kinotherapy || k.h.g

six

six
/third point of view/
-

kino felt helpless up until that point. sojin refused to let him cheer her up, and her condition wasn't getting any better. she isolated herself from everyone and barely talked anymore, but she wasn't getting worse either. she was silent a lot and kino didn't like that. sure, when she was complaining about her life, it didn't seem as if she was getting better, but at least she was getting bottled up emotions out of her and away from her.

sojin woke up early and slept late. kino would fall asleep in her room sometimes because he still had a job to do; if he wasn't cheering her up, then at least he could keep an eye out for her. the doctors told him that maybe it was time for him to move onto another patient because his therapy wasn't working on sojin anymore, but kino still persisted because there was no harm in trying.

"kino," the doctor who introduced him to sojin whispered into his ear one night. "wake up."

kino woke up and looked around. sojin wasn't sitting in her bed, and that caused him to perk up and look around.

"she went to the bathroom," the doctor explained as if he knew what kino was thinking.

"ah," kino nodded and ran his fingers through his hair.

"the therapy," the doctor cleared his throat. "how is it going so far?"

"it's okay, i guess," kino said. "shouldn't you be asking sojin this?"

"we want your opinion on it," the doctor said. "we want to move you to another patient."

"no," kino got up with a start. "i will not leave sojin's side."

"kino, please understand. sojin isn't getting any better."

"yes, she is!" kino shook his head. "yes, she is. i'll prove it to you! i'll make her depression go away!"

the door to the room opened, and kino and the doctor looked to the entrance. they saw sojin standing there, her eyes blank. she looked at the two of them in the room, walked over to the bed, and sat down. kino cleared his throat, the doctor standing up as well.

"sojin, get some rest," the doctor nodded before exiting.

kino looked over at sojin for a good moment. she was staring out the window and at the moon. he exhaled and turned away.

"sojin," he said.

sojin looked at him, her eyes still blank. they didn't utter a word, but there was an understanding between them. she closed her eyes and turned back towards the window. kino left the room, the click of the door echoing in the hospital room.

the next day, there was an unexpected visitor standing in front of sojin's room. kino had the pleasure of bumping into him that morning, and he was frightened. the man was tall and had broad shoulders. his face was covered with scars that most likely came from a fight with a brute. his eyes were sharp and cold, and his hands were large. kino bowed and apologized. the man simply nodded and headed into sojin's room.

again, kino was standing outside sojin's door wondering what was going on inside. there were no noises, but the atmosphere around the door got darker and heavier almost instantly. kino wanted to go into the room after he heard the sound of glass crashing, but there was no need for him to do that; the man exited the room first. his eyes were still stone cold, and nothing was wrong with his appearance, but kino heard the sounds of whimpers and crying. he ran into the room, his shoulder running into the man's arm.

"sojin? sojin!" kino ran over to the bed.

sojin was curled up in a ball and crying softly. there were shards of glass broken all over her bed, presumably from the crash kino heard earlier, but she seemed uninjured. she seemed uninjured, but she was crying so painfully that kino couldn't help but wrap his arms tightly around her and pat her head.

"kino," she whispered and held onto the fabric of his shirt. "i'm scared."

kino's eyes widened; the first words she uttered to him that week rasped out of her dry throat and were alarming. he hushed her and continued petting her head. he hummed songs to her to ease her crying. he could pet her head all he wanted, and he could hum to her all he wanted, but sojin was slipping away from everything so quickly. they were hugging each other tightly, but sojin was still slipping away.