"hyung," doyoung called, not really referring to a specific hyung, but leaning more towards jihoon rather than the others. the panda-looking male was the only person out of the ten friends of yedam that the business management student was closest to, so it would only make sense for him to call him out.
jihoon looked up to meet the soft and caring eyes of doyoung, the other boys except asahi and junghwan also looking at the young boy who had just arrived. the panda-looking male let out a sigh as he closed his eyes for a couple seconds before opening them back up. doyoung noticed the tiredness that was present in the older's face and felt bad that he couldn't do anything about it. the first year university student knelt down next to mashiho and placed his hand on jihoon's other knee.
"how is he?"
the older male shook his head. "we don't know. the doctors are taking a while in there. it seems to be pretty bad this time," the third year university student explained briefly as he glanced over to the door that secluded the room that yedam was in from the hallway. jihoon was most likely the person who was most concerned about the second year university student's condition, and everyone else followed after.
sure, doyoung was wildly concerned and worried for the older male, but he was probably the one person here that was the least concerned. he didn't know yedam as well as the boy's friends and family do despite having somewhat of a personal connection with the second year university student. heck, doyoung didn't even fully know what happened to yedam or what the cause for his bullying was or why he was visiting the hospital more often than not. obviously he was curious to know what was going on, but as jihoon had said before, if the older male didn't tell the business management student, then no one else had the right to, and doyoung respected that. even if it took him five hundred years to figure out what was going on, the first year university student wouldn't mind waiting.
a small sigh unknowingly escaped doyoung's lips as he took a quick glance to the floor, feeling apologetic. the male was fully able to emphasize with the older and his extreme concern for his younger brother, since he, too, is going through a similar event at the moment with his mom.
standing up from his kneeling position on the floor, doyoung wrapped his arms around jihoon, who was tense at first from the sudden unexpected action, but soon relaxed into the touch of the younger and hugged back, feeling the comforting warmth that was starting to circulate around him.
the first year university student knew very well how much hugs were able to suppress the pain inside one's heart during a problematic event, since yedam had done just that. it was successfully able to calm him down and find comfort in the hug, so doyoung decided to do the same for yedam's older brother.
pulling away after a couple minutes, jihoon thanked the younger for what he had done, feeling a bit more relax and assured than he was just moments before. the business management student just shook it off, claiming that it wasn't much, before silence filled up the space in the hallway, similarly to how it was when doyoung first arrived.
"you can get going, doyoung," the panda-looking male called out towards the younger, dismissing him from their current location.
"but-"
a shake of the head from jihoon cut off doyoung's words as the older continued to speak. "it's okay. we're gonna stay here and check yedam's condition. you must be tired. don't think too much about it. just go and get some rest now."
"but you look beyond exhausted," the first year university student gestured towards the older's visible eye bags, but the said male shook it off, ignoring the sign from the younger.
"i'm fine. you should go back and get some sleep. you can come back tomorrow to check on him. we'll all most likely still be here then."
after much thinking and hesitation, doyoung settled with a nod of his head, agreeing with the older to head back to his living place and visit the second year university student the next day. the business management student greeted everyone a farewell before parting ways with the other ten boys, heading back to his dorm room to finish up the day.
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arriving back to his dorm room, doyoung placed the empty lunch boxes in the sink, deciding to do the dishes tomorrow since he was overly exhausted today. he went into the bathroom to take a shower and freshen up, exiting the room in his sleepwear while brushing his teeth, not bothering to put on baby powder after washing up.
doyoung took a glance at the clock on his bedside table, seeing '22:03' written on it, before going back into the bathroom to finish up his nightly routine. surprising to even the male himself, doyoung would be going to sleep early tonight, something that the young boy would only get to do once every blue moon.
well, that was if he would be able to fall asleep, which seemed almost impossible at the moment. there were too many things in doyoung's mind that he had pushed away for the entirety of the day, and he was well aware that he needed to get those thoughts sorted out as soon as possible.
while laying in bed, doyoung looked up at the ceiling, letting his thoughts freely roam through his mind as he usually does before he slept at night to end the day, or at least, before he tried to sleep at night. the first year university student closed his eyes, wanting to drift off into dream land and get a good night's sleep.
but the worry that built up inside of doyoung from the worsening condition of his mom and the reminder of yedam being in the hospital for what turned out to be maybe the forty-third time this year continued to eat at the business management student, leaving him restless the entire night and leading into the next day with his eyes wide open.
