Seo Moon Jo was wondering why he was in an asylum when he felt perfectly normal. He was as sane as they can be. Why can't they release him? And now, the doctor wants him to return to his room.
Yoon Jong Woo came to the hospital to pick up his brothe...
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Moon Jo had never used the hospital's phone before.
He had no reason to.
He could have called his family, but he was too aware of what would appear on their caller ID.
Moon Jo could have called his friends, but he didn't have any of their numbers.
But now that he had someone to call, he avoided the phone even more than he did before.
He refused to believe he was nervous.
Never in Moon Jo's life had he been nervous over something as trivial as a phone call.
What a ridiculous, childish thing to feel.
Yet no matter how much he denied such a feeling, he couldn't stop his pulse from racing whenever he withdrew Jong Woo's card from his pocket and read the numbers.
After three days of this nonsense, Moon Jo was determined to conquer it.
When he was sure the hallway was empty and there was no one to listen to things they should not hear, Moon Jo approached the very phone he had been, for whatever reason, avoiding like a swarm of bees.
After glancing down the hall and reminding himself again that it was empty, he pushed the numbers with rapid-fire speed.
He disregarded the trembling of his fingers, but nearly stopped breathing when the ringing stopped. "Moon Jo?" said the wonderfully familiar, heart stopping voice.
"Hello!" Moon Jo nearly shouted it and immediately cringed. That sounded a bit manic. "How are you doing, dear?" This time, he sounded normal. Of course he did, because he was normal.
He was.
"I'm just fine. And yourself?"
Moon Jo smiled, and his pulse returned to a normal speed. This felt like a normal conversation.
In that moment, he forgot he was using a hospital phone, forgot the label that might as well have been stapled to his back. "I am fine," he said honestly.
"Good, good." Jong Woo almost sounded preoccupied. He took an audible breath, and Moon Jo said nothing. He had a feeling Jong Woo would continue, and eventually he did. "Did you take your—"
"Yes," said Moon Jo, unwilling to hear him finish. Though he still loathed the thought of it, he had taken those blasted pills even if he nearly choked on them.
The only thing that kept his throat from closing while he was doing it were Jong Woo's words echoing in the back of his mind.
He felt sick afterwards, but he told himself again and again that it was worth it.
