The entire ride to the hospital was tense. Hakyeon was shaking like a leaf in the back of the car. Hongbin didn’t know if the shaking was from the pain he was in or his apparent fear of hospitals. Hongbin and Taekwoon both tried their best to calm Hakyeon down. They talked about lighter topics to try and keep his mind occupied. But nothing seemed to work. The closer they got to the hospital the more sickly Hakyeon looked. They parked in the emergency room lot when they finally arrived at the hospital. Hongbin opened the door to the back of the car. “Hongbin, I swear I’m fine. I just need to put a little bit of ice on it. I’m sure the swelling will go down if I keep pressure off of my foot.” Hakyeon tried to reason. Taekwoon sighed. “Look, you may not be a big fan of hospitals but you need to go in. Your ankle is super swollen and your whimpering from any pressure put on it doesn’t reassure me much.” Taekwoon crouched a bit so he was level to Hakyeon's watery eyes. “If it makes you feel any better I’m not the biggest fan of hospitals either. But when you need to get treated you need to get treated. If you don’t you’ll just end up in more pain later than you are right now. So let’s nip the pain in the bud before it gets worse, okay?” Hakyeon looked like he wanted to argue some more, but he relented once he knew that no matter what he said they would get him into the hospital somehow. With a deep sigh, and a few blinks to make the tears in his eyes go away, Hakyeon let Hongbin carry him into the hospital.

If Hongbin was being honest with himself, he probably hated hospitals more than Hakyeon did. They were always filled to the brim with the dead. The older the hospital was, the more spirits would roam around the halls. A good majority of the spirits had died tragically as well, which led to some pretty gruesome sights. Hongbin hated the fact that he couldn’t cross any of the spirits in the hospitals over. He and his grandmother agreed that they had to leave souls in hospitals alone, because there were many souls that walked around the building that belonged to people that were fighting for their lives. Neither of them could tell the difference between the souls that were already gone and the souls that had a chance to live another day. So he promised his grandmother that, as much as it killed him, he would never cross a spirit in the hospital. Hongbin was so glad that he had learned how to block out the wails of agony that blasted in his ears whenever he had to visit someone in the hospital. Today was like every other day in a hospital. Full of living and dead people wandering around the halls. He turned his attention to Hakyeon and saw that the other man had gone a little green in the face. His right ear was pressed hard against Hongbin’s chest and his left hand was covering his left ear, almost like he was trying to block something out. “You okay Hakyeon?” He whispered, not wanting to draw the attention of the nurse that was leading them to Hakyeon’s examination room. Hakyeon looked at him with glossy eyes. “Yeah, I just like the sound of your heart. It’s really soothing.” He said, not moving from the position he had settled himself into on Hongbin’s chest. Hongbin let Hakyeon be after hearing his answer, seeing as he wanted to make Hakyeon as comfortable as possible. The nurse showed them the room and informed them that the doctor would be in to see them shortly. Taekwoon sat in one of the chairs by the bed. Hongbin went to put Hakyeon down on the bed, not missing the little whimper that left his lips when Hongbin moved his head from his chest. Hakyeon also put his arm down, resting both of his hands on his thighs. Hongbin took a seat next to Taekwoon and pulled out his phone. He made it look like he was playing a game on it, but he was actually observing Hakyeon to make sure he was really okay.

As time went on Hakyeon looked more and more like a wreck. It started out small, with Hakyeon twisting his fingers this way and that every couple of seconds. The twisting moved to pulling after about a minute. Hakyeon’s breathing started getting deep, with the other man taking big breaths of air before slowly letting the air out. Then came the lip biting, with Hakyeon chewing at his lips so intensely Hongbin was surprised they hadn’t started bleeding. Hakyeon started to slowly rock on the bed after that, his arms wrapping around his torso as he continued to take deep breaths. Hongbin noticed that the spirits around Hakyeon seemed to get more and more agitated as time progressed. “Hakyeon?” The dancer whipped his head towards Hongbin. “You okay there?” Hakyeon laughed nervously. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just don’t like h-hospitals.” Hakyeon swallowed loudly before continuing his thoughts. “They just make me a little bit anxious.” Hongbin noticed that Hakyeon’s fingernails were digging into his arms by the end of the sentence. “As long as you’re sure.” Hongbin said, not believing Hakyeon at all. Hakyeon gave him a tense smile.

The spirits around Hakyeon were furious, Hongbin could have felt that from a mile away. And unfortunately the spirits that roamed around the halls felt that fury as well. They began to crowd the room. Hongbin once again thanked his grandmother that he could block out all of the noise they were probably making. It didn’t stop the headache that he got from all of the energy from said spirits being packed into one place. Taekwoon looked concerned when Hongbin started to rub at his temples. He grabbed Hongbin’s hand. “You okay? Do you need something?” Hongbin smiled at the gesture. “There’s just a lot of energy in here. It’s giving me a headache. Do you mind getting me some snacks from the vending machine outside?” Taekwoon nodded and gave Hongbin a peck on the cheek before getting up and going to the vending machine. Hongbin closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before looking back at Hakyeon. What he saw surprised him a bit.

Hakyeon had both of his hands jammed to his ears. It looked like he was trying to crush his own skull between his palms. His fingers were twisted in his dark hair, and his deep breaths turned into short bursts of air. Tears poured down the dancer’s face as he rocked a bit more in the bed. Hongbin got up and wrapped his hands around Hakyeon’s wrists. He tried to pry the hands off of Hakyeon’s skull but that seemed to make him more distressed, as a few sobs left his mouth. “Hakyeon? Hakyeon talk to me. What’s bothering you?” Hakyeon sobbed a bit more before opening his eyes that were blurred with tears. “Hongbin.” A few more sobs. “Hongbin it hurts. It hurts so much.” Hakyeon leaned his head against Hongbin’s shoulder. “What hurts?” Hakyeon sniffles. “My head. My h-head h-hurts so bad. They’re so loud.” Hongbin was confused. “Who is being too loud?” “I d-don’t know! There’s just so many voices. And they keep screaming. I don’t know how to make them stop.” Hongbin froze. Loud voices? “Do you know what they’re saying?” Hakyeon shakes his head. “There are too many voices. They’re all screaming different things and- and -and.” Hakyeon starts hyperventilating at that point. “Make them stop. Make them stop. Make them stop!” Hongbin tries his best to calm Hakyeon down. At that point Taekwoon walks in. “Hongbin what’s going on?” Before Hongbin can answer Hakyeon goes limp in his arms. Hongbin looks to Hakyeon and sees that the other man is completely out cold. Hongbin shakes him a bit to try and wake him up, but it doesn’t work. Hongbin looks back to Taekwoon who looks just as confused as he feels.

“What the hell just happened?”