Realisation
Project ZeloYoungjae left the hospital room, sighing. His sister had been battling with an eating disorder for over a decade now and had landed herself in intensive care once again.
"Any luck?" Jongup asked nervously as the two had repeated this scene many times before. Youngjae shook his head that still hung, looking at the floor.
"You know what, hyung? I'll have a go."
Jongup stormed into the room after seeing his beloved hyung in despair far too many times before. The girl was curled up over the covers like a vulnerable fetus, her spine visible through her thin hospital regulation gown. Her frame was repulsive, just looking at her caused pain to anyone. How someone could manage to work with them and try to save them was mindboggling because the pain in her face was unbearable to see. She was shivering. Jongup took off his jacket and lay it on her small body, shocked at how it managed to cover all of her.
"Hi, Noona~"
She looked up to see Jongup and smiled wearily. Over the years she had realised that she would have to pretend to be okay, show them that she's fine. This intensified once Youngjae had become a doctor as he visited her very regularly, especially in this state. She nodded in greeting to the smiling boy.
"Aish, why are you like this again? We thought you were getting better!"
"Jongup, I can't help it."
"And why is that?"
"Ugh. Have you ever felt worthless? That you can't do anything? Everything was out of control and the only thing I was able to do was eat, so I showed self control to stop, to give me reassurance that I can control my own life. But now I can't stop. You wouldn't understand."
Jongup's eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"I've felt worthless. Every day of my life. I can't read or write, do you know how hard that is? Being outcast from normal society. I can't check news on a newspaper and I can't even read a patient's documents very well, yet I still manage to be a doctor. Barely. I could get thrown out any day now but I work hard as hell to make sure I can keep my job. My life isn't set in stone, no one's life is. There is always someone else out there worse off than you, noona."
"I'm sorry, Jongup-ah."
"If you can't do this for me, do it for Youngjae."
She lifted her head at the sound of her brother's name.
"What about him?"
"He does this job for you. He hates it, more than anything in the world. He wanted to be an artist, remember? Have one of those cottages in the countryside and do what he likes, when he likes. Sell some of his works and have a comfortable life. You got ill. He wants to save you. He's up all night thinking of ways to try and make you feel better, discarding any remains of a social life. Sure, when he's at work he keeps to his patients, but outside of work everything revolves around you. You've said before you just want to be left, left to die. He's not going to leave. His blood, sweat and tears have gone into trying to preserve your life and you're being too ignorant to notice."
The skeletal girl choked up a sob, her papery skin against her chest rapidly moving against the movements of her lungs, showing every groove and crevice of her ribcage.
"So will you take this treatment, for Youngjae? Your problem affects more than you, it probably affects everyone else a lot more than it does you."
The girl nodded and Jongup bid her farewell as his business was now done.
"She said she'd do it."
Youngjae's face lit up like a Christmas tree, showing all different types of emotions rolled into one. Silent tears fell from his shocked eyes, his grin from ear to ear.
"How the Hell did you manage that?"
Jongup tapped his nose and walked on. On the way out, they passed a familiar girl with a bouquet of lillies in her hand, the delicate flower caressing her face. Unlike the flower, she looked awful. Her skin was shiny and ragged and her hair tousled and greasy. Her eyes seemed lifeless.
"Jieun-ssi? What are you doing here?" The two said in unison.
She bowed in greeting to the two doctors.
"Ah, Youngjae-ssi and Jongup-ssi?" She smiled at them. "I haven't seen you two alone, but, I really want to thank you for taking care of Yongguk back in England, I'm very grateful. For then and now."
"You don't need to thank us, he's a friend. Why are you here?" Youngjae asked skeptically, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Ah, Daehyun-ah. He's ill."
"What's wrong with him?"
"Not long ago, he injured his leg. He told me he was jumped by a gang and they stabbed him on the way to pick up Junhong from school. The wound has opened and got infected. It's pretty bad."
Jongup listened quietly to the statement, nodding occasionally. "Omo, is he okay?" He feigned sympathy.
"He's not reacting very well, he peaked a fever. They said he'll be fine. I'm still worried. He was always so careful with his leg and suddenly it's hurt. I wonder if he's just being careless after his mother died."
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