Oasis (A KaiSoo Fanfic)

Chapter 24 | Forgotten

One of Kyungsoo's favorite past times was playing the piano. I have to give him props, too because despite having no visual way of telling where the hell his fingers were going, he always played beautifully.

There were times when I would just sit in the music room with him as he played and, listening to him like he would do while I painted or drew in the art room. The sound he was able to produce by simply pressing down on keys was truly miraculous if you ask me, maybe even too much so to be believable.

I actually remember falling asleep in there sometimes while listening, but I always woke up when I heard his soft voice calling me or felt his gentle touch on my cheek coaxing me out of my slumber.

He was playing as I sketched ideas for new paintings in my notebook, creating the ideal background music for thinking. I would look up at him every so often and see through his face, though expressionless, how happy he was just to be in that moment. He wasn't smiling once when I turned toward him (at least not when I was looking), but I could still see that there was no place in the world that he would have preferred to be than right there in that moment. Why? I have no clue, but my guess is that it was for some reason your mind wouldn't automatically go to. He may have had a reason for everything he said, but I'll tell you right now that didn't mean his reasons were obvious.

"Hyung," I called out, setting my notebook in my lap but keeping my pencil locked in the loose hold of my twisted fingers, "don't you ever get tired of playing piano so much?"

"No." He shook his head and answered as he kept on playing.

"But how can you just sit there for hours upon hours and not get at least a little tired?" I asked. "I mean, your fingers must kill you afterward."

"Not really," he said, his face facing straight ahead of him. "I like playing for so long. It's relaxing."

"Maybe for the ears but definitely not for your fingers," I said, causing him to laugh lightly as he continued to press away at the black and white keys.

"I don't know how I do it, Jongin," he said, a faint smile still lingering on his lips from laughing. "It's like writing in my journal without eyesight. I don't know how I manage to do it, I just do."

"That's for sure," I said. "I don't think I could ever do any of that without being able to see." He hummed in response, his smile widening a bit. "That's why you amaze me so much, hyung," I continued, propping my arms on my thighs. "You have to be the most unfortunate person on the planet, yet you do all these wonderful things that I can barely do with vision. You're a fascinating human being."

He chuckled again. "I guess," he said. "I don't think being able to function without vision makes me fascinating, though. I think it just makes me adaptable."

"You see potato, I say potado," I replied, earning another precious laugh from his mouth. I sat back on the chair and brought the pencil back to the paper. "I don't care what you say, hyung," I said as continued to sketch from where I left off, "you are fascinating to me and will always be."

I heard him smile at that.

"Okay, Jongin-ah," he said with a light sigh, taking a break from playing, "whatever you say."

I smiled at him.

Then, he placed his fingers back on the piano keys and began to play again.

********

There are people out there that say Life happens when you least expect It to. Can I just agree with those people by saying, yes, yes It does and when It does, It doesn't always come bearing gifts.

Late in the night, I was awoken by the sound of doors hitting the wall and rushing feet. I groaned, thinking I was dreaming, as I turned around to see what the commotion was all about, but that curiosity soon morphed into panic when I saw a huddle of doctors and nurses crowded around Kyungsoo's bed. The light was already on when I sat up and scooted to the edge of my bed, then hopping off of it to see what had happened.

"What's going on?" I asked Seohyun as I appeared, my heart racing from inside my chest but my voice sounding groggy.

"Something with his lungs," she replied, glancing over at me. "I came in here to fill up his chemo and didn't see his chest rising or falling, so I panicked and called the doctors."

I froze in place. My heart stopped.

"He didn't put his oxygen tubes in," I said, the words first coming out as a low mumble. I looked at her and the curious yet worried expression on her face. "He told me when we met that he had to put them in whenever he slept or else his lungs would fill up with liquid. He didn't put them in before he went to sleep." Her lips parted and she looked over at him as the doctors fiddled around.

"It's okay," one of them said to the others, "he's still has a detectable pulse, but it's substantially slow. We need to get him to the ICU ward right now." Then, they had a few of the nurses bring in a stretcher, which they loaded his motionless body onto and used to push him out of the room.

"He'll be okay, Jongin," Seohyun said to me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder as we watched them rush him away from me. "He's going to be just fine."

I forgave Seohyun for the whole rooftop incident when she agreed to take me to the ICU where I would wait for him for nearly three and a half hours.

I felt like shit that night. I felt stupid. I felt irresponsible. But worst, I felt guilty. I should have checked to see if he put them in, that's what I kept telling myself. If I only would have checked, he'd still be in his own bed right now and not here. I know I probably shouldn't have, but I blamed myself. I blamed myself for not worrying about him enough and not caring for him like I was supposed to. I blamed myself because I had no one else to blame.

One of the doctors came out of the room around 2:30 a.m. and told me that they got the liquid out of his lungs and put him on oxygen. She also said that I could go back and visit him if I pleased and I did.

I sat by his bed in a chair and squeezed his hand, pressing the skin to my lips as I tried to hold back tears. He didn't move for a while and I wanted to yell at him for being so stupid. But I didn't because I couldn't and I couldn't because I only had myself to blame.

"Jongin..." His voice was hoarse and clogged, but it caught my attention nonetheless. "Jongin, where am I?"

"In the ICU," I said, still clutching his hand. "You didn't put your oxygen tubes in before you went to sleep and your lungs filled with liquid. Seohyun found you just in time, though, and they brought you here."

He blinked a few times and looked around. "Oh," he said. "I must have forgotten."

I just looked at him as his eyelids slowly began to fall back down over his eyes.

"Go back to sleep, hyung," I said, leaning forward to brush some hair out of his face. "I'll stay here with you tonight." He smiled ever so faintly and nodded before giving in to the drowsiness and dozing off again.

I stayed there with him for the rest of that early morning, constantly making sure that his oxygen tubes were still where they were supposed to be.

A/N

So that, ladies and gentlemen, was the prequel, if you will, to the more major angst that will be coming up sooner than later. But I want to know something from you guys, do you think Kyungsoo really forgot to put his oxygen tubes in? Tell me your theories in the comments, I'm interested to see what you guys are thinking! :)

For anyone who is interested, the song I put in here is called Kiss the Rain by Yiruma, the most amazing pianist of all time. His music literally makes me so happy.

Thank you for reading, and don't forget to vote and comment below! I might not be updating again till Thursday because I have a follow-up doctor's appointment for some meds I was taking on Wednesday, but I will at least try to start it if I don't finish it. I might update tomorrow, though, so just keep a lookout! But until next time, whenever that will be, bye bye! :) <3