« trust me » | hyungwonho

- 20

"Here's your hot chocolate." Hyungwon put the cup on Hoseok's bedside table.

The boy thanked him and moved to the side of the bed, making space for the nurse to come sit.

"People generally drink coffee or tea here, I'm surprised. But I guess that's one more thing we have in common." The nurse giggled and Hoseok smiled warmly, grabbing the hot cup.

As he blew to cool down his drink, a comfortable and relaxing silence took place.
After a minute or two, he took a sip, hummed in appreciation at the nice taste and finally broke the silence.

"You know, my ...father came to visit the other day."
The nurse nodded.
"Well... I wasn't really able to talk about it to the Doctor", he paused with a sigh.
"But it feels heavy keeping it for myself. I was wondering if I could just, you know, talk to you instead ...?"

Hyungwon slowly turned his head towards the boy, seeing how nervous he looked.
He turned completely, facing him and giving him his full attention.

"Of course you can. I'm actually very glad if you feel ready to talk to me."

Hoseok looked up and their eyes met. Hyungwon noticed the boy's rosy cheeks and smiled, telling him he could start talking when he felt like it.

"I ...don't really have a family. I grew up here, in Seoul, with a caring mother and a loving father. I had a normal and pretty nice childhood."
Hoseok started clutching his blanket in his hands and looked down.
"But when I was 9...", he took a shaky breath, "My mother died. She was my world, the center of the family, and in a second, she was gone."

Hyungwon silently listened to the touching story the boy was revealing. He could feel his pain, his sorrow, so he carefully listened to every single one of his words.

"She died in the most unfair way. She was driving home from work, late at night, and a drunk driver crashed into her car."
Hoseok started shaking.
"My father and I were watching tv, laughing together, when we received a call from the police."

A tear rolled down the boy's red cheek.

"That night was the last time I saw him smile."

The beautiful boy looked up, eyes full of tears, and took a deep breath.
Hyungwon was extremely touched. He had heard so many sad life stories here at the hospital, but he had never been so heartbroken by a patient's story.
Softly, he placed his opened hand next to Hoseok's, a sweet gesture to show him that he was there for him, but not making any bold move by himself. Hoseok was free to choose.

Hoseok gulped and slowly placed a shaky hand in Hyungwon's. Once he did it, he felt the nurses fingers gripping his hand softly, showing his support and that he was still giving him his full attention.
He was ready to continue talking.

"The other day, when you put your hand on my back, I got very scared. You probably didn't understand why. And I'm still sorry for reacting that way. It's just that... after my mom's passing, my father, he..."
Hoseok's brows furrowed, "he went crazy. He couldn't accept her death and started drinking, doing drugs and... he became violent. Extremely violent. He didn't take care of me anymore, and when he got home, he would furiously beat me up. It went on until I graduated high school, two years ago. I had no one to talk to, so I just endured it for years, and it destroyed me."
His fingers clenched on Hyungwon's hand.
"I found a little job and went to university, went to live in the dormitory, and escaped from him. But it wasn't that easy, and my past demons came back to haunt me. And so..."

He looked up at the nurse who was still listening carefully, and gave him the most heartbreaking smile.

"Here I am, because I couldn't kill myself properly and my best friend found me before it was too late."

After telling all that story, silence came.
Hyungwon used his thumb to caress Hoseok's hand, showing him he was still here, had listened, and cared.

"So the reason you're so scared of physical contact is because of your father ?"

Hoseok looked down and nodded.

Hyungwon lifted his arm and very slowly, put the back of his fingers against Hoseok's cheek. The boy closed his eyes and let the nurse stroke his cheek.
It was scary, new, but little by little, it became very pleasant and comforting.

After a few minutes, Hyungwon got up and told Hoseok he had to go check on other patients.

When he got up and walked towards the door, he felt a hand gripping his arm.
Turning around, he felt two strong arms wrapping around his waist.
Very surprised, he got stiff, but relaxed when he felt Hoseok resting his head at the base of his neck.
He hugged the boy back, and stroke his back soothingly.
Hoseok finally let go, cheeks red and hands shaking.

"Thank you, thank you so much Mr Chae."

"Hyungwon."

"Huh ?"

Hyungwon smiled smugly, "You can call me Hyungwon", and finally walked out the room.