Tomorrow’s #1: Lovely Runner

Chapter 3

“No way!” I shouted. I was so shocked that I swatted Inhyuk’s hand away. I could hardly believe that another member of Potato Pancakes was also making an appearance in my dream.

“Huh? I think I should be the surprised one,” responded Inhyuk. He made a flabbergasted face and looked at Sunjae.

Most members of Potato War and Potato Battle were Inhyuk’s fans. They claimed that Sunjae was stealing his position and vehemently opposed another member joining the group. Their opposition persisted even after Sunjae officially joined. As Sunjae’s supporter, I hated Inhyuk’s fans. It was natural for me to be annoyed by him.

Inhyuk and Sunjae looked at me in disbelief while I huffed and sniffled. Sunjae was the first to furrow his brow. “What the heck are you doing?” he asked.

“Huh?” I looked at him, still wiping the tears that had gathered and were dripping off my chin.

He seemed very upset. “Do you know me?”

“Ah, I’m a fan of yours,” I answered. “My username is ‘Run With Sunjae.’ I bet you don’t recognize it, of course. I never wrote any posts or anything.” My eyelashes were wet, my eyes were red, and I kept sniffling.

Sunjae’s brows furrowed even more. “A fan?”

“Whoa, you have a fan site?” said Inhyuk. He bumped his shoulder against Sunjae’s, and I glared at him. “It looks like she really is your fan,” he added. “Look how she’s staring me down just for nudging you.”

“It’s not like I’m a celebrity or anything, so how could you be my fan?” Sunjae asked.

“You’re a member of Potato— Ah.” I stopped myself before I could say the group name. “I mean, in the future, you… Um… Anyway, I’m so glad to see you, Sunjae.”

Sunjae looked very displeased, but I was happy to see him in person like this. I never got picked to attend fan-signing events, and I was never early enough to be in the audience for their live TV performances since the seats were given out on a first-come-first-served basis. So I eventually gave up. Going to a concert was basically a pipe dream.

But my smile suddenly turned upside down, and tears began to flow again. I was sad to think that I’d never see Sunjae’s beautiful face again once the dream ended. It was like he had come to visit me before he went to heaven because I liked him so much.

When my lower lip jutted out and quivered, Inhyuk covered his face to hold back his laughter. I wanted to glare at him but didn’t even look his way. I had no idea when I would wake up from this dream, so every minute and second I spent looking at Sunjae was precious. I fixed my eyes on his face.

“Sunjae, I think you’re the greatest singer in the world,” I said. “Your songs have always given me strength, and everyone loved you. I hope you won’t carry only the bad memories with you.”

My nostrils flared as I told him that. My throat stung, and I felt my body heat up. Tears poured down my face again.

I slapped my hands over Sunjae’s cheeks, grabbing his face. I pinched his cheeks, and they felt so squishy. He frowned and took a step back.

“This feels so freaking real,” I murmured, sniffling. “I still can’t believe this… Damn that cold medicine! I want to destroy it.”

I jerked my head up and covered my eyes with my arm. My tears streamed past my ears, and I wailed for the entire school to hear.

Who cares how loud I am? This is a dream. What does it matter if Sunjae is here? He’s not there in the real world. “Sunjae!” I wailed. “Ryu Sunjae! I freaking love you!”

I was shouting Sunjae’s name at the top of my lungs when a hand suddenly covered my mouth. When I lowered my arm from my eyes, I saw Sunjae before me. His big hand was over my mouth, preventing sound from seeping out. He furrowed his eyebrows again.

Judging from how Inhyuk was far away, it seemed like they left when I put my head back and began crying. I’m sure one of them said, “Let’s ignore her,” and recommended walking away. But Sunjae had returned because I began yelling his name in the schoolyard.

“Don’t you dare shout my name again,” he warned.

I blinked. Sunjae’s hand felt warm against my chin. Should I smell him? Am I a weirdo for wanting to smell him, even in a situation like this?

I thought he was going to add another comment like he would kill me if I shouted again, but he just scanned my face blankly and turned around.

Blinking, I watched him walk further away from me. Inhyuk pointed at Sunjae’s vest, which had become drenched in my tears, before cackling. Then Sunjae pulled Inhyuk’s vest toward him and wiped his own with it. “Agh, f*ck!” shouted Inhyuk.

I heard whispers above me. When I looked up, I saw several students lined up at the window looking down. I was wearing another school’s uniform and weeping in their schoolyard, so it was surely a spectacle for those around us.

What should I do now? I wondered. Do I just keep standing here? I already said everything I wanted to. Shouldn’t I be waking up from my dream by now? I looked up and watched the clouds drifting slowly away.

□ ■ □

Sunset had long passed, and the moon was high in the sky.

“Excuse me,” said an unfamiliar voice.

I was sitting on a bench in a park I had come across, dangling my legs. When I looked up, a boy with his hair parted down the middle was staring at me, pushing a phone toward me. “My friend wanted your number,” he said.

“What?”

“That guy with the gray hoodie over there thinks you’re cute.”

I looked at where the boy was pointing. Another boy in a gray hoodie was standing next to a telephone pole, looking at the ground.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” I replied, bowing my head.

The boy smiled awkwardly and turned around. “You got rejected, punk!” he yelled.

“Shut up, you idiot. She must have a boyfriend,” his friend retorted.

The boy in the hoodie and his friend who asked me for my number glanced back at me once and left.

With the sun long gone, I wondered why I was still in this dream.

“Im Sol… How much longer are you going to sleep? Wake up. Open your eyes.” I closed my eyes and slapped my cheeks. Wake up, warrior! Please, wake up!

I lowered my hands and slowly opened my eyes. In the darkness, I saw a park—the exact same scenery as earlier.

I threw my head back and sighed. Why is everything the same?

At that moment, I felt a vibration on my thigh. My phone’s vibrating? I can’t believe it feels so real. What a fascinating dream.

I dug into my pocket, took out my phone, and checked the caller.

[Madame Lee]

Huh? She’s calling me even in my dream?

“Hello?” I said.

A woman’s voice was on the other end. “Hey, why aren’t you coming home? Do you know what time it is?”

I was speechless. Mom wants me to come home? “This dream feels so real,” I muttered.

“What dream? Never mind. Just hurry home! It’s eleven already!”

“Mom, I won’t wake up. I have no idea how long I’ve been sitting here.”

“What are you talking about? Just get home. It’s late.”

Click.

She hung up.

After the call ended, I stared at my screen. I looked up “Potato Pancakes,” “Ryu Sunjae,” and “Baek Inhyuk” on my phone, but nothing came up. I tried logging into my school website with my student ID and password, but I failed. It said that my student ID didn’t exist.

This feels so real, but it can’t be. This is clearly a dream. I had no idea why I wasn’t waking up. What did I do before falling asleep? I think… I was shouting?

“Turn down the TV!” I yelled.

There was silence. I tried again to focus on the last words I heard before the dream.

“Stop wailing like a ghost!”

I stared blankly into the darkness. Everything is the same…

I had no more tears left in me, but I mimicked the way I cried last night and wailed. I tried to sound as desperate as possible. But I was still in the park. There wasn’t any light either.

I stopped crying. I sighed and locked my hands together. “Please, let me wake up from this dream now!” I yelled.

I heard laughter from somewhere, and I turned around. I thought the laugh came from the flower bed at the back of the park.

Before I could check who was there, I heard a noise from the other end of the park. A gang of people with cigarettes hanging from their mouths was wandering toward me. I heard them throwing curse words around and laughing among themselves.

It was scary. Even if this is a dream, it would be better to avoid such situations, I thought. I stood up and ran out of the park.

I had nowhere to go, so I headed home—to be exact, to the old house that I used to live in before we moved.

□ ■ □

“Wake up! Wake up!”

My panda alarm clock blasted in my ear, so I pressed its head to silence it. In the welcome quiet, I continued to lie under my covers.

Wait. This isn’t the ceiling of my apartment. I quickly sat up. My high school uniform was hanging from my door handle.

“Oh my god. Still?” I said in disbelief.

I groped at my face, then got out of bed, opened my door, and stepped out. There was nobody there. My dad worked out of town, so he only came home once a month. My mom had a long commute, so she left home early in the morning. I always got up by myself, lied to my parents about eating breakfast, and got to school just in time. That was my life in high school.

I went into the kitchen and saw a note from Mom on the fridge.

—Make sure to eat breakfast. Don’t be late.

“What the…? What am I supposed to do, go to school?”

I stood in the middle of the sunlit living room and frowned. Wait, is this not a dream?

□ ■ □

“Im Sol. Have you decided to become a troublemaker? You skipped class,” said my homeroom teacher.

“No,” I mumbled.

My teacher looked at me in disapproval.

Running out of school without thinking was now an actually punishable sin, so I hung my head as if asking for forgiveness.

The bell for first period rang. My teacher must have had a class first period, because she grabbed her textbook and stood up. “What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to class?” she asked.

“Ah, right,” I replied. I bowed and stepped out of the teacher’s lounge, then went to my classroom and sat in my seat. I couldn’t remember where I used to sit, but the school bag I left behind yesterday was still hanging from my chair.

“What happened to you yesterday?” Eunhee asked with a nudge.

“I have no idea.” It was a mystery to me too. I can’t believe I’m in tenth grade again…

I rested my chin on my hand and stared at the chalkboard. “Do you know who Potato Pancakes are?” I asked Eunhee.

“What? Are you talking about the food?”

“No, the idol group.”

“There’s an idol group named ‘Potato Pancakes?’ What kind of name is that?”

It sounded like Eunhee had never heard of them.

I turned my head and stared hard at the clock on the classroom wall. Time was supposed to jump in chunks in dreams, but the clock hands passed by each number in order one after another.