Narrated by Jinhwan
I woke up to the smell of my mom's delicious cooking, tickling my nose. I opened my eyes with a big smile on my face. Wait a minute, why does it smell like my mom's cooking? I sat up quickly, surprised.
My mother lives on Jeju Island and I live in the apartment with the boys.
How did I get here? Last night I was hanging out with them since it was our "day off," and now I'm here? Could it be that I got drunk and ended up here?
I remove the sheets from my body and get up, barefoot I leave the room and head to the kitchen, indeed, it is my mother cooking breakfast.
"Hi, honey, you woke up early. I thought I'd have to wake you myself," she smiles, comes over, and kisses my forehead. "You'll have plenty of time to enjoy the food your mother made. Have a seat."
"Of course..." I murmured. "Mom, I got drunk last night and came all the way here?"
"Did you get drunk? Did you? Did you sneak out of the house?" she asks, hands on her hips.
"No, no," I repeatedly denied, waving both hands in front of me. "I just don't understand. Yesterday I was hanging out with the guys."
-What, guys, honey? Are you confessing that you did something wrong?
"No, Mom," I said, observing her for several seconds. She was wearing a necklace that I had lost some years ago. "When did you get your necklace back?"
"Which one? This one?" she asks, puzzled. "I never lost it. Don't change the subject, Jinhwan. Did you sneak out last night with your college friends?"
-University? I'm talking about the members of iKON, I don't understand what's going on here
-Me neither, I don't know who these iKON people are, are they from a gang?
My eyes widen even more; I want to laugh at hearing her say that, but at the same time I want to scream. I'm so confused.
"No, Mom, I'm sorry, this has to be some kind of joke, right? They still haven't gotten over the prank I played on them in the iKON TV episode." I laugh, looking around. "I thought they'd already gotten their revenge." I cross my arms and sigh. "Okay, guys, you scared me enough. Good one." I raise my voice.
My mother squints her eyes.
"Jinhwan, I want you to tell me right now what kind of friends you're hanging out with. Do they...do they do drugs?" he asks carefully. I let out a laugh, and then he pinches my arm. "Seriously, kid?"
"I'm getting scared, seriously," I whispered, swallowing hard. She placed breakfast in front of me on the table.
"I'm scared too. I don't want you hanging out with bad people, honey. Go wash up and come back for lunch. We'll talk about this this afternoon. For now, I have to go. I have exams I need to review at the university. I'll see you in your afternoon class." She says goodbye with a big kiss on the cheek, accompanied by a somewhat threatening warning.
To university? He quit that job years ago, shouldn't he be at the cafeteria? Apparently, my father isn't here; he must have left early for work. And my sister, she must be working in Seoul. What I don't understand is why I'm here.
I look at my breakfast; I woke up hungry, but now it's almost completely gone. Oh well, I take the plate to my room and grab my cell phone. I look for Hanbin's number, but strangely, I can't find it. I look for Bobby's, and I can't find it either.
I look closely at my cell phone; this isn't mine. I check my social media, and sure enough, it is. I search for the boys through those channels, but they're not there either.
What's going on here? It's a joke, no, they wouldn't go to that much trouble, besides, they already got their revenge, so what is it? I look for my sister's number, and she answers on the third ring, immediately the sobbing of a baby is heard.
-Hi, what's up?- she replies somewhat loudly, and also hurriedly.
Sister, I want to tell you something strange that's happening to me. I know I can trust you.
-Jinhwan, I can't talk right now, Chung-hee is still sick and crying a lot, I'll talk to you later little brother, by the way, you can go and help Dad at the cafeteria, right? Well, goodbye-he hangs up and again I feel lost.
What should I do? I suppose I should eat first, then go to the cafeteria, maybe something will occur to me later.
(...)
When I arrive at the cafeteria I see my father behind the counter preparing a coffee, I quickly help him, since there is a long line.
We greeted each other and continued working; after a while, the line disappeared. Something occurred to me—not much, but perhaps something strange happened that was related to the odd events of the morning and was being reported on the news. I turned on the television, to the news channel.
Nothing explains what's happening. The commercials start, well, I think I should look for explanations elsewhere. I'm about to stop paying attention to the TV when I hear Donghyuk's voice singing.
It's some kind of concert announcement, but no, it's not from YG, it's from SM.
"What is this?" I asked aloud.
"What were you saying, son?" my dad asks from behind me. I turn around, look at him, and then at Donghyuk.
"I'm very confused, that singer..." he said almost voicelessly.
"Ah, yes, good voice, isn't it? He's also a good dancer," she comments, looking at him. "Yes, he's a good dancer, but why is he at SM and not YG?"
-Dad, I...do I study?
-Well, I hope you're doing it and that you don't fail.
-So I'm not a singer, right?
-Why? Would you like to be one?
-I didn't audition at YG, did I?
-Jinhwan, if that's your dream, then we'll support you
"No, I mean yes, it is, but forget it, it's okay," I laugh nervously. No, nothing is okay, everything is wrong. I don't understand what's happening here.