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The park is clouded in the light of the moon. The cars pass by in blurry lights, and no children play on the equipment. The only sound to be heard is the sobbing of a young man named Minho.
He sits alone on the swings, one hand holding his face and the other clutching onto the chain of the swing. His sobs subside as he hears the gentle fall of feet heading towards him. He doesn’t need to look up to know who it is. Even through his clouded brain and stinging eyes, he would know the sound of his footsteps.
Jisung sits next to his friend silently, head turned towards the older boy and eyes soft and understanding.
Minho breathes deeply, counting between each breath until he can muster the strength to mutter, ‘I don’t get it.’
Jisung’s sigh is long and slow, he turns his head away from Minho and stares directly ahead to where the streets wind on and on like an endless road. ‘I know.’ He finally responds. ‘It’s hard to understand, I know it is.’
Jisung had always been rather good with words, but tonight he doesn’t speak much. Doesn’t joke or burst into song. Tonight his sentences are short and voice tired.
Minho feels silent tears run down his cheeks and nose and he can feel snot starting to dribble from his nostril. He can’t bring himself to care how he looks tonight.
‘Then why?’ He asks.
Jisung doesn’t sigh. Doesn’t answer for a long while. He stares at the passing cars with their bright lights and loud music.
‘I’m tired.’ He raises his shoulders and drops them in a shrug. Minho doesn’t answer, so he takes another long sigh and musters all the thoughts running through his head, in hopes of bringing Minho some form of closure.
‘I’m always so tired Minho. It doesn’t matter how long I sleep, or how much coffee I drink. There’s always this weight that’s dragging me down, making me slow. It always feels like I’m wasting my life. Or worse, like my life is pointless. Like I have no place here. I’m just a mistake. A slow, tired mistake.’
‘Not to me!’ Minho was hiccuping, wiping his eyes. He still did not turn to Jisung. ‘You weren’t a mistake to me, or Chan hyung or any of us dammit!’
Jisung’s large eyes were filled with pity as he looked at his closest friend. ‘I was. You just haven’t realised it yet.’
The younger boy stands, finally taking his eyes off of Minho, and back onto the infinite road ahead of them. Minho still didn’t look up, his sobs returning to comfort him in the short silence.
‘Forget about me Minho. Tell everyone else to forget about me too. I’m really not worth remembering.’
He starts to walk away, towards the blurring lights.
Minho’s sobs don’t stop, but still he manages to shout. ‘Please stay!’
Jisung pauses, but does not turn.
‘Just stay here with me, and we can go back to Chan’s and call everyone over and we can all have a big sleepover and forget about this- JISUNG PLEASE DON’T LEAVE!’
The older has still not looked up from the ground. Jisung has still not turned.
Slowly, as Minho’s screaming and crying and begging grows louder, he walks away.
Minho’s phone rings and rings and rings. He doesn’t answer it. Instead he spends the night alone, crying in the park and begging the empty air to please stay.