After the shock Mingyu experienced the other day, he wasn't ready to see Wonwoo again immediately. He focused on school for both that reason, and the fact that he missed a few days. He decided to study with Chan in the library. Even though they were only in biology together, they took roughly the same classes, so they helped each other with everything. After a few hours of torturous studying, they decided to take a quick break when they started delving into their hobbies.

“Hey, do you like watching movies?” inquired Chan.

“Who doesn’t?” replied Mingyu.

Chan’s face lit up.

“There’s a new movie that came out that I’ve been wanting to see. Do you want to come watch it with me?”

Chan looked so hopeful that it was cute. Mingyu had to constantly remind himself that they were the same age, or else he would start treating him like a younger brother. A much younger brother.

“Sure. What movie is it?”

“Jurassic World!”

“Oh, the one about dinosaurs? I’ve heard good things about it. Yeah, that sounds good. When do you want to go?”

Chan contemplated a bit, but not for long.

“Are you free this Saturday? How about then?”

“Yeah,  works for me. Which theater do you want to go to?”

They finalized their plans, and afterwards, the students continued their studies late into the night. The sky has long gone dark, and they decided it was time to head home. Mingyu walked Chan home, but since he lived in the dorms, it wasn’t a long walk. When they reached the building, Chan thanked Mingyu for walking him.

“Thanks, Mingyu. See you Saturday?” he looked almost giddy with joy.

“Yeah, see you.” Mingyu smiled as he turned around to head to his own home.

When he finally got there, he took off his shoes and discarded his backpack in the living room. He walked over to the calendar to mark his new plans for Saturday, then went off to take a shower before heading off to bed. It was a Thursday, but his Friday classes were cancelled, so he made sure to disable his alarm. Who would wake up early on a day they didn’t have school?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He woke up early anyways, due to sporadic knocking on his door. He looked at his clock, but couldn’t register what time it was. All he knew was that it was much too early. He closed his eyes and stayed in bed, trying to ignore the person at his door, hoping they would just go away. Unfortunately, the knocking continued.

Mingyu reluctantly got up, still not fully awake. He sighed as he opened the door, surprised at the unexpected visitor standing in front of him. It was Seungcheol. He greeted Mingyu happily, giving a light, friendly punch to his chest.

“Hey there, Mingyu, can I come it?”

Mingyu was not ready to speak, still groggy from having just woke up. Why would anyone bother visiting someone so early? Why? WHY? Mingyu opened the door wider and backed up, showing through his actions that Seungcheol was welcome, or rather permitted, inside.

Seungcheol made himself at home and sat at the coffee table in the living room. He looked around since it was his first time there. It hasn’t been long since Mingyu moved in, but it was already looking a bit on the messy side. There were some dishes out, yet to be washed, an empty pizza box, and some abandoned shirts lying around. If he had known that someone was coming, however, he would have made an effort to tidy up.

“So… what brings you here? At... 7:30 in the morning?” asked Mingyu, still barely awake. He went to the kitchen to brew up some tea.

Seungcheol smiled. “Just felt like it.”

Mingyu wanted to facepalm, but restrained himself from doing so in front of his guest.

“Your name was.. Seungcheol… right?”

“Hey, you remembered! That makes me so happy! And I remember your name, Mingyu,” he smiled again.

Since there was no real reason Seungcheol invaded his house, Mingyu wasn’t sure what to say or do. When the tea was ready, he brought the two cups to the coffee table where Seungcheol was sitting, and placed a mug in front of his guest.

“Say.. are all of Wonwoo’s friends so... spontaneous all the time?” he asked recalling the unplanned hangouts he had with Wonwoo.

“No, it’s really just me. But Wonwoo is a little different than I am.”

Mingyu shot him a questioning face, raising an eyebrow.

“How so?”

“I like to see people, places, things. There’s really no optimal time to do anything than in the moment, you know?”

I beg to differ… Mingyu didn’t voice his opinion, and let Seungcheol continue talking.

“So where I just do things because I want to live my life to the fullest, Wonwoo… well… How do I explain this?”

He paused, trying to find the right words. He looked up as he was thinking, tapping his fingers on the table.

“Well, I guess if I were to compare my actions to his... mine would be on a whim, and his would be on an impulse, you know? Does that make sense at all? I do things because I can, but Wonwoo does things because he needs to. Something is pulling him to do it. He needs to feel the breeze sometimes, and other times, he needs to feel a storm.”

Mingyu thought about his words, letting them sink in, trying to grasp his explanation. Somehow, he understood though.

“Was he always like that?”

Seungcheol bit his lip, and his gaze shifted to the side, as if he revealed something he shouldn’t have. He looked slightly uncomfortable with the question, and shifted his sitting position from the awkwardness. He contemplated for a while, probably making a decision on whether he should tell Mingyu what he was withholding from him at the moment. Or maybe he was thinking up some excuse to not tell him. Mingyu didn’t break eye contact the entire time, while Seungcheol actively avoided it. He seemed to finally make up his mind and started to speak carefully.

“No, he wasn’t always like that… He’s been like this for two years…”

“Two years? What happened two years ago?”

“He was diagnosed…”

Mingyu felt his heart drop. He recalled the words Wonwoo said on the ledge that one day. Something about how he would rather control his own death, than let death do him in. He felt like he was entering territory he shouldn’t tread. But he had to know.

“Diagnosed… with what?”

“Heart disease…”

“Heart… disease?”

“What he has is complicated. It’s like... a time bomb that doesn’t tick to let you know when it will explode. He can mostly live a normal life, but his heart can stop at any moment in time. It’s happened before, and he was able to make it through… but every time it happens, the more likely it is that the next time will be the last. Every so often he will have to stay at the hospital for a few days for treatment.”

I wonder if that’s where he was those days he didn’t come home.

“Anyways, he is usually a loner, but I’m glad he seems to like you. Don’t push him too hard, okay?”

Mingyu nodded, feeling very down because of what he just heard. He was just given a heavy burden to hold, but he didn’t regret asking. Neither made an effort to continue the conversation, or to change the topic. Seungcheol placed a gentle hand on Mingyu’s shoulder to console him for a moment before getting up and walking to the door.

“I’ll just let myself out now..”

Mingyu remained seated, not bothering to lock the door after Seungcheol left. He didn’t know how long he was still, but tears started running down his face. He didn’t know if it was because of his emotions, or because his eyes were dry from not blinking. He couldn’t go back to sleep, but he didn’t feel like doing anything, so he just sat as the tears kept falling.