The nurse looked up from her record book in shock, having been in the process of recording Chanyeol’s injury. She rushed over to the two boys as Chanyeol laid Baekhyun down on the white, crackly paper that topped the bed in the nurse’s office.

“What happened?” The old woman’s voice was thin and raspy in astonishment.

“I have no idea; he was just there like this…I…is he okay?” The concern in Chanyeol’s voice was evident at the slight break in the middle.

The nurse instructed Chanyeol to sit at the side of the room after having gotten a glass of water. Chanyeol did as he was told and watched as the woman moved her hands expertly across Baekhyun’s forehead and wrist, taking his temperature and pulse. Baekhyun’s breathing had been ragged and shallow but it had begun to even out and become deeper as his body settled to stillness. The nurse stepped away and turned to face Chanyeol, “This child was experiencing a panic attack, but he should be fine once he has slept it off.” She smiled a reassuring, wrinkly smile, “He’ll be up and about in less than 2 hours, and you can count upon it.” Chanyeol let out a shaky breath, unaware that he had been holding up until that point.

“Are you sure? I mean, he has a competition in 4 hours, will he be okay to perform?” Chanyeol’s voice was pleading, and strained at the possibility that Baekhyun couldn’t perform. They had never really spoken but he had heard him sing before, and he knew that he deserved every chance that he could get to sing. The nurse smiled again and nodded, Chanyeol sighed in relief and looked over at the body on the gurney. He looked so pale and washed out, a pang of unknown pain shocked through his heart as he looked at the man before him. Chanyeol mentally shook himself and rose to leave as the nurse told him to get back to his lessons. He stepped through the door and then looked back, confused at what he had felt, before he again discarded the feeling and carried on walking back to his lesson.

Baekhyun slowly lifted his heavy lids, confused at the feeling of rough paper below him and the smell of medical fluids. He arched his back and stretched his arms and legs out to their full length, looking around the brightly lit room that he found himself in. He immediately saw the kind old nurse sat in her chair in the corner smiling at him and it immediately clicked that he must be in the nurse’s office. He sat up slowly, testing his muscles, as the nurse made her way over to him, “How do you feel dear?” He voice was warm and soft and made Baekhyun feel entirely calm.

“I...I think I feel fine, what happened to me though? I don’t…” Baekhyun stammered, clueless as to the reason why he was waking up in the nurse’s office, clearly having passed out at some point.

“You had a panic attack and passed out dear. You have had about an hours sleep, I am sure that you have completely recovered but I am going to check your pulse and temperature to be sure, all right?” Baekhyun merely nodded as the woman set to work checking him up. He suddenly remembered the reason why he must have been panicking as the events of the morning rushed back to him.

“How is Chanyeol? Was he badly injured? Will he be okay?” A torrent of questions spewed from Baekhyun as his previous qualms returned. The elderly woman gave him a stern motherly look and ordered him to calm down.

“Of course he is fine, they were just mild burns, nothing to worry about dear.” Even the nurse’s warm voice wasn’t enough to entirely reassure Baekhyun, and the nurse realised that he was still worried, “Look dear, if he had been badly injured he wouldn’t have been able to carry you in here as he had. Believe me, I am a professional and I know that he is all right. I treated him myself, can you trust me?”

Baekhyun looked into the kind old woman’s eyes and saw nothing but care and a gentle calm there, he let out a breath of relief and sighed at his own foolish overreaction. He then noticed something else that the nurse had said; he had clearly heard her say that Chanyeol had carried him. He couldn’t believe it, Chanyeol had carried him? He had to tell Kyungsoo. As soon as the nurse was done taking his pulse and temperature, and had recorded everything, Baekhyun bounded off of the gurney and fled the room with a spring in his step. Happy in the knowledge that Chanyeol wouldn’t have carried him if he had hated him, he had a fresh surge of energy as he bounced down the hallway to find his friend.