SPECIAL CHAPTER 

Hyunseong POV

I was never fond of hospitals, everytime I come to this place is only to hear bad news. I did kendo since I was little so I have had my share of lesions: A twisted wrist, blisters on my feet, tear of the Achilles tendon and even tennis elbow.

I never liked doctors either. They always said I had to stop doing kendo for a week or two if I ever wanted to do any sports again. The serious and stern look they gave me never failed to make me feel bad for not taking care of my body properly.

And I absolutely don’t like the way this doctor is staring at me right now. He keeps looking at my right hand. The skin of my knuckles is tore and the dry blood covers my fingers, I can see in his eyes he wants to help me and even take care of the cut on my bruised cheek where blood is still fresh but that is not important right now.

I am not important right now. He is all that matters, everything that matters to me.

“How is he?” I ask the doctor but he ignores me and tries to put some liquid on my cheek but I back away. I won’t let him touch me until he answers me.

It has been like this for the last three hours since I arrived with Jeongmin in an ambulance to this hospital. As soon as the doors of the vehicle opened an army of people wearing blue scrubs surround Jeongmin and took him away, out of my sight.

No matter whom I asked or how much I asked about him. No one would tell me how he is and the worry is spreading to every single part of my body, clouding my mind and making me think of the worst possible scenario.

When Jeongmin asked me to have dinner at his house I was so excited, so happy that he had finally worked up the courage to tell his parents about us. I was too naïve, my wishful thinking saying the worst that could possibly happen was me getting banned from his house and the kendo club.

I could have never ever imagined how the reality would come hitting both of us in a second.

I thought my eyes were deceiving me when I saw Jeongmin’s father pulling him up from the chair and cornering him against the wall. I panicked and my body froze. I wanted to run to him but my feet didn’t move of its place, it was like they were glued to the floor. Then, I saw his eyes and in them I could see fear but also worry.

Even in that situation he was more worried about his mom than about himself and I complied. Against my better judgment I complied and stayed close to her mother instead of protecting him. I tried to make his father realize what he was doing by using my words but they fell in deaf ears.

At that moment her mother almost collapsed but she didn’t let me help her and when I realized it, Jeongmin was nowhere to be seen. His father has taken him away, to the storage room on their kitchen.

I run as fast as I could to the door banging it with my fists, calling his name endlessly but all I could hear were is father’s insults and some muffled words and grunts. I had never been so scared in my life. I got so desperate I started kicking the door with all my strength and after what seem to me like an hour I could finally bring it down.

The view inside the room did nothing to help my terrified state, it only intensified it.

Jeongmin was unconscious on the floor, bleeding from his mouth and nose. His face was bruised and the responsible for it was still hurting him. His father was kicking him on his stomach, his face red as he kept yelling at him.

I lost it at that point.

Rage invaded me and I pushed the man that was hurting Jeongmin away from him, he tried to fought me but I was stronger. I punched him and kicked him until my limbs got tired of it. But still, it wasn’t enough: All I could think of is that I wanted to make him feel all the pain he had inflicted on Jeongmin.

“It… hurts” I could hear Jeongmin’s faint voice and that is when I stopped to hurt the other man in the room. I went to his side and touch his cheek lightly but he backed away from my touch. “Away from me..” where his last words before I carried him out of that awful room.

I laid him on the couch of his living room and called for an ambulance. I don’t know how they understood my words but I am glad they somehow did. When they arrived they put Jeongmin in a stretcher and take him inside the ambulance.

“Take care of him” were the only words her mother said to me before we got out of that house.

“How is he?” I ask the doctor again and he leaves a long sigh out, like he is tired of my stubbornness.

“Hyunseong, I have told you before. I can only discuss the patient’s condition with a relative” he answers without wasting a second.

“Sir, you might not know the situation but... his father did that to him and knowing that her mother decided to stay with her husband. I don’t think any relative will come asking about him” I say in a bitter and dry tone, tired of this nonsense. Why can’t he tell me how Jeongmin is?

“I am sorry to hear that” he looked down at the floor with pity on his eyes that only made me feel more desperate “But you are not his relative” he answered in a decisive tone.

“But I am his boyfriend” I answer in a defiant tone looking at him directly in the eyes. He looks surprised and a bit flustered but other than that he didn’t say much after.

“You will have to stay in this room until you are willing to get treated” he said while writing something on his chart and disappearing out of the room.

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It has been six hours since I arrived to this hospital and still I don’t have news about Jeongmin. I tried to get out of this room to look for him but the annoying doctor is checking on me constantly like a watchdog. Doesn’t he have other patients at all?

After another hour of torture in which I realized I don’t have my cellphone with me, the door of my room opens once again but is not the doctor this time.

“Hyunseong!” I look up and see Donghyun hyung standing at the doorframe, his face looking paler than usual. “What happened to you? Are you ok?” he asks looking at me from head to toes but I can’t answer.

Is like words are stuck on my throat being blocked but my mind, if I say it out loud it will become real. It won’t be just a horrible nightmare that I can’t wait to wake up from. Jeongmin will really be hurt and I was useless and couldn’t protect him.

“Hyunseong?” for the first time in my life I am scared to look at Donghyun hyung. I am scared to tell him the truth. “What happened? Weren’t you with Jeongmin?” his voice weavers and my heart sinks when I hear his name.

Jeongmin. I should have been the one being hurt, not him. This is my fault, all those years practicing kendo were a waste of time. I couldn’t protect the one I love when he most needed it. I wasn’t there for him when he needed me the most. I failed him, this is my entire fault.

The white floor looks blurry as warm tears leave my eyes, my whole body starts trembling “Is my fault” my words sound weak, so weak. “He… Jeongmin is hurt” the words finally get out of my throat “It is my fault. It was because of me Donghyun” It has become hard to breathe, so hard.

Suddenly, all of the pain comes at once. I feel my right hand as heavy as a rock, the weight pulling me down. My cheek stings so much, the air coming in contact with the open wound making me hiss. My eyes hurt so much because of all the tears leaving at once but still none of those compare to the pain I feel on my chest. Is like someone is punching me and the fist is stuck where my heart is supposed to be, leaving me breathless.

“Jeongmin… they won’t tell me how Jeongmin is”

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I have been in this hospital for the last twelve hours and I have hated every second of it but what I hate the most is the fact that no one tells me when Jeongmin is going to wake up.

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