It was 6.30pm and he was finally free from work after working overtime. Some guy had come in to get his car checked out and seeing he wasn’t from in town, they’d had no choice but to help the man out. Doojoon hadn’t been too happy about that seeing as he had the afternoon off and wanted to spend some time with his boyfriend.

Kikwang was a nurse at the hospital’s ER and had worked another nightshift last night. He had planned to surprise his boyfriend with a nice lunch so they could have some time together, but of course things didn’t go that way.

Doojoon opened the door to their shared apartment and stepped in. He noticed Kikwang’s shoes at the door. “Kiki baby, I’m home.” He exclaimed as he took his own shoes off. There was no answer so he walked into the living room to check and there his boyfriend was, still in his hospital shrubs, fast asleep on their couch.

He had to suppress a smile. Kikwang looked adorable when he slept, he was on his stomach and his right hand was dangling near the ground. Doojoon reached behind the couch and draped a blanket across his boyfriend. He decided to let him get some more sleep while he was going to make them dinner.

He knew Kikwang needed every bit of sleep he could get. Doojoon liked to complain about his shift, but he knew his boyfriend’s job was so much more tasking than his. He admired how Kikwang could take all of that and never once did he complain.

Dinner was well on its way when Doojoon heard a, what sounded like a whimper, coming from the living room.  He quickly dropped what he was doing and walked over to check on Kikwang.

The boy was thrashing underneath his blanket, obviously a nightmare had him in its grips.

Doojoon sat down on the edge of the couch and gently shook his boyfriend awake. Kikwang shot up without warning and took in the room around him in utter confusion. “Hey, hey. It’s okay, you’re home. I’m right here baby.” Doojoon said as he took him in his arm.

Kikwang wrapped his arms around Doojoon and buried his face in his boyfriend’s chest. Doojoon kissed the top of his head as he whispered sweet nothings.

Once Kikwang had calmed down a bit, Doojoon cradled Kikwang’s face in his hands. “What was it about? Did something happen at work?”

He knew it had to be related to Kikwang’s job. The boy only ever had nightmares when something bad had happened. He wanted to help Kikwang, but he didn’t always want to tell him what he had seen. Kikwang shook his head and looked away. That was his way of saying he didn’t want to talk about it and Doojoon respected that. “Alright, well I’ll go and finish dinner. Why don’t you go and freshen up huh?” Kikwang sighed and nodded. Doojoon pecked his boyfriend’s cheek and got up to go back to the kitchen.

Kikwang was quiet during dinner which was rare. Only now that he took a good look at his boyfriend did Doojoon notice he looked a lot more pale than normal. He couldn’t help but wonder what had happened that stuck with his boyfriend that much. Kikwang was stirring his food absentmindedly and his eyes were staring off into the distance, seeing something that wasn’t actually in the room.

Doojoon felt his heart ache at the sight. He stood up and sat down in the seat next to Kikwang. He leaned in and pulled him into a hug. “What’s going on baby? Please talk to me, I’ve never seen  you like this before.”
Kikwang leaned into his hug and soon after Doojoon felt tears against his skin. He tightened the hug and softly rubbed Kikwang’s back.

After a while, Kikwang pulled away and sniffed, his eyes red and puffy from crying. Doojoon wiped his tears away. “What happened?” He asked again. Kikwang stood up and walked out of the room. Doojoon wanted to go after him, but he told him to stay there. Not long after Kikwang came back with a little teddy bear. Doojoon looked at his boyfriend in confusion. Kikwang sat back down and stared at the little teddy bear. Doojoon now had a closer view and noticed little red specks in it’s light brown fluffy fur.

“Whose is this?” He gently asked trying to figure out what was going on. “Everything was rather slow last night. Nothing too bad had come in. And Dongwoon and I were attending patients, joking around. The usual. We suddenly got a call to prepare for multiple gunshot wound victims.” Kikwang fell silent for a second and Doojoon patiently waited for him to continue. All the while he kept rubbing his back, trying to soothe him.

“We prepared the ER and it didn’t take long for them to arrive. All of us were just on automatic pilot. A lady in her mid-thirties was shot near her heart. She was really lucky that the bullet didn’t hit any vital organs and they managed to stabilize her. Dongwoon and I were helping the other two victims.” Kikwang looked down at the teddy bear. “They were just kids Doo. They weren’t older than six.
One of them had lost consciousness, but the other boy was aware for all of it. The police weren’t sure what had happened to them.” Kikwang brushed another tear away. “He talked to me. You know what he told me? Their mom had hurt them. She had been sad for the last few weeks ever since their dad went on vacation. She wouldn’t stop crying. He said his mom had grabbed the gun and shot his older brother and then him.”

The tears started flowing faster now. “I think he knew..” Kikwang said softly. “Knew what sweetie?” Doojoon whispered as he felt the tears sting his eyes. “He knew he was dying. The kid was so badly injured, there wasn’t much we could do. We tried, we tried so hard to help him, but at some point we just knew we couldn’t do anything.
He was having trouble speaking and there was just so much blood.” Kikwang shook his head. “I never have trouble with blood. But this was different. He just kept repeating that he didn’t want to die and that he was alone and scared.”
Doojoon had to brush a tear away too. He couldn’t imagine how hard this must have been. “All I could do was hold his hand and comfort him. Tell him that he wasn’t alone and that everything would be alright. I saw his eyes lose their light and then he was gone. He was just gone..”
Kikwang buried his face in his hands. “You know the real kicker. His mother we managed to save. And for a moment I wished she would have died. I wished someone dead Doojoon! How could I even think that?!”
Sobs wracked his body as he told what happened last night. “It is only natural to think that Kikwang. She hurt her children. Every sane person would want her to pay for that.” Doojoon reassured him. “You did what you had to do. You helped someone in need and sometimes you’ll come across people you won’t like, you know that. But that’s what makes you amazing, you help everyone regardless of their status or their previous deeds.” Doojoon couldn’t put in words how proud he was of what his boyfriend did on a daily basis.
 

“I failed this little kid.” Kikwang said softly. “You didn’t. You stayed at his side and you comforted him. You were there when no one else was.” Doojoon reassured Kikwang. “You have saved so many people over the years. Sometimes there is one that slips through your fingers, but that does not make you any less amazing at what you do. Don’t ever think you have failed anyone. You did everything you could Kikwang and you know that.” Kikwang didn’t reply but just kept playing with the teddy bear in his hand.

“What happened to the older brother?” Doojoon asked him after a while. “He’s recovering. It was a close call, but we managed to stabilize him.” Doojoon smiled at that. “I’m proud of you.” Was all he said as he took Kikwang in his arms again.

-

“Did they find his dad?” Doojoon asked Kikwang when he returned from work two weeks later. Kikwang shook his head. “No, his dad is still missing. Last I heard, the police suspect his mother of killing his father.” Doojoon shook his head. “I will never understand people. Does he have any other family?” Kikwang sat down next to Doojoon on the couch. “None, he’s probably going to end up in the system. I don’t want that to happen Doo. I don’t want him to become one of those cases without a future.” He said softly. 

Over the past weeks, he had become very close to the boy they later found out was called Junhyung. He’d check on him every day and on the days that Junhyung was doing well, he’d play with him. Even Doojoon had stopped by to visit Junhyung on several occasions. He’d immediately fallen in love with him too. It was amazing how resilient kids were. “I’ll go and talk to the police and officials. If there’s a chance then we’ll take him in. We won’t let him slip through our fingers.” Doojoon was determined to do this boy right.

And that’s how after quite a long period of hearings and official paperwork, Junhyung ended up in their care. Doojoon smiled as he watched their boy from the kitchen. It was weird to get used to, but it had felt so natural from the start. He heard the door open, signaling that Kikwang had returned home. Junhyung jumped up and ran to the door “Kiki!” he exclaimed and hugged his legs. Doojoon laughed at the sight as he stepped into the hall. He knew that they had done that little kid right. He spotted the little brown teddy bear on the bookshelf, now free of the red markings, and he knew that Junhyung’s little brother would be proud of them.