To: L

From: TLJ

Date: October 2

File: 776244

Subject: Byun Baekhyun

Last Seen: Washington Square Park, New York City, 8:37 p.m.

Update: Subject hospitalised after prolonged fight with several gang members and a man identified as Park Chanyeol, age 20, sophomore at NYU. Three gang members arrested at the scene, two others fled. Old man known as Viktor was taken to the hospital and treated for a surface wound to the face. Subject received surface wound to the head, resulting in inconsiderable loss of blood. Multiple contusions. Expected discharge 10/3.

•

To: TLJ

From: L

Date: October 2

File: 776244

Subject: Byun Baekhyun

Unacceptable. Subject was not to be injured under any circumstances. Contact me immediately for a new placement.

~

"I think it's the new trend to almost bleed to death. All the cool people are doing it."

Baekhyun didn't even open his eyes. He listened to the voice and felt a calloused hand wrap around his. "Hi, Yixing," he whispered and sent him a half smile.

He opened his eyes and saw a small bouquet of ornange carnations in a Coke bottle beside him. "They're very manly flowers," he said weakly.

"What do you mean?"

"Only a boy would buy dyed carnations," he explained. "Girls buy less obvious stuff like tulips and irises."

"So...you don't like them?"

"No, I like them. I know that you are in fact a boy. I'm happy that you're a boy."

Yixing also looked happy that he was a boy.

"So who did you destroy this time?" he asked.

"That sounded like a question," he pointed out.

"Oh...this is like reverse Jeopardy. Um...let's see... You beat up ten guys, each four times your size, and one unfortunate bastard got in one good punch."

He nodded. "Pretty much. Only multiply it by half."

"Only five guys?" He shook his head. "You're losing your touch Baekhyun."

He studied his face for a second. "I guess you could say it was six guys - only one of them was a mistake."

"A mistake."

"I got in a fight with Chanyeol by accident - Kyungsoo's boyfriend."

"Well you can't say you don't get around Baekhyun."

"I didn't mean to. I thought he had attacked Viktor, the old homeless guy from the park. But he was actually trying to help."

"I see. But you only discovered that after you ripped his head off." He tried extremely hard to make the end of that sentence not sound like a question.

"Sort of," he admitted quietly.

"Mmmmm. Maybe you'll find an excuse to beat up Kyungsoo's parents next week."

"Ha ha ha."

He closed his eyes. The right side of his face was throbbing, his forehead stung where he was cut and his abdominal ached. He was too tired to even think.

"Hey, Yixing," he said quietly after a couple minutes of silence.

"Yes."

"Thank you for trying to be my friend."

"Am I actually succeeding? Uh...I mean..." He coughed and cleared his throat. "I am succeeding." He said it in a deep announcers voice which made Baekhyun giggle quietly.

"Annoyingly well."

He gently squeezed his hand. "I'm glad."

He moved his toes under the sheets. "Is Kyungsoo still here?" he asked him.

He nodded. "Two doors down."

"You're kidding."

"No, they moved heim from the ICU. He's heading home tomorrow just like you. Maybe you guys can have a party."

Baekhyun sighed heavily. "I need to apologise to him."

"I don't see why."

"I almost got him killed," Baekhyun said.

"But it wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was."

"It wasn't."

"Was."

"Wasn't."

"Was."

"Wasn't."

"Was."

Yixing sighed in frustration. "Baekhyun."

"What?"

"You have got to get over yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Not everything bad that happens has to be about you."

For no reason that he could fathom, Baekhyun's eyes started tearing up. He felt something growing in his throat, big and heavy. Yixing was getting dangerously close to a place that hurt, and he wanted to ask him to leave. He tipped his head back to avoid the tears from overflowing. Thank God for water cohesion.

Yixing watched him very carefully. "You're very tough Baekhyun, but you're not a god. You're made of the same stuff as the rest of us."

"Yixing?" he asked, his voice thick.

"Would you leave now? I can only handle having a friend in five minute bursts."

~

Viktor was in room 502. Kyungsoo was in room 724. Baekhyun was in room 728. Chanyeol had been released last night after being bandaged up. He had slept - or at least he had lain down with his eyes closed - in his own bed most of the night. Today he was doing his rounds.

He had no idea what had happened last night. There was no explanation as to why he was still alive or who had fought off that gang. One of the policemen thought it was that kid Alejandro who'd called 911. Another thought it was Superman but he was just kidding.

Chanyeol also had this strange, hazy memory of Baekhyun...but no. That must have just been a hallucination.

Viktor's wounds were minor but because of his age he was kept in overnight to be observed.

Kyungsoo lay in the bed only a couple of feet away from him almost as good as new and was being released the next afternoon.

He hadn't spoken to Baekhyun yet. He'd walked around outside his door trying to get a glimpse of him but never actually going in. He felt weird about it.

"So Lisa told me that Miles and everyone else is coming over tomorrow night. It was supposed to be a surprise but...you know."

Chanyeol didn't know but he nodded anyway. Kyungsoo had been chatting cheerfully for almost an hour. He was sitting up surrounded by flowers, wearing his pink robe from home. The bouquet Chanyeol had picked carefully was hidden behind an even bigger bouquet and a fruit basket. Nurses and doctors and tons of visitors slipped in and out. Kyungsoo's face was flushed and he looked healthy as ever.

"And you'll be there, right?"

Chanyeol glanced at him. He hadn't been listening. He just nodded again.

"Great. I mean, my mom is going to, like, herself if I'm not in bed by ten. But it'll still be fun."

Kyungsoo didn't know that Baekhyun was down the hall. He'd accepted his explanation for his black eye without many questions. He'd gone on about how brave Chanyeol was and how he'd avenged him which wasn't true but whatever.

"...Don't you think?" He was staring at him waiting for him to answer after a long ramble about something or other.

Chanyeol nodded, grateful that Kyungsoo only tended to ask yes or no questions.

"We can just order more of we run out," he continued.

Only Kyungsoo could manage to turn a stay in hospital into a social whirlwind. Two more friends came barging through the door. "We'll come back," one of them whispered in a we're-cool-with-the-fact-that-your-boyfriend-is-here kind of way.

"Right," he sighed. He was thinking about whether the door to room 728 would be open and what he might say if he ventured into it. Then he felt ashamed of himself. What kind of obsessed about a troubled stranger when his boyfriend was in the hospital?

He was thinking about this when he noticed Kyungsoo's expression change. He turned around to see what had caused that and he nearly bit his own tongue off.

"Um, hello?" It was Baekhyun loitering at the door. Chanyeol had never seen his hair so neat before. It was pale blonde and there was a lot of it. His freckles stood out in the fluorescent lights.

Kyungsoo's face changed from surprised to angry in two seconds. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I-um, actually spent the night