small words || jeongcheol

20: end.

"You're back already?" Jeonghan remarked, coming into the bedroom and sitting down on his bed.

Junhui glanced at him.

"Yeah," he murmured, running his fingers over the pink shirt in his lap.

"Have a good time?" Jeonghan questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Is that any of your business?" Junhui snapped, tossing the shirt aside and stalking out of the room.

"God, okay," Jeonghan muttered, shaking his head.

By the time dinner rolled around, Jeonghan had finished reading his book - for something like the tenth time - and wandered downstairs to see what everyone else was doing.

"That's cool," he said to Wonwoo, who was sitting at the table finishing up a complex-looking origami dragon.

"It's a gift," Yuju piped up.

"Oh?" asked Jeonghan, tucking his hair behind his ear. "For who?"

Wonwoo mumbled a name under his breath.

"Sorry?"

"Mingyu," Wonwoo repeated, his voice coming out sterner than intended. He slowly blushed bright red.

"Ooh," Soonyoung said obnoxiously, entering the living room hand in hand with Jihoon.

Wonwoo glared at him before fleeing the room, taking the little origami dragon with him.

"Soonyoung," Nurse Josh sighed.

The orange haired boy shrugged and plopped down on the sofa, pulling Jihoon into his lap.

"Did you guys have a good day out?" Josh asked, his voice thick from his cold.

"Yeah, it was so fun," Soonyoung replied, his smile turning his eyes into little crescents.

Jeonghan sat down in the seat Wonwoo had vacated, throwing Yuju a small smile. She gave one in return, fiddling with her sleeves.

"Dinner!" Seungcheol called.

Everyone washed their hands in the kitchen and filed into the dining room, sitting in their usual spots at the table. Jeonghan swallowed uncomfortably as his gaze flickered over the masses of food being dished out. Today was pasta bake, chicken drumsticks and a huge salad, which most of the residents eagerly helped themselves to.

Seungcheol sat down beside Jeonghan and started piling his plate up, but Jeonghan was reluctant to even pour himself some water.

"Just manage what you can," Seungcheol said gently, handing him the serving spoon for the pasta.

"Okay," he breathed out, counting each piece of pasta as it hit his plate.

He ate slowly, pushing his memories back as he chewed on the food. It was good food, to be fair, but most days all Jeonghan saw was numbers on the plate. He wasted time munching on lettuce and celery, knowing they were mostly made up of water. But as he was constantly eating throughout the meal, Seungcheol was pleased.

Jeonghan hoped he would have gained a pound by tomorrow. He wanted Seungcheol to be pleased with him.

Everyone kind of wound down that evening, going up to their rooms earlier than usual. For some of them, their Saturday had been rather busy - whether they had been out, or stayed home and ended up crying in the arms of a nurse.

Jeonghan blushed as he recalled the feeling of Seungcheol holding him. The Nurse's warmth was comforting, as was the hardness of the muscles in his arms, back and chest. But Seungcheol was still a little squishy, and the mere recollection of his gummy smile had Jeonghan hiding his face in his hands.