The boy sat on the floor, legs crossed, as his pajamas made of flour sack dragged on the wood. 1
His hands covered his ears, but that never truly worked. The grown-up voices always found a way in like smoke under a door.
“You always do this!” a woman’s voice snapped. She was blurry in the kitchen doorway. “You always drink and pretend it’s the world’s fault that we’re in this situation.”
The sound of a glass bottle breaking resonated in the small house, causing the woman to scream.
“It is the world’s fault,” a man muttered, then louder, “You think this is what I wanted? You think this life is some kind of gift?”
“I gave up everything,” his mom said. “I had plans. Do you remember that? Of course, you don’t. You were too busy playing pretend with your bar gigs and your empty promises.”
The boy pressed his palms harder against his ears. But the sound tunneled in any way. Their words echoed like they were underwater.
“We should’ve never had a kid.”
“Then let him starve outside. I don’t care what you do! I hate the spitting image of the two of us,” he screamed louder than before.
Zeno woke up in a cold sweat, panting as he looked around the room.
He was still inside his current unit. The sweat dripped from his sideburns down to his chin, and he felt himself shivering.
“What the heck was that?” he muttered. That dream was unlike anything he had before.
Getting flashbacks of his past lives wasn’t too rare. He had them when he was reminded of such times. It seemed to be even more often during this life. He had little to no flashbacks when he was Sanjae Lin!
However, this dream was even stranger than usual because Zeno was sure he hadn’t lived that life before.
This was a completely different memory—one that wasn’t a part of his missions.
“Am I getting old?” he whispered. “Why can’t I remember which life it came from?”
Just then, he glanced at the time and saw that he woke up later than his usual routine. He frowned. That was another strange thing.
Maxie was already jumping by his side, barking softly like she was urging him to get up so they could eat.
“Alright, alright,” Zeno muttered. “Let’s go.”
He got up, but he suddenly felt himself growing dizzy. He sat back down on the bed and clutched on the bed, feeling an ache in his head. Maxie stopped barking and went closer to him.
“Wait,” he whispered. “Something’s wrong.”
Just then, the door slowly opened, revealing Doha in an apron.
“Zeno?” he softly yet cheerily called. “The food is ready. You didn’t wake up as usual, so I decided to fetch you.”
Zeno nodded and lifted his head. Doha frowned when he saw his friend’s state.
“Wait,” Doha muttered. “Are you alright?”
Except for the throbbing pain in his head, he was all right.
“Yeah,” he responded, getting up despite his discomfort. Doha still didn’t appear convinced.
Zeno entered Doha’s unit and found Eli and Minji already there. As soon as Minji saw him, she looked away with red cheeks. Meanwhile, Eli had an awkward look on his face. Still, he welcomed him softly.
“Thanks,” Zeno muttered as Doha placed a plate in front of him.
He scooped up some food, but he didn’t have much of an appetite. Aside from that, his sense of taste was diminished.
The others turned to him with curiosity. Zeno was usually the fastest to finish eating because he ate like a military man.
“Alright, something is strange,” Doha said, standing from his seat and going to Zeno to place his hand over his forehead. His eyes widened.
“What the heck? You’re burning up!” he exclaimed.
Minji clicked his tongue. “This is what I was talking about! You shouldn’t have run under the rain!”
“No wonder you’re sweating when it’s raining out,” Eli chimed.
Zeno pursed his lips. What a weak immune system he has for getting sick after only minutes of exposure!
“I’m fine,” Zeno said, gently removing Doha’s hand away from his forehead.
“Fevers are the body’s way of fighting off an infection. This is a good thing.”
Eli clicked his tongue and grabbed a thermal scanner from Minji’s kit before taking Zeno’s temperature. His eyes widened as it beeped.
“40 degrees Celsius1,” he muttered. “Are you insane? You should go to the hospital!”
Minji nodded in agreement. Doha pursed his lips. “I’ll cancel my Zumba class for the day to accompany you.”
Zeno pursed his lips. They were overreacting. This will pass as long as he gets enough rest. However, the three of them seemed determined to send him to the hospital.
“Eli can just take care of me,” Zeno muttered.
“I have class,” he said. “Anyway, just go. It won’t hurt to get some medicine.”
Zeno sighed and nodded, making the three of them sigh in relief.
“Good,” Minji muttered. “I thought we would have a harder time convincing you.”
Zeno wasn’t in the mood to fight because his head was aching the more their conversation went on. Aside from that, he started shivering, but he kept it on the down low because he didn’t want to alert them further.
He also didn’t have any other pending projects as he was still waiting for the results of his audition.
Just then, he received a call, and it was none other than Bobby.
“I’ll get dressed,” Doha said, and Zeno nodded silently.
He answered the call and placed his phone beside his ear.
“Zeno!” Bobby exclaimed in a cheery tone. “I have some good news.”
Zeno’s brows furrowed, and he stayed silent, allowing Bobby to continue.
“We just received a message from the SK channel. Oh goodness. I never would have imagined this would happen.”
“You’re part of the callbacks! They saw your potential.”
Zeno’s eyebrows raised in surprise. He wasn’t expecting them to decide so soon.
“Wait, callbacks?” Zeno muttered.
“Yup!” Bobby exclaimed. “This is actually pretty common for bigger productions, especially concerning the main role. They want you to go back to the SK channel building for the second audition this morning.”
“I’ll come and pick you up.”
Zeno bit his lip. He actually got in. Despite the odds being against him, he was selected for another chance.
With that, he placed his phone on the table and cleared his throat.
“I’m not going to the hospital.”
Fun fact! Flour sacks were actually used as clothes back then.
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