Haera

Kyungsoo carried me to the university’s clinic where they gave me a shot of EpiPen as we wait for the ambulance. I calmed down after the shot, but the doctor said I still have to be rushed to the hospital for medical supervision in case a second wave of symptoms happens.

            I almost out in the ambulance on our way to the hospital, but Kyungsoo kept me awake in panic. He wouldn’t let me close my eyes, afraid that another symptom would occur while I’m asleep.

            The doctor at the emergency room assured him that it was fine for me to rest. But before I could rest, a panicking Jongin showed up at the ER. He almost ran to me when he saw me lying on a bed.

            “How are you feeling? They didn’t give you oxygen? Why isn’t she in—”

            “Jongin,” I interrupted him. “I’m fine. They already gave me an EpiPen shot, I’m just under supervision.”

            Jongin sighed and relaxed after that. He looked at me with worry as he tucked a hair strand behind my ear. “I almost lost it when I got the call from Kyungsoo.”

            I chuckled when I remembered how he was so guilty the first time I had an allergy attack, because he accidentally gave me a spicy food.

            “The cafeteria lady in the university knows you’re allergic to spicy foods. How come you had one?” Jongin asked.

            I shifted my eyes away from him, thinking of a lie to tell him, but Kyungsoo beat me to it. “Zhang Yixing packed her lunch,” he blandly muttered. I widened my eyes at him, but he just stared back blankly at me.

            As if on cue, my parents came in with Zhang Yixing behind them. I saw how Jongin clenched his jaw before striding towards them and grabbed Yixing by his collar. I tried stopping him by grabbing his hand but he was too fast.

            Our father quickly stepped in and separated Jongin from Yixing before the people at the ER call security.

             “Were you trying to kill her?!” Jongin screamed at Yixing. Mom tried hushing Jongin, because his screaming was catching people’s attention.

            “What… what did I do?” Yixing turned to me.

            He didn’t know.

            “She’s allergic to spicy foods,” Kyungsoo answered him instead.

            Yixing’s eyes widened at the information. I felt a twinge in my stomach when I saw guilt and worry in his eyes. He was about to go near me, but Jongin stopped him. “You stay away from her,” he coldly told him, gritting his teeth in anger.

            “Jongin…”

            “No,” he cut me off, giving me a side glance. “No, I will not accept his excuse that he didn’t know or he forgot, because if he’s really your brother, he should’ve known! You never forget something as consequential as that!”

            Dad had to ask Yixing to exit the ER to calm Jongin down. I stared at Yixing’s back as he walked out of the ER defeatedly.

            He could forget about it. After all, we were separated at a young age, right?

            The doctor went to us after the commotion and advised my family to let me rest. My parents left to take care of the hospital bill, while Jongin and Kyungsoo stayed beside me.

            I woke up two hours later to the feeling of my throat closing up again. I moved sideways to catch my breath. I heard Jongin’s panicking voice calling out the doctors. In a second, I was surrounded by a doctor and nurses. They put oxygen mask on me as first-aid, then I felt an ant-bite like jab on my thigh.

            After giving me a second dose of EpiPen, I slowly calmed down. I eyed my surrounding tiredly. The first person I saw by the end of my bed was Minseok. He was holding onto my feet as if making sure I’m fine.

            I saw Jongin talking to the doctor, feet away from my bed. My eyes shifted back to Minseok. I wanted to greet him, but I have no strength to mouth a word.

            “Do you want a glass of water?” Minseok dubiously asked.

            I nodded as a response. Minseok left to get water. I felt the bed raised, so I turned my head beside me and saw Kyungsoo standing near, controlling the bed’s remote. The bed stopped moving when I’m sitting up.

            Minseok came back with a glass of water in hand. He sat beside me and put the glassware on the side table, then he helped me removed the oxygen mask. He carefully guided the glass of water for me as I drank from it. He helped me put the mask on again after drinking.

            “How are you feeling?” his voice was soft when he asked me.

            “Better,” I mumbled through the mask.

            Minseok nodded. He took the bed’s remote control from Kyungsoo and lowered my bed a bit, so I’d be comfortable.

            A nurse went to me and asked if I still have trouble in breathing or do I want to remove the oxygen mask. I told her I can breathe fine now, so she turned off the oxygen and took off my mask. Somehow, drinking water helped steady my breathing more.

            I faced Minseok after the nurse left. “Why are you here?” I curiously asked.

            Minseok looked like he was caught off-guard by my question. It took him seconds before he muttered a response. “Uh... I called you to ask about the first revision, but Kyungsoo picked up and told me you were rushed to the hospital. I got worried, so…”

            I gave him a weak smile. “Sorry for worrying you.”

            Minseok unconsciously fiddled with the remote control. He looked agitated. “You don’t carry an EpiPen auto-injector with you? Your allergy is not mild, you should carry around one for precaution.”

            I pursed my lips at him. “I don’t. I always stay away from spicy foods, that’s why I rarely have an attack. That’s also why I don’t need to carry an auto-injector with me.”

            “Minseok hyung always carry one with him,” Kyungsoo intervened. That made Minseok turned to him in surprise.

            “You have allergy to spicy foods too?” I worriedly turned to him.

            Minseok looked at me and shook his head. “No, uh…” he kept on shifting his head back on Kyungsoo and then on me. “I’m not… I just…”

            Before he can finish his sentence, Jongin came back after talking with the doctor. “They will move you to a room. You have to be monitored for another eight hours for precaution. Mom and Dad are on it already.”

            I sighed. I hate staying in hospitals.

            “Where’s Yixing?” I asked Jongin.

            He avoided my gaze and flatly responded, “I don’t know.”

            “Jongin…”

            “No, Haera,” he swiftly cut me off. “You can’t make me understand him. We’re done with this conversation.”

            “Jongin,” it’s Minseok this time. He gave Jongin a look and my brother immediately calmed down.

            I should be taking notes on how he did that. No one in our family can make Jongin listen to them, what more calm down, when he’s fuming mad. That’s a talent.

            “Jongin,” I called him again. He shifted his eyes on me without moving his head. “Yixing doesn’t know about my allergy…” Jongin was about to counter me, but I continued, “Remember when you accidentally gave me a spicy food and I wound up in the hospital too? Yixing must be feeling bad right now. He did not do it on purpose like how you did not back then.”

            When he gave me a sullen glance, I knew he finally softened and about to give up on my whim. “Can you please get him for me?”

            Jongin took a deep breath and mumbled something I did not apprehend before finally leaving to get Yixing. I giggled as I watched him throw tantrums on his way out. A few minutes later, a scowling Jongin was walking towards us again with Yixing behind him.

            Yixing was about to walk to me but stopped when his eyes shifted beside me. I turned my head to the person standing beside me and saw Minseok looking back at Yixing with a stern expression. Yixing stopped a few feet away from my bed.

            “Uh…” I started, not sure why the atmosphere became tense. “Yixing, this is Minseok. He’s the assistant editor of my script.”

            Yixing hesitatingly turned to me, nodding. “Are… a-are you okay now?” I hummed as a response. “I’m… I’m really sorry,” his eyes kept on shifting from me to the person beside me in each word, “I didn’t know… that… you’re allergic to… spicy foods.”

            “She could’ve died,” Jongin chimed in.

            “Jongin,” Minseok snapped at him. It’s like he didn’t like the word Jongin used.

            “Sorry, hyung,” he calmed down. “It’s just I’ve seen how she struggled to breathe when her allergy attacked back then. It’s not something you can get off your mind, because it was traumatizing to witness.”

            My head tilted to Minseok’s side in confusion when I heard him whispered, “I know.” I think I’m the only one who heard it, since I’m closer to him than the other guys. Minseok was looking down, as if in deep thoughts. He must have sensed that I’m looking at him, so he lifted his head at me and patted my head, giving me a small smile.

            Dad came in to call Jongin to fill out