Beautiful // Nomin

~46~

Jeno woke up to sunlight and birds chirping. He immediately tried to sit up in the soft bed he'd been lying on, but was forced back down by the sudden pain shooting through his head.

Where was he?

The walls were wood, and there was a plaque about "keeping nature clean." Outside the room door, Jeno heard muffled voices. Oh, he must be in the park medical station or something.

He wrinkled his nose and rubbed his eyes, then reached for his pocket uncertainly. Good, his phone was still here.

And his parents had called him a bajillion times.

Jeno slowly got out of the bed and put on his sneakers which were on the floor next to the bed, then quietly crept to the door and opened it. He winced at the creaking noise the door made; it needed to be oiled.

He peeked out the door a tiny bit, but immediately closed it again, having seen a face that he wasn't quite ready to meet yet.

His father was sitting in a chair in the lobby, talking with a park ranger while drinking coffee. But of course no one could not hear that creaky door, and Jeno heard his father call after him, "Jeno." He could only come back out.

"Yes sir?" Jeno reappeared. His father wasn't smiling but still had a pleasant face on. Probably because there was a stranger sitting right in front of him. He couldn't leash his anger on his son right now.

"Come here," Mr. Lee motioned to his son. Jeno hesitantly came forward. "If you could explain what happened last night," he requested in a calm voice. Jeno looked at the floor. What had been going on with him last night?

Then he remembered.

Jaemin.

"Is Jaemin all right?" he suddenly asked, worried.

"Yes, a helicopter found him last night, and he's at the hospital now," the ranger reassured.

"I should go see him," Jeno should quickly.

"No," Mr. Lee stopped him. "You're not in a condition to go."

"Does your head hurt?" the other man asked.

"A little," the boy admitted. No, it hurt a lot.

Apparently they'd already had pain relief ready, and Jeno drank it down with water. Honestly, he more felt like throwing up, but Jaemin was more important than that.

"Which hospital?" he asked the ranger as he handed the glass back to him.

"Uh," the man glanced at Mr. Lee, wondering if he should say.

"Central," Mr. Lee surprisingly replied himself, with a heavy sigh. "Go quickly and come back quickly. Get back home before one."

Jeno was stunned at his father's sudden leniency, but took the opportunity quickly. He bowed low in gratefulness, then bowed again to the ranger and apologized for his last night's behavior before quickly leaving the cabin.

"Young people these days..." his father sighed and shook his head as he watched his son out the door.

----

Around this time, Jaemin was also waking up in a stiff hospital bed, body numb. The sun was also shining through his window, and as Jaemin's hope in life, to embrace positivity, he closed his eyes and let the rays fall on him, a faint smile playing across his lips.

His lips were sore, and he lifted his arm to rub them but it was only a mere second before his arm dropped, feeling incredibly heavy. He couldn't move very well at all.