Hyuk sat still, looking at Yeo Ri's dainty little face. Her eyes were closed and she breathed ever-so-slowly.
The doctor had told him that it was hypothermia.
"Will she... be fine?" He had asked.
"It was a close call," the doctor replied. "She was lucky she was inside the hospital."
"Thank goodness..." he breathed a deep sigh of relief. Yeo Ri was still alive. Hyuk touched her cheeks. A little bit of colour had returned to her face after the doctor's efforts.
"Stupid girl," Hyuk muttered. He held her cold hand weakly. After the scare, he felt so listless and empty. If Yeo Ri was gone, what was he supposed to do? How was he going to live? He couldn't imagine a life without Yeo Ri.
"How long did you play in the snow? You stupid girl, you should've been more careful." He gently picked up her hand and held her palm against his lips, mumbling into it. He closed his eyes. "Don't scare me like that ever again. Oppa can't live without you, Yeo Ri-ah." He stayed in that position for a long while before letting go.
"Rest well, Yeo Ri-ah." Hyuk got up, kissing her forehead. Then, he carefully tucked her hand back into the blankets and adjusted one of the many heaters the nurses had placed around Yeo Ri so that the warmth was better directed towards her.
Half an hour later, Gun finally arrived.
"Where have you been, you f*cking sh*thead?" Hyuk growled. He was sitting on his bed, facing Yeo Ri. He couldn't rest easy unless she was in his line of sight, so he had been in the position for quite a while.
"Yeo Ri?! What happened to her?!" Gun immediately darted to Yeo Ri's side. He hadn't expected to see her like that. His eyes glanced towards the clipboard attached to Yeo Ri's hospital bed. With a quick scan, he roughly understood her condition.
Hyuk got up, grabbing Gun by the collar, "I asked you, where have you been?!"
"F*ck, let go!" Gun pushed him aside. However, Hyuk was rather pissed so his grip didn't loosen.
Gun took a good look at Hyuk. His eyes were red and his overall appearance were frazzled. He looked as if he had aged overnight.
"...I had a study session at school. I told her to go to the hospital first, like always. Just what exactly happened? Why is Yeo Ri like this?"
Hyuk shot him a death glare, but released his collar. He knew he was misplacing the blame, but he couldn't help it. Where was he when Yeo Ri needed her family the most?
Hyuk took a deep breath, calming himself down. He ruffled his hair for the nth time, "Yeo Ri has hypothermia. She said it started snowing so she played around for a while."
"Hyp—?! What was she thinking?!" Gun exclaimed. His eyebrows furrowed. He looked at Yeo Ri with worry. One after another, just why does she keep creating reasons to make him more worried? His mind flashed to all those times Yeo Ri complained about being cold. When did she start feeling sick? It didn't snow that much yet so he didn't fully believe that it was the main cause of her hypothermia.
Gun sighed with a tinge of frustration. It must have been because of all the small things that she did that added to her sickness. He stroked her head gently. "You reckless girl," he chided quietly. His heart felt soft at Yeo Ri's state. If only he had enough freedom to just take care of her all the time, then something like this wouldn't have happened.
"Stop that. Just let her rest," Hyuk snapped. He felt annoyed seeing Gun treat Yeo Ri like that.
Gun frowned, but acquiesced. He dropped his arm and went to sit on the extra empty bed. He had been walking a lot so he felt incredibly tired. He had thought to pass the self-defence items he had gotten earlier to Yeo Ri as soon as possible, but with Yeo Ri in that condition, he had to put it off until she was healthy enough.
Gun fell asleep almost immediately.
He had thought to stay up to watch over Yeo Ri, but the tiredness was catching up to him. He hadn't rested since he woke up in the morning, and all the stress he had accumulated during the day had piled up. Soon, his eyes closed.