The next morning had started off as hectically as ever and it sent you over the edge trying to get everything organized. Hongjae and Youngjae were late for nursery school once again while Saena had taken a second fit. It was a mess for the entire morning and it didn’t set you off the right foot. That was this morning. Now, you were at work when you should be at high school like other girls your age. It would never be possible to you to go to school and manage to keep the house and family together.

You sighed as you wiped down the last table for the day and went back over to the back of the room. It was already past six in the evening, and you needed to go pick up the boys from school. Saena was at the hospital playing with the other kids in the same ward as her. You had asked the nurses to look after her while you were taking care of your odd jobs and sending the boys to school. It had been had enough, dealing with unruly customers and disgusting attitudes the entire shift. You really hated it, but you needed to keep the job no matter what.

“Good work today, ____.” You turned around to face your co-worker, one of your most trustworthy friends. You flashed her a quiet smile and hung your uniform with a hanger inside the locker.

“Thank you. Yuhyun, you too!” You replied, slinging your bag over your shoulder. As much as you loved her company, you felt the urge to hurry up and get out of the place. It was stifling especially at this time of the day; you were nowhere in being near your right mind after all the stress.

The streets were just as mad. Cars were racing back and forth with the sound of buses roaring down the streets. You had no patience for anything after the amount of customers you had held you tongue at. You tapped your foot as you waited for the walk signal to flash, indicating your impatience. You needed to get medication for Saena’s episodes to calm her down. The light switched and dashed off across the street. You pushed through some people on the street and sprinted to the pharmacy.

The pharmacy was a small but it held the necessary items. You pushed open the door and held the bells jingle at the movement of the door. Immediately, the smell of disinfectant and cleanser filled your nostrils. It seemed to disgust the majority of people, but you on the other hand, actually embraced the smell. Growing up as practically a housemaid, you had grown used to the smell; it reminded of you of home and made you feel like you were in it.

Sedatives.

You eyes lit up as you found the aisle with the sedatives and painkillers after looking at the signs that hung over the aisles. You wasted no time in grabbing the necessary medication and heading to the counter to pay for it. After all, the boys were still waiting at the nursery school for your to pick them up and bring them home. You would take them home and have to dash back to the hospital to drop off the medication for Saena. Of course, it meant sacrificing more of your energy to run back and forth.

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The boys were at home and surprisingly, they fell asleep right away, cuddled in each others arms on their shared bed. Just thinking about how they seemed to get along so well made you smile as you walked into the hospital through the sliding doors. In contrast to the humid weather outside, it was cool and refreshing inside the vast hospital building. Once again, the smell of sanitizer and cleanser filled your nose, welcoming you to a more friendly environment. You walked off quickly to the mental ward after checking in as a visitor.

Room 10B

Saena had been happy to see you as she ran into your arms with quite excessive glee. The nurse who had been with you had taken the pills and medication in your stead. Saena knew she would be staying there for a couple of days before returning home. She had no objection as she would get to play with a couple of her friends she had made in the ward. You could only thank god that she was living a life close to a normal child. Friends, family, and happiness was all you wanted her to have. After chatting with you for a few minutes, Saena ran off to join her friends in a little game as you stood up and bid her and the nurse goodbye.

You stepped out of the room and began walking down the hallway you had come from. You weren’t able to visit your mother as she had been put in stricter care, therefore having more restrictions on the number of visitors. Sighing you walked into the main ward consisting of those with physical injuries. It was obviously more crowded than the mental ward. Voices and footsteps rang throughout the hallway and nurses conversed with one another as they walked up and down the hallway. The farther you walked into the hallway, the more wheelchairs, IV cords, and crutches you saw. You didn’t mind seeing them; they were probably part of the friendly group of people.

“Yixing! We told you to be careful!” It was a man’s voice, but it was much more high-pitched than you had imagined on any man.

You turned your head out of pure curiosity to see what was going on. Inside a room, there was a group of people crowded around what looked like a wheelchair. On the wheelchair? A young man. He couldn’t have been more than twenty or twenty-one years old due to his youthful but mature facial structures. In total, there were seven people in the room. A couple of them were sitting down while a few were standing up. You came to a slow halt as you watched what happened in the room... just because you were curious.

“You know you had a back injury before. You should have been more careful so this wouldn’t have happened! And it’s right before promotions too!” The same voice was reprimanding the man sitting in the wheelchair, who seemed to be sulking but still accepting the chastising.

“Sorry, Luhan ge. I guess I got carried away,” the man muttered, looking down at the tiles on the floor.

“That’s enough, Luhan. You’ve never yelled this much before, especially towards Yixing. He made a mistake, and he’ll be wheelchair bound for a couple weeks until his back has healed,” said a man with a deeper voice.

Luhan? Kris? Yixing? Those names weren’t Korean at all, or in the slightest bit. The language they were talking in was unfamiliar to you as well. From their faces, you could tell they were of asian descent, but you couldn’t guess what their cultural background was. It was too hard to guess.

“Baozi, did you managed to contact K?” The deeper voice asked, and in response, a lighter voice answered his question.

“Kris, they’ll be here soon. I managed to call them yesterday, but they were at a fan gathering, so they’ll be here today,” said the lighter voice.

You stared down at the hospital floor as you continued to listen to their conversation. Every now and then, the person who went by the name, Yixing, would whine at his elders, only earning himself a snap or two. You held your hand to your mouth to suppress your giggles. Just then, footsteps began to sound from one end of the hallway. It wasn’t only one step of feet. From the sound coming your way, you could tell there was more than one person. You looked up and stumbled backwards as they came to a stop at the door you were standing at and stared at you.

You blinked and stared for a moment. Suddenly, a burning sensation flew to your cheeks and you turned away; you knew you had just embarrassed yourself and turned away.

One of the seven men looked at you and laughed softly before walking into the room. He was followed by another three before two stopped and spoke words that were inaudible about you. They walked in, followed by a much more elderly man. You waited until the footsteps disappeared before bolting down the hallway and out of the hospital in a matter of minutes. Never had you felt so awkward even after three years of walking down the streets looking like a homeless. This was more like humiliating yourself.

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“Yixing hyung, you know there was a girl standing outside your door just a couple moments ago?” A voice asked.

Yixing lifted his head and directed his attention towards the door. There wasn’t anyone near the entrance to the room any longer. He looked back at the person who spoke to him and narrowed his eyes.

“Baekhyun, are you trying to make fun of me now?” Yixing hissed, narrowing his eyes even more and glaring at Baekhyun. Baekhyun flailed his arms and shook his head before apologizing quickly. He hung his head and walked to the opposite side of the room.

“There was, hyung. No joke. She was just standing there aimlessly. Who knows if she was blanking out or trying to eavesdrop. The expression on her face was sort of hard to read,” said another voice, this time with a little more depth to it.

“Jongin. There isn’t one now. You guys should stop trying to get me concerned about who was out there and let me focus on correcting this,” Yixing snapped, his voice filled with annoyance and frustration. Yixing bit down on his lip and took a deep breath.

“So what are you guys going to do?” A very deep voice asked.

“Chanyeol, who knows what we’re going to do. First we’ll have to go to the president about this and go from there,” replied one of the more elderly man.

Chanyeol looked at his Chinese counterpart’s manager and slowly nodded his head. This was a situation where everyone was affected, Yixing the most. Grunting, Yixing grabbed his wheels and began rolling himself out of the room, completely ignoring the others and leaving them dumbfounded. He had already pulled himself halfway down the corridor when a voice called out to him.

“Yah! Hyung! Where do you think you’re going?”

“Somewhere in this building where I can calm down. I’m seriously disappointed in myself,” Yixing retorted, muttering half of his response under his breath, “Are you going to follow me Sehun?”

Sehun sighed and said a small yes as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and began walking alongside Yixing. “You know hyung, we’re only worried about you. Especially after the first injury, we’ve always been slightly wary of whatever you do,” Sehun voiced.

Yixing ignored him and rolled himself into the lobby. Many others like him were in wheelchairs and crutches. He felt as though he was really handicapped. Blowing his bangs, he ruffled his hair and rested his chin on his palm.

“Was there really a girl standing outside the door?” Yixing asked, admitting to himself that he was curious.

“Yes. She was just standing there looking blank,” Sehun responded, sitting himself down in one of the benches in the lobby.

“Probably just another fangirl.”