It was soon obvious that Lu han wasn’t an early person. He didn’t only sleep for almost three hours on the afternoon, but it was already nine in the morning and he just kept his eyes closed. Minseok wished they were open so he could just stare at them for at least a couple more minutes.

In the mornings he normally felt his usual headache, but, apart from that, his heart felt strangely weird today. He tried to watch some TV to see if he could get his head out of it, but it was just constant. Playing with the Rubik’s cube wasn’t even an option anymore. After letting Lu han play with it, Minseok didn’t want to move it from the top of the drawer. He wanted Lu han to know he could play with it any time he wanted. He wanted him to trust him.

The sun made the room look beautiful, but Lu han’s bed was the one close to the door, so Minseok still didn’t know how he looked in the daylight. It was also quite a silent morning apart from the usual hospital sounds coming from the corridors.

Minseok was trying to see through the closed curtains when he heard Lu han moving. His head turned as fast as it could and a wave of pain hit him hard. He closed his eyes and tried to think about happy thoughts.

“Are you okay?”

The boy’s voice reached his ears and filled his head with happy thoughts. It was kind of weird how Lu han always made Minseok smile even though his head felt like exploding.

He nodded and slowly opened his eyes to the beautiful mess that was the new boy. He was lying on his side and his sheets were tangled among his legs like a white snake.  He smiled at him and soon the pain was away.

“Good morning.” He said it almost like a question, but Minseok didn’t dare to take any risks. “What’s exciting about today?”

He tried to sit but gave up, making a bad face –which was not bad at all.

Minseok threw his sheet away and pushed his legs out of the bed. Breathed in, breathed out and stood up with the help of happy thoughts. Two steps later he was next to Lu han’s bed and the boy looked at him with a weird expression.

“I’m going to help you.” Minseok said with a smile. It had a little touch of fakeness since he was terribly nervous about touching the boy, but any smiles directed to Lu han were real.

He offered his hand and he accepted happily. His skin was so smooth and his hand matched perfectly with Minseok’s that if Lu han wasn’t trying to stand up, Minseok would probably never had zoomed out of that moment.

After a few seconds of struggle Lu han was safe and sound and breathing heavily and really close to Minseok. He wasn’t sure if what he could hear was his own heart or if it was Lu han’s, but he guessed that such a fast heartbeat was normal after getting up. They stayed like that for what felt like was forever, but it was probably just a couple of minutes.

“Um… Can I go to the bathroom?”

Blood rushed to his face and Minseok hurried back so Lu han could walk past him, but his small oxygen tank was in his way and he started his descend - which would be a pretty horrible one for such a weak kid like he was.

He closed his eyes tightly and waited for his back to hit the tip of the bed, but warmth caught his right arm and tried to pull him back up. The sad thing was that Lu han was not that strong either. Minseok was sure that they both would black out and they would have to wait until food arrived to be saved, but Lu han insisted on a tight hug that secured them both from falling down.

This time he could feel both of their heartbeats, and they were faster than ever. They were synchronized.  It felt weird hugging Lu Han, but at the same time it felt like they did that every single day. He wished they did that every day. They could start doing that every day - but without the falling part.

It felt like they would never break apart. Their bodies felt like one for the long seconds they stood like that, but, as soon as the sound of someone opening the door reached their ears, they took a step back. Synchronized.

It was a nurse, but it wasn’t Baekhyun. Minseok would be sad if it happened under normal circumstances, but that wasn’t even close to normal. The nurse had bought what he said was food, but his face didn’t make Minseok believe him.

~

The rest of the morning was spent in silence and soon the afternoon came and all that could be heard were the birds singing outside the window. Minseok wanted to run through the fields barefoot and feel the wind on his face. Lu han could come with him and the wind would cure them both.

The boy was sitting on his bed while holding the Rubik’s cube, not really playing. Even though they didn’t talk to each other after the incident, Minseok knew it meant that they were okay. Nothing happened for Lu han to be mad at him, but he still blamed himself for being stupid.

Minseok could hear the exciting steps of Baekhyun from the corridor before he opened the door, bringing a smile on his face. He lived around sick people and he still managed to do that. That’s one of the things Minseok liked the most about him.

“Good morning, Minseok! Good morning, Lu han.”

Minseok couldn’t stop himself and smiled. He was never sure if the boy was joking or not.

“It’s afternoon, Baekhyun. You weren’t here in the morning.”

“It was a scary guy.” Lu han said “He looked like he wanted to punch me for going to the bathroom before doing what he told me to.”

The smile got even wider.  It was nice seeing Lu han speak.  It always made Minseok’s skin melt and his stomach twirl. If he made friends with Baekhyun it would be even better. They could share sandwiches with each other.

“Oh, that was probably Sehun.” The nurse answered while rolling his moving table next to Lu han’s bed.  It had the packages with the yellow liquid called Exo-M. If you looked at it for too long it starts looking like pee. “He is nice, but don’t you worry, today was just really bad for a kid at room 250. I had to help with the puking part.”

Baek began to put his white gloves on when a woman’s scream came from the open door. Minseok stared at it and stared back at the nurse who just ignored it. The rooms around them were made for people who were slowly dying, like Minseok and Lu han, but from time to time the drugs could be really painful.

“Don’t you guys worry.” Baekhyun started explaining “It’s just a baby popping.”

Babies. Minseok always loved looking at them through the window and how everything about them was just minimum. Everything unless their smiles. He liked Lu han’s better.

“Can we go see it later?”

Lu han looked at him and smiled. They could hang out together outside of the room. He was sure that he wasn’t the only one that didn’t like sitting in his bed and doing nothing while waiting for something magical to happen. They understood each other.

“Sure. I’ll just let the doctor know.”

It was a date. Not a real date with coffee and holding hands, but just two friends hanging out while staring at babies. That’s how hanging out works in a hospital when you’re sick.