“Are you nervous?”

Jiwon responded with a light smile at her best friend’s question. They are now heading to the ICU to see Baekhyun. “I should be excited to see him but yea. . . I’m also terrified to see him.” She replied while keeping her head low. Her condition improved within a day since she woke up and she’ll be able to leave the hospital today. “Well. . . after this, just tell me whenever you want to sneak in to visit him, I’ll come with you after school. Okay?” Kyungsoo assured while putting an arm over her. Jiwon looked back at him and smiled much wider this time. “Thank you for staying by my side, you really didn’t have to. You must have been really tired going here right after school. And also, thanks for taking notes for me.” Jiwon softly cooed before looking straight ahead again. “Anything for you. Just don’t get hurt again.” Kyungsoo ruffled her hair.

Finally, they arrived at the ICU. Jiwon paused as she stood right before the corridor that leads to the rooms.

“You can do it. Just be with him, okay?” Kyungsoo mumbled while rubbing her back before gently pushing her to walk. Her eyes slowly landed towards the glass window as she walked. Her hand automatically went to , gasping shock. Seeing Baekhyun’s bruises all over his face, his head having a thick bandage, casts on his neck and right arm, was a painful sight. Baekbeom was the one inside the room and he met eyes with Jiwon right away. He went out immediately to greet them. “Hi. I’m Byun Baekbeom, Baekhyun’s brother.” He briefly greeted. It’s their first time meeting in person.

Jiwon thought he really looked like Baekhyun, just an older version of him.

“H-hello. I’m Kim Jiwon.” She hesitantly introduced herself and bowed politely. “You’re just in time. Our parents just left, Soyeon just went to the cafeteria to eat. Would you like to be left inside?” Baekbeom asked politely while opening the door for her. “I-if that’s okay.” Jiwon replied while clasping her cold hands together. “Sure, come in. Please wear the gown and mask, it’s required.” He gave more space for her to get in before closing the door. Jiwon felt the goosebumps on the back of her neck as soon as the door closed. The room was silent, only the beeps from the machine filled the dead and depressing space. She hesitantly reached for the gown hung on one corner before grabbing a mask. She also took some sanitizer placed on the side table before walking over to the bed.

Tears started crawling down her cheeks as she looked down to his unconscious body.

“Y-yah. . .” She cracked as she collapsed down weakly on the chair right beside the bed. She grabbed his left hand and held it firmly. “Yah, Byun Baekhyun. . . y-you’re so stupid, why did you have to do this for me? Oh?” She cried as she lifted his hand up to her lips, placing a lingering kiss on the back of his cold hand despite the mask on . “I’m so sorry. . .” She muffled, her head slowly dropping down the edge of the bed together with his hand. “Please wake up, you’re so unfair. I’m all fine now, you should be too. Yaaah. . .” She squirmed lightly out of frustration before looking up again. She intertwined her fingers together with his unresponsive ones, holding him with both hands. “I c-could be in your spot right now and it wouldn’t have mattered so much. I’m not that important but you. . . you have so much in store in your life, you still need to be successful and find your dream job, hm? Don’t forget that you haven’t found your dream job yet, yah.” She scolded him with her trembling voice.

She closed her eyes tightly, more tears started trickling down her cheeks, wetting her mask even more.

“I l-love you so much, Byun Baekhyun. . . Please, Spongebob, I swear to god I’m going to leave you if you don’t wake up yet, yah. . . You heard me? I’m not joking, oh? I will really do it. Bae—baekhyun-ah . . .”

She buried her face on the edge of the bed again while crying hard. Suddenly, she felt his hand slightly move against hers. She jolted up in surprise while staring down at him. “Y-yah. . . Did you just. . . Yah, Byun Baekhyun.” She stood up while peeking at his face. She turned around to look over to the window where Baekbeom and Kyungsoo were standing on. She pointed at Baekhyun’s hand. “His hand moved!” She mouthed with her growing smile. Baekbeom immediately got in with his hopeful eyes. “Did you say his hand moved?” he asked while quickly wearing a mask and a gown. “I-I think so? I don’t know, it might be just me. I may be overthinking, it was a very light movement.” Jiwon muttered while staring down at Baekhyun, not entirely sure of what she just felt. “This morning, my mom did say they saw his eyes moving as if they’re trying to open up. The doctor said it’s a good sign of improvement.” Baekbeom explained with his growing smile.

Jiwon held Baekhyun’s hand again as she sat back down.

“Baekhyun-ah, you’re doing really well. Hm?” She muttered and kissed his hand again. Baekbeom stared down at the machine beside Baekhyun which shows his vital signs. “His vital signs are stable right now.” Baekbeom spoke making Jiwon turn. “Really?” She asked while grinning and wiping her tears. “See, this is his blood pressure. It’s still a tad bit higher than normal but it’s so much better than yesterday. And this is his heartbeat. Faster than usual but it’s usually irregular so. . .” He explained in detail. “It’s only been three days and he’s already improving a lot so I don’t see him staying there unresponsive for a long time.” He added confidently. “That’s really good to know. . .” Jiwon looked down to Baekhyun again while biting her bottom lip.

“They say patients in a coma, excluding those in the vegetative stage, may look unconscious, they’re just unresponsive but they do hear and feel. Ever since he got into a coma three days ago, I’ve been reading a lot about it. So, I’m sure our presence means a lot to him. Right, Baekhyun?” Baekbeom spoke while chuckling. “Baekhyun-ah, I’ll try to v-visit as much as I can, okay?” Jiwon beamed as much as she can, hoping that her encouragement would reach him. “I’ll leave you two for now.” Baekbeom muttered softly before leaving the room again. Jiwon let out a sigh as she stared at Baekhyun’s face.

“Spongebob, I’m out of the hospital today and I should be able to go back to school tomorrow. I have some bruises and wounds but your girlfriend’s pretty strong, eh?” She spoke while looking down to the bruises and bandages on her arm. “I promise that I’ll keep on studying even if I’m alone, at least for now. I won’t skip any section, I promise. Even Math~” She beamed proudly even if she never got any response. She glued her eyes down to her bracelet on her left wrist, the bracelet that he gave him. “You know, I think this pretty bracelet you gave me made me recover really fast. I’ll let you borrow it, hm?” She removed it from her and put it on him. “Ay~ you look pretty.” She teased before giving his hand another kiss.

“You’re not allowed to leave me too, okay?”

4   D A Y S  L A T E R

“WHAT?”

Kyungsoo dropped the hotdog he was about to bite on when Jiwon jolted up from the bench accidentally shoving his arm along. “.” He muttered while staring down at the hotdog on the ground. He slowly looked up at Jiwon. “I was realy hungry. . .” he muttered with a frown. Jiwon darted her eyes down to him with a delighted expression. “Baekhyun woke up! This is Chanyeol!” Jiwon pointed at her phone as she started hopping around the school rooftop. “Ahh, finally.” Kyungsoo sighed relief while leaning on the bench comfortably, everyone felt as if there’s a sack removed from their chest. “Oh really? You all cut classes?” Jiwon laughed still talking on the phone. Kyungsoo couldn’t help but to smile, finally seeing her genuine happiness.

For the past four days, she’s been really quiet and obviously bothered.

She would always space out in classes, it was just a hell of four days for her since she went back to school.

“Oh. . . his parents are there?” She suddenly dropped back down the bench with a disappointed tone. “Yes, I don’t think they’ll leave anytime soon, I mean he just woke up.” Chanyeol explained on the other line. “T-that’s okay. I-I’ll visit when they’re not there then. . .” Jiwon mumbled while looking down to her lap. “Yeah, you should. Honestly, he’s already awake but he’s kind of in a daze? Maybe that’s normal, I don’t know. We haven’t really talked to him yet. He’s just awake, that’s it. He does respond whenever we call him though.” Chanyeol explained.

Jiwon sighed and put back her smile on. “That’s a relief. I can’t wait to see him. . .”

In Baekhyun’s hospital room, his family and friends all sat there on one corner of the room while staring at him in silence. They were all allowed in for a while since he just woke up. Baekhyun just laid there while staring in space. The doctor just left to check his vital signs and response and told them he might be like that for a little while as it is normal for patients who just got out of coma. “He can hear us, right? He looked at you earlier.” Soyeon nudged Baekbeom who simply nodded in response. “The doctor checked his reflexes, he was responding okay though. He just looks confused, I think.” Mr. Byun added. Mrs. Byun on the other hand walked over to the bed without further ado. “Baek