Oasis (A KaiSoo Fanfic)

Chapter 2 | Like Depression and Cancer

Back when I was in an internal war with Cancer, listening to music was one of the few activities that brought me temporary joy. I had a mixed playlist of songs, from mainstream all the way to hardcore metal, each genre fitting one of my moods, but I had little to no ballads. I just wasn't the romantic, sentimental type of guy. The only time I remember listening to an entire love song all the way through to the end was at my homecoming dance in high school, but even then I did so halfheartedly. (However, it did help me lose my virginity that night, so it was SO worth the torture.) Love songs and their relatives to me were all the same sounds played together to portray all the same messages: Love is good. But what I always pondered was if Love was so mystical and spectacular, why did it hurt so much for me?

Seohyun pushed the sharp tip of the metallic needle past my skin and I flinched slightly as the Chemo entered my body and began to run through my veins, mixing with my blood along the way. By that point, the pain that came along as an accessory to Chemo had substantially faded away. My brain was accustomed to the point that when I saw Seohyun walk into my room at the right time, it automatically told the nerve muscles in my body to numb themselves. It wasn't by much, but it was certainly a staircase up from the pain I felt from my first encounter with Chemo. (Which made me cry, but I don't talk about that.)

It was Kyungsoo's turn next after she finished with me. He smiled gratefully at her and they had a short but friendly conversation as the Chemo worked its way through his body. To my surprise, he handled it rather well and even watched the needle as it pierced his pale skin. I recalled overhearing her saying that it was his first round of Chemo, but his reaction told me otherwise.

"There," she said, letting loose a small gust of air as she cleaned up a few minutes later. "All done for today. Good job, boys." Kyungsoo smiled at her and I just rolled my eyes. Good job for what? Living another day? That was hardly something to be proud of. "I'll be back tomorrow morning before breakfast. But for now, Jongin why don't you take Kyungsoo down to the cafeteria for some dinner? I'm sure you're both hungry."

"Oh, I'm starved," I sarcastically replied, causing her to sigh in something I sensed was disappointment. I was used to that sound and that sound was drawn to me.

"Bye, Ms. Seohyun," Kyungsoo said, smiling warmly at her once again.

"Bye, Kyungsoo-sshi." She chuckled a little and waved before exiting my room, probably thinking something along the lines of "That boy is too sweet for his own good." I couldn't have agreed more.

Then, I stood up from my bed and slipped on my flat shoes. "Let's go," I said, walking past his bed and toward the opened door. I was going to walk to the cafe alone like I usually do and let him catch up at some point, but my better half warned me not to and I knew I would get in trouble later if I didn't. Not that I minded getting in trouble in a cancer hospital, but still. It wasn't worth it. So, I stopped outside the room and rested my back against the white wall. I lifted my shirt sleeve and gazed over at the band-aid on my arm and ran my fingers over it gently. I never understood the purpose of band-aids. I mean, yeah, they lessened the chances of the Chemo leaving my system and they clogged blood, but I just didn't get why they were so necessary. The Chemo wasn't doing shit anyway, so who cared if leaked out? And blood was supposed to run. It was like water; it was designed to flow freely without any human-made barriers like dams or band-aids. The way I saw it, there was no point in stopping something that was made to be liberated. It only hurt the world and threw off its natural processes.

A couple of minutes passed and I was still standing out in the hall waiting for him, so I peeked my head back inside. Right as I was doing that, however, he was coming out of the room, but luckily we both backed up before any physical contact was made.