Under the sky in room 553

8

"Doctor, please let me in. Please!" Croaked the older boy, cheeks stained with dried tears. He immediately zoomed toward the front of the room when the door opened, only to be held back by two nurses that exited. The doctor in question was inside, back turned to him, not even sparing him a second glance.

From the tiniest crack left ajar, he could spot the back of two gloomy figures; Beomgyu's parents. He could see several other bodies in white coats, all surrounding the bed situated in the middle of the hospital room. He could make out voices—some murmured, some hushed, some laced with agony, others apologetic.

He was able to make out strings of words from their hushed conversation, all devastatingly fragmented— 'coma', 'too late', 'low chance', 'waking up'.

At the back of his mind, Yeonjun had already assumed the context; but his heart was fighting against the resolution with its all. There's no way. He'll be fine.

Yeonjun was hysterical now, hopelessly clawing at the door handle, trying to slide it aside. The hospital reeked of antiseptics, lights too bright, voices too muffled—or was it just his consciousness that was beginning to fade away?

The nurses holding him pulled him back even further, and had it not been for the fact that he'd been crying for the past several hours Yeonjun would have very easily outsourced their combined strengths.

But a delirious, sleep-deprived Yeonjun was very convenient to drag away. He could only let out a defeated sob as he was pulled backwards and carelessly dropped onto a random seat in the waiting area. As the female nurse left, the younger nurse out of the two turned to him, crouching to meet his eyes. "Are you a relative?"

Yeonjun lightly shook his head, a hand wiping his tears. "No, but I'm his best friend.'' Only when he looked up did he realise just how young this nurse was—a teenage male, looking like he was no older than a high schooler, eyes big and clear as they gazed at him questioningly. Even in the middle of his hysteria, he couldn't help but stop to question. How can a teenager this young become a nurse already?

"You should go home and get some rest, you don't look well. His parents are here to look after him." The nurse flashed him a pathetic smile, to which Yeonjun instantly noticed that the boy had dimples. "Did you eat? I can get you something. I know it's hard, but I'm sure he'd want you to take care of yourself instead of crying like this."

Yeonjun had no idea how this nurse knew all the right things to say, but a knot in his heart slowly came undone. He felt like he could breathe just a little bit easier now, his lungs a bit clearer as he leaned back against the seat with a meek nod. The boy then disappeared to a nearby vending machine, returning with a tuna sandwich and a bottle of water too soon for Yeonjun's liking. He could only accept with an ashamed mumble of thanks.

"It's no problem," said the nurse. To his surprise, he sat himself down next to him instead of turning to leave. Yeonjun looked up to meet his eyes. "I'm Soobin. I know you're probably wondering why a nurse looks so young. I think we're about the same age, I just help my father around—he's a surgeon at this hospital. I usually just help with minor errands in the pediatric wing, but this one was sudden and no one else was free."

"So you're a high school student who's a nurse part-timer?" Yeonjun asked as he took a bite out of his sandwich, the tangy flavour of tuna sharp on his tongue. His lack of appetite almost made him recoil, but fought against it as he remembered to be polite for the free food.

The nurse named Soobin just nodded. "Yes, I'm just in high school. Weird, I know. But I find it very fun and interesting... What about you?''

"I'm Yeonjun. Today's supposed to be my first day of high school." Then, he gulped with difficulty, like he'd just remembered something more. In a shaky low voice, he continued. " Our first day."