Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
—
"GUESS who just had the best day of their lives today?" wonwoo asked, walking into the joined bedroom of jun, mingyu and jihoon. i rolled my eyes and jun chuckled.
"let me guess. i think it's me since you were away for a majority of the day. i'm not sure though." jihoon retorted, sarcasm lacing his tone.
wonwoo rolled his eyes at jihoon and jihoon laughed at wonwoo's reaction. "no, it's not you for your information. but i did have the best day ever because my parents decided to come to visit me on the weekends!"
"that's great, wonwoo!" soonyoung said, smiling at him. jihoon muttered something along the lines of 'still me' and wonwoo and jihoon somehow started arguing. i chuckled at their childishness and looked over at jun.
jun's smile was evidently gone. i frowned, "hey, jun, what' s wrong?"
he looked up and tears brimmed his eyes. he smiled softly, "n-nothing that concerns you, hao." he wiped his eyes and sniffed.
i recalled our conversation yesterday and my mouth created an 'o' shape. "is it, uh, is it about—"
"you can ask if it's about my parents, you stupid." jun chuckled, "and yeah, i think so."
i smiled sadly, "hey, it's fine if your parents aren't here. we're here."
jun smiled sadly and i never saw this smile on him before. it's so... empty. "yeah, thanks, hao."
—
"hello, are you mrs wen by any chance?"
"depends on who's asking. who are you and how did you get my number?"
i sighed into the phone, filled with hope. "yes, i'm the intern handling your son's condition at seoul national hospital. i was wondering—"
"i have nothing to do with that boy. please hang up before i inform the police." the voice on the other side of the phone snarled. i was taken aback by the sudden rudeness and i cleared my throat.
"ma'am, please just hear me out—"
"i said please hang up before i inform the police! god knows if you're just a fraud asking for my money—"
"ma'am, your son has eighteen days to live! please come to seoul to visit him for one last time!" i said, my eyes squeezed shut, scared of what mrs wen is going to say to me. there was silence for a few moments and then came a choked sob.
mrs wen cleared her throat, "i'm sorry, eighteen days? are you out of your m-mind? last time i knew, he had years to live—"
"yes, ma'am. and excuse me for the directness, but the last time you visited him let alone asked about him was five years ago!" i yelled into my phone, attracting heads turning from chan, dokyeom and seungkwan.
i shook my head and mouthed 'work' at them, to which the three of them smiled and turned back around to whatever they were doing. i sighed, trying to calm myself down. "ma'am, jun has been in stage iv a for a few days now and his condition has been going downhill ever since. he has eighteen days to live and since it's his birthday tomorrow, i was hoping you and your husband could fly over and visit him."
mrs wen didn't say anything for a few moments again. "i, um, does junhui know about this?"
i sighed contently: finally, the correct question, "no, ma'am, i was hoping it'll be a surprise for him on his birthday."
i could feel my heart beating against my ears for the next few seconds due to the nervousness i'm feeling. "yes, alright. my husband, my youngest son and i will fly there tomorrow. thank you for your call, mr..."
"minghao."i smiled.
"are you chinese as well? pardon me for my rudeness." she asked, her tone obviously changed and i smiled into the phone, "yes, ma'am."
i could almost hear her smiling through the phone, "that's nice. thank you for the call, mr minghao."
