Painkiller|ws

Chapter 20

"Mingyu, are you okay?" Mingyu lifted his head, bloodshot eyes in clear view even in the dimly lit room. "How's 204?" Mingyu asked, avoiding the question directed at him. Wonwoo didn't know how to respond to that without lying a little.

It would've been a week since Jeonghan left that day. Telling Joshua was almost as hard as telling Mingyu. However, Joshua was dealing with it better than Mingyu for obvious reasons. Wonwoo was a big help as well for both boys.

"He's okay. Let's go eat" Mingyu huffed in annoyance but nevertheless listened as he dragged himself out of bed, half of the blanket he was cocooned in falling onto the floor. Usually, Mingyu was all about perfectionism, but not since Jeonghan left, not in the slightest.

His bed would be made, and there would be no imperfection in his side of the room usually, especially compared to the mess Wonwoo's side of the room always was. So it was odd, to say the least, to say that Wonwoo's side was comparatively better now. It was very odd.

The entire atmosphere was odd without Jeonghan, dull more accurately. To make it worse, no one had also seen Jun in a week. He was put in solitary confinement, and Soonyoung rarely left his room.

Mingyu's eyes lit momentarily as he saw Minghao in the cafeteria, who had been eating later than he usually does just in the name of emotional support, as much emotional support as a schizophrenic patient could be.

"Hey" Mingyu sighed as he placed his head on Minghao's shoulder, a subtle smile forming on his face at the arm being wrapped around him. "Minghao, you should sit with us more! It's nice to see you like this" Minghao lowered his gaze at Seungkwan's words but lifted them at a soft tap against his wrist.

Chan pushed his plate forward with a piece of cake that he had saved for Minghao. "Thank you, but you should have it. I already had mine" Minghao spoke in a soft tone that was met with Chan shaking his head. He passed a fork to Minghao, the blush on his cheeks not going unnoticed by the other boy.

Mingyu took the fork for Minghao since he seemed to have no plan to do so. "The poor boy has a crush on you. Eat the damn cake Hao" It wasn't hard to notice for anyone how every day of the past week since Chan had the opportunity of interacting with Minghao, he would try to shower the boy with whatever he could possibly give him as an expression of his feelings.

"Thank you" Minghao tried again, this time taking the cake and flashing an encouraging smile. "But I don't see you like that" The happiness that had crept onto Chan's face immediately faded, followed by a defeated nod.

Minghao panicked for a split second, shrugging his shoulder as if to get someone's hand off him. "I said it. I did what you told me" Minghao mumbled, catching both Mingyu and Wonwoo's attention.

"Are you okay, Myungho?" Wonwoo asked, snapping Minghao out of his internal conflict. "Huh? Yeah, yeah I am" Minghao got up, bowing slightly at everyone at the table before scrambling out of the cafeteria.

"Should we follow him?" Wonwoo whispered to Mingyu, knowing the answer was most likely yes. "Leave him. There's nothing we can do anyway" Wonwoo knew that wasn't true. It was a translation for 'I'm not mentally strong enough to be his mental strength right now'.

"Wonwoo, a moment please?" Wonwoo turned his attention towards the sound of the familiar nurse. Jihoon smiled reassuringly before beckoning him forward. Wonwoo cautiously got up before walking up to Jihoon.

"Yes, nurse Lee?" Wonwoo looked over his shoulder to see everyone at the table staring at him. "It's Joshua's birthday tomorrow" Jihoon smiled half-heartedly. "I kept his guitar in your room, we're not supposed to let the patients have any of their possessions that could possibly harm them, but it was in his locker, and I thought-" Jihoon stopped rambling as he looked directly at Wonwoo's smile.

"It's his birthday?" Wonwoo's smile was contagious, even Jihoon mirroring it. "He loves his guitar from what I've gathered after knowing him for years. Don't be loud, okay Wonwoo? I could lose my job over this" Jihoon was clearly fidgety, not having Jeonghan's usual mischievous smirk. The nurse was much more reserved than the angel one Wonwoo had gotten close to.

"Why are you doing this?" Jihoon's face fell as he glanced at Mingyu. "I'm just trying to keep Jeonghan Hyung's spark alive" Jihoon was about to leave, but Wonwoo stopped him in his tracks.

"Have you been in contact with Jeonghan Hyung?" Jihoon looked like he was waiting for the question to leave Wonwoo's mouth. "Yes! He's trying. Can you let Mingyu know...he's trying to see him again" Wonwoo nodded, just happy that Mingyu would probably be a lot happier at even a glimpse of Jeonghan again.

"Why didn't you want to tell him yourself?" Jihoon didn't have to say it for Wonwoo to understand he was very scared of rule-breaking. It was clear from how nervous he seemed at smuggling a guitar out of Joshua's locker.

"It's not my thing" Wonwoo didn't pry further as he walked back to his table. "What did he say?" Seokmin asked curiously, and Wonwoo had to lie through his teeth. "Just something about me skipping my medication" Everyone at the table accepted the lie as they continued eating.

Wonwoo really hated the silence that had set over the chatter and laughter that he was used to. He hated that the ward had become depressive, just like he had expected a psychiatric ward to be before he came here. He hoped that Joshua's birthday would be special.

Not just because it's his first one with Wonwoo but because he hoped it would be one that made Joshua break his boundaries a bit. He wished he could make Joshua meet at least one new person if he was convincing enough. If he was convincing enough, that is.