Run to You | Xu Minghao ; THE 8

XXII

┍━━━•☽°•°❀°•°☾•━━━┑
It could be a different me too
다른 나일 수도 있어
┕━━━•☽°•°❀°•°☾•━━━┙

*Minghao's POV*

I opened my eyes, gasping for breath. I looked around as I took in my surroundings. I was lying on the bed. Jia's bed. This was Jia's house. 

I tried to calm my breathing. I looked next to me and saw a worried-looking Jia tightly gripping my hand.

"Minghao?" she whispered hoarsely. I didn't have the strength to speak, so I just lightly squeezed her hand.

"Hao?" I looked up and saw Junhui. I weakly smiled.

"What happened to you? Jia said you were panting and suddenly passed out..." Junhui said with concern.

"It's okay, I'm okay. I think it's just one of the after-effects of my amnesia," I managed to say and I lightly laughed.

"Does it hurt? Should we take you to a hospital? Is that even a question? We should've done that long ag-" Jia and stood up but I grabbed her by the arm.

"No, I'm fine now. It doesn't hurt. Just...just stay."

Junhui probably understood, so he quietly left the room. It was just me and Jia.

I slowly got up and went to her, the ache in my head still there. Her hands were rustling inside a bag. "What are you looking for?" I asked her and she jumped in shock.

"Hey, go back to bed! You are not to get up," she nagged at me while pushing me towards the bed. I sighed and sat, watching her find whatever it was she was looking for.

She finally took out some sort of medicine and gave it to me. "Eat this," she said.

"What is this for?"

"It'll reduce the pain in your head," she said as she sat down again next to me. I quietly took the medicine and ate it. There was a moment of silence between us.

"Aren't you...mad at me?"

"For...?"

"For...reading your diary..."

Jia sighed as she looked away from me, and I swear my heart almost stopped beating.

"No, it's okay. I think if I were you I would have read it as well," she said in a low voice and I slowly nodded.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, unable to stop the tears that flowed down. "I should have told you before. I'm so sorry, I'm still so traumatized by all of it that-" I was cut on when Jia wrapped her arms around me and engulfed me in her warm embrace. I cried harder.

"It's okay, Hao," she whispered. "We're here for you. You can always talk to me about it, okay? Whenever something's bothering you, talk about it. Let it be me or anyone else, but just don't bottle everything up, hm?" She rubbed soothing circles on my back. I nodded as I continued sobbing, clutching onto her tighter, finally easing the pain in my heart and letting out all those pent-up tears.

We stayed like that for a while, until I eventually drifted off to sleep with my head buried in her chest.

And for the first time in months, I had a peaceful one.

══════ ☽ • ☾ ══════

*Jia's POV*

I tucked Minghao into the bed and stood there, looking at his fragile figure, which looked so peaceful as he slept. He had told me everything. The things he didn't tell me before, about his parents, and the details of the accident.

A sudden burst of guilt hit me. I shouldn't have written that in the journal and brought back memories. He had endured so much, and this had only made it worse.

All this time, I had been blaming him for everything. Maybe I was the one to blame for not reaching out enough. Back then, I had thought life was hard for me, but it was nothing compared to what he had been going through then.

I calmed my breath by following the rising and falling of his chest. I went closer to him and pressed a kiss on his forehead.

"You've been running too much, and for too long," I whispered against his soft hair. "Now it's my turn to run to you."

══════ ☽ • ☾ ══════

word count: 662