Astronomy // Duty After School

Chapter Sixty-Three.

"That looks like (Y/n)..." Tae-man murmured, gazing out one of the library windows. Against the windows was a table and stools. He sat on a stool and rested his chin miserably on the table. The library was on the third story, giving him a clear view of everyone walking below.

"You've said that about every girl with even remotely long hair," So-yun stated.

"Besides, we would already have gotten a heads up," Won-bin added, coming over and patting Tae-man's back. That kids were awfully glad to have them back as he most certainly was stepping up in the emotional department, insisting that the kids would be reunited soon and that (Y/n) wouldn't feel so welcomed if they continued moping around— That mindset only worked for some of them. "But even the , it'd be a few days before she's— That does look like (Y/n)," Won-bin wound up admitting, catching sight of the girl Tae-man was looking at.

"You always tell Tae-man that," Bo-ra huffed.

"I don't think he remembers what she looks like," So-yeon accused. "And that he just won't say it, hoping that he'll be right one time."

"I'm serious this time," Won-bin insisted. Sun-yi and Wu-taek, their curiosity getting the better of them, jogged over to see. It was hard not to notice her as there was simply a charming aura to the passing girl. She stopped and held her hand out, catching the falling snow. They watched an early-thirties man jog to the girl.

"Gi, am I gaunt?" (Y/n) worriedly asked, holding onto Song-gi's arm as her cousin walked her inside. She wanted to shower before she met everyone else as she didn't want to embarrass herself by looking even worse than the shape they left her in. Song-gi chose to ignore the question as he didn't want (Y/n) stressing over her appearance of all things right then.

"You just got out of the hospital," Song-gi stated. 

"You're avoiding my question.

"Oh, brother," Song-gi rolled his eyes. "You aren't going to look like you stepped right out of a movie."

"Then I'll have to hold off on seeing them until I'm not worrying to look at. I don't want them feeling bad. It isn't their fault that I got hurt hurt. It'll just be a reminder."

"Bullshit," Song-gi jeered. "Those kids were in the hospital every day, desperate to see you when even my mom and I weren't allowed. You can't just hold off on seeing them just because you look like a discharged patient. They aren't going to care about that. They're going to care about seeing you alive." (Y/n) pouted for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, I will," (Y/n) promised. "Where's Gomo?"

"She went to get you soap and whatnot," Song-gi answered, holding open the locker room for (Y/n) before handing her the folded towels and sending her inside.

"Yu-jeong," Na-ra greeted as Jang-su, Ae-seol, Yu-jeong, and Yeon-ju returned, looking conflicted.

"Her nurses weren't there to greet us like they always did," Yu-jeong said, flopping into an armchair. "Nobody else was there to greet us either. We'll have to check in later."

"What if she was moved to have her blood tested?" Deok-jung asked intensely.

"Don't even say that!" Ha-na cried.

"No, no. They aren't cruel enough to do that to an unconscious girl," Chun-ho insisted, not even looking up from the book he was reading. Their platoon's mission had oddly been withheld for the weekend, rescheduled to happen on the following Monday. Keeping together as an entire platoon was common those days as the kids were quiet enough for him to concentrate and they all had bonded over the month they were at the service center.
(Y/n) had taken her shower mostly on her own. Outside of needing someone to start the water, she was able to clean herself in her hair with flat hands— She was still working on being able to eventually fully close her fist, but right then she needed assistance with mostly anything she couldn't do without her hands. Her fingers worked just fine, but her palms, where she had been shot, were in need of healing as well as beginning the process of making sure she could still close her hands. (Y/n) made sure to really wash herself, putting her shower to good use. She scrubbed aggressively to get rid of the dead skin and grime that had built up quite a bit. She massaged her scalp, grimacing at the hair loss that came as a result of her not regularly washing her hair. She double-washed her hair to make sure all of the oil and build-up was washed away and then did the steps of her curl routine that she was capable of doing.