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the sunlight streamed into the hospital room through the windows. rosey was still sleeping; she had awoken a few hours earlier to find minho and chan fast asleep on the couches.
chan had fallen asleep around two in the morning and minho had fallen asleep an hour before him. the two who remained were now awake and conversing with each other as they had done the night before.
"she's been sleeping for a long time," chan said as he approached the girl.
minho shook his head.
"she was awake for an hour or two earlier," minho explained, "she didn't know i was up as well, but i heard her rustling around."
chan gently tapped the girl on the shoulder and have her a soft shake. rosey hummed, her eyes still closed, and turned her body away from the boy to sleep.
he didn't try again because she clearly didn't want to wake up yet. the oldest shrugged as he looked at minho.
"i'm heading to the cafeteria." chan muttered as he scratched the back of his neck.
minho nodded as he stood up from the couch, tossing the blankets he had been using to the side. chan exited the room and quickly shut the door behind him. he joined the girl by her side as the door closed completely.
minho simply looked at her and looked down at the numerous bruises that covered her body.
he grabbed her right wrist and examined the bandages that covered whatever was under. . . what the nurses said were minor scratches.
he was too preoccupied with inspecting her injuries to notice that she had awakened. her gaze was drawn to the boy and she noticed his fingers brushing against her bruises.
"that hurts!" she winced, pulling her wrist away from the boy's touch.
minho was startled by the sudden words that came out of her mouth; he took a step back and took a deep breath when he realized she was awake. his hand was placed on his chest as he continued to breathe steadily.
his hands rested on the side of the bed as he relaxed. he leaned over to her and started whispering, as if he was afraid someone would overhear.
"what happened?" minho inquired at first, "actually, i know what happened, who did this to you?"
rosey shook her head slowly and shrugged. she needed to think about and remember what had happened.
"i don't know who did it; all i know is that it was a man. i don't recall their face, voice, or what they did to me exactly."
"this is— are you sure you don't remember?" minho sighed.
rosey shook her head again, her gaze fixed on her hands as they fiddled with her rings.
"no, i don't."
he began to reflect on the story seungmin had told them the night before. he looked up at her and spoke quickly, almost as if a lightbulb had gone off.
"who was the friend who had been waiting for you that night?"
her eyes widened and her fingers froze around her ring. he noticed her sudden halt in movement and asked the question again.
"who was the friend, rosey?"
she began to apologize to the boy and asked him not to tell chan, knowing how upset he would be.
"there was no one waiting! i wanted to go to the market by myself, but sana-unnie wouldn't let me go at night, so i told her someone was waiting for me..." she ranted.
minho's eyes sunk into razor sharp stares that terrified her. he was visibly upset by her lie, which had landed her in the hospital. he pushed his torso up and took a strong stance beside her.
"why would you ever go outside alone at night?"
"i told you i'm sorry!"
"how come, rosey?"
the door squeaked open just as she opened her mouth to say another apology and brief explanation.
chan walked in and noticed the girl and boy talking. the girl's embarrassed state with pink tinted cheeks, as well as minho's enraged expression, were both noticed by the oldest.
"good morning," chan said to the girl, who muttered the same thing back.
chan placed his extra good on the table next to the couch where he slept. he then turned to face the girl, standing at the foot of her bed.
"can you tell me what happened that night?" he inquired.
"oh. . . i remember walking down the street after leaving the dorms and everything happened on the way back. i only remember a male grabbing my arms from behind and everything else is a blur from there." she explained, a shy expression on her face as she looked at the oldest.
minho cut him off before he could ask any more questions.
"she has no other recollection. it was a man, but she can't remember his voice or face. there was no one waiting for her, so she decided to go out on her own."
chan's face was flushed as he looked over at the girl. from the story sana told last night, he knew there was a chance she wouldn't find a friend waiting for her.
"nabi, this is completely out of character for you and i don't want to press you any further because you don't seem to remember." chan spoke calmly as he sat on the couch, away from her.
"i'm sorry." she said, adding to her long list of regrets.
the door to the room opened again, this time with jisung walking through it, changbin was behind him.
"oh my goodness, you woke up! you have no idea how much you scared me!" the same-aged boy spoke up.
his gaze was on the girl and he wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could; she returned the hug with a shy smile.
no further questions were asked about that night because she said she didn't want to talk about it. chan told jisung and changbin that he would explain the story from her perspective later.
rosey asked, "where is jeongin?"
"he's back at the dorms." changbin said.
her gaze returned to her fingers, as it had when she was speaking with minho. they knew she wanted to see him, but he was at the dorms, freaking out about making sure she had everything she needed.
jeongin double-checked everything, from bandages to medicine.
