Chapter 25

Luhan gave out another sigh, his expression down cast. “It’s your little brother.” Jiyoon frowned, wondering if she had heard right. For a second there, she thought it was going to be one of the members and so she had built up a defence, but it came crashing down when she heard the word ‘brother’.

“What?” She asked, unsure if he was speaking the truth. She wanted to double check that she hadn’t just hallucinated that.  “My brother?”

Luhan nodded, “He got into a car accident when he was crossing the road heading to his sport practice. The driver was drunk and because of that, he was speeding and .... Yeah,” Luhan trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. It was obvious enough.

Jiyoon looked up from her hands to his face, “Then how come my parents called you first?”

“Well, they were panicking when they called me and they thought it’d be better if another adult went with you, since they were both busy with work. Your mum said it was best if I was there to comfort you as well.” He rubbed the back of neck embarrassed, a light tint of pink on his cheeks.

She nodded, looking back down at her hands. Her brother seemed to be unconscious, and she didn’t want to wake him either, though she wanted to know if he really was okay. Luhan pulled her closer by her shoulders, wrapping her in his embrace and sharing their warmth. To his eyes, Jiyoon looked as if she was holding back her tears of relief; he gently pushed her face into the space between his neck and shoulder, quietly whispering into her ear, “Let out your tears, it’s okay now. Your brother is fine.”

Jiyoon didn’t make a sound, but Luhan could feel his shirt slowly being dampened. He simply patted her head and rubbed her back until she calmed down. A nurse had walked by, seeing the two like that and had come back with a tissue box and a cup of water in hand, asking, “Are you the family members of Park Jihoo?”

Luhan nodded when Jiyoon remained unresponsive. “Okay, then I’ll go get Doctor Kim.”

When Jiyoon finally lifted her face from his shoulder after several minutes of sniffling, Luhan pulled a few tissues out to wipe the remaining tears from her face before handing her the cup of water. “Better?” He asked, when she downed the whole cup. Jiyoon just nodded.

Her puffy eyes and red cheeks made Jiyoon look adorable in Luhan’s opinion, but he kept that to himself knowing she would most likely get angry.

He stood up, pulling her with him and opened the door to her brother’s room, “Come on, let’s go inside. Jihoo’s awake now with the doctor.” Luhan pulled her inside, and sat her down at the chair beside the bed. He went and pulled another chair over next to hers.

Jihoo lay awake and smiled when he saw his sister come inside. Contrary to his situation, he seemed to be himself - bright and happy as usual after waking up. “Look, look! I have a cast on my leg! It’s so cool, right? Now my friends can all sign it and oh yeah, you guys can sign it too if you want!” Jihoo seemed to almost be bouncing on the bed, as he pointed to his left leg. ”Doctor Kim! Can I go home yet?”

Doctor Kim chuckled and patted the little boy’s shoulder, “Not yet. We still have to do some tests on your leg since you’re awake now, but you’ll most likely go home tomorrow.” She gave him another firm pat before turning to Jiyoon and Luhan. “Are you his family?”

“Yes, I’m his sister. And this is...” Jiyoon didn’t know how to intro