captain’s log / 140207 jinhwan’s birthday.

Hanbin turned to lie on his side to gaze at the water droplets forming against the thin glass sheet which separated him from the darkness of the seemingly cold morning. It was five in the morning, and his usual nightmare had just passed. His father had once again, made his appearance in the dream, successfully causing the dampness in his palms. He would always be the something chasing him for reasons he could not comprehend. Shutting his eyes, he swallowed hard as he heard light footsteps approaching at a familiar fast pace. The scent of damp sweetness drifted across the distance between the figure and Hanbin as he opened his eyes to greet the nurse. He knew her as Jin and she was always this punctual, plodding cautiously into the room at ten minutes past five in the morning to fill the water jug for him.

“Mornings.”

“Good morning,” she hummed softly as the sound of water flowing from jug to jug complemented the melodious rhythms of the rain outside the window, “Oh right and Dr Kim might be a little late today. He called in earlier on and apologized for leaving the house late.”

“That didn’t happen before.” Hanbin mused as he pushed himself up to lean against his pillow as he looked at her with enquiring eyes.

“His sister wanted to celebrate his birthday with him. They’re an odd family, they insist on cutting the cake right in the morning regardless of Dr Kim’s appointments on that day.” Jin smiled and nodded slightly before shutting the jug tightly with the cap and leaving the room. Hanbin raised an eyebrow and let out a soft sigh. As Jin closed the door behind her, he reached for his notebook lying on the bedside table. Bringing his knees up towards his chest, he placed the notebook on his lap and began to scribble on the empty page on his notebook, keeping this position for a few hours besides the occasional need to bend over to reach for an eraser.

_

Jinhwan rushed across the street with his backpack strung over his narrow shoulders, a deep frown knitted across his forehead as he groaned at the rain. His sister had gotten especially excited over the fact that he was getting older and repeatedly spoke of the need to get a partner to spend the rest of his life with. He shook the notion off with jovial distaste as he chuckled at her words, his eyes fixated on the candles on the cake reminding him of the dapples of orange light from the lamp sitting next to a photo frame on the bedside table in his patient’s room. Glancing at the time on the watch strapped around his thin wrist, Jinhwan bit his lower lip in frustration. The bus wasn’t coming, and at this rate he would have been late for his usual voyages to his patients’ rooms. After a few minutes, he got back to his feet with anxiety and scurried towards the pavement, picking up pace as he rushed through the stream of strangers moving in the opposite direction. The inability to be punctual was always something that bothered Jinhwan greatly, and making such a mistake on his part wasn’t pleasant – that rainy day being his birthday didn’t give him a valid reason to go against his principles. But running in the rain wasn’t pleasant either. He disliked the feeling of his damp shirt hugging his skin tightly, and let out a soft groan at the thought of hanging his sneakers out to dry. As he reached the main entrance of the familiar building, he stopped and regained his composure before entering.

“Jinhwan. You’re drenched.” A soft voice rang out from behind him as he stood waiting for the lift. Turning around, he blinked at his colleague for a few seconds before nodding in attempt to catch his breath.

“Ah, yeah. The bus didn’t come on time.” He let out a sheepish grin and entered the lift hurriedly.

“Take care of yourself, you might get sick if you get wet like that.” The taller man landed a soft pat on Jinhwan’s head before leaving the lift. Still panting, he sighed and leant against the railing in the lift. He had barely closed his eyes for a few seconds before the lift doors opened and a rush for his room ensued. Closing the door behind him, he let his bag fall off his shoulders onto the couch, leaving a wet patch on the dark brown fabric. He pulled a shoebag out and dropped it on the ground, proceeding to sit down and change his shoes. Frowning, he then placed the sneakers next to his desk and drew the blinds before putting his coat on and leaving the room with his clipboard.

The walk through the quiet corridors left Jinhwan smiling awkwardly to the other staff as he went by sneezing repeatedly. Eventually he paused in front of the room at the end of the corridor and pushed the door open slowly, blinking at the boy sitting curled up in the bed, his feet squirming beneath the blanket.

“Afternoons.” Jinhwan hummed as he walked towards the boy, his hands fit snugly in his pockets to stop them from trembling in the cold weather. Yet the said boy didn’t reply him, his concentration wrapped up in the bijou locus of the page in the notebook. Jinhwan blinked awkwardly before tilting his head to the side, pulling the clipboard up to place it on the table in front of him. After close to two months of interaction with Hanbin, Jinhwan had grown to be accustomed to his spouts of silence once he got engrossed in the miniscule yet largely captivating world of his notebook. It usually took some probing to capture his attention, only to be told that he was composing a song – and he would have the chords or notes written on amazingly straight lines with a blunt pencil. He rarely sharpened the pencil, resorting to the habit of sharpening it once a week. Hanbin had odd habits, but besides these details he was an ordinary boy – an ordinary boy with a immense interest in music, and he was fortunate that he had a natural flair for it. Jinhwan shook his head and began his routine of asking Hanbin a series of questions ranging from whether he had nightmares the night before to whether he preferred chicken fried or steamed. Eventually, the boy let out a soft chuckle and looked back up at his doctor.

“Steamed.” He smiled slightly as he placed the pencil down on the book. He was beginning to smile more often, and this made Jinhwan happy.

“How many times have I asked you this?”

“Maybe ten,” Hanbin grinned and looked at his book for a few moments before turning back to Jinhwan, “Doctor, do you happen to perhaps, play the piano?”

“Occasionally.”

“That’s good. Take this then.” Hanbin nodded as he flipped through the book as though looking for a certain page and tore a set of five pages out with caution before handing the stack to his doctor. Jinhwan appeared to be confused as he walked over and received the set with a light nod.

“Thank you,” As Jinhwan spoke, Hanbin nodded and wrapped his arms around his calves as he pulled his knees back towards his chest. Recognizing it as his own way to express his desire to be left to rest, Jinhwan chuckled softly as he picked the clipboard up and started for the door, “Rest well.”

As he closed the door behind him, Jinhwan glanced at the sheets of paper on the way to visit his next patient, roughly recognizing “Happy Birthday” written on the top right hand corner of the first page, followed by a series of bars.

“Self-composed by Kim Hanbin aka the patient who arrived during Christmas.” Jinhwan read aloud as he smiled widely at the last page.

AN: 2 days late aha. threw some fluff in.