A/N: I didn’t want to leave you guys hanging for too long, and also, my exams are over, so here it is :) enjoyyy

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The moment Seulgi entered the waiting room, she was immediately attacked by two hands grabbing onto the neck of her shirt. “Kang Seulgi what the hell happened?!” Wendy roughly gave her a shake, eyes red from crying. Just the sight of Joohyun’s family made Seulgi break down into tears again. “I- I’m sorry...” 

“How did she even end up like this.. tell me Seulgi.” 

“She just kept running and running.. before I knew it she was running through the main road a- and.. a car just-“ Seulgi closed her eyes, painfully trying to forget that horrible scene. Somehow, even through her closed eyes, tears still managed to gush down her cheeks. She heard the sniffles of Joohyun’s parents coming from a corner in the waiting room. They were holding onto each other, trying to keep it together as best as they could. 

Wendy shook her head. “I- I don’t understand.. what did you say to her? What did you say that made her run away like that?!” Seulgi choked on a sob, while staring down at her blood stained shirt. “I’m sorry..” was all she could mutter. A sudden force grabbed the front of her shirt again, this time harder. “Sorry? You’re sorry? My whole family ing trusted you to take care of her, Seulgi! And look what happened?!” 

“Enough Wendy..” Joohyun’s father shot her a look, which eventually made her let go of Seulgi’s shirt and walking over to the other corner of the room to cool off. They weren’t the only family in the waiting room, and Joohyun’s father didn’t want the nurses or security chasing them out or anything like that. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears as she took small shaky steps in the direction of where Joohyun’s parents were seated. 

Once she was in front of them, Seulgi stared down at her hands through her blurry vision, twisting and knotting them as if doing so would hold back the turmoil inside her. Despair roamed the room, expelled on the breath of worriers like Seulgi and those doing their best to bite down on the pain that brought them here. “I- I’m immensely sorry.. I’m sorry- for everything...” It was as if her legs completely lost strength because Seulgi fell to her knees, furiously wiping away her tears that fell down her cheeks. 

This was all my fault.

I should have been the one that got hit instead of her.

“Come.. come sit here.” The older man sighed, softly patting the seat beside him. But when Seulgi didn’t make a move or didn’t even seem like she was going to get up from the floor, Joohyun’s father held onto her arm. The cold touch startled her, and she gazed up at him with bloodshot eyes. “She’s going to be alright.” He said firmly, then helped the girl back up on her feet. 

Seulgi nodded. “S- she’s going to be alright..” she repeated to herself. The girl pushed a clump of damp brown hair off her flushed cheeks and let out a sigh. Now the only thing they could do was to play the waiting game. 

-

It was five minutes past two in the morning, and still, no news on Joohyun. Another family had joined them in the waiting room. Their situation seemed much worse though, because some were arguing with each other, sobbing, whimpering, others were hugging each other in search of comfort.. Wendy scrunched up her nose and turned to look away when she saw someone throwing up at the side from crying so much.

Whatever they were going though, it must’ve been ten times worse than theirs. And just thinking about Joohyun already made Seulgi tear up. She clenched her fists together and bowed her head silently. 

God, please don’t take her away...

“S- she’s dead.. dead! Our daughter was just lying there and I couldn’t do anything about it..” One lady in the waiting room let out a strangled sob and another man beside her pulled her into a hug. They were both crying. So that’s what they were waiting for.. to hear if their daughter was alive or not.

Seulgi thought for a while. How was Joohyun’s parents coping with this? How were they so composed unlike Seulgi? Perhaps they were trying to be strong. But people can’t be strong all the time, and Seulgi knew that. Joohyun’s parents were definitely hurting, and if they were, then they sure were hiding their pain well. 

A voice cut her off mid-thought. “Family of Miss Bae Joohyun?” All of them jumped up at the mention of Joohyun’s name, eyes wide open as if suddenly none of them were tired anymore. Her father stood up abruptly. “Yes. Yes, we’re her family.” The nurse flashed them a weak -almost like it was forced- smile, and bowed. “We have moved her to the ICU, and the doctor would like to talk to you all outside. Please follow me.” 

So they did. With Joohyun’s parents walking first, then Seulgi and Wendy quietly following behind. The hallway had as much personality as the rest of the hospital. The floor was slate grey and the walls dove. Above the ceiling was made from those polystyrene squares laid on a grid-like frame. The light was too bright for Seulgi’s eyes after the darkening gloom outside, she find it abrasive, enough perhaps to bring on one of her migraines. She didn’t need that right now. 

There are commercial prints on the wall, tasteful in the dull kind of way. The more they walked, the more Seulgi worried. They moved Joohyun to the