Lovesick ✔

chapter thirty-five ; clarity

AMOS

Alex ended up inviting the others over to our place in an attempt to cheer me up without telling them what was going on, which I was incredibly thankful for. We spent the rest of our time playing monopoly which ended horribly because Dustin ended up getting pissed and flipped the board. 

Then, we tried playing Virtua Tennis, but Ethan ended up getting pissed off because he was so terrible at the game (and he tried to blame it on the game itself).

Following that, we attempted to watch a horror movie whilst Autumn sat complaining about how horror movies would lead to her shitting her pants. Throughout the movie, Dustin slipped in his commentary about how the movie wasn't scary at all and how the actors made the stupidest decisions. 

Then we tried telling scary stories in the dark, but Ethan nearly ended up shitting himself so we had to call that off as well. 

Finally, we decided to just sit and talk about anything and everything.

Ethan told us about how stressful graduating had been on him (which had happened a year or two prior) and how he was planning on professing his love for a guy named Austin. Autumn told us about how she was planning on selling her car to buy a newer model she'd been interested in for a while. Dustin told us about how stressful it was having to live beside two people who wouldn't stop playing music at high volumes throughout the night. Alex told us about how his ass had been itching throughout the conversation. 

And then they began talking amongst themselves and I took that as the opportunity to get a good look at all of them. 

I had always been repulsed by the love Autumn and Alex had for each other, but in that moment, it seemed so pure and sweet that I was left wondering what on Earth was wrong with me. 

I wanted to have something like that. 

I inwardly told myself to shut the fuck up and stop having such thoughts but they simply wouldn't let me go. Eventually, I got up and told the rest of them I was going out for a small stroll to clear my head. Alex gave me a knowing look and asked me to be safe to which I simply responded with a grin. 

While outside, I stared at my feet, physically present but mentally elsewhere. The street was fairly busy that day with a few cars drifting by every now and then and a handful of people on the sidewalk. I considered resting at the park for a moment but reconsidered when I saw that there was a crowd of teenagers there - and God knows I can't stand teenagers for the life of me.

I was so preoccupied in my thoughts, that eventually, I ended up bumping into someone. 

"Oh shit, I'm so so-" I began before raising my brows. "Mr. Kim?"

"Oh, hi doctor!" he said in a gentle voice. "Funny seeing you here, small world.."

"It's nice to see you, Mr. Kim," I responded. "Would you like to join me? If you're not busy, that is."

"Oh um, I'd love to," he smiled before the two of us began walking in the direction opposite to which I'd been walking in before. 

"How's your health?" I asked curiously. "Have you been looking after yourself well? Not eating too much food from outside?"

He nodded in response, "Yep! I've been eating homecooked meals very often. I'm honored to have been in your care."

"What brings you here?" I inquired. "I tend to go out for walks quite often but I can't say I've ever seen you around this area before."

"I have a lot going on at the moment so I've kind of been walking aimlessly," he admitted, his voice barely audible at that point. "You look a little down too.. are you alright, doctor?"

"I'm alright," I lied. "Probably just my RBF. How come you're not feeling too good? Is something the matter?"

"Just life in general," he responded. "I guess it's just hitting me now how fast time's been going. It's all a little too crazy."

It felt nice being able to talk to him comfortably now in comparison to all the other times we'd seen each other where he relied on Micah to convey his thoughts ninety per-cent of the time. 

"I get that," I nodded as we took a turn. "I feel like just yesterday I was sixteen."

"Right?" he sighed. "I barely even thought I'd make it this far. I still can't comprehend the fact that I'm a fully grown adult."

We walked in silence for a little longer before I cleared my throat, "I guess I should be heading back home now. I don't want to worry my friends.

"Oh, I completely understand," he started. "I should get going too, I have stuff to do at home."

"Bye then-," I began, but I was cut off by him.

"Ah- I wanted to thank you, doctor," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and looking everywhere but at me. "I feel better after talking to you. Could I have your number so we can hang out some time? As friends! Nothing creepy, I'm in a relationship."

I laughed at how he was stumbling over his own words before handing him my phone for him to enter his number before it was handed back to me. 

"I'll see you around then, Mr. Kim," I said with a wave.

"See you around, doctor."

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A/N: Forgot to mention this earlier but I'd also like to thank user @seokhopieee for volunteering to be a character in this story. I've also had them around for a while now and it's always a pleasure seeing them leave messages on my wall :-) At this point, you guys are like friends or family to me as opposed to a strict author-reader relationship. Thank you for making the experience on this site/app for me so wonderful.