Chapter Text
Rejoice awoke from slumber slowly. As if his body is trying it's best to function, but could only function like an old rusty machine. He likes to think he's just growing up, but that logic doesn't add up when he's 14.
He sighed as he stretched carefully. His body felt as if he's burning today, but he didn't mind that at all. Focusing on the group chat with wemmbu and egg discussing school.
Rejoice hovered around the group chat, watching his two friends have fun exchanging messages about school. He couldn't help but feel left out, not knowing anything. And feared he would create tension if he said good morning right now. Egg and wemmbu we're having fun. He didn't wanna ruin the atmosphere so he just watched.
As message after message scrolled past, he could feel something ugly blooming in his heart. Jealousy he couldn't really explain out loud but understood just fine. He was jealous of egg and wemmbu. Or rather… their friendship. Because it seemed as if whether rejoice is there or not, they would always have fun. They have inside jokes that he couldn't understand.
They had this cold aura around them as if no one could crack open. He often feels as if he's invading their friendship instead of being friends with them. He had always felt out of place.
Often so, ugly thoughts had always crossed his mind. Things like..
‘I wish I had met Wemmbu earlier, maybe we could've been this close.’ ‘I wish egg would stay home more often. That way I have wemmbu all to myself.’
Such deep rooted jealousy he can't help but feel. The envy just makes its way through his mind like a lost puppy finding its new owner and staying. Rejoice gripped his phone as he closed his eyes shut and let out a long sigh.
He then smiled then typed the good morning text he'd been meaning to send since forever.
And the two greeted him openly, asking how he was, what he was doing. The conversation was sadly cut short by the duo having to get ready for school. Rejoice stared at those two identical messages and regretted he hadn't sent that message earlier.
He had many regrets in life, it seems.
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3 years pass bye like a whiff of wind. Blowing all that time away like sand.
Rejoice was trying to read, his prescription glasses on. The disease apparently targeted his vision first. The words blurred against each other as he tried to read. Once he got frustrated, and threw the book across the room and sunk back into his bed. Deciding to nap instead.
But that was exactly when Wemmbu and egg burst through his door.
“Rejoice!!!” Wemmbu exclaimed, as egg stood nearby.
“Wemmbu! Egg! How are you two?”
“We've been doing great!” Egg responded, and wemmbu finished what egg wanted to say next “our graduation is near! Only 3 more weeks. Agggghhh!! We're so excited! LIKE BRO LIKE BROOO-”
"Bruh, wemmbu. What are you learning from Flame…"
Rejoice giggled. “Oh.. that's great!!” Rejoice stifled his laughter, fixing his posture on the bed. “How's that going?”
“We've just been practicing for the graduation, not really doing much lately! So we can hang out a bit more than usual!” Wemmbu said, his excited spirit not dying for even just a moment. Anyone from a kilometer radius could feel the buzz in the air as wemmbu couldn't contain himself and kept bouncing, hopping up and down.
“You seem excited..” rejoice muttered and those words seemed to spark a flare in wemmbus spirit once more.
“WE'RE MORE THAN EXCITED!-” egg cut him off with a “Shhhhhhh wemmbu.” And wemmbu calmed himself down by running all over the room. “I mean I probably am, idk about egg tho!!”
Rejoice's smile widened. As long as his friends were happy, he would continue being happy with them, too.
But his smile froze on his face as wemmbu asked a genuine, valid question. “Will you make it to watch me and egg graduate??????”
...
“Will you make it to watch me and egg graduate??????” Wemmbu asked, still buzzing with excitement, still hopping all around the place. Seeming not to notice the shift of energy in the room.
Rejoice's soft smile continued playing in his face, frozen from the sudden question. He looked down and away, as if not wanting to answer the question.
The room was plunged into deep silence, silence even wemmbu's energy couldn't fill. Slowly, his excitement died, and he asked the question once more. “Rejoice..? Will you..?”
Egg snapped out of it first, smiling and trying to break the atmosphere and answering wemmbu for rejoice instead. “Wemm, I think Rejoice would try his best to.. you know? Make it..?” He said in a not so certain tone in which got wemmbu to have more resolve to get his question answered. “Rejoice ..?” He looked expectantly towards Rejoice to hear him answer the question meant for him.
Rejoice stayed quiet for a while, before responding with a hm.
“Mhm. Yeah I'll try my best, wemm.. but no promises okay?” He said, because he knew he couldn't promise to make it. Not when he's at his current weakest point. He knew he was either going to die this week, he just couldn't prove it.
He looked at his friends with a somewhat sad smile, and turned to face the window. “But .. just in case… I made a bucket list that I wanna complete now.”
The two looked at one another, exchanged a look and looked back to Rejoice's confused expression and simultaneously said “Sure.”
And that made Rejoice's smile widen a fraction.
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Extra!:
Rejoice's bucket list~:
- Fish with friends
- Go to the beach
- Revisit old friends(wifies and Rose)
- Go on a short road trip with egg
- Explore an abandoned civilization with wemmbu.
I just wonder what could possibly go wrong.