The Buddy Program

01 | vending machine twix bars

"Sae. . . Where are you taking me?" He asked carefully, scanning the walls of the hall around them for anything that familiar but unfortunately, he got nothing.

"It was a good idea when he proposed it to me," She continued to ignore him, "It's low cost and I think it'll boost the morale of the young patients who live here either full-time or those who constantly come back for treatments!"

"You can find friends, Gguk!"

"I don't want any friends."

"Well too bad."

"Okay if I'm going in this against my will, what is this program even called?" He mumbled, "Fucking daycare? Watch sick guys mumble and groan and probably die?"

"It's called the Buddy Program," Sae corrected softly, leading him down another hallway. But before he could make fun of it, she cut him off, "And no, nobody's going to die. I ensured there were some specific requirements for patients to join. Most of them will be recovering or are well enough to socialize."

"It's also for terminal patients like you, Jeongguk, who need a friend to spend the last few months of their lives together because they've spent all their time at a hospital."

"So they're all gonna die?" He really didn't like the idea of this despite how excited Sae was. It wasn't that he hated socializing, but the fact this felt like a pity friend, and from the time he spent at hospitals constantly, pity is the fucking worst.

Especially when they came from other adults, who couldn't keep their eyes to themselves and very unsubtly whispered about how unfortunate his life is, or cooed about how he was so young and treated him as if he was some lost cause.

There were a few teenagers that made his blood fucking boil too, only because they were a huge judgmental lot, and being bald and sick and nearly dying was bullying material even if they were old enough to almost pay taxes.

It was stupid— the pity, the false sympathy, the wandering eyes, the pained expressions, and the unforgettable "I'm sorry for you's" that came with weird shoulder squeezes. Plus Jeongguk was fine knowing he had to die on his own. It hurt less, and he had the time to prepare himself.

However, the idea of watching someone else die just didn't sit well with him.

It soiled Jeongguk's mood coming here, and during their walk, his mouth ran dry, bitterness staining his tongue as Sae lead him from hallway to hallway, unknowingly making him feel more stupid and useless and boring than he already was.

When they finally arrived at the door to the support group, he stood in front of her, arms crossed over his chest as he met her sharp stare, trying to show her how uninterested he was. He didn't want to do this, he tried to tell her telepathically. This wouldn't do shit. He was going to die alone anyway.

Nobody cared so why should he?

But since it was Sae, she never listened anyway.

"I want you to try," Sae breathed out, reaching over and grabbing the side of his arm and running her thumb up and down the expanse of his noodleness.

"You don't have much time, and I don't want you to be alone, Gguk," She whispered softly. "I made sure there were patients your age. They're all a sweet bunch. I operated on a few of them. Dr. Kim even invited his own patients."