“Where are you…”

You entered Chanyeol’s room but he wasn’t in there so you decided to go search for him. You figure that you can try finding him at the park but then again, Chanyeol can be anywhere. From what you learn about him so far, he is nothing but hyper all the time. So instead of jumping into conclusions, and since you have nothing but time with you, you start your search from his room and continue down the hallway. This is one big hospital, you tell yourself after going through one whole floor. Just before you’re about to give up, you pause your steps in front of a room and look through the glass window.

There he is. Chanyeol’s in this room.

You step closer to the glass window and press your hands on it, noticing that little Heojin is sleeping soundly on her bed. Her small smile is still pinned on her tiny face. Your shadow that is casting over little Heojin’s upper body informs Chanyeol that someone is watching the both of them and he turns his head back. He sees you and gives you toothy smile before standing up, then heads to the door.

You watch as he closes the door gently behind. “Hey, you’re here,” he whispers and shoots a quick glance to the sleeping Heojin. “I promised her to tuck her in again today.”

You nod. “I know,” you say. “I remember.”

His smile widens and you notice that he never stops smiling. Ever. “I suppose you just finished class?” he asks and begins to walk away from little Heojin’s room as you trail along next to him. You nod, again. “Do you have any homework today? I can help if you want.”

“Oh, no,” you answer and he looks over to you. “I mean, I do have homework but it’s okay. I don’t feel like doing them. Not here.” He nods slightly, acknowledging what you have just said. Then, you stop walking. “Can we, uhm, go to your room?”

He stops as well, turning to you with one raised eyebrow. “My room?”

You fake an awkward smile. “Yeah, well, my bag pack isn’t exactly light.” You lie. There’s really nothing in your bag pack. It’s just that you realised you two are heading to where your parents had their last breath. You can’t pull yourself to be anywhere close to that place you were a week back, still grudging over their death. Life’s not exactly a fun ride for you.

“I can carry it for you if you want,” Chanyeol offers and reaches out to your bag pack but you pull away immediately.

“No, it’s okay!” you say and clear your throat. The last thing you want is to let him find out you were lying and lose the last person you can go to when you’re lonely. “Let’s walk this way,” you tell him, pointing to the other way, the opposite of the path to the emergency room. Throughout the walk back to his room, you keep your head down, hoping that Chanyeol wouldn’t notice you holding back your tears.

The two of your reach his room not long later. He opens the door and holds it for you while you silently step into his room without removing your eyes from the floor. Chanyeol slowly closes the door and eye you weirdly as you make your way to his bed. You then drop your bag pack onto the floor before sitting on the edge of his bed.

He comes closer and sits down next to you; his body weighs the bed down on his side. You feel the side of his leg touching yours and you move a little to the other side, feeling uncomfortable. “You want to talk?” he initiates the conversation. You shake your head, eyes still glued to the floor and he his head to get a better view of your face. “Then why did you come here?”

“Can’t I just come here to visit you?” you ask. “Can’t I come here, just for the purpose of having a company, and not talk at all?”

You’ve been visiting here for a week now and you find it weird how you’ll always end up here unknowingly after school ends. It’s like your legs have the mind of their own.

For the past few days, you guys did anything but talk about anything personal. Nothing more than the usual ‘How’s school?’ or ‘Do you have homework?’. You liked it that way, though you have to admit you didn’t actually had fun doing art crafts with a few old folks and small kids. They seemed like they like you but you kept trying to distant yourself from them. Still, if staying away from them means keeping them alive then maybe you should… right?

“That wouldn’t be fair for me, now would it?” You remain silent and look away, sighing with a tinge of guilt. You know very well that you sounded selfish. “I rather talk,” he states.

“Fine,” you look back to him. “Then, talk.” He widens his eyes and for the first time, you see a troubled Chanyeol; like he doesn’t know what to say at all. “Tell me about you,” you helpfully suggest.

You didn’t bother asking about him till now, probably because you couldn’t care less about him the few days back. You still consider him as someone who is just temporary staying in your life; not even a friend. He’s just a free company for you. At least with him, you won’t feel a tad bid lonely.

But that’s just what you think. Your heart and legs don’t seem to agree with you.

Chanyeol lowers his head and purses his lips. You look at him, rather confused. He wasn’t like this until now. Why is he not smiling like usual? “What do you want to know?”

“Anything, really.” You shrug. “Why are you here? You said this is your home so I’m assuming you’ve been here for quite a long while?”

He shakes his head. “Just for a month,” he replies and you stare at him, perplexed. It doesn’t make sense to you. You open your mouth to say something but he beats you to it. “37 days actually,” he adds, laughing a little.

You shake your head; it started off slowly but speeds up after that. It really doesn’t make any sense. “B-but you seem famous around he