"God there you are! You must be the patient that... that..." Joo-Won's eyes widened a little like the boy in the wheelchair turned to him.

He was... He was extremely striking. So striking that Joo-Won couldn't even see the hint of fear in his eyes as he continued to struggle with his own words. The other boy slowly spun the wheelchair with one hand and got closer to him. As he eyed the other ones' clothes, his eyebrows slowly turned normal. His now cold face tilted left a little and a small amount of curiosity showed itself from his eyes. "You don't work here. Who are you?"

14.09 (It's date lmao, not hour)

The sound of the alarm filled the whole room as Joo-Won opened his eyes. His mother yelling from downstairs, telling him to stop this noise, and his little brother banging the wall from the next room... Just a classic morning as always.

He got up and the second he turned off the alarm, his brother yelled "Finally!"

He rolled his eyes dramatically and banged on the wall as a sign for him to shut the fuck up. After stretching, he went downstairs and walked through the kitchen.

"Good morning mom."

His mother turned to him with a smile as she was washing the dishes. "Good morning sweetie!" She was wearing the apron Joo-Won bought on mothers' day. The memory of his mother's happiness made him smile as his mother continued. "You know you will go to the hospital today, right? Your father wanted to see you and Xander before his business trip." 

And with a single word, all his happiness vanished and left the spot for annoyance. Father. 'Father my ass...' he thought to himself as he rolled his eyes.

"Okay, we won't be late." Joo-Won took a scallion pancake his mother made and stuffed it into his mouth as he went upstairs. After knocking on the door, he entered Xander's room and looked at him. "You need to get ready, we will be late."

Xander turned his head to him and sighed. "Okay. Just..."

"Just?"

He turned off his phone and put it on his nightstand. "Can you give me a few minutes? Please?" He was picking up his sweatshirt and pulling it away from his chest, like something was suffocating him. He also looked a little bit worried.

"Oh.." Joo-Won scratched his nape and nodded. "Just be ready in ten. I am waiting for you downstairs."

"Okay. Thanks."

Joo-Won shot him a small smile. When he received a thankful smile back from his brother, he left the room and went downstairs.

(...)

After finally getting out of the house, Joo-Won put the key in his pocket and started to walk to the hospital along with Xander. It was going pretty... silent. 

It might be annoying for Joo-Won, but it was the perfect silence for Xander. There was no talking, but he didn't feel uncomfortable either. He always preferred silence over having meaningless small talk or even worse, a draining conversation.

Everyone knew he was a silent type, especially his family. Xander was giving himself some space and time to get to know his mother and older brother better since their past was complicated, and though they were related from blood, he still had times where he felt like a stranger. Of course, he had no intentions of telling this to anyone, but he was hoping it was going to pass soon. 

After they passed yet another street in complete silence, Joo-Won turned to Xander and nudged his arm with his shoulder. Xander turned to him and took out one of his earbuds. "Hm?"

"Nothing I just want to talk. I'm bored!"

Xander rolled his eyes and took out his other bud too. He stopped the music he was listening to and looked at his older brother, who was acting like a toddler. "About?"

"I don't know. Anything is fine. I just need to calm myself down before seeing... him."

Joo-Won bit inside his cheek as Xander looked down. Then, he placed his hand on Joo-Won's shoulder and squeezed it a little. "Hey... I know it's hard but... It's in the past now..."

Joo-Won sighed, trying his best to avoid the sudden flood of emotions taking the best of him. "I know I know... I just..." When his voice cracked, Joo-Won stopped walking, causing Xander to stop and start to rub his arm as Joo-Won squeezed his nose bridge. After taking a few deep breaths, Joo-Won continued to walk again. "I just hate to go there. Both a hospital and to Mr. Park." Joo-Won didn't like to call his father 'dad' or anything, so he just went with the formal version. 

Xander quickly caught up to his brother as he put his phone in his bag. "Me too, to be honest. At least he will be gone for a month."

"Yeah, it makes me feel better but spending two hours together... It just makes me feel furious. Seeing him only once a week is more than enough for me, you know." Joo-Won just couldn't stand him. He did try his best to warm up to him at the beginning, but it never worked.

"Yeah, I do. I understand. And don't worry, we won't be spending all that time together. He needs to have a meeting before going to the airport, so I guess we will just stay with him for 20 minutes or something. Then we can do anything we want."

Joo-Won widened his eyes with a small, yet excited smile. "Really?"

"Yes."

Joo-Won smiled while walking a bit faster, which made Xander smile as well. Joo-Won turned to him as they got closer to the hospital. "Okay, only 20 minutes. We got this."

(...)

As they got inside the hospital, Joo-Won looked around. There were a lot of people as always, but it was a little bit quieter and more endurable than usual. As he was about to take a step, he felt something on his arm. It was Xander, holding his jacket as he was looking at his surrounding. Joo-Won turned to him, smiling to show that everything was fine.

Xander might seem cold, like, ice-cold, when first seen. This he knew as well, and really wanted to change that about himself. But in reality, he was a shy kid who never liked to go to crowded places. And right that moment, seeing that many people in one place, the tiny bit of confidence he had a few minutes ago vanished into the thin air.

"It's okay." Joo-Won held his shoulders and kneeled a little to see his face. "Nobody can do anything. You are safe. No need to worry."

He took a deep breath, smiled, and nodded. "You are right. Let's go."

(...)

When they reached the door, Joo-Won refused to go inside his father's room. He tried so hard just for the sake of their mother, but his feet were not moving. So, for exactly 20 minutes, they both hid somewhere and waited for their father to get out of the hospital without being seen so that they can come up with a lie to their mother.

When they saw the car leave the building, Joo-Won got inside first and sat on the couch, Xander following him. After minutes passed in silence, Xander suddenly turned to his brother. "You know what? Let's not get back immediately. Let's say hi to the meds."

As said before, Xander really wanted to change his cold behaviours. It might have been in his favor in the past, as a shield to protect himself, but as he got older, he started to see the side effects of this shield. He knew he needed to start from somewhere, and this looked like a perfect opportunity to him.

With quite a shock, Joo-Won got up from the couch and stared at him, confused. "You sure about it?"

"Yes. Let's go." Xander held his hand and they got out of the room. Then, the two went to the room where doctors and nurses spend their free time.

As soon as they open the door, a boy quickly turned his head in their direction. As he realized who they are, he got up and bowed respectfully. "Welcome sirs!" He had long hair and looked the same age as Joo-Won.

Xander blinked a couple times as Joo-Won burst out laughing. The poor boy just stared at them, very confused and embarrassed at the same time. After Joo-Won calm down, he went up to the confused boy and put his hand on his shoulders. "No need for this respect. What's your name?"

"Kyong sir. And you are Joo-Won and Xander, right? The head doctors' sons? He mentioned you guys before."

Joo-Won blinked a couple of times in surprise as Xander was on the edge of crying from happiness when he heard Kyong say his name. He smiled and nodded. "Yes, we are. You can just say Xan for short. Also, how old are you by the way?"

"21 sirs. I am here for an internship."

Xander widened his eyes. "21? Please stop saying sir then, I am not even 20 yet! And Joo-Won is the same age as you. So no need for respectfully talking."

Kyong realized Xander's Korean was broken somewhat, but he thought he might be the one at fault since his Korean was not good enough either.

As Kyong nodded, Joo-Won smiled too and turned to him. "Glad to meet you." Then, he spotted something in his hand. "What's that in your hand?"

Kyong looked a bit stressed as he lifted his hand a little. It was a... bracelet? He scratched the back of his head. "My mother and I used to make bracelets when we were bored. It's a small hobby I like to do when I don't have any work to do."

Xander looked at the bracelet Kyong was holding again and sat on the chair. "Oh, I used to make them as well when I was younger. It looks fun." The perfect moment to start changing himself hit Xander like a truck as he looked up to Kyong. "Can... can I join?" Even though he was getting anxious, something about the boy made him feel like he should get to know him.

Kyong blinked a couple of times before nodding and sitting beside him. He took out several more threads from his backpack and placed them on the table.

As they were picking a color and talking, Joo-Won messed Xander's head. He knelt and whispered in his ear. "I am proud of you, you know that right?"

Xander smiled and nodded while looking at him.

Then Joo-Won got up. "I will walk around the building, call me when you want to get home. Okay?"

Xander's expression changed into a worried one as he looked at his brother. "You sure? I can just leave-"

As he attempted to get up, Joo-Won placed him down and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. No need to worry."

"If you say so..."

Joo-Won waved and got out of the room.

He actually didn't want to leave Xander alone, but he knew that he sometimes need to leave him alone for his own good. He can't be always beside him to protect him, right? Maybe he should just leave-

"Call a nurse! I can't find him again!" Suddenly, a doctor ran past him. She looked worried, probably a patient ran away, Joo-Won thought. It was not something extraordinary but it sure was stressful.

Joo-Won went up to her with a curious look. "You called for a nurse, ma'am?"

"Yes! I can't find that boy again. Can you tell the staff to inform me if they find a boy in a wheelchair? He has a burn wound on his arm I need to treat as soon as possible." She was so stressed that she didn't even realize Joo-Won was not a nurse at all!

Joo-Won just nodded and started to look for a boy like she described. A boy in a wheelchair, boy in a wheelchair... He couldn't get downstairs with a wheelchair and the elevators were far away. He must be there somewhere.

As he was checking every corner of the floor, a strange amount of concern started to grow inside him. What if he fainted? What if something happened to him? What if he fell down the stairs while trying to get away? Or maybe he fell from his wheelchair? He could feel his heart racing as countless possibilities ran through his mind.

As he passed another empty hall, his heart skipped a beat when his memories from the past started to rush back.

"Fuck it I need to get out."

He could feel cold sweat forming on his forehead as he gulped. He shut his eyes for a second when the classic pattern of the hospital corridor started to look too similar to one in his past. He frantically looked for an exit as he tried to suppress his memories, trying not to have a breakdown.

When he turned another corner, he stopped in his tracks. He finally found it. A wheelchair.

He sighed in relief and walked up to him. "God there you are! You must be the patient that... that..." Joo-Won's eyes widened a little as the boy in the wheelchair turned to him.

He was... He was extremely striking. So striking that Joo-Won couldn't even see the hint of fear in the strangers' eyes as he continued to struggle with his own words. His black, messy hair was covering his eyebrows and a bit of his tired-looking eyes. His body tensed up a little, which Joo-Won couldn't notice because of how struck he still was. 

The boy, who actually looked a little older than him, slowly spun the wheelchair with one hand and got closer to him. As he eyed the other ones' clothes, his eyebrows slowly turned normal. His now cold face tilted left a little and a small amount of curiosity showed itself from his eyes. "You don't work here. Who are you? Why are you looking for me?"

"I-I... Uh..."

He fixed his face and knitted his eyebrows again. "Talk."

"A-a doctor f-find must find I... Yes!" Joo-Won widened his eyes when he realized how much he messed up. How did he even forget to talk in a matter of seconds??

He just stared at him weirdly and blinked a couple of times, but then something happened. As he moved his arm to move the wheels, he accidentally brushed his arm to the armrest of the wheelchair. He winced and his body strained. He silently moaned in pain while holding his arm.

As Joo-Won looked closer, he realized the big burnt on his arm, which really was as concerning as the doctor said. It was all red and blistered-

"Will you stop staring you fucker?!"

Joo-Won quickly lifted his head and looked at the angry boy. As he saw his pained expression, his heart skipped a beat again. He squeezed his shirt tightly and quickly turned his head to the opposite side.

"He is in pain. Get your shit together Joo-Won, he is in pain!"

He quickly ran and went up to the closest nurse, told him what happened, and watched him as he called for help. He went near the boy, who was in extreme suffering. His eyes were filled with tears, eyes burning with pain.

And there Joo-Won was, sweating in fear as he was watching him.

Finally, the doctor that asked him to find the boy came along with two other nurses and tried to calm him down. Behind them, Min, who was a nurse there working since Joo-Won was a child, ran up to them. Joo-Won took a step back as the boy screamed when the doctor slightly touched his arm. He gritted his teeth and threw his head back.

But then, he suddenly turned his head to Joo-Won. As soon as his terrified eyes met with his ones filled with tears, Joo-Won felt weak. His eyes were burning with both anger and pain as if he did something wrong! He was in pain, Joo-Won couldn't just ignore that and walk away! Why was he even angry anyway?!

When Joo-Won started to feel like his heart was about to burst, he put his shaking hand on his chest.

"Not again... please..."

While Min was trying to tell the doctor that she was hurting him, she noticed Joo-Won. She quickly went beside him with widened eyes. "What are you still doing here!? It's not good for you. Go!"

But he couldn't move. He tried, he really did, but he was stuck at there. Mins' voice started to get distorted and his ears started to ring, he tried to breathe, but it was like every breath he took was stuck in his throat. He couldn't even see Min was trying to snap him out of it while taking out her phone with her free hand.

It was only when his eyes met with the boys' that he finally started to come back to reality. Hwan looked confused and slightly worried. He was too busy trying to figure out what was happening to the stranger he just met that he didn't even realize how he stopped protesting to the doctor who were quickly dressing his wound. To understand what made him suddenly calm down, they all turned to Joo-Won.

When one of the doctors started to walk up to him and Min, Joo-Won suddenly took a few steps back, eventually running away from there. After turning the corner, he leaned, actually kinda slammed, his back on the wall. He plopped down the floor and pressed his palms to his ears as if they could silence the screams that were coming from his head. He hit his head continuasly as it would make the voices go away, but it didn't work.

Then his attention shifted. While trying to adjust his breathing, the strangers' eyes appeared in his mind, and that was when he finally noticed the glimpse of fear in the eyes of the other one when their eyes first met.

And that was also when he realized that this was not going to be the last time they see each other.