“Oppa!”

I cried out and collapsed on a side of the bed. Sitting there in the hospital gown with an arm casted and bruises on his face, Hyojin cracked a smile.

     “Come on Pup. You're being sentimental.”

     “.” - I hit his healthy shoulder, paying no mind to the unusual curse words. - “How can I not be worried when you're like this?”

     “Alright. I'm still alive, don't you see?”

Hyojin hardly overreacted, which explained why he just calmly responded in an attempt to comfort me. That should be what I was doing when he was the one that got injured though. 

But it turned out that way because my anxiety level had reached its top on the way here. The moment I heard the news from Taehyung, I immediately felt like out of breath and as he drove me here, I'd been literally biting my nails to calm myself down.

Or else, I doubted that Taehyung would need to deliver the news of me also being hospitalized. 

     “How did you know I'm here?”

Hyojin asked as I was still pouting at him and examining his injured arm.

     “Taehyung told me. Jimin has set Taehyung to be some kinds of emergency contact.” - I explained and then looked up, throwing him a strict glare - “Now let me ask you, why getting into a fight with Jimin? It's not like you at all!”

     “Why do you think we have to stay the same through time?”

     “Geez. . .answer my question!”

I frowned at the sudden and weird question from him.

     “Uhm. . . It's the issue for us to think about. That I haven't been involved in any fight doesn't mean I would forever avoid one.” 

Hyojin shrugged, his little smirk was still visible, as if bruises and injury had no impact on him. 

     “And you too” - He went on - “That you used to surrender your anxiety doesn't mean you can't control your emotions. At least you have shown it today.”

     “Urgh Kim Hyojin.” - I growled and held out my fist towards him. - “Don't beat around the bush or I'll let my anger control this fist.”

Hyojin laughed. And I heard another laugh from behind. It turned out to be Taehyung, standing right behind me with his arm crossed. 

Why the heck is he here? Shouldn't he be with Jimin right now?

     “Hyungnim, be careful. She's got strong punch.” - Taehyung said in between his chuckle. - “My personal experience.”

     “See?” - I demanded Hyojin, still kept my fist high - “You'd better spit it out.”

Hyojin let out a heavy sigh. Not a sigh of negative emotion, more like a sigh of relief.

     “Ok. First thing first, I didn’t have any fight with Jimin. We got beaten together.”

○●○

I stretched my arms and yawned. Taking off the earbuds, I glanced at my watch. It was ticking towards half past twelve. Christmas Eve had already passed and I was still in the hospital, taking care of Hyojin. 

The doctor said Hyojin could be discharged tomorrow so I didn't need to stay overnight here.

But I just couldn't leave him here alone. 

I had already found myself cruel enough to send Seulgi home without any accompanion or comforting for her after a troublesome night.

She couldn't imagine bumping into Jimin at the pub where she and Hyojin came for a drink, much less getting involved in a street fight. 

Some random gangsters happened to be at the pub at the same time with her and one of them crashed into her when she was heading for restroom.

Seulgi tried to wipe off the incident as she sensed potential trouble from the gangster but he didn't think the same. Instead, he provoked her by spitting verbal ual harassment. As soon as Jimin and Hyojin spotted the scene and came for rescue, what followed was a mess with punches, kicks, sounds of people shrieking and glasses shattering. 

Someone called the police but the gangsters quickly disappeared from the scene, leaving there two injured guys and a stupefied Seulgi.

Seulgi was basically freaking out when I and Taehyung got to the hospital, running mindlessly back and forth between the two beds to check the guys' situation. 

I had to drag her outside, pushed her into a taxi and had it send her home with a brief affirmation “We'll let you know later. Go home and rest.” 

I doubted if she could be able to rest but at least, I hoped she relieved upon receiving the news that both Jimin and Hyojin were OK now. 

I made a mental note to check up on Seulgi in the morning and walked outside the ward, planning to get some air. But it was snowing hard outside. 

Typical late December night.

The sight would be beautiful on any other Christmas Eve, except for tonight when I spent this holy night at the hospital.

I strolled along the hospital corridor and found myself stop next to an old vending machine. In front of it was a familiar figure.

     “Hey, can't sleep either, huh?”

Now that we were both guardians for Jimin and Hyojin, it wasn't just professional stuff between me and Taehyung anymore. 

     “Just woke up though.” - I replied him with a shrug. - “How's Jimin then?”

     “Snoring loudly as hell.”

     “A sign of good sleep, eh?”

     “Right.” - He snorted. - “He's gotta pay me heaps for this sleepless night. You should do the same with Hyojin hyung.”

I gave him a thumb up, approving.

     “Sounds great. Just look at what kind of Christmas gift they brought us.”

We cracked up. I had been shy with Taehyung lately and tried to draw a clear lines between professional and personal with him, that's something I didn't deny. So it was a bit weird to get back to pulling jokes and laughing at our half-baked sense of humor like this. 

But I must admit, doing this just seemed so . . . easy, so casual, so natural to me.

And. . . yeah, I kinda miss it.

     “Anyway, this vending machine .” - Taehyung suddenly sighed and hit the vending machine with his bare hands - “I barely ate tonight. . .”

I gulped. He made a point. We were busy waiting for Juyeon at the restaurant and then driving like crazy to this hospital without eating much. 

And there wasn't anything to fill the stomach at the vending machine, even just a cup if instant noodles. 

     “Speaking of that. . .” - I coughed, trying to ease my growling stomach at the thought of steamy instant noodles. - “I also fancy a cup of noodles now.”

As if my confession just switched on something on his mind, Taehyung beamed.

     “Well, if you don't mind. . .Wanna go and find a convenient store?” 

I bit my inner cheeks thinking. I might miss having fun with him but as I tried to stay clear on the boundary between professional and personal, I should refuse him for the uncomfortable feeling I would experience. 

My hesitation also alerted Taehyung. He gazed away and finally realized it was snowing outside.

     “Oh dear. . . It's snowing. . .”

His voice trailed off in disappointment and we spent a brief moment staring at our feets, having no idea how to say next.

As if my brain took a little to run a query for related facts, right at that moment, something had finally sparked in my head. 

I guess I still had it kept behind my phone case since I received it from him. In order to justify that thought, I pulled out my phone and took off the case. A folded piece of paper fell off. It was there as expected.

The GS25 gift card Taehyung gave me at the music camp.

Right, the night would go on with us both being stuck here with an empty stomach anyway. So what's the problem with two hungry people getting something to eat together? 

My lips curved into a big smile as I asked him.

     “Do you remember this, Taehyung-ssi?”

     “Hah” - He immediately reacted - “Ain't it too cold for an icecream now?”

He has good memory.

Oh and I remembered that line from him, too. 

That's why I tilted my head coyly.

     “Ay. . . I'm not that mean. Anyway, I spotted a GS25 nearby. Let's go.”