✢ hospital

@w. kunhang "I'll be right back." yukhei moves about to get the coffee. it takes him less than ten minutes and he walks back to the table. he's foots say when he hears kunhang's voice. anger. sadness. pain. so much pain. he strides over in seconds, placing the coffee cup as gently as he can without altering the humans and droids around. a little force on his part can shake up so many humans and yukhei wants none of those attention at the moment except for one.

"kunhang." he decisively states, taking back his chair and draws it kunhang's side. close enough to reach out and press the pieces of tissues to kunhang's tear stained cheeks and wipe it clean. "he loved you. and I'm sure he still does, as you humans like to say, even in heaven." yukhei doesn't know how to soothe this man child. while bringing a sense of calmness is the correct procedure in his system, yukhei feels different about that. there's something in vocal chords that refuses to follow the standard protocol. "he wouldn't want you in pain. you know that, don't you? instead of being sorry, be thankful. I'm sure you've wonderful memories of him with you. he never felt sad that you are not visiting much. he was so proud whenever he talked about you and how much he hopes you success in your life. so why don't you thank yourself for achieving his dreams and you came. didn't you, kunhang? did you see that smile he had when you showed up? of course you did. that's a grateful type. he told me. so... I don't know all these heart things. and you can do as you wish but I hope you don't blame yourself."

@w. yukhei ᶜᵗ⁴⁰² kunhang surrendered himself to the android’s lead as they head to the cafeteria. he fell mum on the android’s request but the questions press against the back of his teeth. he’s barely able to hold them in. shaking his head, he answers, “coffee and... it’s fine. it’s fine,” he mutters, deciding against food, “i’m too nauseous right now.”

kunhang finally has a moment to think, and it’s as if his legs finally give out under him when he sinks into a chair. they’re seated off to the side of the cafeteria, out of the hub-bub of people waiting in line and chatting loudly. he looks out on the crowd, seeing smiles, laughter, families, and patients with visitors. something in him lurches as he feels grimly out of place, kunhang hides his face from the main part of the cafeteria and choses to look out the window, where the sunny day had briefly turned cloudy. grandpa... he was gone. and kunhang felt all the “should have”s and “could have”s begin settling in. “why... why didn’t i visit sooner,” he doesn’t realize he’s said it out loud, and angry, self loathing tears well up in his eyes too fast for him to register.

@w. kunhang yukhei observed the grandson. he knows the myriad of emotions flashing across the young man's visage. sorrow is the prominent one among many. yukhei knows how to handle this; he had done so successfully in the past when Mr. Wong had episodes. "of course." he breathes out with a gentle smile, scooting close to kunhang, making sort of barrier between kunhang and the crowd as he stretches his arm across kunhang's midriff to the metal wall. "and it's okay that you don't know me, kunhang. don't feel guilty about it, okay." he whispers quietly next to kunhang's shoulders. he doesn't want others to hear what they are conversing about. "your grandfather called me yukhei or lucas which is what my company gave me. can you wait till we arrive—" the elevator finally stops, indicating it's the ground floor they intended to go. he curls his fingers around kunhang's, heading straight to the cafeteria. yukhei finds themselves a small table for two in the corner. "tea or coffee? have you eaten anything?"

@l. taeyong ᶜᵗ⁴⁰¹ ( i hit enter too early the first time HAHAHAH )

it was a typical night for the emergency room graveyard shift. seolhyun normally didn't work graveyard shifts, as she was a coveted surgeon during the daytime but was covering for a coworker that she owed a favor to. she didn't mind, though, as it got quite lonely at home and she could continue to learn more and grow in her career. once things started to settle down and she was able to complete her rounds, she decided to stop by the nurses station and chit chat with some of her coworkers.

"dr. kim! you have quite a long day ahead of you, why did you take this night shift when you have such a busy day tomorrow?" one of the younger, female nurses beamed upon seeing seolhyun approach. seolhyun could only chuckle in amusement at the girl's bright attitude despite it being almost 3AM. "i know, right? but i couldn't say no, i owed dr. han a favor..." she sighs, thinking about how she'll probably be working for almost 24 hours straight. she then glances over the nurse's shoulder, seeing a figure off to the side sitting alone and so perfectly still. "did we hire someone new for night shift?" seolhyun then inquires, focusing her attention on what appeared to be an outcasted figure. "ah, no. that's one of the new androids they got to help us out. i haven't asked it to do anything though, how can we trust an android to do invasive stuff like take blood? pft." the nurse scoffed in response before turning back to her computer to complete some reports.

for a few moments, seolhyun glanced at the android. she figured, if they could make self driving cars, why not an android that could do basic medical procedures? she decided to test the technology, moving over to greet the android warmly. "um hello! i'm--" seolhyun was then cut off by the android, who had the appearance of a young woman probably in her early 20s, not too much younger than seolhyun. "hello dr. kim, how can i assist you?" the android greeted seolhyun, despite seolhyun being a bit taken aback by how the android knew of her already. "there's a patient in room 4C due for some blood tests, do you think you can go draw some blood for me?" seolhyun could hear the gasp from the human nurse from across the table, but decided to ignore it for now and focus on the android. "yes dr. kim, i'll be right back." the android then stood up and went off to do as requested.

"dr. kim! how could you- especially drawing blood! that patient in room 4C's veins are not visible at all!" the nurse protested, but seolhyun remained firm and continued to look through her files, "someone worked very hard to program that android to do these things. we shouldn't undermine that unless we give it a try."

"but dr. kim--"

the younger nurse was then cut off as the android returned. what would take a human nurse about 10-15 minutes to complete, the android took 3. the android immediately caught the attention of both seolhyun and the nurse, leaving the nurse speechless. "well, wasn't that fast. how many times did you stick the patient?" seolhyun inquired while approaching the android and retrieving the test tubes from her. "once." the android replied, seolhyun unable to help but smile before turning back to the nurse. "and how many times does it normally take you? especially when the patient's veins are hard to see like the patient in room 4C?" seolhyun asked the younger female, whose head started to slowly sink, "at least twice..." she muttered in response.

"nice. then that settles it." seolhyun gave a pat on the shoulder to the android, noticing the serial number and name on the namebadge of the android. "thanks for your great work, seunghee."

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@w. yukhei ᶜᵗ⁴⁰² kunhang didn't register what was happening. he wanted to follow his grandfather, but it was as if his limbs were suddenly anchors. the air was stiff, too heavy to push through. he was led gently from his stupor by the wrist, and the tears had begun--silently he lets them fall, and occasional stuttered breath racking his whole body. it wasn't registering yet that his grandfather was gone. kunhang follows diligently, looking up the hand that led him and finding that the android was talking to HIM--and he didn't even realize it.

"do... do you still remember me?"

kunhang's mouth falls open, poised to speak but nothing comes out; he flounders like a fish for a moment before finally croaking, "i'm s-so sorry, i don't." kunhang felt the guilt compound when he searched the android's face for a hint of familiarity but he found none, "i- i don't- i'm so sorry. i never visited and-," kunhang flings his hands up, admitting defeat. "i'm sorry," he rasps, settling in the corner of the elevator. "can i know your name, please? i want to be able to refer to you by your name... i had some questions, if that's alright with you."

@w. kunhang "we've informed mr. wong's grandson. he will be here shortly." no longer after that the said grandson presented itself to the dying old man. a mess. terrified. lost. a almost dysfunctional in appearance. he could only but watch from the sidelines after all he couldn't bother them. the old man breathed his last and went to 'sleep' for forever. did he feel any pain? certainly not. but a sense of gloom? yes. "kunhang." he began softly, reaching for the boy's wrist and led them.out of the ward which he deemed is not pleasant to humans at all. "are you...never mind. I'm sorry for thinking that even. let's get you to sit. there's cafeteria on the ground floor, let's go there, shall we?" they were in the hallway. "do ...do you still remember me? I mean, my name?" he looked over at kunhang, skilfully steering through the crowd to the elevator.

@w. yukhei ᶜᵗ⁴⁰² it wasn’t supposed to happen this way. it was never meant to happen this way. well, when death happens, does one ever 'expect' anything? kunhang wasn't thinking straight when he dashed from the check-in counter to the stairs. he was running purely on adrenaline and fear that he was taking too long. he was already too late, he got the call this morning and drove through city traffic like a madman. he didn't give one for the rest of the world.

his grandfather was dying. the nurse had told him him that his grandfather was on his last breaths, experiencing more shivers and wracked by another minor cardiac arrest. he runs, he runs like his own life depends on it. (to some extent, it does.)

"excus- excuse me!" he calls, dodged nurses and patients narrowly as he makes it into the dead ward. the dim ward wreaked of death, smelling of old people and silent as he looked wildly for his grandfather's bed. only one bed in the whole ward had an android and a nurse beside it, and there--there lay his grandfather. kunhang feels a sob begin to rattle him but he takes in a deep breath: he can't let this shake him. he needed to see if this was truly his grandfather.

"wong kunhang?" the nurse asks, and kunhang only nods, coming up to stand beside the android, and the nurse stood on the otherside of his grandfather. his cold, lifeless grandfather. kunhang's lip quivers, and his hand shakily slips into his grandfather's. this man... this man gave him everything, and kunhang couldn't even give him company. "g-gramps," kunhang starts softly, undeniably about to lose it, and his vision blurred with the tears he's holding back desperately. between the self-loathing, the grief, and the sadness, he was trying to hold himself together, "rest in p-peace." he lets out an ugly sniffle, free hand reaching out to close his grandfather's eyes, and the nurse promptly takes that cue to roll the body out. kunhang's grip lingers until he has to let go, left with the android.

[ you ing bet i was listening to "been through" -- you only need to focus on the last para tbh - DONT MIRROR ME OR I WILL DIE. ]