this seems all too familiar

the hospital is colder than mark remembers. then again, he hasn't visited in a long, long time. he doesn't trust the people who work here, not after—

"c'mon," donghyuck pulls him through the hallway frantically until he stops at a door and pushes it open. "this is him."

the door closes behind him, and mark looks at the hospital bed forlornly before eyeing the boy who lies in it. he's thin—really thin—with big brown doe eyes and plump lips. his skin looks discolored, and his hair sticks to his face from the layer of sweat that covers his forehead.

"why didn't you tell me?!" donghyuck reprimands, hurrying to the boy's bedside. "...how long do you have?"

the boy doesn't answer. instead, he turns to mark and smiles a bright, genuine smile—one that's too warm for someone in his situation—and says, "hi, you must be mark. sorry to keep you up this late. i'm na jaemin," he says, holding his hand out, "i like cats, i love my boyfriend, and i've got two months to live."

there's a brief pause before mark crosses the room to shake his hand and donghyuck lets out a sort of defeated sigh before burying his head in the sheets of the hospital bed.

"nice to meet you," mark says quietly, shaking jaemin's hand. "i'm sorry."

jaemin shrugs. "s'fine. i've known for a while. anyways, here's what you need to know about our precious hyuckie—"

donghyuck ceases crying only to raise his head and clap a hand over jaemin's mouth. jaemin sees it coming and bites down on his hand, but donghyuck makes no effort to pull away because he's already crying again. his hand lies limp in jaemin's mouth.

mark laughs a little and concludes they're best friends. jaemin seems completely unphased by donghyuck. he rests a hand on donghyuck's back and rubs comforting circles into it. "it's okay, hyuckie."

mark, feeling like he's intruding, decides to actually make use of himself and crouch down next to donghyuck so he can wrap one arm around him. surprisingly, donghyuck leans into him a little—or, as best as he can, considering his current position: crouched over a hospital bed.

it's a couple of minutes before donghyuck lifts his head, eyes glassy and rimmed red, lips parted for words that come out as a hoarse whisper. "why didn't you tell me?"

"i didn't want you to find out in the first place, but i forgot that you were my emergency contact, so..."

"so you were just going to die without me knowing?" donghyuck asks quietly. "jaemin."

"you know i hate seeing people cry," jaemin answers simply, his hand carding through donghyuck's hair. "i'm fine, hyuck, really."

donghyuck wipes his eyes one last time and turns to mark. "i think i'm gonna sleep here tonight. you can go home—i don't wanna keep you here."

mark nods. "bye, hyuck," he says. "nice meeting you, jaemin," he adds as an afterthought. he's almost out the door when donghyuck calls out to him.

"thanks for the date. i'll text you later."

and then mark is gone, eyes welling up with tears as he leaves the hospital and gets into his car. and as he drives, a morbid thought enters his mind and refuses to leave.

'he has what i needed,' mark thinks. 'a chance to say goodbye.'

—

xodaniel