love in autumn | taegyu

I. "October"

Leaves crinkled and crunched underneath Beomgyu's feet as he walked towards the hospital. The autumn breeze whipped through his blue fleece sweater and he rubbed his palms together to warm his hands up. The scent of sandalwood and bonfire seeped through his his nostrils and the young man hummed to himself.

He loved autumn. He loved everything about it. Watching as the leaves transitioned from bright green to beautiful hues of red, orange, and yellow. He loved carving pumpkin'seach halloween with his closest friends, Yeonjun and Hueningkai.

Beomgyu had always loved autumn, ever since he was small child.

The young boy reached the hospital and entered, smiling at the secretary who handed him his planner for the day. Being sixteen and volunteering at a hospital wasn't ideal to most, but Beomgyu, he loved it. He was suggested the job by his mother, who worked as a pediatric surgeon. Beomgyu agreed, wanting to earn all the money he could to buy himself a brand new camera.

"Good afternoon Beomgyu," The secretary greeted, "Apparently they have requested you in the teen pediatrics unit today."

"Teen? But I thought I wasn't allowed?" Beomgyu frowned.

"Appears they've made an exception." She smiled, passing Beomgyu his patient's chart. Beomgyu took it kindly, bowing to her before walking away as he began examining the case file.

He quickly took notice of the bright red letters across the top of the file underneath the diagnosis portion of the paperwork.

"Cystic Fibrosis."

He cringed at the word. He knew what the disease was, his mother had taught him all about it when they ran into a patient on Beomgyu's first day at working at the hospital three years prior. It was a young girl, around seven years old, and Beomgyu had wanted to hug her but was told he couldn't it.

Now, that upset the young Beomgyu, because he was a hugger and everyone deserved a hug in his eyes.

Beomgyu made his way to the patients room. Room number 307. He knocked on the door gently, waiting for an answer before he entered. It was only polite that Beomgyu knocked before entering, he may have been a volunteer nurse but people still deserve space and privacy and he intended to give them that.

"Come in," A gentle voice said from behind the door. "It's alright."

With those words Beomgyu entered, closing the door behind himself. He looked up from the chart and his eyes fell upon the prettiest person the sixteen year old had ever seen. He had silky brown hair that framed his thin, porcelain cheeks. He wore a maroon knit sweater that hung from one shoulder, revealing his pale skin. His jeans were a bit big, covering his feet as he looked out the window.

An oxygen machine was placed on the chair beside him and somehow, even with the nosetube, he still managed to look beautiful.

"Hello there, are you a doctor?" The brunette boy asked, glancing at Beomgyu. "You don't look old enough to be a doctor."

"I-I'm not. Well not technically. I'm just a volunteer, um, my name is Choi Beomgyu," Beomgyu stuttered, waving while trying to keep his distance.

"Nice to meet you, Choi Beomgyu. My name is Kang Taehyun," The younger smiled, moving to sit down on his hospital bed, and judging by the amount of pillows and plushies he had on his bed, he'd been at the hospital awhile.

"Nice to meet you, Kang Taehyun." Beomgyu choked out.

Why was he this affected by the boy's behavior. Was it because his sweater was revealing his shoulder, or was it because he was undeniably pretty and Beomgyu was so worried he would slip up and blurt it out? Beomgyu could feel the sweat beading on his palms and he quickly wiped each one on his jeans, taking a deep breathe.