the night we met - lord huron
the ambulance was parked in front of the lake house's porch, doors open and junhui's partly unconscious body laying on a brandcare. all the patients of the lake house were gathered on the porch to wave junhui one final goodbye, while minghao was still standing beside the stretcher, having his face buried in junhui's chest and holding onto his body as if his life depend on it.
he just couldn't help but to have way too much difficulties with junhui's departure. it was impossible to let go of what they once had and what they had build up. seeing him leave was too hard to bare. and though he knew that using physical force was of no help, minghao gave all he had now the end was this near.
if it was his last chance of keeping junhui close to him, he knew he would do anything.
"j-jun.. please d..don't go.." he cried out, clawing his fingers in the fabric of junhi's shirt.
"hao.. please look at me." junhui sniffled, wanting to hold back his own tears as much as he was capable of. and even when the doctors had asked minghao to step back multiple times, he finally listened now it was junhui asking him to. "it's going to be okay, hao. please listen to them for now."
minghao didn't have it in him to scream in junhui's face as well. so he just stood there, hands on top of junhui's chest as he stared the sick boy directly in his tired eyes. it was as if he could feel junhui's hands on his cheeks again, rubbing circles on his skin and protecting him from all the evil in the world.
his tender touch of comfort was so close again, he didn't even notice doc sneaking up to him from behind. only when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders, preventing him from slowing down the process of junhui's departure.
the familiar sense of panic instantly sneaked back into his system again, controlling him and making him scream out in terror when he saw how they rolled junhui's stretcher into the ambulance.
"jun! no.. fuck! let go of me!" he did everything he could to escape from doc's grip, wanting to be able to touch his love one last time. and even when junhui remained calm through this all, he felt his heart clench inside his chest on the sight of minghao. especially now it was the last time he was able to see him.
"goodbye hao." minghao heard him say one final time before the doctors closed the doors of the ambulance and the vehicle took off, creating a bigger gap between him and junhui the further away they drove into the valley.
for a mere second minghao remained silent, his muscles numbing because of the overwhelming sense of grieve. realization dawned upon him that this was really the last time he had seen junhui, ever. the optimistic brown haired boy that always had worn a smile, which he would never see again. he would never be able again to run his fingers through his hair, to spend his nights in his bedroom talking about whatever their minds came up with, to dance through majestic fields or to stare up at the night sky to count a million stars.
never would he feel his arms around him again, that held him throughout the night and hugged him occasionally through their days. he would forget his safe scent eventually, as it already started fading from his memory. he would forget what his fingertips felt like against his bare skin. he would even start forgetting the taste of his lips, when he kissed him so sincerely.
and so, he sunk through his legs, his knees meeting the cold surface of the floor underneath him. "j-jun.." he muttered out, tears flooding down his cheeks uncontrollably. "ple..lease don't go.."
doc kneeled beside the heartbroken boy and draped an arm around his shoulder, which minghao instantly avoided by swatting the unwanted arm away. "get away from me!" he screamed in terror, falling back in his old behavior again.
there was no longer a junhui that protected him in situations like this, who eased out his sorrows and patiently waited beside him until his panic attacks would end. he was all by himself now, surrounded by a bunch of strangers midst an abandoned valley.
though it had always felt like a home, it now all felt empty and unfamiliar, as if he couldn't recognize the slightest. "p-please.. leave me a..alone.." he wailed, crawling back so he would be out of reach for the adult.
and doc realized upon seeing the boy's reaction that separating those two had been his biggest mistake yet. he knew that junhui had been minghao's cure ever since they met. he had healed the patient in a way no one else had been able to.
and the only thing minghao wished for, was that he could've been able to cure junhui too.
