EX // Minsung

14. Cuts and bruises

"Jisung, get out, now!" Minho said to the boy.

"You can't just show up in MY dorm, BLEEDING, and telling ME to get out?!" Jisung said offended. "I may hate you, but I live here after all."

"Out... now!" Minho shouted once more. He didn't look very well. Apart from being injured, he looked very weak.

"Jisung, it's better if you-" Lewis tried, before getting cut off by Jisung again.

"No, Lewis. I'm tired of being told what to do by Minho. It's my dorm too and I'll stay if I want to." Jisung sat down determined, but inside he was lowkey shaking.

"Jisung, please..." Was the last thing to come out of Minho's mouth before he collapsed.

Lewis ran to Minho, who was laying lifelessly on the ground. With no hesitation he picked him up and started heading out.
"Jisung, grab my phone and coat and come with me!" Jisung had never seen Lewis in such panic. He did as he was instructed and quickly grabbed everything necessary.

Lewis placed Minho into his car, "I need to drive, so you sit in the back, making sure he stays in place."

"Why are we not going to the on campus nurse?" Jisung asked scared.

"I- I can't tell you. It's not my right to, but we're going to the hospital now." Lewis said as they made sure Minho was strapped in. Lewis pushed Minho's head onto Jisung's shoulder.

"Hey!" Jisung exlaimed.

"He's literally unconscious, Jisung. Besides, he would do the same for you." Lewis said while he got into the driver's seat.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Jisung mumbled.

They made their way to the hospital in twenty minutes, it wasn't too far from campus. On the way there Minho had regained consciousness once, but slipped away again right after.

Jisung saw how easily Lewis picked Minho up again when they arrived at the hospital. Jisung thought to himself how much it sucked that he wasn't very strong, he could never do this if something happened to Sam... Sam! Jisung could slap himself for not telling Sam where he was right now. When he checked his phone he saw a couple of messages from Sam.

Sam
I thought we were meeting up? Did something happen?

Sam
Jisung, why are you not replying?

Jisung quickly wrote back a message.

Jisung
I'm so sorry, I'm okay. Something urgent came up, I'll tell you when I can.

"Jisung, hurry up!" Lewis shouted after Jisung.

Jisung quickly ran to Lewis, who was still holding Minho. And together they ran into the ER.
They placed Minho on a bed and the nurses took him away to run some tests.

"Lewis, what happened to him? I'm scared. Why can't we take him to the school nurse?" Jisung sounded as anxious as he was.

Lewis sait down on a chair next to Jisung. "I'm not sure if I can tell you. If I do, you have to swear to me that you'll never tell Minho that I told you this."

Jisung nodded.

"As you may know, Minho is very loved in school, but he isn't very loved at home. His mom loved him a lot, but she passed away last year. Ever since then it just has been Minho and his dad. Their relationship was never good, and after his mom died, it just became worse." Lewis took a deep breath. "It hasn't happened in quite a while, but... I guess his dad must have found out about Minho's male flings lately."

Jisung didn't want to be like that, but he couldn't help but think, so that is where the homophobia comes from.

"I think his dad beat him again." Lewis stated.

"I don't understand," Jisung frowned, "then why can't we go to the nurse on campus?"

"His dad is the principle, Jisung. I think he was beat up in his dad's office and I think that if we went to the school nurse, he would've come and beat him up more." Lewis turned his head down.

Jisung was shocked. And worried.

"But if he's in the hospital, won't they call his dad?"

Lewis shook his head, "I've known Minho for quite a while. Since his mom passed away, he wrote me down as his emergency contact."

Jisung stared at the floor in front of him, trying to process all the things Lewis just said. But Lewis didn't give him much time, because the next thing he said hit Jisung like a truck.

"The last time Minho was beaten up this bad by his dad," Lewis said, "he attempted suicide."

Both of them stayed silent, neither knowing what else to say. Luckily they didn't have to wait long, because soon a nurse came up to them.

"Your friend is okay. His injuries aren't severe enough to cause him to collapse, we think it must have been due to mental stress." The nurse smiled at them. "He's currently sleeping, but you can visit him if you like."

"Jisung," Lewis turned to Jisung, "I'm going to pick up some clean clothes for Minho, I need you to stay with him."

"But-" Jisung wanted to protest.

"No Jisung, you can't drive and I don't want Minho to be alone. Please keep an eye on him for me." Lewis said calmly, but when Jisung looked Lewis in the eyes, he could tell he was begging.

"Okay fine, I'll stay with him." Jisung sighed. He was nervous to see Minho considering their history together, but he also didn't want to disappoint Lewis.

Jisung followed the nurse to Minho's room, where she opened the door and let him in. "If you need anything, you can find someone at the front desk." She smiled and closed the door behind her.

Jisung sat down next to the bed. Minho looked better, now that he was all cleaned up. His lip was still swollen and he had bruises all over his face. Still, Jisung had to admit Minho was very handsome. He didn't know why, but it pained him to see Minho like this.

Minho slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust to the light of the room.
Jisung wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He wanted to grab his hand and tell him he was going to be okay. It's what he would've done for Sam, but Minho wasn't Sam. So Jisung just silently sat next to Minho, waiting for the boy to notice him.

Minho slowly turned his head to the side. He looked away again as if he was embarrassed. "Where's Lewis?" Minho asked, facing away from Jisung.

"He just left to pick up some clean clothes for you that, you know, aren't covered in blood. He'll be back in fourty minutes." Jisung answered awkwardly.

Both of them stayed silent for a while. Jisung did't know what to say and he assumed Minho didn't want to say anything. Minho probably disliked Jisung as much as Jisung disliked Minho.

"You can leave if you want to." Minho said, still looking away.

"I promised Lewis I would stay. Besides that, I don't have a car or a driver's license for that matter. The public transportation sucks here and taxi's are too expensive. I can't go back to the dorms either way." Jisung felt like he was overexplaining himself, but he also needed Minho to understand that he wasn't planning on leaving before Lewis came back.

"I'm so sorry, Jisung. About everything." Minho's eyes watered. For a moment Jisung thought Minho was going to cry.

Minho finally turned his face towards Jisung, "I don't deserve you watching over me, but I'm thankful either way. And if we're going to be stuck here for at least another half an hour with eachother, can I, maybe, try to explain myself?"

And as kind and forgiving as Jisung was, he nodded. And he let Minho speak all the way from start to finish.