Chapter 3
    “What’re you doing here?!” Bomi shrieked, glancing around the dark neighbourhood in panic.
    “Why else would I be here?” I asked with a small smile on my face even though I was sure that she could hardly see it through the darkness.
    She rolled her eyes,”No, I mean why now? Don’t you know that you can get caught? Gosh, Changjo!”
    Even though I was being scolded, warmth surged through my body just seeing her. The sky was dark and the only source of light that I received was from the moon. It was around 10:00 PM and I was in Bomi’s front yard, making the most minimal noise possible. If her parents found out that I was here, we’d both be in major trouble.
    “You said you couldn’t sleep, so I came here to help,” I shrugged and began climbing up the large tree that reached up to the second story, where Bomi’s room was. The wood under my palm scraped my skin and I felt a prick here and there, but I kept climbing up until I reached a branch lower than her room.
    “Don’t move! You’re gonna fall and hurt yourself! You’re so selfless sometimes, you know that?” She frowned and held out both hands, a gesture telling me to stop moving. I ignored her comment and climbed up one more branch until the last one was just an arm length away. I reached for it, but then the branch supporting my weight cracked and within seconds, I was on the grass with a sprained ankle.
     I remember that day. It was the first time I had ever hurt a single bone in my body so bad like that, and it surprised me by how much pain it brought me. Bomi, of course, seemed more in pain than me that night and quickly woke her parents up as they drove me to the hospital. I got crutches and was told to stay off my foot for three months. The pain I went through when they had to snap my ankle back in pain was unimaginable and I remember that Bomi was standing by the bedside the whole time, holding on to my hand while whispering an apology every few minutes.

    “Get him an oxygen mask and put him down for a midnight check up. Also, switch the main doctors from Dr. Lee to Dr. Han. Orders from the doctor himself,” the head nurse told the mentee she was training and the latter wrote down the orders in a hurry.
    Within minutes, I felt an oxygen mask being put over the bottom portion of my face and the nurse instructed me,”Jonghyun, I’m going to need you to take in two deep breaths for me. Can you do that?”
    I had finally been able to wake up from my unconscious state exactly thirty minutes ago while they were in the middle of correcting my breathing. They had put me on another dose of morphine so I wouldn’t feel pain while the operated and I had no dreams of flashbacks whatsoever during that time. Now, the large group of nurses and doctors had dispersed, leaving me with two nurses and my five friends.
    I nodded weakly and used the remainder of my energy to reply,”I’ll try.”
    I obliged to the nurse’s request for me to take two deep breaths and I successfully took one. However, on the second one, the air got stuck in my throat and I couldn’t breathe again. I coughed until the nurse handed me a cup of water and I weakly put the cup between my lips, allowing the cold liquid to flow down my throat and into the pit of my stomach.
    The nurse wrote down the results,”I’ll come back in an hour or so to see if you can take that second deep breath, alright? I also have you down for a midnight check up, so I unfortunately can’t allow you to have a big dinner, but you can have a snack in between lunch and then.”
    I nodded and bowed my head slightly, my raspy voice thanking her,”Thank you.”
    “No problem. Get a lot of rest,” she turned to the other five,”and if anything happens to him again between the time when I’m gone, please don’t hesitate to call the front desk.”
    She left and shut the door behind her as the others began to crowd around my bed. Ricky took my left hand and I noticed how his bottom lip trembled as his eyes threatened to allow multiple tears flow down his cheeks.
    “How’re you feeling, Changjo?” C.A.P softly asked, putting a comforting hand on Ricky’s shoulder.
    “Wonderful. Couldn’t be better,” I sarcastically murmured, earning a roll of eyes from Niel.
    “Cut the sarcasm, maknae. We’re just trying to get you back on your feet, alright?” Niel narrowed his eyes at me.
    “Get me back on my feet? Telling me to get over my girlfriend is trying to get me back on my feet? I’m so sorry that I didn’t get that memo,” I said through gritted teeth.
    Chunji intervened with a frown on his face,”Hey, don’t give him attitude, Jo. We’re really trying to help you get yourself together. Just because you can’t see that doesn’t mean that you have the right to snap at us.”
    “So I’m the bad guy now? I never asked for your ‘help’ in the first place,” I turned my head and gave Chunji a glare.
    “You’re not asking for it? You’re basically screaming out to the world that you need help! You’ve gone insane, Choi Jonghyun, and you expect us, your best friends, to not be affected by it? Your immature actions are affecting us all!” Chunji finally exploded and expressed his anger.
    “I’m not insane,” I hissed.
    “Yes, you are! All you do all day is lay in your bed and grieve about the loss of your girlfriend. Do you think this is what she wanted when she committed suicide for you? Do you think this is what she wants to see everyday when she looks over you; seeing you always in a hospital bed? Do you really think this is what she died for?! HUH?!” Chunji shouted, shoving my shoulder.
    “Hey, calm down, both of you.” C.A.P dangerously hissed in a low voice.
    “No, hyung, I can’t. I’m sick of all of this bull that he’s putting everyone in! He’s gone insane, and all of you know it!” Chunji glared at me.
    “SHUT UP! I’M NOT INSANE AND SHE’S NOT DEAD!” I screamed, putting my hands over my ears. This was all bull and Chunji was trying to make me believe it.
    “LISTEN TO ME WHEN I’M TRYING TO HELP YOU, DAMMIT!” Chunji grabbed my wrists and pinned them down on the bed,”JUST THINK ABOUT IT AND STOP TRYING TO RUN AWAY FROM THE TRUTH!”
    “STOP IT! JUST STOP IT, ALL OF YOU!” L.Joe shouted at the top of his lungs,”I’m sick and tired of hearing all of you scream at each other in a complete ing circle!”
    There was complete silence except for the noise of Ricky’s sniffling, indicating that he was silently sobbing.
    “I hate it when you guys fight. This isn’t something to be fighting about,” Ricky murmured, holding back the urge to burst out into another round of tears.
    There was silence for another five minutes or so until I whispered,”I hate you. I hate all of you.”
    “The feelings are mutual then,” Chunji scoffed and left the room without another word.
    L.Joe cursed and ran out after him,”Chunji!”
    Niel sat down on a chair on the opposite side of the room,”I need a break from all of this drama. This is too much.”
    Ricky began crying again and left the room to get some fresh air as C.A.P looked at me with a disappointed look and shake of his head.
    “You have every right to be angry at us for trying to get you over Bomi so early, but you had no right to yell at Chunji like that. You know we all care about you.” C.A.P murmured in a low voice.
    I looked away from his gaze,”Get out. Both of you.”
    Niel’s face dropped and he hurried over,”Changjo, we really only want the best for you-”
    “I said, get out. GET OUT!” I shouted, raising my voice again. This was all too much for me today, and all I wanted to do was get a break from everything. A break forever.
    “Come on, let’s go, Niel,” C.A.P sighed defeatedly,”we’ll be back tomorrow after school. I assume you’re not getting out so early just yet.”
    I replied with silence and the two left the room, closing the door behind them. And with that, I was alone in the silent, white room for the rest of the afternoon without a single noise to disturb my thoughts.

    At around three thirty, the nurse returned and gave me my snack as she had promised before. She wrote down some results on her clipboard and requested me to take two more deep breaths. I succeeded this time, and she left, pleased. After that, I was left alone in the quiet room for the rest of the night. I fell asleep at around ten, until I was shaken awake by a nurse with a doctor following behind her.
    “Hello, Jonghyun. We’re just here for a quick check up and you can go back to sleep,” the nurse explained and helped me sit up in the bed.
    I rubbed my eyes,”What do you need me to do? Should I was up a little?”
    “It’s fine. I’m just going to write down some details on your heart rate and such before I head out. The doctor wants to have a word with you, as well,” she said, pressing a button on the monitor beside me.
    As she had said, she wrote down some more details before leaving, closing the door on her way out. The doctor came over warily from the dark corner of the room and stopped at least a foot away from the hospital bed. I raised an eyebrow in confusion and raised the bed more so that I was now sitting further forwards.
    “Choi Jonghyun,” the doctor muttered, opening the file once more,”I just wanted to talk to you about some things.”
    I nodded in understanding,”Sure, that’s no problem, doctor.”
    He stepped closer into the slight and his facial features looked awfully familiar in my mind. It was as if I had a connection to him somewhat.
    “It’s about Han Bomi,” he whispered and my eyes widened in recognition. He was Bomi’s father.
    I stood up immediately, disregarding the shot that was moving around in my arm, bringing a sting to me,”Oh my gosh, h-hello, sir. It’s so nice to see you again.”
    “Yes, yes, please lay back down. You need as much rest as you could get,” he nodded at my greeting and I sat back in the bed.
    “How have you been lately, sir? I heard that your residence had moved from your old home,” I began the conversation. God, I was praying for a fateful encounter like this one just so I could find answers. The answers to the endless questions I had been looking for.
    “Ah, yes,” he nodded,”we moved away about two months ago. Bae said he just didn’t feel comfortable there anymore so we had to leave.”
    I lowered my head in guilt,”I-I’m so sorry, sir. I really didn’t mean for any of this to happen. If only I had just been more of your standards for Bomi, then perhaps none of this would have happened. I’m so terribly sorry, sir, really.”
    He frowned and shook his head,”That’s not it, son, it’s not your fault. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s ours. We knew fully well that she wanted to marry you but we rejected her wishes. I just didn’t know she would do something like that, and I didn’t know even more that felt so strongly about you, Jonghyun.”
    I flushed red with my head still lowered,”I really didn’t deserve her, sir. Your daughter was such an amazing girl that had so many hopes and dreams. I wish I was able to do more for her.”
    “I’m sure we all did,” he nodded in understanding,”but I had something else I wanted to talk to you about. Just a couple of questions about your relationship with her and such. Would you mind if I perhaps opened up that wound for a split second?”
    I hesitated for a second. Was I prepared to basically relive all of that pain that was just digging deeper and deeper every second? I was scared. Would I be able to stitch it back up without putting myself into more pain?
    “S-Sure, sir. What would you like to know?” I stuttered, the fear overcoming me.
    He opened his mouth to speak, but then he paused and shook his head,”Nevermind. I’ll ask you tomorrow. I don’t think you’re ready for it yet.”
    I sighed in relief and bowed my head,”Thank you, sir.”
    He nodded his head and stood up, walking up to the door,”I’ll come by tomorrow to do your original planned check ups. I’ll also schedule another midnight check up to talk again, if you don’t mind.”
    I bowed my head,”Sure, that’s no problem at all. Have a good night, sir.”
    “Have a good rest, too, son,” he waved and left the room, closing the door with the most gentlest motion and I was left again in the dark. Not that I minded though, because as soon as the door shut, I fell asleep almost instantly from the energy it took just to wake up at midnight.