The Hospital Wing

“What the—” Kyungsoo muttered in surprise.

Slowly he hauled himself up into a sitting position, careful not to pull the covers out from underneath Jongin, in case he might awaken him. Kyungsoo leaned against the headboards, and glanced down at the sleeping boy besides him.

He had no idea why someone he’d just met was sleeping on the same infirmary bed as him, but against all odds, Kyungsoo’s breath was taken away yet again simply by the way Jongin breathed. It was a steady rhythm, one that made lips part and eyelashes flutter— one that made Jongin look so incredibly pure and true, like his laugh Kyungsoo heard earlier.

“So you’re finally awake.” said a dry voice, “Took you a while too. I was getting prepared to mourn for your unfortunate death.”

Kyungsoo turned around. Jongdae was perched on the next bed, his face one of concern and slight amusement.

“Sorry to disappoint, then.” Kyungsoo croaked, his voice dry like sandpaper, “Why’s this guy—”

“He actually broke your fall, smart kid really.” Jongdae said, leaping off the bed with a hop and plopping down on the feet of Kyungsoo’s instead, squishing him into Jongin even more, “According to Yixing, you got knocked out midair by a Bludger, and as soon as you started falling... it’s like this guy has a radar for you or something— he just zoomed right over and caught you— well, not really… you two just kind of fell together.”

“What—” Kyungsoo stuttered, glancing at Jongin again, “— But I barely know him.”

Jongdae shrugged and said, “Hufflepuffs.” as if that explained everything, “And how dare you ditch me and Sehun,” he added, mouth forming into a pout, “We were still searching for Magic of Clay when Yixing charged in and told us you were injured.”

“If only you would’ve shut up with the jokes.” Kyungsoo said, gently tugging on the covers to pull them over Jongin.

“You say you barely know him,” Jongdae sighed dramatically, “Yet here you are, covering him with blankets.”

Kyungsoo tilted his head and glared at Jongdae, “Sometimes I question my choice of companionship.”

“But it was your choice, so there.” said Jongdae merrily, “Anyway, Madam Pomfrey’s out for the moment— you missed dinner, by the way. Do you wanna go down to the kitchens and see if we can sneak some?”

"Alright, alright..." Kyungsoo said, shuffling, "Where was I injured?"

"Spine, I think?" replied Jongdae, "But Madam Pomfrey did her thing."

"What about...Jongin?"

"Oh, that's his name— uh, he had a cracked skull... a fair bit worse than you, I reckon." Jongdae scratched his chin.

"Is he alright?" asked Kyungsoo, slipping out of bed slowly.

"Yeah, Pomfrey waved her wand and all was well." Jongdae said, walking over to the coat hangers to grab Kyungsoo's robes for him, "But when I got here, he was already sleeping next to you... weird bloke, if you ask me."

"I suppose Hufflepuffs are clingy." shrugged Kyungsoo as he took his robes from Jongdae.

"Perhaps." said Jongdae, glancing at Jongin, who snuggled a bit closer to where Kyungsoo had laid.

“I’d really hate to leave him here alone,” Kyungsoo said regretfully, standing up and pulling on his robes, “But I suppose dinner comes first.”

“Aren’t you a sweetheart.” snorted Jongdae.

Kyungsoo patted down his robes one last time, and let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in. It was true, he’d really hate to leave Jongin here alone, but it was also true that food held an important place in Kyungsoo’s heart. He briefly wondered if this was what people called “moral dilemma”.

“If you were any slower, you’d be going backwards.” Jongdae said, somehow already standing by the door of the infirmary, “Come on, if we sneak in late, the house elves won’t be happy.”

“I beg to differ,” said Kyungsoo, casting one last glance at Jongin before striding over to his friend, “house elves are always happy.”

As they made their way down to the kitchens, Kyungsoo’s heart weighed heavily in his chest, as if strings were tugging on it from all directions and close to breaking it apart. He knew it was wrong— ungrateful of him to leave Jongin by himself, but with Jongdae standing there, he couldn’t have exactly asked to be left alone with him, either.

“Changed your mind, have you?” Jongdae suddenly said.

“About what?”

“That kid— Jongin.” Jongdae chuckled, and patted Kyungsoo on the shoulder, “You want to go back.”

Kyungsoo knew the answer, but he couldn’t bear to say it out loud, “No, not really.” he said instead.

“Sure.” Jongdae replied, a smirk curling on his lips.

Kyungsoo glared at Jongdae with as much murderous intent as possible, but when the latter didn’t respond, he huffed and stuck his hands in his pockets.

“Kyungsoo! Glad to see you’re okay!”

He turned around, and there was Taemin with a gentle smile on his face, walking towards them from the entrance of the Great Hall.

“Thanks...Taemin, right?” Kyungsoo asked hesitantly, still a bit thrown-off by Taemin’s absurdly good looks, “Hey listen, your friend, Jongin is—”

“Oh, I know about him.” Taemin giggled, covering his mouth with the back of his hand.

“You...know?” Kyungsoo stuttered, unsure of what he had just heard.

Taemin nodded almost too enthusiastically, “Of course— it’s just that I’ve been real busy. Captain told me to finish the trials first, so I couldn’t visit him… and then I had to go to the Great Hall for supper and all. In fact, I’ve got a help-session with a sixth year right about now.”

“Oh, I see.” Kyungsoo muttered, not entirely believing Taemin’s excuse.

“Actually, it’d be great if you could help me with something.” said Taemin cheerfully, leaning closer to Kyungsoo, “Would you be so kind to bring a few snacks for Jongin? That kid’s always hungry, and I don’t know what he’d do if he woke up with his stomach growling.”

“Probably tear down the infirmary.” Kyungsoo joked, “But since we’re headed to the kitchens anyway, I’ll just grab a few for him while I’m at it.”

“Thanks a lot, Kyungsoo.” Taemin said gratefully, and Kyungsoo thought he’d imagined a triumphant smile hanging loosely off the other boy’s lips.

“Mm.” Kyungsoo hummed, squinting a little to evaluate if the angle of Taemin’s lips would be deemed innocent or devious.

“Well, alright then.” Taemin pulled back suddenly, and broke into a jog towards the opposite direction, “He likes spaghetti the most!”

“...alright?” Kyungsoo replied weakly.

Meanwhile, Jongdae stood frozen in hi