8 Chapter Six

"Wooseok?"

I opened the door to see him sitting in the chair, his back to me. "Hello Jane."

I closed the door behind me and started toward him. "How are you feeling today?"

"I could be better," he admitted. He was staring off into space and looked a tad dazed. His eyes were distant, as if he had been deep in thought when I walked in.

"May I ask what's wrong?"

He finally broke his staring contest with nothing and looked up at me. I smiled softly and sat on the edge of the table.

"Um... I'm just feeling a bit down. I'll be okay."

I noticed him covering his arm with his opposite hand. I saw a bit of red and I grew concerned. "Wooseok, what happened to your arm?"

"N-Nothing."

"Wooseok." I gently moved his hand and gasped. "Oh!"

He had cut his arm four times and he was now bleeding. I cried out in shock. "Oh no! Wooseok! I have to get a nurse!"

"No!" He yelled. He stood and grabbed my arm. I stared at him in shock. "Please... don't say anything."

"But Wooseok, you're bleeding! I want to make sure you're okay-"

"I'm fine," he cut me off. "Please..."

"May I go get you bandages?" I asked in concern.

"You're gonna tell the Headmaster, aren't you?!" He exclaimed in fear. He shivered nervously.

"No, I won't. I'll tell her they're for me," I assured him. "I won't say anything."

Well... what if they found out I knew...? Then we'd both be in for it...

"W-Why would you need them?"

I pulled up my sleeve to show him the bandages from yesterday. "I'll just say I need new ones because I don't want to get infected, then I'll ask for some extra as well." I looked up at Wooseok, who was quite taller than me. "Is that okay?"

He nodded, seemingly guilty over his actions. "Okay."

"I'll be right back."

I hurried, forgetting to lock his door as I made my way to the nurse's office.

"Excuse me ma'am?" I said politely, folding my hands on the counter. The nurse looked up at me in confusion.

"Miss Whittaker? Aren't you supposed to be meeting with one of the patients?"

I nodded. "Yes, but I was just wondering if I could get some bandages for my arms? I don't want them to get infected."

She looked at my arms, as if she knew I was lying. However, when I thought she would ask me what they were really for, she just said: "Okay, I'll be right back."

I took a deep breath and exhaled when she left the room. Thank goodness. I didn't want to get caught in a lie.

She came back with two roles of bandages. "How much do I owe you, ma'am?"

She blinked. "Nothing, Miss Whittaker. Just take them."

"Oh... well, thank you!"

I hurried back to Wooseok as quickly as I could without seeming suspicious. When I realized I left the door unlocked I had a mini heart attack, but after entering the room, I noticed that Wooseok had merely sat back down in the chair.

I sighed with relief.

"Come on Wooseok, let me wrap those up." I gestured for him to follow me into the bathroom.

Wooseok stood at the sink and pushed his sleeve up. I sighed and turned the water on. "What happened, Wooseok?"

He watched as I gently washed his arm off. He didn't flinch, but seemed to feel bad. "I just... get like this sometimes..."

I knew that wasn't true, but I didn't want to say anything that would make him hurt himself more. I concentrated on wrapping his arm as gently as possible.

I could feel Wooseok's eyes on me.

"How did you do this?" I asked him.

"I broke the mirror... and I used the glass..."

"Where is the mirror?" I asked, once I had his arm wrapped. Wooseok hanged his head and led me to where he had hid the mirror under his bed. I nodded, sighing.

"Okay Wooseok. Are you feeling better? I would love to talk to you, if you're comfortable." I looked at him worriedly. Oh no... what could have happened...?

"I think... I think maybe I just want to lay down..."

I nodded. "Okay Wooseok. I understand. When did you want to meet next, today or Friday?"

He thought about it. "I guess Friday... I know I owe you..."

"Hey, you're okay," I told him. "I want you to be in a positive, or at least comfortable head space when we talk. But I'm still nervous...I might check on you later. And I'm taking the mirror."

Wooseok looked ashamed, but he nodded. I put my hand on his arm and smiled softly. "Hey, I know that things happen. I'm going to help, okay? I want you to just let me know if you need anything. Please just... please don't hurt yourself anymore, okay?"

Wooseok agreed. "Okay Jane. I promise I won't."

I squeezed his arm, then walked over and took the mirror. I wasn't sure what to do with it. Should I tell someone? I mean... I didn't want Wooseok to get punished, as the HM said...

I decided to just throw the mirror away. In the end, if the mirror is found, I could just tell them it fell while I was talking to Wooseok.

"Okay Wooseok, get some rest."

I started to walk away, but Wooseok stopped me. "Jane, wait." He walked over to the chair and pulled out a broken shard of the mirror. It was stained with his blood.

My heart sank.

"Thank you Wooseok."

He nodded. "I'm sorry about this..."

"It's okay, just please, for both of us, try not to do it again."

He agreed once again.

I threw his the chocolate and he jumped when he saw it flying at him. He caught it though, then gave me a warm smile.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

After I left Wooseok's room, I hurried to the nearest trash can and threw the mirror away. It made me so nervous, and I was hoping and praying we didn't get in trouble. Would they put the pieces together...? What if they found his arm all cut up and asked me if I knew anything about it...?

I gulped. Well, we'd cross that bridge when we got there.

It was only 12 or so, so I decided that while I waited to talk to Yuto, I would check on the others. I checked on Jinho first.

"Hello?" I had knocked on the door and Jinho had called me in. I unlocked the door and entered his room, giving him a wide smile. "Hey Jinho."

"Hey Jane." He had been reading. He set the book down and smiled back. "It's not Friday yet, what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check up on you," I replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Um... I feel okay. How are you?"

"I'm okay as well. Is there anything I can do for you? Did you want to talk?"

"Oh that's quite alright. I'm just reading."

I made a mental note to buy him a new book.

"Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow then, Jinho. I'm gonna try and think of a way for you to be able to let me know if you need anything, at any time, so I can come whenever."

"Maybe some beepers?" Jinho suggested. "I wonder if they'd let you do that."

"That's a great idea!" I gasped. "I'm going to ask the HM!"

Jinho's face fell. "Oh... okay."

All of these red flags were starting to stack up.

"Well, we'll see," I said, frowning. I tried to change my expression and smiled for Jinho. "I'll talk to you later, Jinho."

"Okay Jane, good to see you."

I exited his room and locked the door, sighing. I didn't like that they were locked in their rooms, but I understood to an extent. However, they should be able to walk around sometimes!

I moved on to Hui.

When I opened the door, he was on the end of his bed, rocking back and forth. I could tell her was crying immediately.

"Hui?" I gasped. He began rocking faster and was acting as if he hadn't heard me. I walked forward cautiously at first, then sat down next to him in an act to comfort him. "Hui, are you okay? What's wrong?"

He shook harder, crying loudly. He suddenly turned to me and hugged me tight, burying his face in the crook of my neck. He sobbed. I yelped in shock, but didn't push him away.

"Help me! Help me please!"

He tightened his arms around me and I hugged back, stroking his hair. "It's okay Hui, it's okay! I'm here."

He stopped shouting, but continued to cry into my neck. My dress was soaked with his tears, but I hadn't noticed. I tried to soothe him.

I didn't panic like I did with Shinwon. All Hui wanted was to be held.

I don't know how long it was, but after a little while he stopped crying. He just sat there, in my arms, staring off into space.

I wasn't growing impatient, but the silence was deafening.

"Are you okay, Hui?"

His head was laying on my chest and he was listening to my heart. At first he didn't answer, but then: "I-I feel better."

I smiled a little. "That's good."

He went to get up, but ended up hugging me tighter. "I'm sorry... I haven't... I haven't been held like this in a very long time."

My heart broke a little as I rock him slightly. "I'm sorry, Hui. I really am... I'm here for you, you know that."

"Ugh, I'm going to regret this tomorrow. I'm already embarrassed."

"Don't be, really." I looked around his room before looking down at him. "I want to help in any way I can."

"Aish, you're too nice!" He cried out. He looked up at me. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair was messy. "It's really been such a long time..."

I nodded. "Well, I'm glad I helped. I don't mind this, as long as we don't get romantic or anything. The Headmaster would kill both of us."

Hui nodded slowly. "Yeah..."

I blinked. Hui seemed a bit disappointed. I decided that was my cue to get out of his arms and stand up. "Hey, I talked to Jinho about this, but I'm thinking of getting everyone beepers, so I can come up here whenever you guys need something."

"That would be wonderful," Hui said, smiling. "Thank you so much, Jane. You didn't have to do that for me."

"How couldn't I?" I smiled back. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, thanks to you."

I nodded, my heart warmed. "Good. Well, I'm going to go check on some of the others. Maybe in a little bit I'll come check on you again. Would that be okay?"

"It would be delightful." He took my hand and kissed it once. "I can't wait."

My eyes widened. "I-I'll see you in a little bit, Hui."

He went back to being flirty... I wonder why...

"Okay Jane."

Heart racing, I walked from the room, locking the door behind me.