Once it was time for most of the group to go to school, Changbin had stayed behind with Jisung, who was disappointed that Minho and Seungmin had to leave right after saying hi.
"Am I not important enough? Do I not deserve my fair hour of company? Is Minho not living in this hospital? Why does he have to leave where did he go? And Seungmin has no excuse either."
Changbin chuckled at Jisung's behaviour. "Seungmin managed to convince Mystery to go shower, and hopefully take a nap in a real bed."
"How did he get that right? Minho is the most stubborn old man ever."
"You know what? I'd like to know too. They've been weird with each other all morning. I wonder if there's romance in the air.."
"Nah Minho wouldn't cheat on Hyunjin."
"About that.."
Jisung raised an eyebrow in interest. "Spill."
"Hyunho had a huge fight last night apparently, I still don't know what it was about. But I think it was bad enough for them to break up. And on top of that, this morning Minho told Chan that he might have a crush on Buddha.."
"Processing.." Jisung stared straight ahead. "Still processing.." Changbin was laughing at him but didn't interrupt. "It appears there's been some sort of error loading this information. Jisung.exe has crashed."
Changbin wheezed at the last part, making Jisung laugh too.
"You mean to say it's possible that there aren't any couples?"
"A-About that.."
"Oh god what now?"
"Firstly, Chan and Jeongin confessed to each other but have decided not to date until the cabbage is all grown.. just buffer over that for a second."
Jisung did indeed need a moment, but soon gave a nod as a gesture to say that Changbin may continue.
"Secondly, Felix and I are.. we're going out sometime.. like a date.."
Jisung started punching the air aggressively, but with a smile. "YES do you have any idea how long he's been wanting you to ask him out? Thank god I don't have to hear him complain about it anymore."
"Why didn't you tell me??"
"What kind of friend would do that??"
"A friend that's on my side!"
"I'm on the side of Changlix."
"Lowkey appreciated."
"Of course."
They continued chatting, mostly gossiping, for hours and hours, never once running out of conversation. Each individual in the friend group could easily spend an entire day with any of the others and this was proof. They fit with each other like peas and carrots, each of them made of seven pieces that perfectly fit into the others. One big puzzle that made a beautiful picture of Home.
-
"The tree is still dying.." Jeongin pointed out immediately.
"At least its not dead.. maybe it'll make it," Chan spoke as he wrapped an arm around the youngest.
"You guys, let's focus on the fact that we just got detention for two weeks! For being late because of a very important hospital visit! Do adults have no compassion?!" Felix raged, loudly.
"How important is that in the midst of everything else?"
"Well Chan," Felix responded with attitude. "When Jisung gets out, where will we have time to celebrate? That's even if our parents let us out the house at all after they find out.. oh dear god.."
Jeongin suddenly tore himself away from Chan and began walking away, very determined and very quickly. His eyes wide in realization, anger and fear all at once. He wasn't acting rationally and he knew it, but decided there was no room for logic or zen attitude. Being calm was a Seungmin thing, being volatile and mercurial was where the 'Savage' in 'Savage Cabbage' came into play. A rare sight but an unforgettable one. He was fully aware that what he was about to do was stupid and impulsive but he couldn't be bothered to stop himself. He had promised to express his love to his friends more often and this was the only way he knew how.
"Hey Cabbage! Where are you going?"
"Just follow me you numbnuts!"
They obliged, jogging to catch up. The three walked to the administration offices, led by Jeongin the entire way, with very confused Chan and Felix following. Once they got there, Jeongin walked right past the secretary and into the principal's office, without knocking.
"Yang Jeongin! What is the meaning of this?"
"Sir, I believe our parents explained our absence yesterday?"
"Yes, they did. What about it? Did you break down my door to ask that?" He looked behind Jeongin to see the other two standing wide-eyed. "And you two?! What's going on?"
Jeongin snapped his fingers in front of the man's face to get his attention, only angering him further. "Sir, if you're aware of the circumstances surrounding Jisung then why did we get detention for being late?"
The man was turning red and gritting his teeth. "There was no reason to be late today! If you think you ca-"
"Is going to visit him not a reason? You're well aware of the fact that he's our friend. Why would we not go visit?"
"There is no excuse to save you from the mistake of missing out on school work! Learning is far more important tha-"
"Than what? Being there for someone who is dying? Sir, if your brother or sister, mother or father, or wife if you even have one, were to be in hospital fighting for their lives, would you come into work? If there was a possibility that it was their last few days alive, would you honestly be in this office?"
"The situations are entirely different! Some high-school friendship cannot compare to the knowledge you need from here!"
Jeongin couldn't take it anymore. He slammed his hands onto the man's desk, leaning in so he was face to face with him, staring him down. "That is utter bullshit!" He spat his words. "You're just sour and lonely and could never understand any fucking form of love because no one has ever given it to you!!"
The man was silent for a moment, staring back at him in shock with a slacked jaw, which allowed Jeongin to continue. "You want an excuse that matches your twisted ideals? Fine," he stood up straight again. "Ain't no way we'd be able to concentrate on work if we were here. How could we learn when the idea of never seeing Jisung again, or hearing his laugh, or being on the receiving end of his relentless mood swings, is sitting in the back of our heads?"
"You can't know that for su-"
Jeongin held up his index finger to silence him while reaching into his back pack, searching for something among the various books and papers.
"Here," he slammed a small pile of papers onto the desk. "This is the Humanitarian exam I wrote on Tuesday, before I even knew what was actually wrong with him. All I knew was that he wasn't okay. I failed the test. Imagine how much worse that result would've been once I'd known the specifics. Let that sink in, sir."
The man ripped the papers from his hands and looked over it. "All this shows me is that your friends have far too much influence on your schooling."
Jeongin bared his teeth in frustration and lunged over the desk in an attempt to grab onto the man's collar. Felix and Chan had to pull him back while he fought against them and thrashed around, almost breaking Felix's nose in the process.
Their principal stood shocked, seemingly on the verge of a heart attack. He collapsed to the floor, still conscious but eyes switching between drooping and opening too wide.
Jeongin smirked and stood still so that the other two would release him. When they did, he slowly walked to the door and closed it gently, then walked back to the man who was sitting against the wall. "Okay fucker here's the deal," he crouched down to make eye contact. "If you write a note to the secretary saying that we don't have detention, I'll call the hospital. If you don't, I'll leave you here."
The man clutched at his chest, clearly struggling.
"Yes, I have eyes. I can see there's something wrong. But why should I care, right? My schooling is more important. I should probably be getting to class," he pretended to stand up to leave but was stopped.
The principal pointed frantically to his desk, gesturing to the notepad and pen resting in the top left corner.
Jeongin reached for it and gave the items to him, allowing him to take all the time he needed to write the note. Once it was done, in messy handwriting, he pocketed it and turned around to see Chan and Felix staring at him in either fear or awe. He couldn't tell which.
"Come on guys, start screaming for help."
They reacted immediately, as though they were waiting for permission the entire time. "Help! Someone please! Help us!"
The secretary rushed in after a few moments, finding them all standing looking at the man with fear and worry on their faces. She immediately called the hospital and asked Chan to help her walk the old man out of the office, closer to where the ambulance would be when it arrived.
Once the three were out of the building, Jeongin grabbed Felix's hand and pulled him out to the secretary's desk, carefully placing the note on it and then bolting out.