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chapter 54: ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
"you know what, father? screw you." seonghwa spits before hanging up the phone. hongjoong raises his eyebrows at his same-aged friend. "you okay, dude?"
"yea, i guess. i should've known. what was i expecting? he really just told me he can't make it right at this moment because he has to rush to a meeting. can you believe when i told him jihyun was found and is now in the hospital, the only thing he said was 'really? thank god, i really thought i was gonna have to miss this important meeting. take care of her and i'll come visit tonight'. like what the fuck kinda father does that?" seonghwa rolls his eyes, hongjoong giving him a sad smile before turning his attention to the door that just opened.
four boys rush in, all looking equally worried. "my noona! is she okay?" jongho cries out, running over to stand beside the bed, next to a sleeping jihyun. "yea, she's still resting so we should just quietly wait for her to wake up." hongjoong tells the younger boys. then they all proceed to make themselves comfortable on the floor, yeosang not knowing where to sit when the only available spot in the circle is next to seonghwa.
he contemplates on sitting on the only chair in the room but it seemed rude to be the only one not sitting on the floor so he awkwardly made his way to sit next to seonghwa.
seonghwa chuckles at this, slapping the younger's back when he sits down. "relax, i've cooled down. i wasn't thinking when i lashed out on you and san the other day." he smiled warmly at the younger. yeosang smiles back, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
they were cut off when they heard a quiet, almost inaudible groan. all heads turned to the girl on the bed, all of them looking either shocked or happy when they see her moving to sit up, groaning in pain once again.
jongho stands up immediately, pulling the girl into a hug, the girl wincing. "o–ow, p–pain," she taps jongho's arm. the younger boy gasps dramatically, pulling away from her and hitting himself on the head multiple times. "stupid, stupid! how could i forget? i'm so sorry, noona!" he cries out, looking like he would actually cry anytime soon.
jihyun blinks profusely at him, about to open her mouth to say something when the door opens once again, this time louder. "jiji!" a frantic-looking youngmin almost screams as he enters. "hyung! not too loud!" seonghwa scolds his older cousin. "sorry, sorry. jiji, my baby!" he whisper-screams, running to his cousin on the bed, engulfing her in a hug, patting her head.
"hyung, no! that's gonna hurt her! she has a few broken ribs!" seonghwa scolds him again and youngmin immediately lets go, looking at his cousin in pity. "no, baby, i'm so sorry. are you okay?" he looks at her with literal puppy eyes. before she could even respond, he shushes her, a finger on her lips as he lifts up a plastic bag to show her.
"i brought food because i know hospital food sucks and you probably haven't eaten in days," he pouts at her, taking out a plastic container from the bag. he opens the container and the smells of heavenly cooked porridge filled the room.
"hey, hyung." yunho greets from the floor and youngmin immediately smiles at him, greeting him back before greeting the other boys.
the boys watch as youngmin makes himself comfortable on the chair none of them sat on, taking a spoon out and blowing on the porridge before feeding jihyun. jihyun eats silently, watching as the boys on the floor talk to her cousin, catching up as they haven't seen each other in a long time.
they talked about a lot, all while youngmin was feeding jihyun. she hasn't spoken a word since she woke up and this worried them all but they decided to let her be, thinking maybe she's just traumatised by everything that has happened.
when she finished her food, youngmin smiles at the girl proudly. "yay, jiji finished her food! drink more water and rest, okay?" he pats her head before standing, cleaning up the mess and throwing away all the trash.
"noona, do you feel better now? do you want me to finger flick a han mina off of the earth? because i'd do that, really. just say the word and i'll put these fingers to good use," jongho flexes his fingers, showing off his finger flicks.
jihyun awkwardly smiled, not knowing what to say to the boy. the boys all nodded their heads aggressively, agreeing to what jongho said. "we can help too!" mingi cheers, flexing his biceps with a jokingly cocky grin.
seonghwa notices how uncomfortable his sister looks and he taps her on the arm. "ji, are you okay?" she looks at the hand on her arm before looking up at his face.
