Can We Start Again 7 - Subtitle: Strange Dream
Wonwoo was in a dream. In that dream, he was being chased by someone. He tried to hide and run with all his might to avoid being caught, but the distance between him and those chasing him gradually narrowed. Eventually, Wonwoo was pushed to the edge of a cliff. As he grabbed onto the hem of his clothes and was about to jump, a child appeared before his eyes. It was a young child, about 5 or 6 years old, and strangely, his gender was unknown.
"Here, you can't go down."
"What does that mean?"
"Uhm, I see, what does that mean-"
With no other option, Wonwoo turned around, wondering if he'd caught him. He was startled. Everything except the laughing child and himself seemed frozen in time, frozen in place just as he'd seen the child before. When Wonwoo looked at the child, the child smiled as if he'd known this would happen, and approached him.
"Try a little harder, don't give up! ----"
"for a moment..."
The child still smiled as he spoke, but the last word was muffled by the noise. Just as Wonwoo was about to ask again, a bright light enveloped the child. He saw the child say something more, but Wonwoo couldn't hear it. As the light surrounding the child intensified, Wonwoo closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the child was gone, and those who had been chasing him were still there. Wonwoo was standing behind them, where he had been a few minutes ago. Remembering the child's words not to give up, Wonwoo immediately started running back to where he had come from. However, perhaps because he was already exhausted, the distance between them soon closed again. He was eventually caught and struggled as he was dragged away, when he felt someone shaking him violently, and woke up.
***
Before Wonwoo woke up, Junhwi had bought him some porridge. Hearing a noise from Wonwoo's room, he assumed Wonwoo was awake and on the phone, but soon saw his phone on the table and hurried into his room. He seemed to be asleep, so he closed the door and was about to leave when he heard Wonwoo groan.
"W...Wow...?"
"No, uh... I'm not going.."
Wonwoo was sweating profusely and seemed to be having a nightmare, so Junhwi tried to wake him up, but Wonwoo's body started to tremble even more. Junhwi shook Wonwoo a little harder, and only then did Wonwoo wake up. Wonwoo nodded slightly when Junhwi asked if he was okay and tightly grabbed Junhwi's hand that was on his shoulder. Wonwoo pretended to be fine, but Junhwi held his hand for a moment as he was shaking slightly. When Wonwoo let go of Wonwoo's hand and stood up to go get porridge for Wonwoo, who hadn't eaten anything, Wonwoo quickly grabbed Junhwi's shirt and stood up with him. Junhwi laid Wonwoo back down, who was trembling with anxiety, and even covered him with a blanket, but Wonwoo didn't let go of the hand that held Junhwi.
"I'm not going anywhere, Wonwoo. I bought some porridge in the kitchen."
“I’ll get that,” Jun-hwi said, but Won-woo couldn’t shake the anxious look in his eyes. Jun-hwi, who saw that, gently pulled away from Won-woo’s hand and went to the kitchen, telling him to wait for five minutes. He opened the fridge to look for a simple side dish while reheating the slightly cold porridge, but frowned. There wasn’t anything edible in the fridge except for a few fruits. Jun-hwi sighed and closed the fridge door, taking only the moderately warmed porridge with him and went back into the room. Seeing Won-woo sitting again, Jun-hwi placed the porridge next to the bed and raised his hand to touch Won-woo’s forehead. Won-woo, feeling the coolness, smiled and closed his eyes.
"Ugh... Jun-Hwi's hands are cool."
"It's not that my hands are cold, it's that your body is hot. You didn't even know you had a fever, did you?"
"Really? Am I sick?"
“I can’t get sick,” Jun-hwi said, sitting Won-woo up straight as he held his stomach anxiously, and handed him a bowl of porridge and a spoon.
"If you want to take some medicine... oh... can't you take some...? Didn't you get any medicine separately from the hospital?"
Wonwoo nodded slightly, taking a spoonful of porridge. Junhwi persuaded him, suggesting they eat, rest a bit, and then go to the hospital. Normally, he would have refused, but worried about his child, Wonwoo eventually agreed.
***
Junhwi, who had barely managed to feed Wonwoo a bowl of porridge despite his lack of appetite, prepared to take him to the hospital. When Wonwoo came out in jeans and a short-sleeved shirt, Junhwi offered him a cardigan. Wonwoo readily accepted it, and Junhwi then grabbed a blanket.
"Why are you packing so much..?"
"The sun is starting to set now, you might be cold."
Perhaps so, Wonwoo, persuaded by Junhui's words, quietly put on the cardigan.
"Did you bring the car?"
"Yeah, in the basement."
Let's go, Jun-hwi said. Won-woo, who was standing up on his horse, stumbled for a moment as if he was dizzy, so Jun-hwi quickly helped him up. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you dizzy? As Jun-hwi poured out words of concern for him, Won-woo smiled faintly.
"Okay, let's go."
Wonwoo, worried about Junhwi's continued presence, urged him to hurry. "I told you I'm okay. The hospital will close at this rate," Wonwoo said, and Junhwi finally looked away from him and went out to the front door.
"The car is a bit far away, so... come down in 5 minutes. I'll be in front of the door."
"huh,"
As Junhwi put on his shoes and left the front door, Wonwoo rummaged through his drawer for his maternity record book, just in case. He checked the time and left the house. He reached the elevator, but realized he hadn't picked up his phone. He went back inside, retrieved it, and stood in front of the elevator. Seeing the elevator slowing down on the sixth floor, he wondered if it was the neighbors. Just then, the elevator doors opened and his eyes met Mingyu's. Mingyu casually greeted him and got out of the elevator. Wonwoo, feeling intimidated, habitually hugged his belly and stepped back. Mingyu chuckled and moved closer to Wonwoo, but Wonwoo backed away, bumping into the wall and groaning softly. Seeing Wonwoo still holding his belly, Mingyu ran his hand over his hair, approached him, and grabbed Wonwoo's wrist, pulling him up. He frowned slightly at the slight warmth, but didn't let go.
"Mi... Min-gyu... let go of this... I have to go..."
"Where are you at this hour?"
"B, hospital..."
"Are you trying to erase it?"
Mingyu briefly glared at Wonwoo's stomach, then continued. Wonwoo wrapped his free hand around his stomach even tighter. Annoyed by his stammering, Mingyu was about to say something when his phone rang. Wonwoo struggled to free himself from Mingyu's grasp, barely managing to find his phone with his other hand and answer the call.
"Huh? Oh... I left my phone behind... Yeah... I'll be right back."
Mingyu sighed as Wonwoo continued to pull his arm away while answering the phone. As soon as he hung up, he pulled Wonwoo's wrist hard towards him. Wonwoo was then helplessly dragged into Mingyu's arms.
"who is this?"
"Huh..? Huh.. Jun-hwi.."
"....."
"Min, Gyu... it hurts... give me a hand..."
Wonwoo's eyes welled up with tears as Mingyu, silently holding his wrist, tightened his grip. Mingyu stared at Wonwoo for a moment, then let go of his wrist. Wonwoo ran into the elevator.
* * *
There was a request(?) to meet Min-gyu!!!
Serialization of 8 or more comments