as said, jimin stays in the hospital for three more days. seonghwa surprisingly stays with him the entire time, even though he looks younger than jimin. and he is.
"you're fourteen?!" jimin exclaims as soon as seonghwa tells jimin his real age. "what's a fourteen-year-old like you driving a car?! you're too young!"
"my house situation..." seonghwa licks his lips. "...isn't that good. i also had an abusive boyfriend that i had to get away from."
"i'm sorry," jimin frowns. no one as young as seonghwa should already be going through trouble. "so i assume you have no place to live?"
"well, i was planning to live with my uncle, since he lives in seoul," he explains, "but he just told me that my parents know that i'm going to live with him. so i don't have a place to stay at. i'm homeless."
"you can stay with us," jimin's mom offers as she walks inside the room, handing seonghwa a bag of food.
"mrs. park-"
"i insist," she cuts off. "you're too young to be homeless, seonghwa. i understand if you think that just because you ran over my son doesn't mean you can't get anything from me, but you can. you can stay with us until you find another place to stay."
seonghwa's eyes brim with tears, and one falls down his cheek, but he is quick to wipe it away. "th-thank you."
jimin's mom nods. seonghwa starts eating, and a few seconds later, the door knocks, before the doctor comes in.
"you're free to go home today, jimin," he announces. he turns toward jimin's mom. "mrs. park, you will just have to sign some papers, and you guys can go."
"w-what about me?" seonghwa asks, gulping.
"we still haven't decided yet-"
"d-doc, you can't do anything to him!" jimin exclaims. "he did nothing."
"yes, but he's fourteen, and he ran you over with a car," the doctor says pointedly. "he's supposed to be at least eighteen to drive a car."
"i'll accept my consequences then," seonghwa says, a small sad smile on his face.
"no!" jimin shouts, sitting up. he looks at the doctor. "doc, if seonghwa gets a punishment, then you should give me a punishment, too, for not looking where i was going. seonghwa wasn't at fault."
"look, the only thing he's going to get is a dui," the doctor says. "he's not going to jail."
"w-why am i getting a dui?" seonghwa stutters, his eyes wide.
"the police found some morphine and alcohol in the trunk."
"i-it's not mine," seonghwa immediately defends himself. "i-i took my mom's car."
"then you'll have to see your mom in court," the doctor says, and seonghwa's heart drops.
"n-no," he mutters. "n-no. i-i don't want to see this woman. sh-she gave me these." seonghwa pulls down the collar of his turtleneck, showing the multiple bruises and scratches. then he rolls up the sleeves, seeing a horrible gash that is still bleeding. before seonghwa can continue, the doctor is already pulling him up.
"i'll be taking you to doctor min," the doctor says, a stern look in his face. "do you know your mother's phone number, seonghwa?"
"i-i..." seonghwa racks his brain to see if he can. he tells the doctor his mom's phone number.
"there'll be police officers everywhere," the doctor assures. "you'll see your mother in court, seonghwa. but right now we need to get that gash fixed right now."
--
"thanks for letting me stay," seonghwa repeats for the nth time as he pushes jimin inside the house on his wheelchair. "thank you for accepting me, mrs. park."
the female smiles, placing her bag down. "no need to thank me, seonghwa. you're barely fourteen. of course, i'm going to help you. are you two hungry?"
"yeah," jimin replies. "mom, when am i going back to school?"
"on monday," his mom says. "seonghwa, what grade are you in?"
"ninth."
jimin's mom smiles brighter. "great. then you'll be able to go to jimin. is it fine if i apply you there?"
seonghwa looks at jimin, who nods excitedly at him. seonghwa smiles, and so he nods at jimin's mom.
"good," she says. "i'll apply you there later. for now, let's eat."
