hydra | svt

CHAPTER FORTY SIX.

wonwoo

"is someone there?"

my body seems to completely shut down as i hear seungkwan call out. had he seen me? maybe heard the rustling from the snacks in my arms? i become one with the wall and swallow thickly, waiting for seungkwan to dismiss my presence entirely.

the snacks grow heavy, weighing my arms down as i try to stop them from scattering all over the floor. a few agonising seconds creep past and i finally deem it safe to move away from seungkwan's sister's room. however, the minute my back is turned, a shadow falls over me.

"excuse me? do you need something?"

i can already tell from the intonation that seungkwan is on his highest mode of defence; he doesn't sound the slightest bit polite as i slowly turn, blinking at him like a deer caught in the headlights. i feel like an absolute idiot, lumbering awkwardly with enough food on my person for a dinner party and having listened in on what was clearly a private conversation. blush flares in my cheeks as i avoid eye contact, which is very difficult considering i tower over him a little bit.

i barely stutter out a reply before seungkwan kisses his teeth and glares harshly at me.

"i'm really sorry but could you..uh..." i'm already struggling, wishing i paid more attention to the nurse when she had brought up minghao's room number. "could you tell me how to get to room...112?"

i pour every ounce of genuineness i currently possess into the question, on the verge of tears with how much i want to escape this situation. seungwkan's features soften a little as he searches my eyes for malicious intent and upon finding none, he reluctantly nods.

"sure. wait here."

i nod a little too intensely as the boy puts his head round the door one last time, before sliding it closed. he doesn't wait for me and strides back up the corridor, retracing the steps i had just taken to get here.

"112, huh? only a minor injury?"

i can feel his judgemental eyes on me, despite being behind him.

"uh..yes, my friend sprained his ankle."

there's a pause as we round a corner. unlike me, the seungkwan i know prefers lighthearted chatter over dead silence but the predicament earlier has him internally debating over whether i'm worth talking to. at his side, his hands fiddle with each other, picking at a nail or scratching the skin softly, and an apology begins to formulate on my tongue.

the words quickly die as we approach an empty stairwell. seungkwan marches up them confidently, his footsteps echoing in the grey chamber. i follow up hastily, easily bounding up two at a time, which seems to irk seungkwan even more.

we reach the next floor up and out of habit, seungkwan holds the door open for me. i thank him quietly. he seems shocked at himself for doing so, his mouth forming a small 'o' before he regains his senses and replaces it with a stoic line.

"it's not far now. you'll find it if you follow this corridor round." he points to the plaques hanging by each door as if to tell me 'you're smart, read these.' immediately i feel restless at the thought of letting seungkwan slip away so freely and without meeting the others. my mouth moves before i can stop it from doing so and the look of seungkwan's face becomes one of wholehearted surprise.

"can you take a look at his ankle? the doctors here haven't given him anything for it yet."

it seems preposterous that a doctor wouldn't care for a patient, in a hospital no less, and seungkwan doesn't seem convinced at first. he glances between my timid smile and his employee badge before letting out a sigh that is well beyond his years. despite his reluctance, he agrees and we walk the rest of the way to minghao's room together.

even from down the hall i can hear the content chattering from my friends, which ignites curiosity in seungkwan. we reach the room and seungkwan pulls open the door, causing the chatter to cease immediately. the shouts of my name die on my friend's tongue as they slowly recognise who's accompanying me.

"seung-"

mingyu begins to call out, momentarily forgetting that this this version of seungkwan does not yet know who we are. minghao elbows him in the lower stomach from his hospital bed, eyeing up the nurse-in-training as he approaches him. i step in behind seungkwan, sheepishly dumping the snacks into a vacant chair, my arms relieved to be finally free of the weight. i gently massage my forearms, exchanging a panicked look with hansol.

we all watch with baited breath as seungkwan performs a routine check on minghao's ankle, occasionally breaking the silence to ask a few questions. minghao, albeit awkwardly, answers the questions to the best of his ability, explaining what happened at hallasan and that we're not from around here.

"you guys are from seoul?" seungkwan asks as he skims through the file clipped onto the end of the bed. he's trying his best to sound as judgemental as possible, but it's difficult not to notice the pure interest in his voice.

we bounce a look between the four of us, internally deciding on who should answer. finally, hansol speaks up.

"yeah, we're out here on a school trip." seungkwan nods and mingyu lets out a stiff cough. another agonisingly long minute passes before the nurse slots the clipboard under his arm.

"you should be good to go by the end of the day. i'll write you a prescription for some painkillers and then you're free to leave," he says. it's very authoritative and minghao nods his head, studying his ankle hanging in the brace.

"well, if that's all you needed me for," he sends a sharp glance in my direction that i unfortunately fail to miss. "i'll be going."

we follow him out the door with out intent stares, waiting what we deemed a safe amount of time before exhaling harshly. i shut the door behind him and wordlessly chuck mingyu a carton of banana milk, as well as passing a can of iced coffee to hansol. minghao declines a drink but happily nods when i hover my hand over a chocolate breakfast bar. i pierce the film of my own milk drink with a little too much vigour, groaning when a little bit splashes out. hansol laughs at me, handing me a tissue from god knows where.

"that was...interesting," mingyu comments, slurping on his drink noisily. minghao hums in agreement through a mouthful of granola and chocolate chips and hansol just takes another sip, staring vacantly at the wall behind me.

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sorry for the late update! results day / enrolment was crazy!! but the good news is i passed all my exams and got into the sixth form/college i wanted to go to <3

hope everyone is well :)