Serendipity ∞ SEOKSOO

XXII: Vingt-Deux

VINGT-DEUX

Jisoo took in a deep breath as he stood outside the hospital. He went in now and headed straight to Seokmin's room.

It has been weeks now since the day he met Seokmin again. It has been a month, and he could say it was hard.

Every day is hard, though, he had to admit.

It was hard that he couldn't do anything to get Seokmin better. Every day, he sees him on the hospital bed, and it is depressing inside.

As soon as he steps inside the room, all energy he has outside suddenly leaves him like it is afraid to go.

The room was always gloomy. . . most especially when Seokmin just had his therapy, that's the time the room is at its lowest state.

But now was different. It felt there was something that held him back from going to Seokmin's room.

He felt something wrong. The hallway is occasionally filled with people. That's what Jisoo observes. The hallway is almost empty, with only a few visitors, a few nurses, and a few doctors.

But this time, it felt different.

There were tons of people pacing back and forth in through the hallway; nurses, doctors. Even visitors like he could sense the uneasiness filling the atmosphere. They shot them stares that seemed to be asking the same questions, 'is someone getting surgery?' 'Is someone dying?' 'Is there an emergency?'

Jisoo just passed by them and went to Seokmin's room.

On his left hand, he was holding a bouquet. On his right, he had the doorknob. Just as he was about to turn it, he felt something pounding inside his chest upon hearing low murmurs from the room.

He gulped, hearing the voices of Seokmin's friends and his mother. The voices were clear, but the words were incoherent, and despite it, Jisoo could hear something from them; terror and worry.

He went inside the room slowly and saw that everyone was there, even a doctor was there.

But still, the room felt empty.

"Jisoo!" Seokmin's mother exclaimed upon seeing him.

"Hello," Jisoo greeted her politely and bowed a little as to show respect.

Jisoo's eyes came to look at the bed, wanting to see a glimpse of his boyfriend, but. . . there was no one.

"Where is Seokmin?" Everyone asked as Jisoo asked the same question.

Jisoo blinked. "S-Seokmin. . . wasn't with me," he said lowly, his voice weakening to a whisper.

He saw how everyone's expression changed. He saw Seokmin's mother's eyes were being filled with fright and horror. . . but he can't unsee the tears in it.

He couldn't unsee how she shivered and bit her lower lip as she shook he hands, wanting to calm them down.

"Where's Seokmin?" Jisoo asked once again, badly needing a straight answer from them.

His heart started to race in nervousness. Mingyu looked at him, and Jisoo saw nothing in his eyes but sadness.

"H-He. . . he ran away again," Mingyu answered, and avoided his gaze as he felt his own eyes tearing.

Jisoo parted his lips in surprise. "W-What?"

"We have tried contacting him, but he wasn't answering. We tried contacting you, but you weren't answering it too. So we thought maybe he was with you, but. . . turns out not," Seungkwan said.