calm

.60

After several minutes of embracing each other and sobbing, the group hug slowly began to disband. They all felt a draft wash over them as the warmth of the others was removed, but they spoke nothing of it.

Everyone’s tears slowly stopped, Felix being the one that cried for the longest. The bell for breakfast rang, but none of them felt any urge to eat, let alone Jeongin and especially Felix, who never felt the urge to eat at all. However, when a nurse walked by and saw them huddled around Changbin’s hospital bed, he rushed them out with a scolding. The nurse shoved Jeongin a bit too hard, overestimating his weight, and Jeongin fell over, hitting the floor hard.

Chan leaped at the nurse, but Woojin and Minho grabbed his shoulders and held him back. Jeongin stood up, his hands scraped and bleeding from falling, his face red from landing mostly on it. However, his face was shockingly calm, and his simply stood and dusted off his pants and sweater before smiling at his friends and bowing slightly to the nurse, before walking down to the cafeteria. Everyone stood still, shocked. Eventually Jeongin’s friends ran after him, Chan sending one last glare at the nurse from over his shoulder.

When they caught up with Jeongin, he was rubbing his hands and wiping the blood from them as he walked toward their regular table.

“Jeongin!” Chan yelled.

Jeongin turned around, smiling at him. Chan’s face immediately burnt up, and he stumbled over his next sentence.

“Whu-what has that? Yuh-you didn’t e-even react!”

“I got shoved a lot in school. The people who bullied me liked to shove me into stuff, so I fell over a lot.”

The seven of them were amazed at how calm Jeongin was while talking about this. The sensitive little boy they had grown to love was nowhere to be found, and they weren’t sure whether he would come back.

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we're here, we're queer, we're filled with existential fear

how'd y'all like this chapter? was it even any good?