𝙴𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 4 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 | HAOBIN AU

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 29

As the minutes dragged on, Hanbin paced outside the surgical room, anxiety gnawing at his insides. The sterile smell of the hospital, once a backdrop to their banter and laughter, now felt suffocating. Taerae stood nearby, his face pale, concern etched deeply across his features.

Suddenly, the doors swung open, and the doctor emerged, his expression somber. Hanbin’s heart raced, and dread settled in the pit of his stomach.

“Doctor!” Hanbin called out, rushing forward, hope shining in his eyes. “How did it go? Is Hao okay?”

The doctor’s gaze fell to the floor, and the world around Hanbin began to blur.

“I’m very sorry,”
the doctor said, his voice heavy with sorrow.

“The surgery was unsuccessful.”

Time stood still as those words pierced through Hanbin’s heart like a knife. His breath hitched, and he felt as though the ground had crumbled beneath him. “What… what do you mean?” he stammered, unable to comprehend the gravity of the situation.

“I’m so sorry,” the doctor repeated, his eyes filled with sympathy. “Hao… he didn’t make it. There were complications that we couldn’t overcome.”

“No… no!” Hanbin gasped, shaking his head violently. “This can’t be happening. He was just here! He was going to be okay!” Tears brimmed in his eyes as disbelief settled in, and his legs felt weak beneath him.

“Hanbin…” Taerae’s voice trembled as he stepped closer, the reality dawning on him as well. “No, this can’t be true. He can’t be… gone.”

But Hanbin couldn’t hear Taerae; he was drowning in a sea of despair. Memories of Hao flooded his mind—his laughter, their friendly banter, the way Hao had looked at him with those warm, bright eyes. It felt like a cruel joke, a nightmare he couldn’t wake up from.

“He can’t be dead!” Hanbin shouted, his voice breaking. “He was so strong! He was supposed to get better! He was my—he was my soulmate! My other half! My twin flame!”

As tears streamed down his face, he felt a suffocating weight on his chest, as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. The doctor’s sympathetic expression only deepened the agony within him.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” the doctor said softly. “If you’d like, we can arrange for someone to talk to you about this.”

“No!” Hanbin cried out, his voice raw with pain. “I don’t want to hear anything more! You… you don’t understand!” His hands balled into fists at his sides, anger and grief surging through him in equal measure. “He was supposed to have a future—With me! We had plans! I—”

Hanbin’s words faltered as he felt Taerae’s steady hand on his shoulder, grounding him amidst the chaos of his emotions. But Hanbin couldn’t shake off the wave of anguish crashing over him.

“Why didn’t I say more? Why didn’t I do more?” he sobbed, the reality of his words hitting him like a tidal wave. “I was supposed to be there for him! I should have told him I cared! I should have—”

“Hanbin,” Taerae interrupted, his voice barely a whisper, “you did everything you could. You were his light when he was in darkness. He knew you cared.”

But it felt empty. It felt like nothing in the face of this overwhelming loss.

The stark truth settled heavily in the air, a profound silence enveloping them. Hanbin’s heart shattered into pieces, each fragment laced with guilt and regret. “I… I should have been there,” he choked out, the weight of his emotions almost unbearable.

Taerae pulled him into a tight embrace, the warmth of his best friend contrasting sharply with the coldness surrounding them. “I’m so sorry, Hanbin,” he murmured, his voice breaking as well. “I wish I could take this pain away.”

But Hanbin felt lost, spiraling into an abyss of grief he couldn’t escape. All he could think about was Hao—their laughter, their shared moments, the way Hao had always been there to push him, to challenge him, to make him better. And now he was gone, leaving behind an empty void that felt impossible to fill.

“I never got to tell him,” Hanbin whispered, his voice shaking. “I never told him how much he meant to me.”

In the depths of his sorrow, a small flicker of warmth ignited in his chest, a memory of Hao’s smile. It hurt to think about it, but it was the only thing he could cling to amidst the devastation. “I loved him,” he admitted, a sob escaping his lips. “I loved him, and now he’s gone.”

The tears flowed freely now, the dam of his emotions breaking as he clung to Taerae for support. “How am I supposed to live with this?” he cried, his heart breaking into a million pieces.

The room felt darker, the silence stretching out, but through the pain, Hanbin felt Taerae’s unwavering presence beside him. “You’ll carry him with you,” Taerae said softly, his own tears falling silently. “In your heart. Always.”

And though it was hard to see through the fog of his grief, Hanbin realized that as long as he remembered Hao, as long as he held onto the love they had shared, Hao would never truly be gone.

ᯓ★

Yes I wrote all of this in one sitting 🦄🫰🏻