mask | DODAM

DOYOUNG

his knees were shaking, hands clenched into fists, head hanging low as doyoung waited for the doctor's diagnosis on his mom. the doctor had called in right after school ended, saying that doyoung's mom was in critical condition and that he needed to head over to the hospital as soon as possible.

the entire past month, doyoung had been visiting his mom more frequently despite his jam packed schedule due to her undoubtfully worsening condition. nowadays, she wasn't able to hide the blood that she coughed out, and the first year university student had witnessed that event several times. even seunghun would sometimes talk about how bad her condition is getting with each passing day, and the worry that the older was demonstrating towards the first year university student showed that even seunghun couldn't get rid of the fear that the time for their mom to end her life on earth would be coming soon.

when doyoung had arrived to the hospital, he heard that his mom had been rushed to the emergency room immediately after finding out about her condition and the doctor was currently performing a procedure. doyoung could hear the sounds of muffled yet frantic voices talking inside, the occasional sounds of the defibrillator, and the rushing of nurses from here to there, all from his place in the hallway as he waited for an update on his mom's condition. the business management student was no doubt, scared and nervous to know what was going on inside and how she was doing. even if the first year university student had come to terms with himself on his mom's condition like his older brother had, doyoung knew that he wouldn't have expected things to be this way so early.

the many noises that were going on inside the er and the constant pattern of nurses frantically entering and exiting the operation room made doyoung's knee shake more violently as his fear continued to grow with each passing second.

a constant beeping was clicking in his ear, and the business management student didn't need to be a doctor to know that the rhythmic sound he was hearing was his mom's heart monitor. the beeping seemed to be getting slower and slower, the sound standing out from the rest of the noise that surrounded the scared and nervous male, causing doyoung to clench his fist tighter in his hand.

he prayed. he prayed that the doctor's efforts will work and that his mom would live. he prayed that she would be able to fight through at least for this moment and continue on for a little longer. he prayed that he would get another chance to see his mom's smile, hear her voice, hug her and embrace her in his arms.

but all of doyoung's wishes got washed away in the rain that flooded his brain as the rhythmic beeping sound that was ringing in his ear was replaced with the sound of one, long, continuous beep that stopped the bouncing of his knee and caused the first year university student to lighten the grip that he had on his fist.

that was the one sound that doyoung didn't want to hear. the one sound that the young male wanted to hear the least, yet it was flooding his senses as the worst case scenario formed inside his brain. there was only one possible event that caused the noise, the long, continuous noise of the heart monitor, and doyoung knew exactly what it was.

but he chose not to believe it. he chose to deny all the thoughts that his brain was giving him and doubted the current situation, the only situation that was possible at this point. the first year university student shut his eyes tight and shook his head frantically, wanting to rid of the bad thoughts that invaded his mind, and muttered to himself, trying to assure himself that it wasn't true, that everything was a dream, that it wasn't real.

however, the expression of the doctor when he came out of the emergency room said it all to doyoung. the frown that was present on his face, his saddened eyes, the small downwards droop of his shoulders, everything was screaming to the first year university student that she was gone, that he couldn't save her.