“Wooseok!” Dongyeol exclaimed and skated over to where his boyfriend was sitting on the ice and clutching his left ankle. “Are you okay?” the younger of the two asked while taking Wooseok’s helmet off. “I’m fine. I don’t know what happened...if you’ll just help me up.”

Dongyeol carefully pulled Wooseok to his feet as the others gathered around them. “You okay?” Wooseok’s best friend Kogyeol questioned. “Yeah, I just fell, it’s probably nothi- ow, !” Wooseok cut himself off when he tried to put weight onto his left foot. Dongyeol was still steadying him, a worried expression on his face.

“Alright, let’s get you to the hospital”, Jinwook announced and skated over to Wooseok’s other side to help Dongyeol get their ice hockey team captain off the ice. “Guys, I’m okay!” Wooseok insisted. “Okay, my ! We’re going to the hospital”, Kogyeol argued. “Practice ends early today!”

They continued to ignore Wooseok’s protests about being fine and the upcoming game and helped him to the dressing room where Dongyeol took his skates off and put his right shoe on. “We really don’t have to go to the hospital...I’ll put ice on it and I’ll be fine within two days!” Wooseok still argued.

“You should really get this examined, though, just in case”, Yein spoke up. Wooseok rolled his eyes. “Fine...”, he gave in, too tired to fight his nine other teammates. “Alright, I’ll drive you to the hospital”, Jinwook said. “And I’ll come with you”, Dongyeol announced. “Me too, Jinwook’s my ride”, Kogyeol spoke up.

“Nobody wanted to know that!” Sungjun joked, earning himself a playful glare from Kogyeol and a half-assed whack upside the head from Sooil. “The rest of you, go home and rest. Practice on Thursday as usual!” Wooseok said sternly as Dongyeol pulled him up again and steadied him. 

~

“Your ankle is sprained but it shouldn’t take more than two weeks to heal completely if you take care!” the doctor at the hospital told Wooseok while putting a bandage on said ankle. Wooseok’s eyes widened. “Two weeks? We have an ice hockey game next week!” he exclaimed.

The doctor gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, you’re going to have to sit that one out. If you don’t give your ankle a chance to heal it’ll only get worse. No ice hockey game is worth that!” he said to Wooseok. “The only thing you’re going to do next week is rest with your foot up. Put ice on the swelling and come by in two weeks to get this checked again”, he added.

Dongyeol, who had been sitting on a chair next to the door, got up and helped Wooseok up again. “Thanks, doctor. I’ll make sure that he doesn’t defy your orders”, he assured the doctor who just smiled and held the door open for them to get out. “Good luck for your hockey game”, he called after them.

~

Dongyeol tried cheering up a pouting Wooseok on the entire ride back to his place. “It’s better this way”, he told the older. Wooseok just kept pouting. “How is this better? I’m the team captain!” he argued. “But Kogyeol is co-captain. We got this, Wooseok. It’s best if you just rest”, Jinwook spoke up from the driver’s seat.

Wooseok crossed his arms over his chest. Dongyeol chuckled and shook his head fondly before leaning over to kiss his boyfriend’s cheek. “You’re gonna be fine”, he promised. Wooseok let himself get pulled into Dongyeol’s side while the younger put an arm around his shoulders. It was hard to keep his pout up when Dongyeol was being like this.

“Alright, you two lovebirds, we’re here”, Jinwook announced a good five minutes later. Dongyeol got out of the car first before helping Wooseok out. “Thanks for the ride, Jinwook! See you on Thursday, guys”, Dongyeol said. “Yeah, make sure this one rests!” Kogyeol warned playfully. Dongyeol grinned and gave him a thumbs-up before shutting the car door.

“Get on”, Dongyeol said and crouched down in front of his boyfriend. “What?” Wooseok asked. Dongyeol looked over his shoulder. “Get on my back. It’s easier to carry you to my room than be a human crutch...”, he explained. Wooseok figured that Dongyeol had a point so he jumped onto the younger’s back and let himself get carried.