I went back to our shared dressing room to take my bag. I had enough of this guy for today.
He was always a brat, especially when he was sick, and today was no different. Dunk texted me to check on how he was and if he took a break. I filled him in on what had happened. Dunk was extremely apologetic and apologised to me for Joong's behaviour. I just texted him a ð and left it as such.
The one who had to apologise was that nuthead outside, but I knew he would never back down and do it. I got my bag and then left.
On my way out, I realized he was still practising his dance. I got even more exasperated seeing that and instantly left. I took an Uber, headed home, took a nice cold shower to cool off , and changed. I was about to make food for myself when my phone rang.
It was Aou on the other line. He frantically filled me in that Joong had passed out while he was getting his things to go home. Aou rushed him to the hospital as he was burning up and was completely unconscious from the fall. I sighed, pinching my nose bridge in frustration as a dread of panic started to set in.
I just grabbed my wallet and phone and pulled on a cap and mask before leaving the house to go to the hospital. I reached it only to find Dunk, Santa, Aou, his parents, and his manager there. They filled me in that the doctor was going to admit him for 1-2 days to observe if he had gotten a concussion and to also try and cool him down from his fever.
We all waited patiently for the doctor to come out and give us further updates. About 30 minutes later, the doctor came out and said we could go see him but not to be too noisy or make a fuss. We all nodded. His parents and manager went in first with Dunk. They came out about 30 minutes later, and then Aou, Santa, and I went in. I was in a half mind not to go in, but Aou just smacked me for being petty.
It was not so much about being petty. It was about being frustrated that Joong cared so little about his own life and always focused on the wrong thing. He didn't even have to be in the hospital if he had just rested from the start. I gripped my fists tightly as I went in, clearly aware that my panic and dread over him was being buried under the pretext of being frustrated.
He was sitting up, looking extremely flushed still. He was on the IV drips for hydration. The doctor had already treated his wound on the head he had suffered post his fall. Joong looked up, breaking into a soft smile when he saw Aou and Santa. But his smile dropped a bit when he saw me, a look of guilt replacing the smile instead.
I didn't say a word and just hung slightly behind Aou while he asked him to take care and be more careful. Joong nodded. Santa sat down and nagged at Joong, too. We hung around for about 20 minutes before deciding to take our move. I was about to leave when Joong stopped me.
"Pond....could you stay a bit longer? I wanted to talk to you if it's ok?"
I turned to look at him. I was in a half mind to stay and listen to him, but the other half of me was still sore over how he had treated me. I shook my head no, saying that I had some plans and left before he or anyone else could say for that matter.