Sunggyu's first counselling session with Nam Woohyun was conducted in his private room at the hospital because he was still too weak from the blood loss. He frankly thought that being in bed was a good way to seduce Nam Woohyun into it.

Woohyun sat on the chair facing Sunggyu, a clipboard on his lap, the very picture of professionalism. It made Sunggyu wants to jump him right then and there.

"Mr. Kim..."

"Please, call me Sunggyu. When you called me Mr. Kim, I looked around to find my dad." Sunggyu smiled and looked straight at Woohyun's eyes before quickly looking at the floor. He forgot that he was supposed to be insecure and suicidal.

"Of course, Sunggyu. Could you tell me more about yourself?" Sunggyu bit the inside of his cheeks to stop himself from berating Woohyun for not offering the same courtesy to use his name instead of his title.

"I'm studying for my doctorate at SNU School of Law."

"A pretty intense study."

Sunggyu shrugged nonchalantly before catching his response and forced himself to look unsure.

"It's stressful."

"What about your family, Sunggyu?"

What followed next was an hour of discussion about his family and his childhood. Sunggyu never realised how much different his life was from other people. There was a couple of times he almost slipped out and acted like himself but he was pretty sure Woohyun paid more attention to his lips than what he was saying.

The session ended without anything he could show for it other than an arousal that he could do nothing about. Other than a few heated glances, Woohyun didn't do anything. He didn't even touched him.

Sunggyu was determined to hold his hand by next session.

The next session started innocently enough. However, halfway through, Sunggyu burst to tears for no apparent reason. He half expected that Woohyun would hug him or at the very least hold his hand but the bastard just gave him his handkerchief and waited for him to finish crying.

"I- I'm sorry. I don't know what had gotten into me."

"It's alright to cry, Sunggyu."

Sunggyu was annoyed at Woohyun's tone but he had to admit that crying had allowed him to let out all of his fears and having Woohyun nearby helped a lot.

For some reason, Sunggyu felt safe with Woohyun.

Sunggyu had no expectations for their third session. From the beginning, Woohyun had been giving him those small smiles that gave him fluttery feelings in his stomach.

They talked about everything, from Sunggyu's favourite food to his first kiss. All the time, Woohyun listened intently but didn't offer anything about himself.

By the end of it, Sunggyu froze as he realised that Woohyun was the first man that he was attracted to and he had talked to more than one hundred sentences without falling into bed with him.

The realisation threw him out of loop and it took him awhile to realise that Woohyun was talking to him.

"Are you okay, Sunggyu?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

Sunggyu looked out the window next to his bed and thought about what he was doing.

Was he really skipping out on his exam by pretending to be suicidal to get the attention of a man?

Well, he thought that was a good enough reason.

Unknowingly, he was wringing his hands nervously, a habit that everyone around him always pointed out as his tell when he was thinking.

Was it really worth it?

Was Nam Woohyun really worth it?

Sunggyu laid back down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

He was always have a clear goal in his mind and the determination necessary to reach it. But a few days in the hospital talking to Nam Woohyun about how he was feeling worthless and not enough was really giving him second thought about everything.

Sunggyu shook his head to clear his mind. Pretending to be suicidal was alright and okay in theory but Sunggyu didn't think he could do it without becoming suicidal himself.

"Hyung!" Sunggyu jumped when Sungjong's face suddenly appeared in front of him and he almost jumped off the bed.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" 

Sungjong rolled his eyes and sat on the chair next to his bed.

"That would hasten your plan, won't it? Anyway, did you get into his pants yet, hyung?"

"Am I making a mistake, Jong?" 

Sungjong, accustomed to Sunggyu's evasion tactics took the change of topics in stride.

"Your entire life is a mistake, hyung. Which one are you referring too?"

Sunggyu threw his pillow at Sungjong's face to stop himself from strangling the younger.

"Nam Woohyun...is...too nice. I feel bad for lying to him." 

Sunggyu thought back to all those counselling sessions he had with Woohyun. He was sure he didn't imagine the looks that Woohyun was giving him but no matter what he did, Woohyun continued to act professionally with him.

"It's not like you are going to marry him or something..."

Sunggyu could feel his cheeks flushing at those words.

"Oh hyung... You know this won't go anywhere as long as you're his patient, don't you?"

"Of course I know that!"

"You...you...you really like him!"

"Shout it louder, Jong. I think some people in China didn't hear you." Sunggyu glared as Sungjong hastily tried to cover his mouth.

"That's why you flirted with him. You think he's safe." Sungjong hissed and leaned forward to grab Sunggyu's wrist.

"Yeah. And I'll admit I miscalculated, okay. I didn't...plan to actually like him."

"You are screwed." Sungjong leaned back on the chair with a smirk.

"Thank you, Dr. Lee. Now, can you help me with this or not?"

"There's only one way. Come clean with him." 

"Are you mad?! He's going to be angry with me!" 

"He would be angrier if he find out about this from someone else."

"I know..." Sunggyu covered his face with the blanket, trying to hide from his problems.

"This isn't like you, hyung. You're always so..."

"Brash?" Sunggyu peeked one eye at the younger.

"Straightforward." 

"I'm just...scared. What if he doesn't like that me?"

"The confident, arrogant, the-world-is-mine Kim Sunggyu?"

Sunggyu glared and nodded sharply. "That one."

"Then, he doesn't deserve you." 

Sunggyu rolled his eyes and hid back under the blanket.

"I'm doomed."

The next day, Sunggyu checked himself out from the hospital, pulling every strings to avoid meeting Nam Woohyun for the last time. Sunggyu turned back to look at the hospital building before getting into the car, a determined look on his face.

"We'll meet again, Dr. Nam. As an equal."