A Doctor's Story

Forever gone

With a little help from Howon, Sunggyu finally arrives home as he steps into his strangely overly crowded house, the other male carefully supporting him from the side. His soulless eyes travel around him only to see that there are a lot of familiar people in the living room, their eyes curiously staring at the both of them. Their small chattering and laughter somehow fade into a pregnant silence as they witness the attention-raking view.

Howon looks a little too disheveled for a guy as handsome as he is what with his messy hair and grim look, and Sunggyu looks almost much too blank and detached for a guy who is always all smiles and grins.

Someone from a small group of people in the living room is about to say something, just something break the silence when a motherly female voice suddenly interrupts his intention.

"You're back, Gyu!" They all hear that gleeful and melodious voice erupts before a loud surprised gasp quickly follows the excited shout soon after.

"Oh my god, Gyu, what happened?!" Sunggyu's mother is already by his side, her warm palms cupping Sunggyu's cheeks as she examines her son worriedly. But when he just remains silent, his eyes still unfeeling as ever, she turns to her child's bestfriend for some explanation, "Howon, what's going on? What happened?" She asks, frantic.

Howon just weakly smiles as he heaves out a breathy sigh, his eyes glancing concernedly at the impassive male besides him.

"I'm just dropping him here. Well, Sunggyu, he... He's gone through a lot at the hospital today... So... I—I'm just, I just don't know what to do. Our chief doctor had to force him home, that's why I'm here. I don't think he's in any condition to drive by himself." Howon explains. He doesn't really know what he should be saying in this condition. He doesn't want to remind Sunggyu of what had happened this morning, but he still needs to explain what brings them there at such an early hour instead of their usual end of work hour. Thus, he opts to keep his explanation simple until Sunggyu himself finally decides to talk about it.

His mother than shifts her sight back to her only son, her forehead creases into lines of worry as she softly caresses Sunggyu's cheeks. She wants to comfort her son, she really wants to, but she has no words to say to him since she has no idea what is going on with her son. Howon's vague explanation is not being any help for the both of them at all.

She truly wants to inquire more about the event that had made her son to behave this strange way, but the look in Sunggyu's eyes as she stares into them makes her throat stuck with unspoken words. Those eyes are lifeless, soulless. That is, until a strangely very familiar voice calls out Sunggyu's name, a cheeky sound of teasing lacing the spoken words.

"Gyu? Is that you? Wah, it's really my Gyu! Wait, are you okay? Why do you look like shit?" The voice speaks which is quickly followed by a naughty giggle; the talking male is obviously oblivious of what is going on with Sunggyu. And almost like a lightning bolt, Sunggyu jolts his head up; only to see the person he hasn't been seeing for almost a month long, someone he has been missing too much, someone he desperately wants to see, standing in front of him. And just like a miracle, something returns into his eyes. Something akin to his lost soul. His heart. His feeling.

"W-Woohyun." Sunggyu stutters out as his lips quiver. His eyes glistens in a thin film of unshed tears as he bites his lips and knits his eyebrows together. And Howon can see it.

Kim Sunggyu has returned.

Indeed, it only takes a Nam Woohyun to appear in front of Kim Sunggyu for the elder male to crack his shell and finally let everything out. It only takes a single Nam Woohyun to have Kim Sunggyu let all of his locked feelings flow out, to succumb himself into a mournful sorrow as he finally grieves for his loss.