The alarm beeped to wake up Chanyeol before it was thrown away onto the wall, followed by a loud scowl as the clock let out a squeak and bounced to the floor, falling silent. The giant groaned and threw the blankets aside, raking a hair through his messy hair. Although he was pretty drained from sleep as he got home late, he was rather… excited to see Baekhyun again.

Wait—nonono, excited? Why for? He'd only just started work, and Baekhyun was just a patient he needed to take care of. Chanyeol took care of loads other patients before, and he had no personal attachment to them at all—they all bored them to death, if he was honest. Perhaps it was because his current nursing career was focused on taking care of an allocated patient? But even then, that was no excuse for the butterflies fluttering in his stomach every time he thought of going to work with Baekhyun that day.

Maybe he was just hungry. Haha! Yeah, he was just hungry…

. . .

Yeah…

Chanyeol smiled warily to himself and got up, stretching his limbs. He quickly changed into his uniform, looking at the mirror as he straightened up his shirt.

"Aish…" Chanyeol winced, his eyes focusing at his reflection, his gaze falling at his scratched cheek. His cut lip was covered with a scab, and the rest of the scratches were already darkening. Although they've healed overnight, it was still rather tender and still stung as he washed his face with cold water, taking precaution to dab it gently with a towel when he dried his face. He gave his hair a quick brush, grabbed his wallet and went outside into the fresh air.

It was in the middle of spring, and the mornings were still cool. He breathed out steam as he preceded his half-mile walk to SM Institute, passing through a number of shops. He stopped as he came across a bookshop, his eyes falling to a complex set of crayons at the window display.

"Baekhyun would absolutely adore those." He said to himself, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach. He entered the bookshop and went through corridors of books, drawing equipment, stationery and occasional confectionery. He spent a while there, gazing down at the large selection of objects before deciding on a box of oil-pastels and a lineless sketchbook, checking them out at the cashier. He emerged out from the shop with a neat plastic bag before he bumped into somebody, steadying himself just in time.

"Ow jeez—hey, Junmyeon!" Chanyeol said breathlessly. Indeed, the familiar black-haired male stood just a few paces in front of him, holding a cup of coffee in the Institute's familiar mint-green uniform. Junmyeon looked rather angry for a second, before his face softened and he laughed.

"Hey, 'Yeol." Junmyeon sighed, letting out a 'phew!'. "If it was any old guy, I would've punched them. Good thing I saw your face before I did it."

Junmyeon laughed and patted Chanyeol on the back, deciding to walk together to the Institute. Junmyeon, Chanyeol noticed, looked rather laid-back. Both of his hands were pocketed inside his pants and his shoulders were hunched and bent, and his hair was ruffled all over the place. His uniform was full of creases and he didn't even do his top buttons, exposing his collarbones.

"Yeah, I have a nice body, right?" Junmyeon snickered as he noticed Chanyeol staring at him. Chanyeol shook his head.

"I was just… well, analysing you." Chanyeol shrugged. It was the truth; he wasn't attracted to Junmyeon at all. He was just looking at him.

"Just kidding. I don't really bend that way anyways." Junmyeon laughed. "Do you swing that way, Chanyeol? Don't worry; I'm not going to say anything about it."

Chanyeol shrugged yet again. "I don't know." Then he thought about it. "I guess I'll just date who I like, I suppose."

Junmyeon grinned and nodded, and the subject changed. They were greeted with Luhan at the double-doors of the Institute, and they went to the canteen for a rather quick breakfast; Chanyeol with butter-and-chocolate-sprinkle sandwiches ("Honestly, what the hell is with your food taste?!" Junmyeon scowled), Luhan with pink cream doughnuts ("I baked these myself!" he said rather proudly) and Junmyeon, a cup of coffee with piles of marshmallows ("Shut up Luhan, this is a perfectly healthy breakfast! Let me live my youth!" Junmyeon groaned). They waited for their shifts to start and retrieved breakfast trays for their patients, parting ways as they entered into their own wards.

Chanyeol went through the usual procedure of security checks before he entered Baekhyun's room. He found Baekhyun rolled into a ball, his knees tucked in the same way he met him first time. The pillow was completely flat as if he hadn't slept on it and his blankets were folded neatly without creases; it was as if Baekhyun had been waiting for Chanyeol for a long, long time. When Chanyeol entered the room, Baekhyun instantly sat up, his eyes twinkling, excitedly scooting closer to him. But his eyes wandered to Chanyeol's cheek and his face fell, drooping, his hands limp by his side.

Chanyeol didn't let this go unnoticed.

"You still feel bad?" Chanyeol said sympathetically, putting down the breakfast tray beside him, sitting down on the bed. "Hey, if anyone should feel bad here, it should be me. I made you scared yesterday, because you didn't like showers and I showered you anyways. I know you didn't mean to scratch me, so just drop it, okay?"

Baekhyun looked at him sadly, and then fidgeted with his fingers. It was clear that he still felt guilty.

"Hey, cheer up, yeah?" Chanyeol smiled. "I've brought you breakfast! Look, French toast!"

Baekhyun still looked at him guiltily.

"Aish, Baekhyun…" Chanyeol sighed. Then he brightened up. "Hey look, Baekhyun. I bought something you'd like!"

Chanyeol produced the plastic bag he had been holding and showed Baekhyun its contents, pulling out the brand-new set of crayons and a new sketchbook. "Look, Baekhyun! I bought these for you!"