Aghh, what was that incessantly annoying, ear-splitting sound? It was a short, relentless beep that just wouldn't let up, each and every one of them cutting through his head like a knife. He tried opening his eyes but it was as if they were glued shut. Gravity was refusing to let go of them, as if a pair of weights were dangling from his eyelashes, making it impossible to raise his eyelids even one tenth of an inch. Lifting his arm to rub the sleepy dust away, he winced, clenching his teeth from the pain. Every part of his body was on fire, and not the gentle kind.

Terrifying glimpses of the brutal attack he had suffered started coming back to him, torturing him mentally as well as physically, a budding panic attack sowing its roots in his gut. He considered the possibility of him being dead, his last breath stolen by that ruthless thug, but he refused to believe the afterlife could be this painful. Unless.. unless this was hell.

Seunghyun came to, disorientated and groggy. He must have fallen asleep again. This time his eyelids obeyed his order, opening like the hood of a rusty car that had been left to rot at the mercy of the natural forces. He looked around the gloomy hospital room, it had to be night since the only source of light came through the curtains from the poorly lit hallway. There was nobody around. How long had he been here? And where exactly was 'here'?

The corner of his eye detected movement, but it was so slight, he was almost sure he had imagined it. As he tried to turn his head, his chin clashed with the neck brace he was wearing, an arrow of pain shooting down his spine. A sudden pang of fear made him wiggle his toes to make sure he wasn't paralyzed. He sighed with relief as all ten of his toes did a little dance. The relief gave him courage to try again, his curiosity getting the better of him once again, making him take unnecessary risks.

Taking a deep breath, he repositioned his body so his line of vision reached the dark corner where he had seen the imaginary movement. Except it hadn't been imaginary at all. There was a guy sleeping in a chair next to his bed. He could hardly detect the outline of his face, but as his eyes got used to the darkness, his jaw dropped with the accompanying agony. His cheek was so swollen. He tried to picture how he would look like as a blowfish. He probably looked worse than the Seunghyun-blowfish hybrid that decorated the inside of his head at the moment, he thought, his stomach churning uncomfortably. He was vain, he cared about his looks. He didn't relish the thought of going through the rest of his life looking like a monster.

Whether he believed it or not, his eyes were trying to convince him that the guy beside him was none other than Seungri, the bane of his existence. He was alive, he told himself repeatedly, his chest growing lighter each time. It was not that he was glad to see him, but he was genuinely relieved that he wasn't dead, and more importantly, he was grateful to be rid of that strange sensation of something constantly pulling at his insides, not letting him rest until he gave into it and let it take him wherever Seungri was getting himself into trouble.

There were dark circles around his eyes, reminding Seunghyun of a tired panda. If he wasn't such an insufferable , he would've thought it was cute. Had he been here the whole time or was it just a coincidence that he had woken up right when he was taking a short nap, catching him in the act of hijacking his hospital room to catch up on his beauty sleep? It was probably the latter. Or perhaps he was using him as a cover, hiding out in his room, avoiding the thugs that had beaten them up.

In what had he gotten himself mixed up? Were those goons some kind of personal loan collectors? Or had he scammed them and they were out for revenge? Or had it perhaps been a pure absence of luck, being at the wrong place at the wrong time? It wasn't normal to have so many brushes with death in such a short time, was he just that unlucky or was he earmarked by some higher power? Could this all be a coincidence? And how did he fit into all of this? He had never even heard of Seungri before all this, why did he always feel so compelled to save him, when he didn't even like him? His head started to ache as more and more questions bombarded his tired brain, pointlessly attacking it, for it could offer no answers. He pushed them all aside, deciding this was not the time to get to the bottom of this. For now, he was just going to focus on getting better.

Seunghyun opened his eyes, it was still dark. Was this night never ending? The moment he remembered his little visitor, he turned his head a bit overzealously, sending a spear of pain down his back. For a brief moment he couldn't move from the pain. His heart took an extra beat out of fear, he wasn't sure if he was ready to face the extent of his injuries.

When the pain handed him back the reins to his body, he slowly checked the corner for signs of life. There he was. Still asleep. A weird feeling of relief washed over Seunghyun, he wasn't completely sure why. Perhaps just knowing that Seungri wasn't out causing any more trouble for the time being was enough to set him at ease. Why couldn't he just remain asleep forever more? He looked like an angel. So beautiful. It was as if he was a drawing that had come to life, drawn by one of the greats. Sharp, but soft lines. Seunghyun traced them with his eyes. He couldn't but appreciate the genius of this piece of art he was admiring. If only he had a better personality. Although a faulty personality was often a side effect with people who were too aesthetically gifted. It was their cross to bear. Nobody was perfect.

A pang shot through Seunghyun's gut. Seungri's eyes were open. For some reason, he held his breath, as if that would render him invisible, realizing way too late that it was useless, only bringing him pain as his bruised ribcage complained from being overextended for too long. His eyes shot into another direction, but he knew it was of no use. Seungri had seen him looking at him. He just hoped he hadn't noticed how much he liked what he saw, for that would be disastrous. He decided to nip whatever was coming in the , resolutely forcing his eyes to face the music.

“Before you start with your idiotic accusations... No, this is not some ridiculous scheme to get your money. I can't even imagine how you could spin it in that direction, except maybe to get you to pay the hospital bill, but that doesn't make any sense. How would I benefit from getting beaten to death, just to get a free treatment at a hospital? Besides, I have a job, I have money, I can pay my own hospital bill, so there is no reason for you to hang around here any longer.” he said dryly, crossing his arms firmly, clenching his teeth to bear with the pain that followed. He knew he had to be firm for the message to reach Seungri, but somewhere deep down inside he wished he wouldn't go. Maybe he was afraid of being alone and helpless, but having Seungri around would most certainly do more harm than good.

“Well, you would benefit if you had already been sick and in need of medical care.” Seungri stated matter-of-factly, sitting up in the chair. Oh, there it was. Seunghyun could feel the intolerable annoyance returning, mentally punching himself for having been intrigued for even a moment.

“Look!” Seunghyun started in the most indignant voice he could muster. Seungri snorted.

“Relax. I would've thought you had hired them to rough me up a bit so that you could pretend to save me and cash in on a hefty savior bonus, that is, if they hadn't all but sent you straight to the cemetery. Not even you could be that stupid.” he smirked obnoxiously. Seunghyun's skin started to boil with frustration. That guy. That guy! That insufferable piece of...

“I just came here to thank you. You might have just saved my life.” he added earnestly, his voice uncharacteristically soft and humble. 'Might have'? He definitely saved his life, that was for sure. And it wasn't even the first time. But Seunghyun's rage was no longer on fire. At least he knew to say thank you, there was hope for him yet.

“and... ehm...” Seungri bit his lip awkwardly.

“I'm sorry.”.

“...for everything.”.