19

Waiting

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(THIRD PERSON P.O.V)

At the hospital, Kibum slept on the bed peacefully. Jonghyun was right beside him, holding his hand tightly. He stared at him so lovingly, he didn't want to take his eyes off of the angel.

Then, Jonghyun’s other half brother, Heechul had come inside the hospital room. “Jonghyun...”

“Ah, yes, Hyung?”

“I’m just going to inform you about what happened to Jessica and her bodyguards after the questioning an hour earlier.”

“Please, give the details...” he said, his hand still clutching onto Kibum's

“Jessica confessed that she planned the kidnapping of your ‘beloved’ Kibum ‘cos she’s jealous about your relationship. Her dad took her and said that he will handle everything about her daughter. So don’t worry about her anymore. She won’t be bothering you or your Kibum. And about the two guys, we learned that the other guy whose name is Jiyong helped Kibum and we also found out that Mr. Jung was hiding his sister from him, so we did him a favor of finding her.”

“Thank you very much, Hyung, thank you for your help.”

“It's no problem. I will leave you now. Just come later, we still have to discuss and do something about Minho and our little cousin’s problems after resolving yours. Mr. Choi needs to be taught a lesson for hurting our precious little baby cousin.”

Jonghyun chuckled at how Heechul called Taemin. “Sure.”

“Have a good day, Jjong. I hope your friend gets better---”

“Boyfriend,” Jonghyun corrected his hyung.

“O-oh...okay. I hope he gets better. Good-bye, Jjong.” Heechul said with a smirk on his face.

Jonghyun also bid him a farewell and went back to gazing upon his beautiful Kibum. He  squeezed the unconscious boy’s hand, “Wake up. Please wake up, Kibummie...”

He placed Kibum's hand on his cheek, “See? I'm right here. You can feel me, can't you? Please...wake up...” he kissed JaeJoong's lips. As if in a fairytale wherein the prince would kiss his princess and she will wake up. He'd hoped it would happen, but as he looked back at his angel, his eyes were still closed.

“Kibum...I still need you with me...wake up. Don't make me cry,” However, the guy's eyes began filling with water. A tear slid down his cheek, landing on Kibum's hand.

“This is the first time I've seen you cry...” said a hoarse voice.

Jonghyun raised his head and saw his boyfriend already awake, “Kibum? Y-You're awake!”

“Yeah...” Kibum's eyelids were still heavy but he could see the guy he loves clearly. The relieved guy hugged Kibum, almost suffocating the poor guy. “Ah, Jjong, too tight...”

“Ah! I-I'm sorry, Kibum,” Jonghyun released Kibum from his arms. Yet, Jonghyun happened to have his hand back to where Kibum's hand was lying.

“How long have I been asleep?”

Jonghyun sniffled before replying, “10 hours, it's 11am. I was so worried! I'm so glad you're fine...”

“What happened to me? All I remember is that I was Jessica slapped me two times then… she pointed her gun at me...” Kibum’s body shivered at the thought.

Jonghyun raised his eyebrow at him then pouted, “Huh? You don't remember me being there?”

“You were there? I...uhm...I don't remember...”

He was a bit disappointed to hear that Kibum couldn't remember his heroic intervention but was also happy to know that his boyfriend wouldn't have to remember such a traumatizing event.

The two guys both flinched when Kibum’s handphone rang. Jonghyun reached for it and gave it to Kibum.

“Yoboseyo?”

“Kibummie! My Kibummie! Are you alright baby?! What happened?!”

“Mom!” Kibum shouted happily. “I’m just fine mom… don’t worry, okay?”

He heard his mother scoffed at the other line. “You can’t tell me to not worry about you! I’ve been only delayed by a few days then I’ll just hear that you’re in the hospital?! Just who will be taking care of you?! Is someone even accompanying you?”

Kibum sighed happily. “Its just a simple cold mom.” He lied. “And someone is taking a really great care of me.” He glanced at the smiling guy sitting beside his hospital bed. “I have Jonghyun with me.”

“What?! Who’s that Jonghyun? Is he your boyfriend?”

Kibum in his lips.“U-umm… yeah…”

He almost went deaf with his mom’s screeched on the phone. “You had a boyfriend while I was gone Kim Kibum?! Aigoo~~ my baby’s growing up!”

“Haha… Don’t tease me mom…” Kibum sighed.

“Okay, okay. But we’ll talk once I get back to Seoul, araso?”

“Araso, mom.”

“Okay. I have to go now or else I’m going to be a goner.” Kibum’s mom said. “I love you baby. Rest well.”

Kibum bid his mother a farewell too before turning off the handphone.

“Is that your mother?”

Kibum nodded at Jonghyun’s question. “Yes, she said that she heard that I got in the hospital and that she worried a lot.”

Jonghyun smiled at his boyfriend. “Well, she’s your mom after all so she’s obviously worried about you.”

“I guess so.” Kibum shrugged.

Jonghyun checked his watch, “Oh no, it's already 11:30! I have to meet with one of my hyungs.”

“Why are you going?” questioned Kibum.

“It’s about something very, very important.” Jonghyun lied to Kibum. He doesn’t like to let him know about Taemin and Minho’s situation. Jonghyun doesn’t want to make Kibum worry about his cousin. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon, araso?” Jonghyun kissed Kibum’s forehead.

Kibum whimpered like a puppy. Jonghyun didn't want to leave his boyfriend but he had to.

Jonghyun kissed Kibum on the cheek now, “I'll be back, okay? You don't have to wait up for me. Sleep if you want to…”

Kibum nodded slightly, responding, “Okay...”

“That's my Kibummie. I’ll go now. Bye”

“Bye.” Kibum watched Jonghyun leave the room. Jonghyun blew a kiss to him before leaving, with his coat jacket at hand.

---

5 hours later.

5 hours since Kibum had last seen his love. He'd run and look for him if he weren't stuck on the hospital bed until his doctor declared out-patient.

What was Kibum suppose to do? He had nothing better to do except watch something boring on the television. He was quite disinterested in everything. Kibum flipped through every channel. He tried to search for something entertaining to view but nothing caught his attention at that moment.

Kibum replied with the same note.

The room was empty.

For hours, it stayed that quiet. The silence ate Kibum up whole. He had nothing to do. The boredom could kill him right then and there but the thought of Jonghyun kept him sane. How he wished Jonghyun was there.

He could remember Jonghyun's every detail---His hair, his eyes, his lips...
He could remember Jonghyun's every touch---His hugs, his caresses, his kisses...

The only thing missing then was Jonghyun himself. Where was he? Kibum closed his eyes and imagined Jonghyun's handsome face… until he drifted into another deep slumber.

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Kibum's eyelashes batted as his eyes slowly opened. His eyes reacted harshly from the sun's rays through the hospital room's glass window. His hand covered his eyes and as his vision had cleared enough, he looked around the room.

Alone?

Where was Jonghyun? He hadn’t come back ever since he left? Why did it feel so cold and empty at that moment?

Kibum just shrugged the worry away and rested his head back on his pillow.

He sighed, thinking of the great joy he would be having with his boyfriend after he's released from the hospital. The fantasizing made Kibum blush like a baby's cheek. If Jonghyun were there, he'd kiss away the sadness. Kibum giggled.  

The nurse knocked 3 times consecutively. Kibum allowed entrance.

“Good morning, Kim Kibum-ssi. Wake up good today?” she asked as she brought in Kibum's tray of new food.

“Yes, Nurse Sooyoung,” he answered.

She smiled, “That's good. Well, this is your new tray of food. It's specially made for you. No cholesterol, for it's all vegetables and fruits.”

“Thank you...”

“If you could please hold out your arm. We'll need to inject you one last time...”

“Sure,” Kibum rolled up his sleeve and noticed he was wearing a checkered purple sweater. He stared at the sleeve for a period of time, surprised by the sudden change of clothing when he last remembered he was in a hospital robe.

“Kim Kibum-ssi, I need to inject the last vaccine before--”

“Nurse Sooyoung, why am I in this sweater?”

“Oh, Kim Jonghyun-ssi put it on you this morning before he left...”

“left?”

The Nurse, at the same time, prepared Kibum's arm for the injection as she replied to him. “Yes, he left. He said that he’ll just get some things that you’ll need while you’re here in the hospital.”

“Oh.” Relief flooded into Kibum’s heart.

“Are you alright now, Kim Kibum-ssi?”
 

“...not fully but better, I guess...”
 

“That's good to hear. Well, I will insert the needle now,” she said as she applied disinfectant on his arm. Kibum nodded, signaling the 'go' to her. She poked in the needle and Kibum bit his lip. It felt like a mosquito bite, a really deep mosquito bite. The nurse removed the needle and covered the wound with a cotton ball then band aid.

“The last injection is done. Your minor cold will subside by later this afternoon.”

“Thanks”

“No problem, Kibum-ssi.” The nurse left the room, leaving him in a state of another boredom.

He’ll just have to wait for Jonghyun to arrive.  
 

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