Picture Imperfect

A week passed. In just that week, things had seemed to settle into a routine.

Tao had never liked routines. He never liked doing the same thing twice. Every day, he wanted to be a new person. It was why he liked acting so much. He never had to be the same person twice in a row. He could become someone else by just reading a script.

Yet this routine, the one he had in the hospital, was easy. He found himself falling into it quite easily.

Every morning, he’d wake up at the same time he always did. His internal alarm always woke him up at seven am sharp, as much as he hated it. But he found himself sitting in bed and eating a breakfast of a bagel and hot coffee as he watched reruns of Pororo and laughed at the childish jokes.

It’d been years since he’d seen Pororo last.

To say the least, breakfast in bed was enjoyable.

Only an hour later, Jiyoon came to visit with a new movie her brother had brought in hand. They would sit together on the bed, Tao underneath the covers and Jiyoon with a soft blanket over her. Only their hands would touch as the film played on the small television set.

If it was a comedy, they’d laugh at the same parts. If it was a drama, they’d start bawling as soon as it became too sad. If it was an action, they’d be on the edge of their seats. If it was a romance, they’d coo at the onscreen couple.

To Tao, it was fun.

Being with a friend… it was fun.

As soon as the film ended, Jiyoon would retreat to her room for lunch and to see her brother or her friend, Soojung, who sometimes came along with him, and Tao would stay in his room, one or more of his friends sometimes visiting. Most of the time, it was Kris, Sehun, Minseok, Jongdae, Luhan, Yixing, or Joonmyeon, but Jongin often tagged along with Sehun, while Joonmyeon dragged Chanyeol and Baekhyun.

Of course, most of them scolded him for being so irresponsible as to land himself in the hospital. Tao just shook their comments off.

He was so grateful for their kindness, but he was terrified.

He was terrified that they would be sad once he was no longer with them. That was the last thing he wanted. He didn’t want to make anyone sad. So instead of thanking them sincerely, he was cold, standoffish, and aloof. Tao did his best to push his friends away.

But they never left his side. They stayed with him, bringing him a healthy, homemade lunch each day and bringing him all the work he missed in his repeated classes. Which, of course, Tao didn’t care about. He breezed through it and handed it back, all answers completely correct.

After he did his work, any of his friends that came would leave, preparing to go back to their own routines. And so, Tao’s daily regimen continued as well.

He would hoist himself from his bed, sometimes with the assistance of the nurses, but most of the time without. He placed himself in the wheelchair they’d provided him with, which he hated using. It was just that it was painful to try getting around the huge hospital without the aid of the chair. His ribs ached whenever he tried.

He’d then wheel himself all the way down to the second floor, to where the psychiatric ward was. Jiyoon was always waiting for him, scribbling away in the same little pink notebook she had every day. Whenever he called out to her, she’d look up and a smile would immediately cross her face.

They’d return to her hospital room, where she would proceed to do her homework. They would talk about their days, like who had visited them that day and what they’d done with whoever had come to see them.

Some days, their stories were as exciting as an action movie. Other days, they wouldn’t have anything exciting to tell each other at all.

On those days, they would often tell each other about their lives outside of the hospital. What they liked doing, who they hung out with, etcetera, etcetera.

The one thing they never talked about was their home lives.

Even with that, Tao felt as if he knew Jiyoon almost as well as he knew Kris or Sehun, who he’d known for years.

To him, Jiyoon was an open book.

She wore her heart on her sleeve, just like him. She wasn’t afraid to say what she felt or what was on her mind. She liked photography and film. Her favorite place to be was the beach. She loved fluffy stuffed animals. One of her favorite things to do in her free time was to go window-shopping with her friend, Soojung.

In fact, they were really more alike than they’d thought when he first agreed to date her. The only difference between the two of them was that while Tao was loud even with other people, not seeming to care how they felt, Jiyoon kept quiet around others.

“Tao?”

The four faces, only one of them belonging Tao, turned to look at her. Jiyoon felt herself flushing as the handsome boys stared at her. She hid her face behind her messenger bag, peering over the top of it.

One of the boys, who