Stendhal's Syndrome - JongSang ✔︎

Chapter 3

On the first week, he figured they would be busy settling in and that he wouldn't be seeing much of them and he was right. Rarely did he see anyone, and on the off chance he caught a glimpse of the new male, he would hold himself strong and shake away any chances of passing out.

It was difficult but he managed and each time he stayed conscious, he mentally patted himself on the back.

By the second week, he decided he would learn to make pies and so he spent hours perfecting the most perfect pie anyone had ever seen. It was to such perfection he sat on the floor and sobbed for nearly an entire ten minutes in pure pride and joy. The crust was the perfect texture and the filling was just right. Never had he seen anything as amazing as that pie.

"Mother, we can’t eat this!" Yeosang sniffled as he cradled his perfect pie in his arms. "Let's preserve it for everyone to see."

His Mother simply laughed at him and gently took it out of his arms before slicing it up which caused the male on the floor to cry harder.

Oh how he wished he could have truly preserved it forever.

On the weekend of the second week, he spent time with his Father who was immensely proud of his son for not fainting anymore after the day the new neighbours arrived. He knew that his son found it hard to stay conscious and even though it seemed like something silly to be proud of, Mr Kang knew that his son suffered and deserved praise for trying every day.

"I heard your Mother told you about the cure for your syndrome and it almost looks as if you're trying to cure it," Mr Kang commented on a Saturday evening as he and his son sat together at the kitchen table, colouring as if they were small children.

"Yeah she told me and I'm not exactly trying to cure it. I simply don't want to faint all the time," Yeosang sighed. "And I can't believe that you're a doctor and had the audacity to NOT tell me about the cure."

"I apologize for that. And I may be a doctor but I'm not specialized in your syndrome," Mr Kang calmly replied, carefully filling the page within the lines. "Now I want to know when I get to officially meet my future son-in-law."

Yeosang violently began coughing, choking on his saliva. His Father did nothing but laugh boisterously.

"Never say that again," Yeosang wheezed out, gasping for air like a dying fish. "I don't like him nor would I date him."

Mr Kang simply hummed in a non-believing way and proceeded to colour. He knew his son’s mind would change but he would just wait for the time to come.

On the third week, Yeosang decided that he would help his Mother run errands and do chores but mainly lay in bed all day. So what? He deserved a bit of relaxation from work and at least rest a bit before school started up again.

Each time he was sent to the store, he would speed walk the entire way and speed walk back all while keeping his head down. He had no intention of accidentally seeing a beautiful person and then suddenly pass out in the middle of the street nor did he intend to maintain awkward eye contact with anyone. Luckily, he survived going to the store each time without hitch.

Nearing the end of the third week, Yeosang sat on his living room sofa staring out the window in hopes to see nature that he could potentially draw. Unfortunately, he forgot he had new neighbours and during his nature hunting, he accidentally made eye contact with the younger son from the two.

He sighed in relief, knowing he wouldn't pass out but he couldn't bring himself to smile. He hardly knew the boy and so he didn't feel like smiling with someone that he hadn't ever said a word to.

"Hey! You wanna come over?" the boy called out, causing an exasperated feeling to bloom within Yeosang's gut.

"No thanks! Maybe next time?!" Yeosang yelled out the window, his deep voice surprising the boy who didn't expect such a tone to belong to such an angelic face. 

“Alright! Just come over if you change your mind!”

By the time it was nearing a month, something inside Yeosang snapped and he wanted to punch himself.

"MOTHER!?" Yeosang yelled, walking through the house in search of the woman.

"Huh?! What?!" Mrs Kang asked, rushing out of a room to see what her son needed, concern gracing her features. "Is everything okay?!"

"Yeah it's just that I had a sudden thought," Yeosang replied sheepishly, holding his hands behind his back while he traced a random pattern on the ground with his socked foot.

"Oh? Well don't keep me waiting."

"I kinda wanna do the cure," he blurted out before he could stop himself, instantly regretting what he said.

His Mother stared at him, eyes widening and glossiness appearing. In an instant, she had her phone out and pressed against her ear as she dialled his father.

All Yeosang knew now was that he was fucked. He would never hear the end of it.

._._.

"So would you mind telling us why the sudden idea so that we can carry it out smoothly?" Mr Kang asked later that evening.

Mrs Kang was so uncertain about how to react to the news that she couldn't help but beg her husband to come home early. He saw no reason to react the way she did but arrived home to calm her down and mayhaps figure out a little bit of what happened in his son's mind.

"Not really. You just have to know I'm willing to get over the fainting part and that's about it."

"Hmm, I see," Mr Kang replied thoughtfully.

Yeosang sat in his place wanting the sofa to swallow him whole. He ran a hand through his brown hair and glanced out the window, regretting it the moment he felt himself go dizzy. 

There on the yard stood Choi Jongho and it took a lot within the male to turn his head before he fainted. His father noticed but remained quiet, analyzing his son's reactions.

The youngest Kang was ever so grateful his Father never bothered to interrogate him much. If he did, he would have crumbled and spilt his entire life story beginning from the day he first saw Jongho. That first day all he could repeat to himself was that Choi Jongho wasn't in the least bit attractive and his brain was making things up but as the time went by, he would bring up the males face in his memory and analyze it.

The more he did it, the more he became confused. And each time he would see his neighbour out of the house, he would glance at him for a second before calming down and repeating until he felt as if he couldn't take it anymore and would pass out any second. 

There was a time where he brought the image in his mind so vividly he passed out right before falling asleep and after that, never again did he try to bring the image so brightly.

Choi Jongho was actually quite pretty but Yeosang couldn't admit that out loud, yet.

It took a lot of convincing himself just to come to the point where he could admit that his eyes weren't liars and boy was that a hard task. 

Hours spent just to come to the conclusion that mayhaps Jongho wasn't too shabby after all. But still, he hardly knew anything about the boy besides his name and that his hair was black. He couldn't say anything about his neighbour so how could he even want to admit that he was attractive?

"When do you want to start?" Mr Kang asked, glancing outside the window to see what Jongho was doing.

Bringing in groceries. What a hard-working son.

"To be honest, any time. Today even," Yeosang said with a shrug.

"Well then start from here," Mr Kang instructed, motioning his head towards the window.

Yeosang slowly turned his head but instantly snapped it back to face his Father once he felt himself go dizzy.

This was going to be a long ass ride.