chapter 22 - insecurities
You can never blame love
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter
BYUNGHUN POV
Since Niel wasn't waking up even after we'd brought him to the school's ambulance, we took him to hospital.
In those crazy silent moments of driving in the ambulance car, all kinds of thoughts kept on wandering around my mind.
Firstly - Niel's state was agonizing me, second – I felt guilty for not being there for him earlier, thirdly – how would I deal with Chanhee if I'd spent too much time with Niel after all?
Chanhee's quiet sobs every once in a while had managed to interrupt my course of thoughts but every time I reached my hand towards him, I'd pull it back immediately because of guilt.
I was thinking of Niel in a wrong way, after all.
Did I really need all this – a fainted Niel and a sobbing mess of Chanhee to realize how wrongly I've taken the things in the past?
I'd found out that Niel was sick, I'd found out that he was mad at me for replacing him, I was aware that he was the one suffering the most among us but... what did I do? So lowly put all the blame on him and made him feel even worse?
A coward. That's what I am.
I never even once took Niel's feelings into consideration. It was all about me. About my broken heart. And about my... selfishness.
More than ever, I wished Changjo was there for me. He was always my support in rough times and I would always find my strength in him. But... he was not there and the guilt was eating me from the inside.
Upon reaching the hospital, we all abandoned the vehicle and both Chanhee and I let doctors take care of Niel. We made our way to the waiting room and, while Chanhee almost immediately took a seat, I just continued walking through the hall, struggling with my own thoughts.
Half an hour later Changjo arrived too and sat next to Chanhee, wrapping his arm around Chanhee's shoulders in a comforting way.
'it's you who's supposed to do that instead of him!' a voice in my head kept on reminding me but I ignored it. I ignored even the jealousy that kept on bugging me despite my useless tries of interpreting it in some other way.
I couldn't even comfort the so called love of my life. So why would I even have the right to be jealous?
I leaned on the cold wall behind me and closed my eyes, focusing on my breathing. Though not for long.
“how is he”? A deep voice interrupted my calming session and I snapped my eyes open only to confront Minsoo's worried ones.
“he hasn't waken up yet...” I answered with a broken voice and Minsoo gave me one perplexed look, but his figure remained still.
“why is Changjo comforting Chanhee”? He asked me, his eyebrows slightly lifted up. Even though there was no trace of mockery on his face, I could hear it perfectly well in his voice. He was trying to piss me off obviously.
“none of you business.” I snarled back lowly, only to receive a smug smile from Minsoo.
“are you that incompetent in comforting your own boyfriend or are you... still in love with Niel”? Upon hearing his question, I clenched my fists but did my best to remain stoic in front of him.
“I'm over Niel.”
“liar.” Minsoo whispered teasingly, though as he leaned in closer to me in a threatening way, I could tell that he just wanted to protect what was his. So therefore, there was no need to do what I did the next moment. But it would seem like my body was reacting faster than my mind.
I pushed him away as strongly as possible, almost succeeding in making him fall down but he caught himself right in time.
“I'm not a liar!” I yelled but he scoffed and took yet another step towards me despite knowing fully well that I was angry and would not hesitate in hitting him.
“no, you just like to play with people's hearts, you bastard!” he quietly told me, but it was my last straw. I leaned a punch in his face and would've hit him once more, were it not for Changjo dragging me away.
Chanhee immediately went over to Minsoo's side to check up on his wound and that sight... hurt me for some reason.
“don't touch him!” I half cried, but half yelled, causing Changjo to wrap his arms around my waist even tighter.
With nothing more than a harsh glare in my way, Chanhee continued examining Minsoo's face and I couldn't take it anymore.
With my last strength, I struggled out of Changjo's embrace and ran as far from all of them as possible, not caring where my legs would take me.
Not even Chanhee's voice could bring me back.
I simply didn't want to return.
I spent the next hour alone in the hospital's canteen, constantly nervously tapping my fingers along the table until I couldn't take it anymore.
I got up and hurried back upstairs towards Niel's room, bumping right into the doctor who happened to come out from his room.
“oh, are you one of Niel's friends”? The doctor asked me and I nodded, eagerly waiting for him to say the news I so badly wanted to hear.
“he's awake, you can come in now.” he said with a smile that made me heave out a sigh of relief.
I thanked him and quickly entered the room.
As soon as I stepped into the small, white room, I was greeted with one of the widest smiles from Niel. He patted the place on the bed next to him and I hesitantly approached the bed only to sit down.
“please do tell me what's with the stressed look on your face.” he demanded my answer, a playful look placed on his face. I sighed deeply in annoyance, wondering why he would even ask that question.
“is it really necessary for me to actually respond to that question”? I quietly answered and he pouted.
“of course! Did something happen”? He asked, confusing me even more. I shifted slightly on my spot and cleared my throat before voicing out my thoughts. “you fainted right before me, Niel. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“oh...” he dumbly muttered, thinking for a while about his next words. “but it's nothing serious. I'm fine, really.” he once again widely smiled, making me suspect his words all the more.
“no, you should have told me earlier that you were not feeling good!” I responded and finally, Niel's mask fell down. A sad look exchanged it.
“and what would we both gain with it”? He whispered and, as he locked his glance with mine, I finally realized what he was talking about.
About our relationship.
“just because I love another person now doesn't mean I don't care for you.” I softly told him, taking his hand into mine. He didn't refuse it, although I had somehow expected him to push my hand away.
“but my feelings for you have not completely vanished.” his voice was now even more quite, making it harder for me to register its meaning. But as I realized, m
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter
Comments