Turned out that her breath had not hitched because of Sehun after all. All that activity and jumping around after having a cold coffee had unfortunately triggered a tachycardiac attack, which she’d mistaken as breath-hitching.

It was only after it didn’t stop and she started feeling winded and lightheaded that she understood what was happening. Thank goodness Baekhyun and Xiao had been there.

‘I hate it,’ she sobbed later that night, hours after having her attack.

Thanks to Baek’s quick thinking, they’d called an ambulance and he’d forced the bitter pill down to bring down her heartrate to a more manageable level. But it was hectic and nerve-wracking, leaving her drained and her entire body aching in the aftermath.

She hated it, hated the helplessness it induced, being unable to move herself without straining her heart even more. She hated how vulnerable it made her, reminding her just how easily she could die. She hated that feeling, hated feeling sick. Most of all though, she hated spending time in the hospital without a single member of her family beside her.

‘I hate it,’ she cried again, wetting all of Xiao’s shirt while she patted her back soothingly. ‘I want my mom and dad!’

‘Shh…’ Xiao soothed her. ‘Baek’s getting them on Skype.’

They were in another city while she was in this stupid dorm, all by herself. The thought of it made her cry harder. Xiao looked at Baekhyun helplessly; he shrugged, gesturing to just soothe her while he got her parents online.

Sehun stood off to one corner, feeling extremely awkward and extremely upset. He felt responsible because he’d been the one to buy her the coffee. Even though everyone told him it was okay, that he hadn’t known about her condition, it didn’t make it any better.

He’d never been so scared in his entire life. Seeing someone collapse because of their heart was plain scary, no matter how much May tried to be brave about it, pretending to be okay. It was a good thing Baekhyun had been around because he’d not taken any of her excuses and forced her to take her medicine.

He felt around his heart, glad it had stopped beating so hard. He couldn’t even find her pulse when he’d tried, it had been so weak, and that had shaken him to the core. To see someone as lively and full of life as May in such a state threw everything off-kilter.

Against his will, he felt his eyes gloss over. He sniffed as quietly as he could but May was crying so heart-wrenchingly when talking to her parents that it made him tear up even more. Quietly, he slipped out and leaned against the door, covering his eyes and letting out a deep breath.

Life is so unpredictable, he thought morosely.

‘It’s tough, isn’t it?’ Baekhyun’s voice interrupted his melancholy thoughts. Sehun nodded, pulling his cap further down on his face so his tears would stay hidden. His voice was another matter; it was nasal and broken. ‘It’s just… she’s so energetic and happy all the time…’

‘I know…’ Baekhyun rubbed his back soothingly. Sehun shook his head before looking at him. ‘How did you do it? Manage to stay so calm and firm? I would’ve panicked… I did panic…’ he trailed off.   

Baekhyun pursed his lips. ‘I panicked the first time this happened. I had no idea what to do and if it wasn’t for Xiao, I don’t think I would’ve managed anything. She had the sense to look up the symptoms on the internet. May had no idea she had a problem, you know? She always thought it was just her feeling super sad or something.’

The words made him laugh despite the tears, a nasal sound. That was just so… May.

‘Isn’t there any… cure?’ he asked, finally under control.

Baekhyun shook his head. ‘Other than surgery? Not really. it’s all about changing the lifestyle and being careful about the triggers and stuff. Unfortunately, even with surgery, there’s no guarantee that it won’t happen again. It’s just… a structural fault, if you will.’

Sehun frowned, not liking that one bit. The thought of May collapsing like that again was horrible. ‘There’s got to be something.’

Baekhyun smiled knowingly. ‘You like her, don’t you?’

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