basketball ➸ lee eunsang

| 31 |

today's the day. december 7, 2018, the friday that could change haeyoung's life; her grandmother's surgery day. haeyoung decided that she would skip school, so she would be able to stay in the hospital with her grandmother for the whole day.

however, she felt suffocated. she felt as if something was strangling her, it felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest any minute now. she felt so anxious to the point that she felt numb.

'why? why does she feel these things when it's only a surgery? shouldn't she trust the doctors? they're professionals performing this surgery the hundredth time!' any normal person would say. but there was only one answer to those questions; she wouldn't bear to face all the helplessness and suffering she experienced when her parents died once again.

because of all of the thoughts that filled up her mind, she didn't notice one of the surgeons was coming up to her. "kwon haeyoung?"

she snapped out of her thoughts. "oh- uh, yes, that's me."

"all right, so the scheduled time for your grandmother's surgery is at two o'clock. the procedure is going to last for two to three hours." the surgeon said

i'm going to be one of the surgeons that will perform on your grandmother, so, trust me, all right? don't worry so much, we'll try our best to make your grandmother live longer." the surgeon gave her a reassuring smile, making haeyoung smile as well.

"yes, doctor. thank you very much for your help."

the surgeon further explained some other things, like what the outcome will be, the cost of the surgery, and other like things, before preparing for the surgery, coming in three hours.

➸

"where's haeyoung?" dongpyo asked eunsang, who was sitting across him on the lunch table.

"she didn't come to school today."

"really? why? is she sick?" wonjin asked, worried.

"hyung, chill, it's not the first time she was absent." dongpyo said, looking at wonjin as if he was some weird creature.

"it's not bad to worry about someone." wonjin said, pouting.

"since when did you care about her so much?" eunsang asked, sarcastically chuckling as he chewed his food, looking away.

dongoyo and wonjin looked at each other, basically reading each other's minds. did he really say that? the two thought, but shrugged and continued their lunch.

dongpyo took out his phone, and messaged haeyoung. 'hey, why didn't you come to school today? i feel so lonely >:(' dongpyo sent. almost instantly, haeyoung replied.

'it's my grandmother's surgery day today. i wanted to visit her...' haeyoung texted back. dongpyo gasped, but before he could inform the other boys about it, haeyoung sent another message.

'don't let anyone know about it, okay? i trust you.' haeyoung said.

"what is it?" wonjin asked, peeking at dongpyo's screen. before he could even get a glimpse of it, dongpyo but the screen against his chest.

"nothing. shoo." dongpyo said, typing on his phone, but it was still close to his chest so no one sees.

'your secret is safe with me :D hope the surgery goes well! let's chat later!' dongpyo sent, before turning off his phone and continuing his lunch.

➸

and after minutes and hours of waiting, it was surgery time. haeyoung sat on one of the waiting chairs in front of the operating room, closing her eyes as she prayed as hard as she can.

anxiety was washing over her, but she realized she hadn't eaten anything yet. she didn't even get a blink of sleep last night, so she suddenly felt really drowsy, fatigued, and hungry all at the same time.

she decided that she wanted to rest her eyes for a bit so it would help her relax at least for a few minutes.

"haeyoung?" a voice said. she slowly blinked her eyes open, then she looked to her left.

"hey, it's eunsang..." eunsang said, smiling. he was still in his uniform, so haeyoung figured he just came from school.

"hey..." haeyoung said, smiling back. "wh-what time is it?"

"it's 3:10." eunsang said.

"oh... what brings you here?" haeyoung said.

"i remembered that it was your grandma's surgery day." eunsang said. "i figured you hadn't eaten yet, so i brought you some food." he handed out the plastic bag from the convenience store.

"oh, thank you." haeyoung said, having barely any energy left. she took the plastic bag with some snacks inside. "i owe you a lot." haeyoung said, making eunsang chuckle.

"it's okay. as i told you, my mom is a nurse in this hospital. she picked me up from school, and i told her that i wanted to visit you and your grandmother here." eunsang said.

"by the way, how'd you know i was here?" haeyoung said, before realization struck her. "did dongpyo tell you?! i told him i didn't want anyone to know-"

"don't worry, he didn't. you were the one who told me, a couple weeks ago, remember?"

"oh, right." haeyoung said. "anyway, thanks for the snacks."

"no problem."

the chatted for a few more minutes, before eunsang had to go because his mother was making him study for finals.

"see you tomorrow, eunsang. i mean, if everything goes well."

"see you!" the boy waved at her, before the elevator door closed. haeyoung walked back in front of the operation room.

she sat back down, and felt worry wash over her again.

seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours, but she didn't realize that only thirty minutes have gone by. but as she realized that only thirty minutes gone by, the door in front of her opened.

"doctor? how did the surgery go?" haeyoung asked, her heart almost beating out of her chest.

the doctor looked her in the eye. and when he did that, haeyoung already expected something not-so-great.

"i'm very sorry, but the surgery... it didn't go so well."

➸

(late but) happy 2020! anyway, fuck mnet :'D