7 And A Half Wishes » bangchan

Chapter 1: Polaroid

"Hey! Would you like to take a picture with me?"

Chan stared up at her, perplexed out of his wits. Why would a random girl want a picture with him?

"Um?" he let out uncertainly.

"A picture?" she prodded, not letting the bright smile slip off her face.

"Why?" Chan straightforwardly asked.

"It's just a thing I like to do," she beamed at him, "And you look sad."

Well, he was sad – and that was an understatement. He was depressed, to say the least, and it wasn't a new revelation to anyone that he looked unhappy.

"You're spacing out," she waved a hand in front of his face, "Back to earth!"

"Yeah," he mumbled, loud enough for her to hear, and she smiled a toothy grin, drawing out the Polaroid camera from her little carry bag slung across her shoulders.

She then crouched down next to the chair he was sitting on, and extending her hand and leaning close to him. Chan distanced himself quite a bit at their proximity, and that didn't go unnoticed by her. Yet, she chose to ignore it, since the camera frame could fit them to a certain level anyway.

"Say kimchi!" she giggled, and even though he was in one of his worst moods possible, her smile was contagious to him. He couldn't help but crack the smallest smile ever, and satisfied by the results of her cheerfulness, the girl snapped a picture.

She stood up, waiting for the picture of print out of the camera, and as soon as it did, she waved it in the air.

Chan observed her motions; how her eyebrows were stressed in an attempt to move her frail arms around, how her bright pink lips were currently pursed, and how her eyes lit up when she looked at the picture.

"See! It's really nice!" she showed him the picture, and he grimaced upon looking at himself in the picture. That minuscule smile didn't do justice to her larger one.

"Yeah..." he dismissively mumbled yet again, and the girl stuffed the Polaroid in her bag.

"Hey," she lowly spoke, "I don't know why you're here, but now that you're in the hospital premises, I would assume that you or your loved one is in pain. But please know that it'll get better. No problem can last forever!"

"That's not entirely true," he argued, knowing how he was going to suffer from his illness for the rest of his life, "Some problems last forever."

"That's because the sufferer can't seem to find a solution to it," she explained gently, "It's the only reason why we have hospitals – so that people can help the sufferer find a way to heal."

"But what if the pain is too much to handle?" his voice lowered with each word.

"Without pain, would you know joy?" she made a point, ceasing Chan's train of negative thoughts. He paused, thinking over what the stranger had just said.

Even though the pain he was going through was too much to bear for him alone, he wasn't alone in this. He had his mother, and maybe his doctor, to help him out of this dark pit. And if he thought over the fact that he wouldn't know joy without pain, he realized that it was a true fact.

But did his mind convince him otherwise? Yes.

He simply sighed, not understanding how his mind worked. Why was it so stubborn?

"Anyway, you can enjoy your sandwich now. Thanks for the picture!" she chirped, and within seconds, she was out of his sight, walking out of the cafeteria.

That's when Chan's phone buzzed, the caller ID showing that it was his mother. He answered the call, "Hello?"

"Chan, have you decided? I need to give an answer to Dr. Choi," she worriedly spoke, mentioning Chan's psychiatrist.

He kept quiet for a while, rethinking over the offer for help that stood at his doorstep. Should he take that helping hand to pull him out of his misery, or should he suffer in silence only because he didn't want to stay in a hospital?

He successfully chose the first option, and slowly muttered, "Yes, I think I'll stay here."

(a/n: you'll soon know what is happening lmao)