Eric life had taken a 180 degree turn to the worst.

He didn’t know what he had hoped for but taking care of a nagging, whining Hyesung stuck in his own body was nightmare material.

‘Water, Eric’ a voice yelled from the living room, making Eric almost drop the glass in his hands. Since when had he changed from a friend into a personal servant?

‘There’s a word you need to add when you want something’ he protested as he entered the room and gave the glass to the lounging man in front of the TV.

Hyesung looked at him lazily, waving him away ‘yeah, hurry’

Never before had Eric wanted to punch himself in the face so badly. Never before had he wanted to punch himself in the face at all.

‘I’m hurt’ Eric whined as he plopped down on the coach, urging the larger man who completely ignored his desperate attempts in fighting for territory to move his legs.

‘I’m hurt too’, the mocking look Hyesung gave him killed Eric’s spirit.

The singer kept switching through channels until he stopped at some gag show. He stretched his legs even further, nudging the other off the couch making Eric unsure if this was some kind of a God sent challenge to strengthen their bonds or a devilish joke to completely destroy their already fragile friendship because as of right now, it was dangling by its last straw.

‘How can you be so cruel to yourself? Don’t you see how tired I am?’ he pushed harder, earning a shove in return. With a swift move Hyesung unceremoniously kicked him off the coach.

‘Yah!’ Eric yelled just in case the other hadn’t noticed how upset he was as he stood up, rubbing his side, hoping for an apology which never came. Instead, Hyesung kept poking him away with his toes.

‘Move and shut up’ he was gradually nudged out of Hyesung's view, ‘I’m trying to watching this thing. If you’re tired, go sleep. Don’t change clothes as these look comfortable enough to sleep in’

Then, satisfied with having a clear look at the screen again, Hyesung gushed all over the couch.

‘Ey’ Eric willed his voice to sound more serious, deciding that yelling was not going to help him, which resulted in an obscenely slurty tone. It was then when Eric accepted his defeat and gave up talking. If he couldn’t control his own timbre, he could not hold a serious conversation.

‘Fine’ he decided to fight dirty so he grabbed the remote and pushed the mute button. This should get him some kind of reaction and he was not disappointed. He not only got a reaction but a whole vocabulary of curse words.

‘I’ll give you back the remote’ Eric took a deep breathe, preparing himself mentally for more curses to come, ‘But only if I can do what I want with your body’

When the last syllable had left Eric's mouth, the temperature in the room dropped below zero. This was probably the famous red line he should never have thought of crossing.

‘Why would you even say something like that, ert?’

Hyesung was stabbing daggers with his eyes and if Eric’s real body hadn't been hurt, something bad might have happened to him. Partially, Eric hoped Hyesung wouldn’t have strangled himself but knowing the man, he would rather die than let Eric touch him inappropriately, so-

‘Not a ert' he was clear on that one, ‘Just wanted to get your attention’

They needed to talk because this switch thing was not working out in Eric’s favor. When he had tried changing, Hyesung had given him the clothes he was allowed to wear. He also was instructed not to shower for more than five minutes or spend too much time in the bathroom because- Hyesung. The harsh regime was restricting Eric’s alone time majorly which resulted in him getting more and more frustrated.

The other kept shooting daggers but the next words spoken were less vicious so maybe he had struck gold in that cold rock heart.

‘How is that any different from usual? Just let me watch the show’

So Eric let him, giving up and wandering away to his own room.

When he had asked which apartment they should stay at Hyesung had called him an idiot. It made sense for them to go to this apartment as Hyesung was supposed to take care of him and not vice versa but who ever would have found out… Thought, going to Hyesung’s apartment would be weird either.

Eric switched on the lights of his bedroom, looking over the room .Gomdori had hidden himself somewhere in the house, too confused about why his owner was acting all wrong, so the place looked lonely, downright deserted. Now, if Hyesung would come here and sleep beside him-

-that would feel weird either.

‘Ah, Hyesungie’ Eric hugged himself, falling down on the soft mattress and rolling from side to side, ‘too bad you cannot do anything about this. I can hold you all I want and you can not escape me at all’

Eric kept hugging himself for a bit until he stopped and let go, contemplating how this was more than just sad. This was pathetic. He did want to play with Hyesungie but not like this, this would only help him develop schizophrenia in the process. Tired and ignored, Eric closed his eyes, wishing Hyesung would stop acting so cold towards him.

---

He woke up from someone shaking him.

When he opened his eyes, he realized a familiar face only a couple inches away from his own.

His hands moved automatically and he slapped the other away, grumbling something about stupid Eric and his ugly mug. He could do without that moronic face so early in the- what time of day was it?

Eric shook his head, willing himself awake, the weird feeling from just before retreating. He could sleep all he wanted in his grave, this was life changing.

‘It seems that when you’re barely unconscious, more of me appears’ Hyesung was observing him like a nature explorer approaching a bug, wavering above him like a broken twig in a windy day.This time Eric used more strength to push him away, finding it a more laborious task than he had initially imagined.

‘I’m not some kind of experiment, Pilkyo, you’re in the same situation as I am’, he said as he got up, looking around the room in a daze, wondering when had it turned dark and for how long had he slept.

‘And you should be more careful of your strength’ Hyesung hissed holding his chest, his face contracting in pain.  

‘Sorry, I mean-’ Eric hurried to help him lie down on the bed, checking if the wounds were okay, cursing his own carelessness, ‘I didn’t mean to-’

‘Seems like you never do’ the other puffed in return, more at ease now when he was resting on the bed. He closed his eyes and didn’t say anything for a long time, causing Eric to wonder if he had just nodded off. With noting better to do Eric decided to head off to the kitchen in search for food because boy did he feel hungry and boy did this body seem to have at least couple more bodies inside of it, eating all his food for him.

Right before he managed to act out on his plan, a bigger hand grabbing his wrist.

‘I’ve been thinking-’ Hyesung’s voice was serious, thankfully not dreary. It made Eric’s heart jump in his chest but he couldn’t understand if it was from the other’s voice or the other’s finger’s touching his skin, ‘that this isn’t all that bad’

To Eric’s great surprise, the hand tugged him to lie down and he happily obliged, hoping they could finally talk some things over.

‘I mean’, Hyesung looked at him with an expression that could best be described as sincere, ‘I can feel there’s a part of you in this body. It feels like a lot of the things I do- or think- interview with your thoughts and I’m not sure how to feel about it- but sometimes I'm afraid-’

And with that Eric felt all his relaxation disappear. What was Hyesung talking about? His thoughts and feelings, they were nothing to be afraid of. He could feel Hyesung’s presence in him as well. There were too many worries, over-thinking small unnecessary details, feeling hurt easily- Eric felt vulnerable but he didn't feel scared. 

‘Eric’ the grip on his wrist tightened and when he looked at his own face, he was met with a death glare.

‘If you are ever going to act on some thoughts you have in your head, I will personally murder you and I will find a way’

Where there is a will, there must to be a way, they said.

Eric gulped, feeling his feet become cold. He knew he was starting to sweat and quiet terror crept into his increasingly beating heart. What was Hyesung talking about? Was he joking because Eric hoped he was.

‘Swear’

‘I swear’

‘That you will not touch me inappropriately’

‘I won’t-’

‘Say it’

‘But-’

‘Just say it!’

The grip on Eric’s wrist was starting to hurt so he tried to wiggle out of it and instead of freedom got another hand on him, this time circling his neck, holding him in place.

‘Hyesung, for the love of-’ he stopped when he realized the the other was not joking.

'Alright! I promise to not touch you inappropriately or spend more time in shower than necessary, not look when I change clothes and whatever else you may think of necessary to protect yourself from me!’

This was insane. He would never do that anyway!

‘Good’ the answer seemed to satisfy Hyesung and he let Eric go.

‘Now, go sleep on the couch' he commanded and kicked Eric out of the bed. Hurt, the older rubbed his back and pouted. How could someone so protective care so little about the well being of their own body?

tbc.

A/N: And now the biggest question. Is Hyesung a maniac? Who knows.

That is, I didn't like this chapter after I reread it but it was kind of necessary. While trying to rewrite it, I dug myself a deep hole and I almost didn't get out of it because I became so unsatisfied with my own writing-

But anyway! A big thank you for the lovely comments, a major thank you for subscribing and a grateful thank you for all those still reading! I will try to do better but my progress is painfully slow.