Paper CUTS [EXO-CBX]

New Friendship

Jongdae waited for a taxi while Baekhyun and Minseok walked back to the abandoned house. Minseok lit a candle then put his 3 cups of ramyeon into his cardboard box happily. Baekhyun placed 2 large bags of potato chips bought by Jongdae on his school bag.

"You can't just leave our potato chips like that. Put it in your bag or rats will eat it," said Minseok. "But my bag is already full with my clothes and ramyeon that I bought," said Baekhyun. Minseok put the potato chips into his cardboard box and said, "You can take it from here when you want to eat it." Baekhyun nodded.

Suddenly Jongdae showed up and said, "Can I stay here tonight? I can't go anywhere because I just lost my wallet." Baekhyun asked, "How can you lose your wallet?" Jongdae coughed and answered, "I was robbed." Minseok and Baekhyun were shocked, then they asked anxiously, "Are you okay??" 

Suddenly tears rolled down Jongdae's face. Baekhyun and Minseok quickly approached Jongdae in panic then asked worriedly, "Did the robber hurt you???" Jongdae shook his head in tears then said in his heart, "This is the first time someone has asked me if I'm okay." Jongdae's tears kept rolling down his face because of feeling touched.

Baekhyun lifted Jongdae's shirt to check Jongdae's body while asking, "Are you sure you didn't get hurt?" Jongdae wiped his tears then answered with a smile and teary eyes, "I'm fine." Minseok said with guilt, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone."

Jongdae, Minseok and Baekhyun sat on the floor. Jongdae coughed again and he felt a slight pain in his chest. Baekhyun and Minseok asked anxiously, "Are you okay??" Jongdae replied, "I think I caught a cold because my clothes were wet and dried on the body. Don't worry, I will take medicine when I go home tomorrow morning." 

Baekhyun asked Jongdae, "How much money did you lose?" Jongdae answered, "Not much... Because I use credit cards more so I never carry a lot of money in my wallet." Baekhyun asked curiously, "How much?" Jongdae coughed again and answered, "Only 300 dollars more or less."

Minseok dropped his jaw while Baekhyun said in shock, "Hhh??? That's a lot!!! That's equivalent to my school fees for 5 months!" Minseok said, "I only have 75 dollars after working for years." Jongdae looked at Baekhyun and Minseok while thinking in disbelief, "Woahh I didn't know if my one day pocket money can mean a lot to them."

"I'm tired. I must sleep now or I won't be able to work tomorrow," said Minseok. Minseok lay on the floor facing the wall, then he patted his shoulder while mumbling, "You did well, Kim Minseok... You have done your best to survive another difficult day in your life... Good night, Kim Minseok... You should rest well tonight so you can have energy to fight for tomorrow."

Baekhyun also lay down on the floor, then he said, "Nice to meet you, Kim Minseok. My name is Byun Baekhyun. From now on we are housemates." Jongdae said, "Kim Minseok, thank you for saving my life... I, Kim Jongdae, will return your favour for sure." "You have returned my favour by buying me cup ramyeon," Minseok replied in half asleep.

Jongdae couldn't sleep without comfortable bed. Jongdae only sat on the floor while looking at Baekhyun and Minseok who had fallen asleep. The house smelled damp because the walls were moist.

Jongdae jolted when he saw a rat. Jongdae got nervous when the rat made eye contact with him. Jongdae coughed and the rat ran leaving him. In the end Jongdae fell asleep because he felt really exhausted. 

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Minseok woke up, then he carried a bucket of rainwater from the big barrel in the front yard into the bathroom to take a bath.

When Minseok was eating his expired mocha bread, Baekhyun woke up and spaced out. Baekhyun was confused where he was at until he fully awoke and remembered that he had run away from home.

"Morning," Baekhyun greeted Minseok then yawned. "If you want to take a bath, there is water in the big barrel in the front yard. I must go to work now," said Minseok. Baekhyun asked, "This early?" "I need to walk for 80 minutes to reach my workplace," Minseok replied.

Baekhyun shook Jongdae's body to wake Jongdae up while saying, "Kim Jongdae, wake up... Don't you have to go home?" Baekhyun was startled when he felt Jongdae's body burning. "Kim Minseok, I think Kim Jongdae is really sick. His body is burning," said Baekhyun. Minseok said, "Can you take care of him? Just put a damp towel on his forehead and you have to keep the towel cool to reduce his fever. I need to go now." Baekhyun nodded in understanding.

Baekhyun folded his clothes then placed it under Jongdae's head, then he took off the dusty curtain that was hanging and used it to cover Jongdae's body. Baekhyun also put a damp towel on Jongdae's forehead. When the towel got warm and dry, Baekhyun wet the towel again and put it back on Jongdae's forehead.

Baekhyun ate his ramyeon like a snack without cooking it when he was hungry. Jongdae had no appetite at all so he didn't want to eat anything. Baekhyun was really worried when he saw Jongdae coughing and feeling pain in his chest but Baekhyun didn't know what to do alone.

When Minseok came home late at night, Baekhyun said, "I think we must take him to the hospital. I did as you said but he didn't get better." Minseok asked, "How can we take him to the hospital if we don't have money?" 

Baekhyun said. "You said you have 75 dollars. I have 53 dollars. We can use our money to take him to the hospital. I'm sure he will pay our money back later." "Okay," said Minseok. Minseok grabbed all his money from the biscuit tin, then he and Baekhyun took Jongdae to the hospital.

"Please deposit some money at the cashier over there and show us the receipt so we can start the treatment," said the hospital receptionist. Baekhyun and Minseok took out all their money and gave it to the cashier. As soon as the receptionist got the receipt, Jongdae was immediately taken to the emergency room by the nurses.

A grandma wearing hospital patient outfit approached Minseok who was waiting in front of the emergency room with Baekhyun. The grandma stared at Minseok with teary eyes and said, "Finally... After all these years... You came to see me... My dear son."