Haeun's POV:
Bright white lights shone directly at my face as I squirmed slightly at the sudden disturbance. With a soft sigh, I squinted my eyes open, trying to take in these new surroundings. Slight murmurs and whispers reached my ears as my fingers formed a fist around the soft fabric underneath. Curiosity overtook me as I sat up straight, meeting the sight of a white hospital room, empty save the slight whirr of the silent air. Rolling my shoulders back, I scanned the room, taking in the flowers and GET WELL SOON cards piled on top of the side table nestled beside the bed. I picked one up in between my nimble fingers, moving woodenly because of the lack of stretching my body for too long. At that exact moment, the door swiveled open, revealing my dad, clad in scrubs and my mom in her usual office wear.
"you have a lot of explaining to do, Han and you are not to go meddling in the field with your rugby dudes" my dad commanded as I groaned, sinking into the covers once again.
"for the love of christ, Joon, it was not her fault she got hurt. A couple of hours of recovery and she will be good as new so we are NOT going to take her out of the rugby team okay? she's getting along with her schoolmates and her mental health is the most important thing, secondary to health," my mom rattled off before taking my hand in hers. Pristine, manicured fingers clasped around my pale right hand.
"Just take care of yourself okay? Lucky your dad took over your case if not such a speedy recovery from a blow to your head would have given us away," she advised softly, a warm smile on her pretty face. My dad combed his hair up with his fingers before adjusting my sheets and checking through a couple of files assessing my medical conditions again.
"I'm actually fine mom, and don't get so stressed out dad, I just got knocked out for a few hours. riGHT?" I reasoned timidly to earn a disapproving sigh from my dad but a smile followed up closely.
"You'll be good to go in a few hours, we'll drop you home at 3:00 and you're going to school tomorrow and I need to go check up on my other patients" he uttered, snapping the file shut before ruffling my hair and walking out of the room. My mom smiled at me for one last time before following my dad out of the room and leaving me to the company of silence.
*
I pushed through the gates of the field, left hand clasping onto my backpack which was hanging precariously from my left shoulder. taking a whiff of the rubber and grass, I set off towards the mini circle that was gathered in the middle of the field. Rugby balls were littered around the field, signs of frustration and failure. Biting my lip, I watched as Dean and a few members passed between themselves, oblivious of my presence. Stopping in my tracks, I mimicked a cough, causing heads to snap back in my direction. All of their faces were streaked with surprise and shock, their bodies frozen from the unexpected arrival.
"I think I'm hallucinating," Ian mumbled before squinting and blinking multiple times.
"You should get yourself glasses, Ian," I recommended before plopping on the field and manhandling my bag which ended up a few feet away. I smiled expectedly at them before leaning back on my hands and taking in the view of the field.
"Holy shit, dude she's like she's like, as IF NOTHING HAPPENED AT ALL," Ryan exclaimed before carefully getting up.
"You bitch," Aiken scolded me before lunging at me and embracing me in a hug. Soon all of them piled on me, trying to welcome me in the warmest way possible that is to crush me under all their weight. After I managed to wiggle out of their firm grips my eyes scanned around for that one familiar face, but to no avail.
"Where's Vernon?" the question slipped out of my mouth before I could think of the consequences of my words. I bit my tongue as I waited for a response from the rest of the guys, who were exchanging sneaky glances with each other.
"Now, now I know he carried you to the ambulance and almost got into a fight with all of the Hyenas but still you know I think we should still deserve some credit for calling the coach and the medic and the ambulance -" Ryan rattled off, recounting the incident from two days ago.
"oh COME ON WOULD YOU STOP WITH THE TEASING?" I whisper shouted at Aiken and Ian who started snickering with Ryan acting oblivious to my question.
"Fine, lover boy's been at the back of the stands all by himself, probably wallowing in the sorrow of your highnesses' absence," Aiken revealed with a little bow and fancy hand movements. I rolled my eyes at the trio before jogging towards the stand. As I neared the end of the stands and into the little grass patch at the side, my pace slowed down to trot then to a hesitant walk. I peeked around the stans to see Vernon surrounded by stray rugby balls, grabbing one and throwing it at the wall for it to land further from where he was, seated cross-legged on the floor. I stood there watching as he took another rugby ball in his hand and started fiddling with it in between his hands, absent-minded.
"you okay?" I questioned timidly as he looked upon hearing my voice. The irritated look on his face as he squinted against the sunlight changed to one of bewilderment as he stood up cautiously. The rugby ball rolled off from his hands and reached the ground with a soft thud as he took slow steps towards me.
"Well, the others said that you were quite sad since I got admitted to the hospital and I came to check on you," I rambled off, unconsciously walking towards him as I thought of more excuses to explain my sudden appearance. Vernon came to a sudden halt before standing still as he continually looked at me, trying to process my sudden appearance. I stopped slowly in my tracks after seeing his sudden stop in his steps. A slight disappointment tinted my heart as if I had expected a warmer welcome, perhaps something like the boys had done.
"Um-I'll just get back to practice then," I remarked on his actions, disappointment evident in my words before I swiveled around. But before I had managed to take a step, I felt a hand pulling me back, forcing me around. and in a matter of seconds, I was being hugged by strong arms, a warm hand on my back and a gentle one on my head. My breathing became haggard as my mind tried to decipher the past few moments.
IS HE HUGGING ME?
Vernon shifted his hands to a more comfortable position around my waist and back, pulling me closer to him as my face lodged itself perfectly into the brook of his neck. My lips broke out into a smile as I closed my eyes, inhaling his sweet scent, uplifting my mood as I leaned my forehead more comfortably on his shoulder, burying my face in it. Blood rushed up to my cheeks as they started feeling like if they were on fire, my eyes closing shut with my heart pounding against my ribcage. Out of the blue, he leaned back, forcing me to look up at him, surprised with the sudden movement. He placed his hands at either side of my face, crouching to my height as he pulled me closer to him.
"I was so worried and you just appear as if you caught a cold for the past two days," he whispered while staring straight at my eyes.
"But what matters is that I'm back, right?" I reasoned taking his hands in mine, comparably smaller than his, before letting go and running off to the field to get rid of my adrenaline with a stupid grin on my face.
