Author's Note: I sincerely hope all of you are taking care of yourselves, lots of things have happened in a month, but I'm still willing to wait for as long as it takes to get good news. As an apology for the long wait, I wrote 3656 words in this chapter. Thank you all so much💕
Stay strong! 👊❤️
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When you woke up, it was already the next morning.
"What the-did I really sleep until the next day?" you asked yourself. You sat up and stretched, looking around. That's when you realized that your boyfriend was sleeping with his face buried in his arms on the bed. You giggled before tapping his head.
"Jinhwan....." you said, smiling. He let out a small mumble, but went back to sleep. You ruffled his hair vigorously.
"Babyyyyyy, wake uppppp." you whined. He groaned and shuffled, turning his head to the side and laying his head on his arms so that the side of his face showed. You squinted at him.
"Last warning....." you said, only for him to continue sleeping.
You rolled your eyes before bending over and pecking Jinhwan on the cheek. The second your lips touched his skin, he shot up in surprise and nearly fell backwards in his chair.
"GAH! I'M UP, I'M UP! WHAT'S HAPPENING!" he said as he frantically looked around from side to side. You blinked in confusion.
"Wha-Oh hey, you're awake." Jinhwan said. You broke into laughter.
"What was that?" you asked. Jinhwan took a deep breath and sighed in relief.
"You scared me! I was just sleeping and then you took me by surprise like that." he said with a hand on his chest.
"You kept your word, though. Did you really sleep in that chair overnight just for me?" you asked.
"Of course I did, I'm your boyfriend! Wouldn't you think I'd have to do that at least?" he replied with a smile. You gave a small grin back.
"Thank you." you said. Jinhwan grabbed your hand and kissed it in response.
"Are the others back home?" you asked.
"Yeah, but they said they're coming back later. Your mother came over yesterday, she was so worried about you, you know? You were sleeping at the time, but she did visit you. She looked like she was at the verge of tears, actually." he explained.
"Really? Did she say anything?" you asked.
"Well, I thought she was going to get mad at me, but she did the exact opposite. She hugged me and thanked me for saving you, although I'm not sure if I deserve it...." Jinhwan said as he looked away and rubbed the back of his head.
You were about to reply until you saw how quickly his expression had changed. He bit his lip and tried to turn his head away, but you had already seen the tears that came up from his eyes. Your heart instantly began to ache again as you saw him trying to contain his tears.
"J-Jinhwan, are you okay?" you asked in worry. Jinhwan laughed nervously and quickly wiped his eyes.
"S-Sorry, I don't know why I'm crying again, God, I-I'm really sorry, could you give me a few seconds? I promise I wasn't planning to do this in front of you again, I-I really don't know why the tears won't stop, I keep-" he stopped when his voice broke. He let out a broken chuckle as he continued to helplessly wiped the tears away with his arm. You looked at him sadly as your heart began to break.
"Jinhwan......you don't have to hold in your tears because of me....." you said quietly. Jinhwan sniffed and kept his eyes closed.
"I guess I won't stop feeling guilty......about everything." he whispered.
"Jinhwan, you have to stop blaming yourself. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be alive." you said.
"I know, I know......everyone's told me that, but I just can't stop thinking about how everything happened because of me." he replied.
"No, it didn't. If you think you're the bad person here, you should see the way everyone else was in the situation. Just look at Sooyoung. I know you think Sooyoung hated me because of you, but that's not the case at all." you said.
"How?" Jinhwan asked.
"Before she even realised that I started liking you, Sooyoung would've still hated me. When basketball unit started, Sooyoung and her friends came up to me and Ara and we got into a verbal fight, so even if we never became friends, we'd still be enemies." you explained. Jinhwan wiped his tears and looked down.
"When everything happened at the park.....you saw the crowd of people around me when I was suffocating on the floor. Nobody did anything. Nobody called the police until Ara did, nobody tried to help me, nobody tried to stop Sooyoung, nobody did anything at all. They just stood there and watched me as if it was entertaining that I was dying on the floor. If it wasn't for you, I would've been dead ages ago." you explained. Jinhwan sighed and fiddled with his hands.
"My mom didn't get mad at you because she knew that this wasn't your fault. You were the only one who jumped in and saved me. It doesn't matter how you start a situation, it matters how you end it. And in the end, Ara called the police to deal with Sooyoung and you saved me from suffocating to death. Jinhwan, you need to stop blaming yourself. I'm still here, and it's because of you." you said.
Jinhwan looked at his hands and stayed silent for a minute, thinking. Then, he looked up at you and suddenly opened his arms.
"Hug me." he said quietly. You grinned and wrapped your arms around him, rubbing his back gently.
"I'm still going to tell you that I'm sorry. You still deserve a million apologies from me." he said.
"One apology is enough for me. I love you, okay?" you replied.
"Me too." he said.
"And you won't leave me? You were telling me all those things yesterday and it was scaring me so much." you said. There was a small silence that made you nervous. Jinhwan pulled away from the hug and stared into your eyes.
Then he shook his head.
"No, I won't leave you. I won't ever leave you. Yesterday, I was so guilty about everything that I thought leaving you would be the only option, but I think I'm convinced enough to think correctly. I'm not going to leave you, I'm going to make everything up to you. I love you more than anything, you know?" Jinhwan said. You smiled in relief.
"You know.....your brother and Ara told me the same thing yesterday. I just thought it would be wrong for me to just act like nothing happened." Jinhwan said.
"It's not acting like nothing happened at all, it's using this opportunity to get stronger, so you can get back on your feet. And besides, I'd rather make happier memories instead of living in a sad and scary one, wouldn't you?" you asked with a smile. Jinhwan nodded and smiled back.
"This memory doesn't define who you are, Oppa." you said as you grabbed his hand. "It'll stay as a reminder for you to become a stronger person."
Jinhwan stared at you before kissing you gently.
"Thank you." he said quietly as he hugged you again. You hugged back.
"You know I owe you my life now, right?" you said.
"You do?" Jinhwan asked.
"Yeah, so I'm going to stay with you forever. I'm never going to break up with you. If we ever end up having to do it, you'll be the one to break up with me." you said.
"And that's not ever going to happen again either." Jinhwan said as he hugged you tighter. "I'm never letting go of you again, you're mine." You rolled your eyes and giggled, but when you tried to move, Jinhwan didn't let you.
"Jinnyyyyyyy, let goooooo." you whined.
"No, I literally just said I wasn't going to let you go." Jinhwan said with a small grin.
"Oh come on, I didn't think you'd-ughhhhh." you said, making Jinhwan laugh.
"Okay, okay....." he said as he pulled away from you.
"I'm gonna try to stand up." you suddenly said.
"Are you sure? What if you get hurt?" your boyfriend said in worry.
"Oh come on, Oppa, It's not like I broke my legs. If I stay in this bed any longer I think I'm going to lose my mind." you said as you moved so your legs were off the side of the bed. Jinhwan quickly came around and grabbed your arms, helping you up. You stumbled at first, but you got your strength and stood up.
"You good?" Jinhwan asked. You nodded. He slowly let go of you, and you walked a few steps forward.
"Everything feels normal to me." you said, stretching.
"Really? That's a relief." Jinhwan replied. You then started to walk around the room in circles.
"Oh man, I totally forgot how great it feels to walk." you said, making Jinhwan chuckle.
"Well, since you're able to walk now, you should probably eat." Jinhwan said, looking at the clock. He grabbed your hand tightly and brought you to the cafeteria, where you were given rice, seaweed soup, and Kimchi. Jinhwan sat next to you at the table while you ate. You took a spoonful of the soup, which actually wasn't as bad as you thought it would be, considering that it was hospital food. It wasn't until you ate the Kimchi that you frowned and cringed while eating it.
"Sooooo, how's the food?" your boyfriend asked, tipping his head.
"Well, the soup is okay, but there is something wrong with this Kimchi." you said as you drank some water.
"Hey, at least something on your tray tastes okay. One time, Yunhyeong had to go to America and ended up having to stay in the hospital for a day. He told me that he ate only two bites of the hospital food before giving up, and then he just decided to starve himself until the next morning." Jinhwan explained.
"Jeez, that must've been tough...." you said.
"Exactly, so be thankful and don't complain." Jinhwan replied as he ruffled your hair. You squinted at him before continuing to eat. Suddenly, your boyfriend pulled out strawberry milk from his pocket and put it on your tray.
"See, I'm a good boyfriend, so I even bought you a tasty drink." he said as he poked a straw into the top of the container. You rolled your eyes.
"Thanks, Oppa."
Only a couple minutes had passed until you suddenly heard destructive stomping coming from the distance. Startled by the noise, you stopped eating and looked up to see somebody coming towards you.
"What the......" Jinhwan said in confusion. You squinted, unable to clearly figure out who the person was.
"Is that......." you trailed off. A few moments later and that certain someone was sprinting like a complete lunatic towards your table.
"(Y/NNNNNNNNNNNNNN)!!!!!"
"Wait-" your eyes widened.
"Junhoe?!"
"(Y/N), OH MY GOD!" Junhoe said as he slammed both his hands on the table.
"AHHHH!" you yelped in surprise as the entire table shook.
"Calm down, Junhoe, you're gonna break the freaking table!" Jinhwan said.
"(Y/N), do you have any idea how much I worried about you?!?! I was just eating my ham sandwich yesterday and I suddenly get a call from Ara telling me that you dropped dead during your field trip and ended up at the hospital?!!! I couldn't even visit you because of my stupid schedule issues and you made me sit there waiting for something to happen, but nobody told me jack squat! Do you know how torturous that is? Do you have any idea how much concern I had to go through yesterday?! Young lady, you can't just-"
"She's older than you, Junh-"
"I'M TRYING TO TALK ABOUT MY LIFE'S STORY, DON'T INTERRUPT ME! I couldn't even sleep last night! I was so worried that I probably prayed to God more than fifteen times every hour! I tried texting Bobby Hyung and he barely told me anything, so I tried texting the others and they didn't even realise that all of this happened yet! I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW MANY WRINKLES I GOT ON MY FACE BECAUSE OF ALL THE STRESS YOU GAVE ME THESE PAST FEW HOURS!" Junhoe ranted as he threw his hands into the air.
"You.....wanna take a little breather before you continue?" you asked.
"Yes, actually, that's probably a good idea." Junhoe replied as he panted heavily, leaning on the table with hand on his hip. Jinhwan face palmed and shook his head.
"Noona, I almost fainted after hearing that the doctors had to defibrillate you because you went through an Asthma Attack! Ara was talking so fast that I thought she was speaking German the first time she called me!" he exclaimed. You blinked. Defibrillate?
"They.....did...? Oh....um....I guess I didn't know about that because I was unconscious this entire time." you said quietly.
"Oh wait, you didn't know? I thought somebody told you already....." Junhoe said. You turned and looked at Jinhwan, who had a somber expression on his face. You could feel immense sadness radiating off of him again.
"Yeah, it was.....intense...while it was happening." he said quietly. Junhoe stared at your boyfriend with sympathy and you saw as he closed his eyes and sighed. He was probably feeling guilty again.
That was when you saw his lip quivering slightly. Nope, nope, nope. Not on my watch. You thought as you grabbed the strawberry milk on your tray.
"Oh no, you are not going to start crying again, mister." you said as you suddenly shoved the straw into his mouth. Jinhwan's eyes widened in surprise, but he broke into laughter.
"But this is yours." he said, smiling. You felt relieved to see his smile. You didn't want to make him cry again.
"That's okay, I can just get another one. You drink it if it'll make you feel better." you said.
"Thank you." Jinhwan said as he sipped on the straw. Junhoe was staring at the two of you with a grin creeping across his face.
"You guys are couple goals." he said, making you break into a smile. "Do you realise that there might have been a chance that I wouldn't get to see this again?"
"Yeah, I was lucky that Jinhwan was there to save me. If it weren't for him, I really wouldn't be sitting here." you said as you leaned your head on Jinhwan's shoulder.
"Well, I'll stay and give you guys some company." Junhoe said as he grabbed a chair and sat down.
"Thanks, June." you said as you went back to eating.
"See, Hyung? I'm such a good friend."
"Don't make me laugh, Junhoe."
"Wha-hey! I really am! You don't even know how hard I worked to even get here." Junhoe said as he crossed his arms and pouted.
"Why, what'd you do?" you asked.
"I ran."
"You ran?"
"Yeah, you made me worry since yesterday so I just ran because I was too impatient to wait for the bus."
"But don't you have a car?"
"No, I can only drive my parents' cars and at the time they were both gone."
"So you ran."
"Yeah, and now I'm super hungry because of it so give me some of your food."
"Don't try to steal her food, Junhoe, she's still sick." Jinhwan said.
"Oppa, I don't have anything contagious. And besides, I'm more than okay with letting him eat all the Kimchi." you said as you got a spoonful of rice and put a piece of Kimchi on it. Junhoe stuck his tongue out at Jinhwan, making him roll his eyes. You fed Junhoe the spoonful and waited as he chewed for a couple of seconds. He swallowed and then blinked.
"This tastes bad."
"More, please."
~~time skip~~
Once it was about 2:30 in the afternoon, you were back in the hospital room with Jinhwan and Junhoe. Bobby and your mother finally came to visit, your mother running over and hugging you tightly.
"Are you okay, Sweetie? I missed you so much." she said.
"I'm fine now, Mom. I missed you, too." you replied.
"Mom worried about you so much, you know? She cried because you weren't awake when she visited you yesterday." Bobby said.
"Oh come on, Jiwon, you don't have to tell her that, it's nothing!" your mother said as she hit Bobby's arm gently.
"Mom, you know how much you cried yesterday." he replied.
"Sorry....I'm making too many people cry, I feel terrible." you said.
"No no, you shouldn't be. At least you're awake now and I'm here." your mother replied.
"You're probably so exhausted, aren't you? I'm so grateful that you protected my daughter." she said as she turned to your boyfriend.
"Well.....I'm just glad that I was able to get to her in time." Jinhwan said as he looked at you.
"Yeah, we have a pretty great Hyung, don't we?" Bobby said as he elbowed Junhoe, who nodded in agreement. Ten minutes had passed as you all talked together before everyone else had came. Ara walked in with Chanwoo and unexpectedly, B.I, Yunhyeong, and Donghyuk followed behind them.
"Hi, Noona!" Donghyuk said as waved.
"Woah, I didn't know you guys would be here!" you said in surprise.
"Of course we would come, you're our friend! Not to mention, you're also the sister of one of our closest friends." B.I said.
Yunhyeong brought in flowers and put them onto the table next to the bed.
"Flowers?? You really didn't have to...." you said.
"It's the least we could get you since we couldn't come yesterday....." Yunhyeong replied with a smile.
"Yeah, we didn't hear about the situation until a while after it happened. Otherwise I probably would've come to check up on all of you." Donghyuk said.
"Wow, um.......thanks so much, you guys, it's really great that you're all here." you said.
"I want to thank all of you for being such great friends to my daughter, it's been hard to do fun things with her since her father had passed away. I was sorry that I couldn't take Jiwon and (Y/N) on trips all the time, but with you all, my children are happy." your mother added, in which everyone smiled and bowed respectfully, replying to her that they were just as happy to be friends with you and Bobby.
"So.....do you have any homework since you missed school?" B.I asked.
"Nah, school ends in a few days so there isn't any homework. Thankfully, she won't have to worry about making up any work." Ara replied.
"Speaking of school, the news broke out and now everyone is exploding about it. I've already had half the school ask me what happened to you and Sooyoung. It was so annoying that I had to hide my face around campus." Chanwoo said.
"Sooyoung? IS SHE THE WITCH THAT TRIED TO KILL MY BEST FRIEND?!" Junhoe exclaimed as he stood up. You nodded.
"She better have gone to jail, she's crazy!" Junhoe said.
"Well, she did get arrested and I think she got charged for assault. She was expelled from school and her friends were all suspended." Chanwoo said. You sighed.
"Well, she deserves it! I can't believe she tried to kill (Y/N) just because she was jealous of her!" Ara said as she crossed her arms.
"Well, for her it was basically 'my way or the high way,' and she couldn't take it when things didn't turn out the way she wanted it to be. She made a terrible decision and now she's getting punished for it." Bobby said.
"But.....at least everything is over, right?" Donghyuk asked. You smiled before stretching and leaning against the headboard with a sigh.
"Yep, everything is over." you said in relief.
"And you know what that means.........GROUP PICTURE!!" Yunhyeong exclaimed.
"Suddenly?" Jinhwan asked.
"Well, we're all here, aren't we? Might as well take our first group picture together. I'm up for it!" Ara said. You nodded and the others agreed before standing next to the bed. With you in the middle, everyone posed as your mother took the picture. The first time was normal, everyone held up their 'V' signs and smiled as the camera clicked.
"I'll take another one, guys." your mother said as she prepared to take another picture.
"One......two......three!" A split second after the camera clicked again, everyone started to scream loudly and you got startled.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Junhoe screamed as he ran around the room, bumping into Bobby, who was also yelling like a lunatic. Donghyuk was laughing hysterically and Yunhyeong was freaking out as he hugged B.I, who was dying in his grasp. Jinhwan high-fived Chanwoo, whose face was burning with red.
"What? What happened?" you asked in confusion. You saw Ara holding her left cheek with wide eyes and a huge blush across her face before finally understanding what happened.
"CHANWOO KISSED ARA ON THE CHEEK, OH MY GAHHHHHHHHHH!" Bobby yelled. You immediately started screaming with the others and pointed at Ara.
"FINALLY!!" You said as you laughed.
"My boy is all grown up, now! AHHHHH!" B.I said as Yunhyeong continued to freak out. The room exploded with excitement again as Chanwoo walked over and hugged Ara, who was still stunned at whatever happened a minute earlier.
You hugged Jinhwan and smiled when he kissed your nose gently. This was the kind of excitement that you missed having in a long time.
"The pictures came out great! I'll have my daughter send them to all of you!" Your mother said as she smiled.
Things were definitely going to get better soon.