fluid: haobin

15

(flashback)

"thank you!"

hao waves to the last student and their parent, the studio turning quiet after the rush of people. the day had ended and he could finally sit back and relax from all his duties.

"hey hyung, what do you want for dinner?" taerae sticks his head from his office, phone in hand. "it's your day to choose."

"uhhh, give me a sec," the manager rushes to his own office and takes a stack of paper from the desk corner before coming back out. "take your pick."

"are these all coupons?" taerae sorts through all the catalogs. "well, the italian place is closed on thursdays, it's too late for this restaurant, you wanna order from here?"

he points to a chinese restaurant's coupon, displaying a deal of "50% off a second entree".

"matthew said he checked the place out and the noodles are really good. i don't know how authentic they are but you'll have to be the judge of that."

"sounds good," hao nods. "i'll go set up to eat." 

"sure, i'll make the call," the vocal instructor punches in the number while the manager goes to a meeting room to set up to eat.

however, when he steps into the hallway, a sudden ringing in his left ear makes him fall to the ground and the pain turns worse as it spreads into the right ear.

"hyung!"

taerae runs out, kneeling to where the older was, and tries to figure out the situation.

"hyung, what's the matter?!"

hao looks up but when he sees taerae's lips moving, no sound was heard. instead, he could only hear the constant buzz and while it wasn't painful, it was giving him a migraine.

"ear," he managed to let out but still wouldn't remove his hands.

"i'm calling the hospital," taerae gathers his keys and helps hao up to his feet. "we have to get to the car, quickly!"

the younger helped his hyung up to his feet and guided him out the building and into the door. but before starting the engine, he quickly searches for how to help relieve the ringing sensation.

"hyung, can you put your hands off your ears and only focus on this?"

taerae turns on got7 and hopes that by playing his favorite songs, it could take his mind off the pain. however, when he sees hao giving no response to the music and is just staring forward with a blank face, that's when he knew something was wrong.

.

.

.

"we ran some tests and evaluations after hearing about the symptoms, and we believe mr. zhang has autoimmune inner ear disease."

the doctor looks through the health records and frowns at what he sees.

"it's stated here that mr. zhang had came in a couple weeks ago for an ear infection, which can happen because the symptoms are similar to one. however, i'm looking at the charts from the blood test, and with the hearing loss and tinnitus, i can only say that the remaining option is aied."

a nurse comes back into the doctor's office with the manager, who sits next to taerae and looks at the doctor expectantly.

"what steps do i take from here then?" hao asks.