Youth | Gyuhao

- 36

| Chapter Thirty - Six — Welcome back |

The Chung-Ang Hospital doors burst open at 7:12 in the evening of that same day— only this time, a new soul entered the mix. One that had been missed and dearly deprived of a special significant another for as long as many days a single brain couldn't count.

Jihoon and Wonwoo sat near the entrance to the emergency room, biting their nails and snapping at each other every now and then in frustration.

They hadn't left since they got here. Not since Minghao was pushed into the operating room.

That was at 5 o'clock this morning.

The red and frothy white doors were still very much shut tight, a bright flashing light illuminating on the sign above, signaling Minghao's very surgery that was currently taking place.

Jihoon sees that soul first, eyes widening beyond the size of a planet, "Mingyu."

"Where the fuck is he?" Mingyu looks like he's practically fuming at the bones. The two men that stood near the doors could almost see the smoke coming out his ears.

"He's still in surgery." Wonwoo told him, looking Mingyu's pissed aura up and down, "It's been forever. They haven't told us anything."

"Have you known anybody that's ever been in there that long?" Jihoon gulped, chewing on his thumbnail like it were a piece of candy.

"How could you let this happen to him?" Mingyu's glare was murderous— frightening, "How could you be sent back on this fuckass of a mission and not even keep a watchful eye on him? Have you had nobody keeping tabs on him at all? As far as I know, this is both of your fucking faults."

Jihoon pushes at Mingyu's chest forcefully, "You wanna fucking go there— Let's fucking go there."

Wonwoo sighed, "Guys, come on—"

"You know, aside from your height, you're not as intimidating as you think you are." Jihoon clenched his jaw, "You have the audacity to blame us because of this stupid obsession you have with this kid. I mean, seriously? Last I checked, we're the ones who sat here for hours, doing nothing but wait for news that hasn't even come. For you. Where's your decency? Where did this come from? What have you done with the Kim Mingyu we all knew?"

"I love him." Mingyu snarls.

Wonwoo looks up in shock from where he stands, yet Jihoon doesn't even bat an eye.

"April 6th, 2016. You were 19. I was 20. You told me you'd never love again." Jihoon reminds him, "Not after the crash." He scoffs, "Man, you said you didn't even love us. Your own friends."

"Fuck man, don't bring that up." Wonwoo takes a step forward, holding out a warning hand. He looks to Mingyu in worry, internally panicking when Jihoon doesn't halt his ranting.

"Why shouldn't I? It's true." Jihoon scoffs.

Mingyu stares at who he thought was his friend with a type of expression he could only describe as pure, internalized rage, "Get the fuck out of my face before I do something you wish I hadn't."

Jihoon merely chuckles, "Your empty bluffs don't affect me anymore, Mingyu-yah. I've grown. I've grown and I've learned your paths. We both have." He gestures towards a hesitant Wonwoo, "You can't fool us anymore. You forget we know you."

"Do you?" Mingyu huffs out, "Do you really?"

Wonwoo frowns, "Mingyu, come on—"

"You don't, don't you get it?" Mingyu huffs, "Even after all these years of friendship, you both still know absolutely nothing about me. Because if you did, you'd know that I've finally managed to love again, all because of that boy you rode in an ambulance with." He trembles, "All because of that person who I initially had no desire to come in contact with. All because of that pretty smile that pulled me in the second I saw it—" Mingyu sucks a breath, steadying himself, "As fucking cheesy as it sounds, I've learned to love again because of no other than Xu Minghao. And as of right now, you're the last two people I want to be sharing that with."

Silence.

Complete fucking silence. Nothing else.

Jihoon looked like he just got smacked in the face. And Wonwoo looks like he always did— too weak and shrill looking to be in this gang.

Mingyu understands Jihoon's intent, but he still wonders why Wonwoo's here. He could tell he hated every second of being known as one of those stupid red fruits.

Cherries. Cherry. Cherries.

Damn, Mingyu hated it, too.

Who could blame them?

Minghao was in this entire situation because of them. What else did Mingyu need to call them? What else did he owe this shitty gang that he's been trailing on his father's lap for all these years?

"There we go, then." Jihoon bites his cheek, shrugging, "Fine."

"Fine." Mingyu clenches his jaw.

Jihoon just gives him one last look of betrayal before he's pushing past him. Mingyu stumbles back from the force of their shoulders meeting, the man darting down the hall, soon turning out of sight.

Mingyu looks at Wonwoo now, seeing his frown, "What are you gonna tell me, now? Huh? You hate me, as well?"

Wonwoo just closes his eyes, pained. He takes a couple steps forward, patting Mingyu's shoulder with a sigh, "I could never hate you, Mingyu." It's all he says before he's giving him one last shake of his head, out of sight the same way Jihoon went.

Mingyu lets out a breath he didn't realize he had held inside as soon as he's left alone.

He holds a hand to his heart to calm the erratic beating, leaning against the wall, forced to stare at no other than the bright bold letters that signaled Minghao's current operation.

Mingyu's never been religious, but by God if there was really a ruler up there, he was praying.

He was praying with everything he had.

"Don't take him from me." He said softly, eyes screwed shut in a type of desperation he never wanted to feel, "Not yet. It's too soon."

Maybe all this was punishment, really.

Mingyu's killed too many people to count. Maybe this was the karma for his actions.

A life for a life.

Except, Minghao was like millions of lives to Mingyu. The world, to sum up. So, what if his karma called 1 life for multiple?

This was payback. The universe hated him.

And at that sudden realization, the one he was so scared... so frightened to come to, he throws his head in his hands and finally does the one thing he hadn't done in years.

He cries.