Chapter 4.

Taeyong was discharged two days later, it took him merely a week to clear the house single handedly (because his other hand was still in a sling) with the help of some hired movers (really just Donghyuck). He settled the details with his uncle and his lawyer friend so that they could deal with selling off the property. He pawned off whatever he could, not that there was much to. Part of him felt like he should have felt some sort of melancholy or nostalgia in moving and leaving his childhood home. But Taeyong preferred it that way. He wanted to cut that part of him off once and for all. This was an opportunity to a clean slate, a new life, a new him.

In the end, his life was reduced to thirteen boxes.

He recruited Ten to help him move house during lunch. Jaehyun’s apartment was nearer to the university so his best friend helped him carry the boxes to his room. Ten, being Ten, gaped at anything and everything in the doctor’s house. Jaehyun was not home and had informed Taeyong that he would be on-call that night so he had sent him the keys in advance.

“Is he not home?” Ten asked aloud, peeking into the kitchen.

“No… he’s busy working.”

“Shame. I wanted to meet your doctor friend slash generous benefactor. Is he as gorgeous as his kind heart is?” Ten raised his eyebrows in suggestion but Taeyong just shoved him away.

“Are you going to help me or not, Ten?” He said testily as he tried to lift a box with his good arm.

“Yeah, sorry.” His best friend grinned and quickly helped him. The room is simply furnished with a single bed, a dresser, a desk area and a bookcase. Firstly, Ten set about dusting and mopping whilst Taeyong unpacked his clothes to put in the dresser. As expected, Doyoung had cleaned the room meticulously, even up to Taeyong’s high standards and at least he had the decency to not leave anything behind.

Ten left for class after two hours when the room was mostly clean and all the boxes were unpacked. Taeyong promised to buy him a meal for helping him and he squealed in excitement before kissing Taeyong on the cheek and rushing to his lecture. There are only his books left to organize on the bookcase.

He spent the first night alone; it was so quiet that he could hear the crickets chirping and the winter breeze howling. For a moment, he worried about Jaehyun. The hospital was already as cold as it is, and it felt like a refrigerator at this time of the year.

Taeyong cooked ramyeon and ate it straight from the pot in the living room. There is a large flat screen TV and the latest surround sound installed though he doubted that Jaehyun even watched TV. He rolled in bed for two hours, unused to the new mattress. It made his body sore. That and the fact that his arm was still messed up. He did eventually fall asleep, when exhaustion finally collapsed the frame of his thoughts.

When Taeyong wandered into the living room that morning, feeling refreshed even though his arm felt sore from sleeping in the wrong position, he almost jumped at the sight of a figure lying on the sofa. Jaehyun squished his long body into the shape of the sofa, his eyes were shut, face scrunched and his left hand was dangling off the edge. He didn’t even remove his shoes and his tie and his laptop bag was abandoned on the floor next to the door.

He looked half dead.

So this is what doctors go through. Huh.

Taeyong sat there for a good five minutes, just staring at the sleeping doctor. He had been in this position before, staring at the Jaehyun as he slept; it’s pretty creepy, he admitted but he can’t seem to stop himself. Suddenly, he’s afraid of it becoming an infatuation.

He removed the doctor’s shoes and found a quilt to put over him. A pang of guilt hit him hard and he’s suddenly a burden. Maybe not, but he felt that way.

How burdensome you are, Lee Taeyong.

“I owe you a lot, Jung Jaehyun.” He whispered to himself. It was a shame no one heard him.

Jaehyun jolted awake and the first thing that attacked his senses was the smell. It wasn’t a bad smell; it was quite a nice fragrance, of cloves and spices, like a home cooked meal. He hadn’t had one of those since… well, he doesn’t really remember the last time he had one of those.

Taeyong is not surprised when he found the doctor awake on the couch, still half covered by the quilt. He is blinking at his surrounding, trying to wipe away the sleepiness from his eyes.

“Morning.”

“M-morning.” He stifled a yawn.

“Have some breakfast.” Taeyong put a tray of food in front of him. It compromised of a bowl of what looked like hangover soup, some side dishes and fruit.

“Thank you.” He sighed as he immediately started scarfing down his food.

“Careful. It’s hot.” It was. But Jaehyun doesn’t mind. He liked the feeling of the heat sliding down his throat. It relaxed him.

“What time is it?”

“Half past nine.”

Taeyong watched as Jaehyun finished his food with gusto, his own cup of coffee remained untouched in his hands. It was just there to keep his hands warm. His plate was practically clean when he slumped back into the cushion with a satisfied sigh; the sound made Taeyong’s ears perk up. He had heard that sound before- in bed.

“Are you going to work later?” Taeyong asked him.

“No… I have the next two days off. Do you have class today?”

“Jaehyun, it’s Saturday.”

“Oh right… Saturday. I’m sorry, I get really jet lagged after a long haul. Sometimes, I don’t even know what day it is or what month or what year.” Jaehyun stared dumbly at him and pushed his hair back. Taeyong still found that hot as hell.

“Do you want some warm milk? I don’t think you can handle any caffeine in your state.”

“What about tea?”

“Tea has more caffeine than coffee does.” Taeyong pointed out. Jaehyun knew that but smiled anyway.

“Smart lad. I’ll accept that milk offer.” Jaehyun chuckled. Right, SNU student, must be more informed than most. He disappeared into the kitchen momentarily before coming back into the living room with a cup of warm milk. Jaehyun felt positively spoiled with the home cooked breakfast and milk at that point. But he doesn’t complain, it was very comfortable to be babied once in awhile. He could get used to this.

Does he want to get used to this?

“This tastes nicer than normal milk.” Jaehyun nodded approvingly.

“I put some Madagascar vanilla extract and a dash of cinnamon.”

“Madagascar what? I have those?” He asked, honestly bewildered by the contents of his own pantry and what Taeyong has done with them.

“Yeah, apparently not much of anything else.” Taeyong hid his laugh by taking a sip of coffee.

“Huh?”

It was the lack of sleep that’s making him stupid. He can barely string a coherent sentence. He really wanted to go back to sleep, no matter how lovely Taeyong looked that morning. Maybe he could convince Taeyong to let him be his huggable human pillow. He looked so fluffy in that particular sweater…

No…

No…

Sit boy.

“You barely have anything edible in your kitchen, Jaehyun. Just expensive garnishes and the biggest variety of instant coffee I’ve ever seen in one place. But nothing much that I can use to actually cook.” Jaehyun paused momentarily and thought of how the he managed to survive all these years with Doyoung and bland coffee and MSG abundant Chinese takeway.

You cook? Did I even cook?

He really couldn’t think anymore.

“Tell you what, let me sleep in for three more hours then we can go grocery shopping after.”

“And get lunch.” The younger added.

“Get lunch as well then.”

“Call!” He shouted a little too enthusiastically.

“Not so loud in the morning.”

“Oops… sorry.”

As they leisurely strolled through the aisles of the nearby supermarket, Taeyong made it look like he was walking down the catwalk instead, despite the fact he was pushing a trolley. Jaehyun also discovered something about Taeyong that seemed totally unexpected.

That he was the ultimate housewife.

He checked the expiry dates of all the products, and then examined freshness of the produce like he was a professional health inspector. He asked the fishmonger to scale and debone the fish then asked the butcher to add extra curry leaves so that the meat wouldn’t smell. Jaehyun followed, wide eyed as the young boy tutted then complained about the increase of cooking oil prices like a real adult would. For once, he felt like the younger one.

“Take that one.” Jaehyun pointed to a specific brand of rice.

“But that’s expensive.

“I like that one.” Jaehyun shrugged. As if the cost of things had ever bothered him.

“Fine.” Taeyong relented and put the bag of rice in the trolley.

Evidently, he was shrewd too.

When they went to the cashier to pay, Jaehyun made it a point to flip out his black credit card before the younger could even protest about him paying. Taeyong frowned.

“I pay, you cook.”

“Fine.”

They made it twenty metres in the shopping mall before someone recognized Jaehyun.

“Jae!”

No. Please no.

Don’t let it be someone from the hospital.

His dread manifested itself in the form of Kang Seulgi as he turned back (and regretted) and spotted her along with Irene and Taeil. They were all in casual clothes on their day off as well.

Great. Just great.

It gets better!

God knows when they weren’t together. But they just had to be here together at that exact moment, at the exact shopping mall like there weren’t a billion other malls in South Korea. The eight planets were probably aligned and their horoscopes were jinxed or something for them to have met like this.

“Jae! Oh and… Taeyong-ssi?” Seulgi stopped short when she noticed him beside the doctor.

“Good day.” He bowed formally to them. Jaehyun wanted the ground to swallow him whole. This was not how he wanted his friends to find out. Nor did he want anyone from the hospital to find out at all.

“You look better. It’s nice to see you again.” Irene bowed back and greeted him with a smile, though her eyes flickered to Jaehyun questionably. Taeil was just staring outright at the trolley filled with groceries.

Suspicious activity alert.

“We were just about to go for lunch.” Jaehyun explained as if that would suffice. Irene’s eyebrows went higher.

“We were too. Join us! You too, Taeyong-ssi! Taeil’s paying!” Seulgi locked Jaehyun’s arm in a death drip and looked at him with eyes that said – you’re not going to slip away without properly explaining as to why you are grocery shopping with a patient.

“Join us.” Taeil nudged the boy. He was curious too.

“If Taeyong’s okay with it…” Jaehyun was struggling to find words and shake Seulgi off at this point. He knew he was in deep for not telling his friends earlier but he doesn’t really know how to explain.

So yeah… remember that guy that got beat up the other day? I adopted him. Coincidentally, I also had a one night stand with him after his father’s funeral and now, he’s making me breakfast all day…

It didn’t sound convincing.

Or sane for that matter.

Jaehyun prayed that Taeyong would refuse politely and he would get out of the interrogation session.

“I don’t mind.” Taeyong smiled timidly.

Jaehyun was screwed.

The atmosphere was stifling; Seulgi and Irene sat on one side frying the meat whilst Taeil, Jaehyun and Taeyong sat on the other. Taeyong tried his best to explain on behalf of Jaehyun how he ended up as his flat mate and not totally tarnish the physician’s reputation.

At least he tried.

“So… Jaehyun hyung offered his spare room.” It was the first time Taeyong has ever called him ’hyung’ and he had mixed feelings about it but he had never really established what relationship they had. The term apparently fitted the situation and surely normal people would find it strange that Taeyong just called him by his first name.

He finished explaining to the who were listening intently. Of course, Taeyong left out certain explicit details which (if revealed) would send his friends into an uproar.

“How benevolent of him.” Taeil said sarcastically. He knew that tone too well to know that it was intentional.

“Oh stop. Don’t exaggerate, I’m blushing.” Jaehyun gritted through his teeth before almost pushing Taeil off his seat.

“Poor thing! I hope you’re feeling better now. And so handsome too.” Irene cooed over Taeyong.

“I’m fine now. I should be able to go back to school by Monday.” He smiled awkwardly, unused to the attention. Well… the blatant attention anyway. His friends didn’t know what subtle was.

“You’re a university student, right? What do you study?”

“I study law at SNU.” It was the first time Jaehyun was hearing this too, and his interest piqued at the tidbit of information. He didn’t take Taeyong as someone who would be studying law, maybe something more creative like architecture or liberal arts. It never occurred to him that the boy would be studying something so strenuous and orderly… and righteous.

“That’s impressive.” Taeil nodded and Jaehyun can see the misgivings evaporate out of his gaze. So he wasn’t a hooligan after all.

“It’s not.” Taeyong shook his head and looked down to his hands.

“You’re a scholarship student too, right? Since some big law firm paid for your medical expenses?” Irene asked, recalling the paperwork she had done just a week ago.

“Heol.” Seulgi gaped.

“Yes. I’m a scholar.” Taeyong confirmed.

“Didn’t you guys take the Hippocratic oath when you guys graduated? Whatever happened to patient confidentiality? Stop badgering the boy.” Jaehyun snapped.

“I wasn’t asking him as a nurse.” She fought him back testily. “Call me Irene noona okay, Taeyongie?”

“What?” Jaehyun scoffed and Taeyong just looked bewildered.

“Me too! It’s Seulgi noona now, okay?”

Taeyong was flustered and blushing at the absurd requests, but he nodded politely. Jaehyun thought it was so ing cute. Seulgi and Irene probably felt the same way because they totally abandon the meat to ask Taeyong more questions.

“Oh and you should call Taeil over there hyung too. He’s the oldest out of all us. He’s a fossil.” Irene said.

“Actually, I prefer to be called-“

“Ignore the dinosaur. He has an inferiority complex and insists that everyone calls him ‘Dr.’. That’s why he’s also still single.”

“Yah, Kang Seulgi!” Taeil glowered, flushed red from embarrassment.

“The meat is gonna overcook.” Jaehyun took the tongs from Seulgi and started to pile it on top of Taeyong’s rice.

“That’s a lot, hyung.” Even Taeyong is unused to calling him that and it certainly showed from the way he strained himself to say it.

“You’re recovering. You should eat a lot.” Seulgi insisted, putting some vegetables into his bowl.

“It’s okay, hyung is paying.” Taeil patted him. There is a moment of silence before then everyone turned to look at Taeil. The table’s occupants burst into laughter; even Taeyong is amused by Taeil’s 360 degree change.

Oh dear god, even Taeil loves him.

Jaehyun cringed.

“Our Taeil is so cool now!” Seulgi and Irene cackled to themselves, dramatically wiping away fake tears. Those two should have been actresses instead.

“Shut up.”

“I can’t believe you guys are licensed medical practitioners…” Jaehyun sighed deeply; he really was mortified at this point. “This is why I never introduce you guys to anyone! You guys are holy embarrassing!”

They are mostly silent on the drive back home. Jaehyun tried his best to drown the awkwardness by putting on music, specifically Adele’s latest album. He knew most of the songs well enough to sing along and when he glanced sideways, Taeyong was singing to himself as well.

“I’m sorry that my colleagues were… weird.” He started.

“Not at all. Irene noona and Seulgi noona are lovely. Taeil hyung is…”

“Strange?”

“Yes… no… slightly. He’s a nice person though. I don’t think I made the nicest first impression on him so I don’t blame him.”

“No… not really.” Jaehyun agreed, thinking back to the time when Taeyong visited his cousin in the hospital. “You looked like a vagabond hoodlum.”

“Yeah…” Taeyong chuckled.

“Hyung.” Jaehyun coughed awkwardly.

“Pardon?”

“You can call me hyung or Jaehyun. I really don’t mind. I mean… we are living together now.” God that was weird to say out loud.

“I’ll speak to you comfortably from now on.”

“Good… we should live comfortably with each other.” Jaehyun nodded staring at the road ahead.

However, Jaehyun didn’t really know what he was saying.

Because he sure as hell still found Taeyong ridiculously attractive. But on the other hand, he is also overwhelmed by a fierce urge to protect the boy. This felt like a bad episode of Friends (were they on a ‘break’?) and he’s already mentally preparing himself when he has to go to work and endure his colleagues endless teasing.

Author's note:

I ing love you guys! /cries a river/ 

I'm overjoyed that you guys love this and really felt the effort I put into this. LilyYuri editornim would know how much I love writing this fanfic(it's literally all I talk about). The last time I felt like this was when my crush sent me chocolates to boarding school (and I was in an all-girls boarding school so you can imagine the amount of squealing). 

Thank you for all the positive feedback and love! I knew I joined the right fandom <3