eight songs, one meaning

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it was an early dismissal today and mashiho is excited to drop by his lockers to get his daily dose of angelic voice. he also needs a distraction to keep himself from thinking about junkyu. the sight of pain from the other hunted mashiho. he feels bad for the guy.

junkyu seemed to be a really nice guy, but he is experiencing all those pain just because of something he has no control of.

he opened his locker and disappointment rushed into him upon seeing nothing but just his books. there’s no song for today? why?

“you got nothing today?”

mashiho jumped in his place in surprise of keita’s sudden appearance.

“what the fuck keita?” he glared at his best friend, then sighed and a frown came back on his lips, “he did not gave me a song today.”

“maybe he is busy? come on, he still has his life. he will eventually give you a song once he can. let’s go?” keita tried to lift his best friend’s mood and he succeed.

mashiho smiled, “right. let’s go.”

arriving home, he was welcomed by the maids. he asked if his mom went home, but they said that mrs. takata just dropped by to have a shower and change her clothes then head back to the hospital.

mashiho changed into a more comfortable yet presentable clothes. he will just go to his mom in the hospital since he has nothing to do today. if you are wondering about his dad, mr. takata is currently in a business trip in france that’s why he is not with them these days.

he told his chauffeur who is seated with the guard that he wants to go to the hospital.

on his way to the hospital, he asked to stop after seeing a café. he hopped off the car and bought three boxes of doughnut, a cup of americano for his mom and a cup of hot dark chocolate for himself.

mashiho arrived at the hospital and he greeted every personnel that he meets at the hallways. he walking towards his mother’s office when he saw jaehyuk walking from the other end of the hallway.

“jaehyukie.” he called.

jaehyuk looked at him and smiled, “mashi. what are you doing here?”

“ah, my mom is a doctor here. you, what are you doing here?”

“junkyu-hyung is confined here.” jaehyuk said and mashiho’s eyes widened.

“how is he?”

“he is physically fine. you can check up on him if you want. he is in room 406.” jaehyuk pointed at the portion of the hallway.

“oh, okay. i’ll check up on him later after giving these to my mom.” mashiho then excused himself, while jaehyuk gave him a smile.

the japanese boy headed to his mom’s office.

“hi mom.” mashiho greeted his mother as soon as he entered her office.

“oh, hi son. what brings you here?” she asked and put her pen down on her desk.

“i was just bored at home.” he sat down on the couch and took the americano out from the holder, and put a box of doughnut on the coffee table, “kim junkyu is confined here?”

“yes. i’m the doctor assigned to him. do you know him?” she asked as she sat down next to his son. she took the americano and had a sip of it.

“yup. we are on the same school.”

“i noticed that too when he was brought here.”

“how is he?”

“gratefully, he got no major injuries. he said he fell off the stairs, but i doubt. based on my observations, he looks like he was beaten up.”

he lied about what happened? mashiho wondered. why would junkyu do that? what his attackers did was wrong, and so they just deserve to be punished if he would speak up. but then, he chose to lie and just let the bastards that hurt him wander around the campus freely while waiting for him to return?

“i’ll just pay him a visit, mom.” mashiho stood up and picked the two more boxes of doughnut up and the cup of his hot dark chocolate.

“go back here after, yeah? we’ll go home together.”

mashiho nodded at his mom’s words and headed out of the office.

he walks down the hallway, scanning every room numbers, until he reached the right one. 406 it reads. he knocked thrice and he was greeted by the smiling jaehyuk.

“you actually came?”

“well, i’m already here so might as well pay a visit.” mashiho remarked and walked inside the private room.

at the hospital bed, he saw junkyu seated, his head hung low. seems like he hasn’t noticed anything yet. he looked at him thoroughly and saw some stitches on the boy’s arms.

“i’ll just be outside.” jaehyuk whispered and head out.

mashiho then took the chance to get the other’s attention by clearing his throat.

junkyu looked up and his eyes widened at the sight of mashiho in his hospital room, “m-mashiho...”

the japanese boy smiled and walked towards the taller, “i dropped by since i visited my mom. she is your doctor, right?”

junkyu nodded. disbelief still visible in his expression.

the younger chuckled and put the two boxes of doughnut on the table beside the hospital bed along with the warm dark chocolate drink.

“i’ve brought you something. how are you?” mashiho asked, standing near junkyu.

“i... i’m fine, maybe? i mean, physically, i’m fine aside from the pain because of the wounds and bruises. i’m sure you know what happened... it was the talk of the school now, right?” junkyu asked, his tone is filled with anger and sadness.

mashiho did not answer. he remained silent and just look at the guy in front of him.

he actually is confused as to why he cares. i mean, it’s just normal, mashiho is known to be a sweetheart. he cares for everyone, he worries for everyone. but there is something about junkyu that makes him different from others. something special that he cannot pin point yet.

maybe it was because he had seen junkyu suffer on the hands of his schoolmates more than once? it will never be pity because mashiho admires how strong junkyu is for enduring all of the pain through the years. then what is it that makes junkyu special from the others?