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— ♕ —
hyerim aggressively tapped the keyboard on her phone, messaging jisung. she hasn't heard from him all day and was getting worried. she caught a glimpse of distress in his eyes while he was leaving, and that only made her more anxious.
"jisung, come on," she whined, holding her phone up to her ear after dialing his number. "pick up, pick up, pick up."
voicemail.
the storm outside seemed to worsen, and if jisung wouldn't answer, there was no doubt she would go to his house to check on him.
"one more time," she told herself and repeated her actions.
like before, it went to voicemail.
hyerim turned her head to look outside her bedroom window then back down at her phone. she rushed to get a hoodie and a pair of shoes on, running out the front door once she did so.
the strong breeze blew past, making her pull her hood up as she tried to remember the way to jisung's house from hers.
by the time she got there, she was drenched. her hair stuck to her face and her sweatpants and hoodie felt like a second skin. she lifted her hand and knocked on the door, calling jisung's name over the heavy rain.
their driveway was vacant but hyerim didn't give up hope. she jiggled the handle, only to find it locked.
"of fucking course," she snapped.
taking a step back, she looked around the property for any entrance before an idea popped into her head.
a back door!
and so with her heavy clothes weighing her down, hyerim rushed around the house and spotted a sliding glass door which was fortunately unlocked. she dragged the heavy door to the side and stepped inside.
"jisung?" she shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth.
further into the home, she saw all of the cigarette butts and empty soju bottles laying around.
those aren't his.. are they? she mentally asked herself. forget about that! find him!
the place was so quiet that she was beginning to doubt anyone was there, but she continued to look for jisung, jogging down the hallway.
there was a room that had light coming from under the door at the end of the hallway and hyerim prayed that it was his. she hurriedly approached it and tried to open the door.
"jisung?" she was starting to panic and bang on the wood. "jisung!"
"fuck, fuck, fuck," she repeated, looking around for something to open the door.
an imaginary lightbulb going off above her, hyerim took a bobby pin out of her wet hair and attempted to pick the lock. as she heard the metal turn, she rejoiced for a second and pushed the door open.
her eyes instantly watered at the scene in front of her. "no" continued to pour out of her mouth over and over, taking her phone out of her pocket to dial the police.
"119, what's your emergency?"
the phone call was rushed, and once it ended, hyerim dropped her cell and hooked her arms under jisung's shoulders. she made him sit up against the wall and opened his mouth.
she stuck her index and middle finger down his throat. "don't you fucking die on me. i already lost one best friend, i don't need to lose you too."
hyerim did her best to make him puke the pills back up, and he did. once. he had opened his eyes and looked up at hyerim, tears at the brim.
"i'm here, jisung. please hang on, medics are coming soon," she softly told him.
the boy forced a small smile.
"you know, i always—" he coughed into his hand. "—thought you were beautiful."
— ♕ —
hyerim was alone at the hospital for a while until her parents, younger brother, and friends showed up. they sat in the waiting room, anticipating an update on jisung.
jaeseong sat to hyerim's right while all of stray kids sat across from them.
"for han jisung?"
everyone was quick to stand up but the doctor put his hand up in a way of telling them to relax.
"who was the one who found him?" he questioned, and hyerim stepped forward. "thanks to you, he's in stable condition. you managed to get most of the pills out of his system."
she felt jaeseong squeeze her hand he was holding.
"are his parents here?" the man continued.
"actually—"
"we're his guardians."
the attention turned to hyerim's mom and dad.
"would you like to see him? he's resting right now."
hyerim's mother nodded. "can we all see him at once?"
"sure. i think he'll be relieved to see so many people who care for him. just please don't overwhelm him."
as the boys started to follow behind the adults, jaeseong was about to walk but stopped once he realized hyerim wasn't moving.
"noona?" he whispered, tugging on her hand.
"go ahead, jae. i just.. need some time, okay?" hyerim sadly smiled and patted his head. "i'll be there in a little bit."
