrive at the hospital. I know I’m not supposed to be here. So why am I standing at the front of the hospital during school hours? It’s because Myungsoo peacefully lies here at the memorial set up for patients for the therapy camp.

                This is reality.

****

                My dreams are nothing like reality.  

                Myungsoo would transfer to my high school and we would finish college together. We would get married and all that happy s.hit that you see in dramas and movies. And if his abusive father’s wrongdoings can’t be avoided, I’d rather have Myungsoo die in my dreams than die in reality.

                You can abandon dreams, but you can’t abandon reality.

                And yet too often of a time, we confuse reality with our dreams. Our dreams are too vivid, too closely following to reality. It’s as if everyone’s playing games with themselves –reality is deceptive.

                I miss you, Myungsoo. I miss you and our summer adventures.  

                I wish I dream of you tonight again, Mr. Textbook.

Author's Note [16.04.2015]: I finished this story in one-go because this is an old fiction and I finished this long time ago. Please don't be a silent reader.