lmao bet yall really thought it was actually finished ð¤
Hao storms to the entrance door of the hospital first, looking back at me impatiently as I jog quickly behind him. He holds lightly onto the swinging doors before letting me in. We rush to where a secretary is, trying to catch our breaths
"How may I help you?" the secretary asks. I try to speak, but somehow my words do not catch up with my brain. I pant and look at Hao, who immediately gets what I mean
"We're looking for Jude, who I believe is a patient here. This is her brother" he says, putting his hand over mine. The woman smiles kindly while taking her time to type down a few words on a keyboard. Hao coughs, making her look up
"Hanbin?" she asks me, and I nod
"Follow me" she says, sitting up and signalling to the other secretary at the desk to take over her computer. We follow her out of the room in which various people are sitting on dark blue chairs, waiting to be called up. The woman lets us into a hallway before speaking
"We called your parents but they didn't answer. So we called you and the boy that was also on her emergency contact list" she says. I look at her with a confused face
"Huh? Which boy"
"I believe his name is Ricky" she says, tapping at a button for the elevator. I scoff. Of course Jude has him on her contact list. He's practically her second brother
"Is he here already?" I ask, walking into the elevator along with Hao and the secretary
"Yes. He came in with another boy, though. I don't know if that bothers you" she says. I think for a second before guessing that it's Gyuvin. I feel a sigh escape my lips as I feel reassurance that Jude is not alone at the present
"What happened to her?" I ask after a long silence. The woman glances at me before smiling
"Nothing too big. I'm sure she'll be fine" she says kindly. Her words do not make me feel any better. I need to hear it from the doctors themselves
"How did it happen?" Hao asks from beside me. He and Jude have gotten closer during the summer, and he treats her like his own little sister. He has treated her to food, played board games with her, talked to her about self defence, and would even sometimes go as far as to help her study.
"You don't need to worry about that right now. She'll be fine" she says. Hao looks like he's about to protest before the elevator door opens, revealing Ricky sitting on a chair next to Gyuvin, who is calmly sleeping on his shoulder while Ricky plays with his hair.
He looks up at me and pushes Gyuvin off of him, who wakes up in a start. I walk up to them, looking at Ricky in the eyes
"How is she?"
"She's alright. The doctors said that she did break one leg, though" he says. I sigh in relief before looking back at the secretary
"May I see her?" I ask. She nods and points at a door. I jog up to it before carefully opening the door, revealing my step sister looking calmly at her phone, bruises filling her arms, face, and legs. She looks up when I enter, and a strike of fear goes through her eyes
"You're gonna kill me, aren't you?" she asks. I shake my head and take a seat beside her, adjusting the things on the side cabinet
"Why would I?" I ask
"They haven't told you why I got hurt, did they?" she asks, disappointment hidden in her voice
"Nope"
"The bullies did what bullies do. Only this time I couldn't do anything about it" she says. I look at her, with a mix of anger and sorrow
"What did they do?"
"I don't really remember all of it. I know that I was walking home from the store, and then they came charging at me. After that I kinda don't remember, other than being pushed into a street with cars. The police came, and I gave all of their names to them"
"Good" I say. My head is still thinking about it. I wonder the fear, the pain, the horror that she could have felt in the moment. I can imagine the blinding headlights of the cars rushing past her, as she tried to desperately get up. Or maybe she was too weak to get up, and just gave up.
I can imagine the sight of seeing her drop the food she bought, only to be cornered by a group of teenagers, determined to make this day her last.
She could have died
"Y'know what's funny?" Jude asks
"Nothing is funny about this
"The only reason why I lived was because of Yujin"
"Yujin?" I ask in surprise
"Yeah. The cops found footage of the attack. Yujin dragged me out of the highway, but he didn't make it in time when a car drove over my leg" she says
I stay silent. I don't know what to think. Anger slightly overwhelms me. I'm grateful to Yujin, of course, but I'm furious at the way the attack had to happen
"It's so weird. It's karma, almost. I protected Yujin from getting bullied, and if I didn't take his place, he probably would have died, and I wouldn't have been able to protect him. But by taking his place, he protected me instead" she says, a smile on her lips. I laugh bitterly
"And now those fuckers will be taken to juvenile jail for attempted murder" I say, and Jude once again looks up
"You think so?"
"I mean, they have footage, and a lot of proof. It's pretty likely" I say. Jude smiles appreciatively with satisfaction. We stay in silence for a while more before Jude speaks up again
"Ricky and his boyfriend came. What about my mom?" she says. I ignore the 'boyfriend' part that Jude described as Gyuvin, and instead smile softly
"The call didn't go through," I say. Jude scoffs before going back to her phone
"Of course it didn't. Can't they even answer a phone call when their daughter nearly died?" she asks
"Well, if you put it that way, you make them sound like complete assholes"
"'Cause they are," Jude mutters. I hum in return
"Sometimes. But it doesn't matter what they are" I declare
"Why's that?"
"Because if they don't waste time for us, then why should we waste our time thinking about them? Look, Jude, you know the people that are here for you, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"Ricky got here before me, went to check up on you before me, asked the doctors about you before me, and took care of you when I wasn't here. Am I right or am I right?"
"You're right"
"He thinks of you as a sister. That's already one person that cares. Now two, Yujin. Who would risk their lives by putting themselves into a life or death situation for someone who they don't care about?" I ask. Jude stays silent and I laugh
"That's my point. Three, Hao. Jude, you should have seen his face when I told him that you were in the hospital. He started running even before me, and got here before me. He was worried sick. We both were" I say, and Jude stays silent
"Cho. She adores you. She is always talking about the new things she learns about you. She's always like; 'oh, Jude did this today', 'oh, Jude is so adorable', 'oh, I would punch those bullies if I could''" I say and raise my eyebrow to dramatically prove my point. Jude erupts in a laugh, and pushes my shoulder, making me sway to the edge of my chair, and nearly falling off
"And there's me. I know I don't show it often, because it's something that I'm not used to. I'm always here though, whether you like it or not. Don't think of me as being a person who was forced to be your brother. No, think of me as your reliable brother who will guide you through life so that you don't have to suffer alone. You know what I learnt this year?" I ask her. She shrugs
"That you're gay?" she asks, and I frown
"I mean, I guess that too. But no, that's not what I was gonna say. I learnt that people always have problems, and having no one to rely on just makes those problems eat the person alive. It makes them vulnerable. No one deserves to feel that kind of emotional pain. When I met Hao, I didn't think that his life was that difficult, but I was interested. As time passed by, I noticed that he needed someone to lean on. No one was doing it, so I decided to do it. It is what I learnt, what Hao taught me, and I suddenly realised that I also needed to lean on someone. I learn that people should learn to care, and see what their priorities are. That's what our parents have yet to learn, and if no one does it for them, then we should take up the job" I say. Jude hums, putting her phone to the side of the hospital bed
"How?"
"How about camping?" I ask, reminding myself of what Jude's mother had told me many months ago "There's still two weeks left before summer vacations finish. Let's use the time for the best" I say, ruffling Jude's hair. She pulls my hand away in joking disgust and I laugh
"How will that help with anything though?" she asks, sitting up straight in curiosity
"Maybe being together as a family might make them realise their priorities. They'll notice what they're missing out on, and possibly talk it out with us" I say
Jude hums in consideration, focusing her eyes in concentration. A smile creeps up on her face before jumping into a different sitting position, clearly excited
"Can Hao come?" she asks
"Sure, if you want. Why though?" I ask, confused. Jude shrugs before grinning
"he's practically already part of the family" she says. I smile, before seeing Jude looking at the door. Hao stands there, an overwhelmingly happy look on her face, mixed with tears forming in his eyes.
I smile... he's a part of my family. To me, and in my heart, he will always be part of the family. the family of people whom I love, appreciate, and look up to. The people whom I'll do anything for, no matter the consequences. The people I want to know, up until my brain thinks of knowing them as a habit. Hao is part of my definition of family, and part of Jude's definition of family.
"A family camping trip it is then!"
~ THE ACTUAL END ~
Tysm for reading this ff! It's trully sad how fast time passed by, and I enjoyed writing this story sm!! Ofc, I'll make sure to do a extra chapter for GyuRicky, but other than that, the story has come to an end :(
Once again, ty for reading, and I also published the first two chapters for my new haobin ff! please check it out and I promise I'll try super hard for it to turn out well. The new story is called 'Once and for All'
Also, finally, I will put this ff in some editing bc I went through it just yesterday and found some parts rll cringy and unnecessary, so I'll just change those. Ty all for reading!!
Lyy <33
Vibe Songs For 'The 1 Rule':
~ Lovers Rock - TV Girl
~ Juliet - Cavetown
~ By My Baby - The Ronettes
~ Cardigan - Taylor Swift
~ Sweet Dreams, TN - The Last Shadow Puppets
~ Fix You - Coldplay
~ Meet Me In The Woods - Lord Huron
~ My Kind of Woman - Mac DeMarco