The days seemed to meld together into distinct categories: time Yongguk could spend with Junhong and time Yongguk had to spend away. The time he spent away from the hospital and Junhong was torture; he felt like every second away was precious time ticking by that he would never get back. But time with Junhong wasn’t that great either. Even when they weren’t being bothered by nurses and doctors, Junhong had retreated into a shell that Yongguk wasn’t quite sure how to bring him back out of.

And then the worst happened.

Junhong was crying one afternoon when Yongguk stopped by. Well, at least he had been crying. His healing cheeks were tear-stained.

“Oh my god, Junhong, what happened?” Yongguk demanded, dropping his school bag by the door and immediately finding a spot for himself on the edge of the kid’s hospital bed. He lowered his voice, finding himself angry even as he asked. “Is it your parents? Did they try to come visit you? Did they get past the hospital security?”

Junhong shook his head, wiping at the last traces of tears. “No, nothing like that. I-I’m never going to see my family again. The social worker has made sure of that.”

“Good,” Yongguk said vehemently. “I know that they’re your family and you love them and everything, but it’s good for you to be away from them. I’ll take care of you and-”

Junhong cut him off curtly. “I’m being placed with a foster family.”

Yongguk blinked a couple of times. “Well, yeah, that makes sense since you’re still so young.”

“The foster family I’m being placed with lives in Busan,” Junhong continued, voice flat and almost emotionless, like he’d taken the time to cry over it and now had no more tears to spend.

Yongguk hesitated. “Busan?” he demanded. “But that’s on the other side of the country.”

Junhong nodded solemnly.

And that’s when it really hit Yongguk. Junhong was going away. Far away. Too far away.

“No,” he blurted out. “You can’t go to Busan. I won’t be able to see you.”

Junhong forced a little smile. “I think that’s the social worker’s point, to be perfectly honest. She wants me to start all over, with a clean slate. She wants me to be able to forget everything from this time in my life and get past it.”

There was a lump the size of Russia in Yongguk’s throat, and he had to swallow several times to make his voice work. When he finally spoke, his voice was much higher than normal and not at all like his own. “Is that what you want? To forget everything? To forget me?”

Junhong looked away, eyes downcast. “It’s not about what I want,” he finally said. “Since I’m a minor, they’re making all the decisions for me. I don’t really have the authority to tell them no anyway.”

“So you’re going to move to Busan,” Yongguk said, and it was so terrible he sort of felt like laughing. “I’m never going to hear from you again, is that it?”

“It’s not like that,” Junhong said, eyes snapping up to meet Yongguk’s for once. “Hyung, without you, I would probably be dead by now. Dead or worse. I owe my life to you, and for that I’ll be forever grateful.” He hesitated. “You’re also my first love, so it’s not like I’m doing this easily. You have to believe me that I really have no choice in the matter.”

“Then promise me you’ll call,” Yongguk demanded. He was being a little pushy, he knew, but he was on the verge of hysterics and needed some confirmation that Junhong really loved him the way he loved Junhong. “And we’ll text and we’ll video chat online.”

Junhong’s face smoothed into a gentle sort of smile, the first that Yongguk had seen since the kid had been admitted to the hospital. “Of course, hyung. You know that I will.”

“Time for your medicine, Junhonggie!” one of the nurses called, bustling in with some medication in a little plastic cup. She always seemed to come in at the most inopportune times. “And visiting hours are over. You need your rest.”

Junhong tossed back the pills obediently. “Can’t he stay for a little bit longer?” he asked the nurse hopefully. “I can still rest even if he’s here.”

“Rules are rules,” the nurse said firmly, and Yongguk decided right then and there that he hated her. “Your friend can visit again tomorrow.”

It was awkward saying goodbye with the nurse hovering in the doorway, making sure that Yongguk really did leave, so he pecked Junhong chastely on the cheek and promised to visit again before brushing past the nurse.

He was so preoccupied with the idea of Junhong leaving that he wasn’t particularly watching where he was going and, in the main lobby of the hospital, he bumped right into someone.

He stumbled back a step, clutching his bag so he didn’t drop it. “Oh, sorry-” he began, but then he stopped. “Himchan?”

Himchan shifted uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at Yongguk. “Ah, hi. Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“What are you doing here?” Yongguk demanded, brows knitting together in confusion. Himchan hated hospital; he hadn’t even come to visit when his grandmother had surgery.

Himchan looked like he’d rather be anywhere but there at the moment. Then he sighed, looking down at his shoes. “I sent some flowers to your friend. Don’t read anything into it or anything. I just felt bad that this sort of thing happened to him. To anyone, I mean.”

Yongguk suddenly remembered why Himchan had been his best friend for so many years and he was infinitely grateful. He pulled his friend in for a one-armed hug. “Thanks, Himchan,” he whispered, voice hoarse.

When he pulled away, Himchan’s face was bright red and again he refused to look at Yongguk. “I don’t think you’re sick or anything, either,” he blurted out. “I mean, it doesn’t bother me that you like guys.”

Now this was news. “Then why did you freak out so much when you found out I was dating Junhong?” he demanded.

Himchan took a deep breath and now, finally, he met Yongguk’s gaze. “Because it meant you were dating someone other than me.” 

Ah! So short but I feel like so much happened in this chapter lol