𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞 | Hwang Hyunjin.

| t w e n t y - n i n e |

"Please start the fan there, I'll get the rehydration syrup and put it in water for her to drink." The nurse handed the boy a fan as the nurse turned the air conditioner on, and the boy did the same with the electric fan.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Hyunjin looked over at the nurse who was currently mixing the medicine in a water bottle. "She will. Her blood pressure probably went down out of a sudden, or—" She looked over at the girl. "Or?" The nurse looked right back at the male student again.

"Can you tell me her situation before she passed out?"
"She was- she was sweating like crazy. She looked as if she was suffocating, and her-."
"Hyperventilation. She hyperventilated. She had another episode." — "Has she woken up? Can you please try to wake her up?"

Hyunjin let out a soft sigh, trying to move his anxiousness aside as he sat by the bed. "Seunghee.." he cooed in a soft voice, moving her hair away from her face. Her face was pale and the sweat dried on her face, causing it to feel a little sticky.

He filled up with sudden guilt and felt heavy at the sight. Never once did he saw her like this, nor did he ever thought that he'd see her like this one day.

Finally, after a few moments. Seunghee gently fluttered her eyes open and he quickly acted up in relief but the girl suddenly tried to inhale all the air as much as she could, panicking. Hyunjin quickly placed his hands on both sides of her shoulders stopping her from making any sudden actions, like sitting up out of a sudden. "Hey."

He let out a small sigh along with gentle and reassuring eyes before repeating the word again— "Hey."
"You're okay. It's okay."

Seunghee slowly laid back down weakly, not saying one word. "Hey, Seunghee." The nurse approached her with a water bottle in her hands before bending down to her level. "Hi." She first gave a reassuring and gentle smile. "How are you feeling?"

She moved her mouth in full effort, but couldn't let any word come out, instead she shook her head slowly, indicating that she didn't wanna talk yet. "Okay. You must've been exhausted. Drink this first hm?" The nurse lifted her head, making her drink the water.

Seunghee gulped it in, taking her time as she couldn't move her body well. She swallowed in some and then stopped for a while to breathe. Her eyes fell on her hands to try and slowly moved it.

"Hyunjin" the nurse finally mentioned the written name on the boy's name tag whilst holding the girl's head and the water bottle. "Y-yes?"
"Please hold her for a moment."

Hyunjin quickly placed his hand under the nurse's hand, allowing her to remove it slowly as he took the bottle. But finally, after regaining slight strength, Seunghee took the bottle in her hands, drinking it herself as he supported her head.

She gulped it down quickly and sat up. "Heyhey be careful!" She looked over at him, she knew she had the strength to finally speak but she stayed quiet as she finished the bottle.

He sighed, looking down at her hands which were shaking like crazy, and reached out for it. Hyunjin took her hands in his, but not without a small hesitation, Seunghee quickly withdraws them from him.

"Seunghee... are you feeling okay?"
Seunghee nodded slowly. "Don't.." soft words came out of her mouth as she laid back down on her side, looking away. "Worry." She looked back up at him awkwardly.

"I'm — okay."

The nurse finally came back. "Seunghee. I really need to get in contact with your guardian."
"I—." She looked at Hyunjin, then away across the room. "I don't- have- one-."
"How are you even here? You should've been in an orphanage right now if you didn't have any guardians." — "you told me three years ago, the first time you came to me for medication, that your parents were abroad for a business trip. It's been three years."

Seunghee chewed her lower lip gently. "T-they're just-." She stopped. She couldn't lie anymore.
She can't.
It's too much.

She can't lie forever.

But she still couldn't bring herself to admit it.

So she stayed quiet for a moment.

"I'm- I'm sleepy."
"Seunghee-."
"Please. Mrs. Ahn. I'm- I'm sleepy. Let me sleep here. Until class's over. I'll go home by then. I'll rest. I'll be fine." She looked up at the nurse with sincerity as Ahn wanted to say something, but she was taken aback, letting out a sigh instead. "Hyunjin. Go back to class, I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Mhm. I promise. Go."

Hyunjin stood up with no choice, he understood that she indeed needed rest. He walked towards the door, his hand reached out the doorknob but he halted for a second to take one last look at the girl.

Meanwhile, Seunghee was in the blankets, heaving out a heavy sigh as she closed her eyes to doze off.

With a slight reassurance, Hyunjin carried on to exit the clinic immediately and headed for class.

3:30 pm

Hyunjin took all his books from his desk, returning it back into his backpack and stood up. He slid his arms into his backpack's straps then after, took Seunghee's backpack. He didn't learn anything, he didn't think about focusing. He just kept replaying the specific scene and the fear that grew in him at that specific time.

Surely, he was worried and rather puzzled about the whole incident. He kept glancing at the class' clock and finally when it was time, he had no other thoughts but to quickly head to the clinic.

But he was stopped by her friend, Sunwoo as they met right outside his classroom's door. Sunwoo looked at him first then behind him. After seeing no one else that's familiar, the boy looked back at Hyunjin.

"Where's Seunghee and why do you have her bag?"
"She's- She's at the clinic."
"Wait what?!" Sunwoo gasped while Hyunjin maneuvered at the space which was unoccupied by Sunwoo and went on to go in the clinic.

Sunwoo quickly turned around and followed after him. "Hey what happened?!" He ran to catch up, but the boy's pace was on another level. "Did she faint again?"

That's where Hyunjin stopped his tracks.

He first mumbled a few words under his breath and then continued walking, barging into the clinic room. "Goodness Gracious!" Mrs. Ahn, the school nurse, exclaimed as she faced towards the door due to the sudden intrusion. "Can you kids please stop barging in like that?"
"Where's Seunghee?"
"Seunghee-?" She looked over at the bed then looked back, getting familiarized with the boy again. "Oh. Hyunjin." —— "Seunghee went home earlier. She said she wanted to go home already, so I gave her permission."

Hyunjin sighed softly and nodded his head. "Okay. Thank you and I'm sorry for bothering." He headed outside the clinic, closing the door as Sunwoo just eyed on him, squinting his eyes. "Weird.." he mumbled to himself.

"What is?"
"Nah. Nothing." Sunwoo patted his back. "Don't worry. Seungseung is a strong person. I don't think she'd want you to worry either." Sunwoo then looked towards a specific area, noticing Jeongin who was searching for someone in the crowd as if he was a kid who lost his parents.

"I guess I have to go home." Sunwoo looked at Hyunjin again. "Hey. I'll talk to Seunghee about it. Don't worry. I'll make sure she's okay." He watched the boy nod, but stayed put. "Can I-."
"What?"
"Seunghee's bag."

Hyunjin quickly took the girl's backpack and handed it over. "Don't worry dude." —— "It's not your fault." He replied to what he was mumbling under his breath few moments ago.

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