he almost jumps out of his skin when he hears serim’s voice, heartbeat spiking up into his throat. “oh god, serim. thank god! thank god, you’re alive,” haesol just about sobs out, voice shaking and cracking at the last syllable.
but alive doesn’t necessarily mean okay, so he rushes over and kneels down next to him, eyes searching his face. he’s flabbergasted to find serim just grinning back at him, akin to a puppy being woken up from a nap, ready for a walk in the park. “yeah—i, about that,” he musters. he watches as serim sits up, and he extends his hands out towards him just in case he falls over.
“that was… my fault. you woke me up and i got scared and i think i shoved you or hit you or something and then you knocked out.” the words come out in a flurry, and truthfully he’s on the verge of tears but now’s not the time to be crying when his friend could be dying. “how are you feeling?”
huh ? alive ? so that means... in a brief span of who knows what he almost died ? or maybe his heart stopped beating and came back alive... whoa ! that was too much information for someone who was living as a ghost for, well, who recognizes how long.
“ i'm alive ? ” he sticks to echoing words already once spoken by his roommate. but it's not in serim's nature to hide his emotions. his confusion is quick to show itself with how his voice rises in pitch. at slightest, he attempts to suppress it, the silly smile still slopped on his face.
patience, if he can call it that, comes with an eventual reward. inside, he hoped he didn't have to ask for his near death narrative, unable to fathom how to tiptoe around such a careful topic when it's about him. at least haesol spills the details on the spot, a short story with big consequences. when serim initially learned the phrase, there's a first time for everything, he didn’t expect it to include getting knocked unconscious. but here he was with an interesting experience and though his head hurts, he doesn’t think he’s in trouble. no visit to the clinic and no c-word to toss around here.
“ besides the urge to crack my head open so i can fight the headache i guess i’m okay. ” he replies. with care, he adjusts himself again, this point leaning forward then a bit backwards, then to the left and right as if swinging himself round in a pendulum form will help shift his pounding skull. it doesn’t, but it also doesn’t make him dizzy either and he takes that as a good sign.
“ do i look okay ? ” he inquires, turning himself over so the other can have a proper study of his features. hold on, haesol hit him on the head not on the face. “ wait i mean, does my head look okay ? ” he turns to glance away, staring at the nearby wall instead. “ no lump ? no bruises ? ”
