Seok Jin
March 2, Year 19
I entered the principal's office following my father.
It smelled of mold. Ten days had passed since I returned.
from the US, and the day before I had learned that
It would be one degree lower due to the difference in the
school systems. "Please take good care of my son." Me
I shuddered when I saw my father's hand on my shoulder.
“School is a dangerous place. It needs to be…”
"Strictly controlled." The director looked me in the eye.
She wore a black suit, her cheeks wrinkled and...
The corners of her mouth trembled slightly each time.
who was speaking. The inside of her blackened lips was
Even darker. "Don't you agree, Seokjin?"
As he backed away from her abrupt question, Dad squeezed
His grip on my shoulder. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck.
"I'm sure you'll behave." The director tried
stubbornly refusing to make eye contact, while Dad
He increased the pressure against my shoulder. I clenched my fists.
when his grip almost fractured my shoulder blade. "You know
You have to keep me informed, right? You'll be a
"Good student, right?" The principal stared at me.
without even a hint of a smile. "Yes." As soon as I spat it out
In response, the pain in my shoulder disappeared. Dad and the
The director roared with laughter. I couldn't even lift my head.
head. I kept staring at my father's brown shoes.
and the director's black shoes. The toes of his
The shoes shone brightly, although to me it was a
mystery of where that light came from.
JiMin
March 12, Year 19
Several days had passed since it began.
New semester, but my classmates were still
being strangers to me. It wasn't hard to guess that
They were talking about me behind my back. I tried to act indifferent.
But it was in vain. “I heard that you live in a
Apartment on the other side of the river. Why did you move?
"To this school?" I pretended not to hear the question.
I had nothing to say to her. I kept walking with my head down.
Gacha. "Hey, didn't you hear me?" I sped up my pace. Me
had transferred from one school to another as much as there was
He has been hospitalized and discharged. And no.
There were more schools near my neighborhood.
transfer me.
I went to the storage room that had been converted into
classroom, she had cleaned it as part of a punishment for
I was late for school. When I opened the door, I...
I was startled to hear voices inside. Who could be there?
Here at this hour? I was just about to close the door...
I remained silent and turned around when someone called my name.
Name. "Hey, you're Park Jimin, right?" It was them
the same senior students who cleaned
I was sent to the classroom for being late. I wasn't sure if
I had to answer him or just leave. Someone gave me
A tap on the shoulder. "Aren't you coming in?" Without noticing
I entered the classroom. "It's good to see you again. Didn't you
Do you remember me? I'm Taehyung. We're in the same school.
year."Before I knew it, I was sitting in a chair.
The cellar door kept opening and closing.
The seven students who cleaned together
They were there. Nobody asked questions. They simply
We listened to music, read books, danced, and we...
We had fun. It felt like we'd been together.
always.
YoonGi
June 12, Year 19
I skipped school without thinking, but I didn't have
Where to go? It was hot, and I had no money and nothing to do.
It was Namjoon who first suggested going to the sea. The others
They seemed enthusiastic about it, but I wasn't interested.
Absolutely not. “Do you have any money?” Upon hearing my…
When asked, Namjoon told the others to look in
His pockets. A few coins and some bills. "No
"We can go." "Why don't we walk?" That must have been
It was Taehyung. Namjoon's expression seemed
Tell her to use her head and think before she speaks.
Everyone except me was chatting, laughing for no reason, and
wandering around. I distanced myself from the rest since I wasn't...
Humor. The sun was shining. It was midday and there was no shade.
under the trees. The paved road has no sidewalks, and
Every time a car passed, it raised a thick cloud of smoke.
dust cloud.
"Let's go there." It was Taehyung. Or was it Hoseok? Either way.
In other words, I wasn't paying attention, but there must be
It's been one of those two. I didn't see any point in going there...
Should I tell them to carry on without me? I turned my head and
I almost tripped over someone. It was Jimin. He stood there so...
static as a statue. The muscles in his face
They were trembling, as if they had seen a ghost. "Are you..."
"Okay?" She didn't seem to realize I was talking to her. Her
My gaze was fixed on a signpost that read 2.1 km.
to the Grass Flower Arboretum. He began to sweat, his
His face had turned pale as if he were about to faint. "Park Jimin!" I called again, but he
He didn't move. He stayed there, staring at the sign.
"Hey, it's too hot to go to a grove."
Let's go to the sea." Try to redirect the conversation with
as indifferent as possible. I didn't know what Grass was.
Flower Arboretum, but I had the feeling that
We should have avoided it. "We don't have enough money," HoSeok objected.
"We can walk." It was Taehyung again. "I think..."
We'll be able to resolve something once we get to the
train station. Of course, we'll have to skip
"Dinner." Namjoon interjected. Jungkook and Taehyung...
They complained. Jimin snapped out of his reverie after
Everyone started heading towards the station. Jimin,
with head bowed and shoulders hunched,
He looked like a little boy. I looked at the sign again.
The words "Grass Flower Arboretum" gradually disappeared.
slowly out of our sight.
Jungkook
June 12, Year 19
The sun was still relentless when we arrived at the
train station by the sea. Our shadows were almost
invisible, floating around our feet. There was no
where to hide from the sun. I thought I heard the roar.
from the waves, and soon a stretch of the beautiful beach of
The sand unfolded before our eyes. It was the beginning of
Summer. The first vacationers were already settled in.
Under umbrellas. There was something about the sea that filled me with
emotions. Taehyung and Hoseok shouted excitedly and
They ran forward. As they were called, Jimin and
Seokjin joined them.
They called me. "Jungkook!" I waved to them.
And I smiled happily. Or perhaps I smiled to pretend that
I was happy. I was still awkward at revealing my...
feelings and adapting to unfamiliar environments.
Someone once told me I acted like a child.
shy and intimidated. It was the same that day. I felt like a
somewhat uncomfortable in the presence of others, as if he weren't
belonged there.
There wasn't much to do on the beach, it was just a
impulsive destiny. "Let's go for a run," suggested HoSeok from
Suddenly, he ran ahead. Everyone else gave chase.
But they soon gave up. It had been too long.
It was hot, and Namjoon brought a broken umbrella he found in the...
Somewhere. The seven of us lay down under the umbrella.
Sunlight filtered through the cracks.Round patches of sunlight continued to move.
little by little, and we moved to avoid them.
"Do you want to go see this rock?" Hoseok held up his phone.
There was a picture of a large rock on a beach. "They say that..."
If you shout your dream towards the sea while standing in
"It will come true." Jimin picked up his phone and looked at the...
Photo. "Isn't that a bit far? It's at least 3.5 km from..."
"Here." YoonGi turned around. "I'm not going. I don't have any..."
I dream first and foremost. And even if I had it, I wouldn't walk.
3.5 kilometers in this heat... No way.
Taehyung jumped up. "I'll go."
We started walking under the broken umbrella.
The sandy beach burned under the blazing sun, and the air was
It was so hot we could barely breathe. We walked in
the beach like stragglers, with their feet sunk in the water
Hot sand. HoSeok tried to make jokes, but nobody
He responded. Taehyung collapsed to the ground and declared that
He was giving up. Namjoon picked him up again and...
He gave me a shove in the back. All our faces
They were bright red and covered in sweat. We tried
fanning ourselves with the hem of our t-shirts, but
It only attacked us with more hot air. However,
We continue to move forward.
Some time ago, I asked the others what they were
his dreams. Seokjin said he dreamed of being a good person.
person. YoonGi said it was okay not to have any
dream. HoSeok just wanted to be happy. And NamJoon. What
What did he tell us? I can't remember, but it wasn't anything special.
Basically, none of us had a dream thatto pursue. So why were we walking along this?
hot beach under the scorching sun to reach a rock
3.5 km away, which supposedly makes the
Do dreams come true?
Along the way, we got rid of the umbrella that
Namjoon, Hoseok, and Seokjin had taken turns to
It held. It blocked some of the sun, but it was too much.
Heavy with its steel handle. "Stop doing that." That
That's what YoonGi told me while we were drinking.
A short break after removing the parasol.
At first, I was perplexed. In fact, I rarely spoke
with YoonGi and I didn't even realize he was
talking to me. YoonGi showed me his fingers. "It
They'll come back like mine." It also had cuticles.
skinned from biting their nails. I hid hesitantly.
My hands were in my pockets. I didn't answer because I didn't know.
What can I say?
"What is your dream?" YoonGi asked. "You didn't tell us..."
"Yours." He didn't seem really interested in my answer.
He simply seemed to be asking for the conversation
"I don't know. I've never thought about it." "Well, no..."
"There's nothing wrong with that."
"By the way, what is a dream?" I asked after
some doubts. YoonGi answered in a soft voice. "You
I said I don't have one." "No, I mean..." I hesitated and
I continued. “I was wondering what a dream is. What does it want…”
"What do people with a dream say?" She looked at me and then turned her
He looked up at the sky, frowning. “Something that…”
"What do you want to achieve? I suppose."
HoSeok took charge, waving the phone towards
We. "These are the first definitions of
dictionary, 'a series of imaginary events that
you experience when you are asleep'; secondly,
"a situation or an ideal that you hope to achieve"; and third,
"false expectations or thoughts that are almost
improbable or completely impossible to become
In fact".
"Isn't the third definition strange? How can something..."
which is unlikely to become a reality
“Call it a dream?” HoSeok replied. “People sometimes…”
It tells you to wake up from your dream. So, if you are
dreaming of returning and going back home before reaching the
Rock, wake up from your slumber!
Some of us laughed out loud, but the
The rest showed no reaction, probably because
They had no energy left. "That's strange. How..."
It is likely that something that comes true will not return.
"Reality?" YoonGi said, laughing. "Maybe it means that the..."
People are desperate. They simply can't.
giving up on their dreams even though they know they won't achieve them
They will come true. Never try to have a dream." I looked at him.
with surprise. "How is this possible?" YoonGi had
she started biting her nails and, feeling aware
He looked away and put his hands in his pockets.
"Because it's difficult to have one."
I was curious to know why she bit her nails.
But I didn't ask him. Instead, I looked at my own fingers.
It had been a habit since childhood to hurt myself. NoI don't remember when it started. All I can remember is
the distinct sensation of cutting my finger with a knife
One day. After the painful sensation passed, the
Blood gushed from the wound. He felt numb and with
I felt a tingling sensation at the same time. Mom took me to the hospital.
They had to suture, sterilize, and bandage the wound.
She pretended to make a scene in front of the doctor.
However, my mother didn't make me dinner or help me with...
I will take my medication after I get home.
I really didn't expect her to do it. She had been
It's been like this ever since Dad left.
The wound healed very slowly because it continued
pressing it with the tip of my fingernail. Every time
I pressed on the wound; a sharp pain shot through my finger.
Sometimes it hurt so much I almost cried. But I also
It helped me feel awake again. Even now,
Sometimes I feel empty. Nothing seems to make sense and everything
My energy was running out.
"How much longer do we have to walk?" I ask.
Taehyung, Hoseok seemed lost. "It's strange."
I'm sure it must be somewhere around here.
We all stood there and looked around.
Only the sound of the waves breaking on the beach filled the air.
The silent emptiness beneath the blue sky. Hundreds of thousands of
Pebbles were scattered across the beach like grains of sand.
sand. The rock in the photo was nowhere to be seen.
"Should we go a little further?" "I can't give
another step." "I'm hungry and thirsty." In the
Intrusion into our conversation, Jimin sighed withHis eyes were fixed on his phone. Taehyung, who was
Looking at the phone with him, he violently struck a
A stone with a hollow face. Jimin read the article aloud.
high. A luxury resort will be built on this beach, and the
The construction company blew the rock to pieces because
obstructed the view from the first and second floors of the building.
Complex. We all looked at the place at the same time. They installed
yellow bands along the entire beach to mark
that the area was designated as a development zone, with
Mammoth burrows wandering in the background. A
A sign that read "Seawall Construction" was seen.
"I guess we've arrived at the right place," HoSeok said.
tapping the gravel with the toe of his shoe. All
The gravel scattered on the beach must have been what was left.
of that rock they blew to pieces. "It's okay. There's no
something like a rock that makes dreams come true
"Reality anyway." Namjoon comforted Hoseok,
lightly tapping his shoulder. "We didn't have any
"I dream first and foremost." "There's no possibility of
to do them even if we did." "It's a luxury for
"We dream." Everyone tried to say something positive,
But it didn't work. We weren't expecting much, but
We didn't come all this way to see this either.
YoonGi, who told me not to have dreams because
They were too harsh, it was no different. After looking
The sea turned white for a few minutes, then began to
She started biting her nails again. She seemed completely...
unaware of what he was doing. "YoonGi." He realized
She turned to look at me. "No..." My next words
They were interrupted by the loud noise of drilling. We all turned around at the same time.
They were resuming construction work.
The loud crash sounded as if it came from a rock.
massive being pierced and made the surrounding air roll and
raise your voice sharply.
YoonGi frowned and touched my shoulder. "What?"
"Did you say that?" YoonGi murmured something. "Don't do that." Me
I put my hands around my mouth and screamed. YoonGi no
He seemed to have heard me and shook his head again.
frowning. He was about to shout again, but he had already stopped.
biting her nails. She could see the sea beyond her
shoulders. The countless pebbles crushed beneath my
feet. The rock must have been enormous, powerful, and
old enough to make dreams come true
people's dreams came true. But now, it was nothing more than...
A pile of gravel. "Is the world hard for you?"
"Too?" I asked. As expected, the rumble
The earth, with the drill, swallowed my voice. The gaze
Confused, YoonGi told me he didn't understand.
I shouted again. "Do you want to renounce this world?"
"Too?" He muttered something this time, but I couldn't understand.
What it was. I shook my head, and YoonGi shouted again.
Looking at us, HoSeok and TaeHyung burst out laughing.
Laughter was also inaudible, but their faces showed their...
humor.
The next minute, we were all looking towards
The sea, screaming our dreams. HoSeok covered his...
He cupped his ears with both hands and opened his mouth. He seemed to be
It was competing with the sound of the drill, but it was inaudible.
It was the same for Taehyung, Jimin, and Namjoon. Each of us shouted a story that would never reach us.
no destination. I was standing behind YoonGi and
Seokjin at first, and I walked past them until I reached the
The point where the waves rolled in. All my senses
They came to life. The voices of the others became entangled and
They formed a confusing network, with a somewhat suspicious smell.
but refreshing from the sea and the strong breeze that wound its way through
around my fingers. Before I knew it, I was screaming.
towards the sea. Amidst the thunderous sound of the
drill, I couldn't even hear what my dream was.
Then the sound of the drilling stopped so suddenly
abruptly, just as it had begun. The whole world
He remained silent, as if the noise had been...
Cut cleanly with a knife. Just like that. But
Our screams weren't in perfect order. Taehyung
He coughed hard as if he had choked on his saliva.
while trying to close his mouth in a hurry. The voice of
Someone hit an absurdly high note. The last one
The word heard was, "..., please!" by Seokjin.
Instantly, we all closed our mouths. For a
A fleeting second, nobody moved. Then, we exploded into
We laughed together. We started laughing, pointing at each other.
others.
"Let's take a picture here," Seokjin suggested.
We stood in a line with the sea as a backdrop. Seokjin
I set the timer and he came running towards us.
Click! This day with the sweltering heat of early
Summer was etched in our memories with that photo.
The way back was shorter than the way there.
The rock. Just when we thought we were halfway there, the deserted umbrella appeared. Soon, the station
The train could be seen in the distance.
"Can I keep the photo?" Seokjin took out the Polaroid camera.
She took it from her bag and wrote "June 12th" on the back.
"The dream you shouted will come true." I looked at him.
"Do you know what I said?" Seokjin touched my shoulder without
He said nothing and went ahead.
Seok Jin
June 25, Year 19
Nobody was there, in the classroom that had been turned into a storage room.
We never made any promises, but I was usually
It was full of people and the murmur of voices. Such silence was
Strange. Upon entering, I noticed a flowerpot by the window.
Who could have brought a plant here?
The room was always dark and without electricity.
The green leaves seemed even more vibrant in the dim light.
that was seeping through the dirty windows. I took
Photos with my phone. As expected, the photos didn't...
They turned out well. I've always thought that photos don't...
They managed to capture exactly what the human eye could see.
can see.
When I approached the flowerpot, I could see the letter "H".
written on the ground, half covered by the flowerpot.
I lifted it to discover "HoSeok's Plant" scribbled on it.
There. I laughed. I should have known. I rolled the flowerpot over to
I completely covered the scribble and looked around. No
I had noticed it before, but the windows were covered.
of graffiti and scribbles. The windows, the walls, and even
The ceiling was covered with phrases like "Admission to
"University or death!" Love proposals not
corresponding dates, and countless names that
They were barely recognizable. This warehouse must have had
served as a normal classroom like any other
Another. He must have seen the students present themselves at the
Classes every morning and saying goodbye again in the afternoon.
On the first days back to school, students shouldto have filled this room, which had been empty
during the holiday months, chatting
rowdily. Some of them must have been
They were punished for arriving late and left the class, like
We. Did this class see teachers who used the
violence, they conducted endless tests and sent
homework? Were there students like me who betrayed their
Friends with the director?
Suddenly, I started wondering if the name of
"Dad" was written on the walls. "Dad" was also...
He graduated from this school. He believed this increased the
prestige of our family for attending the same school
secondary school and university generation in
generation. I looked up each name and finally found it.
I found it among the writings in the middle of the column
Left. Under his name it said: It all started here.