ENG - Fractured Fates ʰʸᵘⁿˡᶦˣ

6

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Jisung POV

I lay here with my head on the table, staring at my phone as I scrolled through Instagram. I watched funny videos that made me laugh every now and then, but when I looked at the clock and saw that it was only 3 o'clock, I sighed in annoyance. The next routine examinations were coming up and this time it was my turn.
Felix and I took it in turns to do the examinations, but the ward was unexpectedly quiet at the moment and there were only a few patients on site, so only one of us had to do it. That's why I've just been sitting around looking at my phone.
When I started to get bored of the Instagram videos, I opened the dating app in the hope of getting a response from the guy I liked. Almost desperately, I hoped that he had replied to me, or at least that he would later that day. When I didn't find a message, I sighed sadly. I scrolled through his pictures again and couldn't deny that he was totally my type. "Don't be so desperate Jisung," I admonished myself as I put my phone aside and stretched.

Suddenly the doorbell rang at the ward reception and I flinched, startled. Felix wouldn't do that and it wasn't visiting hours. Maybe it was a patient who needed something urgently? With a heavy sigh, I left my comfortable chair and made my way to reception, where the ringing continued incessantly and almost in a panic.
When I closed the door behind me and saw the person waiting there, I froze. My eyes widened and my heart began to pound wildly. There he was - the man I had written to on the dating app less than two hours ago. As if by reflex, I turned around and walked back.
"Hey, I've seen you, come here now!" he shouted as he continued to press the doorbell persistently. My heartbeat seemed to stop for a moment as I tried to calm down. I took a deep breath, but the heat that suddenly flooded through my body made me shiver. It was surreal that he of all people had turned up here and I was completely overwhelmed by the situation. How rarely does a coincidence like this happen? Impossible.

I obviously took too long with this man, because he suddenly stood right in front of me and looked down at me, as he was a little taller than me. "If you don't come to me, I'll come to you," he growled, almost irritably. His words were so harsh and I felt paralyzed in place.
"I want to see my roommate now," he urged impatiently. I was completely overwhelmed by the situation and my heart started beating faster as if to say, "Run away!" But I couldn't.
"I... I can't... you can't be here," I finally stammered, my voice barely more than a whisper. My mind raced, and I desperately tried to grasp the situation. "It's not visiting hours... You have to come back tomorrow," I added, my voice brittle with nervousness.
A mocking snort broke the silence and a shiver ran down my spine. I was incredibly nervous right now and didn't even know why. "And I said I wanted to see my roommate. So either you take me to him right now or I'm going to search every damn room in this hospital until I find him," he threatened, and his voice brooked no argument.
Without realizing it, he pushed me back so far that I bumped my back against the filing cabinet. "I already said it wasn't possible," I whispered, looking to the side as I could no longer hold his gaze.

His gaze pierced me like a knife and I could literally feel the anger in his eyes. "Damn it, I don't have time for this theater," he growled impatiently. "Then I'll just do it my way."
My hands shook as I clutched the handle of the filing cabinet, desperately trying to hold on to it, otherwise I thought my knees would give out. "I can't..." I whispered in a choked voice, my words barely more than a breath. "There are rules and I... I can't just break them." My heart hammered so wildly against my chest that I feared it might jump out at any moment.
"Those are your rules, not mine," he replied and left the room, followed by my trembling gaze. I immediately followed him, as I couldn't let him go any further. "Stop! You can't go any further," I said boldly and a little louder. To my surprise, he stopped and turned to face me. A cold shiver ran down my spine as he came closer, put his hand on my chest and pressed me against the wall. "What are you going to do about it to stop me, huh?" he asked, amused. "I can't do anything about it," I confessed and took my cell phone out of my pocket to hold it out to him. "But security can. So please just go and save us both trouble. Besides, you wouldn't get far without an access card anyway."
His gaze slid from my eyes to my phone, and before I realized it, he had snatched it from me. A cry of surprise escaped my lips, but was immediately stifled as his hand pressed me further against the wall. "Threats don't impress me, blondie," he hissed, still reaching for my access card hanging from my clothes and ripping it off. Then he turned away from me to go through the door that led to the patient corridor, for which he needed the access card.

Completely perplexed, I stared after him and immediately ran after him before the door fell back into the lock and I couldn't get through. Just as he was about to open one of the doors to make good on his threat to search every room, I stopped him by putting my hand on his arm. "Stop that!" I said pleadingly.
"Jisung? What's going on?" Felix suddenly asked as he appeared. Relieved and looking for help at the same time, I looked at him. "He really wants to visit someone and has stolen my access card," I explained curtly as Felix approached and looked at the stranger skeptically. "We don't have visiting hours, please come back tomorrow. It's visiting hours from 10 a.m.," Felix said in a very friendly manner, just as I knew he would. But the stranger just snorted contemptuously again. "You're a pain in the ass. Take me to my roommate right now," he growled.
Felix's expression remained calm as he asked the stranger: "Are you Minho?" After a curt nod from the stranger, Felix calmly turned to me. "It's okay, Jisung. I'll take the heat," he assured me with an encouraging smile. "Come on, I'll take you to Hyunjin," he added and led the way.
What have I missed? Confused, I looked back and forth between the two of them before they started moving. Nevertheless, I followed them, but at a certain distance.
When they arrived outside the room, Felix addressed the stranger one last time: "Please be quiet, he only fell asleep 20 minutes ago. He's been awake since his operation and is exhausted," Felix warned him before they entered.

I waited outside the hospital room door, my heart still pounding loudly in my chest as I waited for my cell phone and access card, which the stranger still had. Less than five minutes later, they came back out. "Get any papers ready for me to sign. I'll take him with me," the stranger demanded this time a little more calmly than before. "You can't just take him with you. It would be better for him to stay here, where he can be looked after and examined," Felix explained calmly, but with conviction.
I felt completely superfluous, yet I listened intently. "I don't care and, knowing Hyunjin, neither does he. So do it or I'll just take him with me," the stranger now threatened sternly.
"Please understand, we can't risk it," Felix tried to calm the angry black-haired man. "If you take him away now, it could be life-threatening for him. He has additional internal injuries that could cause internal bleeding. In the worst case scenario, he could die when he leaves the hospital." Felix was always better at talking to patients' families than I was. I had absolutely no sensitivity for that.
The stranger turned away and ran his hands through his hair, which, by the way, looked incredibly hot. "We'll take our chances," he said. "We don't have the cash to pay for this shitty stay here. His surgery alone is going to put us in a shitload of debt, and we're certainly not going to jail because of you because you're not getting your fucking money."
I felt a mixture of sympathy and understanding for his desperate situation. Apparently they were in dire financial straits and obviously under enormous pressure, but at the same time his determination to risk his roommate's life like this scared me.
Felix's calm voice penetrated my thoughts as he tried again to convince the stranger. "Please understand, we can't take the risk. Hyunjin needs urgent medical help, otherwise he could be in serious danger," he repeated his words emphatically.

My eyes were literally glued to the attractive stranger, as if he was magnetically attracting my gaze. He looked even better in real life than in his pictures, but unfortunately he also seemed to be a bit of an asshole. "That's what insurance is for," I intervened, and they both turned to me. His gaze literally pierced me. "Which neither Hyunjin nor I have," he said immediately, his voice as cold as ice. "Isn't it actually compulsory to be insured?" I asked meekly, as he was still incredibly intimidating.
The stranger snorted contemptuously again. "But we're not," he growled and turned back to Felix, as he probably preferred to talk to him. "I'll repeat myself one last time. Get those damn release papers ready or I'll just take it with me."
Felix sighed and gave me a quick glance before turning back to the stranger. "I understand your situation, but you still can't-" "And you can't keep him here if he refuses. He can be released at his own risk, and I'm absolutely sure that's what he wants," the stranger interrupted him.
My best friend scratched his neck and seemed to be thinking. "That's right... Would you at least wait until tomorrow morning? We have to find out from Hyunjin himself, and tomorrow morning the senior doctor will be there and can explain the risks to you again. If you still want to go, he can arrange for you to be discharged. Neither Jisung nor I are authorized to do that," Felix explained calmly so as not to irritate the stranger any further.

The stranger bit his lower lip and seemed to be thinking. "Agreed. But I'll stay here," he said with a dominant determination that made me feel a little faint. "All right," Felix gave in. I looked at him in surprise and intervened again: "But Felix, we're not allowed to do that."
"That's all right Jisung. I've already said that I'll take the consequences," he smiled at me and turned back to the stranger. "But please keep quiet and don't make any more trouble. And please give Jisung his things back."
The black-haired handsome man now looked at me and rolled his eyes before taking my cell phone and access card out of his pocket and literally pressing them into my hand. He then went back to his roommates' room and left me alone in the hallway with Felix.

Felix sighed and looked at me with a smile, but my smile was rather tortured as we walked back to the ward room together.

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