Jealousy | Wen Junhui [EDITING]

Chapter 24

It all went so fast. The fire. The surgery. Everything. I was still hooked in tubes and wires when I woke up. I felt sore all over. Next to me were my father and Caleb; my mother was asleep on the couch next to my bed. It seemed dark outside.

"Tori," Caleb sighed in relief.

He took my hand in his and rubbed my forehead with his other.

"Sweetheart, you're finally awake," my dad sighed in the same tone as Caleb.

He grinned ear to ear.

"We missed you so much! How are you feeling?" My dad asked.

"F-fine..." I croaked, "what happened? How long was I out?"

"You were a victim of the fire at school, luckily Seungcheol hyung saved you," Caleb chirped.

Seungcheol saved me? Was it Seungcheol?

My head throbbed as I tried to remember what happened. My dad noticed I was trying to think hard when he spoke:

"Vicky, don't hurt yourself; you're still recovering. Here I bought you chocolate, since it always makes you feel better."

I grinned as I tried reaching out to my dad, but failed when I felt a sharp pain as I tried to lift it. My eyes widened in shock as bandages engulfed half of my arm.

"You nearly died," Caleb voice-cracked - and I could tell he was trying to hold back tears. "What would I have done without you?"

I smiled and squeezed his hand tight. I realized that he hadn't answered my question as to how long I had been knocked out.

*~*~*~

Morning finally arrived, as some members of Seventeen, Winter, Ash, and Jennie entered my hospital room. The members who came were Seungcheol, Joshua, Vernon, Seokmin, and Seungkwan. The rest were either resting or coming later. The ones who came brought lemon tarts, my favorite. My friends looked very excited to see me. Word of my sudden consciousness spread to the Seventeen members and the girls from my mother. As soon as they heard the news, the bunch who came rushed to the hospital.

"Tori~ greet your mother," Seungkwan said in a high-pitched voice as he opened the door. "Oh, my gosh, Tori-" He ran to my side and hugged my head.

"Boy, I'm older than you," I reminded, while chuckling and hugging his arm.

"Hey! I'm her mother!" Winter and Ash butt-in at the same time.

"You're awake! Finally! We missed you so much!" exclaimed my cousin as he rushed to hug me too.

"You were asleep for almost two weeks," DK added, smiling his usual eye smile.

I enlarged my eyes in shock. Dang

"Lemme give you a hug too!" He beckoned.

"Not before me," Winter cut, and rushed to hug me.

Everybody lined up to give me a warm hug.

The boys, girls, and I played truth or dare. Vernon dared Seokmin to dance to 'Boombayah' in the hallway so passersby could see. I must say, their reactions were priceless. Some nurses tried to contain their squeal of delight.

Ash dared Vernon to do his most cringey aegyo in front of Jennie. She let her jaw drop as she glared in Ash's direction. Vernon did as he was told and scooted next to Jennie to do his aegyo. He sang 'Oppaya' as Jennie made inhuman gagging and cringing noises. Everyone else had the same reaction as Jennie, but she ran next to me and ducked against the wall, cringing to death.

Seungkwan dared Joshua to hug Winter. Everyone tried to contain their inner fangirl/fanboy, but I failed and ended up making an inhuman noise that hurt my throat. I was still recovering from the surgery.

Both Winter and Joshua turned a dark shade of red as Joshua leaned in to Winter and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as a side hug. Winter sat frozen on the spot. A few seconds into the hug, Joshua did something unexpected...

He gave Winter a peck on the side of her forehead. She let her jaw drop as her eyes widened at the sudden gesture. Everyone either yelled or squealed enthusiasticly. Joshua smiled as he blushed furiously as well. Winter then was shaking and got up very quickly, accidentally knocking into Joshua's jaw, and ran out the room. Everyone stopped their fangirl/fanboying and looked out the door in shock. I wanted to go after her and calm her down, but then I remembered I was practically tied to the bed. Joshua looked embarrassed and guilty at the same time; he rubbed his jaw, bit his lower lip, and got up to chase after Winter. The others got up as well and followed Joshua to find the girl. All except for Seungcheol.

"I- how did- what?" I was trying to process what had just happened.

Seungcheol looked just as dumbfounded as I was. He looked at me then back at the door. I was about to sit myself up to try to get a good look out the door, when Seungcheol walked to the side of my bed and helped me sit up.

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked worriedly.

"She's strong, she'll be okay. The others will make sure of it," he assured.

"How are you feeling, Tori?"

"Better, but not completely fine."

"I'm so sorry this happened to you, I-"

"Hey, hey, it's fine, really it's okay," I began as I slowly pat his hand.

His pupils enlarged and his hand shook slightly in nervousness when our fingers came in contact. I smiled and paused for a while. We stayed in a comfortable silence.

Seungcheol's POV

"Seungcheol..." Tori trailed.

"Yes?" I answered

"Were you the one who saved me from the fire?"

I thought I was ready for that question, but I wasn't. The guilt of lying spread all throughout my body. My throat went dry the second she asked that. It was hard lying to my brothers and Tori's family; it was slightly harder lying to the actual girl whom I claimed I saved.

Should I tell the truth?

Yes, she hates being lied to. Do the right thing.

No, you already told everyone your story.

No

Turning

Back

"Yes," I lied, "For a while there I thought you had forgotten."