Afire Love [JoongDunk]

Chapter 5: Till We Meet Again, I Won't Forget You

***

I heard the doctors put your chest in pain

But then that could have been the medicine and now you're lying in the bed again

Either way I'll cry with the rest of them

***

Joong was there, right in front of Dunk's room. He just stood frozen, he didn't really do anything - even stepping inside was difficult. Joong honestly felt like his life had been lifted as soon as he heard the news that today Dunk had fallen into a coma. What he felt was hell, and Joong hated it because he felt hell even before he actually died.

Someone touched his shoulder and Joong turned to see Pond right behind him - the man looked at him with sadness too. He felt sorry to have to see Joong go through this and sad because after all Dunk is his friend too.

"You wanna go inside?"

Joong really wanted to go inside, but he knew that even though he was in a coma, Dunk still didn't want to see him. Now was not the time. Dunk wanted to meet Joong Archen who had finished his medical studies. That's why Joong just shook his head and turned around from where his heart wanted him to be, leaving Pond who watched his friend left with teary eyes.

One day, two days, ten days.

Phuwin said there was no progress whatsoever from Dunk's condition. He still lied in the same position every day. He's still breathing, Dunk is still here . Because Dunk is still here, Joong still felt that miracles could still happen. A miracle that could bring hope -as Dunk called it. Just like a miracle that had happened to that man.

While in a coma, Dunk got frequent visits. The nurses, doctors, other patients who knew him on the floor, Phuwin and Pond - no Joong. Phuwin also often wondered if Dunk had a family because no family had ever visited him even though the child was at his limit. And Joong answered, yes, Dunk still had a father. The next day after Phuwin asked that, Dunk's father came alone. Joong knew that keeping a promise was one of the most difficult things in this world, and keeping a promise not to see Dunk was even more difficult. Dunk's father broke his promise not to see his son again and forgot about him. But Joong understood, after all, that man was his biological father. He should still have a heart. Seeing that person lying helplessly in a hospital bed should have meant something to him. That person wasn't just a stranger he knew just by name, that person was his own child. Dunk's father saw the child's every growth since he was born, grew into a smart child, and lived as a very special Dunk Natachai. Joong couldn't imagine how he would feel seeing the child he had raised lying helplessly in that place. But Joong knew, maybe the man's regret was growing bigger. Regret that he had made the same mistake, twice . He was stupider than a donkey which didn't fall into the same hole, twice.

Then what about Joong?

Every day Joong always appeared in front of Dunk's door. He was there for at least three hours. Just stood frozen and tried to imagine how Dunk's face would look beyond that door. Phuwin and Pond had almost given up asking him to just go inside and see Dunk, because they knew what Joong was doing now was a self-torture. But Joong was okay, he would rather torture himself than made Dunk disappointed in him. He was always waiting for Dunk and now Dunk is waiting for him. Dunk waited for Joong to appear in front of him the way he wanted. Joong couldn't let the boy down and broke their promise.

Today, Joong turned his body again and walked away from the place where his heart wanted him to be.

Joong survived. It was the hardest month he had ever lived in his life and he was afraid that this month would be a year, ten years, until his time is over. His parents, Sare, and his two other siblings, Phuwin and Pond, came to his graduation. Everyone seemed happy, Joong felt that if he hadn't heard that Dunk had been in a coma a month ago, maybe he would have been happy too. Happy that the wait was over. But everything felt different when reality whispered differently to him. Joong couldn't really be completely happy, he just smiled but the people closest to him knew that the smile would never reach his eyes. The graduation ceremony ended with the wearing of a doctor's scrub procession which was directly given by the dean of the Faculty. Joong swore he almost cried when the white gown clung to him. And maybe people would think of his tears as tears of joy, but then again... Joong Archen wasn't really happy right now.