29/07/2019: chapter revised

Chapter 2

The bruising around the fractured area did give him such a hard time but Hyukjae was starting to regret popping pain-reliever into his mouth like candy every few hours. The headache triumphantly distracted him from the pain in his leg but did nothing in helping him focus on his study. It made him completely unable to do any work. Hyukjae rubbed his fingers on his brows, willing the ache behind his eyes away.

It had been three days of being cooped up in his room, of having to watch classes through live feed videos, and, the most burdening thing, of being in acute pain every time he accidentally or deliberately moved his foot. This last one was the reason for the first two. He was not behind in his work and he had been officially pardoned for three weeks but Hyukjae hated not getting to go out. Also the delivery kid – who would appear at any door if someone texted him ‘GOSU’ and a room number – was too demanding whenever he requested an errand, not to mention bratty as hell.

He needed to head out soon, though. The kids must have been disappointed that he did not show up as he usually did.

Hyukjae guessed that was the worst part about this.

No matter how much pain he was in, how tiring it was to deal with the headaches while staring at his laptop screen, what bothered him the most was he could not meet the kids at the park at the centre of the city; children who had been abandoned, cast away and, worst, those who were from orphanages, forced to beg for money just so the matrons could gain a little money than the governments paid them. 

He knew how much they relied on him when it came to comfort and food. In a world that was severely lacking in mercy and where unfortunate kids were overlooked or treated as if they were any other money-printing machines, Hyukjae giving them food and plasters for small cuts were as sweet as sugary jellies to any five-year-old when those things should have been necessities, something no child ever have to worry over.

And yet, humanity was non-existent.

Hyukjae wished nothing had happened to them in the time he was gone, and also that they did not feel abandoned. He missed all of them, especially Taemin – an eight years old scrawny boy who was the first one to have come up to Hyukjae when he first began to come to the park and warmed up to him so quickly. That particular kid reminded Hyukjae of someone dear to him, who Hyukjae would always wish he had protected better and loved more.

Alas, he was never to have that chance. But, he dearly hoped that doing something for the children at the park would be a good substitute.

There were many things to prepare before he could meet them, though. Food to buy, first-aid to restock, something he could use to play with them for a while. Hyukjae would never complain about doing too much – he wanted, wished, he could do more – but those tasks would be impossible with his broken-and-in-constant-pain-I’m-going-to-murder-someone leg.

KNOCK-KNOCK.

Ah, great! A willing victim.

“Your food and books are here!” the errand boy for the dorm shouted before he opened the door and let himself in, depositing everything he had brought with him onto Hyukjae’s bed before he held out his hand, palm up.

Hyukjae could only roll his eyes- okay, no! He could not even do that because of the ing headache! So, he did the next best thing; Hyukjae slapped the money onto the palm, and pointed to it with a middle finger, “That’s your pay and I’m going to skin you if you say it’s not enough.”

He rolled his desk chair to the bed – thank God for wheels – and grabbed the carton. While his hand fidgeted to open it though, a few bills were placed on the bed.

“The food has already been paid, I’m only taking money for the hard work I put in to get you those books. Ciao,” Kyuhyun saluted, exiting the room with a dramatic bow. Hyukjae was just about to call for him again when he poked his head back in, “By the way, stop taking too many pain medications. Most of them are not good for bone healing, some even hinder it. If you text me ‘GOSU’ again in the next twelve hours you will be ignored because you’re a stingy little ,” and he was gone again.

Hyukjae had no time to say any word, much less to hurl something to the smart- doctor-in-the-making. The only reason Hyukjae would not throttle him the next time they would meet was Kyuhyun remembered to shut the door as he left. He wondered why the younger did not elaborate more on who paid for the food, though. It was not uncommon, treating each other meal, though, everyone usually howls about it all along the corridor so that the act would be repaid. Sincerity was hard and too exhausting, not to mention useless nowadays.

Shrugging, he grabbed the plastic fork and opened the carton only to find a message written inside.

Sorry, Lee Hyukjae. Enjoy the food!

DH ^_^,

There was no pondering about who ‘DH’ was. It was not hard to link the apology to a certain annoying little police officer who had put Hyukjae in his current predicament. Not ever reminded of his existence would have been marvellous, though. Hyukjae was under enough discomfort to have nearly forgotten about him. Nearly. Not one to waste food – ever – Hyukjae cast away any thought of throwing the food out the window out of frustration. He did go to the window, having an inkling to what, or who, he might find if he was to look down. Not uncaringly throwing the food was the right move.

The grin that was directed at him was not short of a burning sun – really, it burnt him and left him uneasy – and the hand raised high and waving were only slightly off a kid’s enthusiasm. Somehow, they made him feel gloomier that he already was, yet, there was some comforting warmth from the antic. Dismissing the thought, though, the whole thing was still ridiculous.

Sighing, Hyukjae opened the window and said, “Thank you!” before moving away, not waiting for any sort of reply or acknowledgement. No need to make a lasting impression what-so-ever. As a plus, the food was not bad at all.

It was not a one-time thing. With the tiring amount of ‘sorry’ he had gotten in a short time he was in the car with the police officer before, Hyukjae wondered why he was even surprised of how the man was acting – determined, strong will. Hyukjae would categorize him as ‘Annoyingly Persistent’ if he was dismissing his textbo