Guiding Sehun to one of the three beds in the clinic, Yixing helped him sit down, then busied himself, bee-lining around for the supplies needed, the injured man barely following him with his eyes as he did so.

 

 

 

"Remove your jacket and shirt." he ordered with an automatic tone , but Sehun didn't complain and did what he was told.

 

 

 

Dumping everything on the tray beside the medical bed, Yixing left once more to roll his sleeves high on his arm, scrubbing soap into his hands, taking a few deep breaths, steeling himself and pushing the sluggishness to back of his head.

 

 

 

Now was not the time to feel tired.

 

 

 

He had a patient to take care of.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

With Sehun now laid on the bed with his upper half raised upright so that his ribs sit properly, Yixing started to do his job.

 

 

 

Flashing a light into Sehun's eyes, he confirmed the concussion due to the slow reaction of the pupils and barely responsive reflexes, then moved to the gauze by his right temple, removing the man's hand to reveal a smaller than expected cut.

 

 

 

"Try not to grit your teeth, it shouldn't hurt that bad." the doctor said emotionlessly after cleaning the opening, focused on threading his needle, starting his treatment.

 

 

 

Three stitches and a few grunts later, he moved to the ankle, swiftly cutting the man's boot laces as he just now sees the awkward angle the foot was in , suspecting it to be worse than his initial thought.

 

 

 

Sehun frowned and made a little move to stop the man from ruining his shoes, but decided against it and let him do what he knew best.

 

 

 

Removing the shoes without much movement to the ankle the doctor's experienced hands placed the foot down on the bed without bothering it, seeing just misalignment in the bones,which is a relief as he didn't have any exposed or actual broken bone.

 

 

 

Once again , using steady strength, Dr. Zhang swiftly moved the bones without warning, being met by a scream bit back right after it was released , Sehun squirming on the bed at the sudden but short pain.

 

 

 

"Why the don't you warn me before you play with my skeleton like that for 's sake?" Sehun whisper yelled, his lungs not able to expand enough for a full volume yell.

 

 

 

"You'd have unconsciously tensed your muscles in anticipation if I would've told you and I wouldn't have been able to do it properly, making it more painful for you in the end" Yixing said matter of factly,his eyebrow rising, with a tinge of annoyance in his tone, putting a comical hand on the man's shoulder. He then moved to slip a medical sock on his ankle, strapping a textile cast on his leg preventively.

 

 

 

After the immediate injuries were taken care of, he took one more look at the shoulder he aligned in the alley and nodded at his own work.

 

 

 

"You'll be able to use your shoulder in a week, but your other injuries will take longer to heal."

 

 

 

The man wanted to argue but bit his tongue when he saw the stern look on the doctor's features and decided against it.

 

 

 

"Your ribs will need 2 to 4 weeks to heal, whereas your concussion will need 4 to 6 weeks. In that time you are forbidden..." the doctor paused, making sure the patient got the seriousness in his tone, then moving on "to do any kind of activity. The first two weeks you need to rest, no TV, reading, nothing that requires mental focus, just resting. By week four you'll be able to do those things and by week 6 you'll maybe be able to lightly jog or use a bicycle or something."

 

 

 

"Yeah, right." Sehun rolled his eyes and huffed, incredulously rolling off of him, his attitude telling the doctor he won't take into consideration what he just told him and a twitch of annoyance for being taken lightly triggering Yixing's pent up anger, fueled by tiredness, resulting in him firmly putting a hand on Sehun's bad shoulder, seemingly in a friendly manner, but his fingers dug right where it hurt most and the man's tender skin made him squirm away from his hand, but the doctor's grip didn't loosen, an extremely tight and forced smile on his face, looking him right in the eye.

 

 

 

"I don't appreciate being talked to with that kind of superiority, Sehun, especially regarding this matter. Now you'll do just that as I swear on everything I hold dear that I will confine you to this very bed for 6 weeks until you fully recover if you don't promise me right this moment you will do as I advised." he stressed, looking straight into his eyes.

 

 

Sehun looked into his eyes for a second, but Yixing's dug his thumb deeper into his skin, making him wince and realise he didn't have much of a choice and nodded, then voiced his hesitant approval at the doctor's rised eyebrow.

 

 

 

Being content with that answer, he got up and put back the things he didn't use and emerged into the room again with one of his pyjama sets, one with buttons that would be easier to dress Sehun with, in his condition.

 

 

 

He was almost falling asleep, but Yixing's patted his thigh twice, making him open his eyes lazily, "Just half an hour more and you'll be able to go to sleep" he said with a glance to the clock, dressing Sehun as quickly as possible, minding his injuries.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

After the patient fell asleep, Yixing's looked at the clock and as it struck 6 in the morning, any plan of getting sleep evaded.

 

 

 

In 4 hours he needs to open up the clinic and in 3 hours Seok will be coming in for work. With a sigh, he moves to make himself yet another coffee, just when his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten yet and he strolled to the front door where the noodles laid discarded, forgotten in the rush.

 

 

 

As he slurped at the hot noodles, Yixing's took his phone out and with a glance at the occupied bed visible from his tiny work kitchen, he quickly texted Minseok that he could take the day off.

 

 

 

They rarely have clients on Saturdays and he wouldn't want to have to explain the man lying unconscious in the clinic and why Yixing hasn't documented the visit yet.

 

 

 

If the evident old and new scars on Sehun's torso, the circumstances he has found him in and poorly hidden gun under his pillow are anything to go by, the doctor must think that he isn't into the most honest line of work and he wouldn't appreciate such records being made.

 

 

 

And personally, the doctor really didn't mind it either, not being affiliated to such people officially, that is.

 

 

 

Halfway through his unhealthy meal, Yixing hears muted vibrations coming from the bed Sehun was on, then after a short investigation it seems to come from a phone in the jacket discarded on the opposite bed.

 

 

 

Unfazed, he takes the phone and answers the caller ID '⛔' , holding it between his shoulder and ear, still slurping his noodles.

 

 

 

"Yes, who's this?" he asks with one cheek full, going back towards the kitchen, not to disturb the sleeping log next to him.

 

 

 

A long pause ensued, but Yixing didn't comment as he was busy nursing his precious meal.

 

 

 

"Where is he? Who are you?" a low, dark and borderline dangerous voice laced in surpassed anger finally responds from the other line, making a slight shiver travel down the doctor's back, clearly taken aback.

 

 

 

"You are Sehun's... superior, I assume?" he continues in a casual tone after he recovered, finishing his last bite, throwing the chopsticks in the sink and plastic bowl in the bin.

 

 

 

"And who might you be?" The clipped and careful tone asked, a threat on the edge of his words.

 

 

 

"Before I tell you who I am and where Sehun is, I need you to listen to a request and you must know the terms are not negotiable."

 

 

 

"Is this blackmail?" the voice asked, even darker feelings emanating from the phone.

The doctor leaned on the counter, wiping his hands with a cloth by the sink.

 

 

"Kind of?" Yixing asked back, unsure and hesitating, but he clarified himself as he felt the other man boiling from the other side of the line "Calm thy self. I'm not going to ask for monetary reward or anything of the kind so don't worry about that and I haven't kidnapped Sehun just yet. It'll depend on your reply to this."

 

"I'm listening. What do you want?"

 

 

 

"Not much. I want your word that after I tell you where to come and get him, you'll properly follow my instructions for his aftercare. I've made him promise me as well that he will do so too, but he seems like the kind of person to be reckless at the first sign of recovery and considering your line of work, I don't think he'll be sitting behind a desk, not pushing himself, thus, I want a superior of his to guarantee he does as instructed." the doctor said, a more serious and professional tone to his voice and before the man with the deep voice on the other hand could reply, he continued.

 

"And if you do not comply, I will lock him up for 6 weeks and take his phone away and make sure myself that he follows my advice."

 

"How do I know this isn't some ploy by some rival party to ambush us? How do I know you're not luring me into a trap?"

 

 

 

"Well, first of all, the only reason I even know of your line of work is because Sehun isn't the most subtle when it comes to hiding his gun and the only way he would have one of those would be because he is either some cop or affiliated with a gang, clan, family or whatever you call it around here. And let’s be real for a second. He is anything but a police officer. Anyway I am a doctor and only wish for my patient to recover, I don't intend to meddle into your business."

 

 

 

"That will do I guess. How is he?" the man loosened his voice a bit, relief evident in his way of talking.

 

 

 

"He's doing fine, sleeping at the moment, a little bit beat up, but he'll survive. He will need to see a doctor every week for a while to track his concussion's progress though."

 

 

 

"Noted, when can we come to pick him up? The sooner the better"

 

 

 

"We are at my clinic and we open up at 10. If you can come anytime before then , it would be great. I wouldn't want to scare my clients away. I'll send you the address from this phone, is that ok?"

 

 

 

"I'm hurt. We? Scaring people away? Pfft" He joked, his tone more playful and trusting than before.

 

 

 

"You could be showing up here with massive black cars, bodyguards and suspicious all black suits like in the movies for all I know. I'm not taking any chances." Yixing joked back, feeling caught up in his mood swing.

 

 

 

The man on the other line just laughed, then they said their goodbyes and hung up.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

"You've got to be kidding me." the doctor whispered under his breath, jaw dropping as he saw the expensive shiny black cars lining up on the narrow street in front of his clinic, not believing his eyes.

 

 

 

As the cars parked, men in black suits emerged from the vehicles, some with sunglasses on, taking wide stances, emanating intimidation.

 

 

 

A slow palm slid across Yixing's face, cursing at himself for jinxing it, now faced with the most stereotypical scene ever in front of his practice, grabbing the attention of every neighbour and passerby in the vecinity.

 

Great

 

Lastly, a man slightly shorter than the doctor himself got out, his tailored clothes and groomed hair, paired with confident eyes and generally handsome features, his posture screaming superiority and Yixing's guess was that he was the man he talked with last night.

 

And boy was he something, he thought, barely stopping himself from biting his lip at the sight.

 

As he approached, the man took the doctor in with his eyes, making him squirm a little under his gaze, not used to such stares focused on his body, making his hears go pink in embarassment, suddenly concious of his 2 day old clothes and deshiveled hair.

 

 

 

"Liked my entrance doctor? ‘ Massive black cars, bodyguards and all black suits like in the movies’ " The man jokingly qoted their earlier conversation as he stopped in front of him, arms spread wide as if to show off his creation.

 

A slight smile tugged at the doctor's mouth, once again caught up in the man's pace, letting out a chuckle.

 

 

 

"I shouldn't have given you the idea" They both chuckled, then the suited man reached a hand out, a slightly sobered up expression on his face.

 

 

"Kim Joonmyun, pleasure to meet you"

 

 

"Zhang Yixing, the pleasure is mine." As he put his hand in Joonmyun's, the firmness with which he was met was surprising.

 

 

 

Wide hands with rough skin and long fingers wrapped around his hand in a weirdly intimate slow manner, catching him off guard, making him glance at Joonmyun's face, being met with a wide,overly-flirty smile.

 

 

 

After the handshake was a few seconds too long, Yixing relaxed his grip signaling the end of the handshake and pulled back, the man doing the same, if not a bit lingering.

 

 

 

After the strange encounter,he glanced at the black clothed men watching the exchange and as he turned towards them, they quickly avoided his eyes, a look of pity lacing theirs.

 

 

 

'What's that supposed to mean?' he thought to himself before clearing his throat and inviting all of them in.

 

 

 

Joonmyun following closely behind, alarmingly close, he leads the men through the short hallway and into the lobby, opening the door towards Sehun's room.

 

 

 

He seems to have fallen asleep again and a look of pity washed over Yixing, closing the door again silently. When he turned, he was inches away from Joonmyun, almost feeling the heat radiating off of him into Yixing's personal space, and he slowly swallowed in surprise, rising his eyes to meet his, which were already watching his every move, making the pink return in his cheeks and ears.

 

 

 

"He seems to be asleep now. Let's go over his treatment before waking him up, shall we?" He offered, taking a step back, heading towards his office before getting a reply, suddenly desperate for some space between them.

 

 

 

 

 

His presence was quite unnerving, which made Yixing sit in the farthest away chair possible from the handsome specimen in his office, whose eyes followed his every move, making him hyperaware of everything he did and how he looked like, making it hard to focus.

 

 

 

After ripping the piece of paper he spend twice as much time on than he usually would have, he slid it across his desk, not yet rising his gaze towards the other man in the room, running a hand through his messy hair he got up to get some painkillers from his fully stocked medicine cabinet.

 

 

 

"Have him take this three times a day, they're painkillers" He says and he tries to hand the box over just like the paper, but Joonmyun takes it, gently brushing the tips of his fingers over the Doctor’s, making Yixing pull it back unnaturally fast, but the man's smile didn't falter, it was more satisfied than anything.

 

 

 

"You said he needs to see a doctor once a week. When are you free Doc?" he asked as Yixing led him out of his office, catching him off guard.

 

 

 

"What? No, no, no, no, no,no ,you don't need to come back here, I'm guessing you do have a doctor that handles your... affairs. I'm sure they would handle it just fine." He replied a little too fast, laughing awkwardly, trying to play it cool.

 

 

 

"Oh but I insist, he started his treatment with you, it's just right to continue it with you as well. I'll make sure to bring him." He smiled, knowing exactly what the doctor tried to do, but insisted with his idea nonetheless.

 

 

 

"Oh but you don't need to, really. I'm sure your doctor is more accessible than I am ,being so far away from everything. It would be a hastle to get here so often. I insist." he tries again, but to no avail.

 

 

 

"There is no hastle at all, believe me." he said with a wink and a smile on his face, not backing down as he ignored the plea completely , moving toward the patient room.

 

 

 

Sehun was still asleep and Yixing followed Joonmyun and approached the bed, gently taking Sehun's right hand with his own, gently squeezing it, his left lightly caressing his upper arm, trying to wake him up as carefully as possible, not to aggravate his headache and irratableness caused by the concussion.

 

 

 

As he stirred up, Yixing called his name softly, his sleepy eyes opening slowly like a child's, looking around the room disoriented, his eyes landing on the doctor, on Joonmyun, then closing again.

 

 

 

After a couple of seconds his eyes opened abruptly, sleep washed away as he refocused on his senior, his face suddenly white as a sheet with fear. He glances at Yixing's hand clasping his, then back up to his senior, dropping the dr’s hand like it burned him.

 

 

 

Just as Yixing turned to see what that was about, he saw the man behind him quickly changing his facial expression into a pleasant and practiced business smile, to which the doctor rised a questioning eyebrow but didn't voice his thoughts.

 

 

 

"How are you feeling?" he turned, focusing on his patient once again.

 

 

 

"Dizzy... I guess? Everything hurts" he replied, inching farther away subtly, but still noticed by the doctor.

 

 

 

"Of course it does, it would worry me if it didn't. Can you stand?" the Yixing asked, already helping him do so, one hand maneuverd around his torso, not touching his injured ribs, the other grabbing his bicep, pulling him up gently.

 

 

 

A cough made Sehun's head snap up, then his hand rapidly removed itself from the doctor's grip, along with his body, almost falling back into the bed, but Yixing caught him before that happened.

 

 

 

A glare turned towards Joonmyun from the doctor, taking him by surprise that the meek and adorable looking man could pull that kind of face.

 

 

 

"I don't know what that was about but I don't appreciate people getting in the way of me taking care of my patients. You can wait outside, thank you, I got this from here." he said with finality in his tone, Joonmyun, looking like he had a lot to say, bit back his tongued, lingered for a second, but did as he was told with a small glare thrown Sehun’s way.

 

As the door closed shut, Sehun looked at the other man with accusing eyes.

 

 

 

"What?"

 

 

 

"He's going to kill me for that."

 

 

 

"For what? What have you done?" Yixing asked curiously, uncovering Sehun's head wound and preparing some ointment.

 

 

 

"Joonmyun is my brother and I know him , especially when he is interested in somebody. He always gets what and who he wants, male or female. Plus, he can get really possessive and jealous and that death glare he gave me? That was a clear sign for me to back off."

 

 

 

"You're brothers? I couldn't tell." Yixing replies surprised, continuing his treatment, not taking his eyes away from his task.

 

 

 

"Is that all you've heard?" Sehun laughed, then coughed as his ribs constricted him.

 

 

 

"I won't worry about that. He's just met me less than an hour ago, he'll get bored by next time he comes to bring you over for a checkup. I'm not really the definition of beauty nor am I interesting enough for such a man, so he'll get over it soon." Sehun looked incredulously at Yixing for a second not believing his ears.

 

 

 

"Excuse me,but are you blind , doctor? You're a very handsome man and I'm not surprised Joon picked you and not many people have the courage to order him around like that, you know? There seem to be plenty of things you've got to offer." Sehun said, elbowing the doctor in his side, a teasing smile on his lips.

 

 

 

"Well, thanks, but I still think it won't last long. You've said that he always got what he wanted which implies that I'm not the first nor the last of his obsessions, meaning that as soon as he finds someone that tickles his fancy more than I do, he will move on, correct?" the doctor asked adopting a mocking tone halfway through, finishing the bandage, then moving to take his shirt off to take a final look at the shoulder.

 

 

 

Sehun let out a puff, slightly amused "Smart of you, but that's not really how it works. How he works. But you'll see, I don't have to explain it."

 

 

 

"Ok. Sure" he replied with a chuckle, ending the topic, just as he managed to get his pyjama shirt off of Sehun, exposing bruised ribs and shoulder. Tracing light fingertips over the clear thumb print left on his skin, Yixing bit his lip and looked guiltily in his eyes.

 

 

 

"Sorry for being so rough last night, but I couldn't think of any other way to make you listen to me. I shouldn't have taken advantage of your weakened state" he finished apologetically, but honestly.

 

 

 

"It's ok, I know I can be quite hard to handle. I don't mind" Sehun said lightly, trying to lift the doctor's mood.

 

 

 

"I might mind. What is this about? It sounds like you both got busy last night." A clipped, third voice joined the conversation, startling both of them.