Oh wow, sorry for taking so long with this.

But this chapter is a little longer so... please don't kill me? haha

Welcome new readers~

       Hyunseung slammed the door shut behind him, moving quickly to turn the small lock on the handle before ing his body against the solid wood surface. His mind was reeling, a violent tornado of thoughts and possibilities with no possible end in sight. For perhaps the second time that day, the events of the last twenty four hours, were setting in. There was a stranger in his house—though now he supposed Junhyung was a little less than that, as they had shared a few minor details with each other… But nevertheless, he was still someone that Hyunseung knew very little about. And he was sitting, wide awake, in the brunette’s living room, pondering whatever his heart desired since the moment Hyunseung had scurried out of the room.

       Sure, he had been in what was essentially the same situation the night before; but that had been, well, different. Junhyung hadn’t been conscious then. In fact, he had been as far gone as Hyunseung had ever seen someone, who happened to be unconscious, be. Not to mention the fact that Hyunseung’s blinding sense of pity for the other had overcome almost any sense of fear he may have had towards the other at the time.  It was funny how that sort of thing worked, really.

       He had been hoping the other would at least be able to get up and off of the couch, to be honest. That way he could have led him to a guest room and locked him in there. But of course things didn’t work out as he had wanted. Naturally, his situation was entirely the opposite; with him being the one locked in a bedroom wondering with a sense of terror just what Junhyung might be up to.

       What if, Hyunseung thought, attempting to swallow, but failing due to what seemed to be a sudden increase in the size of his tongue, Junhyung was sitting in his living room plotting some cruel way to murder him while he slept? The other was caught up in gang affairs, wasn’t he?

       For a moment, Hyunseung debated whether or not he should consider pushing a dresser or something of the like in front of his door, just to be sure there would be no way of entering without him clearly knowing. It would just be a safety precaution, he told himself with a nod. But then, as quickly as the thought had formed, the brunette found himself pushing the idea aside.

       This all seemed a little ridiculous, he thought. There wasn’t any need to panic, part of him noted almost bitterly. Junhyung hadn’t been able to lift himself off the couch a few inches. There was no way—unless, that is, the other made a miraculous recovery in the next hour— that Junhyung would be able to get up and roam around the house. Let alone do something immensely destructive.

       ‘Calm down,’ he told himself, repeating the two words over and over in his thoughts. ‘You’re worrying too much again.’ With that, he took a step away from the door, wrapping an arm about his midsection simultaneously; as if such an action could keep the maelstrom of his thoughts at bay. Yes, worrying too much indeed, he went on to think, shaking his head from side to side as he continued to draw closer to his bed.

       He moved forward until he felt his shins brush against the bed’s wooden frame;  at which point he himself forwards, falling face first into the mattress with a muffled grunt. From there, he shifted himself, moving until his entire person was on top of the mattress, and proceeded to roll onto his back—looking like he had dropped straight from the ceiling onto the bed by the time he was done.

       He let out an exasperated sigh, forcing himself to relax as he stared up at his bedroom ceiling.  

       He wasn’t going to sleep very well that night.

       Junhyung waited in silence for nearly ten minutes after Hyunseung vanished down the hall before he even considered moving again. And even then—even with the thought of motion in his mind—he spent a great deal of time staring down at the pile of clothes in his hands, not quite sure what he was supposed to do with it. Other than the all too obvious, change into them, that is. Hyunseung had pointed out the bathroom’s location to him, yes. But that didn’t mean he was going to be able to make it that far. Hell, the task of lifting himself off the couch even a matter of inches had already proven itself to be far too difficult; just the thought of walking made him cringe.

       With a sigh, he lifted his right hand to massage the tender skin around his injury; which had taken to throbbing almost continuously, barely letting up long enough for him to even begin relaxing. If he couldn’t make it to the bathroom, which by now he was quite positive he wouldn’t be, then he supposed he had just one option.

       No matter how unpleasant the idea seemed, he was just going to have to change right where he was. ‘Better get a move on,’ he thought as he drew his conclusion. Setting the little stack of clothing at his side, he shifted awkwardly in order to lift the shirt Hyunseung had grabbed for him. Holding it before his face, he wrinkled his nose a little at the sight of it. It wasn’t entirely to his taste, to be quite honest. It was a little too far on the plain side of things, consisting almost entirely of a pale shade of blue-gray; but it would have to do. For the time being at least.

       in a sharp breath and forcing himself to hold it, Junhyung carefully shrugged off the blankets Hyunseung had draped over him, suddenly finding himself quite thankful that the brunette had taken the time to remove his shirt earlier. As annoying as it had been just moments beforehand, realizing that it meant he didn’t have to try and pull the ruined article of clothing off himself was more than just a little bit relieving. Though, it didn’t make the task of putting a new shirt on seem any less daunting.

       No sir, that it did not.

       Nevertheless, it was something that had to be done; especially since Junhyung didn’t particularly feel like parading around half . So, grinding his teeth together, Junhyung crammed his arms through the almost too-small sleeves, and forced the shirt up and over his head. It took longer than he would have liked, the act of pulling the shirt down from around his shoulders to cover his injury laden midsection; but after two frustrating minutes, the task had been completed, leaving a very flustered Junhyung in its wake.

       Shaking his head side to side, panting slightly from the amount of effort it had taken to simply put a shirt on, Junhyung pushed the pair of pants he had been handed aside. There was no way he was going to bother with them now—not after how difficult (and not to mention tiring) it had been to change shirts. Nope, no sir, he was not going to change into a new pair of pants tonight. Besides, it wasn’t as if the pair he was wearing was totally ruined.

       Sure, there were little blots of blood here and there; but it wasn’t as if he couldn’t live with it. Obviously he could, otherwise he wouldn’t have been seated on a bloodstained couch at that very moment. Instead, the idea of lying down once more seemed to be incredibly appealing to the male. So, knocking the fresh pair aside without even a moment’s hesitation, Junhyung carefully lowered himself onto the cushions. He tucked the pillow he had been given between his head and the couch, not even bothering to mess with the blankets tangled around his legs and feet. And, after a moment or two of adjusting himself, all in an attempt to get into a more comfortable, he finally managed to fall asleep.

       Hyunseung awoke with a start, lurching forward in his bed until he was in a seated position. He hadn't remembered falling asleep. With a whimper, he cast a sideways glance at the small digital clock resting beside his bed, squinting in an attempt to read the small, red numbers flashing on the screen. Nine thirty, they read; had he not lost his job, he would have been late for work—again.

       Well, part of him thought with an odd sense of satisfaction, at least that was one thing he wouldn’t have to worry about anymore. He never liked getting up early anyway. Though, that didn’t mean he was home free— no, the more sensible part of him thought, he would still have to find some source of income in the meantime. Especially since he now had another person to worry about; even though he secretly hoped Junhyung would at least be slightly self-sufficient. Meaning, able to support himself at least for minor things.

       ‘Speaking of Junhyung…’ he thought suddenly, directing his attention to his bedroom door, what was he doing? Hopefully he hadn’t woken up yet—or set up any sort of death traps in the house. Hyunseung frowned at the possibility (however small it may have been). There was really only one way he would be able to discover the answer; and that, would be exiting his little safe house in the form of a bedroom, and moving into the living room to see for himself.

       Though, he didn’t exactly plan on doing so until after he got cleaned up a little…

       When he had finished showering and had changed into a fresh pair of clothes, Hyunseung slipped out of the bathroom, a towel still draped around his neck, as silently as was humanly possible; flinching inwardly as the door slid shut behind him with an all too audible click. ‘So much for moving in total silence,’ he thought, mentally bashing his head against the wall.

       The brunette cast an awkward glance down the hall, trying to discern whether or not he could make out Junhyung’s form on the couch from his current position. Which, he soon discovered he could not—and that ultimately meant that he would have to it up and travel the rest of the way down the hall and face the said other. And, tucking his bottom lip into his mouth and biting down on it gently, that was exactly what he did.

       When he reached the end of the hallway, where it opened up to branch off into the living room on one side and an extra living space off to the other, Hyunseung awkwardly shuffled to his left a little—all in an attempt to observe the figure (he hoped) that was still lying on his couch from a distance. Which, thankfully, after he managed to scoot his way into the room entirely, he found himself able to do.

       It was odd, he thought, reaching up to run his towel through his still dripping hair, looking across the room at the other. Despite the fact that he had slipped a shirt on and quite obviously moved to lie on his side, Junhyung looked as if he hadn’t moved at all since Hyunseung had last seen him. And, as much as the brunette hated to acknowledge, that was a worrisome notion. Although he felt better knowing that the other hadn’t moved much at all, it was still bothersome. He had thought Junhyung was in better condition than that, after all.

       ‘I suppose I should check on him…’ Hyunseung thought as a gentle sigh slipped past his lips, letting his towel fall back against his shoulders once more. He took several steps forwards, angling himself so as to best avoid brushing against the couch (or worse, smashing his shins into the coffee table), dropping to a crouch the moment he was standing before the ruined piece of furniture. And, as he did so, he took a moment to look the other over.

       Much like the day before, Junhyung didn’t exactly look the best. The bruises on his face had darkened—thought not by much—and his cheeks still bore an unhealthy, feverish tinge. As for his injuries, Hyunseung didn’t know what how they were doing, nor was he about to find out. Now that Junhyung was conscious again, he didn’t feel entirely comfortable with the whole, let-me-lift-up-your-shirt act. No, instead, he would much rather wait until the other had woken up and ask him.

       He extended a hand, placing it on Junhyung’s shoulder lightly and awkwardly.

       “Wake up,” he said, giving Junhyung’s shoulder a small shake.

       At first, he earned only a muffled groan in response—something that made Hyunseung curse under his breath in annoyance. He didn’t want to play the “five more minutes” game; not today, and especially not with Junhyung. But then, just as soon as he was about to give another shake, Junhyung began to stir. His eyelids flicked open, the dark irises beneath flicking from one side to the other, searching, before settling on Hyunseung’s face.

       To that, Junhyung let out a second groan, rolling onto his back and ing a hand over his face simultaneously.

       “What the do you want?” he seethed, to which Hyunseung scowled.

       Nevertheless, the brunette managed force out a lighthearted, “Time to wake up.” as he pushed himself back to his feet.

       “And why the hell should I?”

       Junhyung was peering up at Hyunseung from between his fingers now, a curious glimmer in his eyes.

        “We’re going to the store today.” Hyunseung went on-- Junhyung groaned for the second time-- “And for God’s sake, please change your pants before we do.”