Chapter 2
Breaking the rules"Raina?" He softly asked.
Raina looked up. "Ji-Jihoon...I couldnt save her..."
Jihoon walked closer and pulled her into a tight hug, Raina clutching his arms tight. Raina was like an older sister to him, and seeing her in this condition broke his heart. She continued sobbing, "I feel so guilty, Jihoon. I wasn't strong enough and a life was lost...if only I was stronger!"
Jihoon said nothing but held her tighter, rubbing her back. Looking up, he stared out the window. The sun was setting, warm rays of sunlight illuminating the room.
---
Early the next day, Jihoon ended up at Seungcheol's house, watching Mingyu make breakfast for him. The boy had fallen sick, and it was pretty serious. He had been having a high fever and a really bad cough for two days, and Jihoon had to help; he couldn't stand seeing his precious mortal in such a condition. He stared at Seungcheol's roommate, secretly impressed by his cooking skills. Just then, another angel appeared next to him.
"My mortal is good at cooking, eh?" The angel introduced himself as Wonwoo, and went closer to Mingyu to ruffle his hair. He chuckled before telling Jihoon, "Your Seungcheol falls sick often. Mingyu has had to make soup for him many times already."
Jihoon sighed and added, "He normally recovers fast; it's worse this time."
Mingyu poured some warm tea into a cup and placed his pancakes onto a large plate, then brought it into Seungcheol's room.
"Thanks, Mingyu ah." Seungcheol coughed a little and took the food from Mingyu.
"You better take your medicine. Why is your immune system so weak this time?" Mingyu commented before leaving the room. "I need to go to work, take care of yourself while I'm gone, hyung."
Jihoon walked into the room. "Hey. Still sick, I see?"
Seungcheol's eyes lit up. "Lovesick, maybe?" Jihoon's cheeks flushed red and he smacked Seungcheol on the head.
"Aish. So cheesy. what did your doctor say?"
"He said he wanted to do an x-ray for my lungs next week, just to check. I'm sure nothing's wrong, Jihoon." Seungcheol coughed and added, "You're coming with me right?"
Jihoon smiled and nodded.
---
The next week, Seungcheol was still coughing badly. Just as he was about to leave for the hospital for his x-ray, he suddenly had a bad coughing fit. Coughing into his hand, he leaned onto the door frame for support. When he stopped coughing, he felt a wetness on his hand. He slowly removed his hand from his mouth, only to see it stained with blood. He ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, and saw that his mouth was bloodied too.
"Ming-mingyu ah!"
Hearing the panic in his voice, Mingyu immediately rushed to Seungcheol. Seeing the situation, Mingyu quickly cleaned Seungcheol up, dragged him into his car, and headed straight to the hospital.
Seungcheol sat, dazed, in the back seat. Jihoon quickly appeared and cupped Seungcheol's cheeks. "Yah, you'll be fine, okay? I'm here for you, Mingyu is as well."
Looking into Jihoon's eyes, Seungcheol brought his hand up to hold Jihoon's. "I'm worried, Jihoon."
Jihoon squeezed Seungcheol's hand and looked out the window. They were driving fast, speeding almost. Within a few minutes, they reached the hospital,the nurses immediately tended to Seungcheol and quickly arranged an appointment with a doctor for him, as well as his x-ray.
Watching as Seungcheol was led into a room, Jihoon sighed and leaned against the wall, covering his face with his hands.
---
In a few minutes, Seungcheol came out of the room, but before he could say anything to Jihoon, he was brought into another room, with a doctor quickly following him in.
Jihoon wiped his cold, clammy palms on his black sweater, eyes darting around, observing his surroundings. In a corner of the waiting area, a young lady kneeling in front of her sobbing mother, trying to comfort her. Her cries were the only sounds in the quiet, empty waiting area and Jihoon could overhear their conversation easily.
"Sohyun-ah...I might leave soon. Sohyun-ah, I'm scared." Jihoon watched from the corner of his eye as Sohyun wiped her mother's tears away.
"Mum, don't worry. You'll go for treatment, you will definitely get well."
Jihoon looked away, warm tears forming in his own eyes. Praying that Seungcheol's x-ray and scans would come out clear, he slowly slid down the wall and sat on the floor, curling up into a ball. He was lucky he wasn't visible to anyone at that point, since a pink haired boy crying on the floor in an empty waiting area would attract unwanted attention. He closed his eyes, deep in thought. As Seungcheol's angel, how could I let this happen? Hiding his face in his folded arms, he curled up even more. Am I a failure? He eventually fell asleep, the strong cold air from the air-conditioner ruffling his soft hair.
---
"Jihoon? Jihoon-ah."
Jihoon opened his eyes and immediately shot up.
"Seungcheol! How was it? Is it..alright?"
Seungcheol smiled bitterly and wrapped Jihoon in a tight hug.
"The doctor said that there's some sort of a tumor in my left lung...he said it was quite serious."
Jihoon knees went weak, and Seungcheol immedately held Jihoon up, holding him closer.
"He told me I should be starting the treatment next week." Rubbing circles into Jihoon's back, Seungcheol continued, "I'll recover from this, Jihoon-ah. You don't have to worry."
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