123 Late Night Troubles (1/2)

Minhyun. Ji-ho. Yoona.

The three laid side by side in their sleeping bags. With the lights turned off, all of them closed their eyes, trying to fall asleep. Although Minhyun and Yoona normally slept late at night, due to playing in the water, their bodies were exhausted. Sleep easily knocked on their door and they were out the minute they laid down on the pillow.

The moon shone brightly in the night sky, the crickets chirping their song.

Yoona was peacefully sleeping, the delicate sounds of her breathes filling up the silence, until she heard strange noises in the middle of the night. The weird sounds were coming from the washroom. a.s.suming that one of the boys were using it for bodily function purposes, she ignored the sounds and focused on going back to sleep.

Ten minutes pa.s.sed.

Twenty minutes pa.s.sed.

The person was still in the washroom. Something felt off. Worried, Yoona completely awakened from her sleep and decided to sneak her way to the person in need. She didn't know what was going on, but the constant loud breathing made her nervous. When she looked to her side, she noticed that Minhyun was sleeping.

It was Ji-ho that was missing.

Knowing his condition, she immediately rushed to his aide. Her feet ran to the bathroom and she lightly knocked on the door. The light was s.h.i.+ning from underneath.

”Hey,” she whispered, not wanting to wake Minhyun up. After all, it would've been a while since he had this good of a sleep. ”Are you okay?”

The sound of coughs followed her question, before a small voice croaked. ”I'm fine. This is normal. My bodies just acting up.”

Yoona didn't believe a single word he said. There was clearly something wrong if he was staying in the washroom for this long. She wasn't going to just accept what he was saying. ”Let's go to the hospital.”

”No. You're not my mom.”

Her eyes narrowed. She understood his position, after all, he must feel burdened and embarra.s.sed to display weakness in front of her. There was possible that he had been hiding his pain throughout the day. He didn't want them worried. But she couldn't leave him alone.

”Don't get all sa.s.sy with me you twerp. Let me in.”

”No.”

”Ji-ho,” she said firmly. Although she understood that he didn't want her to interfere, as an older sister and guardian, she needed to check if he was truly okay. She cared for him. ”Let. Me. In.”

Ji-ho let out a groan. ”I don't want to though...”

”Please. I care about you okay? I really need to make sure your alright, especially since you're an important person to me. Please once again?”

There was a moment of silence. After a sigh, the door slowly opened. In the middle of the bright-lit room, Ji-ho was standing in front of the sink. His eyes were slightly sunken and his skin was deathly pale, much lighter than his usual skin tone. Seeing his terrible state, Yoona gasped before placing her hand on his cheek.

”It must've been so painful...”

She embraced him in a hug. Embarra.s.sed, Ji-ho hid his face in her shoulder. Out of all people why did she have to come in?

While she was hugging him, she noticed that there was something strange on the toilet to her left. Although very minuscule, against the white toilet seat, the red was too bright to ignore. There was a single drop of blood. He missed a spot.

With widened eyes, she turned towards him. ”Are you sure you're okay. Please be honest with me.”

Ji-ho followed her gaze to the toilet seat, let out a sigh, before looking back. ”It really happens all the time. I'm going to die really soon anyways. These are just the side-effects. I can't do anything about it nor can the hospital. Don't worry about it.”