Together | SF9

34

Nari held her knees together as her legs trembled. The beating sound of her thumping heart was deafening her own ears.

Hwiyoung placed a cup of coffee down on the table before sitting down. He placed his warm hand on top of Nari's hand and gave it a slightly squeeze. "Don't worry." He mouthed.

"The nurse told Zuho about your disease, Nari. But don't worry. It's alright. Zuho's not mad at you. Okay?" Rowoon said before patting Nari's right shoulder.

Flashback

Hwiyoung went out of the clinic to look for Chani, Taeyang, and Zuho. At least one of them must be seen.

They found Zuho playing with Jaeyoon, while Taeyang and Chani were dancing together at the corner. Taeyang was filming Chani as he danced.

"Hey!" Hwiyoung called. Chani and Taeyang looked at him and greeted him back.

"Where's Nari? And Rowoon?" Chani asked.

"Dawon, too?" Taeyang asked and Chani mentally slapped himself for forgetting about Dawon.

"They're in the infirmary."

"Three of them?" Chani asked and Hwiyoung nodded before finally telling them why he was running over.

Instead telling everyone about it, he just called Zuho and Chani over.

The nurse asked Nari to lay her back on one of the beds for the meantime and gather the boys around her table. She clasped her hands together and rested her elbows on the table.

It was so quiet. Even the noise of the ceiling fans that were inaudible before became so clear and loud.

"I suppose you two," she began and pointed at the new two students who arrived at the room. "You are classmates of Ms. Seo?" She asked and the two boys nodded.

Meanwhile, there's Nari curled up her body under the blanket. Dawon carefully sat on the side of the bed and gently pats Nari's shoulder.

"We are your friends. We're ready to help you in any way we can. It's even better if all the boys will know about it. You know, doing this, taking care of you all together would be better, more fun." Dawon whispered.

Nari straightened herself, sitting on the bed. She sighed before nodding lazily.

Dawon smiled widely before stroking Nari's hair and tucking a few strand behind her ears. "Cheer up, young lady! You'll be fine, in time."

"Listen carefully, students." The nurse continued. "Ms. Seo Nari has a Von Willebrand disease. It's not too dangerous - I mean fatal as long as we follow safety measures."

"Does Dawon know about this?" Rowoon asked after noticing the guy who owns that name mentioned wasn't around.

"As far as I know, only Mr. Lee Dawon and Ms. Seo's parents know about this. She wished not to tell anybody about it but I could see Mr. Lee taking care of Ms. Seo alone is not good. I wish you guys could help him."

"But why does it have to be Dawon?" Zuho asked keeping his tone down. Hwiyoung who standing on his side, nudged him.

"It's not important, really, who knows about it." Hwiyoung said.

Then the nurse continued, "Please do your own research. I know you guys are excellent in using the worldwide web." Then she smiled before heading to where Nari was waiting.

However, Zuho stood a bit far from the rest as if he was observing them. The boys stare at Nari. She was less energetic but her lovely smile is stilll there, always there.

A few moments after, Zuho sprinted out of the infirmary without anybody know.

End of Flashback

"He may be mad after not knowing about it first. He believes you are close enough for you to trust him about something big as that." Chani said as he placed down the slice of cake he prepared for Nari on the table.

"Speaking of who knew first, how did Dawon know about it?" Hwiyoung asked.

Nari first lifted her gaze at Dawon and Rowoon who talking to each other at the counter table.

She shoo her head and sighed, "At first, I thought someone like Dawon would be helpful to keep my secret from everyone. We weren't close, if you could remember. So I thought he wouldn't care about my problem and won't tell you guys about it."

Hwiyoung's brows wrinkled beforr he asked, "Why do you even want to keep it from us? You know we see you as our friend, not just any acquaintance in school."

Nari slowly placed her hand on top of the fork to slide her thumb on it. "I thought you'd be really stressed, or would feel pity for me. I don't want the way you treat me change just because I have this disease."

Chani pressed his dry lips together before licking them. Then he gently put his hand on top of Nari's hand, slightly squeezing it for a few seconds. "I know we were not all good at first but aren't we all nice to you now?" He asked.

Nari's eyes focused on Chani's hand over hers before she shut her eyes close and breathed out deeply. Then she nodded before quickly opening both her eyes. Then she frowned before asking, "Are you sure? I thought there's an exemption."

Hwiyoung and Chani exchanged glances before Hwiyoung asked. "And who is that?"

Nari bit her lower lip before pouting her lips while thinking if that person.

"Come on, you can't tell who?" Chani asked.

"You're just lying, right?" Hwiyoung pointed his finger at Nari.

Nari kept her face frowning as she looked at Chani, then at Hwiyoung, then back to the other. "You know you guys were the worst."

"It was Zuho!" Hwiyoung defended.

"It was Inseong! I know that." Chani retorted.

Chani scratched the back of his head as he lowered it. Nari chuckled seeing how they reacted after she called them the worst. "I was just kidding. You guys are all nice." Nari said while smiling at them.

*****

I thought I had already posted this chapter. I'm so sorry. And I'll be really busy soon, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to start working. I'll write a lot of chapters soon so I will just have to post them.

Thank you guys for still reading this book 💕 and your cute, funny and lovely comments.

- lovingseoul ~