Chapter 03;
Doctor Choi
|~[𝖙.𝖙]~|
It was two days after passing out in the yard that Taehyun decided to go to the doctor.
He was unable to go to an actual doctor because that meant going to his parents, which also meant seeking out his death. They would immediately question if he was doing drugs the night he was out. Then, they wouldn't listen to anything he says and ground him.
Therefore, he went to the next-best-thing.
"Doctor Choi to your assistance," a familiar neon-haired boy grabbed a random white jacket from his closet and tossed it on. He had tinted, square glasses at the tip of his nose and a toy stethoscope around his neck.
Taehyun rolled his eyes, crossing his arms, "Yeonjun-"
"Doctor Choi..."
Rephrasing his sentence with a bitter smile, Taehyun enunciated, "Doctor Choi, I need you to sincerely listen to me, okay? Just- just don't laugh." Yeonjun brought a hand in front of his face and closed his eyes. After a second, he opened them with a serious expression.
The older boy crossed his legs with a notepad in his hand, "tell me what the problem is." Taehyun bit his lip and nodded, saying after a while of hesitance, "I've been really dizzy lately - to the point of passing out a couple of times."
"Are you drinking enough water? Getting enough sleep? You're not stressed, right?" Yeonjun leaned forward, questioning him. Waving his hands in front of him, Taehyun shook his head, "no, it's not that. I mean I have been finding it hard to stay asleep, but that's not it."
Leaning back again, Yeonjun asked, "you've been finding it hard to stay asleep? Are you having nightmares?" After that last question, Taehyun wavered, "they're not necessarily nightmares as much as they are hallucinations of some sort."
Yeonjun's eyebrows knitted into a straight line, holding his hand out, "hallucinations? Of what?" With a hand hovering out in front of him, Taehyun was confused. He stared at it for a moment before Yeonjun demanded, "hold out your hand."
So, he did. Yeonjun took it in his own, lifting the sleeves and pressing his fingers against his wrist to feel his pulse. His face twisted slightly and his head twitched to the side.
"What is it?" Taehyun asked, glancing over to the window in Yeonjun's room. "Tell me about the hallucinations," Yeonjun pulled his hands away and grabbed his pen again, writing something on the notepad.
Taehyun tried to create an image inside of his head so he could describe it, but it was as if he couldn't remember. "I- I'm not sure. My mind is kind of foggy," he covered his eyes with his hand and sighed.
Then, he remembered what he told Beomgyu. "There was a shadow outside of my house and the street lamps were off in the middle of the night," he explained. "What was the shadow of?" The bright-haired boy continued.
Cursing under his breath, Taehyun shrugged, "Yeonjun, I really can't remember."
"It's Doctor Choi, but, anyway, did anything strange happen to you recently?" Yeonjun tore the glasses off and set them on his desk, sweeping a hand through his smooth, lemon-like hair.
Recalling the events of the night he and Beomgyu were tied-up, Taehyun kept silent. What could've happened that night that would make him like this? Did this mysterious person drug him?
Was he brainwashed or hypnotized in any sort of way? There were so many questions that Taehyun was worried he would never find the answers for. He was secretly afraid that he would stay that way forever.
He shook his head, "no, not that I can remember."
The older boy stood up and took off his jacket and stethoscope, putting them back in their respective places. He plopped himself onto the bed, lying next to Taehyun and leaning on his hand so he could look up at the blonde.
"Wanna crash here?" Yeonjun asked, patting the grey duvet beneath him with a smirk. Why is everyone acting so seductive to me lately? After concluding that it was because of his freshly-bleached hair, Taehyun shrugged, "might as well, it's already too late to go home."
Yeonjun stood up and grabbed a plain t-shirt, "you'll get too hot sleeping in that. Do you want a pair of shorts too?" Shaking his head, Taehyun accepted the t-shirt and turned around, taking off his long-sleeved one.
"So, you and Beom.. gyu-" The older's words cut off at the end, sounding forced. Taehyun hummed questioningly in response, turning around to face a Yeonjun whose eyes were wide as he slowly repeated himself, "you and Beomgyu."
Sitting down, Taehyun's eyebrows furrowed. He crossed his legs and faced Yeonjun who was leaning against his bedframe. The blonde's hands smoothed over the bumps in the duvet as he disregarded the older's presence.
Looking up, he saw Yeonjun glaring at him. Taehyun rolled his eyes, "how am I supposed to answer that type of rhetorical-esque question? I don't know what you mean." Yeonjun groaned, ruffling his hair and dragging a hand down his face.
"Are you two friends?" Yeonjun asked, biting at his fingernails before realizing and stopping. Easily, Taehyun answered, "no." For some reason, he felt that if he added any more to that sentence, he would hesitate.
But, no, Beomgyu was not Taehyun's friend even if the blonde was the older one's. To the distant, circumspect boy, they were merely acquaintances. They were simply colleagues who happened to get tied-up in a forest together.
The same forest that they needed to walk through for over an hour together just to get to a stupid river.
With that settled, Yeonjun nodded and switched off the light; the two falling asleep quickly.
It was Monday again and Taehyun was, as per somewhat usual, exhausted. Over the weekend, many different events transpired. Other than passing out for the third time, he started hearing voices.
The voices were incoherent but sounded as if they were spoken in a different language. These voices were too far back in Taehyun's mind that after a while, he stopped noticing them whenever they came back.
But, it still struck him odd that he was hearing them at all. He knew that he couldn't completely ignore them so he decided he would speak to Beomgyu again. The dark-haired, alluring boy was the only one who was with him the day it all had started.
Therefore, he was the only one he could comfortably talk to about his newly occurring issues.
When walking into the school with Kai, he heard a loud crash. Many students around him were startled, debating whether or not they should go toward the noise.
Taehyun and Kai didn't think about if it were a murderer. They just immediately ran toward where they heard numerous people talking. What they saw was unexpected.
Against a row of lockers was Beomgyu, trapped underneath a bright-haired senior. Yeonjun was practically crushing him into the beige lockers, but the dark-haired boy still kept a smile on his face.
Neither Taehyun nor Kai could make out what Yeonjun had said to the other, but they watched as Beomgyu visibly scoffed. Then, a voice called out, "what the hell are you doing?"
A pair of hands grabbed at Yeonjun's shoulder, forcefully pulling him back. Without saying anything else, Beomgyu's older brother gently tugged at Beomgyu's arm and quickly inspected him. "Don't test me, Choi Soobin," Yeonjun said sternly, glaring at the taller boy.
"Yeonjun!" Kai yelled, noticing the tense situation. Yeonjun looked as if he would rip the raven-haired boy apart at any moment. Laughing awkwardly, he turned to Soobin, "sorry about him." The edges of Soobin's lips curved upward as he acknowledged the apology.
The neon-haired boy scoffed. "What was that?" Kai quietly asked, pulling Yeonjun away from the situation. Taehyun stood there, staring at Beomgyu. He knew Yeonjun's temper. The older boy wouldn't act so rashly unless there was a good reason for it.
As Kai continued to comfort Yeonjun, Taehyun met eyes with Beomgyu. The blonde's expression was that of both confusion and indifference. With an uneven smile, Beomgyu shrugged in response to the boy's silent question.
Soobin talked to him unconcernedly and Taehyun looked away, finally following the other two boys. "Yeonjun, why did you do that?" Taehyun asked after catching up to the two. The older boy's tongue pressed into the inside of his cheek as he exhaled in frustration.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it," he shook off the question as if he wasn't just pinning Beomgyu to a locker. Grabbing his arm, Taehyun glared at him, "it wasn't nothing. If you don't wanna tell me the reason, then don't, but don't just disregard what I asked."
As if to break the tautness of the situation, Kai grinned, "please don't start attacking each other. How about we all just relax and start walking to our classes!" Yeonjun's eyes softened as he chuckled.
He turned to Taehyun and pursed his lips, "don't worry about it." After being friends with the older boy for over four years, he knew his personality considerably well. Therefore, he let it go.
"Okay, I'll see you guys at lunch," Taehyun nodded, walking away. "Great!" Kai's bubbly voice sounded from behind him as he headed to his first class of the day.
Yeonjun just asked me about Beomgyu the other day and now, I find him pressing the boy into a wall of metal with killing intent in his eyes. Definitely not just nothing.
At lunch, Taehyun excused himself from the table for a minute, "I'll be right back." Yeonjun and Kai nodded, probably assuming he needed to go to the bathroom. Instead, Taehyun walked right toward Beomgyu's table.
This was a shock to many people. Yeonjun and Kai's eyes seemed to follow his every step as he stopped at Beomgyu's table. Many girls in the cafeteria went quiet, only to start mumbling the second Beomgyu looked at Taehyun.
The dark-haired boy's eyes were widened in shock, but his lips soon curved into a provoking smile as he asked, "what are you doing here, Kang Taehyun?" Clearing his throat, Taehyun glanced around before calmly answering, "I wanted to ask you if we can talk after school."
A small laugh came from the other as he swung a leg over the bench and stared up at Taehyun, "why are you asking this now?" Confused, Taehyun didn't know how to answer, "what do you mean?"
"We have phy-ed together, you didn't need to ask me during lunch," Beomgyu explained before his expression shifted into a more teasing one, "unless, you wanted to see me so badly that you couldn't wait."
Face going blank, Taehyun glowered at the older boy, "fine. Nevermind, then." He began to walk away when he felt a hand grip his wrist. Inhaling sharply, Taehyun turned around with a frown.
"I'll meet you at the bleachers after school," Beomgyu grinned, waiting for the other to agree. Taehyun briefly nodded, waiting for Beomgyu to loosen his grip before walking away.
He sat down at his table and immediately heard as Yeonjun stated, "not friends, huh?" Rolling his eyes, Taehyun muttered, "shut up."
For an unknown reason, Taehyun felt anxious throughout the rest of the day. He was worried about talking to Beomgyu. With how Yeonjun acted that morning, he felt as if he were going to fall into some sort of trap.
With a heavy mind, Taehyun did as he agreed and walked outside to the football field. Only a few bleachers were lining the field. He spotted someone sitting on a metal bar in the middle of one of them.
"Beomgyu!" Taehyun yelled, jogging to reach where the boy was. "How did you get up there?" He asked, realizing the other was ten feet above him. Beomgyu's lips pouted as he shrugged, "I guess I just climbed."
Maneuvering down the poles, Beomgyu eventually reached the ground and stood in front of the blonde. "So~ what did you wanna talk to me about?" He asked lightly, hugging the pole beside him.
Scrunching his eyebrows at that, Taehyun hummed and started walking toward the front of the bleachers. He began to walk up the structure until he reached the top. Beomgyu understood what he wanted to do so he followed, sitting with his legs on either side of the narrow foundation.
Hesitantly, Taehyun spoke, "remember when I told you about those weird things that have been happening?" Beomgyu nodded, "yeah, that was only a few days ago."
The blonde frowned, "it has gotten worse." Scrunching his eyebrows together, Beomgyu leaned forward, "what do you mean?" Nonchalantly scooting back, Taehyun explained everything that had happened.
"Last week, the day after we were in the forest, I was raking the leaves. Then, I swear the streetlights flickered on and I saw the shadow again. I started getting really dizzy and I completely blacked out. When I woke up, it was practically morning."
Thinking about the story, Beomgyu asked, "and nobody tried to wake you up? What about your parents or your neighbors?" Taehyun shook his head, "well, my parents weren't home, but not even my neighbors woke me up."
Staring off into the distance, Beomgyu seemed to be contemplating. He brought his knees to his chest, balancing himself on the bleacher. One wrong move and he would've fallen. Taehyun absentmindedly reached out, hoping the other wouldn't fall the wrong way.
Noticing his hands, Beomgyu smiled, "Kang Taehyun, what are you doing?" Feeling his face warm up, Taehyun's eyes sharpened, concentrating on the other, "Choi Beomgyu, I will kill you right now."
Acting hurt, Beomgyu brought a hand to his chest and gasped, "don't even think about calling me informally ever again." After a short second, he spoke again, "actually, I think I kind of enjoyed that - call me by my full name again."
Taehyun lips almost twitched upward before he realized, regaining his posture, "please be serious about this." After saying that, he felt a surge of pain rush to his temples. Attempting to ignore it, he brought a hand to the back of his head and massaged.
The dark-haired boy continued teasing him, "I was trying to be serious, but I don't know what to say now!" A halfhearted chuckle escaped Taehyun's throat as he felt the world start to spin. It was just like the other times he had passed out.
Beomgyu looked as if he noticed, reaching out. The blonde closed his eyes, gripping the seat beneath him. "Beomgyu... I need to- to, uh, get down," he spoke slowly. His head felt light and swirls danced beneath his closed eyes.
"Try to get to... so... you..." The boy's words became hazy in Taehyun's mind. He couldn't hear anything but a loud ringing and the sound of a woman's voice chanting strings of obscure words.
Then, everything stopped.
Agnus Dei, ab initio ad vitam aeternam.