No one's POV:
Taehyung had been queuing for ages in the long line of people in order to refill his long-acting and short-action insulin and the lady arguing with the pharmacist was not helping at all.
Apparently the item had a 'discount' and the lady argued that she shouldn't be paying how much the pharmacist was charging her.
It was obviously a ploy to get money off of the expensive tablets and in some ways, Taehyung sympathised with the woman. However, conning her way into getting money off clearly wasn't working.
Her face kept on turning more and more red as time went on, her deep wrinkles creasing- a clear indication of immense stress.
If there weren't masses of people waiting for the attention of the singular cashier then Taehyung would have a little more pity. Right now though, Taehyung desperately needed to speak to the pharmacist.
He had his own problems and running out of insulin was more than just a simple problem. It could be potentially life-threatening for Taehyung. Going without insulin for too long means his body will break down its own fat and muscle, resulting in weight loss. This is called diabetic ketoacidosis and it turns the bloodstream acidic- resulting in severe dehydration.
All in all, Taehyung needed his insulin desperately and waiting for an exceedingly long time was not helping his poor nerves.
Eventually though, the woman gave up in her persuit and Taehyung stepped forward so he was directly in front of the counter.
"Hi, I need a refill for my prescription. It'll be under Kim Taehyung," The brunet spoke as he leaned onto the counter while the pharmacist typed away on her keyboard to bring up Taehyung's profile.
Her eyes grew slightly sympathetic after she made a few clicks and Taehyung knew what was coming.
"Oh, it looks like I can't refill your prescription for another four days," The woman replied before clacking away on her keyboard again.
"Uh- okay but I- I can't really wait four days. Um- look, I'm out of both my long-acting and short-acting insulin and my reserve vial is basically gone," Taehyung said in slightly desperation as he pulled out the vial to show the woman.
"It's really dangerous for me not to have this," Taehyung added as he looked at the pharmacist in sheer desperation.
"I mean, I can give you a refill of your prescription if you want to do it out of pocket," The woman said, trying to come up with a solution.
"I don't think you understand- I really need this to be refilled and I can't just pay-",
"No, your insurance is not renewed so I can't refill it," The pharmacist interrupted as she explained once again to Taehyung why simply refilling it was not an option.
The Taehyung's face contorted to one of anger as the lady cut over what he was trying to say. Yet, he kept his cool and rubbed his head to try and think a bit more clearly.
"So if you want to do it out of pocket, then we can do that," The pharmacist tried again as Taehyung sighed deeply.
"Right okay- how much is that then?" Taehyung questioned as he braced himself for the extortionate prices that were going to come his way.
"Three hundred for the long-acting and two twenty for the short-acting. So a little over five hundred dollars. What do you want to do?" The pharmacist replied as Taehyung tried to contain his death stare.
The amount was much more than Taehyung remembered it to be and he didn't even have five hundred dollars to spare let alone five hundred dollars in cash to give right now.
It was only when Taehyung heard a man grumble about the queue being so long and that getting served was taking forever, did he realise he had turned into the desperate woman he saw a while ago.
The only difference being Taehyung wasn't lying- he needed his insulin, there was no question about it.
Just when the brunet was going to reply, Soo-Yun -his mum- came forward with a bag full of shopping, standing next to Taehyung and placing the items on the counter.
"What's wrong?" She asked Taehyung in Korean before he replied saying that "It's nothing,"
"Mum can you please check out in the other line. This line already hates me," Taehyung added as the pharmacist looked on- slightly annoyed by the delay Taehyung had caused.
"Do you guys want to step aside for a minute?" The pharmacist interrupted in a frustrated tone.
"Can you just give me a second?" Taehyung answered- in English this time.
Once the woman nodded, Taehyung turned his attention back to his mother as he explained the situation.
Soo-Yun gave Taehyung a sympathetic glance before reaching into her handbag and grabbing out her purse.
She shuffled through a few compartments and eventually found some cash to give to Taehyung.
"You take this and I'll use credit," Soo-Yun calmly explained as she passed the wad of cash over to Taehyung.
"It's the most important rule. Always health first," Soo-Yun justified as she ignored Taehyung's pleas of "Eomma I can't let you do this," or "Eomma this is far too much- just let me handle it, okay,"
However, Soo-Yun had none of it as she picked up her shopping basket and stared at Taehyung dead in the eyes.
"Health. First. I'll meet you by the car when we are done okay?" Was the only thing she said before leaving and joining the queue on the other side of the shop.
"Kamsahamnida." Taehyung said as his mother's back retreated over to the other long line of people.
"Well that worked out," The pharmacist said as Taehyung swiped his tongue over his lips.
"Do you want this vial filled up then." The pharmacist questioned as the brunet counted the money but Taehyung's face quickly distorted into one of sadness and utter dispair.
There wasn't enough money.
The pharmacist also seemed to catch onto Taehyung's very apparent worry and stress as her mouth formed into an 'o' shape. Her chin dropped slightly, like a gaping fish and it felt absolutely humiliating to not even be able to afford to look after himself.
Taehyung had to rely on his mother and even then it wasn't enough to cover the extortionate medical bills.
"That's not-" The pharmacist began but was quickly cut off by Taehyung.
"-Not enough. I know, okay," The brunette interjected as he rolled his tongue along the inside of his cheek, processing what had just happened and how on earth he was going to cope with no insulin for four whole days.
"I guess I'll just try to make it to Friday without it," Taehyung stated as he held onto his bag and turned away from the pharmacist. The lady looked on in sympathy as Taehyung made his way out of the pharmacy.
"What am I going to do without my insulin?" Taehyung whispered to himself as he pushed on the heavy doors leading out into the carpark.
This was dangerous and Taehyung was absolutely dreading the next four days.
It was bad enough being born with diabetes and being diagnosed unimaginably late, let alone not being able to pay for the essentials he needed.
Taehyung leaned back against the car door as he clicked his tongue, rubbing his eyes slightly to try to gather his thoughts.
He then ran a hand through his hair, brushing back the thick brown locks as he contemplated how to get through this.
"What the hell am I going to do?"