SINFUL

22

they woke up, broken hearted. eyes full of sorrowful tears. they looked at each other.

"have you..." renjun asked jeno and wasn't expecting him to answer yes.

"y-yeah. he talked to us. is it just a dream or he was trying to tell us everything he wanted to tell us?" jeno asked, wiping his nonstop flowing tears.

"m-maybe it's jus a dream. right?" renjun tried to be positive. he took all the positivity he could get from his heart.

"but it could be real. it could be true. what if jaemin told us the answer to all our questions? it's not that i don't want jaemin to be with us again, it's just that... it felt real. don't you think?" jeno asked.

"i hate to admit it, but yeah. w-we can't lose him just like that! m-maybe there's some other way? w-we can still save him, jeno! p-please." renjun cried and jeno just hugged and comforted him.

they've been trying for a very long time now. nothing's happening. and jeno as well is giving up. he believed what jaemin said in their dream. it felt and sounded real.

until charity, jaemin's doctor came in. who is also their friend now. 7 years has been long how can you not befriend her. her age isn't far from theirs. she's just a year older than taeil.

she looked... sad for them.

"i'd like to tell you something. call taeyong and the others."

"b-but can't you tell us now? why not now? is jaemin going to live? is he going to wake up? is he going to be with us again? answer me, charity. please." renjun asked continuously. not believing what happened in their dream.

charity couldn't answer him because she wanted their friends to come over first. since jaemin's parents are long gone.

renjun is literally going crazy. he's walking back and forth, kept on talking to himself, asking things to jeno continuously. jeno just chose to not pay attention to renjun, because he knows that there will be no answer to his questions. and even if there is, he won't stop.

but instead of just sitting and watching renjun go crazy, he called 18 of their friends to come over because jaemin's doctor, charity needs to announce something.

strangely, everybody's free. it's very very rare that all of them are free. jeno, having his own belief, thought that jaemin really made a way for this day to come. he's broken. renjun as well.

jeno thought about what jaemin told them. he started crying, sobbing. he kept on telling himself to calm down, but it just worsened. he couldn't control his breathing. he tried his best to stay awake, and not faint there. he knows jaemin's here somewhere. he stayed strong. he couldn't be weak in times like this. not now.

renjun kept on asking him why he was crying, jeno just couldn't answer him since he was crying so much. it pained jeno, as well as renjun. renjun being a crybaby, he cried with jeno. even though he doesn't know why jeno was crying.

after an hour or two, the room was filled. everybody's here. they called charity and she came as soon as they called.

she stood there, in front of everybody, beside jaemin. holding his record.

"the reason why i needed everybody here, is because i want everybody to know his real condition. i don't want to tell this to renjun and jeno only. i don't want anybody getting hurt just because they never told you what's going on." she started.

she looked at them, "jaemin has been holding on for a long time now. but instead of getting stronger, he's getting weaker. almost everyday. i saw how you waited for 7 years. how you celebrated his and your birthdays, and holidays. i saw the pain in your eyes. i saw how you suffered. you've also known me for 7 years, too. i also felt sad for you, too. although i never got to experience fun things with jaemin, i feel that he's a really funny and great guy."

"charity. just tell us jaemin's condition already. stop beating around the bush. just tell us already." taeyong spoke since jeno and renjun couldn't.

she exhaled.

"the life support is the only thing that keeps jaemin alive. he's weak. there was one time his heart stopped beating inside the OR. we never told you because we don't want to increase the pain you're feeling. the truth untold will make you free. luckily, the surgeon was good enough for him to live for the next 7 years. since the life support is the only thing that keeps him breathing, there's no hope for him to be open his eyes again. the more he's connected with the machines, the more he'll get weak. so we though we'll give you enough time to say your goodbyes. but not for long. we'll give you 24 hours, maximum. I'm sorry." she said and left.

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