By Zephyria 
Whether it was due to the IV drip or some other reason, Eun-ha slept deeply for about two days. Then he entered another sleepless night. There wasn’t anything particularly problematic about it. He had decided to rely on drugs for the time being. He had concluded that was better than alcohol. Because drinking alone at home… reminded him of the emotions and sensations from a time that felt like a process of slowly dying.
Kim Tae-yeong
I’m coming back to Korea soon lol
What should I get you as a present?
He was driving aimlessly, thoughtlessly, after work. With the convertible roof down, feeling the wind, he stopped by a roadside path shaded by trees. He checked his phone absentmindedly and found a message from Kim Tae-yeong. It seemed he was finally planning to return to Korea after spending two months traversing every corner of Europe.
Hyung where are you now?
Kim Tae-yeong
I’m in the UK
(Photo)
(Photo)
Anything you want?
A reply came immediately, accompanied by a few selfies where only the scenic background was impressive. The UK. Eun-ha remembered one item from his recent wishlist that he’d been eyeing and promptly wrote it out clearly.
Me: The new Aston Martin Vantage
Kim Tae-yeong
?
A new response appeared with an immediate ‘read’ receipt. Dismissing what seemed like a sufficiently expressive reaction, he checked the group chat where friends had tagged him. Because messages piled up by the hundreds if he left it for just a day, he found himself only checking it every few days, like clearing homework.
Let me skim through the main points quickly. It seemed they were discussing travel plans. They were suggesting to align their summer vacation schedules and go on a trip together, either to a domestic villa or abroad.
Especially Lee Eun-ha, come with us for sure. The record of him repeatedly tagging and clamoring was quite lengthy. There’s no reason for the idlest landlord among us to skip out, he said, answer before we stage a collective protest at that cafe of yours……. The content, vehemently protesting, kept piling up without end.
Knowing full well that their exaggerated scolding was the utmost display of disappointment they could show, he could only feel bitter.
Park Hyun-ji
Hey
It’s Lee Eun-ha lol
Answer us
Let’s go on a trip
@Lee Eun-ha
Sometime in July
Messages popped up in real-time. They must have been watching the chatroom simultaneously. Park Hyun-ji, having caught the ‘last read’ status disappearing live, began pouring out relentless threats. How scary… Before other friends could join in, Eun-ha sent one message and hurriedly left the chatroom.
I’ll go if I have time
If he were Park Hyun-ji, if he were those friends in that chat, expletives would have flown out the moment they read it. They’d probably be calling him a bastard, feeling disgusted, disappointed, hating him, wishing they could just cut ties. That they’d tried hard enough. That they wouldn’t bother with him anymore……
Eun-ha turned that speculation back on himself as if it were his friends’ actual inner thoughts. He swallowed it down as if he’d heard it directly. It was a shallow, cowardly form of self-flagellation that couldn’t even qualify as self-pity.