By the time the umpteenth shoulder brushed past his arm, Kyungsoo was deeply considering spilling his coffee on someone. 

On any other occasion, he was normally an understanding man.  The nurses and staff on all sides of him were clearly in too much of a tizzy- far too busy scurrying to their next patients in the direction of every narrow corridor in the building- to regard their manners.  But honestly, he wasn’t too keen on trudging his way to the SM General Hospital at the -crack of dawn just to attend to a patient who wasn’t even his legal obligation. But he’d forever owed his friend a favor and he’d been pining since that day to be rid of it.

The doors to his right bore no difference from one another, leaving the tiny name plates on them as his only means of direction. 

He wasn’t even supposed to be here.  He was a psychologist on all accounts, but he’d never worked beyond his clinic. 

What’s more, he’d never worked on the mind of a child.  Kyungsoo steered clear of pediatrics since the day he’d obtained a doctorate degree.  To him, anything that didn’t already have pubic hair and hadn’t endured the humbling throes of puberty wasn’t in his job description.  But now he was on his way to see a patient that was several years younger than he was fit to work with, and all in favor of his nosy friend and rival. 

“Ah, speak of the devil,” he breathed through his teeth as a door a few mere feet beyond him opened to reveal the young doctor, Kim Jongin. The other peered up from his clipboard at the sound of his voice, offering his signature smile that looked far too coy on someone with such sensual features. 

Kyungsoo made no effort to return it.

“Well they do say I’m one hell of a neurologist,” Jongin quipped, closing the door behind him carefully.  But just as quickly as the amusement flooded his face did it drain from it altogether.  “You’re here to see him, right?  Have you been briefed?”

Kyungsoo only barely refrained from rolling his eyes, choosing to fix his friend with a tired glare instead.  “I already know what I’m in for.  You’d like me to probe the mind of some delusional brat in between his other treatments.”  He shifted his weight a bit, retightening his hold on his cardboard cup of coffee.  “But you know it’s only fair I remind you, Jong.  This isn’t in my scope of care.  I don’t make house calls or hospital calls.  This wasn’t supposed-”

“I understand, but can’t you make an exception this once?” Jongin interrupted, furrowed brows marring his tan skin.  “We’ve already established that this is just for a friend- for me.”

Kyungsoo rounded him then, peeking down at the name plate of the door just behind him.  The name ‘Byun’ was scrawled on it in Expo marker with ‘Park’ listed as the nurse.  There he was.

“We’re not friends.  Cohorts, perhaps, but nothing more,” Kyungsoo quipped, making a point to ignore his friend's knowing smirk.  He was a step towards the door when a firm grip fell upon his shoulder.  Kyungsoo only cast the other a side glance but stopped nonetheless.

“Just go easy on him.  It’s pretty clear his state of mind is frazzled.  Whether or not he’s a liar or if he’s seriously going through some psychological trauma is what you’re here to find out.”

Kyungsoo spared him a grunt of acknowledgement before entering the room.  There was always something about hospitals that made the experience like blanketing your senses with alcohol-dipped cotton.  The sunlight from the window opposite him ricocheted off the whites of the walls, blinding his vision with the glare.  His nose was dulled with the smell of staleness mixed with heady cleansers.  It was almost nauseating, but he dealt with it.

Stepping further, he spotted a cot that took up most of the tiny room where a small body was situated.  Dark eyes trailed up a thin pair of legs- outlined in the soft press of the blanket- and towards two arms crisscrossed against a gown-clad lap.  When Kyungsoo's gaze finally landed on the person’s face, he found himself rooted to the spot.

Deep mahogany eyes stared right back at him, framed in chestnut lashes.  Beneath them, a delicate nose arched down toward slightly-chapped lips pressed in a tight line.  The face- silently imploring- was framed with layers of cocoa-tinted hair, gently-mussed from the pillows.  The boy, Byun Baekhyun, was a sight to behold, but it seemed even he couldn’t escape the ghastly effects of his bed-ridden, hospital life.  Though Kyungsoo assumed the boy’s skin was naturally pale, in the fluorescent lighting, it held a sickly tinge.  The dips beneath his eyes were tinted purplish, hinting at insomnia.  And his arms…  Just a glance at those wiry bones had him guessing that the whole of his body was in a similar state.

The moment a raven-haired young man entered the room, Baekhyun was surprised to find it wasn’t Kai.  This one was of no similar body type as his neurologist- shorter with rounder edges to smooth off the hard angles that Kai's lean stature would have had.  His skin was far more translucent and his countenance was terribly foreboding.  But while Kai always seemed to approach him with warm smiles and careful demeanor, this man offered no such thing.  There were no empty promises held in those cold eyes and no attempt at coddling him like a wounded animal.  Baekhyun found himself a bit relieved at that.

Honestly, he needn’t any introduction.  Kai had already run this by him with a poorly-concealed sternness that shocked him into submission. 

            “A dear friend of mine will be paying you a visit today.  He’s a psychologist who has enough credibility to make up for whatever he lacks in time.  That said, you will not waste it- his time, I mean- and you’d do well to at least give this one a try.” 

It was all that the neurologist had offered before swiftly making his exit, leaving behind a stunned Baekhyun to await his visitor.

“I already know who you are,” he clipped as the man introduced himself.  He made a point to not even regard the hand that was offered to him until the man- Kyungsoo- withdrew it with a frown.  “Kai already told me about you and how you’d be prodding through my head today.”

The other raised his brow in question.  “Kai.. Is that so? Well then, I guess I should thank him later.  I don’t have to waste much more time on an introduction.”  Kyungsoo took a sip from his cup of what Baekhyun guessed was poor-tasting coffee, his frown becoming slightly more pronounced as he swallowed the vile stuff.  “So let’s get started, shall we?  What are—?”

“I can already tell you’re just like the rest,” the boy interrupted with a huff, leaning back to survey the man from the semi-comfort of his hospital pillows.  “You’re just gonna ask a bunch of questions, throw your petty analyses at me, and in the end you’ll mark me as a lost cause.”  They all did after all.  They all gave up on him eventually.  “In the end you all know nothing about me anyway, so just save yourself the time.”

This seemed to stir something in the other man, as he sat up even straighter in his seat.  A blaze of something burned behind those eyes that Baekhyun was tempted to write off as anger.

Or perhaps it was determination.

“Your name is Byun Baekhyun, born in Bucheon.  You’re currently sixteen years of age with a birthdate on the 6^th of May.  You were initially admitted into the hospital on the claims of sudden bouts of crippling pain running through your body.”  Kyungsoo didn’t move a muscle, rather he recited every word from the top of his head, perfected from time he’d spent analyzing and memorizing the boy's case.  “These spasms always attacked you at random and seem to vary in lapse of time.  However, your doctor has admitted that he’s found nothing wrong with you.  No tests indicate anything out of the ordinary, so I’ve been sent to discern if there’s something deeper to what you’re going through or if this is all a farce.”

Baekhyun was silent for a second before the first wave of anger flooded him.  He hated this.  He hated being evaluated like some lab-based experiment.  He hated the thought of the delicate details of his life being mapped out and scrutinized by guys like this one.

“Those are all just records,” he announced, lifting himself off of his pillows again.  “None of that means anything.  The nurses even know that much about me.  You still haven’t proven yourself at all yet, so—”

“You’re also…” Kyungsoo interrupted him this time, cutting him off of his fueled rant.  “You’re also guarded and quick to judge.  There’ve likely been many failed attempts before me, so you’re skeptical.”  His voice was softer this time, though it still held every ounce of authority that it did before.  

“I can also see you haven’t been sleeping well… I’m not sure if it’s because of this ‘pain’ or perhaps something else, but I intend to find out eventually.  You seem rather clever and quick at your wit but it’s your attitude that must drive others away.”

For once, Baekhyun was silent.  He still felt invaded.  The man before him was analyzing him, but in a different way.  It didn’t seem anymore like he was trying to simply look at Baekhyun; rather he wanted to look into him.

“I’d prefer to think I’m not like the others, Mr. Byun.  I’m not here to simply know about the medical reasons behind your suffering.”  This time Kyungsoo stood to his feet, extending his hand in offering once more.  “Allow me to get to know you.  As your personal psychologist for the time being, I believe I’m entitled to that much.”

Between them stretched a rift of silence, settling heavily like fallen snow upon the trails their conversation left behind.  Baekhyun was in the midst of this ice-clad hush, taking the time to map his eyes over the man before him. 

Everything about him unsettled the boy.  He was the epitome of all things clean-cut and pressed to perfection.  Every flaw was meticulously ironed out or simply concealed under layers of dapper silk that barely crinkled at the seams.  It seemed ironically fitting that a man so perfect and precise would bear the task of thoroughly sifting out the blemishes of others.

This time Baekhyun took his hand, wrapping his slim fingers around Kyungsoo's paler, cooler palm.  “Alright then…” he murmured, “I’ll give you a chance.”  Suddenly he tightened his grip, wielding every bit of strength his wasted muscles could call forth.  “But don’t think this will go about as you’ve planned.  You’re not the first shrink to walk in here with the goal of ‘curing’ me.  I’ve no doubt that you’re no different than the rest, but it’s only fair I let you see this for yourself.”

Kyungsoo hadn’t even flinched at the boy’s grip nor at the not-so-subtle warning that pushed past his teeth.  “Glad we could see eye-to-eye then,” he sighed, prying his hand from Baekhyun's.  The boy was surprised to find his own fingers trembling with how much strength he’d tried to force out.  His body was clearly so exhausted.

The psychologist took a step back, brushing off invisible dirt from his trousers or rather relieving himself of Baekhyun’s fingerprints.  “I’ll be back tomorrow.  Expect me at around the same hour,” he clipped as he gathered himself and headed for the door.

Baekhyun found himself following his every movement with his scrutinizing gaze, watching as the man turned around for one more remark.  “I’m willing to work with you, but please try to keep an open mind… I don’t have time to cater to the whims of a child if he won’t even cooperate.”

Kyungsoo left then, sparing the boy just enough time to gape before another shadow sank against the door.  Kai came in looking rather sheepish, if not slightly apologetic.

“So, I trust this visit went well?” he stopped just before the counter, shaking his head at the clutter of pill packets that the nurse had left behind.

Baekhyun could only snarl at his nonchalance.  “You know very well how it went.  Don’t play around with me.  I’m sure you were even spying the whole time.”

“You know, as much as you'd would like to think of yourself as important, I can assure you that I’ve other patients to attend to,” Kai said, facing him now with a weariness upon his shoulders.  “Just give him a chance is all I’m asking.”

The brunette released a groan, tucking himself beneath the thin protection of his sheets.  He couldn’t argue with him now… Kai had a point after all.  The doctor had never found any need to request anything of him until now.  After how hard he’d worked and how much company he’d offered Baekhyun during his moments of painful solitude, he was sure that he needed to repay the man.

“I just want it to stop…” Baekhyun was the first to be startled by the soft voice, and even more so when he recognized it as his own.  “I just want the pain to stop.”

A cool hand brushed against his covered shoulder as Kai swept past him and toward the doorway.  “It can… It will.  Just let him in,” he said.

The neurologist opened the door, spilling a muddled bundle of light and noise past him and into the vacuum that was Baekhyun's room.  But just like Kyungsoo, Kai couldn’t seem find it in himself to leave before getting in one last word.

“He’s your last chance after all… I’m placing everything on him now.”

The door shut, leaving the boy alone to rival against his thoughts.  He wanted to feel anger, wanted to be swept against the currents of rage that tipped barely over the cliffs of his lips.  But it seemed the connection between what he wanted and what was had been severed.  Instead, he felt nothing but anguish at his predicament, a fresh wound that penetrated a crusting scab.

A part of him regretted ever giving himself a chance to hope, just as much as he wanted to be proven wrong.  It was rather cute to think this time would be different, and he’d lost the ability to truly will himself to believe anymore.  But maybe that’s what this man- Do Kyungsoo- could do for him… Perhaps he could believe for him.

Instead of thinking on it, Baekhyun allowed the petals of his eyelids to gently close.  In an hour he’d be awakened for another MRI scan.  His nurse, Chanyeol, would probably end up drugging him with remnants of the pain-killers that were beginning to ‘disappear’. 

But one thing was for certain- there would be pain.  Perhaps it would come while he bathed or perhaps when he forced the powdered mashed potatoes down his throat.  It never mattered before, as long as it came.

                  “He’s your last chance after all…”

Perhaps the truth of those words was what scared Baekhyun the most.

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