"well junhui, i am afraid i will have to disappoint you again."
junhui sat on his bed, the glory of dawn drawing his room in all different shades of golden. with his heart beating rapidly against his ribcage and his feet tapping on the floor almost rhythmically, you could say the boy was nervous. the term nervous would be an understatement to describe the feelings that raced through his body; fright, horror even.
doctor kihyun sat on a chair in front of him, one leg folded over the other as he calmly read through the papers he brought along. he hadn't taken the effort to take off his trench coat since he was in a hurry to visit another patient right after their appointment.
however, the information he had received about junhui's disease had to be told tho him since his level of confusion had already grown to its max with the symptoms that had been showing for the past days. it was highly necessary to keep him informed about the further consequences.
"last week we have been receiving a lot of test results, from the lab and from our own research. and to just get straight to the point, what we found out isn't very well.."
junhui felt his heart stopped for a brief second as a lump rose up in his throat. yet he remained silent and swallowed his sudden grieve away, not wanting to express how horrible it made him feel. "go on." he silently asked, wanting to know whatever was about to happen to him.
"so the things we discovered still aren't exactly familiar. but the symptoms you've been showing, which doctor park informed me about, are the exact same ones we already have experience with. and i really don't want to scare you with this, but the patients i am talking about didn't exactly made it-"
"-so you're saying i'm going to die?" junhui breathed out, looking up at kihyun with shocked eyes.
"let's not assume that right away. but from what we've seen from your test results, your body will probably lose all its strength. and when that happens, we can't let you stay here."
"and.. how long will it take for me to lose all my strength?" junhui didn't dare to look up anymore, scared that kihyun's calm eyes would make him burst into tears. all his sense of optimism had faded, knowing that there was a reasonable high possibility he wouldn't make it until autumn.
"we think it will take about three weeks, four at most. unfortunately we can't do more than to just watch how it develops and take you to the hospital when we reach the point where your muscles won't work like how they used to anymore. there doesn't exist a treatment for the symptoms you've been showing so your only option for now is to wait what it'll do."
a silence dawned upon the two, junhui's eyes glued to his feet. tears were brimming in the corner's of his eyes because of all the bad news he received about his current state and the further consequences.
"so.. that makes me incurable, doesn't it?" junhui looked up when kihyun didn't answer and felt his heart break when he received a nod.
"i'm afraid you are, my boy. there's no specific treatment or medicine i can give that will help. there are certain medicines that will extend your time, but it'll only make the process more painful so i don't recommend it. an old man begged for it once and the agony that followed made his death come to him only sooner."
junhui realized that there indeed was no other option than to just wait for his miserable fate. for the first time in his life, all his optimism had faded away. usually he would've always looked at the bright side of things, but hearing what the upcoming few weeks would most likely look like made all sense of positivity abandon him.
"well, i should get going now. if you have any questions regarding the symptoms or if you want to tell me anything else, you can call me. but i think it's been enough for now." doctor kihyun left with a small 'goodbye' while junhui wasn't even able to force out the slightest smile.
he could barely move his body and was only capable of leaning forward, his elbows on his knees as he clawed his hands in his hair. tears of pain and regret rolled down his cheeks and it didn't take long before he was one big sobbing mess.
the words kihyun had said were hard to comprehend and he just couldn't believe that there was a high possibility that his life would be over soon. all those trips he had taken with his friends, would he never be able to experience them again? the parties he went to, the sleepovers they had, the time he spent in high school. they would only be memories forever.
and minghao. the boy who he adored so much. was he bound to leave him behind on his own when the time was there? wasn't there any solution or treatment that could save him from his unfortunate fate? it couldn't end like this, right? his youth, what he was building up with minghao, his friendship's back at home.
a soft knock pierced the overwhelming silence, yet still junhui refused to look up to see whoever entered his room. the heavy footsteps on the wooden floor didn't sound like minghao's, who always seemed to float and barely even made any sound.
"hey junhui.. i'm sorry, i just heard about the news too." the friendly voice of doc filled the room as the bed sunk in a little, meaning the man had taken a seat next to the broken boy. "i wish i could say that everything will be okay, but i can only guarantee that we'll make you feel at home here for the upcoming weeks."
they both remained silent, doc allowing junhui to cry everything out. the news he just got to hear was hard to accept for a boy of his age. the only thing doc could wish for, for the optimistic boy whose presence never managed to make anyone smile,
was a happy end.
