“Slow down,” Jinki begged, trying to catch at Kibum’s arm as he limped rapidly towards the lobby. “Be careful. You need to take it easy…” but Kibum wasn’t listening. He had to make sure Minho was okay, had to do something -

As they neared the waiting area Kibum smelled something. His head snapped up and he paused mid-stride, making Jinki almost crash into him at the sudden stop. There was an unpleasant smell drifting right out of the waiting area, cutting through everything else – but it wasn’t the rank, rotting stench Kibum had been dreading. No. This was the familiar, blunt, numbing smell of ozone.

“What?” Jinki was searching his face anxiously. “Are you okay? I told you not to overdo it -”

Kibum shook his head distractedly and strode on again. A few steps later the waiting area came into view, full of prospective patients in various stages of pain, discomfort or boredom. Friends and family waited, their scents speaking of worry or frustration. There was no sign of Jessica.

Kibum ignored the hotpot of smells that lingered in the air. His head turned, honing in on the source of the ozone. His fears were soon confirmed. Minho was sitting about halfway down a row of orange plastic chairs, and sitting beside him, turned away from Kibum and talking earnestly in a lowered voice, was the white-coated figure of Dr. Ji.

“Kibum, talk to me!” Beside him, Jinki’s frustration mingled in his coffee-essence. “What is it?”

Kibum just pointed. Jinki’s eyes widened as he followed Kibum’s finger. “Hey, that’s Dr. Ji. What’s he talking to Minho for? Wait – does he even know Minho? I don’t think they ever met...”

“I don’t know,” Kibum said, and was surprised by his own voice. He sounded so serious – not like him at all. He also sounded much steadier than he felt. He was horrified by the gusts of ozone emanating from Dr. Ji. They were much stronger than usual, almost overwhelming even the scents of Jinki standing right beside him, and Jinki’s scents were always strong. Minho was staring at Dr. Ji with fixed, shadowed eyes, and his face was very pale. Every now and then he nodded slightly, his eyes never leaving the doctor’s face. Against Dr. Ji’s dominating smell, Minho’s soft hint of violets surely had no chance.

Kibum didn’t know what Dr. Ji was doing, but he was sure it couldn’t be good. He was scared of Dr. Ji, but seeing him with Minho brought up all his protectiveness, overriding his fear. He wasn’t going to let him get away with – well, whatever it was he was doing. He walked forward until he stood directly in front of the pair. Dr. Ji looked away from Minho and up at him in obvious surprise, and Kibum didn’t miss the way Minho took in a sudden gasp of air, as if his head had been held underwater and just released.

“What are you doing?” Kibum demanded. He ignored Jinki’s shocked murmur of “Kibum!” at his abrupt tone. He was being rude, he knew, but he didn’t care.

Dr. Ji fixed him with a puzzled look. Kibum expected the ozone smell to get stronger and braced himself, but to his surprise the strong wafts of ozone that had been pulsing out before actually started to fade away.

“I’m not sure what you mean, Kibum,” the doctor said, confusion all through his voice. “I’m just having a chat with Minho here. Is something wrong?”

Kibum opened his mouth and closed it again, all the wind taken out of his sails. There was really no reason why Dr. Ji shouldn’t talk to whoever he wanted, and he had no right to demand to know what they were talking about. Beside him, Jinki was looking from Minho to Dr. Ji to Kibum in utter bewilderment.

“I was just asking Dr. Ji a question,” Minho spoke up suddenly. Everyone looked at him and he shifted uncomfortably. “He's Kibum’s doctor, so I thought...” he trailed off and shrugged.

“He’s not my doctor any more,” Kibum said abruptly. “It’s been changed. What were you asking him? Something about me?”

Minho looked more uncomfortable than ever. He glanced down at his hands, which Kibum now saw were interlocked tightly in his lap. So tightly that his knuckles had gone a patchy white.

“Something private,” he muttered. Kibum stared at him. What kind of private question could Minho possibly have to ask Dr. Ji? What had caused Dr. Ji to exert such a dominating force over Minho? But he couldn’t press Minho for details. Not with Dr. Ji sitting right there. He already sounded completely unreasonable, and the last thing he needed was for Dr. Ji to suspect he was acting irrationally.

“Did you call a taxi?” Jinki asked Minho after a short, uncomfortable silence. Minho looked up again and nodded.

“It’s waiting outside.”

“Come on then. We need to take Kibum home to rest.”

“You guys go," Minho said. "I have to get back to the agency -”

“No, you don’t,” Kibum interrupted. “Jinki told me your schedule was over for today. Come home with us.”

Anger flashed briefly in Minho’s eyes. Kibum was glad to see it. He had sounded commanding on purpose. Minho hated being bossed about, most of all by Kibum, who was only a couple of months older and always made the most of this fact. Minho’s familiar, flash-pan anger was a hell of a lot better than this uncharacteristic submissiveness.

But the anger didn’t last long. It was pushed aside almost immediately by that strange, deadened look that Kibum had noticed in Minho’s ph