REBOUND ✔️

🥥 forty two

minho sighed as he slowly stirred awake, still sat at minhee's bedside, holding desperately onto her hand. the constant monotonous beep of the machines she was linked up to was enough to drive him mad, but he wouldn't leave. he couldn't leave. he hated seeing her like this, his usually lively and bright sister was bed bound and as pale as a ghost. minho was going to hold her for an eternity.

he felt a small vibration from his phone, making him pull it from his pocket to examine it. the notification was from instagram and he sighed, but he failed to ignore the four missed calls from hyunjin. he felt guilty, having left the younger with absolutely no explanation as to why. he knew he had to call him back to explain everything to him.

minho dialled the number, holding the phone up to his ear as he waited. it rang for a while, before taking him to voicemail. with a sigh, minho frowned at his phone. he assumed hyunjin must have been really annoyed with him, but he couldn't have known that hyunjin just didn't feel it; he was pretty distracted by telling changbin about all his problems.

minho jumped as he felt his phone vibrate in his hand, a smile of relief flying to his face as he read the contact name and answered the call. "hyunjin, you called back. i was so worried you hated me. i'm so sorry i should have said something i—"

"woah slow down," hyunjin said, stopping minho's rambling as he let the older take a breath. "i'm not... mad, i just, i thought the worst and i thought you had left because you didn't like me or something." he heard hyunjin sigh, unintentionally sighing himself.

"i'm sorry hyunjin. i didn't leave because of you." he paused, glancing over at his sister. should he tell hyunjin? i mean, he wasn't exactly knew to minhee's condition, but did he need to put that on his shoulders? he one hundred percent did not want to be a burden on him and he sure as hell wasn't going to pull him into his own spiral of depression. "i just had to attend to a family matter."

"ah," was all minho heard the younger say, not sure on whether it was meant in understanding or in annoyance. silence enveloped them as they both held their phones to their ears, listening to the background noise of each of their own respective areas. hyunjin was still stood atop the roof, looking out over the campus as he thought of something to say.

"how's your sister?" he asked, trying to make small talk. hyunjin had become pretty fond of the girl in the half hour she had spent braiding his hair before she fell asleep the last time they met, and he was hoping to build a better relationship with her as well as minho. after all, he had always wanted a younger sibling to spend time with.

however, he did not expect minho to start crying over the phone. "minho?" he called out, confused over the sudden outburst from the older male. "min, are you okay? what's wrong? did i—"

"she's in hospital, hyunjin. the doctor doesn't know if she's even gonna make it," he said between sobs, and hyunjin's heart faltered, falling to his knees as he listened to minho quiet cries and sniffles on the other end of the line. he couldn't believe how selfish he had been. he was sat sulking over the fact that minho had left without saying anything while the older had literally been at his sister's bedside praying for her health. he was pretty ashamed of himself.

determinedly, hyunjin stood up, making his way quickly to the stairs. "i'm coming minho. don't worry, i will stay by your side," he said in a strong voice, ending the call so minho couldn't protest against his trip to the hospital, and was on his way.

minho stared down at his phone with a wide smile, doing his best to wipe away the tears from his face and make himself look presentable. in the end, he decided he would go to the bathroom to clean himself up. so he gave minhee a quick kiss on her forehead and left the room, going to the bathroom and cleaning his face. he took a few deep breaths, looking up at himself in the mirror. he looked sick, and he hadn't eaten all morning. it was a bad habit of his.

minho left the bathroom after drying his hands, making his way back to minhee's room. "minho," he heard his name being called out, thinking that maybe hyunjin had already arrived. but he soon realised that hyunjin didn't have a women's voice, he wasn't 5'3, and his name wasn't chaeyoung.

—
welp that happened

next chapter is gonna be extra
long ok