Clouds Shaped Like Love

Tao nibbled on another piece of Pepero, his dark eyes locked onto the blue sky overhead. The white clouds passed slowly as the girl sitting cross-legged on the roof of the hospital next to him.

He looked over to the girl as she pointed. “Doesn’t that one look like a bunny?” Jiyoon asked softly, pointing at the cloud almost directly over their heads.

“Jiyoon, they all look like bunnies to you,” he replied, his eyes twinkling in amusement as she pouted, biting into a Pepero stick.

If someone had told him that he would be sitting on the rooftop of the hospital with the cute brunette he saw when he was last in the hospital, eating junk food and chocolate, he would’ve called whoever said that crazy. Yet there he was, downing Pepero and banana milk like it was the last day of his life alongside Jiyoon.

When he’d caught a glimpse of her outside of his room, he wondered just what she was doing back in the same hospital they’d both been in only two days prior.

Yet he didn’t complain.

For some reason, he felt that pull, the same one that had caused him to even say a word to her. Although he hadn’t been the nicest person about her bumping into him when they’d met, she didn’t seem to mind.

In fact, it was like she barely remembered their first interaction.

“Hey, Tao?” He turned towards the source of the voice. Jiyoon looked up at him. “How long are you supposed to be in the hospital?” she murmured, looking at him.

 He shrugged. “Four weeks, give or take.”

A frown tugged at her face. “Four weeks, huh… that’s not very long compared to me.” He stared at her. “I’m here until they deem me sane,” she continued, staring at her hands that she folded over her lap.

Tao took pity on her, seeing her expression fall to complete sadness in a matter of moments. “Is this your first time away from home for more than a few hours?” he asked softly, his tough exterior completely crumbling away at the sight of a sad girl in front of him. She nodded wordlessly, unable to speak. “It gets easier.”

“You know for sure?” Jiyoon’s voice shook. “I haven’t been anywhere without one of my family members… ever,” she admitted, squeezing her hands together.

Leaning back, the black-haired male crossed his arms after biting down on another stick of Pepero. “Yeah, I know for sure.” A small, sad smile tugged at his lips. “I’m actually from Qingdao, in China.” Just talking about it made him miss home.

Her eyes widened as she turned to look at him. “Are you serious?” she asked incredulously, her eyes sparkling as they met his. “That’s amazing! I always wanted to go to China,” she mumbled, suddenly looking away.

He chuckled a little. “It’s beautiful back home. There’s days I miss it a lot,” admitted the panda-like boy.

“I could bet… Are you ever lonely here?”

“Sometimes I miss home,” Tao replied, thinking of his mother’s home cooked meals and the warm feeling he got whenever he walked down the streets of his loving hometown, hearing everyone say hi to him. “There’s just a different feeling from Seoul that you don’t get in Qingdao and vice versa.”

“I see…”

He looked over to see her downcast again. He could feel a frown being written on his face. “But it’s not a bad thing. I have good friends here, but sometimes I get homesick.”

Jiyoon nodded. “I’m homesick right now, too. But my home is only twenty minutes away… it must be hard for you.”

“Yeah…”

The two fell silent almost immediately afterwards, devouring more of the Pepero, soon finishing the entire two boxes that Eunkwang had given her to snack on.

After a few minutes without words, Jiyoon spoke up, her eyes focused on anywhere but on Tao. “Hey… Tao… do you mind telling me why you’re in the hospital?” she asked quietly, as if she was trying not to offend him.

He paused, wondering just what he should tell her. “I got into a little bit of a fight yesterday,” he began slowly. “Injured my recently broken ribs even more. Just have to stay here until they heal or my friends are going to kill me.” He shrugged, like it wasn’t a big deal.

“That’s not the only reason, right?”

Tao paused, frozen by Jiyoon’s spot on accusation. He didn’t realize that she was so perceptive. Slowly, he nodded, confirming to her that it wasn’t just a couple of broken ribs that placed him in the hospital. “You’re right,” he admitted softly.

Leaning forward, the tiny brunette looked at him, attempting to meet his eyes. “You can talk to me, you know.”

He hesitated to speak again.

Only Kris knew of his heart condition. He hadn’t even told Minseok or Jongdae, his roommates, because he knew that Minseok would start to