It was Saturday afternoon, and Mingyu went out to meet Chan. It was his first time meeting him outside of class, so he hoped it wouldn’t be too awkward. When he got to the meeting place, he saw Chan waiting by the water fountain and lightly jogged to greet him.

“Sorry, Chan, did you wait long?”

“Not at all. I just got here.” he smiled bashfully.. different from the usual friendly smile he flashed at school.

“Let’s go get tickets. I’ll pay since I bailed on you last time.”

Chan looked down and fiddled with his fingers a bit.

“Okay.”

The two walked into the dark theater room and found their seats somewhere in the middle. Mingyu looked over at the screen, which was currently displaying all kinds of advertisements. He could see Chan from the corner of his eye, fidgeting in his seat from excitement.

“You know, I actually really wanted to see this movie. Dinosaurs are just so cool, don’t you think?” he whispered.

Mingyu chuckled softly.

“Yeah, they’re pretty cool.”

Just then, the screen showed a display that indicated that the movie would start shortly. It asked the audience to silence their phones and pagers. Mingyu turned his phone on airplane mode with the quick press of a button, and Chan did the same. They briefly looked at each other before turning to the large screen in front of them.

The movie was around two hours, but more enjoyable than Mingyu had originally anticipated. Once the credits started rolling, the crowd got up to exit the theater. Mingyu and Chan decided to stay seated until most people left. Neither of them were a fan of crowds much. As they waited, Mingyu turned his phone off of airplane mode.

Mingyu got up to leave since the room was mostly empty, but was held back by a hand holding his arm.

“Wait”

Mingyu slowly sat back down.

“What is it?”

“I… have something to tell you… will you hear me out?”

Chan’s voice sounded serious. It seemed like he wanted to say something that Mingyu couldn’t just brush off lightly.

“Of course. What’s up?”

“Um… the thing is…” He looked nervous. Mingyu could feel the hand on his arm tighten its grip and start to tremble. He saw as Chan bit his lip.

“I.. well.. um…”

The lights in the theater were turning on now, and Chan faced his head downward as if to hide, but Mingyu could see his ears turning red. He could tell what was coming.

“The truth is… I.. Mingyu, I like y-”

He was interrupted by Mingyu’s phone going off. It sounded like it was exploding with messages and notifications. Someone must have spammed him while he was watching the movie, and Mingyu was somewhat grateful for it. It meant that he could escape the awkward moment that almost happened.

“Sorry, Chan. Hold on.”

He looked at his phone to see an endless amount of unread texts and missed calls, all from one number… But it was from a number not on his contacts list. He was slightly confused, but opened up the first text.

Mingyu, it’s Seungcheol. Call me when you get this.

Seungcheol? How the hell did he get my number? Mingyu opened the next few texts, and his heart filled with dread.

Mingyu, please, it’s Wonwoo. He’s in trouble.

He held himself turning cold, and his face stiffened. Each text sent a wave of panic to his core.

It’s his heart.

Mingyu shot up from his seat and started running.

“I have to go,” he almost shouted to Chan. He left him in the theater, and Chan watched as Mingyu ran, not once turning back.

Mingyu dialed the number on his phone, still running. He didn’t know where Wonwoo was at, so he headed for the hospital nearest to his apartment.

“Come on, pick up Seungcheol, damn it!”

He heard a click and knew Seungcheol picked up.

“Mingyu…” Seungcheol sounded weary, his voice barely audible.

“Seungcheol, what happened to Wonwoo?”

There was silence on the other end. Mingyu did not have time for this.

“SEUNGCHEOL, WHAT HAPPENED TO WONWOO?”

“They… they…”

“SEUNGCHEOL!”

“They couldn’t get his heart to start beating again… Mingyu…”

Mingyu’s frenzied run came to an abrupt halt. He heard muffled sobs coming from the other line before he lost the strength to hold his phone to his ear. He didn’t hear as his phone crashed onto the paved asphalt. He couldn’t hear anything anymore. He couldn’t feel anything anymore. Not the sunlight. Not the wind. Not the people brushing against him as they walked by. No one bothered to have anything to do with him, moving on with their lives without a moment’s rest. But for Mingyu, his time stopped the moment he heard Wonwoo’s heart stopped beating.