Painkiller|ws

Chapter 11

"How have you been?" Seokmin fidgeted with his hands as he watched Yewon with a smile on his face. "I've been okay. How have you been Oppa? Are the treatments helping? Do you remember anything? Do you remember me..." Yewon trailed off as her eyes fixed on Seokmin's hands.

"Is the fidgeting bothering you?" Seokmin immediately paused in his movements before giving his supposed girlfriend an apologetic look. "No, it's not that. I just miss holding them" Seokmin didn't hesitate, placing one of his hands on Yewon's.

"I'm sorry I forgot you" Yewon shook her head and held Seokmin's hand tighter. "What are you sorry for? I should've been the one here, not you. If I had been careful with the driving..." Seokmin immediately stopped her before she could blame herself more.

"Don't. Even if I don't remember you, we'll do it again. All over again, we fell in love once, right? We can fall in love again" Seokmin hated him for forgetting, he wanted to remember, but he believed that he loved Yewon. Every time he looked at her, his heart would beat faster. He knew even if he couldn't recognise her, his heart could.

"I'll come next week too" Yewon said as she got up to leave. Seokmin nodded, giving her a smile that he hoped would stay on her mind until the next time they were going to see each other. "Get home safe" Seokmin said as he waved her goodbye.

"I will. I love you Oppa" Yewon left before Seokmin said anything knowing he wouldn't say it back. He left with a bitter feeling in his mouth for not being able to say those words, making his way to the common room to see if anyone could take his mind off Yewon.

"Boo Seungkwan" Seokmin called out as he sat down on one of the couches and waited for the boy to come over. Soon enough the younger boy sat down next to Seokmin. "What is it?" Seungkwan had always been Seokmin's serotonin boost, and he needed that right now.

"Tell me something exciting" Seungkwan pondered on it for a while before deciding on what to tell Seokmin. "Oh yeah, you know 204?" Seungkwan asked rhetorically, but Seokmin still responded with a nod. "I went into his room again. I know I shouldn't, but I really want to be his friend" Seungkwan looked guilty knowing that he had caused trouble to Joshua before by doing that.

"This time I went he wasn't there! And you would think he went to do his therapy and I know where he gets it done so I went there" Seokmin was listening intently wanting to know where this was going. "He was there with nurse Yoon and Dr Choi but guess who else was there!" Seokmin knew he would probably guess wrong, so he asked Seungkwan to keep going.

"You won't believe it! It was Wonwoo Hyung, and they were talking to each other while holding hands and looking into each other's eyes, with Dr Choi in front of them...do you think he got them married? It looked like that" Seokmin laughed before listening to Seungkwan change the topic to other things. After all, he probably lied.

But he really didn't. In the white room, that was exactly what was happening. "Jisoo, try not looking away" Seungcheol said again as Joshua took his hands out of Wonwoo's hold and crossed them over his chest.

"I can't ke-keep eye contact, I ju-just can't" Jeonghan refused to leave the room, he needed the distraction, and he wanted to help. "Jisoo, we've tried psychotherapy in every way. We're still going to focus on your CBT alone, I know you're more comfortable with Wonwoo, and he's not your doctor but a friend, so please try a little bit harder" Jisoo took a deep breath before holding onto Wonwoo's hands again.

"You're doing great" Wonwoo smiled reassuringly and stroked one of Joshua's hands in his hold with his thumb. Joshua felt more at ease knowing that it was Wonwoo, they didn't know each other for that long, but he still felt better being around him than others.

Joshua lifted his head to look at Wonwoo's eyes. It was hard, to focus on someone's eyes. It made him nervous and restless. Joshua's foot started tapping restlessly before his head turned away while his hands tried to slip out of Wonwoo's hold.

"Jisoo, try for me" Wonwoo said noticing Joshua getting more anxious. The name stopped Joshua. Wonwoo had never called him that before. "Please look at me. I like looking at your eyes" Joshua reluctantly turned his head to look at Wonwoo, actually focusing on his eyes this time.

It was a dark shade of brown. Joshua liked the look in Wonwoo's eyes. It was comforting, and it made Joshua feel a lot better. He looked longer this time, longer by only a few seconds but still, it was progressing. Seungcheol was happy with what they had achieved in the day and decided that they'll do more of these overlapping sessions. Jeonghan was the most excited out of everyone there, having been the one to come up with this idea.

"Both of you can go now. You still have your session later Wonwoo" Wonwoo tilted his non-existent hat before getting ready to leave the room. Jeonghan and Joshua left first, but it wasn't hard for Wonwoo to catch up to them. "You're here, okay then. Wonwoo would you like to walk Joshua to his room?" Jeonghan asked glancing at the two.

"I would love to if Joshua Hyung is okay with it?" Jeonghan watched as Joshua's face blushed a deep shade of pink in response. "There you have it, get him back safe" Jeonghan was about to leave when Wonwoo's question stopped him.

"How is Mingyu?" Jeonghan's expression fell, but he composed himself quickly. "Don't worry. He'll be back to your room soon" Wonwoo was happy to hear Mingyu would return soon. Even though he hated to admit it, he really missed his loud, cheerful roommate.

"I have something to ask too" Joshua said without stuttering and being proud of himself for that. He could speak without stuttering, but it was rare. "Yes, Jisoo?" Jeonghan said sounding equally as proud as Joshua felt. "How did you kn-know I would feel okay with...him?" Joshua's hand pointed at Wonwoo, without looking at him.

Wonwoo couldn't help the smirk on his face, he knew there could be other reasons for Joshua being shy, but he wanted to believe he was shy because of him. "Because I saw you two yesterday in the common room, be happy I haven't gotten you both in trouble yet" Jeonghan said seriously as he began walking away. Wonwoo turned his head to look at Joshua who was looking at the back of Jeonghan's head with his mouth open.

Jeonghan stopped before turning around as if he just remembered something he wanted to say. "Oh, and yeah, that is not how cham cham cham works. Play it properly next time, please" Jeonghan smiled before walking out of view, leaving both speechless.

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