heaven is you (i never knew if it was true)

heaven is you

— SEOUL,
10 DECEMBER 2021

after jake heard the terror that occurred in riki's room during his birthday, he ran straight there to check on him, only to be rejected access from the nurses and doctors.

riki's sobs and screams mentally scarred jake as he's never heard him be in so much pain before.

the younger was always such a bright kid, eager to talk about different painters or dance videos he saw on youtube. he always had bright eyes when jay or heeseung talked about what their coach always yelled at them for.

jake never knew just how sick riki was. he wanted answers, sure, but first he really just wanted to make sure his best friend was okay. to check, he decided to visit once again.

seeing riki, pale and laying still, left a bad taste in his mouth.

nurse mikyong noticed that jake had been pacing around the hallway because he was never informed about what had happened yesterday so she decided to check on him.

"hello jake-ssi." she greeted jake. he always visited riki whenever he had time and her patient had always told her about jakes adventurous stories, wishing that he could go on one too.

"hi, nurse mikyong! i-is riki alright? i was on the phone when it um happened." they both seemed extremely exhausted. nurse mikyong had probably stayed up continuously checking on riki after he passed out and jake couldn't just fall asleep knowing that riki was hurt. and yet, nurse mikyong offered a small smile as always.

"he's stable."

that's not a good answer. jake thought, his heart sinking.

"he'll be fine for today. but enough of this sad talk, you can visit him once he wakes up. do you want me to tell him anything as soon as he does?" the nurse have the boy a pat on the shoulder for encouragement.

"um, well this is random but i just wanted to know if you know a yang jungwon from room 205-A? i was checking if he could go to riki's party before everything went down but couldn't find him." jake looked up when he didn't hear an answer, only to be met with nurse mikyong's widened eyes.

"nurse mikyong?" he asked.

"yang jungwon from room-205? how do you know about him?"

"oh so you do know him! i thought i was going craz-" he was cut off by the nurses choked up interruption.

"no um, well i did know him." jake scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. he was about to question what she meant by that until she followed up with a statement that gave the boy chills down his spine.

"yang jungwon died last year, a few days before riki arrived."

___

riki was used to the sounds of a hospital room. the drips of an IV bag, the birds chirping outside of his window, and his nurse or doctor coming in for a check up. however, he wasn't used to waking up to his family's voice.

he spent so much time in a hospital so family visits didn't occur that often since they weren't that special. they happened even less now that riki was in korea.

so hearing his family's voices, not on a screen but in person, was not a good sign.

it seemed like riki knew that as he took a big sigh as he opened his eyes to see tears in his family's eyes.

"great, i get to wake up to my sisters snot running down their faces." the blonde joked before opening his arms wide for his two sisters. joking was the only thing that he could really do to lighten up the sad atmosphere of his room. usually his jokes would go too far and result in his sisters slapping his arms or head but this time it was only responded with a sad chuckle and a sob.