roommate. wooyoung

THIRTEEN

"N — Nari, what's happening to him?"

I heard Nari curse under her breath and she went to Wooyoung's side to aid him, "Wooyoung, I need you to breathe."

Wooyoung didn't listen. Instead, he started shaking uncontrollably. There were beads of sweat running down the side of his forehead as he held onto Nari's hand like his life depended on it.

"Nari, tell me what's going on," I said, feeling disturbed at what's going on.

"Miyeon, I'll tell you everything once I get Wooyoung situated," she says to me.

This Nari wasn't like the one I would usually know. I've never seen her act like this before. It seemed like she was really anxious about Wooyoung at the moment.

"We should get him out of here, back to his apartment," Jonghoon said.

Nari nodded in agreement, "Wooyoung, honey, can you listen to me and breathe in and out? You're going to be fine. I'm here. Nobody's going to hurt you. It's just fireworks."

Nobody's going to hurt you? Why did she say that?

Nari and Jonghoon did their best to help Wooyoung over to their car. When we arrived to the vehicle, I could hear Wooyoung's heavy breathing much clearer. His collar was soaked in sweat when I looked over at him under the streetlight of the parking lot.

Before we could get him inside the automobile, he passed out and fell on the ground. I gasped and went around the car to help Nari pick him up and get him inside the vehicle.

We made it to the apartment room in a hurry and got him inside his bedroom. Jonghoon's the one who was able to settle him on the bed while Nari was with me on the couch in the living room.

"Tell me everything," I said.

Nari sighs, "are you sure you'll be able to handle it?"

"Of course, how bad could it be?"

"It's very bad, Miyeon," Nari deeply frowned.

"Just spill,"

"At age eight, Wooyoung's been badly abused by his step-father. He was an alcoholic user that hits on his step-son and wife. I remembered Wooyoung telling me that his punishment would either be a beating with a metal rod in the dark or get locked up in a chest freezer for three days. I hope you know that he's claustrophobic," Nari says.

I remembered the other day when he looked inside his bedroom and called it spacious.

"But what does the sensitivity with loud noises have to do anything with that?"

"Fireworks sounds like gunshots, don't it? Wooyoung's mum got shot several times right in front of him by his step-father before he killed himself. That's why he got sent into panic mode tonight because it reminded him of that one night,"

"How long has this been going on?" I furrowed my brows.

"Well, his abuse started at age eight up until his parents died when he was sixteen, so eight years?"

I felt my heart ache and I adverted my eyes at Wooyoung's room, "is there anything I can do to help him?"

"You can always be by his side when he needs you the most,"