Stroke

His Side

Jinyoung's shop class was Medical, something that wasn't decided by him but by his strict mother. She was the stereotype of all Asian parents; if you weren't a lawyer or a doctor, you weren't successful. Fortunately, Jinyoung didn't mind because his intelligence level was off the scale, and he didn't have any particular career in mind anyway. The only thing he wanted was enough money and time to enjoy his life to the fullest, so the doctor thing at least helped with the money part. He would worry about the time thing when he crossed that bridge. 

But at this very moment, he wasn't thinking about his future; he was thinking of Mark's. Wondering, Is he gonna be okay? How long will he have to take a break from school after this? After this- will he even-. He didn't want to think anymore at that point. Riding in the back of the ambulance, eyes skimming over Mark's now unconscious face, he did his best to tune out himself with one of the loves of his life; music. Playground by Got7 abruptly started, a little too loud at first, but then soothing as it was all he heard. Not the siren of the ambulance emphasizing the rush, not Mark's weak breathing while he was unconscious, not the thought's of Junior, still trying to protrude through the barrier. Just music.

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There was hustle and bustle as the ambulance finally reached the hospital, there was the rush to get Mark from the truck to the ER, and there was a dazed Jinyoung, mind foggy after having Playground on repeat for the entire ride. He followed the doctors inside the hospital but was told he couldn't see Mark at the time. He had the choice of staying in the waiting room or going back to school, and any child in their right mind would obviously choose the first one. But this wasn't just about skipping out on school; Mark was family. Sure there was no shared blood that they knew of, but Junior thought that they had a connection from the very first time they met. 

(Flashback)

Ok, maybe school lunch wasn't the best idea. Freshman year was that awkward year for Jinyoung. He was still in between wanting to be liked by people and hating everyone's guts, but he had tried his best to put up a front and make some friends. He had lost a lot of friends because, for some reason, nobody wanted to be around him after a while. At first, he had thought it was the way he talked as he knew his tongue could be a bit sharp. However, one of his close friends at the time had said it had to do with how he had been "flirting" with someone's girlfriend, and that someone happened to be the head of some lame "popular' click that was floundering around the school. Jinyoung thought that the accusation was preposterous because he was pretty friendly with all the girls, but hasn't really tried to court one yet. He was disgusted this popular douche bag, apparently named Jackson, could actually will the majority of the school to start avoiding him. Unfortunately, that included the people he hung out with as well. He soon figured that out when he started feeling a mild pain in his stomach after eating the school lunch. At first, he thought it was just the school lunch being, you know, school lunch. But as the pain got worse, he noticed his friends' badly hidden snickers aimed at him while he was hunched over. 

Damn, they rigged my food. I should've known those bastards would do crap like this. So that's so how he ended up in the boy's bathroom, clinging to the rim of the toilet seat like there weren't millions of different types of bacteria on it, spilling out most of his organs into the toilet water with the stall door wide open. After throwing up about five times, he finally managed to stop, and he fell backward with his eyes closed and half of his body poking out of the stall. By this time he had convinced himself that he would probably either be found by the janitor at the end of the school day or be left for dead, so he was extremely surprised when he felt a hand on his shoulder. His eyes flitted open to see a tall, lanky looking boy worrying over him. His ID card was blue, meaning he was a sophomore, and his brown hair was messily organized (if that makes sense). Even if his mouth hadn't felt too disgusting to open, Jinyoung still wouldn't have opened it, being too stunned to speak at the moment.

"Hey, are you okay?" the boy whispers, seemingly worried that the boy in front of him would break if he spoke too loud.

Jinyoung had to open and close his mouth a few times before any sound could come out of it. When it did, it was raspy and hoarse, courtesy of his ruined throat. "Yeah, I feel a little sick that's all, you don't really gotta worry about-"

He was cut off by a sharp pain in his stomach, and Jinyoung couldn't help but groan. The pain lingered for a while, and all the while, the boy looked uncomfortable just watching. Jinyoung was just about to tell him he didn't have to stick around, but the guy suddenly held out his hands to gesture that he would help him get up. Jinyoung looked at him bewildered at first, then thought better of it. He didn't know this kid from Adam, but he seemed pretty nice, and the goody-two-shoes inside of him compelled him to try to make  a good impression on his upperclassman. Well, if he still could; he hadn't exactly found him in a good position. 

Jinyoung thought that the sophomore would just help him up and leave, but to his surprise, the boy even helped the freshmen walk to the nurse. To increase his surprise, he didn't leave the nurse's office until he was sure that Jinyoung was okay. After he was, he smiled politely and left without a word. Jinyoung found that he was relieved but at the same time disappointed when the guy left. 

"Wow what a good friend, what was that kid's name?" the nurse asked after he had left. It was then that Jinyoung knew, he didn't know.

"I-I actually don't know..."

(End of Flashback)

As Jinyoung slowly came out of his daydream of the good old days, he noticed a female nurse come out from Mark's room.

"You can come in now."