nurse's office | minsung ✓

12

Minho sat on the edge of his bed, the weight of the world pressing down on his shoulders as he stared blankly at the stack of textbooks piled high on his desk. The soft glow of the desk lamp illuminated the pages he had long stopped reading. It had been weeks since his father's illness had taken a turn for the worse, and now, the silence in the house felt suffocating. His mother's voice was just a whisper of a memory, echoing through the empty hallways like a ghost.

The day they received the news was forever etched in his mind. He could still feel the tremor in his hands as he held the phone to his ear, the doctor's voice cold and clinical as he delivered the devastating diagnosis. "I'm so sorry, Minho. Your father doesn't have much time left." The words struck him like a physical blow, stealing the breath from his lungs.

He had rushed home that day, each step heavier than the last, dread pooling in his stomach. When he walked through the door, he found his mother sitting on the couch, her eyes red and swollen, a crumpled tissue in her hands. They shared a look that spoke volumes—an understanding of the storm that was about to break over their lives. It was a look that told him they were about to face a reality they had both dreaded.

The days that followed were a blur of hospital visits and whispered goodbyes. Minho tried to keep up with his classes, but each lecture felt like a weight pressing down on him, pulling him further into despair. He was supposed to be the model student, the one destined for greatness, but how could he concentrate on calculus when his father was lying in a hospital bed, fighting a battle he couldn't win?

As the weeks passed, he spent more time at the hospital than in class. Minho would sit by his father's side, holding his hand as he drifted in and out of consciousness. "You need to focus on your studies, Minho," his father would murmur weakly, eyes barely open. "You're going to be an engineer someday. Promise me you'll finish."

Minho would nod, swallowing the lump in his throat, trying to hold back tears. But deep down, he knew those promises were slipping through his fingers like sand.

When his father finally passed away, it felt as if the world had stopped spinning. The funeral was a somber affair, filled with sympathetic faces that he barely recognized. Minho stood beside his mother, holding her hand tightly, feeling as though he was the only thing keeping her grounded. But even that wasn't enough. The loss felt like a chasm opening up inside him, a void that threatened to swallow him whole.

In the months that followed, his mother's health began to decline rapidly, the grief consuming her like a relentless tide. Minho watched helplessly as she grew weaker, the life draining from her eyes. He juggled schoolwork and caring for her, but it became too much. Every day felt like an uphill battle, and he often found himself torn between his responsibilities as a son and his dreams as a student.

One evening, as he helped her into bed, she looked up at him with a frail smile. "You need to focus on your studies, Minho. You're going to be an engineer someday. Promise me you'll finish."

"I will, Mom. I promise," he had said, even though his heart felt heavy with the weight of impending loss. He wanted to believe her words, to feel the hope they were meant to instill, but the shadows were closing in.

But it didn't take long for that promise to slip away. Just weeks later, Minho's mother succumbed to her grief and illness, leaving him utterly alone. The day he buried her was the day he felt his own heart break. Standing by the grave, he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, a burden that seemed unbearable.

After her passing, he found himself standing in their empty house, a place filled with memories that felt like daggers in his heart. Every corner whispered reminders of laughter, love, and warmth that were now replaced by an oppressive silence. He knew he couldn't stay; the reminders were too painful, too vivid. So, with no one left to anchor him, Minho made the decision to move out of the city, leaving behind the only home he'd ever known.