Memories May Be Beautiful... And Yet

Breathless
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

The day after Jongin’s breakdown, Taemin arrives in a nondescript van wearing a hoodie and a face mask, enough for him to blend in almost seamlessly with the other patients in the hospital. Sehun intercepts him at the hospital lobby warily and accompanies him to the cafeteria where the two hyungs are waiting. “Is everything okay?” the up and rising idol asks in a worried tone as they walk. “Is Jongin alright?”

“Depends what you mean by alright,” Sehun replies, cryptic.

Taemin sighs. “Look, Sehun. I know you’re not a big fan of what happened between my best friend and I all those years ago, but I’m sorry you can’t stand me, okay?”

Sehun rolls his eyes as he sees the table where Minseok and Luhan are sitting in deep conversation with each other. “Yeah, okay.” Is all he says before he seeks the comfort of sitting beside Luhan. Taemin sits across the three of them with an expectant look on his face. Before he could even get a word out, Luhan speaks up. “Jongin already knows about… well, about you.”

Taemin frowns. “Well, it’s good that he’s remembering, right? Is he mad at me?”

Luhan shrugs. “That’s the problem. He didn’t remember it on his own. We had to tell him because he inadvertently connected some dots here and there. We’re not sure he knows just how to respond to the new knowledge at this point.”

“Oh.” Is Taemin’s only reply to the revelation. He sits in silence, contemplating the situation. “So… why have you asked me to meet with you? Is this about the bills? Because I’m still going to pay for those. Not because I’m trying to compensate for leaving him while he was down, but because he’s my friend.”

Minseok clears his throat and speaks up. “We think… that it’s a good idea for you to talk to him. Clear some things up. He might have some questions. And… it’s probably good that you’re there to answer them. We think he’s just coming to terms with the knowledge of his d-depression, and the dream he left behind when it first happened… It’s just… you have quite some things to discuss, and it’d do Jongin good to not let him stew in queries, you know?”

A slow nod. “I get it. And I do have time, at least for the rest of the day.” Taemin stands and bows to the three people in front of him. “Thank you.” Minseok and Luhan nod uncertainly, while Sehun gives a begrudging shrug.

As soon as he is out of the door, all three give loud sighs. “I hope we’re doing the right thing,” Minseok mutters. He brushes his fringe out of his eyes in a nervous tic.  

Luhan sighs again and pats Sehun’s thigh to comfort the younger.

“Shame about Doctor Do, isn’t it?” a voice behind them says. It is quiet enough for it to be a part of a conversation between the people on the table behind theirs, but Minseok, Luhan, and Sehun stiffen up at the mention of a familiar name and could not turn around to determine who the speaker was.

Another voice speaks up. “Yeah, it’s too bad he had to be suspended. I heard he saved that patient’s life.”

Suspended? Kyungsoo, suspended? Luhan and Minseok share confused looks and Sehun frowns.

Someone else speaks another different voice. “But he did breach the rules about operating on friends and family.”

The second person hums thoughtfully. “Still, he saved that patient, didn’t he? He did it because Dr. Yifan wasn’t around to handle it, and it was an emergency. That patient would probably not be conscious right now if it wasn’t for him.”

“Dr. Zhang had to step in mid-operation, so they said.” The first voice.

“What happened?” The third speaker asks, intrigued.

“Complications with his condition, I guess? He is confined right now.” It is the second speaker who shines light on the situation.

Three pairs of eyes widen at what they’re hearing, and the dawn of realization almost sends them reeling over on the table in shock. A suspension, which explained why Kyungsoo was packing up when they last saw him. And complications with his medical condition led to his current confinement, which they didn’t even know about because they didn’t bother to hear his explanations.

“How is he?” the owner of the first voice asks with a tone of anxiety.

“Dr. Kim says he’s stable, but his condition is quite… complicated right now. His recovery after the operation was less than stellar, so we’re keeping an eye on him just in case. But I think he’s more broken up because of that patient than anything else. He also took care of the watcher, so they must have been close, huh?” is the diligent reply of the owner of the third voice.

One of the other two mutters. “The past tense being the operative tense here.”

Luhan and Minseok turn inquiring looks in Sehun’s direction and the boy shrugs to confirm it. It’s true, his gesture says. With raised brows, Minseok turns to look at who the mysterious voices belong to.  Luhan follows suit and they come face to face with the figures of the two nurses at Jongin’s ward, and the intern that was always hanging around with them at the cafeteria.

All three had their backs turned to them, and with a silent agreement, Sehun and his companions stand up to leave. The moment they’re out of the door, Baekhyun turns to confirm their leaving and sighs.

“Well, we did what we could.”

“Let’s hope your genius plan works, Jongdae.” Chanyeol looks at the intern.

Jongdae gives them a mock affronted glare. “Well, when you called for a meeting on how we could atone, I didn’t realize that there was no plan yet. That’s the best I could come up with at the moment.”

Chanyeol gives him a slow nod. “Uh-huh.”

--

Kyungsoo is woken from his deep slumber at the loud crash of his room’s door hitting the wall. Disoriented, he wakes up with a gasp. Consciousness still not quite caught up with his body’s waking state, he sits up abruptly and groans as he tries to orient himself, heart beating erratically. “What-“ his heart monitor beeps incessantly, reflecting the wild staccato going on inside his chest.

Three figures rush in, and Kyungsoo gapes at them as his brain makes the connection of who is standing in his room. “What’s going on?” He asks, panicked. “What’s wrong, is he okay?!”

“Hyung. Hyung! He’s fine.” Sehun gasps as he tries to regain his breath.

Kyungsoo relaxes marginally and leans back on his bed, confusion and panic still rushing through his veins. “I don’t understand. What are you doing here? How did you find out I was here?”

“We uh, we overheard the nurses and that other guy they always hang out with at the cafeteria,” Luhan answers with a sheepish shrug.

Kyungsoo narrows his eyes at this. Somehow, he knows that Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Jongdae were far more involved with the sudden appearance of these three than they appeared to be.

“Is it true?” Minseok asks, but Kyungsoo’s reply is interrupted when a nurse runs in, looking frazzled.

“Doctor Do, are you alright?” she asks, panting.

“I’m okay, Nurse Dara, thank you.” Kyungsoo answers politely, surprised at the nurse’s sudden appearance.

The nurse nods once to him and turns to look at the three figures still standing by the door. “And you three! Slamming doors in a hospital, what on earth are you on about?!” she shrieks in a controlled volume. “You’re not even supposed to be here! Dr. Junmyeon said, ‘no visitors’.” She says, gritting her teeth. 

“It’s okay… Let them stay for a while.” Kyungsoo says, surprising all of them.

Nurse Dara looks uncomfortable with the request but finally sighs and nods. “I understand. But remember what Dr. Junmyeon said Doc.” She gives Kyungsoo a rueful smile as she leaves and closes the door quietly with a pointed look at the three.

“Feisty.” Sehun comments, looking properly cowed.

“Just doing her job.” Kyungsoo shrugs. “Anyway, why…”

Minseok walks over to the side of the bed. “Kyungsoo, is it true?” he asks, echoing his unanswered question from earlier. “Did you really get suspended because you operated on Jongin?”

Kyungsoo frowns. “Not that it’s supposed to be broadcasted, but yes…”

“Is it also true what you did for Sehun before we arrived? And that you were the one responsible for actually getting us here?” Luhan asks.

“I suppose so, yes,” Kyungsoo answers and gives Sehun a look loaded with meaning. “But I told him I wasn’t doing it to buy back affections. I wasn’t doing any of it as a means to that end.”

Sehun looks away from the gaze. “I- we know, hyung. But thanks anyway.”

“Just looking out for the people I care about.” Kyungsoo mumbles.

“But you got suspended.” Luhan reacts, walking over to stand beside his best friend. Seh

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
psychophoenix
[Breathless!AU] Is anyone still alive in here? New update to Breathless, and no, it's not a chapter but a question. Let me know your thoughts!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
tonnettie
#1
Chapter 12: They compliment each other
Mistycal #2
Chapter 8: Woo ok still a lighthearted one phew
Mistycal #3
Chapter 7: OOOOOF ok things about to get wild in heree
Mistycal #4
Chapter 5: Lmao that last part tho
Mistycal #5
Chapter 3: Oh I really forgot all about this story huh. Dang ittt nooo Kaii
Mistycal #6
Chapter 1: Ok I'm so ready for a roller coaster ride
Kaisoolover1288
#7
Chapter 12: I love ittttt
NaysaKropka #8
Chapter 12: I love this story ?
Shey_real24 #9
Chapter 4: This story is soooooo beautiful. ❤❤❤
moonlightprays #10
Chapter 12: I’ve been away for a long time from fics too but i revisited now and saw this update and honestly this fic stuck on me i’ve read this twice for about three or two years ago during my college days. Now I’m that I’m working and want to go back to reading, I’d love to see an AU of this. ♥️