2012

The sterile smell of the hospital invaded Jaejoong’s nostrils and made his head hurt. He hated hospitals but there was no helping it, he stood patiently at the reception desk waiting for the doctor to return whilst ignoring the appreciative looks he got from the nurses. No matter how rude he was to them they would still stare at him like he was an appetising piece of meat. Too bad for them he had no interest in women.

“Ah Mr. Kim, I’m so sorry for making you wait so long,” the doctor’s kind wrinkled face crumpled into an easy smile as he shook the young man’s hand.

“It’s no problem Doctor Choi” Jaejoong smiled at the doctor who he had known for years now, “so how is my dad?”

“Ah he’s been getting a lot better, his tests have come back very promising and the medicine is showing an obvious effect. But you should keep in mind that it is a severe case of Korsakoff's syndrome so he may still not be able to converse as naturally as you’d like.” The doctor sympathetically patted Jaejoong’s arm as he simply nodded.

“Can I see him?” he looked up hopefully only to have his hopes dashed by the kindly old man who shook his head

“He’s resting right now, it’d be best not to disturb him, I’m sorry Jaejoong...”

“It’s ok” he forced a smile upon his face “I’ll just go pay the fees for this month.” He bid the sympathetic doctor goodbye and left to the desk, the hospital fees had gone up again, he sighed and filled out the information and began his long walk home.

Unlocking the worn door to his small shabby apartment he turned the rusty door handle and announced his presence to the cold empty room. Wisps of visible vapour leaving his mouth as the temperature of the room chilled him to the bone. Making his way over to the second hand bookshelf he dropped his bag, opting to leave his layers of clothing on as he’d likely freeze to death if he didn’t.

Reaching for a battered and worn old book situated right at the top in the back of the shelf, he flipped through the pages till he reached the middle pages that he had cut a chunk in. Lifting his money out of his self-made safe, he counted the crinkled and frayed bills with increasing worry, his spirits deflated as he put the money back into its hiding place and sat on the lumpy couch that was falling apart.

Half of the money he had would go to the rent for the crappy apartment he sat in, the rest would go to bills not including day-to-day food. He needed money to pay for his father’s hospital bills and food for himself and he only had a month. Ruffling his hair in frustration he grabbed the stack of papers on the desk at the back of the room and started rifling through them making a face. His best friend Yoochun always gathered up work that he could do and sent it to him  but Jaejoong often ignored i