Chapter Text
-Present day-
Joochan woke up feeling drowsy. His head felt empty and full at the same time, it's like he couldn't process information anymore. He tried to sit up, and his body felt heavier than ever. What happened to me? He looked around, confused. Two young men, probably around his age, entered the room. Everything around him was blindingly white. The bed sheets too, which confirmed that he wasn't injured in any way. As a rather clumsy person, he never excluded injury. Plus, the whiteness of the room felt much like a hospital. As the two guys came closer, he decided to enquire where he was. He had always been the opposite of shy, and talking to strangers had never been intimidating to him. However, once he turned to the two, he felt intimidated for the first time. It was not like they were much older, or bigger, or more muscular. But the aura they carried kept him from opening his mouth. For the first time in his life, Joochan let someone else speak first.
"You feeling alright?"
The shorter one had a concerned look on his face. Joochan decided to focus on him first.
"What happened?"
He didn't manage to hide the bit of panic in his voice, because his body was still feeling achy and his head confused. He was definitely not in control of his body.
"You got infected"
The other guy had a much deeper voice, and spoke slowly, in an almost bored tone. Joochan realised he should have started with enquiring on his location because this was definitely not helpful. He sighed, and had another go at it.
"Where am I?"
"Right now? Health center"
The short guy now had a more annoyed tone, and Joochan went back on the defensive.
"Health center?" he shot back questioningly.
Somehow he had a hard time putting things together. The deep voiced guy sighed and took a few steps towards him. He was now almost hovering over Joochan at the edge of the bed. Joochan saw the syringe too late however, and felt a small pinch in his upper arm. The guy gently pushed him back down on the bed, and turned to the other one.
"The side effects are still too strong, it's better to let him sleep a bit longer"
If there was an answer from his companion, Joochan didn't hear. His vision went black, and he slipped into a dreamless sleep again.
-2 weeks prior-
"Bomin!!!"
Joochan was running to catch up to his friend. He had once again woken up way too late, and had to make the choice between a shower and breakfast. Obviously, he chose breakfast. Bomin had the honor to be the first one to notice.
"Bro, you can't just put aftershave on you and pretend you're clean"
"Sorry, I slept in. A little"
Joochan tensed a bit under the disappointed look on his friend's face.
"At least you'll get to class on time today", Bomin mumbled, to which Joochan had no good answer.
He had completely relied on Bomin for most of his classes, because his friend not only got up on time, but was also definitely smarter and more organized than him.
"I did finish the study we had to hand in today..."
Joochan tried to sound cheerful. Bomin looked over the printed piece of paper Joochan was holding.
"You forgot the page numbers", he concluded after just one look.
"Shit, I'll have to re-print after class"
Joochan really couldn't win. University was not his world. Or at least not one where he would ever succeed. Bomin walked besides him with his well-combed, grown out hair, a pair of glasses, looking as studious as ever. They were soon joined by another friend of theirs, who immediately settled to walk on Bomin's other side. Her little smiles of admiration for Bomin annoyed Joochan more than anything. Bomin had always been successful with the ladies. Joochan, on his side, was not interested. He had so many other things to do than to flirt around or look good for the girls. Besides, he was handsome enough just like this. Bomin's dark, dramatic eyes soon attracted another girl over to their group waiting to be let into the classroom. Joochan was sulky, and surprised when the girl actually turned to him for a chat. He was so shocked he just managed to nod in response and was relieved when the door opened right at this moment.
He settled into a seat in the back, ignoring that Bomin continued to make his way to the front with the others. He was taking out his computer when he heard two guys settle next to him. He greeted them before opening up his computer.
"Is this management 201?" the guy next to him asked.
"Yeah of course"
Joochan was confused about this question. The semester had started weeks ago. What were they doing joining a class this late into the semester?
"Uh okay, thanks"
The guy opened his computer as well, and Joochan took a peek at what he looked like. He was a pretty handsome guy, his face could easily rival that of Bomin's. He looked older, which reminded Joochan of how painfully young he looked. He was dressed ... well, not exactly well, but it was stylish in its own way. He took out a pair of glasses, which now made him look pretty similar to Bomin. Joochan chuckled. Bomin may be handsome, but they were plenty of his type around here.
He on the other hand, was very unique.
-Present day-
His eyes flung open again. His body still felt heavy, as if he had just gone through a bout of fever, but his head had cleared up a bit. He was alone, staring up at a white ceiling. His mind was trying to connect the dots. He thought back on the two guys that had come in earlier. He decided it would be best to fake being asleep if they came back in. He didn't want another syringe. In a very unusual joochan-style, he grew more and more skeptic of his surroundings and his situation. Infected. Health center. Joochan finally pieced the two answers together. His thoughts were running wild. If he had been in a hospital room, they would definitely have said so, right? But they used health center instead. His back was achy, he really wanted to try and sit up again, but right at that moment, he heard noises. The door flung open and he shut his eyes, pretending to sleep again. A sigh accompanied the person that had just entered. Joochan could only make out one pair of steps, so it must have been someone alone this time. It was crucial for him to find more information, but a person alone wouldn't talk. A hand grabbed his wrist, and he jumped, incapable of keeping "asleep".
"Hey!"
The guy had barely flinched at his brisk movement, calm as ever. He turned to face Joochan.
"I'm not hey, I'm Donghyun. You should start calling me that"
Joochan was too stunned to speak. The boy, Donghyun, had sounded so casual. He was definitely student-age, even looked slightly younger than most of Joochan's friends. His aura was still a bit intimidating, his tone annoyed. He had small eyes with which he seemed to scowl at Joochan.
"I, um, sorry, I guess?"
Joochan had no idea what was expected of him.
"Sure", Donghyun kept it short while taking his pulse.
His hand felt warm against Joochan's skin, and for the first time, he noticed he had been sweating too. With his other hand, Joochan checked his cheeks. They felt just as hot. Did he have a fever?
"You're still feverish"
Donghyun had been watching him pat his face and body.
"It'll go back down in a few hours. At least it should"
"What do you mean it should?"
"We've given you something against the fever in that shot earlier. It wasn't just a tranquilizer"
Somehow Donghyun's tone had changed a bit. He was mocking him, which felt unfair because he had no idea what was going on. Joochan got a bit angry. He really wasn't getting any information about his situation.
"Is there... anything else than the fever?"
Donghyun looked surprised at his question.
"I mean yes, but they won't manifest this early on"
Before a frustrated Joochan could ask anything else, Donghyun stepped to the door.
"You should get some more rest. It shouldn't need a syringe this time around, right?"
Donghyun winked as he stepped out, and Joochan didn't even have time to reply. Frustrated and angry, he kicked off the blanket and stepped out of the bed. After a few careful steps to the door, as his body still felt unusually weak, he tried opening the door. Whatever he expected in his endless optimism wasn't going to help him here.
It was locked.
- Two weeks prior -
"Don't think I didn't see you fall asleep"
Joochan looked up at Bomin with innocent eyes.
"What?"
Bomin just sighed and signalled his friend to follow him out the lecture hall. Joochan's seat neighbours had already left.
"I didn't sleep!" Joochan protested.
"Yeah you did"
"How would you know? Do you have eyes in the back of your head? Spies in the classroom?"
Bomin chuckled.
"Nope", he answered simply.
Joochan pouted, confused.
"I didn't sleep", he protested again, weakly.
Bomin turned towards him, pointed on his face.
"You've got sleepmarks, silly"
Joochan patted his face, trying to straighten out his skin again.
"Okay, you win. But I was awake for the first hour!"
"This is a three hour lecture Jooch, try to make it to two at least"
"I'm sorry, I'll try" Joochan lowered his head, still a bit endeared by Bomin using his childhood nickname.
"Do you want to get coffee? I'm so tired!"
Bomin laughed.
"Still? Do you even sleep at night?"
Joochan pouted cutely.
"I do. I'm just someone who needs lots of sleep"
They headed to the campus cafe, and stood in the inevitable line that came from the recently dismissed classes like theirs.
"There was a new student sitting next to me" Joochan told Bomin.
"A new student? This late in the semester? There's no way"
"He was quite handsome. I feel like I'd have noticed if he had been there before"
Bomin winked at him teasingly.
"Because you're our resident handsome guys spotter now?"
"Don't need to be, anyone would've noticed someone like him", Joochan clasped Bomin's shoulder before continuing in a low tone, "he's quite the competition for you to be honest".
Bomin laughed again. It felt good to have him around. In their ten years of friendship, he had never regretted approaching the shy boy back in school. Right before it was their turn to order, Joochan let out a giant yawn that made Bomin laugh again.
"My my, you really are preparing to hibernate"
Joochan laughed at this, and let Bomin order his coffee first.
Yes, university wasn't his world. But Bomin was, and that's why he would push through until the end.