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When Jinyoung fell, face first onto the ground, right in front of the twenty-one kids he spends his days teaching and caring for, he thought that would be it. He was never going to see the light of day again.
Seeing his kids terrified faces while Youngjae, the homeroom teacher next to his own classroom, kneeled beside him frantically speaking on the phone while Jinyoung convulsed on the floor, had been the worst of it all.
They had rushed him into the hospital and spent the following two weeks being exposed to several, strange treatments Jinyoung had no idea existed in the first place, all because they were not sure of what he had.
But the doctor in charge of his case was a stubborn man. Lim Jaebeom was not going to give up on him, so he pushed his luck against hospital rules and guideliness' procedures, almost losing his license in the process and dragging along with him his two practicing doctors: Jackson and Mark.
Lim Jaebeom was the definition of craziness and determination. Sarcastic by nature and a bit rough at the edges; handsome with a smile that brought butterflies to Jinyoung's stomach, the fact that he was probably dying be damned everytime doctor Lim was near him.
Of course it would be unethical to even try something, so Jinyoung, with a bit of disappointment, settled to only watch from his hospital bed and pray to survive another day. He missed his kids and he missed Youngjae too.
It wasn't until one day, Jinyoung's body tired of so many mishaps and needles piercing his skin, that doctor Lim barged in his room, waking up from the on and off slumber Jinyoung had been too exhausted to fight.
"You have a worm in your brain." Doctor Lim had blurted out, managing to wake Jinyoung up.
"A what?" Jinyoung had blinked, his voice hoarse and rough.
"A larvae. You like pork." It wasn't a question, but Jinyoung had felt compelled to nod his head. "That's good. Perfect." Doctor Lim's smile had been so bright, it had rendered Jinyoung speechless. And with that, he left the room again.
Minutes later, Mark walked in, carrying a silver tray with a single tiny plastic cup.
"Here." He offered it to him.
"What is this?" Jinyoung had eyed the cup suspiciously.
"Your treatment." Mark had said, pushing the cup to him again.
"Two pills? That's it?" Jinyoung quirked an incredulous eyebrow.
Mark hummed. "Daily. For two months. Side effects like headaches, dizziness, vomit, diarrhea, fainting and hair loss may be present. But you'll be fine."
Well, it was still better than inexplicably dying.
Jinyoung is sitting on his hospital bed eating solid foods for the first time in weeks. After the first dosages of his new meds, he had been requested to stay in for a few more days in observation, just to make sure the medicine is working fine and his body isn't resenting it too much.
He's noisily taking a sip of his soup when the room's door opens and Mark and Jackson walk inside, hands inside their respective white coats.
"Something wrong?" Jinyoung asks when they say absolutely nothing for a minute.
"You know we don't do things the conventional way." Mark begins.
Jinyoung worries a little.
"And rules we don't follow." Jackson adds, taking a few steps back to stay by the door.
Jinyoung is now confused.
"Someone told us you have ten sons and ten daughters worried sick about you." Mark smiles. "Let's keep this our secret, yes?"
Jackson opens the door and his kids come in running, screeching and giggling while trotting their tiny ways to him.
Jinyoung's face lights up and the smile that breaks on his face is so big it almost hurts.
"Mr. Park!" One of them screeches, his little storm, Bambam, as he climbs up the bed.
"Oh my god, hi!" Jinyoung exclaims, opening his arms for Bambam to crash into him in a hug. "I've missed you guys so much!" He reaches to pat the head of each kid that is closer to him.
"We're so glad you're okay." Youngjae says, standing by the foot of the bed. Of course it would be him the one to orchestrate this.
"We made this for you!" One of his other kids, Bambam's partner in crime, Yugyeom, hands him a large piece of opaline paper, nonsensical drawings and scribblings in colorful ways adorning the front. "I wrote this!" Yugyeom eagerly forces the huge card open, pointing with his finger at the bottom of the card.
We are happy you're not dead!
Jinyoung laughs out loud, of course Yugyeom would write something like that. This kid.
"Do you like it?" Another kid asks.
"I love it. Thank you so much, babies." Jinyoung says, softert this time, before the kids break out into a whole chaos of questions and wanting to be the ones to hug him.
They chat and laugh and crack silly jokes for him until Jackson has to force them all out so Jinyoung can rest. It's nowhere near being an easy task, but he manages until Youngjae is the last one there.
"We'll see you back soon, right?" He asks before leaving.
"Of course."
Youngjae lets out a relieved sigh and waves his way out.
Jinyoung is completely alone one more time, but not for long, as doctor Lim walks in just a few minutes later.
"That was wild." He comments casually.
"Those are my kids." Jinyoung chuckles.
"They're cute." Doctor Lim nods. "So…" He continues a moment later, "since you will no longer be my patient, would you like to have coffee with me sometime?"
The butterflies in Jinyoung's stomach flutter again.
"Yes. I would love to."
Doctor Lim grins.
Yes, this is definitely better than dying.