Chapter 2

Kyungsoo braces himself for the worst as he opens the door to Jongin's room in the hospital. He does not know what sight will greet him this time when he opens the door. Instead of seeing Jongin making out with a nurse, he sees a guy who is most probably the same height as Kyungsoo pat Jongin's head fondly. The psychology major wonders what the relationship between the two of them is.

The guy who patted Jongin's head turns around as soon as the door swings open. Kyungsoo his lips nervously and enters. The guy gives him a kitten-like smile and the university student immediately smiles back. The guy seems familiar, somehow. Kyungsoo feels like he has seen the guy somewhere but he does not really remember where. As he continues to think hard about where he has seen the guy before, the guy is already walking towards him with a pleasant smile.

"You must be Do Kyungsoo!" he exclaims excitedly. It is then where he has seen the guy before clicks. "I'm–"

"Chen," Kyungsoo interrupts him before the guy is able to introduce himself. His face reddens as soon as he realises what he has just done. "I'm sorry," he apologises, ducking his head almost shyly. "It's just that I'm a big fan of you." Of course he thinks that he has seen that guy before. This is the guy that Kyungsoo practically worships. He knows Chen because the guy is a very popular singer in South Korea. He has a soothing voice that never fails to calm Kyungsoo down.

The guy chuckles in amusement while Jongin snorts. "Well, I was about to say Kim Jongdae, actually," he corrects in a gentle tone. "Since I'm not working at the moment, just call me by my real name."

Kyungsoo's eyes almost bulge out of his eye sockets as soon as Jongdae replies. So, this is Kim Jongdae, the older brother of his patient. Speaking about that, he cannot believe that he has just forgotten his real purpose of coming here. Well, you can't blame him. It is his idol right in front of him at the moment. "So you're Jongin's older brother," he states casually, snapping back to reality. He does not want to embarrass himself further.

Jongdae nods and flashes another smile. "That's right. He has told me a lot of things about you," he responds. Kyungsoo detects slight sarcasm in his tone but he does not comment anything. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Jongin roll his eyes at the exchange between his older brother and Kyungsoo.

"In case you're stupid, that was sarcasm, by the way," Jongin tells him in a condescending tone. "Jongdae meant to say that I practically told him nothing about you except for the fact that you're an obnoxious , in my opinion."

Kyungsoo glares at the guy on the hospital bed. Minseok's warning to him to be patient towards the younger guy plays on his mind but he disregards it. Well, screw everything. Jongin has been nothing but a petulant brat towards him. "First, I know that Jongdae was being sarcastic and second, I think that you actually meant to say that you're the obnoxious ," he snaps.

The tension in the room rises and Kyungsoo knows that Jongdae can feel it. The famous singer laughs awkwardly in order to break the tense atmosphere. "Be nice, Jongin," he chides gently.

Jongin scowls. "You know as well as I do that I don't want to be a part of this project," he says flatly. "And my name is not Jongin."

Kyungsoo keeps quiet, not wanting to get involved in the brothers' argument. He feels an urge to leave the room but he forces himself to stay still. He hopes that the argument will not worsen. He definitely does not want to witness a family fight.

Jongdae walks toward the hospital bed and lays his hand on top of Jongin's. A small sigh is emitted from his lips and Kyungsoo continues to watch in the corner. "I gave you a choice, Jongin," he starts to say, pointedly ignoring Jongin's second statement, "and you agreed to participate, remember?"

Kyungsoo wonders what Jongin means by saying that Jongin isn't his name. Well, obviously it is his name and there is no use in denying it.

"Whatever," Jongin mumbles.

Another sigh can be heard. Jongdae places a hand on top of Jongin's head and his hair lovingly. "Sometimes, I wish you'll stop being difficult, Jongin," he says softly but it is loud enough for both Jongin and Kyungsoo to hear. "But I will always love you no matter what." Then, he pulls his hand away and walks past Kyungsoo. He leaves the room and the door clicks shut behind him.

Kyungsoo peers at his patient. Jongin's expression is unreadable but the psychology major can sense the hurt that he is feeling. "Are you okay?" he asks tentatively because it is the only thing he can think of to say.

Jongin frowns at the question and he does not say anything for a little while. Just as the university student thinks that he is not going to answer the question, the patient speaks up, "No, I'm not." Silence ensues after that as Kyungsoo racks his brain for what to say to comfort the younger guy. "But I will be," he continues after a short pause.

Kyungsoo hopes so.

***

It has been an hour since Jongdae left the room. After awhile, Jongin and Kyungsoo did not say anything and the two of them have been keeping quiet all this time. Kyungsoo is reading his book while Jongin is lying on his bed, lost in his own thoughts. Tired of the deafening silence, Kyungsoo closes his book and looks at Jongin.

Jongin looks up as soon as Kyungsoo closes his book. The two of them stare at each other for a little while before Jongin blinks. "Don't feel sorry for me," he says.

"I'm not," Kyungsoo lies but this time, Jongin does not remark anything on it.

"I tried, you know," Jongin whispers hoarsely as he looks up into Kyungsoo's eyes. There is so much sadness pooling in his eyes that it takes Kyungsoo all his might not to break eye contact. "I tried to make him happy but I will always fail."

"Don't say that," the university students says quietly.

"I'm nothing but a burden," Jongin continues.

"No, he loves–"

"Screw this, why am I even telling you this, anyway?" Jongin snaps. He breaks the eye contact and turns away from the older guy. "You don't even give a freaking damn." With that, he pulls his blanket to cover his body.

Kyungsoo just looks blankly at Jongin's covered body. He feels a little bit stunned at Jongin's sudden change of attitude. He lets a few minutes pass by in silence as he continues to stare at his patient. Letting out a small sigh, he speaks softly, "I know we just met, Jongin, and I know that we started on the wrong foot. Yes, the only reason I'm talking to you right now is because of my project. I want to pass it with flying colours. This project will determine whether I will be able to graduate from university or not."

He takes in a deep breath and waits if Jongin is going to say anything or not. A few seconds tick by and it is clear that the guy wants to keep mum. "But all of that doesn't mean that I don't care about you, Jongin," he continues to say. "You're going to be a part of my life, from now onwards, so yes, I do care." He lets another few moments pass by but the younger guy still refuses to respond. "All I'm saying is, you're wrong. I do care. So don't go around thinking that nobody cares about you because I, sure as hell, do."

Silence ensues after that and Kyungsoo takes it as his cue to leave.

***

Kyungsoo's shoulders sag in defeat as he stirs the coffee right in front of him. He can feel the questioning eyes of his friend on him. After leaving the room, he has immediately called Zitao so that he will be able to let out his stress. Besides, he also wants to know about Zitao's progress. He wonders if he is the only one who is having trouble in trying to get his patient to open up to him.

"Are you okay?" Zitao asks, raising his eyebrows. The taller guy continues to stare at Kyungsoo with a question mark written all over his face. It is not every day he gets a call from Kyungsoo, telling him to meet up with him right now. The only times Kyungsoo does that are during exam period and he needs someone to take his mind off his stress.

"No," Kyungsoo answers bluntly. "But I'll just have to deal with it, I guess."

"Deal with it," Zitao repeats, enunciating each word carefully. "Does this have anything to do with your patient?" he asks casually.

Kyungsoo's eyes widen and he gapes at Zitao. "How do you know?" he asks in what seems to be amazement.

Zitao chortles in amusement at the shorter guy's reaction. He shakes his head as a small smile begins to appear on his lips. "I'm a psychology major, Kyungsoo, of course, I know," he says airily in a teasing tone.

Kyungsoo makes a face at the taller guy before rolling his eyes.

Zitao laughs again at his reaction. "Even if I don't study psychology, I would still know because I know you, Kyungsoo," he adds. "You only care about your education. Yes, you've had boyfriends before but I've never seen you cry when you got dumped or when you had a bad breakup."

Kyungsoo shrugs nonchalantly at that. "I didn't love them so why should I cry?" he replies incredulously.

Zitao shakes his head at the shorter guy's apparent nonchalance. "Why did you date them in the first place?" he asks rhetorically, not really wanting to know the answer.

The guy shrugs again before saying, "They were good distractions whenever I was feeling stressed."

"You're a horrible person, Kyungsoo," the taller guy states.

Instead of taking offense at that, Kyungsoo just laughs it off. "I know but that's just who I am," he responds.

Zitao snorts. "There's one thing I've always wondered. Are you a ?" he asks curiously as he tilts his head slightly to the side.

"No, of course not," Kyungsoo replies irritably. Zitao fakes a gasp and the shorter guy glares at him. "I may be a prude but I definitely do not want to die as a ."

Zitao chuckles and Kyungsoo takes a sip of his hot coffee. "Finish up your coffee, Kyungsoo. You need to go back to Jongin soon, anyway," he responds, ignoring the last part of the shorter guy's statement.

***

Kyungsoo wraps his hand around the knob of Jongin's room. He hesitates for a moment. He knows that the patient is most probably sulking at the moment and refuses to talk to anyone at the moment but it is his job to get him to open up. But Kyungsoo has no mood to deal with anyone at the moment. He feels really tired and he wishes that his patient is not that difficult.

Kyungsoo badly wants to pass this project but if Jongin refuses to give his cooperation, what can he do? He must find another way to make Jongin cooperate. By hook or by crook, he is determined to pass his project. There is no way he will let himself fail this big project.

Steeling himself, he opens the door to his patient's room and is greeted by the sight of Jongdae hugging Jongin tightly in his arms. The older brother is rubbing circles on Jongin's back and the younger guy seems to be crying. "Hey, I'm sorry, okay? Please don't cry," Jongdae tries to soothe the younger guy but to no avail.

"I didn't mean to be difficult, Jongdae," Jongin whimpers softly. It is the first time Kyungsoo has ever seen him look so vulnerable before. It is then he knows that Jongdae means a lot to Jongin.

"The only reason I agreed is because I want to make Jongdae happy." Jongin's words play in his ears. At that, a small smirk begins to etch itself on his lips. He knows now what he should do to get Jongin to cooperate with him. He is certain that this will work. With that, he closes the door to the hospital room. He will start with his mission tomorrow.

Do Kyungsoo has never been happier in his life.