Chapter Sixty-one (1/2)

“It was back in stork school..”  Woozi started.  “On the day he graduated, I was upset that Yeosang wouldn’t complete our bond.  When he said no, it made me mad and it made me think that he didn’t trust me enough; he didn’t love me enough; and that he was afraid of me.

“I was so mad and heart-broken at the same time.”  He held his chest as he recalled the day.  “He was supposed to be a silver robe..”

Jeonghan hummed.  “I remember, his spot was missing that day..”  He commented.

Woozi nodded and sighed.  “He didn’t show up and neither did I.  I couldn’t sit in the audience and look at his broken heart on the stage.  But I didn’t know he was going to ditch the ceremony.”  He explained.

“Now let me talk to you about another student that is important in this story.”  Woozi looked Jeonghan’s way.  “I know it’s just a name to you, but his name was Junhoe.”

Jeonghan pouted his lip.  “Was?”

Woozi nodded and traced unknown shapes on the floor with his index fingers.  “Junhoe was a crow, a screeching crow.”  He started.  “Junhoe wasn’t ever wanted.  And so his parents did everything in their power to hide him aside from letting him go to stork school.

“They didn’t mention him at family meetings; they didn’t have portraits or pictures of Junhoe; they didn’t even have a traditional bedroom for him.”  Woozi sighed and closed his eyes.  “But he loved sports.  Junhoe loved sports and anything to do with getting his heart rate up with fun games.”

“Junhoe was a pro at basketball.  It was remarkable how much strength he had despite not being accepted by his own parents.”  Woozi smiled a bit.

Jeonghan hummed.  “I know how that is..”  He muttered.

“When his parents found out that Junhoe was making it on the team that goes against regular school teams, they were so furious.”  Woozi said with wide eyes.  “They took Junhoe out of school and locked him in his storage closet-sized bedroom.”

Jeonghan gasped, holding his mouth.  “That’s..”  He furrowed his eyebrows.

“Junhoe missed his friends.  They would text him their matches so he didn’t have to miss out on it.  And he really liked that they were comforting him.”  Woozi said, his small smile shortly returning.  “However his parents found out and then took his phone.”

Jeonghan folded his arms.  “A story of fortunately and unfortunately..”

Woozi nodded and sighed.  “Junhoe had enough.  He ran away from home.  He was running across the road, but a driver ignored the red light.”

Jeonghan widened his eyes.  “He..”

“Just remember Junhoe.”  Woozi put his finger up.  “Junhoe was rushed to the emergency room.”

The parent nodded and took his cup of water from the counter.

“Meanwhile, Yeosang was still nowhere to be found.”  Woozi said.  “But Jun was running errands for his teacher.  He was helping out at stork school after college, remember?”

Jeonghan nodded.  “I remember.”

“So Jun went to the storage unit for the martial arts class, and he found Yeosang against the wall..  The room had machetes and stuff.”  Woozi started crying.  “Jun said it was really red where Yeosang was..”

“H-he hurt himself?”  Jeonghan saw Woozi’s eyes getting red with his nod.

Woozi rubbed his eyes.  “He hurt himself over me.  He was put in the emergency room because of me.”  He held his chest.

Jeonghan pursed his lips.  “Then what?”  He asked.

“Then I heard that Yeosang died..”  Woozi said.  “I heard he didn’t make it and that there was nothing they could do.”

Jeonghan tilted his head as he knows that Yeosang’s alive.  “When I got to the emergency room, Yeosang was fine.  In fact, his levels improved.”  Woozi said.