205 Nightmares That Never Go Away (2/2)

Out of habit, Gun turned to Yeo Ri's side of the bed. Seeing the emptiness, his already feverish mind became a mess. He struggled to push himself up, a dizzy feeling sending him into disorientation.

”Yeo Ri?” He called out, gasping for breath. Finding out that his sight was blurred, he became even more panicked. Gun's heart began beating erratically. The fact that he could not find Yeo Ri was making him scared. ”Yeo Ri?!”

He could see a silhouette near him, but the person seemed to be too big to be his baby sister.

”Who are you?!” He hoarsely yelled, dragging himself out of bed. ”Where's Yeo Ri?!”

”Hey, hey, hey!”

His classmate who was sitting closest to him hurriedly tried to catch the fumbling guy.

”Lee Gun, calm down!” Ha Jun rushed to his side, pushing him back into bed. He didn't expect Gun to suddenly wake up. With an annoyed glare, he frowned at Kim Hae Yoon who stared back at him with wide eyes.

”Yeo Ri!”

His weakened body seemed to have affected his mental state, causing him to enter a state of delirium. He was stuck in a nightmare he could not forget. The trauma that had plagued him since the incident kept replaying itself in his mind, threatening to break him.

”Yeo Ri!” Gun called out again and again. His voice sounded extremely miserable and anxious.

”Gun, snap out of it!” Ha Jun yelled, shaking the guy.

”My baby... my baby sister...!” Gun's eyes misted over as he thrashed harder, trying to break away from Ha Jun. The image of Yeo Ri lying on the ground with blood pooling under her flashed in his mind. Then, that man's looming figure took her away.

”No...! Yeo Ri! Yeo Ri!”

Gun hovered between dream and reality. He couldn't tell if he was awake or if he was still stuck in his nightmare.

”Gun!” Ha Jun shouted, squeezing his friend's shoulders firmly. Something seemed to break in Ha Jun's heart as he observed his friend's current condition. Gun had the exact same look he had bore on that day.

That day, he saw his friend's life fall apart.

He was there when the police came and took away Gun's brother.

He'd been standing by the side with Da Na as they watched Yeo Ri being carried into the ambulance, Gun trailing behind the flurry of medics like a lost, broken soul.

He saw his friend, who was usually unfeeling and indifferent, keel over as he tried to get on the ambulance to accompany the blood-covered girl, his legs shaking so badly to the point where they could barely support his weight.

The memories burned in the back of his eyes, making him teary-eyed as well. God only knows how much pain Gun had been bottling in all this time.

He stared into Gun's glassy, insecure eyes. ”It's all over now. Everything's fine. Yeo Ri's fine. She's safe now. You don't have to fight anymore. It's over. Those days are done. You're all okay now...”

Thanks to Ha Jun's coaxing, Gun slowly quietened. His breathing slowed until he finally went back to rest, closing his eyes with his brows still scrunched together tightly in apparent distress.

”...”

”...”

”...”

”...What just happened?”

A heavy mood lingered in the air after Gun's breathing evened out.

Ha Jun turned away from the three outsiders, ”It's nothing. Don't worry about it,” he dismissively said as he fixed Gun's blanket that had fallen off earlier.

”Bu—”

”Don't!” Ha Jun abruptly said. Slowly, he turned to look at the three with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. ”Don't worry about it, okay?”

'It's none of your godd*mn business,' his eyes seemed to say.

This attitude of his was so different than the usual easygoing and friendly Ha Jun that the three could not help but flinch, slowly nodding their heads in understanding. Clearly, the relations between the two friends were deeper than what they thought.

Silently, they pondered about Gun's mysterious past.