A few hours had passed before I woke up from my medicine-induced nap, but in that short time period not much had changed. I was still in the same, blandly decorated hospital room, with the same rather annoying heart monitor beeping at my bedside. But within seconds of forcing my heavy eyelids open, a headache that was once dulled was now very noticeable and making me uncomfortable.

I never thought I would have to deal with such pain after I was prescribed those pills a month ago.

With a grunt, I slowly turned my head down, examining the upper half of my body. My arms lay littered with cuts and gashes, some stitched shut and others left to heal alone. There was a new IV in the crook of my elbow, administering new fluids to my weak frame.

I was alone, which was to be expected, but it made the small room a little too quiet. The window, which once held the images of sunshine and clear, cloudless skies, now carried the weight of dark, heavy clouds and rain streaming out only to splat onto the ground of the Earth. I watched rain drops fall against the window and run down for a while, until the creaking of a door snapped my gaze back.

It was the boy named Ryeowook, this time holding what looked like a syringe and a surprised look on his face, making me smile faintly under the pain. “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you would be asleep a little longer…” he trailed off. I had no interest in his words as the heart monitor slightly increased speed. Ryeowook’s eyes followed my stare, locked on the needle, and he laughed nervously. “Oh, this isn’t going into your skin. You already have all the IVs you need; this is just more pain medication to go into your line. You’re running a bit low. Does your head hurt?”

I had always had a big fear of needles, starting from my childhood years. Replying to his simple question, I nodded slowly, as my neck was stiff from sleeping in such an un-supporting bed. Ryeowook gave me a reassuring smile before he approached the array of machines at the side of my bed. His eyes stared down the line as he injected the fluid in the syringe into my veins indirectly.

Sighing with satisfactory, the inexperienced doctor turned back to me with a perky look in his round eyes. They gave mine no competition, however. “Can I get you anything? Water? You’re not allowed food yet, but you can drink.”

Testing my throat for liquid silently, I swallowed, only to come up with almost nothing. “Water, please,” I croaked out, my voice sounding nothing like it did before. Suddenly remembering, before Ryeowook could leave, I grasped his wrist, tightening my fingers around his wrist so he couldn’t move. He turned back to look at me in shock, a bit of fear in his features before I finished. “And my boyfriend.”

He gulped, eyeing my rough hold on him. Quickly, I released him, and he rubbed his other hand around the lining of his wrist, obviously sore. “Oh, that’s right, I said after you rested. I’ll go see if he’s still here. What’s his name again?”

“Kim Jongin,” I informed him in a small voice, my throat quickly drying up. “Much tanner skin tone than me, brown hair that usually falls into his eyes, very handsome… well, to me.”

Ryeowook chuckled. “I’ll go check the waiting room and patient list for him. You rest while I go get your water and your very handsome boyfriend.” I laughed as much as I could, and the young doctor winked before walking out of the room. I was once again alone.

My thoughts easily changed to the subject of Jongin. I had no idea what was going on in his head, if he had changed his mind about what he said or still stuck with his thoughts. Nerves filled my stomach, making the heart monitor speed up slightly. This could either be a good conversation, or it could go horribly, horribly wrong.

A few minutes later, Ryeowook returned, setting a plastic cup full of water in my hands. To my disappointment, Jongin wasn’t with him at first. But as soon as the cup was securely in my grip, Ryeowook scurried back to the door to open it just a little wider. Bewildered, I watched as a new figure appeared in the doorway.

The first thing I noticed was that the figure was he wasn’t standing upright, a bit of a slump in his stance. His hair was combed down almost into his eyes, which looked red and swollen like he had finished crying a while ago. He was dressed in grey sweatpants and a white tank top, and I could briefly distinguish a more prominent white wrapping around his torso. He wouldn’t look away from me as he took in my condition quietly.

Jongin looked awful, to put it bluntly.

Ryeowook pulled up one of the plastic chairs in the corner of the room to my bedside, swiftly stealing a cushion from the couch to place against the back of the chair. He helped Jongin, who slowly lowered himself into the chair with a big groan of pain. I had learned that broken ribs made things like sitting down and laughing difficult in high school, so this was to be expected with his injury.

Jongin never took his eyes off of me. A bit concerned by his solid, glazed over stare, I turned to look at Ryeowook, who cleared his throat at the small silence. “If either of you need me at all, there’s a blue button on your bed rail, Kyungsoo. If you’ll excuse me,” he muttered more to himself as he walked out of the room, closing the door to where there was only a sliver left between the lock.

As soon as Ryeowook was gone, I turned back to Jongin, only to notice tears welling up in his eyes. I hated seeing Jongin cry. It didn’t happen much, but when it did, I did everything in my power to stop it before it got to where I couldn’t stand. Quickly taking a sip of water and setting the cup on my nightstand, I cupped his palms with both hands. His gaze was on the ground, and I could see a tear fall onto the tile floor. My emotions strained, I gulped down the lump in my throat. “Jongin, look at me.”

Another tear slipping out, Jongin shook his head, a hiccup escaping as he heavily inhaled. Though my hand’s movement was sparse due to the lines of my IVs, I lifted a hand to caress the smooth skin of his face, a trail of dried tears following my thumb down. Finally, my lover looked up into my eyes, hiccupping slightly. He opened his mouth to speak, but had to let out another sob before he could speak.

“You don’t understand how sorry I am, Kyungsoo. I never meant a word of what I said… n-none of it… I would never… would never…” he trailed off, his emotions clouding his thought process. It was a pitiful sight, but Jongin fought to continue. “You’re the only thing I live f-for… and… and… I couldn’t l-lose you like that, and I waited for you while you were in surgery and I just… I’m so sorry, Kyungsoo…”

I didn’t care much for the argument before the crash anymore. I tried to keep my own tears in their ducts, staying strong from him as I gripped his hands with whatever strength I had left. “Jongin, that doesn’t matter. I’ll be okay. You’ll be okay. The only thing that comes bad out of this is some pain medication and a totaled car. This is just an obstacle we had to overcome, Jongin. But look at us. We’re alive. We’re okay.”

He just shook his head, looking down to the ground as another tear fell and another sob wracked his body. “This is my fault. All of this. I’m the one that threatened we break up, so this is on me,” he explained with a shaking voice, ready to burst into tears at any given moment.

“Jongin,” I sighed with disapproval. “This is my fault, too. I’m the one that got defensive and didn’t trust you, which led you to that. I’ve learned to always trust you now. Let’s just pretend this never happened, and you’ll go back to being my beautiful dancer and I’ll go back to working on keeping my title as a famous writer. I love you, Jongin, and I don’t want this to affect us.”

Finally looking back up to my face, his eyes losing their redness, Jongin mustered a smile that almost reached his eyes before he squeezed my tube-colored hands. “I love you, too, Kyungsoo. I’ll always love you. Forever.”

At this comment, I grinned lightly, quickly getting an idea. I scooted over in the small bed, patting the vacant spot next to me. Taking the offer with a sheepish grin, that grin was soon gone as he fought to stand up from the chair. He moved slowly, hissing with every movement, until he finally he rolled in on his left side, his right the one with the broken ribs.

Throwing an arm across my chest, he slowly put himself under my armpit, pressing his body against the right side of my torso. I slid my arm across his shoulders as he pressed himself closer, his head resting on my shoulder. I leaned down to reach his forehead, my lips caressing his skin briefly before I pressed my lips on the smoothed out wrinkles from stress and worry.

Both of us relaxed, until I could finally hear the smooth whimpers of his slumber. His chest rising and falling evenly with every breath, he could finally sleep worry-free. I smiled faintly at the sight, quickly disappearing in my own slumber.

I didn’t hear Ryeowook come in about an hour later to inform Jongin that visiting hours had ended and he had to leave, but when he saw us together, he left us alone for the night.

~*~

“I brought you lunch.”

Turning away from the bright screen of his phone, my eyes met Jongin’s, who looked like he was fighting some pain as he set a curled up paper bag with a plastic cup, complete with a lid and a straw, on the small table attached to my bed and took a seat next to many machines.

With a thankful smile, I leaned forward and puckered my lips, letting my eyes slip close as they were met to finish the kiss. We separated and I pulled the table closer, opening my lunch for the day. It looked to be some store-bought kimchi fried rice in a plastic container. I laughed, his only way of eating without me to cook being to buy it amusing me.

Jongin hadn’t left my side since we had woken up early that morning, besides going home to shower and bring me some food for lunch. I had been cleared in the morning to have the option of food, but was too late for breakfast as Jongin had already gotten it when it was being served.

At my side, Jongin laughed as he watched me indulge myself. Not being able to eat in two days really takes a toll on your appetite, and especially since I enjoyed eating. I was finished much too early, while my boyfriend—I still loved saying it—was only halfway through his meal.

“SM Entertainment found out about the accident from the news,” Jongin suddenly mumbled, breaking the silence. I turned to look at him, pushing the table holding what was once food away and turning to stare at him with a weird look. They were paying attention to that? My silence didn’t unnerve him as he continued talking. “They called me and when I told them my situation—and added in the fact that I was with you—they didn’t seem to care. I have to check in in an hour, and since I was discharged yesterday afternoon, I’m assuming I have to work.”

This outraged me. My eyebrows furrowed and my I could feel my eyes darken. “That’s not fair! You’re hurt, you can barely even walk straight! And they won’t even let you stay for me? To visit me? I’ll be all alone all day,” I added with a pout, now unsure of how I could occupy myself all day.

Jongin frowned. “I know it’s not fair, baby. But I’ll visit you every free moment I can, okay? I should probably get going…” he said with a frown, staring down the clock with a regretful gaze. He quickly finished the last of his lunch, shoving his chopsticks into his mouth rapidly with big bites, before tossing the container in the plastic bag and throwing it away in the trash can at the corner of the room.

Sadly, he lowered his lips onto my own, giving me a quick caress of his lips before standing up to leave. The door was cracked open enough for someone to walk out, so he left swiftly and silently.

Already much too bored, I eyed the blue button attached to my bed rail. It would waste his time, and probably not be of much use to mine, but it was worth a shot. I quickly smashed the palm of my hand onto the button, making it squeak a bit. I waited silently, working out what I wanted to say in the back of my head.

It wasn’t long before the skinny frame of Ryeowook scurried in through the crack of the door, looking confused that I was perfectly fine. He seemed to exhale deeply before he continued whatever thoughts he had. “What do you need? You look like you’re in good sha—“

“Be my friend.”

Ryeowook seemed taken off guard. “Excuse me?”

“I need someone to talk to about random . So be my friend.”

Obviously bewildered, Ryeowook stayed silent. I watched him with a peering gaze in an attempt to sway him onto my side. It seemed to work, as he took a glance at the clock on the otherwise bare wall. He slowly turned back to look at me with a hesitant tone in his high-pitched voice. “My lunch break is in ten minutes. Does that work for you?”

I smiled. “That’s perfect.”

~*~

I couldn't just leave out the beautiful friendship that is SooWook, so hehe~ :b

Oh, and could you guys do me a favor? If you remember a while back, I asked you guys to check out a new story I was working on called "Distant Stars." Well, it didn't end up working out. But I have a new BaekYeol already planned and ready to be written! It's called Soul Symbol and I would really love if you guys checked it out.

If you don't want to, that's okay, I still hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please comment and subscribe~ thank you! <3