Chapter 5
The Blue of the Sky on Rainy Days
- "Hello!" Eunhyuk said as he arrived in the playroom late afternoon on the following day, under Donghae’s very surprised look since this visit was not planned. "I came to bring you cakes my mother made to celebrate my progress in math. And since everything’s thanks to you... Ah, I'm sorry", he added upon seeing Donghae’s slightly lost look, "I know it wasn’t planned for me to come today but I thought they would be completely dry if waited a whole week..."
Now that the moment of suprise had passed, the young patient looked happy. He delightfuly ate the bun that Eunhyuk handed him. However, after having looked at his visitor for a moment, traces of anxiety resurfaced on his face.
- "What is it? You’re still hungry? There’s more if you want ..."
But it was not the cakes Donghae was interested in. He pointed at his own face beneath his left eye with his finger, and Eunhyuk remembered he had indeed won a nice black eye the night before, or more like at the beginning of the day.
- "Oh, it's not a big deal, don’t worry, I’m the one who won the fight. I’m very strong you know."
- "Hello, Eunhyuk", said Kaehyun as she sat at the small table. "Huh, looks like you’ve done a miracle again", she surprised. "You don’t know how hard of a battle it is to make him swallow anything at the canteen!"
- "That’s because my mother's cakes are delicious; and if your canteen’s food is as disgusting as in my school's, it doesn’t surprise me if he plays fussy", he said while sketching a smile to Donghae. "Want aone?" He asked, handing her a bun.
* * *
Wednesday afternoons followed each other, more and more often interconnected by other evenings during the week. Eunhyuk directly went to the hospital after school, trotting on his way to arrive faster, refusing to waste any time smoking a cigarette with his buddies at the end of classes. They had his nights; his afternoons were for his new friend. Donghae opened the window of his bedroom and listened, as best he could, to hear the school's bell that announced the imminent arrival of his visitor. That day, as the end of April started to give its first warmth, when the elevator doors opened, Eunhyuk, catching his breath, noticed that Donghae had come all the way there to wait for him. Both of them smiled upon seeing each other.
- "Hello, Donghae."
- "Hi." He replied, swaying on his feet.
Eunhyuk walked beside him down the hallway to the playroom without finding anything to say, his heart feeling light. Donghae dragged his feet beside him, the right corner of his lips oddly raised. When they sat at their small table, Eunhyuk pulled a copy out of his bag with a very happy expression:
- "Look Donghae, I’ve got 16 out of 20 this time, it’s the second highest score!"
Donghae began to awkwardly clap his hands to congratulate him and, this time, showed a smile that frankly showed his teeth.
- "Can you re-explain to me the exercise I got wrong, please?"
At the room’s entrance, at the same moment, Kaehyun was talking to another nurse from the same floor.
- "The progress Donghae made in a few weeks is really striking", the latter noted.
- "Yes, this young man’s arrival has been providential for him."
- "When is his punishment ending? I’m scared his departure will hurt our patient ... It can be dangerous if they get too close. We shouldn’t have assigned him only one person to take care of."
- "Oh don’t worry, his punishment’s already over. Eunhyuk comes here with his own free will now. It’s still a bit weird that they get along this well, given his history ... His headmaster had described him as quite violent, sudden and hot-tempered, but he has always been very patient with Donghae."
The two women looked at Eunhyuk who was carefully recopying what was writing Donghae, who seemed quite slender in his short-sleeved shirt. The latter put his precious pen down when he ended his explanation, throwing a questioning look at Eunhyuk to make sure he understood everything.
- "Yeah thank you, it was very clear as always. You're a real friend for helping me like that man. But", he said as he landed his eyes on the small shamrocks adorning the boy’s shirt, "you’re so dowdy it hurts my eyes when I look at you."
He imitated a vomiting action and Donghae awkwardly fiddled the buttons of his shirt, moving his head to the side, just like when he was anxious. His eyes filled with tears almost instantly .
- "Don’t cry, silly. Next time you’ll put this on, I give it you", Eunhyuk said while magically pulling a shirt out of his bag in a very natural way, even though he had long wondered the previous day if it was a good idea to give him a gift like this, and threw it to his face.
Kangin stiffened, convinced that such a gesture would immediately cause the patient an anxiety attack, who, suddenly blind, was going to run into walls while screaming. But Donghae merely took the garment in his hands to examine it. When he recognized a t-shirt Eunhyuk often wore, adorned with some kind of Mickey with vampire fangs, he smiled.
- "Thank... you", he coughed in his hoarse voice.
- "You’re welcome", Eunhyuk replied while ruffling his hair before leaving.
Well then, Kangin though, in his place, I would've already taken his uncapped pen in my eyeball!
Eunhyuk once again contributed to Donghae’s wardrobe renew on his birthday. While going to the mall with Heechul and Yoo Ra, he stopped in front of a showcase. His eyes had been attracted by some kind of magnetic force towards brand-new white and green sneakers, with streaks of pink on the seams, that slightly went up the ankle.
- "Oppa, they’ll look so good on you!" Yoo Ra said in an enthusiastic tone.
- "Damn Eunhyuk, you're not gonna buy sneakers again right?" Heechul asked with big round eyes, knowing that his friend already had six pairs.
- "I’m a collector, I can’t resist the call those poor shoes send me."
But no matter how much he liked these shoes, he never wore them. Indeed, he heard from Kaehyun on the following day that Donghae’s parents were coming next Friday at the center because it was their son’s birthday.
- "I thought they had abandoned him", Eunhyuk remarked, frowning.
- "No, they come to see him several times a year, for important days, and his mother regularly calls me to hear from him. The poor woman experienced difficult times, believe me; she wants to meet you to thank you. It’d be nice if you could come, because all Donghae’s birthdays have been living hells since he arrived here; he literally destroys his gifts every time, his mother starts crying, his father blustering, and he let go..."
- "Of course I'll come. I even have the perfect gift already, useful and fun", he said while thinking about his shoes, not once regretting not keeping them for himself.
- "I'm not sure he’ll want to take it, as I've told you..."
- "I’ll force him if necessary", Eunhyuk said on a soft tone while pressing the ground floor button.
When he arrived the next day, he saw Donghae prostrated in front of his small table, completely withdrawn on himself and indifferent to his parents who were by his side, ignoring the gift packages which were placed in front of him.
- "Donghae!" Eunhyuk shouted from the entrance while greatly waving.
The young man's face transformed when he saw his friend arrive. He smiled as he awkwardly stood up. He had his pretty Mickey t-shirt and slightly looked like a geek with his old fashioned like strand sticking to his forehead, and his arched shoulders. His mother immediately understood who it was by his waves. Eunhyuk approached rapidly, not without colliding in some wild patients who went to hide in a corner. He paused in front of Donghae for a moment not to frighten him, put his bag down on the floor, and took him in his arms while wishing him 'Happy Birthday'. Donghae slightly moved back, began to tremble a little bit upon seeing he could not free himself from the brief hug, then regained his composure when he heard Eunhyuk’s joyful voice. His mother was very surprised and deeply hurt to see he could stand physical contact from a stranger while he brutally fought her off when she approached him. Then she thought she could also have a taste of this joy one day if her son was to continue his good progress as he had done in the past weeks thanks to this young man.
- "Thank you for everything you do for my son", she thanked him while shaking hands with gratitude.
- "Humpf! No need to waste time with this freak", his father immediately said, spitting the shell of a pistachio which came from a small bag he had bought at the hospital’s distributor.
- "Shut up", his mother sheepishly ordered. "Oh, you brought a gift! That’s very nice, you shouldn’t have taken this trouble", she told Eunhyuk
- "You know, it's the least I can do, I owe a rise of four points in my pass mark thanks to this good kid", he replied while holding out a rectangular box not very well wrapped to her son.
- "Listen, I don't want to sound rude, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea, he hates gifts, he destroys them..."
But Eunhyuk was not listening anymore; he had sat near Donghae at their small table and had handed him the package which he was already tearing up a little in his hands.
- "I hope you’ll like it. I thought you really needed it. But of course, tell me if you don’t like it, and we’ll both think about something better, like a compass or a protractor okay? You want me to help you open it?" He asked again, seeing that the young man did not move. "You don’t like gifts because you don’t know what's in? Don’t worry, it's not a trap, you'll only find my friendship", he joked while holding his hand out to remove the paper.
However, Donghae himself began to undo the packaging with jerky and awkward movements. He then opened the cardboard box and stopped, the top in hand, to contemplate the shiny shoes that sat mightily into the box, the corner of his mouth raised in a strange grin. If a nurse had tried to make him leave his old, shabby moccasins a few weeks ago, he would have probably entered a dark rage; but this gift came from Eunhyuk who had chosen it based on his own taste since he himself dressed this way, and not with a white hospital gown and slippers. And therefore Donghae was happy. He took his shapeless navy blue shoes off and began to put his sneakers on, not without difficulty.
- "Wait, gonna help you; I’m an expert at this", Eunhyuk told him as he discarded his shoe for his foot to slide in.
Donghae then took a few steps in the room, visibly surprised by the feeling of rebound his rubber soles caused.
- "Well, you look nice with your moon boots and your old pants that look like used paper. That’s really a beautiful set, son", his father hissed.
But Donghae did not seem to hear him and kept walking weirdly to test the capabilities of his new shoes. Eunhyuk was very happy to see he liked his gift. Finally, once his parents were gone, he confessed to his friend:
- "At least you and I have one thing in common in the end: our fathers are two big heads."
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Sorry for the long wait needed to take care of the other one first x)
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