The first thing Sungyeol sees is a dark figure hovering above him and a sharp pang on his head makes him grimace. He feels extremely hot and realises he's sweating and panting hard. 

"Hey, it's ok. You're safe now," the figure softly reassures him but it doesn't make his heart rate go any slower, "he's not here."

Who's not here?

It takes a while for Sungyeol to refocus his sight and manically scans his whereabouts, a queasy feeling sitting in his stomach. He discovers a machine standing right next to him, a couple of chairs in front of the foot of his bed, white walls and ceilings with blue curtains draping the windows. Then, a familiar yet distinct clean smell hits him and he knows he's back at the hospital. This wouldn't be his first time to say the least and so he sighs a relief. He closes his eyes and recounts his thoughts;

1. I'm at the hospital lying on a bed with a thick blue blanket over me. 
2. It's pretty bright here so I assume it's roughly in the morning or afternoon. 
3. There's a man/boy standing over me.
4. I'm hungry and dehydrated and I feel like .
5. How long have I been here?

"Take a deep breath and relax. No one will hurt you while I'm here," the figure says above Sungyeol and he looks up. Instead of the dark figure he first saw, a boy around his age looms over him. The boy's face is softly illuminated by the sun, making him look like a child stuck in a grown man's body. There's a slight curve of thin lips peeping through and his eyes are so gentle like a mother's loving gaze while cradling a barely-month-old baby that makes Sungyeol feel slightly bothered. He's seen this boy before but he can't pinpoint who and where with his hazy state of mind.

Sungyeol takes a very deep inhale and exhales just as well. He looks off to the side and barely notices the boy's hand holding onto his and jerks it away, surprising the boy.

"Sorry! You were having some sort of nightmare and you were talking in your sleep, yelling at the person to stop and you looked like you were in pain and there were tears and then you were having a panic attack in your sleep and I didn't know what else to do so I freaked out and grabbed your hands so you could have something to release the pain and I told you to calm down and then I was the one who began panicking and- ! I'm so sorry if that was wrong of me to do! I'm talking non-sense aren't I?" The boy frantically explains, a sheepish laugh coming after. He scratches his head as his cheeks go light pink in embarrassment. He passes Sungyeol a cup of water, knowing his throat must feel sore and rough.

Now that Sungyeol is awake, the boy looks a bit lost and seemingly nervous as he stands there, hands clasped together and his eyes roaming around the room and not meeting Sungyeol's eyes.

"Why am I here?" Sungyeol says first after downing the water like he's never had it before. His voice sounds hoarse but stern. The boy sits in a grey chair next to his bed, hands fidgeting on his lap while his face looks like a cross between confusion and uncertainty.

"Well, I guess you don't remember the most recent event that happened to you?" 

"Why am I here?" Sungyeol presses again, this time feeling a little impatient and irritated. The boy glares at him.

"Long-story-short, you got violently beaten up by these guys and I saved you from them. I suggest you try to move as little as possible. The doctor had to stitch you in some places so be careful," the boy advices with a tinge of annoyance.

Sungyeol keeps quiet, unable to recall about the event that led him to be hospitalised. He doesn't have to wonder though as his days are filled with abuse so what's to remember? All he can do is to heave a great sigh.

"Are you okay?" The boy asks with genuine concern, unsure if it would bother Sungyeol. He moves to sit on the very edge of Sungyeol's bed, trying not to touch him as much as possible and takes a look at Sungyeol's annoyed face.

"Look, I'll cut to the chase. If you want to leave, leave. There's no reason for you to stay and play babysitter for me. Don't pretend to be concerned if you're just trying to be nice and all, I don't need that type of bull in my life. I don't even know who you are. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to be left alone and sleep through the day." 

The boy is taken aback over Sungyeol's audacity to say those thoughtless words and looks at him in disbelief. Now the boy is all fired up and stands on his feet.

"What the man? You should be grateful I even ing saved that skinny of yours. If I wasn't there that night, they would've left you there to die without looking back with guilt. I ing saved you from those monsters and I treated your ugly wounds too and I prayed that you'd still be alive by the time the sun rose. And all you say to me is to stop babysitting you and pretend to be concerned? You're joking right?"

"I don't need anyone to save me. I can fend for myself."

"By letting everyone stomp over you, right good move man." He snickers. Sungyeol springs up into a sitting position, offended by the boy's backhanded compliment.

"Who the do you think you are to try and judge me?! Do you think you're superman just because you saved me from a life-or-death situation? I know what the I'm doing and I know what the hell I'm getting into. I don't need you or anyone to get in my way or try to help me in anyway. I'm not a ing damsel in distress. I can do myself alright!"

"Well I'm sorry I didn't w-"

"You would've done me a favour if you left me there, didn't play hero and save my life," Sungyeol interrupts quietly, "So please just leave me alone. You don't know what the hell I'm dealing with and you certainly don't have any right to know. I don't know who you are at all nor do I give any s about it. I just want you to leave me alone, don't even come a foot close to me."

The boy is hurt at the way he's being treated but his anger gradually subsides. Time ticks by as he keeps silent and takes in Sungyeol's hardened pale face painted with splotches of purple and green bruises and the streaks of red from the cuts and punches he must've suffered that night and all those previous encounters. It's healing at least.

"Oh! I believe this is yours?" The boy breaks the silence and takes out a small rectangular plastic card out of his jeans and hands it over to Sungyeol, not meeting his eyes. "The guy in the picture looks like you." 

Sungyeol carefully takes the card from his hand and there sat his school ID card on the palm of his hand where he had been in a frenzy looking everywhere for them in every nook-and-cranny of his bedroom, afraid that someone had stolen it from him and wanted to blackmail him with it. His eyes grow big in shock.

"Where'd you f-"

"Boys locker room. I might sound crazy but you happened to be there while I was changing and you must've thought it was empty and so did I. I didn't expect anyone to be there early in the morning so I took a peek just to see who came in and . . . I . . ." The boy trails off, not knowing how to explain it.

"You saw my bruises didn't you," Sungyeol answers for him, "You were that boy then."

The boy nods. Curiosity bites him in the back of his head, wanting to know what happened; how, who, when, why. It was something he'd seen in dramas and movies. He wants to know more about him, beyond the bruises, beyond this stone cold façade Sungyeol gives off. But the boy sits there, silent as an inanimate object, biting his lips from asking such rude questions when Sungyeol had just woken up from a 2-day coma.

"What's your name?" Sungyeol asks when the boy doesn't speak up for a few minutes. Instead, the boy immediately stands up and gathers his things as Sungyeol looks at him curiously.

"You don't need to know my name. I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that to you. I guess that was just the human side of me kicking in," he answers so robotically with a stoic expression on his face, a far cry from earlier, when he finally looks at Sungyeol. Right, Sungyeol is supposed to give no s about the other. 

"I'll give you your privacy from now on and tell the doctors that you're awake."

The boy is already out of the door before Sungyeol could properly apologise for his rudeness and say thank you for being kind to him. He feels like an for his overreaction towards the boy and regrets it a lot after seeing how the boy's head hung low with his shoulders slumped the moment before he turned the door knob open. He can only grunt for his inconsideration, pinches the bridge of his nose and throws his pillow onto the wall, enraged.

Sungyeol slumps back onto his bed and winces at the pain, forgetting the fact that his wounds have yet to heal. When he turns over to his side, he notices a small pink box sitting on top of his bedside table. He curiously picks it up and finds 3 pairs of cupcakes inside when he opens it and also a small note taped to it which reads:

Get well soon!! ^^ 
-Kim Myungsoo

He frowns. Sungyeol thinks this Kim Myungsoo guy must be that boy. Now he feels even more guilty. The boy didn't deserve to be lashed out by Sungyeol at all.

Myungsoo can't help but to obnoxiously tap his pen away on his unopened Geography textbook. It's been days since he left Sungyeol alone ever since that outburst and he can't stop thinking about him. Even if Myungsoo's guts keep telling him that Sungyeol will be fine, his mind keeps wandering off to him.

'How's he doing? Are his wounds healing? Is he eating well? Did his parents visit him?' These are just a fraction of the questions that constantly bombards his mind when he subconsciously daydreams in class. 

Why is he even worried anyway? That doesn't even want Myungsoo's presence anywhere near him. What was so wrong about Myungsoo just trying to help the other? Any decent human being would do the same thing.

Instead of focusing and listening to the teacher in class, he stares at the sketch he drew of Sungyeol in his precious journal. So he might've violated Sungyeol's privacy by drawing him without his permission but it'd be a real shame if he didn't. It was a mesmerising sight to see, a moment he wanted to capture; Sungyeol sleeping in peace in contrast to how hellish he looked on the outside even though he was wearing one of those hospital garments, Myungsoo obviously knew what exactly they were covering. It was strange to see a kid just like Myungsoo living such a different life from himself. It was something new.

Then he remembers, how Sungyeol gritted his teeth with his eyes scrunched together as beads of sweat trickled down his face like he was in immense pain. How he yelled Howon's name in a pleading manner. How he groaned and groaned. How tears were trickling down his reddened face. How he had a hard time breathing with very short intakes. How Myungsoo had panicked.

Speaking of the devil, Myungsoo hasn't seen Howon since the party. His desk has been empty for 3 days now and Myungsoo doesn't have any guts to ask of his whereabouts. He's actually thankful that he hasn't faced that sadistic bastard yet, he doesn't know what he's capable of doing if he does face him. He can still picture the gruesome event so vividly in his mind and it never fails to make his anger boil.

There's so much that he wants to uncover about those two boys and what their relationship is with each other. Millions of questions keep popping up and he wants answers.

A/N: Hello~ It's me! Sorry if I've been gone for a long time. I had a 4-month vacation right after I finished all my exams and I wanted to take advantage of it ((bc who actually gets that long of a vacation?!?!)). I wrote like 7 different versions of this chapter bc I didn't know what to write. I'm happy with this one actually so I hope you enjoyed it and I would really really appreciate it if you could comment about your current impression of my first fic! Thanks a lot btw and sorry for the long wait. I love you all T__T <3