ARTICLE TITLE: Hospital Beds Can be Comfortable — With the Right Person
DRAFTED TEXT: Despite suffering patients usually needing comfortable beds during their recovery, the hospital doesn't really provide that. [REDACTED] (that's too sappy to post.)
Y/n sat on Soo Ho's bed next to him, leaning against his pillow. The blanket covered the both of them and Y/n could feel his warm leg against hers, sending the occasional chill down her spine. He rested against her shoulder, his good hand once again holding onto hers. It was getting late and Y/n would have to go home soon, but she didn't want to move. She wanted to relish in this moment for as long as she could.
Si Eun had left, while Young Yi was on her phone on the other bed. ''Y/n, look here!'' Young Yi suddenly said and Y/n looked up, noticing Young Yi taking a selfie. Y/n quickly put her phone on her lap and threw a peace sign. Young Yi then stood up and walked in front of the bed, pointing her camera at Soo Ho and Y/n. ''Do something!''
Y/n leaned her head on Soo Ho's and grinned widely. Then she sat up properly and threw another peace sign, making Young Yi laugh as she moved back to her bed. ''Can you send me those?'' Y/n asked.
''Sure. What's your username?'' After quickly exchanging socials, Young Yi sent her the pictures she'd taken. Y/n quickly opened the one with her leaning her head on Soo Ho's; she pursed her lips, not believing this picture existed. It's been a little over a month since they started talking, and look at them now. Now I just need to be right in my hunch about Soo Ho's feelings.
The door suddenly opened and Y/n looked up; Si Eun walked in with three bags in his hands. He placed two on the table on Soo Ho's bed, the other one on Young Yi's bed. ''What's that?'' Young Yi asked.
Y/n looked down at Soo Ho, bringing a hand to his shoulder and shaking him. ''Soo Ho, Si Eun brought food. Wake up.''
Soo Ho's eyes practically shot open at that. ''What is it?''
Si Eun put his hands in his pants' pockets. ''You craved it.''
Furrowing her brows, Y/n leaned closer to one of the bags with a burger picture on it. She remembered their conversation at the ambulance — her eyes moved to Si Eun. ''No way.''
''But eating at night could make me gain weight!'' Young Yi suddenly said. Regardless, she still pulled her table up and opened her food. ''It's late at night. You're so inconsiderate. But since you got it for me . . . Hey, this looks so good.''
Si Eun didn't speak as he watched both Y/n and Soo Ho open their bags with goods; a burger for her and an ox knee soup for him, just as they'd wished for earlier. Soo Ho looked at Si Eun with skepticism. ''What's with this emotion? I'm getting goosebumps. What's your deal?''
''What?''
''I mean, you . . . You're so warm-hearted. Your eyes, how you behave, how you speak and your face,'' Soo Ho listed on. ''It feels awfully strange.''
Y/n hit his shoulder. ''Let him be, he's being nice, dumbass.''
Si Eun looked between Soo Ho and Y/n for a long time; Y/n almost thought he was about to cry when he suddenly broke into a smile. Soo Ho let out a weak scoff, though Si Eun only continued smiling. He sat down on the foot of Young Yi's bed, looking at his friends. ''Eat up.''
The smell of the burger finally hit her nose. She hadn't realized just how hungry she was until now. Pulling out her burger, fries and coke, Y/n immediately took a bite. ''Holy fuck, this is so good,'' she murmured with her mouth full, then took another bite.
''Where are your manners, cutie? I never want to hear you judge me again.'' Soo Ho's mouth was just as full as he spoke.
''Shut up,'' Y/n said as she swallowed, then looked at Si Eun. ''Si eun, do you want fries?''
''I'm okay,'' he said, giving her another small smile.
Y/n nodded, taking yet another bite from her burger. ''Man, you're God-sent, Si Eun. Thank you so much.''
The atmosphere was light and Y/n couldn't remember the last time she felt so at home. She didn't have that feeling at her real home, not at all. It wasn't really the same as when she hung out with her other friends, either. These people . . . why does it feel so different with them?
But something was missing. Someone was missing.
''Guys, let's take a selfie!'' Young Yi said as she moved to Soo Ho's bed, pulling Si Eun along. She snapped a few pictures with the four of them, then some of Y/n and Soo Ho stuffing their faces with food. There was one of just her, then one of her and Y/n. After finishing her food, Y/n moved over to Young Yi's bed to peer down at her phone as she chose which pictures to post.
''Oh, I can't tag Soo Ho,'' Young Yi said. ''He doesn't follow me back.''
''Dumbass, follow her back,'' Y/n moved back over to his bed, sitting down next to him. ''Come on, do it quicker.''
''Do it yourself,'' Soo Ho said and handed her the phone with his good hand. ''Password is three-zero-zero-nine-zero-four.''
''Woah, we're at password basis already?'' Y/n chuckled as she typed in the numbers. She found the app and as she opened it, her eyes widening at the sight. Her account faced her. She chuckled ''I knew you were stalking me.''
She felt him shuffle behind her, then he peered over her shoulder. ''I don't know how that happened.''
Y/n rolled her eyes. ''Yeah, right.'' He has to like me, right? She moved away to the notifications tab, noticing Young Yi had followed him last. She quickly followed her back, then put Soo Ho's phone down, ignoring all the other notifications.
Y/n's own phone dinged and she looked down, seeing that Young Yi had tagged her in a post. Y/n quickly opened it and liked it; then she tapped the button to make her own post, the picture she wanted loading up immediately — the one of her laying her head on Soo Ho's. She pursed her lips, then looked at Soo Ho.
''Do you mind if I post this?'' Y/n said, angling her phone to Soo Ho so he could see.
Soo Ho's eyebrows furrowed and he took the phone in his hand, staring at the picture for a second. ''Yeah, you can. Send it to me after, cutie.''
''Sure.'' She chose the picture and moved on to the captioning. Her fingers hovered over her keyboard, the perfect word coming to mind.
Dumbass. She wrote, then added a red heart next to it. Biting the inside of her cheek, Y/n quickly backspaced it.
''No, put it back.''
Y/n's head snapped back at that, her eyes meeting Soo Ho's. His eyes were red and tired, and his hair looked a little disheveled. Despite his messed up state, Y/n couldn't help but want to hold him, press her lips to his and just stay with him, but she knew she couldn't, not yet. And despite all odds, he almost looked like he wanted the exact same thing.
''What?''
''Put it back.'' Soo Ho gestured to her phone, making half a heart with his non-injured hand. When Y/n didn't move, he clicked his tongue, took her phone and added the emoji himself. Y/n watched as he tagged himself, then post the photo and finally hand her phone back. ''There you go, cutie.''
She didn't look away from him. She couldn't after what he'd just done. There was a picture on her account of the two of them in his hospital bed, him leaning on her shoulder with a heart in the caption. Did she need anymore confirmation than that?
''Soo Ho . . .'' Y/n whispered, noticing Young Yi was talking to Si Eun, neither of them paying attention. Thankful for that, she continued. ''What . . .?''
Soo Ho placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair a little. She was in too much shock to yell at him or push him off, simply watching the cute grin on his face grow, his nose scrunching. ''We'll talk about it later, cutie, promise. But we're on the same wave.''
Truly, she didn't need more than that at the moment.
''No, I don't want you to go.''
It was an hour later that Si Eun announced he needed to head home that Y/n realized just how late it was. Neither her mother or step-father had texted her to see where she was, and she wasn't sure if she should be disappointed or thankful about it. Her head still hurt a little, but the lightness in her heart seemingly healed all her wounds.
''It's late and I still have to go to school tomorrow,'' Y/n said as she tried to pry Soo Ho off of her. It seemed that now that their feelings had been laid bare, Soo Ho had no dignity or sense of personal space left.
''But it's dark, you can't walk home alone,'' Soo Ho reasoned. ''Call your parents to pick you up. Then you can stay a little longer.''
Y/n stiffed for a moment, her voice quieting down. ''They won't pick me up.'' She cleared her throat, then looked up at Si Eun. ''I can walk home with Si Eun. He doesn't live too far from my place. It'll be fine.''
Soo Ho stayed silent for a moment, then rose his head up from her shoulder. ''Yo, Si Eun! You better make sure she gets home safe or I'll kill you!''
Si Eun, who was getting his backpack on, nodded. ''Sure.''
''You guys are gross,'' Young Yi said from her bed, though she was smiling.
Y/n looked back at Soo Ho. ''Come on, let go.'' She didn't want to part as much as him, but she had to go home eventually.
With a heavy sigh, Soo Ho finally let go and laid back on his own rather dramatically. ''Now I have to sit here by myself, all cold.''
''Sucks,'' Y/n said as she put on her shoes. She looked to the chair next to Soo Ho's bed, picking up his red jacket from there. ''I'm taking this since I don't have a jacket. I'll bring it back tomorrow.'' She wasn't sure where she was getting the boldness from, but Soo Ho didn't seem to mind; if anything, he gave her a smile and a thumbs up.
''We'll see you guys tomorrow,'' Si Eun said, holding on his backpack straps.
''We'll bring Bum Seok, too,'' Y/n said. ''I texted him earlier, but he didn't answer. I hope he didn't get in trouble with his dad.''
''Y/n.'' She looked at Soo Ho, his tone serious. He was usually serious when he called her by her name. ''Text me when you get home.''
''Jeez, you really are clingy,'' Young Yi berated him, not looking away from her phone. ''Let the girl breathe, you've been holding onto her the past few hours.''
Y/n laughed, looking back at Soo Ho. ''I'll text you. You better sleep.''
''I'll sleep once you text me,'' Soo Ho said, leaning his head back on his pillow, his lips parted a little as he smiled at her.
''Fine, then I'll have to rush home.'' Y/n grabbed Si Eun's sleeve and pulled him towards the door. ''Let's go! No time to waste! Good night!''
They walked in relative silence, which wasn't unusual when hanging out with Si Eun. What surprised her more was when he spoke once they were out of the hospital. ''Soo Ho really likes you, you know.''
Y/n's head snapped to Si Eun, her eyebrows up. ''What? He told you?''
''He rambles a lot,'' Si Eun admitted, not even looking at her. ''Especially about you.''
Y/n's lips parted in surprise. He talks to Si Eun about me? Holy fuck. ''Thanks for telling me.''
The rest of the way home really was silent, though that was mainly due to Y/n still trying to process everything that had happened in a single day. Si Eun walked her right up to her door, claiming he didn't want Soo Ho to kill him, then left to go home.
It was dark once she entered, and there was no sound from the TV coming either. Everyone must be asleep — as quietly as possible, Y/n took her shoes off, went to shower, and then found herself in her bed, finally checking her phone.
That's when she'd realized she'd made a grave mistake.
Did you make it home, cutie?
Y/n, text me, I'm bored. Young Yi is being annoying, why did you leave me with her?
Y/n, are you home?
Y/n.
Y/nnnnnnnn.
A few more such messages followed, then there was a string of emoticons. She'd had about sixty messages by the time she'd opened her phone, and he was still texting as she read through the chat. I'm home, go to sleep.
Thank fuck, I thought you got kidnapped or were ghosting me. Y/n rolled her eyes at his response.
Why are me getting kidnapped and ghosting you on the same level of bad? She shot him another message after that. Go to sleep.
Good night, cutie. Dream of me.
Y/n's bit back a chuckle despite the warm feeling she felt. She wished she was back at the hospital. That was cringe. Good night, dumbass. He didn't text again, so she assumed he'd really gone to sleep. He really needed it if he wanted to recover and go home quick.
She looked through her other notification, noticing the likes she'd gotten on her picture. Her whole friendgroup — the girls, not the one with Soo Ho — had all liked the photo, even commented under in confusion. A single comment stood among the rest, though.
Find me a better nickname. It was also followed by a red heart, matching her caption. Soo Ho's comment was on top, despite not being the first one, having gathered five likes.
Y/n's fingers flew over her keyboard. I like this one. She added the red heart again, half out of mockery, half out of actual adoration.
It was starting to get late and she was tired from the long roller-coaster of a day. Just as she was about to put her phone down, a last notification came through.
@oh_beom_aa liked your post.