Claustrophobia || Hyunin ||

Chapter 40

Jeongin spent the rest of the day hanging around the nursing station with his mum. The doctors dismissed him quickly after he woke up but his mother refused to let him go home without her, so he spent the rest of the day following his mum on her rounds or making idle chat with Chan whenever he was free. I t was nice, for once, to not worry. Just for an afternoon, he was safe inside the hospital walls to roam and talk and feel no sting from the world outside. 

Finally, four o'clock rolled around and Jeongin, Mrs Yang and Chan all strolled out of the hospital. Jeongin was wearing a face mask, as one of the receptionists had spotted some reporters lingering in the lobby and had given the group pre-warning. Lucky they managed to make it to the car without anyone noticing.  

Jeongin now sat and watched as the world flashed passed. It seemed so normal. People walked down streets, enjoying the pre-winter chill. A sea of scarfs and bobble hats flashed passed the window, what seemed like a world away from Jeongin. He sighed and rested his head on the cool glass. He didn't understand how he felt so much had changed in such a small amount of time.

A buzz in his pocket pulled the brunette out of his thoughts. He pulled out his phone to see a message from Felix. Jeongin opened the message trying to ignore the thousands of other messages from Hyunjin.

Felix
Hey, I'm waiting outside your apartment

Jeongin
Thanks, I need a chat.

Felix
Well, Jisung is here as well, I couldn't shake him, he was too worried about what happened this morning.

Jeongin
Wow, well I'm nearly home, see you in a sec.

Jeongin sighed again and turned off his phone. He didn't realise he had made such an impression on Jisung in such a short time. He wasn't good at making friends. He was impressed at his skill. Or maybe Jisung was just very friendly. 

"Thank you so much Chan" Mrs Yang smiled as the car began to slow down. Jeongin turned his head to see the apartment building in front of them. A tower of glass safety. The car finally pulled to a stop and the pair got out. They began to make their way towards the glass walls of safety. 

"Oh Jeongin," Chan called, rolling the window down. Jeongin paused, turning back for a moment. His mother smiled and headed into the building.

"You did a very brave thing," Chan started. Jeongin nodded looking at his feet. " But keep an open heart"

Jeongin looked up confused. Chan only smiled and put the car into gear.

"If you love something let it go, if it comes back to you then it's yours"

And with that Chan drove off down the street and disappeared around the corner. Jeongin stood there for a moment, his mind blank. The comment had come out of nowhere. But he shrugged it off, for Felix was waiting for him upstairs. In the end, Chan was a psychiatrist so it probably had some deep meaning to make Jeongin think deeper about life. Soon enough, Jeongin arrived outside his apartment all thoughts of Chan disappeared from his head and he was knocked over by as sobbing Jisung. 

"Jeongin!" Jisung wailed, slowly squeezing the life out of the poor boy. "I thought you were dead" Felix and Mrs Yangs chuckled in the doorway, earning a glare from Jeongin. 

"Don't worry, I'm alive now" Jisung sniffed and finally released Jeongin from the death grip. Jeongin took a deep breath as most of the air had been squeezed out of his lungs.