↱ECHO↲ ⇾seongjoong⇽

第二十九

"Hongjoong...."

"Hongjoong.........."

"Seriously, Hongjoong, I need you to wake up."

It's bright, and all Hongjoong can see in his vision is the blurry face of Choi San.

"What—" he blinks against the sudden light.

His head swims and the man in front of him dances in his vision.

Did he fall asleep?

Is it morning?

Why does he feel so disoriented?

Why is San in his house?

"Hey," San says, waving his hand in front of the nurse's eyes. "Great. You're awake now, so we have to get going."

Blinking, Hongjoong sits up, but his head protests greatly at the action.

He looks around his childhood room to find his bags packed and his mother and grandmother standing by the doorway with their eyes fixated on San.

"Are you sure you can't stay, San-ssi?" Hongjoong's mother questions with a warm smile.

She looks more alert than Hongjoong has seen her in recent days.

"You look exhausted and a good homemade meal can do wonders for the body."

"Not that your body needs any help," his grandmother chimes in under her breath, pointedly looking San over with a sly smile.

The man in question sputters at this and looks over to the nurse in a silent plea.

It seems that poor San has been subjected to this treatment prior to Hongjoong waking up.

Sometimes Hongjoong really hates how strong-willed the women of his family are, even if it is amusing.

With a grimace, the nurse slides out of the bed, but he sways on his feet and San catches him.

"Careful, you passed out earlier, so you should probably take it slow."

Passed out?

Oh, right.

He did.

At the train tracks... when he called Wooyoung—

"Seonghwa!" Hongjoong suddenly exclaims, eyes widening and heart picking up pace.

He can feel every ounce of dread at the thought of the surgery resurfacing within him and it nearly knocks him out cold once more.

"I have to—"

"I know," San states, grasping the nurse by the shoulders to calm him.

"Wooyoung called me after he got off the phone with you. I was here for business and now I'm here to escort you to Europe. We need to leave now and maybe, just maybe, we can get to Seonghwa-hyung in time to talk him out of this."