Café Latte | JUNGWOO

Chapter 17

Hayoung watched as the male in front of her fell apart, the tears endlessly falling down his face.

"No, that can't be true! What happened?!" Jungwoo exclaimed as he cried.

"I tried really hard to save her, Jungwoo. But in the middle of her surgery, her heart stopped and we tried to do everything we could, but she signed the DNR, so there wasn't much we could do." Bomi explained but Hayoung could tell none of the words were going into Jungwoo's head as his hands balled into fists, staring at the ground.

"No... she can't be... she can't be..." The small whimpers softly escaped Jungwoo's mouth. Hayoung nodded to Bomi, who gave Jungwoo one more look before walking away, leaving the two alone.

Hayoung felt terrible as she watched Jungwoo's broken state, knowing how much his mother meant to him. She felt as if a force was guiding her as she moved, and soon, her arms were wrapped around Jungwoo's torso, his head in her shoulders as she softly ran her fingers through his hair, trying to soothe him.

"Shh, it's okay, she's in a better place now." Hayoung whispered into Jungwoo's ear as he cried. Hayoung noticed the doors opened and glanced as the staff as they gave them one look before walking past them, eyes glued to the floor. Judging by the continued cries Jungwoo made, he hadn't noticed them.

They stayed in that position for a while, until Jungwoo had eventually calmed down. While he was crying, a nurse had brought them a tissue box, resting it on one of the chairs. Hayoung passed him the box, stopping him from wiping his tears in his sleeve.

"Thank you." Jungwoo softly mumbled before blowing his nose. Hayoung looked at the floor, knowing how uncomfortable Jungwoo probably felt as she watched him cry. She suddenly felt something on her shoulder, looking up to see Jungwoo dabbing her leather jacket with a tissue.

"I kind of soaked your shoulder." Jungwoo muttered.  Hayoung grabbed his wrist, bringing it down to his side.

"It's okay, its no big deal." Hayoung told him. Jungwoo nodded, looking down at his feet. Hayoung lightly patted his arm.

"Do you want me to take you home?" Hayoung asked. Jungwoo took a deep breath before nodding his head.

"Yes, I would like that."

...

"Thank you for the ride, Hayoung." Jungwoo said as they arrived at his apartment. Hayoung gave him a small glance, an unsettling feeling in her stomach.

"No problem." She replied before heading to the underground parking.

"Wait, where are you going?" Jungwoo asked, surprised. It was clear that he was expecting her to drop him off.

"I'm going to park my car." Hayoung told him. She guided the car to the visitor parking area.

"Why? You can just drop me off." Jungwoo said but Hayoung shook her head.

"I'll come up for a bit. I want to make sure you're really okay before leaving." Hayoung told him, removing her keys from her car. Jungwoo looked at her for a moment before turning back to the window.

"Okay."

...

Jungwoo unlocked the door, removed his shoes, set his keys down on the counter, and headed straight to his mother's room before closing the door behind him. Hayoung let out a small sigh as she took her shoes off, taking in the small apartment.

It was pretty clean, minus the blanket messily laid on the sofa and empty mug on the coffee table. Judging by the emptiness of the sink and dish rack, Jungwoo had probably skipped breakfast before she picked him up that morning.