I weave through crowds of wandering people, I push through scurrying nurses and I’m also leaping over the smaller children. At this point, I am oblivious to the direction in which I am headed towards, yet I keep running. My heart and life is connected to Chanyeol’s one way or another and even if it takes years, somehow, I’ll just find him. The echo of Baekhyun’s voice is becoming lost in the distance and my mind tries to convince me to turn around and wait, but I don’t stop.

  “Where the hell are you running off to?”

  I turn around and capture Baekhyun’s gaze, a longing stare of pain and sorrow, since the drive back, he didn’t stop crying. Maybe I should listen to him. After all, I am the reflection of him that he is afraid will commit the same mistakes. Like a broken record stuck on replay. Like the past of his mother that haunts him forever.

  “Look out!”

  I am still running.

  I turn ahead and there is a wall. The whiteness is creeping closer and before I realise what is about to happen, before my heels dig in the ground, there is a collision on my forehead. A sweeping gust of dizziness overwhelms me and the next second, I find myself lying down, my eyes fixed on the ceiling.

  Everything is blurry, especially the darkened silhouette that is hovering just above my face.

  Actually, that face is a little too close.

  I jolt up and our foreheads crash against each other, I’m now sitting but Baekhyun is aimlessly stumbling backwards. He rests his palm on his head and shuts his eyes, “You have a thick skull. Literally. Why did you run off like that? Did you even know where you were going?” The frustration is playing on him and I back away, I guess I should have stopped while I had the chance.

  “Yes, kind of, maybe, well… no,” my neck cranes and I hang my head, unable to even think about the way he is looking at me, “I just thought that no matter where I ran, fate would just somehow… lead me to Chanyeol. Even blindfolded or in eternal darkness, I would find him right there. I thought that was the thing with twins, you know? You can never really let go of each other.”

  “I understand.”

  Gradually,  I lift my head, dreading the moment his melancholy intertwines with mine. Yet when our eyes lock, his are formed into crescents and I swear he’s smiling, and I’ll label it as genuine. “So you’re not mad at me?”

  He pokes a finger at my forehead, “Of course I am! You dragged me to the organ transplant waiting room for no reason and knocked me right in my beautiful forehead! I’m going to get an ugly purple bruise that has a green glow to it and my precious skin will be hurt!” He smiles again and for a moment, I forget we are in the hospital.

  I just giggle, and I realise how much I missed a short yet pure second of laughter. “Don’t worry, you won’t get a bruise. You’ll have a massive lump instead!” He makes an exaggerated gasping face and breaks into a fit of laughter. I join in too, but our unusual act of mirth draws disturbed and horrified expressions from the patients and their families.

  Right, we’re in an organ transplant waiting room.

  And we’re laughing.

  “We should go,” Baekhyun whispers in my ear and pulls me from the wrist, “and this time, I’m leading the way.”

  The ride in the elevator added with the short stroll to Chanyeol’s room seemed like forever, and I think, in a rather good way. Our conversation topic wasn’t on Chanyeol, his mother nor anything that would dampen our spirits, we talked about each other. Baekhyun shared the story of how he wanted to be an universal singer, but he didn’t want to travel around the world and away from where his mother was lying. Baekhyun reminisced of his childhood friends and how they all were bound together through their passion of music. He teared up a little when he admitted that Chanyeol brought that spark of passion back to him, but how Chanyeol also constantly reminded him of his mistakes.

  “I-I don’t want to go in,” I choke out when we reach Chanyeol’s room.

  Baekhyun gapes back, astonished and unable to grasp for words, “What?”

  “I feel like once I go in, I’ll be worried sick when all I want is to be happy.”

  “Can’t Chanyeol be happy too?”

  I pause, smile slightly, and turn the doorknob, “You have a way with words.” The door opens and I peer inside, towards Chanyeol’s haven - his hospital bed. There’s an immobile bump under the covers, I guess he must still be sound asleep. I gently shut the door behind us and tiptoe towards the bed, “Shhh… he’s sleeping. I’ll lift the covers and you go and tickle him!” We stifle our laughs  and with a mighty swoop, the blanket drapes off the bed.

  “Where is Chanyeol?”

  I can’t answer, everything was going so well and the biggest problem that could have occurred is happening.

  Chanyeol is gone.

 Words are jammed in the back of my throat and I scan every inch of the room, examine every speck of dust, and I don’t take a breath until I look behind and under every single object. Baekhyun is merely watching my frenetic motion, dashing from one end to the other, basically pulling my hair. I wince and scream, the one time I’m not there this happens. Was going with Baekhyun a good idea? Even if it was, I know that every single blame will be pinned on me.

  He’s gone. I can’t believe it. I was never prepared for this. Why? Why now? Just when I understand how precious his limited life is, he disappears.

  “Jennifer, he’s in the bathroom.”

  “Oh my gosh,” I sigh of relief and my heartbeats slow down, “He’s okay…”

  “No... He’s not.”

A/N: Hello :) Sorry the update was really late, but I hope you enjoy this chapter <3 Please leave a comment and subscribe :)