solar eclipse | jilix

pt. 15

"apologies for anything i might've interrupted, i'm here to do a final check on the patient." a young doctor spoke up, gently knocking on the door. he waved his chart towards the exit, signalling for felix to leave the room.

the blonde got up, giving jisung's hand a final squeeze and throwing in a quick "love you". just a little longer and they would be back home, having a talk to make sure everything was alright and drifting off to sleep together. hopefully tomorrow would be a better day.

jisung stared at the doctor's name tag, kim seungmin. he seemed very proper and uptight, jisung wanted to lighten up his mood.

"what's up doc, you look around my age. you must be super smart!"

seungmin sighed, adjusting his glasses. "mr han, please just let me do my job. i'll be asking you a few questions to see if you're ready to leave the ward yet."

jisung stuck out his tongue at the boring doctor, "what if i don't answer your stupid questions?"

deadpan eyes stared back at him, "you're stuck here then, dumbass."

jisung fell back under the sheets, pouting at the failed attempt to make a friend. let's just get this over and done with.

"okay let's begin. first question, do you have a history of impulsive behaviour?"

the patient fiddled his fingers, eyes quickly darting away from the doctor. "no."

"mm okay, mr. han. all responses must be truthful. if you don't comply, i need to bring in a lie detector." seungmin stated, picking up on jisung's behaviour. he had been observing the patient since he entered the ward, and quite frankly he didn't think jisung was stable enough to get discharged.

"next question, what triggered you to act this way?"

jisung groaned, these questions were going to take too long. "god, doc. is all this really necessary? it's not like i'm going to kill myself." he said, laughing airily.

it's not like i'm going to kill myself.

that laugh. it held an identical fake smile that masked a thousand words. he knew it all too well, sweet lies that were fed to seungmin many years ago. what he had long locked away deep in his mind had resurfaced.

he slammed his chart onto the desk, getting up from his seat trying to quickly gain back his composure. he was already off his game given his previous experiences with suicide cases, the hospital should've never put him in this department.

"my apologies, that was a very inappropriate reaction. i just want to make sure you're safe, that's all. so please, tell me anything you can." i just want to make sure you're safe. something i should've said to him a long time ago. snapping out of it, seungmin eyed jisung waiting for an answer to the long-forgotten question.

jisung raised an eyebrow, he didn't expect the doctor to have a side like this. it sparked his interest.

"hey doc, why don't you tell me your story."

                                    - - - -
  
felix stared at the clock ticking painfully slow, heavily contrasting his shaking leg. the anxious tapping against the monotonous tick of every passing minute further added to the suspense. it's fine, jisung is perfectly fine. maybe it was just a bad day, i pushed him too much. he's always... always been fine.

he threw his head back, staring at the paint peeling off the ceiling. there were tiny cracks strewn all over and mould creeped from the corners. the pristine, sterile hospital didn't seem all that clean anymore.

then again, if you look hard enough, nothing is truly what it seems.