𝚆𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝙵𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙸𝚗 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 | 𝐇𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐨𝐣𝐮𝐧

12

"Yusoi!" I hear Jugyeong call out cheerfully.

I turn to the direction of where the voice came from and smile. She waves before running over to me and sitting next to me on the bench.

"Are you sure you want to be outside? It's only going to get colder and I don't want you to get sick."

"Ah, well that's where you're wrong; I already am sick." I say, teasingly.

She pouts and playfully hits my shoulder.

"Hey, don't joke about that! I don't like it." She says.

I can see her breath in the cold nighttime air. Normally, I would have offered to go inside, for her sake. But, I was feeling selfish.

"Jugyeong," I begin to say. She turns to me. "They say I only have a month to live."

Her face falls.

"W-what?" She says, sounding like she was on the brink of tears. "But, I-I just got you back! You can't- How can you- Are you sure?" She says, a few tears falling from her eyes.

I nod my head. She looks away from me, now starting to sob. I carefully grab her hand, a few tears sliding down my cheek. I move some of her hair behind her ear.

"Hey, stop crying. You're making me cry too." I say, trying not to have my voice crack.

She looks back at me; her eyes are already red.

"I don't want you to leave again!" She cries out.

I smile through my tears.

"We can still hang out until then! Come on, please don't be so sad." I beg.

She doesn't say anything, she just continues to cry. I pull her into a hug, feeling her tightly hug me back. I frown. I really wish I never saw her again. If anything, I wish she had forgotten about me. I knew this was going to end up happening and I never, ever, wanted her to be around to watch me as I slowly start to become less and less human. Jugyeong continues to cry and I start to stroke her hair, trying to calm her down. I really hate that you care this much about me. Right now, more than ever, I wish I never became her friend.

She pulls away from the hug, wiping her tears.

"Now I'm sad and cold." She whines.

I smile and hum.

"We can go in if you like." My moment of being selfish has faded away.

"I came here to see Suho, too." She pauses "You should meet him!" She suggests.

I normally would have declined, especially considering my previous interaction with him was not pleasant. But, I figured if Jugyeong was really still going to stick around until my demise, then I would want her to remember me as a good friend.

"Alright." I say "Let's go."

-

"Oh, hey Seojun." Jugyeong says as we walk over to see Suho.

"Shh, Suho's dad is in there." He whispers.

Jugyeong and I look at each other and peer through the doorway, mimicking Seojun.

"And I saw what you were doing the night after mom died!" Suho yelled, sounding hurt.

His dad freezes, his face falling from Suho's remark.

"You saw that?" He asks quietly.

Woah, someone has baggage. They continue to argue. The name Seyeon is mentioned multiple times, not with good remarks. From what I gathered, he's no longer here. I noticed Seojun's hurt expression when his name was mentioned. All of a sudden, Suho collapses; his dad catches him. Jugeyong gasps and rushes in there, Seojun follows. I stand there, eyes wide. A lot just went down in the short amount of time I got there. Nurses rush in and over to Suho. I go over to Jugyeong and try to calm her down. She looks away from Suho, burying her face into my shoulder.

-

"Are you feeling alright?" I ask Suho as I enter his room.

He looks at me weirdly.

"Who are you?" He asks.

"I'm Jugyeong's friend, Yusoi." I say, standing at the foot of his bed, awkwardly.

"Oh, she's mentioned you." he says, "She told me about your condition." He continues.

I nod my head, not sure of what to say.

"She called me on the hospital phone asking to check up on you since she's at school right now."

He hums.

"Well... tell her I'm feeling better."

"I will." I say.

I shift on my feet, seeing if he's going to say anything else. He clears his throat.

"Okay, well, she said she'll come and visit you later tonight." I say, getting ready to leave.

"I'm sorry." He says suddenly.

"For...?" I ask, confused.

"I was rude to you when we first met; I'm sorry." He says.

"Oh, that's right." I say, pretending like I forgot about it. "It's fine. I know you aren't a rude person. Jugyeong talks about you a lot." I say.

He smiles to himself.

"What does she say?" He asks.

"She talks about how kind you are and how she appreciates that you like her for her." I say.

He continues smiling.

"Thank you." I say to him.

He snaps out of his daydream-like state and looks at me.

"For what?"

"For taking care of her. She had a rough time at our old school and I tried to help as much as I could, but when I got worse, I just left without telling her. So, thank you for keeping her company and making her happy."

He chuckles.

"I don't mind." He says.

I smile. Okay, maybe he isn't so bad. I turn to leave, assuming that the conversation had finished. I was about to open the door when I turned back to him, seeing he was grabbing the tv remote. He looks back at me.

"Can you do me a favor?" I ask.

"I can try." He replies.

"Will you make sure to take care of her when I'm gone?" I ask.

He looks at me, like he was trying to figure out what I meant.

"Is your condition that bad?"

I nod my head.

"I told her last night, only one month."

He sighs.

"I will." He says calmly.

I smile and open the door.

"Thank you." I say before leaving his room.