XLVIII. Healing the Fractures of the Heart, One Step at a Time

46 3 0
                                        

Next morning.
11: 22 a.m.
Seventeen's mansion.

Seungcheol woke up with a pounding headache, the remnants of the night before scattered around him - empty alcohol bottles, their labels faded and their contents long gone. His head throbbed, but it was the overwhelming guilt that weighed heavier. He reached for his phone, almost afraid of what he might find, but he couldn't stop himself.

He had given you almost two hundred missed calls. His stomach churned as his thumb hovered over the screen. Your name flashed at him relentlessly, as though it was mocking him. He scrolled through the messages. There was an avalanche of them, each one more frantic than the last.

His gaze flicked to the hospital discharge papers beside him. Chaeyoung had been the one to take him out, not that he deserved it. He had refused to stay, despite the doctors' warnings, too ashamed to face anyone. His mind flashed back to that moment, the sense of helplessness washing over him again.

But right now, it was your absence that struck him the most. There were no new messages from you. He bit his lip, guilt clawing at his chest. He should've reached out. He should've cared more.

But how could he explain? How could he apologize for everything he'd done, when he barely understood himself?

But how could he explain? How could he apologize for everything he'd done, when he barely understood himself?

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Can We Not Be HAPPY once?Where stories live. Discover now