Acrophilia

VII: cold

       By the time Jaebeom is done with classes, the young man is knackered. It seems he really got a cold because the headache doesn't go away, his body feels made of lead, he's constantly shivering and his head is really stuffy. Going to the hospital takes longer than usual because he misses his stop and in that moment he doesn't think of changing platforms and just go back. No, Jaebeom gets off, and out of the station and walks to the hospital when he's feeling already so poorly.

Bad judgment that only comes from a mind that's working at thirty-five point six percent.

Luckily for Jaebeom, when he makes it to his mother's room, she isn't alone. His smile is automatic and wide when he sees his aunt by his mother's side, putting new flowers and more picture frames and other sort of things to make the room more homey, something Jaebeom just couldn't do.

"Imo!" He cries out, getting the attention of the other woman, so similar to Youngjae with the wide smile and happy go lucky expression.

"Jaebeomie! Surprise!" The woman replies, immediately opening her arms and Jaebeom doesn't hesitate to step in the embrace. His mother has been in coma for over two months, he's missed that motherly affection and hugs that can put all his pieces together. "Aw, you poor thing. You've suffered a lot, haven't you?"

Jaebeom doesn't answer, he just lets his aunt pat his hair like when he was a kid, even if he's easily a head taller than her now.

"How can your appa be so cruel to let you alone through this? He should've taken his holidays and be here."

Jaebeom agrees and he's complained for the same thing many times, but he doesn't have the energy to do so now.

Noticing his extremely quiet behaviour, his aunt pushes to take a better look at Jaebeom, taking notice of the deep bags under his eyes due to exhaustion, his flushed face, patched lips and downcast expression.

"Eommo!" she exclaims in surprise, immediately checking for a fever. "You're burning up! Did you take anything? What happened? Is it the stress?"

Jaebeom shakes his head at all those questions and answers, "I got caught in the rain last night. I think it's a cold."

"We're in a hospital, we're getting that seen now," his aunt declares in that voice that says there's no arguing that will change her mind, yet he tries.

"I can do that myself. I just wanted to check on eomma first. I'm so glad you're here, imo. I bet she missed you a lot."

"And now that I'm here, you can rest a bit, Jaebeomie. You've had it so hard, and now you don't need to bear all the burden yourself. You can lean on me," she says, her tone soft and so warm, exactly what Jaebeom needed. "Now go and take care of your cold, don't make your eomma worry, okay? Get home and rest so tomorrow you'll feel better, trust me to look after her."

"Thank you, imo," Jaebeom says with heartfelt sincerity. His aunt smiles encouragingly, ruffling his hair before sending him out, patting his bum as if he was still a little kid.

Jaebeom chuckles a bit before he is kicked out, he greets his mother and tells her he'll be back soon when he's feeling better, he's leaving her in good hands. Only after that he gets out and heads for the emergency room to get some sort of shot or anything. However, the moment he is in the reception he can only see the many other people waiting and realises it'll take a while, and he's definitely not in the mood to wait among other sick people.

Feeling exhausted, Jaebeom just goes to the pharmacy and speaks to the ahjussi there, explaining his symptoms and just buying everything the man recommends. With the bag with all the medicine, Jaebeom considers going home, but he doesn't feel good enough to ride the subway or take a bus at peak hour. For that reason, he goes back to the hospital but not to his mother's room because his aunt will nag him and send him home herself if he shows up. Because it's a nice day, he goes to the rooftop.