Warnings: Mentions of blood, mild cursing

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Once out of the public eye, first aid personnel rushed over to take over your position, dragging Brian and Sungjin away. The sudden loss of human contact left you empty and cold, your hands already missing the warmth of his body as soon as he left you. Not wanting to go back to the roaring crowd yet not knowing where to leave, you slotted yourself carefully in a small corner, making way for the rest of the team to enter. Looking at their exuberant faces, you found yourself smiling softly at the sight, happy that their efforts for the past few months have paid off greatly. You didn’t know many of them personally, but you didn’t need to know someone to feel happy for them. You just did. At this moment, more first aid personnel rushed over, doing a once-over of the boys to check for anyone that had wounds that needed to be tended to.

The sight reminded you of the reason that you were in the locker room in the first place: Brian Kang.

Scanning the room frantically, your eyes finally zeroed in on the man sitting right on the opposite side of the room. His jersey was now gone, and you could see the entire left side of his body flare up in an angry red. It started from his shoulders till the middle of his ribcage but every inch was soon covered in blue ice packs, hastily pressed in place by the first aid personnel. His eyes fluttered shut at the cool sensation, a welcome relief from the pain he had been enduring the entire game. His ankle was being slowly wrapped up in compression bandages, and he knew that this injury would heal fine on its own. But the worst was not over yet. Blood was still pouring down the right side of his face, the small towel he was pressing against his brow almost soaked through. The first aid personnel did a great job in clearing off most of the blood on his face within minutes, giving you a clear view of the gapping split. It was an inch-long split that started at the end of the brow, travelling up the length of his forehead. Looking at the plethora of injuries that he had on his body, you winced, wondering how on earth he could endure so much pain for half the game.

Kang Younghyun, you crazy bastard… All of those must really hurt…

You wanted to keep your eye on him longer just to make sure that he was really alright, but the moment you saw the glint of the curved, wicked stitching needle under the harsh light, you immediately turned away, not having the stomach to witness the sight of a gaping wound being stitched up. Besides, you’ve been in this space that isn’t yours to begin with for too much time, and he was in good hands now. There was no reason for you to stay any longer.

Where’s the damn exit?

Finally, you spot your saving grace right at the back, and you headed straight for it, closing the door lightly behind you once you were out in the hallway alone. Melting against the white brick walls, you exhaled deeply to let out the breath that you’ve been holding in all this while, reminding yourself to breath normally. In the quietness of the empty hallway and away from the crowd, the tranquillity of the moment gave you time to look back upon the blur of events that had just happened, each memory becoming sharper and gaining greater clarity in your mind.

The kiss.

Unconsciously, you ran your fingers lightly against your lips, remembering the feeling of his lips against yours, albeit short. His hot breath fanned across your lips just before you closed the space between the two of you, feeling his entire body tense when you placed your hands gently against the column of his neck. His lips were chapped; you could feel the broken skin pricking yours slightly. But still, his lips were soft like a pillow, making the kiss a comfortable one. You can still acutely remember the feeling of his sharp nose pressing against your cheek slightly during the kiss, feeling like a cute little boop instead of being uncomfortable. Your cheeks continued to flush a deeper shade of pink each time your mind replayed the same scene over and over again, the temperature in the hallway rising with each second. You mentally reprimanded yourself for being so silly, allowing yourself to feel so flustered over a kiss. It wasn’t like you haven’t done it before – so why was this