11.26.2012

11:09 PM

Third Person POV

He was in the waiting room, hoping with every essence of his being that the doctor would emerge from those cold steel doors, take him by the hand, and tell him, “Everything’s gonna be fine son. Your friend is all right now.” Oh how he wished for it. However, it was as if the heaven’s was deaf to his wishes as those cold steel doors remained ever so static. He was soon approached by a teary Minhwan.

“Hyung…”

Putting on his best smile, he received Minhwan in his arms, embracing him in a hug, reassuring him that everything will be okay. He lied to him. He didn’t know what was going to happen, but even for just that moment, he wanted to believe, believe that there are such things as happy endings.

“Don’t worry Minhwan. Hyung will be fine. He’ll be out of here before you know it.”

Somewhat comforted by Seunghyun’s words, Minhwan hugged him even tighter, before settling himself in the seat next to the one Seunghyun was occupying.

“It’s getting late Minhwan, you should go home. You have shift at the clinic tomorrow right?”

“I’m not leaving hyung. I’m not leaving Jaejin hyung here alone.”

“I’m not asking you to leave permanently Minhwan – I’m just asking you to go rest up. You look miserable right now. What do you think Jaejin hyung would think if he saw you like that? You don’t want him nagging as soon as he wakes up do you? Go home and rest up. I’ll call you if anything.”

“Your not looking so great yourself hyung.”

“I always look crappy.”

Amused by Seunghyun’s last remark, Minhwan raised his hands in sign of defeat.

“Fine fine hyung. If it means so much to you, I’ll go home.”

“Good.”

“Call me if anything alright?”

“I will.”

As Minhwan made his way out of the living room, Seunghyun chuckled at the thought of Minhwan’s remark – “You don’t look so great yourself hyung.” He was the second person to have told him that, the first being Jonghun. He never did look ‘normal.’ He smiled as he began to recollect his first meeting with Jonghun.

-Flashback-

It was raining and it was raining hard. As people scurried around in their umbrellas, two boys, aged 10 and 9 hurried into the alley, searching frantically for their home, as the heavens rained down relentlessly upon them. Finding what they were looking for, they both scurried in, like dogs to a dog house. Suddenly, one of the boys spoke up, pouting as he made his remark.

“Hyung I’m hungry and cold. Don’t you have any food?”

“I’m sorry Seunghyun. I couldn’t find anything today. Maybe tomorrow okay?”

Sporting a genuine smile, the boy nodded in agreement.

“Okay hyung!”

The younger one’s name was Song Seunghyun. Although tall for his age, he always was somewhat underweight. He sported an oversized shirt, stained with dirt, while his pants were a tad bit too small for him. His pants also sported the same amount of dirt, also being littered with holes. The older one’s name was Lee Jaejin. Unlike Seunghyun, Jaejin was a little under average when it came to height, however, he too was underweight compared to his peers. In addition, his wardrobe was in no better condition than Seunghyun’s, as it too, was littered with filth and holes. Their home consisted of a carboard box, situated conveniently in between a fire pit and trash bin within the alley. Although unrelated by blood, the two were just as close as brothers, as they both had been abandoned by their parents. In the beginning, their relations were shaky, however, as time pressed on, so did their relationship, until it had fully bloomed to what it is today. Living on the streets, the boys ate whatever they could get their hands on. On some days, people would be nice and give them some money to go buy food, however, on most days, they were completely ignored by the members of society. It was as if their existence was secondary altogether. As they shivered together in the cold rain, three figures approached them, their identities obscured by the rain. As they came closer, the rain began to lessen. At first, this mystified Jaejin, however, when they were close enough, he realized that their home was covered by an umbrella held by one of the figures. Slowly, one of the figures came closer, drawing near enough for Jaejin to make out the features of her face. She was middle aged lady who sported such a kind and gentle expression.

“Oh my god. Look honey. I was right. There were children in this alley.”

Despite her kind appearance, Jaejin was afraid and he began to hug Seunghyun in a protective manner, much in the same fashion as an older brother. Never had someone taken such an interest in them before. Seunghyun began to dig his face deeper into Jaejin’s embrace.

“Hyung. I’m scared.”

“Shh Seunghyun. Don’t worry I’m here.”

After examining her surroundings, the lady began to speak.

“My dear, do you or your friend have any place to go? Where are your parents?”

“He’s not my friend! He’s my brother!”

A gentle smile formed on the ladies face.

“My apologies. Do you or your brother have any place to go? Where’s your home?”

“This is our home.”

“What about your parents?”

“They left us.”

The smile that she sported quickly dissipated, being replaced instead by an expression of shock and genuine concern. What kind of people would leave their children out here in the rain like that? At that moment, all she wanted to do was to take them in, adopt them as her own.

“How long has it been since they left you?”

“Um –“

Jaejin began to count with his fingers. After some time, he held up his hand with a V sign.

“- two. Two years.”

The rain began to pour even harder, making both Jaejin and Seunghyun shiver in response. Slowly, the lady removed her scarf and outer coat, instead wrapping it around Jaejin and Seunghyun. She then reached into her purse and took out some crackers offering it to the boys. Smiling, she asked,

“Do you guys want to stay with me then? I have a son around your age and my house isn’t far from here. I’ll take you both in as my sons.”

Jaejin’s eyes widened in shock. It truly was the first time someone had taken such a genuine interest in them. Slowly, he turned his attention towards Seunghyun who, at the moment, was busy devouring the crackers the polite lady had handed to them earlier. He seemed happy and that was enough for Jaejin to make his decision.

“For real?”

She smiled.

“Yes for real.”

“Will we be warm?”

“Yes.”

“And we won’t have to look for food anymore?”

“Yes. You will never have to look for food or go hungry again.”

“So Seunghyun and me, are you going going to be our mom?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re not going to leave us?”

“Never.”

Tears of happiness began to form in Jaejin’s eyes as he quickly began to tell Seunghyun the news.

“Seunghyun! Seunghyun! We’re going to get a new home! And we’re going to have a mom, and food, and its going to be warm!”

“Really Jaejin hyung?!”

“Yes really!”

Witnessing the exchange between the two boys, the lady signaled for her son to come forward.

“Jonghun. Come here dear.”

A boy came towards Seunghyun and Jaejin. He was taller than Jaejin and around the same height as Seunghyun.

“Jonghun say hello to your new brothers. Seunghyun, Jaejin, this is my son Jonghun. From this day on, you three will be brothers okay?”

All three couldn’t help but smile as they finally had gained what they had longed for. Seunghyun and Jaejin finally had a new home, while Jonghun finally had two new brothers. Bursting with happiness, they all yelled in unison.

“OKAY MOM!”

-Flashback END-

As Seunghyun continued to reminisce, the cold, steel doors opened and from it emerged the physician.

“Are you here for the patient?”

“Yes. I’m his brother. How is he? Is he okay?”

“Yes he’s fine. His blood sugar was almost nonexistent which explains the fainting but we were able to correct that. He should be waking up soon.”

Seunghyun felt like jumping for joy. Just the fact that Jaejin was safe was enough to overwhelm him with happiness.

“But what concerns me is the fact he went into cardiac arrest. We did some preliminary tests but we didn’t find anything wrong with his heart. Hopefully it will have been the low blood sugar that caused his arrest but just to make sure I’m going to recommend that you allow him to stay with us for the night so we could observe him.”

“Yes that’s fine.”

“Oh and lastly, make sure he eats. Your blood sugar can only go that low if you don’t eat and take proper care of yourself. He really is lucky. If he remained like that for a couple more hours he might have had permanent brain damage or could have died. Take care of him.”

“I will. Thank you doctor. Thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me. It’s what I’m here for.”

Seunghyun felt relieved, as if a great burden had been lifted off his chest. For the first time in hours, he could breathe freely again. He heard what the doctor said. Jaejin almost died. His resolve renewed, he thought to himself, Jaejin hyung, Jonghun hyung, Hongki hyung – you guys always protected me and looked after me. Now it’s my turn. Watch me Jonghun hyung – I swear to you that I’ll make Jaejin and Hongki hyung happy again. I swear.