Youth

EP.01 The Bear's Story - 04 (END)

The surroundings become quiet again, the car starts up, and I pass the store.

Those people returned. Before carefully opening the door and entering, I briefly checked the situation inside the store.

The store had become a mess since those people had gone there once, and Suhan, dressed in disheveled clothes, was silently organizing the shelves and throwing away unusable items.

I opened the door that made the bell ring and quietly helped Suhan.

전웅

...sorry.

전웅

You're meeting with loan sharks who aren't even in your fortune for no reason.

"..."

I offered my apology first, but Suhan remained silent. I assumed that was the case. It's true that he was hurt because of me, so maybe he just wanted me to leave now.

The two of them quietly cleaned up the store and looked at their watches. The hands were already past 5. It was soon time for the next shift to arrive.

We didn't speak from the time we cleaned up the store until the next part-timer came and we left the store.

Youth

It was when we were walking together at dawn. Suhan stopped for a moment and looked at me.

"I knew that nothing I said would comfort you, so I kept worrying about what to say, and I missed the right timing."

"It's no one's fault you're living like this right now. You're just a little unlucky. Even if it's hard, let's not give up. Let's just keep pushing forward. Maybe that's the way out."

"Because youth is about overcoming all kinds of trials and growing. Let's think of it as enjoying a wonderful youth. Got it?"

As I stood there listening to those words, tears welled up in my eyes. I'd cried so much before that I thought I'd run out of tears, but they kept pouring out.

But these tears are different from the tears I shed in the past. If the past was tears of injustice and hardship, these tears flowing now are tears of gratitude, tears of anticipation for a new beginning in life.

Suhan stood with me, patting my shoulder without saying a word.

Do that for a few minutes.

As the movement of my shoulders subsided and I calmed down a bit, I looked at Suhan with my eyes reddened, and Suhan burst out laughing.

"Aren't you a real crybaby?"

"Oh, this is so funny. Anyway, I'll go home and take care. See you tomorrow."

Tuktuk-

Suhan, who had lightly tapped my shoulder twice, soon began to fade away from my sight. It was late, and even home wasn't exactly safe, so I crouched down and decided to walk.

The sound of impact echoing through the empty space, I now hate myself for still holding on.

Why on earth did I live so tenaciously? I knew it was destined to end this way, so why did I keep living?

I kept asking myself questions about how I had survived so far, but I never received an answer.

The abdominal pain is worsening and I'm coughing up blood. My mind and vision are becoming blurry. Even in this situation, dusk is streaming through the small window of the large warehouse.

Ah, this might really be the end. I lifted my weak hands with great effort and clutched the leg right in front of me. Of course, that was only temporary. My whole body lost its strength, and I could no longer see the light.

24-year-old Jeon Woong / Red Star

20xx. 01. 20.