Tag Warning: minor character death, graphic description of resuscitation. if you are sensitive to topics such as car accidents I advice you skip the writing between the asterisks.

Minseok was gracious enough to not pass comment or ask any questions until they’d made it safely back to his house. Kyungsoo had been here a handful of times, some work-related gatherings and for personal calls. It was homely, even though it wasn’t his own place he still felt safe there, which was one of the many reasons why he’d pressed ‘dial’ on Minseok’s contact. He was cool, collected and overall supportive. It didn’t matter the hour, it didn’t matter the reason, he was always there.

He was ushered into the living room by Luhan who must have been waiting for them to return, worried. The kettle had just boiled and three different coloured mugs were laid out on the countertop ready. A movie on the television had been paused and a couple of used plates rested on the coffee table. He felt a slight pang of guilt that he’d called, it seemed evident that he’d interrupted a cosy night in for the two of them, but he really didn’t know who else to call. Sehun? Young and immature. Junmyeon? Yixing? Whilst he appreciated them greatly he didn’t know them well enough to open up about his personal life, not in the same way that he felt comfortable with Minseok, and by proxy, Luhan.

He didn’t know where to start, so he just hung his head. “I’m sorry, I just needed to get away.”

Luhan shushed him like he was his mother, before bringing the mugs over. “Never apologise.”

He couldn’t help but sigh. There was a nasty sense of deja vu lingering over him, especially when he glanced around at Minseok’s living room. He’d been here before. In a very similar situation.

“What exactly happened? I thought things were okay between you two. Did he do something to you?” Minseok asked, but in a very gentle, non-intimidating tone.

His grip of the mug tightened. There was a horrible feeling in his stomach when he remembered his train of thought back at the restaurant. “Jongin went to the bathroom and some texts came through on his phone, from his mother.”

He paused, thinking of the best way to approach the next part. Luhan and Minseok exchanged a look and it wasn’t good. “And what did they say?” Minseok asked, cautiously.

He had to clear his throat a few times, picking at stray threads on the cuff of his hoodie. “Something about pictures of his girlfriend, how she was beautiful.”

There was a loud exchange in Mandarin that Kyungsoo couldn’t follow. Luhan was making the most noise, large hand gestures and a very angry expression. Minseok’s seemed to be in disbelief. He didn’t have to know the language to get the gist of the conversation. He felt like a child watching his parents fight in front of him; awkward, out of place.

A small slither of his subconscious was telling him that his reaction was unnecessary, but he didn’t want to know. He wanted to get away from the whole situation and pretend this whole relationship never happened. Men were all the same, lying, evil, conniving creatures. He’d just hoped that Jongin would be different, clearly his expensive college education didn’t give him a keen sense for that kind of thing.

The other two almost seemed to forget that he was even in the room, so he was once again left to his horrible thoughts. He wished to just scream and drown out the noise. Pulling at his hair or pinching at his skin was not sufficient. He began to think that coming to Minseok for help was a poor choice, so he just hung his head in his hands and waited for them to finish arguing, then perhaps he would call a cab to go home.

He felt like he had ing whiplash, flipping between joy and anguish far too many times in the last few weeks. When was he going to catch a break?

Minseok hushed Luhan, fixing him with a look that screamed: “be quiet”. He’d never seen Luhan look so mad, the older male had his arms crossed and brows furrowed.

“I’m sorry Kyungsoo, that was rude,” Minseok said, but he focused his glare on Luhan.

“It’s fine, I should just go-” he made to stand, but Luhan pushed him back down. Despite his appearance, he was surprisingly strong.

“No, there’s no way we’re leaving you alone tonight. You can stay here.”

Normally, Kyungsoo would be the first person to object being manhandled and bossed around, but the fire in his gut which made him so stubborn was barely alight. He just nodded, hanging his head again. Truthfully he didn’t want to be alone, he didn’t want to go back to his apartment and see all the little things Jongin had left behind in his room and be reminded of everything. It was safer to stay put.

Clearing his throat, Minseok grabbed his attention. “Kyungsoo… please try to not jump to conclusions. I know how that head of yours works, you’ve only seen a part of the story. For all you know this could just be a terrible misunderstanding!” he laughed, nervously, clearly trying to make the tension dissipate.

Kyungsoo just scoffed. “I know from experience that if something feels too good to be true, it usually means it is.”

Both Minseok and Luhan knew exactly what Kyungsoo was referring to, but they remained silent. There was no need to open old wounds, not when there were fresh ones forming somewhere else. Kyungsoo hated this feeling, running his hands through his hair, he braced to stand. “I’m just going to go to the spare room.”

Minseok tried to speak again, but Luhan interrupted. “That’s totally fine, I’ll bring you some towels and some spare clothes later. Take as much time as you need.”

Catatonic, he made his way down the corridor. As soon as he was out of sight he heard the faint murmurs of Luhan and Minseok talking to each other. He could tell they both had conflicting feelings on how to approach the situation, and the last thing he wanted to do was cause a fight between them, so he thought the best thing to do would be to head off to bed. In reality, he was hungry, not managing to even eat the meal he’d ordered, but the thought of actually eating made him feel nauseous, so he decided it would be best to just sleep.

Their spare bedroom was a little colder than the other rooms in the house, purely because no one used it. It was neat though, and the sheets were always fresh. Turning on the bedside lamp, he could see a bunch of plush toys staring at him from a chair in the corner. In any other given situation, Kyungsoo would laugh, but he just slipped out of his socks and hoodie and pulled back the covers.

He left his phone off, flipped over on the bedside table, and allowed himself to get some rest.

--

Kris was going to kill Hongbin.

Well, not really. But there was only so much of the classical radio station one man could take, but that’s all Hongbin ever put on. He didn’t even have any respite when the ambulance engine was off because Hongbin specifically kept the keys in so the radio could play away.

Luckily they were on a meal break, so Kris was taking a moment to eat his rice bowl in peace. The shift hadn’t been so bad, they had been a little bit busy when early rush hour hit but nothing out of the ordinary. Hongbin had gone off into the station to get a drink so he’d managed to turn off the horrid classical music for a moment.

Despite that, Hongbin wasn’t too bad to work with. He was experienced, and very driven to do his job to the best standard possible. Kris had even learned some things while he had been on shift with Hongbin since the elder had advanced training. It’s just a shame that their partnership happened under such strange terms because otherwise he would be really enjoying his time with him.

He was halfway done with his bowl when Hongbin returned, filled up water bottles in his grasp. “Did you turn my music off?” he asked, curiously.

“Yep.”

“What, do you hate good music that much?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘good music’ but if it helps you sleep at night...” he shrugged, mouth full of food.

Hongbin scoffed, handing Kris his own water bottle. “You young people don’t know a thing about good music.”

Kris didn’t need to reply, he’d made enough jokes about Hongbin’s age already, he’d probably already heard them before. He jumped out to throw his rice bowl away when he heard his radio beep loud enough to startle him.

“Requesting for all available ambulances to go clear, there’s been a major incident on the highway and a minimum of 4 ambulances are required.”

Almost immediately he felt an adrenaline rush. “.”

Jogging back to the ambulance, he saw that Hongbin already had the engine running. As soon as Kris had shut the door he was already back on the radio. “4511 we’re available so you can run us on the major incident.”

It isn’t often that control will make a call over the open channel requesting people to go green. More often than not major incidents could be covered with one or two crews. Kris had never be