Make you Smile (A Cha Eunwoo Fanfiction)

Twenty-five

I hated the hospital. I hated everything about it. The fluorescent lights, the sharp smells of rubber gloves and disinfectant, the suffocating white hallways and rooms that seemed to disappear into a pale nothingness. But at that moment, none of it bothered me, none of it mattered as I rushed down the hallway. Eunwoo walked slower, his hands in his coat pockets. He wore a blank expression, one that showed nothing of what he was feeling.

I, meanwhile, was struggling to keep calm. It was strange, really. Since I'd never met his brother. But I knew what it was like to face the trauma, I knew how much it hurt to lose someone. Death was something that I had already encountered, and it still horrified me.

The room was far off to the side, one of the hundreds of whitewashed rooms smelling of sickness and despair. Eunwoo slid the door open slowly, my sight falling over a bed and a woman sitting beside it. Eunwoo stepped inside and I followed. My mouth opened in surprise at the boy on the bed. He was so young, looked only about four. His face was pale and his eyes closed, black bangs covering his forehead. The woman beside the bed looked up. She wore the same expression as Eunwoo. She didn't seem to acknowledge me at all, only speaking to Eunwoo,

"Did you eat?"

Eunwoo nodded, but I wondered if he was being honest.

"You should rest." He took a step and set his hand on her back. She sighed heavily, so heavily that her very form seemed to sink into herself.

"He'll be okay, right?" Her voice was on the verge of completely breaking down. I bit my lip at the desperation in her tone. A small sigh escaped Eunwoo's lips and he helped guide the woman to a cot on the other side of the room.

"Just rest."

He pulled a blanket over her before returning to the bedside. I examined his face, wanting him to say something. He sat down, taking the child's hand in his. He rested the palm on his cheek. Cautiously, I stepped towards him,

"I'm sor-"

"Don't." He lifted his head to look at me, "Don't apologize Soohyun."

I pursed my lips and nodded. He turned back and placed the small boy's hand back on his chest. He stood up.

"Come." His fingers took my wrist and gently pulled me after him. Outside of the hospital room he sank onto the bench, his hand releasing my wrist as he leaned his elbows on his knees, resting his chin on his fists.

I sat down beside him. I wanted so badly to make him feel better, to promise that it would be okay; I couldn't, though. There was a long few minutes of cold silence until he spoke again, this time his voice being smaller and more vulnerable.

"I'm scared." He admitted. Those two words made my heart ache. I looked down sadly, not knowing how to comfort him. I was scared too, I was so scared that at any moment he would break. I was scared of both of them getting hurt. I was scared of seeing death again.
Silently, I edged closer to him on the bench till our shoulders were brushing.

"When your brother wakes up, I'll meet him." I smiled despite the atmosphere, a feeble attempt to lighten the mood.

"We can all go get ice cream together. We'll go visit the lake and I'll tell him all about Seoul."
I met Eunwoo's eyes and felt my heart pound with joy at a small smile etching itself across his face. He looked at me warmly.

"Youngjae. That's his name." His eyes glowed.

"He's very bright, and he loves strawberry ice cream." He laughed to himself,

"He absolutely hates cucumbers."

Another thought and his eyes flickered away,

"I cant even imagine a day without his laugh Soohyun. I can't imagine a day without him in it."