𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐃

#.. THREE

gunil was emotionally absent today too, hyeongjun noticed. something must bother him, that's for sure. yet was that a reason to talk to gunil about that?

"gunil, 'r you alright?" hyeongjun gently asked and sat down on the counter, watching how the older seemed to get conscious of his surroundings again, his pupils dilating as his gaze landed on the younger.

"pardon?" he asked, his otherwise gentle voice cracking awkwardly. the elder was at the brink of laughing but managed to suppress it, looking blankly at hyeongjun.

"nothing..." hyeongjun answered and sighed. it was dumb to ask gunil that. also they were practically like strangers, the only thing connecting them was their work.

gunil shrugged and went back to doing something on the computer, probably checking some order's and stuff.

hyeongjun was bored and decided to sort the cd's from a to z from each music group, yet it never happened. seungmin visited again.

surprising hyeongjun, he wrapped his arms around the younger's fragile body, saying absolutely nothing. hyeongjun was appalled at the sudden touch, thinking that it was a stranger hugging him.

"excuse me?" he asked, repulsed, as he quickly turned around. seeing seungmin was definitely not what he expected. letting out a happy cry, hyeongjun hugged seungmin tight, not letting go of the elder for quite a long time.

feeling the other's cold body against his own was calming, everything might be okay. seungmin parted from hyeongjun rather fast as he had to cough. bringing up a tissue to his mouth, hyeongjun was horrified to see it slowly changing its white color into a red one. was he coughing up blood?

seungmin let out an apologetic smile as he scrambled to throw away the tissue. meeting gunil, he woke up the elder from his trance with another hug, startling him as well.

"you're here?" gunil asked, confused. "yeah, i'm feeling better at the moment. and to celebrate it, i asked whether i can go out for some hours again." was the answer.

hyeongjun came towards the two and carefully sat down on the counter, listening to what seungmin told gunil.

"i think the only symptom i have at the moment is my low blood pressure? i don't feel as tired as i was a week ago."

hearing that felt good. so maybe there was a chance of seungmin being cured, yet hyeongjun was just in denial. the three of them had a good time. sometimes they'd have to stop their comfortable talk to interact with their guests, yet that didn't hinder seungmin. he was okay with it, as long as he got to spend time with his friends inside their cozy shop.

the day was coming to an end and the sun also slowly set. gunil closed the shop while the other two were talking. "how are you getting to the hospital?" hyeongjun asked his friend, worried about him.

"i'll take an uber probably" "i can drive you" gunil interrupted the two, an awkward smile on his lips. seungmin smiled back, warmly. "that would be nice, thank you."

hyeongjun and seungmin said goodbye with a long hug in which seungmin began to cry. it surprised hyeongjun, but he didn't say anything. instead, he only stroked the other's back soothingly while looking at gunil for help. the latter was lost as well, not knowing how to actually comfort someone.

"i'm sorry" seungmin muttered when they broke the hug again, wiping away the tears in his eyes.   "it's okay, don't apologise.."

they waved good bye for the last time again before gunil and seungmin got in the latter's car and drove away. once the car was nowhere to be seen, hyeongjun made his way to the next bus station.