Seokjin and the Heirs of the Korean Miracle - BOOK 1 ✔

Chapter 15 : Bronchial disease - Memories (part 3)

"Seokjin, are you having trouble breathing? the hospital pediatrician asked.

"No, it's as usual," the little boy said as the doctor listened to his breathing through his stethoscope.

"Are you at your peak?"

"Yes," Seokjin affirmed, taking a deep breath.

The doctor lowered Seokjin's shirt and removed the stethoscope from his ears, under the watchful eyes of his mother and the two Kim brothers who had refused to wait in the hallway with Baek during the auscultation.

"Ms. Murakami, has Seokjin ever been diagnosed with asthma?"

"N-no, why?" Yoko stammered.

For financial reasons, she rarely took her son to the doctor, treating him only with naps, hot soups and vitamins, believing that this was enough to cure the small germs that all children caught easily. Conversely, the Kim children went to the doctor more than reason, for the slightest cold caught.

"Seokjin has very shortness of breath, I noticed it yesterday but I thought it was related to his state of unconsciousness and blood loss, so I thought it would subside, but it didn't go away. And Seokjin says he breathes like that on a daily basis. I need to run him some tests now to measure his breath and make sure his bronchial tubes are working fine, but chances are you missed early asthma. If so, I will refer you to a pulmonologist in the morning. You son is still very young and we must take it very seriously not to reach a point of no return in the future concerning his health."

Shocked, Yoko looked at her son with difficulty and he looked at her without understanding.

"Am I sick, mommy?" he asked.

"It-it's not sure honey, the doctor just wants to check you're alright, okay?"

"Okay," the little boy nodded obediently.

Yoko knew that her son placed absolute trust in her word. She would have liked to tell him that he had nothing, that he was in good health, but she couldn't say that without being sure and she was very anxious herself at the idea that he was really sick.

Soon, a nurse came to get Seokjin to make him blow and take measurements of his breath but she couldn't take Seokjin alone: ​​the other two boys were holding him by one hand each and refusing to let him go. Yoko hastened to apologize, saying that unfortunately she could hardly separate them.

While Seokjin willingly squeezed Namjoon's hand to feel more reassured, his fingers were relaxed on Taehyung's side and it was only Taehyung who made sure to keep his hand in his.

Because of his injury which was tormenting him despite the painkillers and whose pain had woken him several times during the night, Seokjin walked very slowly and the other two were forced to follow his rhythm but would not have let him go for anything in the world.

This vision of the trio made the woman laugh and she did not prevent them from entering a treatment room.

The room was organized lengthwise and there were several cabins with transparent glass walls with inside each an adjustable chair fixed to the floor as well as a tube with a mouthpiece connected to a screen in front of which was a curved base, obviously made to rest his chin. Next to each cabin was a desk with a computer that was connected to the screen that was inside the cabin.

"Sweetie, you are going to enter this stall and sit on the chair," the nurse told Seokjin, pointing to a stall near the entrance. "I'll close the door but you can still see and hear us, okay?"

"Okay," Seokjin replied, reassured by the gentleness of the young nurse.

He let go of Namjoon's hand to go to the indicated cabin but if Namjoon also let go of his hand, it was not the case of Taehyung. Seokjin tried to tug gently on his hand to extract it from Taehyung's but since the other wouldn't let go, he stopped trying : he was terribly afraid of upsetting Taehyung. He cast a pleading look at Namjoon.