The Psychiatrist- Jaywon FF

After Party

They say time passes faster when you're having fun. For the first time, Jay experienced that. Before he could process it, their two hours karaoke session was over, and they were heading out of the vampire theme room.

Everyone was in a good mood, one could almost feel the serotonin that had taken over them. Jay kept smiling, incredibly grateful for them, for this evening, and for Jungwon.

The latter was speaking with Sunoo at the moment. Jay had noticed that he seemed really close to Sunoo, as well as Jake.

Jay was very curious to know what the two young men were talking about, yet he didn't want to seem jealous or inappropriate. Before he could think about it any longer, Sunghoon appeared next to him.

"We're thinking about grabbing a drink, you're coming too, right?" he asked, smiling.

Jay felt a pinch in his heart. He had met them only a couple hours ago, yet he felt like he was part of the group.

"Of course!" he replied, simply happy.

The group naturally walked to what seemed to be their usual bar. If Jay had a doubt, it quickly went away when the bartender greeted them in an almost informal way.

They all sat down and were deciding what they wanted to drink. Eventually, Jake, Sunghoon and Niki asked for a beer, and Sunoo wanted a cocktail. Heeseung and Jungwon were arguing over which soju they wanted and Jay decided to join their team.

He had tasted soju before, once with his dad, and once with his grandmother. However he couldn't remember the taste, only the fact that it had burnt his throat.

The waiter came with their drinks and they cheered. Jay was surprised to see how fast Jungwon drank his first glass of soju.

"So how did you all meet?" asked Jay, very curious.
"Easy" started Jake. "Heeseung, Sunghoon and me met in high school, but we kind of parted ways when we went to college. Thankfully, my college roommate was Niki."
"I wouldn't say thankfully" replied Sunoo, laughing.
"Hey!" shouted the latter.

"As I was saying, Niki was my roommate, and he introduced me to his childhood friend, Jungwon" explained Jake.

Jungwon waved at them, as if he was the Queen of England.

"Jungwon was studying to become a nurse back then" continued Jake.
"That's how we met" interrupted Sunoo, patting Jungwon's shoulder.

WAIT, KIM SUNOO. I remember now, he was my nurse before Jungwon!

Jay stayed silent, firstly because Jake was about to talk again and also because he needed to think about this more.

"So far, you had met Niki, Jungwon and Sunoo then?" resumed Jay. "What about the high school friends?"
"We were back in the dorm, and I lost a bet, so they chose a random contact on my phone and send them a message. Guess who?" said Jake, laughing.
"Sunghoon?" asked Jay.
"It was me" replied Heeseung. "Actually it was awesome! We started talking again and next thing you know the six of us started again out together."
"That's amazing actually!" commented Jay.

They nodded. It was a cool story after all.

"So we had to put up with Sunoo this whole time, can you imagine?" said Sunghoon laughing.
"Hey!" replied the latter, hurt in his pride.

They all laughed, Sunoo didn't pout for too long.

"So what do you guys do?" asked Jay.

He really wanted to get to know them better.

"Just finished my studies in engineering" said Jake, smiling.
"I'm a teacher" relied Heeseung.
"Just finished my studies in History of cinema and theater, but I think I want to open a dance school" said Niki.
"I'm a professional ice skater" said Sunghoon.

"Do you have to say professional in such a condescending way?" commented Sunoo, chuckling.
"Hey!" replied Sunghoon.

"Welcome to our everyday free drama" whispered Niki to Jay, laughing.

"And finally, Jungwon and Sunoo are nurses" finished Heeseung, putting an end to the bickering.
"What about you?" asked Sunghoon.

"Oh" said Jay.

This had brought back all the bad thoughts he had about himself these days.
It seemed that Jungwon noticed, because he patted Jay's arm gently.

"Right now Jay will focus on getting rest, I think" he said softly.

Jay felt grateful for that. Jungwon had immediately tried to help him out of this uncomfortable situation.
However, he felt comfortable enough to share with them.

"I was in my last year of business management" explained Jay. "But to be honest, I don't remember any of it."

Silence filled the whole place.

"I'm sorry" said Sunoo.
"It's not your fault" instantly replied Jay.

He didn't want anyone to feel bad for him.

"Anyway, I didn't really like it. I think my coma is somehow my chance to start again" explained Jay.
"That's a good way to see things" said Jake, his smile back on.
"Plus you got to meet us thanks to your accident" commented Niki.
"True" answered Jay.

"So, Sunoo, you're a nurse as well right?" asked Jay.
"Sure am!" replied the latter proudly.
"Did you happen to take care of me at the hospital?" asked Jay.

Sunoo opened his eyes widely, as if he would never recover from this shock.

"Uh, well" he started.
"Of course he was" said Niki, apparently not seeing Sunoo's awkwardness.
"Didn't you want me to know?" asked Jay.
"Well" started Sunoo, quickly looking at Jungwon.

The latter stayed silent for ten seconds.

After that, he grabbed Jay's hand.

"Can we talk in private?" he simply asked, while his friends all stared at him in shock.