Ryeowook was getting by in school just fine after that one incident. It seemed that Hyungsik had lost his friends though. At first, Ryeowook had felt bad about doing that to his friend – for a moment he even believed that he really was dragging the younger boy down – but then he was reassured that those people weren’t worth being friends with in the first place. If they had such a terrible time accepting Ryeowook, then they had a hard time excepting Hyungsik’s true personality as well.

There was a definite disconnect with the rest of the world. No one knew they were in love, but it had probably become evident that something changed. They weren’t touchier or closer – there was just…something.

“Hey, let me try that,” Hyungsik grinned, opening his mouth.

Ryeowook picked up the morsel and brought it to his lover’s lips. Dropping it into Hyungsik’s mouth, he giggled and went back to eating his lunch. “Is it good?”

“How could it not be good when you were the one who made it?” he responded easily, swallowing the food. Hyungsik went back to eating his own lunch.

“Sweet talkers are dangerous, you know,” Ryeowook teased, “you never know when they’ll stop being so nice.”

“After this long, you think I’m just sweet talking you?” he retorted playfully, “Man, I must be the worst pick up artist ever.” Hyungsik leaned forward, laughing under his breath. His eyes were closing bit by bit, body slumping against Ryeowook. “Hmm…can you wake me up in a little bit?”

The strange thing recently was that Hyungsik couldn’t seem to stay awake for extended periods of time. Ryeowook didn’t really understand why his friend seemed so exhausted. Even during that basketball match so long ago, he recalled Hyungsik sweating a lot more than usual. Was the kid that out of shape? Ryeowook was having a hard time believing that his oldest friend was losing his athletic touch.

“Yeah, of course,” he told the younger boy, shifting around so Hyungsik could rest his head on his lap. Ryeowook brushed the hair out of that sleepy face and then took a deep, calming breath.

At first, he hadn’t planned on putting much thought into the other boy’s behavior. That is, until the night Hyungsik collapsed. Ryeowook didn’t understand what was happening. One second, the boy was walking around freely and happily; and the next, he was tripping down the last step on the stairs.

Ryeowook stared at the boy for a matter of seconds before he was kneeling down and cradling Hyungsik’s head. “H-Hey…Hey, wake up!” he shouted, checking the other male’s chest for a heartbeat. “Umma…,” Ryeowook whispered, head snapping to the backyard deck. Gently setting Hyungsik’s head down, he made a dash for the sliding door.

Bursting outside, he could see both of their parents sitting outside, having a good time. Ryeowook hadn’t realized he was crying until the tears were blurring his glasses. “UMMA!” he screamed, pointing towards the house.

Without asking for explanation, adults swarmed inside, quickly followed by yelling and dialing phones. Behind all of them, Ryeowook was coming back inside. His eyes were focused on Hyungsik who was being coaxed by his mother to wake up. Normally, a fainting spell wouldn’t scare all of them so much, but the problem was that Hyungsik got a fainting spell.

He was such a healthy boy – in fact, he had never gotten sick for more than a few hours. None of it made sense and right then and there, Ryeowook felt as if it were somehow his fault. If he had just told someone about the little things he had noticed about Hyungsik recently, maybe his mother would’ve been more aware or at least more prepared. Then again, hell, Ryeowook wasn’t even sure what he had been seeing.

What would he say? “Oh, Hyungsik’s been really exhausted lately.” No one would take that seriously.

“Ryeowook, do you want to ride in the ambulance with me?”

He barely processed those words. Lights were blaring and he wondered when the paramedics had arrived. Nodding blindly, he followed the stretcher into the light shining through the doorway.

***

It was supposed to be nothing.

It should’ve been a simply mistake.

But it wasn’t.

The doctor said something about autoimmune disease. Ryeowook didn’t understand what that was. It was enough to hear the severity in the professional’s voice.

…Rare…

…Forever…

…Reaction…

…Years at best…

Ryeowook could hear Mrs. Park crying and begging for them to do something to fix him. Other than that, his brain was swimming. Lights were no longer flashing.

If he cried and pleaded like Mrs. Park, would it all go away?

Would Hyungsik be okay?

So he tried.

He sobbed and wailed in the waiting room.

He begged every god he could think of.

He made promises to never induce vomiting.

He prayed.

He sang.

He curled into a ball and wished.

He waited for 11:11.

Anything.

Anything…he would do anything to make reality warp into something beautiful again.