❝ genius ❞ .knj

Chapter 22

After class, since it's Monday, we've got a meeting in the IT club. Namjoon told me that we're going to the HJJ company, and everyone in the IT club is excited to discover new technology, as usual. Namjoon and I were about to go to the computer lab when Hyungbae went up to us.

"Oh, hi, Hyungbae. What is it?" I asked. "I just got the news." Hyungbae said, "Jihae's now out of the ICU. We can visit her in the hospital now."

I looked at Namjoon, and he did the same.

"Just wait here, I'm going to ask permission from Mr. Ahn first." Namjoon said, as he ran out of the classroom, leaving me and Hyungbae alone.

I knocked lightly on the door of Jihae's hospital room, and soon enough, a man about in his ealy forties opened the room for us. He must be Jihae's father.

Namjoon, Hyungbae, and I bowed, "Good afternoon sir, we're Jihae's classmates." Namjoon introduced us. Mr. Lee smiled, as he motioned us to come in.

And so we did. He led us to Jihae's bed, where Jihae was laying on her bed while watching a  cartoon show that is shown in the TV in front of her. Mrs. Lee was standing beside Jihae's bed, arranging some medicines on the table for Jihae to take later.

"Jihae, you've got visitors.." Mr. Lee told his daughter, which made Mrs. Lee and Jihae look at our direction.

When Jihae saw us, tears welled up in her eyes, "W-What are you doing here?" She asked us. I let out a smile, "We brought you gifts."

"I guess we'll give you kids a moment." Mrs. Lee said, then she and Mr. Lee went out of the room.

Namjoon placed the basket of fruits beside Jihae's bed, and Hyungbae gave the boquet of yellow roses to Jihae. She got the flowers, "T-Thanks.." she said, as she looked at the roses and smiled, "Namjoon, you picked these, right?"

"Y-Yeah." Namjoon said, "I remember that you told me you liked those." "Thanks for remembering." Jihae said.

Jihae looked at me, "I don't know why you decided to save my life that day, but thanks. I realized that I should be strong and not to take my life for granted." I nodded, "Don't hurt youself from now on." I said, looking at her bandaged wrists. Jihae shook her head, "I won't.... I'll try my best..." She sighed, "I accidentally hit you with my knife when you pulled it out of my stomach. I'm sorry."

"There's no need to be sorry about, that didn't hurt. I didn't even know until Hyungbae pointed it out." I laughed, "The good thing now is that you're okay."

Jihae nodded. "My parents are getting along well now. They also reported our neighbor to the police. He ended up to be a wanted person in Busan who is guilty for rape and homicide so he's now in jail."

"Then that's a good thing."Hyungbae said. "I know." Jihae agreed. Then she sighed,

"But honestly, I still feel very empty. The doctors said that I have severe depression, so I an getting homeschooled from now on." Jihae said, "My parents also decided to move out of country, for me to have better psychiatrists and to help me forget and move on from things here."

When she said the last sentence, she looked at Namjoon. She looked down and sighed, "You guys are such great friends and even though we're not that close, the three of you went up to the rooftop to save my life. Thank you. Especially you, Rajin. I'm sorry for being rude to you these past few weeks. I was immature and I was going through things." Jihae began crying. I went up to her and gave her a hug, "It's okay. It's okay." I said as I rubbed her back. 

When we were on our way to Hyungbae's house, the three of us were sitting at the back seat of my car as Mr. So drove us to Hyungbae's house. The inside of the car was silent, so Mr. So turned the radio on, as a K-Pop song played.