Chapter 108: I'm home?
The timetable was strictly followed, their son wasn\'t allowed to have friends outside of the family circle — rules were placed on everything.
Even after the death of their daughter, they still had the same rules up, even though one of those rules was what led to her death.
This affected Ha Joon a lot as a kid. His life constantly felt like a simulation, and he wanted out. And so, he did. He separated himself from the family once he got old enough, living by himself as the loser he was.
And now, the family that he hated so much was calling him back. Although he was still confused as to how he ended up in Korea from Camelot, the call from his own mom had distracted him from that.
It took him a couple of minutes until he arrived at the Kim household. It wasn\'t big, but it definitely stood out in the neighborhood.
Knock!
Ha Joon banged on the door, waiting for a response.
The sound of footsteps raced toward the door.
Click~
The door opened.
Ha Joon\'s eyes widened in shock as he stood face to face with his mom, whom he hadn\'t seen for years.
Seol had long black silk hair just like him, dressed in a sundress with an apron covering her chest and stomach.
"Honey, you made it," she said with a smile.
Ha Joon was still trying to process everything that was happening, though he forced a smile.
"I... I\'m home," he replied.
"Come in, Rachel is in the living room. Your dad will be here any minute."
His mom walked away, leaving the door open so he could walk in.
With a deep breath, Ha Joon walked into the house before closing the door behind him.
Hmmm~
Since he grew up in the same place, he knew his way around. He made his way to the living room, and there he could see the girl with short blue hair seated on the couch.
That was Rachel. She was his childhood friend, if not the only actual friend he had ever had. Her father was also a foreign neuroscientist. He and Dong worked together in the same company, and that was how Ha Joon met her.
After he broke away from his parents\' life, Ha Joon cut ties with almost everyone… but in that very moment, Rachel was right in front of him.
Rachel turned her gaze to Ha Joon, seeing him standing at the entrance of the living room.
"Joony, you made it," she said as she stood up from the chair and ran toward him, her arms tightening around his body.
"I missed you," she whispered.
Ha Joon\'s eyes were still fixed in front of him, confusion creeping into the back of his mind.
Once she pulled away, he looked down at her, still unable to say a word.
"Are you okay? You look pale," Rachel said as she placed her hands on his cheeks.
Her soft hands pressing against his cheeks only made the idea that it could be a dream completely debunked.
"Y... you\'re real," he managed to finally let out.
Rachel was a bit taken aback at his words. "Of course I\'m real, silly. What\'s wrong? Did you have a bad dream about Camelot again?"
"Camelot?"
Shrrrk!
Ha Joon felt a sharp pain in his hand as he collapsed to the floor, holes forming in his memories.
"Joony!" Rachel immediately followed, bending in front of him with her hands on his back.
\'Camelot... yeah that\'s it. I was supposed to be in Camelot with A... a? With who? Who was I supposed to be with?
I can\'t remember. No, I do remember, ahh, my head.\'
Ha Joon squinted his eyes as he grabbed his head.
"Boy, are you alright? I told you to rest while you can."
That was a masculine voice... the voice of the man who raised him.
Ha Joon\'s eyes widened upon hearing the voice. He gently raised his head, only to see a man dressed in a black tuxedo, standing at the last step of the stairs.
"Dad?"
"Are you alright? You don\'t look so well," Dong asked.
Ha Joon took a minute to understand what was going on. Somehow, the man who had once abandoned him was standing in front of him, his self-absorbed mother was caring, and Rachel, the girl with whom he had cut ties, was kneeling next to him.
Does that mean everything he had been through, his journey to that unknown place he couldn\'t seem to remember, and the beautiful golden-haired woman he was falling for — was that all a dream?
"Give me a fucking break."
Those were Ha Joon\'s final words before he crashed to the ground, the worried screams of his family members echoing in his head before he finally fell unconscious.
×××{}×××
After a couple of hours, Ha Joon was finally waking up.
He was in his former room, his gaming PC and set stationed at the side of the room, the red light illuminating everywhere, and finally, his collection of gods and goddesses scattered around his room.
As he slowly opened his eyes, he heard the voice of Rachel humming as she was busy helping him clean the room.
\'Ahh... why does it feel like I\'ve been sleeping forever...\' Ha Joon looked toward the window and noticed it was already nighttime.
Hmmm!
He sat up, yawning a bit before turning his attention back to Rachel, who was looking at him.
"Oh, you\'re awake. Thank goodness, you made us worried there. Are you sure you\'re alright? You\'re not feeling any pain, headaches, anything like that?" she said as she moved closer.
"Yeah... I\'m fine," Ha Joon replied, "I have a question though."
"Really? About what?"
"Why am I back in Korea? I remember being in Sing City last I checked…"
...
A\\\\N
Another one!!