"I knocked on Heaven's door for two minutes," the boy said. "How is that not cool to you?"
*****
Choi Sangwoo was just trying to make ends meet. Beaten and abus...
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March 16, 2019:
"Guess who's got their very own parking spot and a frequent visitor punch card?" Sangwoo joked, trying to make light of his situation. When none of the six boys gathered in the room answered, he laughed. "Can you guys please stop pretending as if I'm dead, for goodness' sake?"
It had been a few hours since the incident at BigHit, and he was hooked onto an IV.
"I mean, the hospital is my second home at this point," he tried again. "I've been on this bed far more than I've been on the bed in the apartment. And hell, who wouldn't want to spend endless hours in a place that reeks of disinfectant and gloom? I'm practically in a league of my own."
The others looked at him in bewilderment. They couldn't understand how he was so jovial about the whole thing.
He grimaced. "Alright, alright, I know I'm not the greatest comedian in the world, guys, but can you give me something, at least? I thought I was the one who fainted and had a brain fog, not you."
"How can you even say that, knowing what you've just gone through?" It was Woonggi who spoke. Sangwoo felt bad for the boy he called a friend. He hadn't deserved that. He had been friends with him under no false pretenses.
Why had he done that?
Tension had seeped into every corner of the small room after Woonggi's question. It lingered in the air as if it were some stubborn guest. Sangwoo's thoughts were jumbled, trying to think of ways to answer without seeming insensitive.
Why had he choked Woonggi?
The question echoed in his mind, Sangwoo too afraid to admit the real cause. Guilt circled him like a shark who had smelled blood, threatening to eat him up. How long would he be in his father's clutches?
He sighed heavily, breaking the silence that had made itself comfortable inside. "I need to talk to Woonggi alone. Can the rest of you step out for a moment?"
"We can't leave you alone, Sangwoo," Soobin's voice was sharp and authoritative, having a sense of finality to it. "We won't."
Sangwoo shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, knowing he was defeated, but refusing to admit it. "Fine, let's just all sit in silence for the rest of my stay here, without me talking to poor Woonggi who had to bring me here, goodness knows how he managed that." He offered an appreciative nod in the boy's direction.
He could hear Yeonjun grinding his teeth frustratedly, while the youngest two had their heads in their hands, seemingly overwhelmed by it all as Beomgyu patted their backs reassuringly.
After a while, Beomgyu stood up and left, saying he wanted something from the cafeteria. Soobin moved to the middle chair to take his place, comforting both crying boys by gently stroking their hair and whispering soothing words in their ears one at a time.
