~*~Chapter 17~*~

~*~*~

Luhan had been at a mental hospital once. It was all linked together with the time when Luhan mistook Minseok for being Sehun and accidently strangled him.

Minseok’s parents meant that Luhan’s mental state was too bad for living at a normal home and even though Minseok protested wholehearted that Luhan would stay, praying was impossible. Luhan had to go.

Luhan hated the time at the mental hospital a lot. He was probably the person there in best state; even among the schizophrenic ones.

Luhan was being isolated from the world he had been living in for soon 19 years. He wasn’t allowed to call to Minseok or write any letters at all. Contact with the world “outside” was being forbidden. Even watching TV, reading a magazine or surfing the internet was also forbidden. Not even visitors were allowed.

If Luhan wasn’t crazy, he was sure he would be crazy inside the hospital.

The staff wasn’t nice either and the rules were ridiculous.

Luhan had to wake up at 7 a.m. and then go to bed again at 7 p.m.

Luhan didn’t mind the early evenings but the early mornings made him go nuts. He didn’t see the reason why he should go up so early when he didn’t do anything but being afraid of the other patients and hiding from the staff that made him take medicines that didn’t make him feel any better.

To put it at one; Luhan was just being a pain in the for the staff and the only person Luhan liked on the hospital was a guard by the name Chanyeol. He always gave Luhan cookies if Luhan had taken his medicine. Though, Luhan hated being treated like a child this was the best treatment he got there.

Luhan didn’t stay at the mental hospital for a long time. After two months only did Luhan get discharged and he could return to Minseok’s house once again.

~*~*~

Minseok walked around on the streets in Seoul. He had just finished work and if Luhan would’ve still lived in his apartment Minseok would’ve go to buy some food for Luhan and then drop it off at Luhan’s place.

But now when Luhan wasn’t living with him; Minseok didn’t have anything left to do so he didn’t mind walking around in Seoul.

He watched all the people who were busy with picking up kids from school, getting home from work or school or just doing some window-shopping.

Everyone had something to do; but not Minseok.

When Luhan moved had Minseok come to realize that his life was being really empty without Luhan. Minseok had really planned his life to make it fit with Luhan’s.

He had asked his boss to make a working-schedule that would fit with the times Luhan would have his meetings with Joonmyeon and taking his medicines.

But Minseok had also come to realize that Luhan hadn’t planned his life the same way as Minseok had. Luhan was just going with the flow and ending up where the stream took him.

Minseok wasn’t like that; Minseok had always believed that only dead fishes follow the stream and that’s how he wanted to continue to believe.

It was kind of tragic, Luhan’s destiny, when you thought about it. Luhan was one of the most popular guys during high school. He had a lot of friends and he even had had a few girlfriends now and then.

Luhan was also smart and good at everything he did; from math, physics, and chemistry to Korean, Chinese and English to Physical Education and cooking. Luhan’s nice, sweet and funny personality together with Luhan’s adorable baby-face and his high IQ was three of the many factors of why Luhan was being so popular.

But then the tragic thing happened; Sehun showed up into Luhan’s life. But he also left Luhan, all broken and with a newly found diagnosis. Schizophrenia.

Luhan’s life fell apart. He had to leave school, the place he loved the most and he couldn’t continue with all those activities he did on his spare-time. You could say that Luhan left the surface of earth.

Luhan’s parents left Luhan and Luhan would have to live with Minseok. Until this one time when Minseok’s parents decided to send Luhan to a mental hospital.

Minseok hated the thought of having Luhan at a mental hospital and he prayed them to discharge him for two long months. One day they couldn’t stand his praying any longer and asked for having Luhan discharged as soon as possible with only one agreement; Luhan could not live with them any longer. He would have to move into his own apartment.

Minseok knew that the days for Luhan had to be boring; living all alone in a big and empty apartment while Minseok graduated and started at a university.

Minseok knew how much pain Luhan must’ve felt when he saw Minseok’s graduation-picture. But he didn’t say anything; instead he smiled to Minseok and told him how happy he was for him.

~*~*~

“Luhan are you crying?” Minseok carefully asked Luhan when he saw the younger boy looking at Minseok’s graduation-picture.

Luhan looked up from the floor and spotted Minseok standing behind him in the mirror at the wall.

Luhan put the picture down and dried his tears. He tried to hide his pain from Minseok but it was too late. Minseok had already seen it.

“It’s only happy-tears” Luhan lied. “Congratulations on the graduation-day!”

It was the worst lie Luhan had ever made. But Minseok didn’t do anything; he just accepted the embrace Luhan had offered him.

Minseok knew that no matter how much pain he felt; Luhan’s pain would always be twice the big. Luhan had to give up on all of his dreams; Minseok could only change his dreams to new ones.

Since Minseok’s only dream was Luhan.

~*~*~

Minseok don’t know how he ended up at the café Yixing used to work at, he just knew that he felt the huge urge of getting his mind cleaned.

He ordered some coffee and took a seat by a table close to the window.

Minseok knew that Luhan liked to go to this café, just so he could have a small book-discussion with Yixing.

It wasn’t hard to imagine actually; Luhan and Yixing sitting by one of the round tables and passionately discuss a book they have been reading.

Minseok chuckled at the cute mental picture. Luhan and Yixing would make a good pair, they were a good fit. Probably better than Minseok and Luhan.

Minseok didn’t know that there was a person that was talking to him until he woke up from his small daydreams and took a sip from his coffee. That was when he spotted the guy standing right in front of him, trying to get his attention.

“Is it Minseok?” the guy asked. “Kim Minseok?”

Minseok nodded and tried to remember why the hell that guy was so familiar.

The guy laughed and pointed at himself. “It’s me! Kim Jongdae from university”