It's kind of funny in retrospect that he thought figuring out a way to get shielded from Nightmare would help. Nightmare knows him by now, probably knows him better than anyone else. It doesn't matter that he got someone else's shielding without them knowing that he did, because Nightmare does not need any access to his mind anymore to have a real fucking good guess of how to get to him.
Yeah
Hopefully he won't ever be a problem to either of us, or anyone else, ever again.
This afternoon sound good to you? For whatever it is we decide to do.
After Kim Hye-jin video called him, there was a part of him that hoped that Tae-gun would do the same. Or maybe, even, visited him. He hated himself for wishing it, but he still did.
But Tae-gun hasn't visited yet, or called him. And Jaeha thinks that he probably never will.
Or, at least, not anytime soon. Jaeha would've said that that meant "never" because he wanted to die, but... he's selfish. He's so, so selfish. Now that the sharp sting of the pain is gone and he's getting used to having done the things he's done, he... isn't so sure. Not anymore. He's not sure he was wrong to, back then, he's not sure his life is worth living, but he's scared again. He's scared of dying, and he's scared of living. He doesn't know what comes next.
He doesn't know what he wants to come next. There's nothing, for him. Not anymore.
People are taking pictures. Mostly from afar, but a couple of them walked up to him and asked him to take pictures with them. He did, because, because, because no one's asked to take a picture with him in years. And now they can. And it feels good to be sitting here in a park, in a warm coat under the cold January sun, waiting for his girlfriend to show up for a date. He feels human again, at least a little bit. Like a real person who gets to have nice things.
There is a flash of blue light, and then here is his girlfriend! Looking all smiley and a little shy.
"Hi," she says, beaming at him in the sunlight.
Like that. That's one of the nice things he can have in life.
"Hi," he says, beaming right back at her. "Shall we?"