Chanyeol walked through the empty hall of the hospital, noticing the white walls blocking the sorrow of the patients inside the rooms. Thankful for the thick wall that kept their cries away from him, Chanyeol proceeded to his father's room. His school shoes made a loud noise against the tiled floor and disturbed the eerie silence of the hospital. He reached the door with the number 235 in it. He turned the knob slowly and went inside. His eyes were momentarily blinded by the bright white light produced by the fluorescent lamp in the ceiling. That gave him a sign that his father was awake.

 

"Chanyeol, you're here", a man with a deep gruff voice said. The man was weak; his words were said in a whisper.

 

Chanyeol faced his father. Mr. Park was sitting upright in the bed, his position facing the blank television. The remote control was just beside his right hand, the one where the IV was injected. Either the nurse was obviously too dumb to leave him like that or his father requested it himself. Chanyeol thought of the latter. His father was always one to do strange things.

 

"I have no homework today. I thought I'd used the free time to visit you", he said, "Where's mom?"

 

"She went off to buy some fruits", his dad replied.

 

"I bought some on my way, though". Chanyeol brought out a plastic bag from his bag and settled it on the table beside his father's bed.

 

"That'd be enough for you to share to some other patients here", Mr. Park said, “Then we can eat the ones your mother bought".

 

"Alright, I'll hand them out later"

 

Silence occupied the room for a short while. Chanyeol, settling to sit on a stool and stared out of the window. Then his father, staring blankly at the television in front of them, watching nothing but the dark screen. Chanyeol noticed his father's physical state. The buff man, who used to be so strong and tough, now lies on a hospital bed, thin and weak in physique. His muscled arms are now thin and frail, unable to hold a dumbbell for a second. His right arm can even hardly move, numb and paralyzed. His father who used to smile and crack jokes all the time, now stares blankly at the television without anything to say. His changed him a lot. That happy aura around him disappeared, and was replaced by a sorrowful one.

 

"Were you the one to request this position", Chanyeol asked his father, eyeing his strange position.

 

"Yes I did", he replied.

 

"I thought so", Chanyeol mumbled.

 

Seconds later, his mom arrived, carrying a paper bag filled with fruits.

 

"Chanyeol, shouldn't you be at home right now?” she asked.

 

"I have no homework to do", he replied.

 

His mom placed her paper bag beside his plastic bag. She peeked at his bag and frowned.

 

"You should've told me that you'll be bringing some fruits"

 

Chanyeol shrugged. "I just bought it along the way".

 

His mother just nodded and went to tend to his father. She changed dramatically too. The beautiful mother he had when he was young transformed to an old woman, face filled with wrinkles and back hunching down. What used to be her soft and delicate hands became rough and strong. His father's illness forced her to work for the family. Her beautiful appearance is now tainted with the ugliness of labor. Chanyeol rose from his seat and grabbed his plastic bag.

 

"I'll be handing these out to the patients", he said.

 

His mother just nodded, not even sparing him a glance. This was what his father’s had done to his family. It wasn't as cheery and happy as it was before. Chanyeol went out of the room silently, holding the plastic bag tightly in his left hand. He headed towards the room next to them and knocked. The silent noise of the knocks echoed throughout the quiet hall of the hospital. The door slowly opened, revealing a middle-aged woman, her eyebrows creased in worry.

 

"May I help you?” she asked.

 

"I'm handing out fruits for some patients here. My mother and I bought more than what we can eat for our father. We thought we could share some to others", he said respectfully. He brought out an apple and a mango from the plastic bag.

 

"Thank you. We're glad to accept these. I'm sure my daughter would be happy to eat some fruits", the woman said and gladly accepted the fruits.

 

Chanyeol went on to the other rooms, giving only two fruits each. It was small and might only be enough for the patient. But he wanted many to receive. He thought it was unfair for the others if only a few people receive the fruits. Chanyeol stopped at the last door. There were three fruits left inside the plastic bag. He decided to give them all to the last patient. It’s better for one having more than another one having less.

 

He felt something crush beneath his foot. He leaned down to see a paper crane, crushed because of him. He picked it up and tried to fix it. The numbers 264 was carefully written on its wing with a black marker. He looked up and found himself standing in front of the last room. Room 328.Chanyeol straightened up and knocked the door. The wide door slowly opened, revealing a woman in her mid 20s, wearing a nurse's clothing. The other rooms he visited had the patient's guardian open the door for him. This was surprisingly different from the others.

 

Chanyeol peeked inside, curious as to where the guardian could be. His eyes did not come across a guardian. Instead, he saw the patient. The patient was a girl his age. She had long brown hair, reaching to the middle of her back. Her skin was unpleasantly pale, that she looked like she hadn't seen the sun for years. Their eyes met for a moment. He stared at her dark eyes, watching how those eyes stared at him in an unexplainable way. As innocent as it seem to look like, the eyes seemed to have a story hidden behind it. Chanyeol was momentarily hypnotized by her eyes, almost forgetting the nurse in front of her.

 

"Hello? Sir? May I help you sir?" the nurse said.

 

Chanyeol blinked and turned back to the nurse, who was looking at him weirdly. "I'm handing out fruits for some patients here. My mother and I bought more than what we can eat for our father. We thought we could share some to others", he said, repeating the same line that he had said to the others.

 

"Oh, I see, Thank you I'm sure my patient would like this", the nurse said happily and took the fruits from his hands.

 

"By the way, is this yours?" Chanyeol said, holding the paper crane up.

 

"Oh, that's my patient's", she said and grabbed the paper crane away from his hand.

 

"I apologize for making it look like that. I accidentally stepped on it on my way here"

 

"It's not a problem. We can make another one anyway. Thank you"

 

Chanyeol bowed respectfully, and met a closed door when he looked up. He crumpled the plastic bag and threw it to the trash bin. He was shocked. It was surprising for him to delve into the eyes of a girl. He had never done that in the past. He ruffled his own hair and sighed. His soft sigh echoed against the white walls of the quiet hall, disturbing the eerie silence of the hall. This hall is always so quiet, isolated from the noisy bustle of doctors and nurses from the first and second floor. No matter how he tried to make his noise as little as possible, it always seemed so loud compared to the hall's silence. Chanyeol looked at room 328 for one last time, his head tilted in confusion. He shrugged and trudged towards his father's room.

 

 

 

 

a/n:

That's chapter 1. There is a big difference between this chapter and the last story's chapter. Chanyeol's dad died in the last story already but he is still alive and well(maybe not) here. Chanyeol and Hyejin also haven't met yet in this version, unlike the one before. This one's pretty short since it just introduces Chanyeol's life. More will come in the future. Like I said before, I'm not that good in writing yet but I hope you like it~!