Making another face at Taemin's back, Jongin carefully - absentmindedly - curled his fingers into Joonmyun's side, noticing the way the elder male used him for support in getting up the stairs. He smiled a little, not minding at all if Joonmyun leaned against him, and he carefully pushed open the door before letting the elder step in in front of him.

 

At the question, as much of a tease it was, his cheeks flushed and he rubbed his face sheepishly. "I... am a mixture of clumsiness and being struck with vertical impairment; plus I think everything jumps out in front of me. Don't you know... the bath really stood up and smacked me in the face, and that wolfsbane bush grew legs and lunged at me..."

 

He grinned a bit, laughing as he shut the door behind Joonmyun and walked back down to the kitchen, noticing the way his arm stung a little more with even the slightest movement. And, at least the scent of wolfsbane would mask the scent of Joonmyun's blood...

---

 

It was nice that Jongin had caught Joonmyun's sarcasm, and it was even better when he played into it, making the elder chuckle slightly. "There's nothing wrong with being clumsy," he said, almost tumbling himself when he lost his balance. "Baekhyun... he might be really pretty, but having grace isn't always his forte." Joonmyun recalled more than once when he had to help the younger because he'd tripped or fallen or cut himself on something. 

 

Once in the kitchen, Joonmyun made a beeline for the sink, hopping up on the counter before pulling his leg up to examine his injury. The bottom of his foot was a mess of grass, dirt, mulch, what looked like a half-squished ant, and blood, but more dirt than anything. Making a face, he flipped the faucet on and let the water warm before he rinsed off his foot; to Joonmyun's surprise, the cut only bled more. 

 

"Taemin," Joonmyun said sharply, whipping his head up in search of the boy. "Peroxide. Now. Please." From what knowledge Joonmyun had, peroxide would not only clean the cut, but it would help stop the bleeding, which would be good for all of them, especially Jongin. 

---

 

A grin lifted Jongin's lips more, and he shuffled through the door behind Joonmyun, shaking his head a little. "I'm not that clumsy. I mean, I don't normally hurt myself. But I think I've hurt myself more times around you than I have in the past six months." Not that he was blaming Joonmyun for his clumsiness, but he thought that maybe... there was a connection. Maybe it was because the elder male affected him in ways he couldn't understand yet.

 

His next words were cut off by sudden way Joonmyun addressed Taemin - the younger boy immediately rushing throgh the room to find the first aid kit before he was offering a bottle of peroxide to Joonmyun - and he stayed near the door as the scent of fresh blood - stronger than before - hit him. 

 

He felt Kai stir, felt the small threat of his darker self begin to uncoil as the wolf started to gain some sort of consciousness, and he swallowed sharply before stepping forward as Taemin pulled out a jar of burn cream and bandages.

 

"Sit. Down, now..." Taemin motioned for him to sit at the bench, and Jongin scowled at him, before his eyes shifted back to Joonmyun, his entire body on alert as he held up his arm for Taemin to clean and then wrap. "Relax, hyung. It's just a little blood. You're fine...."

---

 

The moment the bottle was in his hands, Joonmyun was rushing to remove the cap, throwing it into oblivion, before he was pouring the liquid over his foot. A cool sting tickled at his nerves and he had to bite his tongue to keep from whimpering as the substance worked its way through his wound. Almost immediately, the blood flow stopped, and only when the last of it had washed down the drain did Joonmyun dare to look up. 

 

Jongin's expression, which wasn't completely Jongin, tugged at Joonmyun's chest, and he felt bad for being so careless. He shouldn't have run earlier, should have just enjoyed the freedom of being outside, and then he wouldn't have hurt himself. 

 

"I'm sorry," he muttered before pouring more of the peroxide over his foot. After setting the bottle to the side, he leaned back, palms against the counter and head tipped back as he let the liquid clean deep into the wound. It stung more than it should have, but at least Joonmyun knew it was getting clean. "I'm really sorry," he murmured once more. "I just wanted... a nice afternoon before we were couped up for the evening."