𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇

#.. NINETEEN

jooyeon saw a familiar face as he entered the yard of the clinic again. "oh, we go to the same school, don't we?" he exclaimed as he stood in front of the boy that seemed familiar.

he knew who it was, there was no doubt it was gunil, but he still needed something to start a conversation.

gunil shrugged, surprised that someone talked to him. he still had an iv inserted in the vein at the back of his hand, holding onto the iv stand.

"oh... jooyeon, right?" he asked, a small tired smile on his lips. gunil was glad that there was at least someone he knew.

the said boy nodded, taking some moments to analyse the other. frizzy hair, dark eyebags, pale skin. were these bruises on his skin?

that was very unlike gunil, who always looked so vibrant in his stylish expensive clothes.

"why are you here?"

jooyeon knew the answer to that thanks to hyeongjun. though he didn't want gunil to feel ashamed about it, he just needed something to keep the conversation flowing.

gunil scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "well- um- failed attempt?" he chuckled awkwardly, truly ashamed of himself before he asked for jooyeon's reason.

yet he couldn't really answer, someone else suddenly joined them. "oh! lovely to see you guys here!"

goosebumps ran down gunil's spine. he'd recognize that voice anywhere. they both turned to face the boy that joined them.

and they were both surprised - it was jiseok. he looked everything but okay, the feeding tube in his nose being the first thing both of them noticed.

gunil didn't remember jiseok being that skinny, it never seemed dangerous like now. this must've happened while he was in a coma - which was not a long time at all.

jiseok wished he didn't meet both of them. his former crush and his crush now, also known as the reason his starving addiction started.

with him there, jiseok wasn't sure he would ever recover. based on gunil's look, the younger knew that gunil felt something negative towards him. disgust? repulsion?

his smile thinned out his full lips, trying to hide the fact that he'd love to break down there and then.

"are you okay?" was the only thing gunil was able to say. trying to stay his bubbly self, jiseok just laughed.

his goal was to overcoat his suffering with sarcasm. "no, of course not, silly! or else i wouldn't be here!"

the smile was still there as he chuckled, brushing his hair back as his eyes sparked. he gave gunil that look. jooyeon and gunil both understood that jiseok still fancied the elder.

it seemed more aggressive than he wanted it to be, but he felt the feeding tube in his throat, which was an absolute sensory nightmare for him.

gunil just nodded, looking away. made sense, but he just wanted to talk to jiseok. though it suddenly seemed so hard.

when he was still in love, he used to find topics easily, his brain working hard to find something to talk about in order to keep the conversation going. but now?

just evidence that he fell out of love. and as that happened, gunil noticed every flaw.

jiseok's hair was falling out, his skin was breaking out, his glasses were dirty, his lips were dry, carrying indications that they ripped before.

gunil could think of many more, but he felt guilty, feeling like he was insulting jiseok inside his head. so instead, he turned around to face jooyeon.

"you're here the longest - is there any place we can chill?"

the youngest just smiled at both of them, before nodding. "of course, there's that one bench i spent the last weeks on.."