five am.
only five boys were remaining from the group of eleven, still waiting for some (hopefully) good news. the last five occupants in the waiting lobby were a sleeping minghao and junhui, a worried jeonghan and seungcheol, and wonwoo, who hadn't said a word ever since their arrival. both jeonghan and seungcheol discussed it on the toilet earlier, being scared wonwoo might've gotten in a state of shock as he was barely capable of blinking like an average human being.
but they decided to let it be, agreeing that it was the best solution for now as they all had a pretty rough night.
it was when heavy footsteps echoed through the empty hallways of the hospital that interrupted the rhythmically ticking of the clock when wonwoo's head peered up. a doctor, wearing a plain white topcoat, holding onto a wooden clipboard, entered the room as he let his eyes wander over the tired faces of the remaining students.
"i suppose you're waiting for patient lee and patient kim?" the doctor let out a sigh of exhaustion as he pushed his oval glasses a little higher up his nose, his dark eyebrows furrowing as he read over the information on the papers.
"we are." wonwoo was quick to answer, standing up from his chair in a fast motion as he let the blanket slide off his shoulder.
"good good." the man mumbled, clearing his throat as he finally looked up from his papers. "i have good and bad news." he took another pause as he let the five boys wait in anticipation, adrenaline kicking in their bodies once again. "the good news is that we were able to save them both. chan woke up and is waiting for you to see him."
"and.. the bad news..?" seungcheol carefully asked as the doctor didn't give any information away about mingyu's wellbeing, fearing the worst.
"the bad news is that we couldn't get mingyu back to consciousness. he's stabilized, but i'm afraid he won't make it longer than twenty-four hours. the bullet has caused more damage than we expected, there's a miracle needed to wake him up. his parents are with him right now and i think it's best to leave them alone for a moment."
the words echoed through the back of wonwoo's head as he felt his knees going weak again. all sounds around him muted as he saw the room in a haze. his entire world seemed to fall apart at the thought of mingyu passing away. mingyu. his first love. the first one he actually opened up to. his first kiss.
the one he wanted to stay with for a lifetime.
the one who now also lay on his deathbed.
slowly he let his body sink back in the uncomfortable green hospital chair, his gaze fixated on his muddy shoes as tears started blurring his vision again. he wanted to scream, let all his frustration and aggression out, but his throat was blocked with the lump that rose up.
a tap on his shoulder cleared his vision, making him look up to the worried face of seungcheol. he noticed the doctor had left the lobby again, leaving the five of them alone. "hey, we can visit chan in duo's, since no more people are allowed in his room. jeonghan and i are the first ones to visit him, can you make it here for a short while?"
wonwoo restrained the tears from wetting his cheeks as he nodded weakly, lowering his gaze instantly when seungcheol's presence left him. and once the two left the room, he felt how warm tears left his eyes as he couldn't suppress painful sobs to leave his throat, making junhui instantly speed up to him to reassure the broken boy.
seungcheol and jeonghan, meanwhile, walked through the empty hallway, trailing the doctor to chan's room. they remained silent, grieving about mingyu's miserable fate, even slightly scared of what they would encounter in chan's room. no words were necessary when seungcheol tightened his grip on jeonghan's hand, assuring the blonde haired boy safety in silence.
"it's this room. now if you would excuse me, i need to check up on another patient." both jeonghan and seungcheol gave him a polite nod as they watched him turn around the corner, speeding to the next injured student.
however, both couldn't reach for the doorknob as they were too frightened to find out what exactly had happened to chan. "hey han, are you okay?" seungcheol carefully asked, locking eyes with an overly worried jeonghan. "i think i am, are you?" the elder nodded, leaning in to press a tender kiss against jeonghan's temple.
"i'll open the door, okay?" seungcheol asked as he reached for the doorknob, jeonghan's heart rate going up as he gave a confirming nod. and just like that, seungcheol silently swung the door open, revealing chan who lay underneath a plain white duvet.
without making too much sound the two walked into the room, eyeing chan who seemed peacefully asleep, his chest rising up and down on a rhythmical pace. tears clouded jeonghan's vision on seeing him breathe, the view finally bringing some sense of peace to his heart. "i told you it was going to be okay." seungcheol whispered as the two kept standing in the doorframe, staring down at chan's body that radiated peace. "let him sleep for now, we'll visit him when he wakes up."
jeonghan nodded as he followed seungcheol outside, the door closing with a gentle thud, silent enough to keep chan asleep. and once they were back in the hospitals hallway, jeonghan wrapped both his hands around seungcheol's waist, tightly holding himself onto his boyfriend as he allowed himself to cry for the nth time that night.
"i-i'm sorry." he choked out on his boyfriend's shoulder, muffling his sobs with the fabric of seungcheol's shirt. "shhh, don't be sorry silly." seungcheol whispered as he pulled the boy equally as close against his chest. "we've had a long night, how about we go back to my apartment, huh? we'll bring chan a visit in the morning and i think you really need some sleep."
"but w-what if we're not there the moment he wakes up?" jeonghan asked, taking the task of worrying on him again.
"chan needs rest, he's been through surgery. i don't think he'll be awake before tomorrow afternoon. we really need to clean ourselves up and sleep a little." seungcheol explained, having jeonghan finally give in to his own tiredness as he nodded. "let's go then, shall we?"
"yeah.. it's been enough for now." jeonghan muttered as he leaned back, looking up to seungcheol's beautiful dark orbs. and without thinking twice, he leaned in to steal a small peck from his lips. and another one. and even a third and a fourth, leaving them both with traces of the tiniest smiles. "i love you cheol."
"and i love you too." seungcheol answered as he reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers as they started on their walk back to the lobby. it was time for them to say goodbye to the last remaining of their group and get back home.
together.
