There was something wrong with his wife, yet he wasn’t so sure what. His wife and their unborn were in danger and he was powerless to do anything. With the situation becoming too much for him there was really only one thing Joonmyun’s brother could do: panic. In his blind panic he had called the first person he came across in his contacts- which happened to be Joonmyun- and when his brother finally arrived, began panicking onto him.

It was a lot of work, but eventually Joonmyun managed to calm him down enough that he could sit down and get through a cup of coffee from the vending machine.

“Will you stop it!” he had shouted, grabbing his brother and shaking him “Getting worked up like this is not going to do anybody any good. Your wife and child need you, do you really think you’re going to be much help if you look like this?”

An hour later since arriving, Joonmyun had just finished calling Sunyoung at work to explain why there would probably be hardly any sign of him today and handed his brother some M&M’s he fished out from the various vending machines lining the maternity ward, hoping he would eat something.

“I’m sorry” his brother pipes up “For how I acted earlier”

“It’s fine. I’m sure plenty of people have reacted that way in your situation” Joonmyun replies, his brother nodding his head, shifting in his seat before he spoke again

“What if something has happened though? What if something’s happened to our child? I-I don’t know what I would do”

“There has been no news yet indicating otherwise. If you keep getting yourself worked up like this you’ll make yourself ill. If anything happens, you’ll cross that bridge when you come to it. For now just please calm down and trying to relax” Joonmyun replies, thinking that If his career as a journalist ever collapsed, he could always try a career as a therapist.

The silence that followed was deafening. Occasionally there would be a midwife running down the hall in the direction of a delivery room, or there was a person or two coming to use the vending machines. Besides this, nothing exciting really happened and with his phone now on a low battery level, there was really nothing he could do.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear that scarf before” his brother says, pointing to the scarf that stopped just beneath Joonmyun’s lips

“I bought it recently. The weather’s coming in a lot colder now anyway” Joonmyun replies, the temperature in the area they were sat in backing up his point.

“It’s a bit big don’t you think?” his brother asks

“Well I only realised that after I had taken off all the tags and wrapped it around my neck. I think it’s a bit too late to return it now” Joonmyun explains and for a couple of seconds his brother is able to genuinely laugh. Joonmyun’s just glad his brother believed the lie; there would be no way he would have let it go if he found out it was actually Yifan’s scarf that Joonmyun never returned to him.

After almost two hours of being with his brother, someone had finally arrived with some news. Seeing them walk over, Joonmyun worked on calming his brother down and have him actually listen to what was happening before he reacted.

“We’re satisfied that there is now nothing which poses a major threat to the health and safety of your wife and child” they began, Joonmyun’s brother collapsing against him and sighing out in relief “We will keep her in for a few nights to monitor her and when we’re satisfied, she’ll be allowed home to rest”

Thanking them, Joonmyun moves back to his brother- who is close to tears- and not knowing what to do, decides to just pat his back and hope for the best.

“There he is!” comes a voice from down the hall and when Joonmyun looks up, his parents and mother-in-law are running down the hall

“What are they doing here?” his brother asks

“I had someone I know call them when I was rushing over here to get to you. They probably know a lot better than I do how best to handle the situation” Joonmyun explains as his brother hugs him and he hugs him back.

“You’re literally the best brother ever” his brother says as Joonmyun laughs and releases the hug

“I’ll take repayment in the form of chocolate or wine” he replies, moving away as his parents get closer “I’ll see you around. Keep me updated!” he adds and quickly walks past his parents with his gaze kept to the ground and quickly heads for the exit.

Only managing to find a parking spot quite a distance away from the maternity ward, the walk back to his car is quite a long one and because it had gotten significantly colder since he arrived earlier in the day, he quickened his pace so he could get back and fire up the heater to warm himself up.

“Joonmyun?”

Hearing his name, Joonmyun turns around and is surprised to see Qian stood just a few feet away from. Briefly he wonders what she’s doing here, but then remembers that Siwon is still in the hospital.

“How are you?” she asks

“I-I’m good, thank you, h-how are you?” Joonmyun replies and all Qian does is nod her head in response. Thinking this conversation was about to go anywhere, Joonmyun begins to make his way back to his car, but Qian reaches out and gently grabs the sleeve of his coat.

“You should come with me” she says, not needing to further explain what she means

“U-uh, well, I would but I’m not really family… or a close friend s-so…” Joonmyun begins in reply, but stops short in embarrassment over how much he is stuttering

“He’s not here Joonmyun” Qian says “Besides, I think Siwon’s been meaning to get a hold of you whether he was in hospital or not”

Without waiting for a reply, Qian tugs Joonmyun along with him towards the main hospital. Joonmyun was reluctant to go as it was, but the fact that there may be press still hanging around- especially after the recent story between him and Yifan- made him all the more nervous that if he was seen visiting Yifan’s father, the rumours and stories would just pick up again.

He’s made to wait outside the room whilst Qian goes in to pay a private visit for herself. Joonmyun doesn’t have to wait that long, twenty minutes at the most, before Qian leaves the room and holds the door open for him.

“Go on, he doesn’t bite” she says seeing his hesitance as he walks over and steps into the room

Compared to how he looked after the first night he was brought into hospital, Siwon was now on the road to recovery. There were a few cuts and scratches on his face, a cast on his left leg, and though he was hooked to various machines keeping record of who knows what, he still managed to greet Joonmyun with a smile on his face.

“Hello Joonmyun” he says as Joonmyun nods his head back, still stood by the entrance “Sit down, I don’t bite”

Very slowly Joonmyun walks over and sits down, even then he’s perched on the edge of the seat rather than sit all the way back. Just being in the same room with Siwon was uncomfortable enough, but having him in the same room, whilst he was in this state, whilst probably knowing everything that had happened between Joonmyun and Yifan, it made the situation a whole lot more difficult to actually start some form of a conversation.

“H-how have you been lately?” Joonmyun asks

“I’m in a lot less discomfort than I was when I first arrived, so I guess that’s a start” Siwon replies “I want to go home sooner rather than later, but they’re just keeping me in longer and longer each day”

“Well I’m not really a doctor, so I don’t think my opinion would really make a big difference” Joonmyun points out, Siwon laughing and nodding his head in agreement.

“How have you been lately, Joonmyun?” he asks

“U-uh… pretty good I guess. Work’s been pretty stressful… just the usual” Joonmyun replies

“Hmm, I should imagine so” Siwon mutters “You know, I’m actually surprised to find you here”

“I-I wasn’t here, I was over in the maternity block with my brother” Joonmyun explains

“Well then, it’s a good thing Qian caught you when she did. I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while but I haven’t had the chance to get any means of contact from anybody. Minseok is quite a busy man and I couldn’t exactly go and ask Yifan could I?”

Of course this was the reason Joonmyun would have wanted to have seen him. Why else would he have wanted to have seen him like this? Everyone else knows about him and Yifan, so what should stop Yifan’s own father from knowing as well?

“I knew this would happen eventually” Joonmyun says quietly, finally leaning back in his seat with a sigh

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to lecture you or anything” Siwon reassures “I hope you don’t mind, but I found out your current situation with Yifan mostly because Qian had told me. Whilst I admit the way he acted was extremely rude and somewhat childish, he really does care. He probably hasn’t shown it a lot I get it, but Yifan acts like he does sometimes not to push people away, but to protect them. He’s really not the bad guy”

Joonmyun knew this, he did. It was why he never believed Yifan when he said that he changed his mind and didn’t have any more feelings for Joonmyun. No matter how much Joonmyun just wanted to forget about him and be able to move on, he just couldn’t do it, he was in far too deep now to not care for Yifan all of a sudden.

“I know that. I really do” he begins, before shaking his head “I just… I just need to think things over. What he said and done did hurt me, though I did make the situation worst myself”

“Of course you do, I’m not pushing you to do anything I’m just merely stating the facts. No matter what decision you make, I’ll approve either way”

Their meeting is cut short with a knock on the door as a doctor and nurse enter the room to check Siwon over. Taking it his cue to leave, Joonmyun is up and halfway out the door when Siwon calls back to him

“Oh and Joonmyun, nice scarf”

Joonmyun leaves with his face as red as a tomato and the sound of Siwon laughing from the comfort of his hospital bed following him down the hall… 

Ah look at this, a lovely, long chapter which doesn't leave any cliffhangers, and for once there's nothing actually to worry about...

And with this, if you will excuse me, I need to get back to this damn essay that needs doing instead of coming down with a case of extreme procrastination...

Until the next chapter!!