March Nine
Spring. The season where the snow melts away, flowers opening their petals to bloom and the season where love is in the air. It is also the time where students start school in the middle of March. It is a loved and hated season spring is. Loved, because it love spreads around, children playing around without giving a care to the world and the flowers begin to grow. Hated, because it reminds everyone that they do not have that significant other in their lives, hated because school will start in two weeks time and it's known as the season of allergies.
But alas, to the Wu family, Spring is the season of sadness and grief. It had always been like that for the past five years. The season where they have lost their beloved child due to a small accident that ended with harsh result. Let us go back in time, five years ago, on how it all had happened.
Spring. Sehun never quite enjoyed spring. He was always left alone in his big house because of his allergies. If he opened a window or stepped outside the house, he would end up sneezing nonstop. For safety precautions, his parents insisted that he should not step a foot outside the house nor should he open the window at all.
Sehun knew that his parents cared about him but it was taking him away from his freedom, his enjoyment with his friends and the feel of the sun on his skin. He is already as pale as it is and Sehun saw no reason on why he should become any paler.
He wanted to leave the house and play with his best friend, Kim Jongin. He wanted to feel the beads of sweat roll down his body when he played football or basketball, he wanted to feel the wind blowing through his hair as he dashed his way between people on his skateboard and he desperately wanted to lay down beside Jongin and bask in the sun. He needed to spend all of his afternoon talking about random topics. He missed listening to his best friend's laughter, how he would snort whenever Sehun utter one of his childish and unfunny jokes to the other and he desperately needed to sleep under the moonlight and stars.
Sighing, Sehun moved away from the tightly shut window. He knew that he would never be doing these things in spring, where the weather is perfect. He would be doing during the summer holiday but it was hot and sometimes hummed. Also, Jongin and his family always travelled during the summer holiday to visit their relatives in France. An activity Sehun despised.
It was on February twenty-fifth when the accident had happened. Sehun was in his family's library; A large room that held various of books and outlets. Any type of genre you wish to read, you will find in that library. It was a quiet, cozy and warm room. The furniture was in deep red and gold lined the edges of it. Desks made from Cherry tries, the finest quality. On one side of the wall, A large map of the world was painted on it, giving the room the air of knowledge that gives people the urge to learn and explore new and adventurous things.
Sehun was bored and had nothing to do that afternoon, so headed off to the library to find a book that will entertain him. He was in the ladder, trying to reach out for the book; The Five People You Meet in Heaven, when he lost his footing. Thankfully, Sehun was not too high up so the crash was not sever, however, it was quite painful that caused Sehun's head to thud and moan out in pain.
"Stupid ladder." He blamed the poor inanimate object while rubbing the back of his head.
He turned to his right and noticed that the book was laying next to him and it was open, the on the page ninety six.
Sehun grabbed the book, stood up, dusted himself off and exited the library, heading off to his room.
The past three days were torturing for the young sixteen year old. He had developed a sudden headache that would fade in and out during odd moments. On the first day, Sehun had just ignored it thinking that his head was a bit sore from the fall the previous day. But a headache lasting for three days? Now that was something that caused him to worry.
"Mom, I don't feel so good." Sehun complained as he slumped his body on the dining table, laying his head on the cool surface believing that it will calm down his scorching face.
"What's wrong sweetie?" His mother, Wu Chanyeol asked, voice as sweet as honey.
Wu Chanyeol is a thirty five year old mother with long, honey brown hair that reached all the way to her mid back. Chanyeol is a very tall woman that was often mistaken as a model for her height and striking good looks. She was pale and her eyes were hazel. Eye lashes long and thick and eyebrows perfectly plucked. Her long nails painted in different color every week.
"I've been having headaches for the past three days and it won't go away!" the ash blonde boy groaned out, turning his head to the left to cool down the other side of his face.
His mother, standing in front of the oven and adding the final touches for dinner, frowned. "It's because it's spring and you always felt that away around this time of year, honey." Her slightly high pitched voice filled the room.
That night, during dinner, something strange happened to Sehun.
Sehun was busy slurping his mother's delicious soup and tuning out the chatter going on between his father and his mother. Mind far away and thinking about the spring breeze.
"Sehun, can you please pass the salt." Requested Wu Yifan, Sehun's father.
Sehun's father, Wu Yifan, is a well known professor at Seoul University teaching Chinese language and literature. He , like his wife, was very tall and had wide and broad shoulders. His eyes were a dark brown, complimenting his facial fetureas perfectly. He was always viewed as a stoic man who, as been told by others, had no heart. Just a soul wandering earth. Most of his students feared him because of that, thinking that he held no emotions what so ever.
"Sehun. The salt!"
Sehun looked up from his bowl and frowned. Where the faces of his parents were supposed to be, black spots replaced them. He brought his gaze to the middle of the table and all that he could see were spots.
His eyebrows scrunched up as he tried to focus his vision. He rubbed his eyes a bit but the result ended the same, black spots filling his sight.
"Sehun?" his mother asked, voice dripping with worry.
"I-I….I can't see!" Sehun's voiced was filled with panic.
His parents stood up and rushed towards him, his father rubbing gently against his back and his mother inspecting his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with his, Yifan." She commented after a few seconds of observing. "Maybe we should take him to the hospital in the morning."
Sehun did not sleep at all the previous night as he sat on a white chair waiting at the hospital. Eyes blood shot and dark circles formed beneath his eyes, his skin looking paler than usual due to the lack of sleep.
"Wu?"
The Wu family looked up as a nurse with raven black hair called out.
"That's us." Yifan confirmed while standing up.
"Doctor Kim would like to see you now."
"Is everything alright, Doctor Kim?" Chanyeol asked, standing next to her husband and clutching his hand tightly.
"Please, call me Joonmyun." Doctor smiled warmly. He turned away from Sehun, who was laying on the small bed, and faced the worried couple.
"Based on your son's description, we need to run an MRI on him. Just to confirm my suspicion." The doctor commented. He noticed how the mother's grip on her husband tightened and her face turned slightly pale. Her husband reassuring her that everything is ok.
After about forty five minutes, Sehun found himself back inside of doctor Kim Joonmyun's office along with his parents and said doctor.
The doctor was behind his desk, glasses on, eyes scanning the test results in his hand. He could see his eyebrows scrunching and his lips going down into a frown. It caused Sehun's stomach to tighten at the sight and his heart to beat fast.
The doctor let out a sigh before looking upwards, eyes locking with Sehun's parents.
"I'm afraid that my suspicion is indeed correct." The doctor's voice was filled with sorrow. "You're son…is suffering Brain Hemorrhage and it's spreading quite fast."
"WHAT?!" the boom of Yifan's voice caused his family members and the doctor to jump in fright. "How is that possible?" he asked, eyes narrowing.
Doctor Joonmyun brought his attention on the sixteen year old boy and asked, "Sehun, in the past couple of days, have you experienced any accidents."
"I had a small fall the other day, in the library. But it was a small fall!" Sehun all but yelled.
Joonmyun sighed as he walked towards a poster of the brain that was on the door of his office.
"Sehun, I take it that when you fell, the back of your head collided with the floor, am I correct?" at the nod of the boy's head, the doctor continued, "A brain hemorrhage is a type of stroke. It's caused by an artery in the brain bursting and causing localized bleeding in the surrounding tissues. This bleeding kills brain cells. When blood from trauma irritates brain tissues, it causes swelling. This is known as cerebral edema. The pooled blood collects into a mass called a hematoma. These conditions increase pressure on nearby brain tissue, and that reduces vital blood flow and kills brain cells.
Bleeding can occur inside the brain, between the brain and the membranes that cover it, between the layers of the brain's covering or between the skull and the covering of the brain."
"What do you mean by …spreading fast." Choked out Chanyeol, eyes filled with tears.
"Due to his injury and young age, Sehun is suffering from head trauma, the most common brain hemorrhage. I have no valid reason as to why the bleeding is spreading but it. And," Joonmyun paused, contemplating on how he should break the news to the family.
"What is it, Doctor?" Joonmyun stared at Mrs. Wu with a look of sorrow. "I'm afraid that your son's days are…limited."
Sehun could not believe what he had just heard. His head was spinning, sweat forming on his forehead and he felt nauseous. He could feel his breaths being uneven and soon found himself gasping for air.
"Sehun!"
His mother ran to his side to help breath while the doctor paged the nurse to bring in the oxygen masks.
Once the mask had been placed around Sehun's mouth and his breathing turned to normal, Yifan asked the question that he dreaded the most.
"H-How…" Yifan cleared his throat before opening his mouth to ask properly, "How many days does he have left exactly?"
The room turned quite, nothing filled the air except the small and almost inaudible noises of air puffing out of Sehun's nose.
"It's March first, excluding today, he has about eight days left."
The following days were pure and horrifying torture for the ash blonde haired boy. He was forced to stay at the hospital and at one time at his stay, he had suffered a seizure. It was quite frightening. After coming to from the episode, Sehun broke down in his mother's arms while his father stood by the side, trying to look strong for his little boy. Seeing his son, his only child, crying out and believing that he was actually dying, broke Yifan's heart.
On the fifth day at the hospital, March fourth, Joonmyun advised Sehun to call his best friends and family members to break in the news for fear that he might face difficulties with speaking soon.
After calling his relatives and crying over the phone, he , with shaking fingers, dialed the number of his best friend, Kim Jongin.
"Hey! Sehunnie! Where have you been man?" a husky voice broke out through the ear piece which resulted in Sehun's heart tightening.
"J-Jongin…" Sehun's voice broke at the end, going a pitch than his own mother's.
"Sehun, what's wrong?"
The ash blonde could not help but smile at how genuinely worried Jongin sounded, with his brows furrowed and his lips in a frown. An expression that does not the handsome, tanned boy's features.
"Jongin, I'm at the hospital. I'm dying." His voice was shaky, his heart beating like crazy and in anticipation on how he's best friend, his only friend would react.
"Sehun, stop joking around. This isn't funny."
The sixteen year old could sense Jongin's anger, could feel how Jongin disliked how Sehun, in the tan's case, joked about his health.
"Jongie, I'm..serious!" the boy choked out, tears streaming down his cheeks and landing on his laps, darkening the fabric of his clothing.
"I'm coming right now." And the line was dead.
Sehun had always admired the tanned, dark brown haired, Kim Jongin. He loved how bold and courageous his best friend is. He loved how Jongin would state his honest opinion on something he disliked.
Sehun yarned for his best friend's attention and adoration but he knew that he will never receive any of it. Jongin never once admitted to liking men and the fact that he liked beautiful, cute and short girls always left Sehun with a sinking heart. But he held his words in his mouth, refusing to let them out and ruin his friendship with the boy.
Even now, as Jongin slammed the door open to Sehun's private room, and eyes brimming with tears as Sehun explained to him his situation, refused to tell Jongin about his fascination, adoration and addiction towards him. He hugged the now weeping boy, as he cursed him a thousand times about his clumsiness and reminded him how he always warned him to be careful.
Jongin called Sehun stupid for not listening to his words, for not taking care of himself properly. Sehun just sat there and allowed the boy to voice out his frustration.
On March sixth, a frightening event happened to the poor and dying boy. He was chatting with his friend and being fed by his mother (who wanted to baby her little boy.) while rubbed circles on her back when Sehun started to choke. He held tightly on his throat, trying desperately to swallow or choke out the piece of meat in his mouth.
Yifan had rushed off to call the doctor while Chanyeol was crying and calling out to her son. Jongin's eyes were filled with fright as he slammed his hand on his friend's back as way to help him choke out the food from his mouth.
By the time the doctor to the room, Sehun had finally managed to choke out the piece of meat.
"What's happening, doctor?" Chanyeol asked frantically while being held in Yifan's arm as the doctor examined the boy who was holding onto his best friend's hand.
"It's one of the symptoms, head trauma causes difficulties with swallowing food. From now on, your son needs to receive his nutrition through drips."
Yifan nodded his head as he tried to calm down his crying wife. The doctor took one final glance at the boy, who's faced his being caressed by his friend, before exiting the room.
On March seventh, things were not looking good as doctor Kim rushed to Wu Sehun's room.
"He…he can't read!" Sehun's mother stated frantically. "He was reading a text message from his uncle when he began to sutter and…and he kept on repeating 'Can't read!'."
"Is there anything you can do to fix it, doc?" Yifan asked for his wife, seeing as she was trying her hardest to stop her tears from flowing.
"I'm afraid that there's nothing we can't do about it." Doctor Kim answered.
"What do you mean nothing?!" exploded Jongin, who had been sitting beside his friend and clutching his hand tightly. "You're a doctor, aren't you? Fix it!"
The tanned boy shouted. He felt raged on how calm the doctor looked, how casually the doctor sounded as he replied 'there's nothing we can do.'. he felt revolted.
"Calm down, Jongin!" Yifan's voice boomed throughout the room, his glare rivaling Jongin, daring him to utter out another world.
The teenager just mumbled before sitting back down beside his friend, who slowly ran his thumb on the surface on Jongin's hand, trying to calm him down.
On March eighth, at forty five minutes past nine pm, found Chanyeol laying her head on her husband's lap, trying to sleep, holding tightly on her husband' hand, who was also sleeping, eyebrows furrowing.
Sehun's voice had returned this afternoon, doctor Kim explaining that his voice would stop working and then would return to normal. The sixteen year old looked very pale, paler than any vampire you'd see in movies, dark and grey circles formed under his eyes. His skin cold and damped.
He and Jongin were reading the lyrics of their favorite Japanese song that their teacher had them listen to two years ago when they had began taking Japanese classes after growing fond of watching anime and listening to Japanese rock songs.
The song titled as Sangatsu Kokonoka, also known as March Nine, that was featured the ever so famous Japanese drama, One Liter of Tears.
" Hitomi wo tojireba anata ga
Mabuta no ura ni iru koto de
Dore hodo tsuyoku nareta deshou
Anata ni totte watashi mo sou de aritai."
Jongin finished the song with perfect pronunciations of the Japanese lyrics, singing softly into Sehun's ears. his hand caressing his best friend's cheek.
"Jongin," Sehun called out weakly, his voice crocking out.
It pained Jongin seeing his best friend in such a state. Pained him how his once lively and energetic friend is now immobile and having the energy sucked out of him daily.
"There's something…I need to tell…you."
"Don't overwork your voice, Sehun."
The pale and dying boy shook his head.
"I have to tell you…before I lose my voice again." Sehun coughed into his hand and continued.
"Jongin, I know you don't feel the same and I don't want your emotions to change towards me just because of the fact that I'm dying." Sehun coughed roughly, missing how his friend's breathing hitched.
The sick boy rested his head on the pillow and looked upwards at the ceiling.
"I've had this crush on you, that grew everyday and it's still growing, ever since you and I listened to Sangatsu Kokonoka in your bedroom. You, sharing your ear bud and us sitting so close to each other. I have never felt my heart beat so fast and crazy like that before." Sehun smiled, reminiscing on that wonderful day. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to lose you."
The boy finally brought his gaze to his tanned best friend. "Jongin, I'm scared." The ash blonde chocked out, feeling the tight grip on his hand. "I…I don't want to go. I don't want to leave you or mom and dad." A tear rolled down from his right eye all the way down to his chin till it dripped on his hand that was clutching onto Jongin's for dear life.
"I still hadn't graduated high school…I didn't get my first kiss." The boy sobbed out, his grip on Jongin's tightening.
"I…I didn't grow up and…I will never get to marry my true love." Tears streamed both boys' cheeks. "Jongin, I don't want to go! I don't want to leave you! I want to stay!"
The boy broke down, Jongin quickly hopped on his bed and friend his friend in his arms.
"Please, Please, Jongin. Don't forget about me." Sehun chocked out. "Just don't!"
Jongin rocked their bodies as a way to calm the both of them down but it was hardly working as the boy sobbed against his chest, he kiss his forehead with quivering lips before promising the boy. "I won't. I won't ever forget about you, Wu Sehun."
Sehun smiled as brought his head upwards, he looked at his friend and requested, "Kiss me?" Jongin nodded before capturing the blue looking lips.
The kiss was slow and passionate. A way that showed their true friendship and Sehun's adoration to the elder.
"Thank you." Sehun whispered before he and Jongin laid down and slept.
The next morning, Jongin opened his eyes and brought his body upwards. He stretched a bit before he turned sideways and looked at his friend with a smile on his face expecting to see his friend wide awake.
What met him, however, was the exact opposite. Jongin was greeted with the horrifying sight of Wu Sehun's pale skin turning blue and lips turned down into a frown.
"Sehun…yah! Sehun! This isn't funny."
Jongin began to hysterically shake his best friend, hoping that it might wake him up.
"Jongin..?" Chanyeol's sleep laced voice sounded from behind him before her eyes widening at the sight before her.
"SEHUN! WAKE UP! WAKE UP, WU SEHUN!"
Jongin began shouting this times, tears rolling down like waterfalls down his cheeks.
Chanyeol got up from the couch and ran to her son's bed. Her eyes widening at how pale and lifeless her son looked.
"SEHUN!!"
She screamed out before falling into her knees, her husband running towards her and embracing her, tears rolling down his own cheeks.
"Doctor Kim! Nurse!" Yifan's voice boomed out.
Minutes later the door was busted open as nurses and doctor Kim rushed into the room. Nurses dragging Jongin away from Sehun body.
"NO! NO!"
Jongin struggled against the nurses hold, trying to reach out to Sehun.
"Sedate him!" Joonmyun ordered as he sedated Chanyeol and allowed her husband to place her on the couch.
After things calmed and quieted down, Joonmyun revealed the time and date of death.
"March ninth, five am, age sixteen." The nurses nodded her head before writing it down.
Spring. The season where the snow melts away, flowers opening their petals to bloom and the season where love is in the air. It is also the time where students start school in the middle of March. It is a loved and hated season spring is. Loved, because it love spreads around, children playing around without giving a care to the world and the flowers begin to grow. Hated, because it reminds everyone that they do not have that significant other in their lives, hated because school will start in two weeks time and it's known as the season of allergies.
But not everyone smiles during spring, not everyone celebrates the love that is flowing around and not everyone is laughing.
"Hitomi wo tojireba anata ga
Mabuta no ura ni iru koto de
Dore hodo tsuyoku nareta deshou
Anata ni totte watashi mo sou de aritai."
A husky voice filled the graveyard as tanned man stood in front of a tomb stone.
In Memory of
Wu Sehun
1995- 2011
AN: I was inspired to write all of this due to my headache that I had suffered today and I got inspiration and motivation to write all of this thanks to the song Sangatsu Kokonoka by The Remioromen.
PS. I purposely changed Sehun's birth year.
But alas, to the Wu family, Spring is the season of sadness and grief. It had always been like that for the past five years. The season where they have lost their beloved child due to a small accident that ended with harsh result. Let us go back in time, five years ago, on how it all had happened.
Spring. Sehun never quite enjoyed spring. He was always left alone in his big house because of his allergies. If he opened a window or stepped outside the house, he would end up sneezing nonstop. For safety precautions, his parents insisted that he should not step a foot outside the house nor should he open the window at all.
Sehun knew that his parents cared about him but it was taking him away from his freedom, his enjoyment with his friends and the feel of the sun on his skin. He is already as pale as it is and Sehun saw no reason on why he should become any paler.
He wanted to leave the house and play with his best friend, Kim Jongin. He wanted to feel the beads of sweat roll down his body when he played football or basketball, he wanted to feel the wind blowing through his hair as he dashed his way between people on his skateboard and he desperately wanted to lay down beside Jongin and bask in the sun. He needed to spend all of his afternoon talking about random topics. He missed listening to his best friend's laughter, how he would snort whenever Sehun utter one of his childish and unfunny jokes to the other and he desperately needed to sleep under the moonlight and stars.
Sighing, Sehun moved away from the tightly shut window. He knew that he would never be doing these things in spring, where the weather is perfect. He would be doing during the summer holiday but it was hot and sometimes hummed. Also, Jongin and his family always travelled during the summer holiday to visit their relatives in France. An activity Sehun despised.
It was on February twenty-fifth when the accident had happened. Sehun was in his family's library; A large room that held various of books and outlets. Any type of genre you wish to read, you will find in that library. It was a quiet, cozy and warm room. The furniture was in deep red and gold lined the edges of it. Desks made from Cherry tries, the finest quality. On one side of the wall, A large map of the world was painted on it, giving the room the air of knowledge that gives people the urge to learn and explore new and adventurous things.
Sehun was bored and had nothing to do that afternoon, so headed off to the library to find a book that will entertain him. He was in the ladder, trying to reach out for the book; The Five People You Meet in Heaven, when he lost his footing. Thankfully, Sehun was not too high up so the crash was not sever, however, it was quite painful that caused Sehun's head to thud and moan out in pain.
"Stupid ladder." He blamed the poor inanimate object while rubbing the back of his head.
He turned to his right and noticed that the book was laying next to him and it was open, the on the page ninety six.
Sehun grabbed the book, stood up, dusted himself off and exited the library, heading off to his room.
The past three days were torturing for the young sixteen year old. He had developed a sudden headache that would fade in and out during odd moments. On the first day, Sehun had just ignored it thinking that his head was a bit sore from the fall the previous day. But a headache lasting for three days? Now that was something that caused him to worry.
"Mom, I don't feel so good." Sehun complained as he slumped his body on the dining table, laying his head on the cool surface believing that it will calm down his scorching face.
"What's wrong sweetie?" His mother, Wu Chanyeol asked, voice as sweet as honey.
Wu Chanyeol is a thirty five year old mother with long, honey brown hair that reached all the way to her mid back. Chanyeol is a very tall woman that was often mistaken as a model for her height and striking good looks. She was pale and her eyes were hazel. Eye lashes long and thick and eyebrows perfectly plucked. Her long nails painted in different color every week.
"I've been having headaches for the past three days and it won't go away!" the ash blonde boy groaned out, turning his head to the left to cool down the other side of his face.
His mother, standing in front of the oven and adding the final touches for dinner, frowned. "It's because it's spring and you always felt that away around this time of year, honey." Her slightly high pitched voice filled the room.
That night, during dinner, something strange happened to Sehun.
Sehun was busy slurping his mother's delicious soup and tuning out the chatter going on between his father and his mother. Mind far away and thinking about the spring breeze.
"Sehun, can you please pass the salt." Requested Wu Yifan, Sehun's father.
Sehun's father, Wu Yifan, is a well known professor at Seoul University teaching Chinese language and literature. He , like his wife, was very tall and had wide and broad shoulders. His eyes were a dark brown, complimenting his facial fetureas perfectly. He was always viewed as a stoic man who, as been told by others, had no heart. Just a soul wandering earth. Most of his students feared him because of that, thinking that he held no emotions what so ever.
"Sehun. The salt!"
Sehun looked up from his bowl and frowned. Where the faces of his parents were supposed to be, black spots replaced them. He brought his gaze to the middle of the table and all that he could see were spots.
His eyebrows scrunched up as he tried to focus his vision. He rubbed his eyes a bit but the result ended the same, black spots filling his sight.
"Sehun?" his mother asked, voice dripping with worry.
"I-I….I can't see!" Sehun's voiced was filled with panic.
His parents stood up and rushed towards him, his father rubbing gently against his back and his mother inspecting his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with his, Yifan." She commented after a few seconds of observing. "Maybe we should take him to the hospital in the morning."
Sehun did not sleep at all the previous night as he sat on a white chair waiting at the hospital. Eyes blood shot and dark circles formed beneath his eyes, his skin looking paler than usual due to the lack of sleep.
"Wu?"
The Wu family looked up as a nurse with raven black hair called out.
"That's us." Yifan confirmed while standing up.
"Doctor Kim would like to see you now."
"Is everything alright, Doctor Kim?" Chanyeol asked, standing next to her husband and clutching his hand tightly.
"Please, call me Joonmyun." Doctor smiled warmly. He turned away from Sehun, who was laying on the small bed, and faced the worried couple.
"Based on your son's description, we need to run an MRI on him. Just to confirm my suspicion." The doctor commented. He noticed how the mother's grip on her husband tightened and her face turned slightly pale. Her husband reassuring her that everything is ok.
After about forty five minutes, Sehun found himself back inside of doctor Kim Joonmyun's office along with his parents and said doctor.
The doctor was behind his desk, glasses on, eyes scanning the test results in his hand. He could see his eyebrows scrunching and his lips going down into a frown. It caused Sehun's stomach to tighten at the sight and his heart to beat fast.
The doctor let out a sigh before looking upwards, eyes locking with Sehun's parents.
"I'm afraid that my suspicion is indeed correct." The doctor's voice was filled with sorrow. "You're son…is suffering Brain Hemorrhage and it's spreading quite fast."
"WHAT?!" the boom of Yifan's voice caused his family members and the doctor to jump in fright. "How is that possible?" he asked, eyes narrowing.
Doctor Joonmyun brought his attention on the sixteen year old boy and asked, "Sehun, in the past couple of days, have you experienced any accidents."
"I had a small fall the other day, in the library. But it was a small fall!" Sehun all but yelled.
Joonmyun sighed as he walked towards a poster of the brain that was on the door of his office.
"Sehun, I take it that when you fell, the back of your head collided with the floor, am I correct?" at the nod of the boy's head, the doctor continued, "A brain hemorrhage is a type of stroke. It's caused by an artery in the brain bursting and causing localized bleeding in the surrounding tissues. This bleeding kills brain cells. When blood from trauma irritates brain tissues, it causes swelling. This is known as cerebral edema. The pooled blood collects into a mass called a hematoma. These conditions increase pressure on nearby brain tissue, and that reduces vital blood flow and kills brain cells.
Bleeding can occur inside the brain, between the brain and the membranes that cover it, between the layers of the brain's covering or between the skull and the covering of the brain."
"What do you mean by …spreading fast." Choked out Chanyeol, eyes filled with tears.
"Due to his injury and young age, Sehun is suffering from head trauma, the most common brain hemorrhage. I have no valid reason as to why the bleeding is spreading but it. And," Joonmyun paused, contemplating on how he should break the news to the family.
"What is it, Doctor?" Joonmyun stared at Mrs. Wu with a look of sorrow. "I'm afraid that your son's days are…limited."
Sehun could not believe what he had just heard. His head was spinning, sweat forming on his forehead and he felt nauseous. He could feel his breaths being uneven and soon found himself gasping for air.
"Sehun!"
His mother ran to his side to help breath while the doctor paged the nurse to bring in the oxygen masks.
Once the mask had been placed around Sehun's mouth and his breathing turned to normal, Yifan asked the question that he dreaded the most.
"H-How…" Yifan cleared his throat before opening his mouth to ask properly, "How many days does he have left exactly?"
The room turned quite, nothing filled the air except the small and almost inaudible noises of air puffing out of Sehun's nose.
"It's March first, excluding today, he has about eight days left."
The following days were pure and horrifying torture for the ash blonde haired boy. He was forced to stay at the hospital and at one time at his stay, he had suffered a seizure. It was quite frightening. After coming to from the episode, Sehun broke down in his mother's arms while his father stood by the side, trying to look strong for his little boy. Seeing his son, his only child, crying out and believing that he was actually dying, broke Yifan's heart.
On the fifth day at the hospital, March fourth, Joonmyun advised Sehun to call his best friends and family members to break in the news for fear that he might face difficulties with speaking soon.
After calling his relatives and crying over the phone, he , with shaking fingers, dialed the number of his best friend, Kim Jongin.
"Hey! Sehunnie! Where have you been man?" a husky voice broke out through the ear piece which resulted in Sehun's heart tightening.
"J-Jongin…" Sehun's voice broke at the end, going a pitch than his own mother's.
"Sehun, what's wrong?"
The ash blonde could not help but smile at how genuinely worried Jongin sounded, with his brows furrowed and his lips in a frown. An expression that does not the handsome, tanned boy's features.
"Jongin, I'm at the hospital. I'm dying." His voice was shaky, his heart beating like crazy and in anticipation on how he's best friend, his only friend would react.
"Sehun, stop joking around. This isn't funny."
The sixteen year old could sense Jongin's anger, could feel how Jongin disliked how Sehun, in the tan's case, joked about his health.
"Jongie, I'm..serious!" the boy choked out, tears streaming down his cheeks and landing on his laps, darkening the fabric of his clothing.
"I'm coming right now." And the line was dead.
Sehun had always admired the tanned, dark brown haired, Kim Jongin. He loved how bold and courageous his best friend is. He loved how Jongin would state his honest opinion on something he disliked.
Sehun yarned for his best friend's attention and adoration but he knew that he will never receive any of it. Jongin never once admitted to liking men and the fact that he liked beautiful, cute and short girls always left Sehun with a sinking heart. But he held his words in his mouth, refusing to let them out and ruin his friendship with the boy.
Even now, as Jongin slammed the door open to Sehun's private room, and eyes brimming with tears as Sehun explained to him his situation, refused to tell Jongin about his fascination, adoration and addiction towards him. He hugged the now weeping boy, as he cursed him a thousand times about his clumsiness and reminded him how he always warned him to be careful.
Jongin called Sehun stupid for not listening to his words, for not taking care of himself properly. Sehun just sat there and allowed the boy to voice out his frustration.
On March sixth, a frightening event happened to the poor and dying boy. He was chatting with his friend and being fed by his mother (who wanted to baby her little boy.) while rubbed circles on her back when Sehun started to choke. He held tightly on his throat, trying desperately to swallow or choke out the piece of meat in his mouth.
Yifan had rushed off to call the doctor while Chanyeol was crying and calling out to her son. Jongin's eyes were filled with fright as he slammed his hand on his friend's back as way to help him choke out the food from his mouth.
By the time the doctor to the room, Sehun had finally managed to choke out the piece of meat.
"What's happening, doctor?" Chanyeol asked frantically while being held in Yifan's arm as the doctor examined the boy who was holding onto his best friend's hand.
"It's one of the symptoms, head trauma causes difficulties with swallowing food. From now on, your son needs to receive his nutrition through drips."
Yifan nodded his head as he tried to calm down his crying wife. The doctor took one final glance at the boy, who's faced his being caressed by his friend, before exiting the room.
On March seventh, things were not looking good as doctor Kim rushed to Wu Sehun's room.
"He…he can't read!" Sehun's mother stated frantically. "He was reading a text message from his uncle when he began to sutter and…and he kept on repeating 'Can't read!'."
"Is there anything you can do to fix it, doc?" Yifan asked for his wife, seeing as she was trying her hardest to stop her tears from flowing.
"I'm afraid that there's nothing we can't do about it." Doctor Kim answered.
"What do you mean nothing?!" exploded Jongin, who had been sitting beside his friend and clutching his hand tightly. "You're a doctor, aren't you? Fix it!"
The tanned boy shouted. He felt raged on how calm the doctor looked, how casually the doctor sounded as he replied 'there's nothing we can do.'. he felt revolted.
"Calm down, Jongin!" Yifan's voice boomed throughout the room, his glare rivaling Jongin, daring him to utter out another world.
The teenager just mumbled before sitting back down beside his friend, who slowly ran his thumb on the surface on Jongin's hand, trying to calm him down.
On March eighth, at forty five minutes past nine pm, found Chanyeol laying her head on her husband's lap, trying to sleep, holding tightly on her husband' hand, who was also sleeping, eyebrows furrowing.
Sehun's voice had returned this afternoon, doctor Kim explaining that his voice would stop working and then would return to normal. The sixteen year old looked very pale, paler than any vampire you'd see in movies, dark and grey circles formed under his eyes. His skin cold and damped.
He and Jongin were reading the lyrics of their favorite Japanese song that their teacher had them listen to two years ago when they had began taking Japanese classes after growing fond of watching anime and listening to Japanese rock songs.
The song titled as Sangatsu Kokonoka, also known as March Nine, that was featured the ever so famous Japanese drama, One Liter of Tears.
" Hitomi wo tojireba anata ga
Mabuta no ura ni iru koto de
Dore hodo tsuyoku nareta deshou
Anata ni totte watashi mo sou de aritai."
Jongin finished the song with perfect pronunciations of the Japanese lyrics, singing softly into Sehun's ears. his hand caressing his best friend's cheek.
"Jongin," Sehun called out weakly, his voice crocking out.
It pained Jongin seeing his best friend in such a state. Pained him how his once lively and energetic friend is now immobile and having the energy sucked out of him daily.
"There's something…I need to tell…you."
"Don't overwork your voice, Sehun."
The pale and dying boy shook his head.
"I have to tell you…before I lose my voice again." Sehun coughed into his hand and continued.
"Jongin, I know you don't feel the same and I don't want your emotions to change towards me just because of the fact that I'm dying." Sehun coughed roughly, missing how his friend's breathing hitched.
The sick boy rested his head on the pillow and looked upwards at the ceiling.
"I've had this crush on you, that grew everyday and it's still growing, ever since you and I listened to Sangatsu Kokonoka in your bedroom. You, sharing your ear bud and us sitting so close to each other. I have never felt my heart beat so fast and crazy like that before." Sehun smiled, reminiscing on that wonderful day. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to lose you."
The boy finally brought his gaze to his tanned best friend. "Jongin, I'm scared." The ash blonde chocked out, feeling the tight grip on his hand. "I…I don't want to go. I don't want to leave you or mom and dad." A tear rolled down from his right eye all the way down to his chin till it dripped on his hand that was clutching onto Jongin's for dear life.
"I still hadn't graduated high school…I didn't get my first kiss." The boy sobbed out, his grip on Jongin's tightening.
"I…I didn't grow up and…I will never get to marry my true love." Tears streamed both boys' cheeks. "Jongin, I don't want to go! I don't want to leave you! I want to stay!"
The boy broke down, Jongin quickly hopped on his bed and friend his friend in his arms.
"Please, Please, Jongin. Don't forget about me." Sehun chocked out. "Just don't!"
Jongin rocked their bodies as a way to calm the both of them down but it was hardly working as the boy sobbed against his chest, he kiss his forehead with quivering lips before promising the boy. "I won't. I won't ever forget about you, Wu Sehun."
Sehun smiled as brought his head upwards, he looked at his friend and requested, "Kiss me?" Jongin nodded before capturing the blue looking lips.
The kiss was slow and passionate. A way that showed their true friendship and Sehun's adoration to the elder.
"Thank you." Sehun whispered before he and Jongin laid down and slept.
The next morning, Jongin opened his eyes and brought his body upwards. He stretched a bit before he turned sideways and looked at his friend with a smile on his face expecting to see his friend wide awake.
What met him, however, was the exact opposite. Jongin was greeted with the horrifying sight of Wu Sehun's pale skin turning blue and lips turned down into a frown.
"Sehun…yah! Sehun! This isn't funny."
Jongin began to hysterically shake his best friend, hoping that it might wake him up.
"Jongin..?" Chanyeol's sleep laced voice sounded from behind him before her eyes widening at the sight before her.
"SEHUN! WAKE UP! WAKE UP, WU SEHUN!"
Jongin began shouting this times, tears rolling down like waterfalls down his cheeks.
Chanyeol got up from the couch and ran to her son's bed. Her eyes widening at how pale and lifeless her son looked.
"SEHUN!!"
She screamed out before falling into her knees, her husband running towards her and embracing her, tears rolling down his own cheeks.
"Doctor Kim! Nurse!" Yifan's voice boomed out.
Minutes later the door was busted open as nurses and doctor Kim rushed into the room. Nurses dragging Jongin away from Sehun body.
"NO! NO!"
Jongin struggled against the nurses hold, trying to reach out to Sehun.
"Sedate him!" Joonmyun ordered as he sedated Chanyeol and allowed her husband to place her on the couch.
After things calmed and quieted down, Joonmyun revealed the time and date of death.
"March ninth, five am, age sixteen." The nurses nodded her head before writing it down.
Spring. The season where the snow melts away, flowers opening their petals to bloom and the season where love is in the air. It is also the time where students start school in the middle of March. It is a loved and hated season spring is. Loved, because it love spreads around, children playing around without giving a care to the world and the flowers begin to grow. Hated, because it reminds everyone that they do not have that significant other in their lives, hated because school will start in two weeks time and it's known as the season of allergies.
But not everyone smiles during spring, not everyone celebrates the love that is flowing around and not everyone is laughing.
"Hitomi wo tojireba anata ga
Mabuta no ura ni iru koto de
Dore hodo tsuyoku nareta deshou
Anata ni totte watashi mo sou de aritai."
A husky voice filled the graveyard as tanned man stood in front of a tomb stone.
In Memory of
Wu Sehun
1995- 2011
AN: I was inspired to write all of this due to my headache that I had suffered today and I got inspiration and motivation to write all of this thanks to the song Sangatsu Kokonoka by The Remioromen.
PS. I purposely changed Sehun's birth year.