Kyungsoo tries to call Baekhyun back, only to get past the first ring then get sent straight to Baekhyun’s voicemail. He tries a second time, then a third only to keep getting the same obnoxious voice greeting. He shouldn’t panic, but he does.

 

If Baekhyun turns out to be in some kind of danger, which it sounds like he might be, he’ll have to call the police. It wouldn’t make sense for him not to be in some kind bad situation. The way his voice was strained and he kept grunting his answers as if he was physically struggling. It wouldn’t make sense for him not to be in need of some kind of help.

 

Surely a quick call and an explanation wouldn’t hurt. It’s a long shot, but Kyungsoo doesn’t want to take any chances, especially if he turns out being right. Baekhyun never provided him with any explanation other than to hurry, and Kyungsoo struggles to make a haste decision. He’s never been one to panic like this, but Baekhyun’s voice ringing in the back of his head is what makes him continue to carry on  the conversation with the operator as he tries to give an explanation and provide Baekhyun’s location.

 

Those same pleading whispers are what carries him out into the rain that he despises so much to the main roads for a cab.

 

Pleasantly, Kyungsoo beat the police, and he’s almost glad he did until he gets out to investigate the empty, quiet road in front of him. It’s dark, even the faint glow of the  streetlights scattered down the road don’t do a lot of justice to illuminate the roads in the thick of the rain, which falls hard, making his umbrella quite useless. Kyungsoo tightens his grip around the handle and calls Baekhyun’s name as loud as he can, but receives no answer.

 

He takes a few steps forward, digs his phone out of his pocket and turns the flashlight on, scanning it around to catch a glimpse of where Baekhyun last reached him.

 

A faint shimmer catches the light, making Kyungsoo stop and backtrack, tracing his phone back to what caught his eye before. It shimmers faintly, a quick spark that flickers just through the haze of rain. He rips off his glasses, shoving them into his pocket as he wipes the water from his eyes and blinks, taking a few cautious steps towards the glimmer.

 

His foot makes contact with it first, startling him. He reaches down to pick it up and freezes.

 

It’s a shiny, black and red helmet.

 

Very similar to the one Baekhyun wears.

 

He shouts his name again but the rain doesn’t let his voice travel as far as he wants. Kyungsoo walks forward more, reaching the edge of the asphalt, where the road falls off into a low ditch and finds himself not thinking a second thought as he races towards the sad, dented motorcycle that sits near a streetlamp further down the road.

 

ing idiot, Kyungsoo thinks. Riding out in the country on a night like this, what the was he even thinking?

 

He finds Baekhyun before he makes it to the wreck of his bike, curled up and almost lifeless looking when he gets up close. For a second Kyungsoo really thinks he’s dead, but he flips him over, gives him a good few pats against the side of his face and his eyes flutter open.

 

“You take forever.” Baekhyun breathes.

 

“What happened?” Kyungsoo is almost yelling and he can’t tell if it’s because of the rain or the frustration, or both.

 

“What’s it look like.” Baekhyun groans weakly, eyes squeezing shut in pain as Kyungsoo pulls him up.

 

“You’re so lucky I called the police. Otherwise-” He grunts as he sits Baekhyun up against a light pole, “We’d be ed.”

 

“Oh boy,” Baekhyun’s voice is hoarse, and his smile is forced and pained, “We get to… Take a trip to the hospital.”

 

It hurts to see this. It hurts to see Baekhyun the opposite of how he usually does.

“, your head.” Kyungsoo mutters, he holds the umbrella tighter, his nails scrape against his palm and his knuckles ache from how tight he’s holding on to the thin metal pole.

 

His fingers shakily reach out to push away the hair where a think line of blood begins to trickle down Baekhyun’s face. It’s a gash, not big, but still ugly looking, definitely enough for stitches. Baekhyun's head begins to slowly fall forward, his eyes close. 

 

“Hey, stay awake,” Kyungsoo’s hand falls to Baekhyun’s shoulder, gently shaking him back to consciousness, “They’re almost here, okay? Don’t fall asleep.”

 

Baekhyun’s head rolls to the side as the sound of sirens begins to close in on them, “Hey, come on,” Kyungsoo reaches his hand out to the side of Baekhyun’s face, gently pushing his head upright. His skin is hot to the touch, almost as if he’s starting to get a fever and Kyungsoo curses himself for not being quicker, as if he already didn’t practically yell at the cab driver to step on it and swear at the emergency operator that he thought his friend was hurt and to send an ambulance.

 

Kyungsoo manages to keep Baekhyun’s attention on him as he waves down the flashing lights that flicker rapidly around them. Their headlights make Baekhyun squint and hide behind Kyungsoo for protection. His grip tightens around Kyungsoo’s windbreaker, pulling weakly for his attention.

 

Car doors slam and there’s the rushing of footsteps and shouting behind him, “Please come with me.” Baekhyun pleads. Kyungsoo swears that even over the sudden rushing of sounds he hears a tremble in Baekhyun’s voice but nods anyways as he steps back to watch the professionals take over.

 

It’s during this time frame that Kyungsoo takes a look at the mess across the road. Baekhyun’s bike is on the opposite side of the lane he was initially travelling down. Glass from the small windshield if scattered in shards across the pavement, likely to be the cause of the small wound on Baekhyun’s head. His bike lies in a ditch, dented and muddy on its side.

 

He isn’t going to push Baekhyun about what happened yet. It could be worse. Baekhyun could be much bloodier, much more broken, much less alive. He’s thankful this isn’t as bad as it looks. Baekhyun must have caught his fall, had to have known something. There aren’t any tire marks on the road. There wasn’t another car, meaning it must have been just him.

 

Kyungsoo chats briefly with the police as he watches Baekhyun carefully get loaded into the ambulance. Shows them the message that Baekhyun had sent to him, explains the phone call, told them everything he knew and soon enough he’s falling asleep alongside Baekhyun, propped up against the wall of the ambulance.

 

He must have been too tired to notice the weak grip around his own fingers.

 

Kyungsoo dozes as he waits for the doctor to finish checking Baekhyun. He had not imagined this is what his night would turn out to be, yet here he is. He’s exhausted. He’s been exhausted, Baekhyun just ran the rest of his energy from him yet Kyungsoo still tries to force himself to stay awake so he can go visit the CEO.

 

Kyungsoo slips his phone out and taps on a game Jongin forced him to download and play him on. It’ll keep him occupied for now, make him have something to do while he thinks about all of this.

 

Baekhyun isn’t going to be in any trouble with his company, will he? Hopefully no media or news outlets have caught wind on any of this. Not that it’s a big deal, Baekhyun is going to be just fine, but it doesn’t sound like a fun time explaining the same thing to people who know nothing about you. Granted that’s virtually Baekhyun’s life day to day, people need their space sometimes. Baekhyun included.

 

It’s not like there were a ton of people around, it was only them. Kyungsoo lives way too close to the outskirts of the city for their to have been any one to have so much as recognized them. There wasn’t a single soul in sight. But the thought crosses his mind that Baekhyun won’t be able to go into to work for at least a week.

 

“Excuse me, sir? Are you here with Byun Baekhyun?”

 

Kyungsoo jumps at the sudden sound of a voice in front of him, then nearly falls to the floor when he recognizes the face.

 

“Chanyeol?”

 

The taller male looks at him in confusion for a moment and suddenly beams, “You- The restaurant! The really good ramen! Jongin’s friend… Kyung… Kyungsoo?” He sputters, red faced in embarrassment from nearly having forgotten Kyungsoo’s name by now.

 

Kyungsoo nods half-heartedly, “Yeah, that’s me.”

 

“I uhm…  I had no idea you were you were this close to the CEO… I know Sehun is, but… Wow.” He breathes, hand reaching up to rub nervously at his neck.

 

“I had no idea you were a doctor. I thought you worked at G-Light.” Kyungsoo huffs, trying to change the subject so he won’t have to explain the lengthy story of how he knows Baekhyun, if Baekhyun can even be considered a friend to him. Kyungsoo stands up slowly from his seat, ignoring the uncomfortable way his clothes shift because of the dampness.

 

Chanyeol shakes his head, “Nurse,” He corrects, “Sehun and I are close friends. I just know a lot of the people he works with. Baekhyun is no stranger.”

 

“Speaking of,” Chanyeol clips, pulling out a clipboard from under his arm, “Baekhyun will be okay. He needed a few stitches in his head from some stray glass, he’s got some pretty bad road rash along his right side and his back which will need to be checked and tended to regularly, minor concussion from the impact, and few bumps and bruises. Nothing too major, luckily.”

 

Kyungsoo has to keep himself from visibly wincing, it still sounds awful despite this being considered a ‘minor’ injury, especially from a motorcycle.

 

“You wouldn’t seem know what happened, do you?” Chanyeol asks, tucking his clipboard back under his arm as Kyungsoo shakes his head,

 

“He called me and said he needed help, texted me his location, and by the time I got there he was too out of it to tell me anything. It was a chore just to keep him awake.”

 

Chanyeol hums, “Oh, speaking of,” He pulls his clipboard back out again, eyes narrow as he looks over closely it a second time, “He had a low fever when the paramedics checked him. Chances are he might have caught something after being stuck in the rain, which doesn’t happen unless he has a weak immune system. Make sure he takes some vitamins alongside his painkillers. I imagine keeping him well fed shouldn’t be an issue.” Chanyeol smirks, hitting Kyungsoo playfully on the arm with the back of his clipboard,

 

“He’s asleep right now but he’s all yours. We’ll check on him tomorrow morning and see if he’s well enough to be discharged. Go get some rest.” Chanyeol says, smile warm against the plain white walls of the hallway. Kyungsoo watches him until he disappears around a corner. He has a lot of questions for that boy, but those can wait for another time. Kyungsoo takes a shallow breath inward as his fingers wrap around the cool metal handle of the door knob, he’s careful not to make any noise.

 

The familiar beeping of heart monitors keeps Kyungsoo awake all night. The color of the lights is just sickening enough to make Kyungsoo keep himself awake. He’s way too familiar with these places, they never bring good memories. It’s just a constant reminder of who he’s lost and the trouble he’s caused up until now.

 

There were a lot of scares, he remembers. A lot of times when they’d panic thinking something was wrong and somehow end up here, getting prescribed more medicine and then it’d get worse. They’d end up in these rooms more and more, to the point where his father wasn’t allowed to leave. At that point, he was already too far gone.

 

All of the surgeries, all of the medicine, the therapy, constant sounds of heart monitors and oxygen machines, the doctors muttering about how they’re doing what they can. All of the words that Kyungsoo tried to say confidently, proudly as a son, only fell in short trembling sentences because he was too afraid to admit that he can’t do this job alone.

 

The last words that he whispered while holding onto the last remains of life in his father’s hand that day four years ago. It was raining that day, too. Kyungsoo hates the rain now, just as much as he hates hospitals. The eeriness of it all, the way his voice gets lost among everything, the endlessness of it. He hates it.

 

Maybe it’s the exhaustion, maybe it’s these places altogether, the longer Kyungsoo sits here, the more he feels his frustration building up.

 

Baekhyun stirs in his sleep, mumbling and whining every so often, forcing Kyungsoo out of his own thoughts. He really wishes he could be sleeping as comfortably as Baekhyun right now. His clothes stick uncomfortably to his body, he’s cold, the rain in his clothes makes him smell damp and musty. He should have asked if there was something he could change into but he feels it’s too late now. He’ll suffer for a few more hours.

 

Kyungsoo leans back into the stiff plastic of the armchair, trying to make himself comfortable as he tries to force himself to go to sleep. He stares up at the ceiling trying to plan out what he’s going to say once Baekhyun finally starts to come around. As soon as Baekhyun wakes up, Kyungsoo is not holding back. Baekhyun had no reason to be out on a night like this. He had no reason to go that far in a storm like this. He had no reason to be doing any of this tonight, and he did anyways.

 

Blow off some steam or not, Kyungsoo isn’t taking any of his . He isn’t going to let Baekhyun slip through so easily when he easily could have gotten himself killed. Not only that, but now he’s going to have to keep Baekhyun taken care of on top of running his own business, which, is literally impossible.

 

In matters like this, it’s one or the other. Kyungsoo falls asleep before choosing the obvious.

 

 

--- --- ---

 

 

When he wakes up, his neck is sore, so are his eyes, Kyungsoo has no idea what time it is, and for a moment, he nearly forgets where he is.

 

Baekhyun is sitting up, quietly looking over something on his phone, which is plugged into a charger that Kyungsoo doesn’t have the energy to ask about. He glances over when Kyungsoo stretches, and greets him with a smile,

 

“Sleep well?”

 

Kyungsoo groans in response and rubs at his eyes. He blinks a few times to let his eyes adjust to the light white light of the room and catches the thin blanket that’s draped lazily across his shoulders. He looks back up at Baekhyun in question and the male looks at him knowingly,

 

“You didn’t seem comfortable, it was the least I could do.” The CEO smiles bashedly, letting his hands fall into his lap. Baekhyun still looks exhausted. The longer Kyungsoo looks at him the more he notices. His forearm is all wrapped up in gauze, his lip is split, there are scabs and bruises all over him.

 

Kyungsoo shakes his head, “I feel fine. I’m more concerned about you. What even-”

 

“Pfft, please” Baekhyun flicks his hand to dismissively, cutting Kyungsoo off before he can ask what happened. Baekhyun is acting as if there isn’t a giant square of gauze taped to his head with a large purple bruise along his cheek bone, “I’ll be okay. They’re getting all my stuff together, I already signed the discharge papers, we’ll leave soon.”

 

He had this all worked out in his head, dammit. Kyungsoo shrugs the blanket off and scoots the chair closer to Baekhyun’s bedside, “What the were you doing out there last night?” He asks, voice low to keep his cursing heard from anyone outside, “Are you aware you were this ing close to getting yourself killed? Are you insane?”

 

Baekhyun stares back at Kyungsoo in shock for a moment. He blinks a few times as he tries to come up with an answer but he looks away.

 

“Why the hell did you decide to call me? Why wasn’t your instinct to call for help? If I didn’t answer my phone, if something worse had happened to you, then what would you have done? Just lay there and suffer? Die?” Kyungsoo’s frustration builds right back up the more he talks. The way Baekhyun just stares down and fumbles with his phone like a child makes Kyungsoo almost feel bad, but then once he thinks back to how much worse this could have been, he doesn’t regret it. Baekhyun was reckless and doesn’t seem to care that he could have faced life changing consequences.

 

“Do you remember what happened? The roads shouldn’t have been too slick it only rained a few weeks ago.” Kyungsoo sighs, sits back in his chair and watches Baekhyun continue to fumble with his phone silently.

 

He doesn’t respond. He stays silent until a couple knocks sound at the door and a familiar face appears. Chanyeol is still here, though much more tired looking. He has a small bag that he sets down on Baekhyun’s bed, most likely his clothes.

 

“Doc says you’re all set. Prescriptions are filled and should be ready by this afternoon. You can get changed and check out at the front desk. Get some rest, you need it.” He says, waves to Kyungsoo, and heads out of the room leaving the two back in another tense, shared silence.

 

“I already called us a taxi… I’ll… Be right back.” Baekhyun mutters, shifting slowly, carefully pushing the covers off as he stands from the bed.

 

“I’ll be outside.” Kyungsoo mutters, leaving Baekhyun to take his time as he strides out of the room and waits in the hallway. He tries to check his phone, but it’s dead. His eyes hurt because he’s been straining to see without his glasses, since last night. He keeps rolling his neck to try and ease the stiffness, he wants to get changed and longs desperately for a shower, some food, and to be away from this place.

 

He glances up at the clock on the wall and is surprised to see how early it is. It isn’t even noon yet. At this time, Kyungsoo would just be opening up the shop after having cleaned and prep all morning. It took a week for his routine to nearly flip flop, all thanks to the limping loudmouth that comes shuffling out of the room in front of him.

 

Baekhyun is still quiet except for the times he gives his name and info to the receptionist at the check out. He still looks tired and doesn’t sound how Kyungsoo is used to him normally sounding, but he watches silently as Baekhyun is cleared and they walk slowly outside.

 

“I hope you don’t mind,” Baekhyun speaks up finally as they walk through the sliding doors and into the cool air, “I… Called a cab to my place. I’ll make sure they get you home too though. You need to open up your shop.”

 

“What, and leave you alone to fend for yourself? Nice try.” Kyungsoo may not be close with Baekhyun, but there is no way he’s going to let Baekhyun, injured, sick, and a little disoriented, stay home alone. He can tell it hurts the male to walk, it probably even hurts him just to breathe.

 

“I’m okay, I just-”

 

Kyungsoo cuts him off before he can try and defend himself any further, “I’m shutting down anyways. I’m pretty sure staying closed for a few days isn’t going to be the end of the world for me.”

 

In any other case, the words that just left Kyungsoo’s mouth would never apply to anyone except close family. Baekhyun is another case, for him to say that so easily, especially when he’s kept his restaurant open under nearly every circumstance besides being contagiously ill, is very rare for him. He doesn’t let himself be so open around people he’s just met. It took him months to open up to Jongin when he first met him, Baekhyun is a strange exception that he’s still trying to pin down.  

 

“No, really, don’t let me get in the way of your business.”

 

“You get free meals out of this. I get not having to deal with Junmyeon’s bull or staring out of a window nine hours. Trust me,” Kyungsoo opens the door of the car he had followed Baekhyun to, “You aren’t being a burden.”

 

Baekhyun stares at him from over the door of the car. His eyes look apologetic, sorrowful, but also confused, as if it was the first time he’s ever heard Kyungsoo speak before. He tears his gaze away slowly ducks into the car, letting Kyungsoo follow behind.

 

Baekhyun is in and out of it on the way back home. He falls over onto Kyungsoo’s shoulder, then jolts back up trying to keep himself awake. He’s probably still groggy from the medicine, Kyungsoo lets him. It isn’t like this is the first time he’s done this.

 

Baekhyun jolts back upright again, and shifts around in his seat awkwardly. Kyungsoo keeps his attention to the passing scenery outside the window. It feels oddly familiar, they’re definitely reaching the edge of the city, and Kyungsoo is a little unsure for a moment.

 

“Hold on… Do you live all the way out here? You told me you lived in the city.”

 

Baekhyun turns to look at him, a small smirk on his face, “Oh, really?” He chuckles nervously, “Yeah, uhm… The little country boy likes his space.”

 

“Wait… You aren’t from Seoul?” Kyungsoo voice rises in disbelief and his eyes grow in shock.

 

Baekhyun shakes his head, tired smile on his face, “Nope. I’m a little farmer boy from a tiny rice town called Apo.”

 

Kyungsoo scoffs in disbelief, glancing out his window again. They’re entering a rich neighborhood now, the houses growing increasingly more modern in architecture. The trees outside might as well be sprouting money.

 

To think Baekhyun is from the country is such a strange concept. Never would Kyungsoo suspect that Baekhyun, a large, growing company CEO who is dazzling and growing increasingly more successful day by day, would be from the countryside. Kyungsoo is having a very hard time wrapping his head around what Baekhyun insists is a fact.

 

“Oh, that’s me.” He points out of Kyungsoo’s window to a large, black gate, only a little bit of the house can be seen from behind it at this angle, meaning it’s probably pretty big. He’s able to press in the gate code and when the gate slides open to provide a view, Kyungsoo’s jaw drops.

 

It’s a modern style house. Big, but not near enough to be considered a mansion. Sturdy gray concrete exterior, big windows, the whole place is closed in, meaning that there’s absolutely no need to even draw the curtains closed, since no one can see, so much as climb inside. The courtyard is big, not huge, but there’s certainly more than enough space for Baekhyun.

 

Kyungsoo helps Baekhyun out of the car and follows him up to the door. Baekhyun carefully enters the pin and a cute welcoming chime sounds as the lock clicks. Once they step in, and Kyungsoo gets a look around he feels swallowed. His house is a lot bigger than it looks on the inside. It’s spacious, minimal decoration and neutral tones all the way through to make it feel open, but also very Baekhyun in a way that Kyungsoo can’t explain. It just fits his style, somehow.

 

Kyungsoo makes sure Baekhyun is comfortably situated on his couch because he said the stairs felt like too much of a hassle. Even after insisting a million times that he was fine, Kyungsoo makes sure he has water, checks his temperature just to be safe, which has barely lowered since last night. And double, triple checks if he’s hungry at the moment, which he says, again and again, that he isn’t. Just tired, and Kyungsoo silently agrees.

 

“If you don’t eat now, you that means I’ll just make you eat more later right?” Kyungsoo asks, watching as Baekhyun picks up a small remote from his bedside table and turns on the television.

 

“Fine, whatever.” He sighs, “You’re so lucky I’m a er for good food.” He sets the remote back down and glances up at Kyungsoo. He hesitates for a moment, looking like there’s something he wants to ask, and it takes a few seconds for it to fall out of his mouth,

 

“So… Does this mean you’re staying?”

 

Kyungsoo has to think about it for minute. What Baekhyun means in ‘staying’, and finally shakes his head, “For dinner,” He starts, “Besides, we still need to get your meds and change your bandages. But I have some stuff to take care of tonight, I would also really like to shower.”

 

Baekhyun hums, “Yeah, you smell kinda weird.”

 

“Go ahead.” He continues, “It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

 

Kyungsoo nods, tells Baekhyun to contact him if there’s anything wrong or if there’s anything he needs, and not to spam him just because he’s bored. Baekhyun reminds him to scope out the kitchen because he doesn’t remember if, when, or what groceries he had gotten delivered.

Baekhyun’s kitchen is empty of anything fresh. It’s packed with instant foods. Kyungsoo might as well bring over his entire refrigerator and then some so Baekhyun won’t be living off of junk while he’s healing. It’ll put his kitchen to use, along with the stuff he bought at the market last week that’s just been sitting in his cooler waiting to be put to use.

 

Kyungsoo decides to take advantage of the morning weather and walks to the train station, takes it all the way back to a setting that is finally more familiar, and walks all the way back home.

 

Everything is the same as he had left it last night. Personal documents that rattle his mind and make him wince a little harder than usual sit abandoned on his desk. He slips them into the drawer and turns off the desk lamp he left on. He finally charges his phone, and turns it onto get a long thread of text messages from Jongin.

 

From: Jongnini

 

11:45 P.M

 

>  What happened???

 

>  I just got a text from Chanyeol saying you’re at the hospital????

 

>  Hyung did you get hurt?????

 

>  Is your mom okay? Did something happen?????

 

>  Hyung please answer

 

>  I’m scared

 

12:00 A.M

 

>  Channie says it’s Baekhyun…. Please be okay

 

12:02 A.M

 

>  Please call me

 

Poor Jongin was clearly terrified. He even tried to call Kyungsoo a handful of times and left some really panicked voicemails in response to the situation. Kyungsoo might as well call him back, he deserves an explanation.

 

“Oh my god, Hyung? Are you okay? What happened?” Jongin’s voice is asleep, but his mind certainly isn’t. He sounds wide awake when he answers the phone.

 

“Calm down. I’m fine,” Kyungsoo chuckles, “Baekhyun had an accident on his motorcycle last night, I had to get him to the hospital.”

 

“Also,” Kyungsoo continues, “Chanyeol is nurse? Why the did no one tell me about this, I thought he worked at G-Light.”

 

“Yeah, I thought you knew already.” Jongin laughs sleepily. “Man, that blows, though.” His tone is more serious this time, “Did he say how it happened?”

 

Kyungsoo falls back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling, “No, I can’t tell if he genuinely knows or not. I scolded him this morning and he just looked lost and confused the entire time. Like a kicked puppy or something.”

 

Jongin goes quiet for a moment, probably trying to take everything in, then he speaks up quietly,

“So… What are you gonna do? I mean, are you gonna take care of him?” There’s a hint of excitement at the end Jongin’s question that makes Kyungsoo roll his eyes.

“Yeah,” He sighs, “As far as I know no one else really knows about this. I don’t want to take the chance of some stranger spreading it around.”

 

“This means… You’ll be… Closed?” Jongin pauses in between words almost as if he’s having a hard time comprehending.

 

“I can only do one or the other. Not like it’ll matter anyways.” Kyungsoo shrugs.

 

“You’re staying… Closed… To take care of… Wow…” Jongin is mostly marvelling his thoughts out loud now. Kyungsoo lets him.

 

“Such a nice Hyung. Why the hell have you never done that for me?” He whines.

 

“From the looks of it you won’t need me anymore, anyways, now that you have your own personal nurse and all.” Kyungsoo laughs, telling Jongin he needs to finish some stuff before the younger can keep up his whining.

 

He gets a quick shower, throws last night’s clothes into the wash, gets some food into his system. Within an hour he feels a little more human. He checks his place one last time to make sure there isn’t anything else he might have forgotten as he shuts his door. As if one que, his phone vibrates with a text from Baekhyun.

 

From: CEO Bastard

 

10:06 A.M

 

>  Am I supposed to tell you when my prescription is ready

 

>  because it is

 

> wait I’ll get it delivered dont worry abt it

 

?????  <

 

You didnt even tell me where it was how do you I wont be nearby  <

 

10:07 A.M

 

send me the address before you do something stupid  <

 

There’s a couple of minutes in between before Kyungsoo gets a text back. The place it’s ready at is in the area Kyungsoo gets off the train. It won’t take that long, Baekhyun is just overthinking it.

 

Kyungsoo plans carefully what to bring for dinner just for tonight. The rest he can make in his own kitchen and then bring tomorrow. He has way too many ideas, too many things he wants to try his hand at because he doesn’t get to cook for people often like this.

 

It’s only early afternoon by the time he makes it back to Baekhyun’s place. It takes him a minute to find it, a lot of these places look too similar for him to make out any key differences and he has to send a text of shame to Baekhyun who he can feel smirking through the phone when he texts him back.

 

He has to spend the rest of his day with this guy.

 

 

--- --- ---

 

 

 

Maybe he exaggerated. It wasn’t that bad. Mostly because Baekhyun was asleep a majority of the time, even when he was awake he rambled a lot about topics Kyungsoo doesn’t remember. He kept jumping from topic to topic and Kyungsoo finally got the idea that maybe he was trying to fill the somewhat awkward silence.

 

Kyungsoo made his best effort not to be too invasive of Baekhyun’s space, but also wanted to make sure Baekhyun was well taken care of. Finally the time came around when Kyungsoo had almost literally pull Baekhyun from the couch because they had to let his wounds get some air and change him into fresh bandages.

 

This was going to be hell for both ends. Baekhyun, mostly, but they had to do this. Kyungsoo had to make the journey to Baekhyun’s room and spent way too long trying to find a change of clothes. Everything looked the same, Baekhyun has way too many clothes, and he finally have up and just pulled out the first thing he could find.

 

“Are these okay? Everything in your closet looks exactly the same.” Kyungsoo holds up the t-shirt and shorts he managed to find and Baekhyun stares at them for a minute before shaking his head.

 

“You serious? That shirt is from Acne Studios I paid almost two hundred-thousand won for it.” Baekhyun points.

 

“It’s literally just a white piece of fabric. How did you even know what brand this was?” Kyungsoo deadpans. Nothing about this should be so expensive, besides the fact it’s really, really soft. But if this messy, it will have been Kyungsoo’s fault and he would have just wasted all that money.

 

“It’s my expensive white piece of fabric.” Baekhyun jested, “You have taste, that’s probably one of the more pricey t-shirts I own honestly.” Baekhyun chuckles.

 

“Oh my god.” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and is about to turn around to go back up and find something else, but Baekhyun calls him to stop, “Hey, I didn’t say I wouldn’t wear it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

 

Kyungsoo keeps his back turned for a little longer until he finally gives in and walks back towards Baekhyun, tossing the clothes to him about halfway before he reaches him. Baekhyun watches them fall next to him, then looks back up at Kyungsoo.

“So, Mister, how long is this gonna take?” He asks, carefully shifting of the couch and grabbing the hem of the dirtied t-shirt he has on.

 

“Depends on how well you act.” Kyungsoo says, pulling out all of the medical supplies that he had to buy at the drugstore (Baekhyun didn’t have any, surprise) and laying them on the coffee table.

 

Baekhyun winces as he raises his arms, letting go of his shirt and dropping his arms back down.

 

Oh .

 

Kyungsoo pretends not to notice as Baekhyun tries again, but doesn’t make it much further and he hisses and lets  go.

 

“Need help?” He asks, trying to sound like this wasn’t a big deal. Because it isn’t.

 

“Uhm…” Baekhyun is about to try again and Kyungsoo can’t take the sight of him struggling much longer. He stands up and moves a little closer to Baekhyun, who refused to make eye contact.

 

“Hold your arms up as far as you can go. Don’t force yourself.” He says, watching Baekhyun nod and slowly raise his up, . It wasn’t very far, meaning Baekhyun must be in more pain than Kyungsoo had originally thought.

 

“Okay, just… Stay still.” Kyungsoo hesitates as he tries to find a piece of fabric to grab onto. He’s probably making this more awkward than it should be. Just grab the shirt and pull it, Kyungsoo.

 

He takes his shirt by where it sits over his shoulders, pulling it up gently and hooking his fingers under the neckline, and tugs it up and over Baekhyun’s head. He doesn’t tell him to, Kyungsoo just carefully positions Baekhyun’s arms out instead of up, and thankfully the male doesn’t seem to mind too much. One more tug and the shirt is gone, leaving Baekhyun sitting awkwardly with gauze wrapped around almost his whole torso.

 

Kyungsoo takes a seat next to him and starts at the arm, Baekhyun pulls away about three different times because the gauze stuck to his skin. Then he begins to make his way back to his shoulder. Kyungsoo can’t help but to glance back at his forearm, all red and pink from where the skin tore away, leaving the wound fresh and exposed. If this is just what his arm looks like, Kyungsoo can’t imagine how bad the rest is.

 

“So,” Kyungsoo cuts the tension between them as he carefully begins to take off the bandages around Baekhyun’s shoulder, “What happened?” He tries to ask again, hoping Baekhyun will provide him with some kind of answer this time.

 

“I don’t remember.” Baekhyun admits honestly, hissing as Kyungsoo tries his best to be as careful as possible while slowly pulling the gauze back.

 

“I left here, and then I woke up in the hospital. I don’t remember how it happened.”

It could be the concussion, he thinks. Chanyeol mentioned something about him possibly forgetting certain events.

Baekhyun truly could have forgotten everything that happened. It sounds like he’s tired of trying to remember, like he’s done so a million times already. Kyungsoo won’t push. Not if he genuinely doesn’t remember.

 

“Care to fill me in then?” Baekhyun winces at the end of the question, gritting his teeth as he pulls away from Kyungsoo, making a bandage rip harshly over the sensitive area of his skin. Kyungsoo immediately lets go to let Baekhyun recover for a few seconds, this is way worse than he anticipated.

 

“You sent me your location, and asked me to come help you. By the time I got there, you were laying halfway off the side of the road, and your bike was in a ditch, glass was everywhere, and there was a torrential downpour.” Kyungsoo uses two fingers to push under Baekhyun’s elbow to move his arm out of the way as he continues again. The CEO doesn’t speak for a few seconds, just hisses and swears in pain.

 

“I wish I knew, really.” Baekhyun sighs, “I only remember anything starting from when I woke up last night.”

 

“You were awake last night?” Kyungsoo asks, pausing to look up at Baekhyun, who eyes are focused on the TV and nods, “Yeah, I saw you.” He answers, glancing over.

 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Kyungsoo’s fingers loosen their grip around the bandage he was working on and stares at Baekhyun, whose lips jutt into a pout,

 

“You looked really sad. Or scared… Both? I’ve never seen you look like that.” He looks back at the drama on TV, “I don’t think you like hospitals very much, Kyungja.”

 

Kyungsoo breathes an annoyed sigh as he continues back on his work, he’s finally finishing up Baekhyun’s shoulder, and carefully moves down to his side. It just keeps getting worse.

 

“Everyone hates hospitals.” Baekhyun starts suddenly, “You had that look in your eyes though, like you suddenly remembered the details of a really bad nightmare. Expect, that nightmare was your memories... And those events were real.”

 

“Wow, poetic.” Kyungsoo deadpans, tugging particularly hard as he starts on Baekhyun’s side, making him wince and pull himself back. Kyungsoo doesn’t want to talk about this. Not with someone he still barely knows.

 

“Ow! Hey, what’s wrong?” Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo with a trace of concern, Kyungsoo stares back with none, “Nothing.” He pulls Baekhyun back to where he was, and picks up where he left off, still stopping everytime Baekhyun pulls or hisses in pain.

 

“Sorry,” Baekhyun mutters, watching Kyungsoo pick up the new bandages and treatment from the table, “You should’ve just told me shut up.” He giggles.

 

“Why would I do that?” Kyungsoo finally looks up at him, Baekhyun looks away and shrugs, “Minseok does it all the time. Jongdae on occasion, but that’s only because he’s nearly as bad as I am when it comes to shutting up.”

 

“Don’t apologize.” Kyungsoo opens the box of antibiotic ointment and tosses the empty contents back on the table , and cracks open the tube, “I just… It isn’t something I talk about openly.”

 

Baekhyun glances back over to Kyungsoo, smiles warmly, “I get it.” He says, “We all have our own trauma.”

 

Kyungsoo only nods as he opens the new bandages. These ones are more rubbery so they won’t stick to his skin so painfully. He really needs to pay Baekhyun back for this new smartphone. It’s been a godsend.

 

Baekhyun tries to keep himself composed when Kyungsoo rubs in the antibiotics. He watches Baekhyun’s fists clench tightly in attempt to handle the sudden sting. There’s no telling how much it hurts, Kyungsoo can’t imagine what it must feel like, so he tries to work diligently to keep him from suffering for much longer.

 

Baekhyun tried to keep his attention focused on the drama. Kyungsoo keeps his attention focused on Baekhyun.

 

Kyungsoo might have stared a little too long trying to figure it out. This, he realizes, is the first time he’s ever seen Baekhyun look not like the Baekhyun he’s used to seeing.

 

Kyungsoo is used to seeing CEO Byun Baekhyun of G-Light Media. All dressed up in nice suits, usually dark colors, hair pulled back and parted, expensive watch, and such. He looks totally different now sitting in front of him as just Baekhyun. His hair is messy and it falls over his eyes, his features are softer, more round and less pronounced, he looks smaller, somehow. Kyungsoo wonders if this side of him is something he hides more for the sake of his public image. Either way, it’s… Cute, in a Baekhyun sort of way.

 

It was another couple of minutes of silently working, Kyungsoo only telling Baekhyun every now and then that they were almost done.

 

Baekhyun seemed way to invested in the drama on TV to really care at that point, which was better on Kyungsoo’s part because it allowed him to finish up more efficiently. Everything looked nasty and Baekhyun was bruised and scraped all over. He really hopes this won’t end up scarring and that Baekhyun is going to heal quickly.

 

“Okay,” He says, “You should go change. I have to start on dinner.”

 

Baekhyun perks up at the mention of food and turns to Kyungsoo bright eyed, “What’s on the menu, chef?”

 

“Dak Kalguksu.” Kyungsoo stands up and walks back to Baekhyun’s kitchen. For someone who doesn’t seem to use the stove very often, Baekhyun has an insanely nice kitchen, and nice materials along with it. From the pots and pans down to the cutlery, all of it is well made.

 

Baekhyun disappears down a hall Kyungsoo didn’t even know existed and comes back within a few minutes dressed in fresh clothes, “You know what I realized?” Baekhyun limps into the kitchen and takes a seat on a barstool at the island, “Showering is gonna ing .”

 

“Yeah, what’d you expect?” Kyungsoo smiles, opening the refrigerator and pulling out everything he brought over and laying it all out on the counter. Baekhyun groans and goes quiet, resting his chin on his palm as he watches Kyungsoo set a pot of water on the stove.

 

“Hey, turn around and to your… Left? No, right. There should be a wine cabinet somewhere.”

 

Kyungsoo does as directed. Baekhyun has his directions all turned around, it was to his left, Baekhyun’s right.

 

“Get two glasses and your choice of whatever.” He says, letting Kyungsoo marvel over a few bottles of what he expects to be, nearly priceless wine.

 

He grabs the first bottle he sees, if they all belong to Baekhyun, chances are he’s tried them all, therefore has no room to complain. Not to mention, he gave Kyungsoo the choice in the matter. He has no idea if it’s okay for Baekhyun to even be drinking, but surely a little wine won’t kill him. He sets the glasses down in front of Baekhyun, and cracks open the bottle to pour each of them a glass.

 

“Cheers to… Me being alive, I guess?” Baekhyun raises his glass, a few inches from the counter, “Oh, and to Kyungja, who is endlessly talented at everything.” He smiles, patiently holding his glass out waiting for Kyungsoo to partake.

 

“Cheers… I guess.” Kyungsoo holds his glass out and lets it collide with a sharp clink against Baekhyun’s and they both take a drink. It’s been so long since Kyungsoo had really good wine. A couple years, maybe. Whenever the last date he went on with someone was.

 

Kyungsoo turns back around, continues with his with what he was doing previously, back turned to Baekhyun, who is humming behind him.

 

“So… How far does your cooking expertise extend? You seem to know a lot.” Baekhyun chirps from behind him. Kyungsoo hums out loud, thinking, “I don’t know, honestly. A lot of Korean dishes and some Japanese.”

 

“Besides ramen, what other fine Japanese cuisines are you definitely capable of making?” Baekhyun asks. Kyungsoo stops chopping and turns around to look at Baekhyun,

 

“Is this your way of suggesting me to make you something? You don’t like Kalguksu, do you?” Kyungsoo panics for a moment. Baekhyun never properly responded to what Kyungsoo said he was making. He figured that the bland taste of it would help keep Baekhyun sated for tonight just in case his fever might get worse or some other symptoms arise.

 

“What? No, I do. I was absolutely suggesting you to make me something, though. I mean… If you don’t mind.”

“Consider this my way of properly saying thank you for the phone since I haven’t heard from you in two weeks. As if I wasn’t already wor-” Kyungsoo stops himself before he can say anything else and turns back around to finally start chopping vegetables. Kyungsoo doesn not plan on giving Baekhyun a confidence boost when he’s in the state he is. He doesn’t deserve it.

 

Baekhyun gets quiet for a moment, ingesting the sudden snap back from Kyungsoo.

“Work got caught up with me. I guess I should’ve said something. It’s been nonstop with new projects the last few weeks. I’ve hardly even had time to sleep.” Baekhyun takes a sip from his glass and leans back into the barstool chair,

“I guess last night I was too frustrated, too tired. I’m sorry I worried you, really.”

 

Kyungsoo glances at the CEO over his shoulder. He looks sorry, but Kyungsoo doesn’t want to accept it so easily in case Baekhyun ever decides to get reckless again.

 

“You need to make sure you’re thinking before you go out and nearly get yourself killed. Especially if work gets that bad.” Kyungsoo turns back to take some of the ingredients he chopped up and adds them to the pot, along with a small chicken. He turns back around and leans against the island across from Baekhyun, who stares at him over his wine glass.

 

“Besides, I don’t like sitting on the idea that you always somehow manage to find your way to me when it rains, or when your life is in potential danger. I told you this morning, I’m not always gonna be there to help you. Either get a grip, and remember you’re a CEO of a growing corporation whose leadership is greatly needed or-” Kyungsoo cuts himself off from saying anything else that he might regret.

 

“Or what?” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow and slowly sets his glass back down.

 

“Nevermind.” Kyungsoo pushes himself back and moves onto the next step.

 

“You sure do hate talking.” Baekhyun says, “It seems like anything I ask you, you change the subject to something that doesn’t somehow relate to you in anyway.”

 

“I don’t like sharing my personal life with people I barely know. What does that have to do with anything?” Kyungsoo starts opening random cabinets in search for a bowl, Baekhyun directs him.

 

“You’re really blind, Mister.” Baekhyun chuckles, “What the hell do you think I’ve been trying to do this whole time?”

 

Kyungsoo doesn’t pay him any mind. He continues scooping flour into the bowl, acting like he doesn’t hear a word coming from Baekhyun behind him.

 

“You should learn to appreciate the people who appreciate you.” He says.

 

Water. Add water, don’t respond to the fact that Baekhyun just called him out. Add the water.

 

He’s never heard Baekhyun speak like this since they met. He’s always so easy going comfortable to talk with, but somehow he’s managed to read Kyungsoo like an open book. Has he been doing this? Observing Kyungsoo and finding all the weaknesses that he managed to let slip by and held onto them for a moment like this to present itself?

 

Baekhyun is brutally honest. Mental note.

 

Kyungsoo barely has any idea why he does any of the things he has himself. Whatever it is that makes him gravitate towards Baekhyun. Whatever it is about Baekhyun that makes Kyungsoo so comfortable in a way he can’t really describe. How he somehow has managed to flip Kyungsoo’s life around within not even a week of meeting. Kyungsoo truly wants to despise it, to despise him, but he can’t.

 

Kyungsoo starts kneading the dough for the noodles.

 

Baekhyun… Appreciates him…

 

Kyungsoo feels like he’s spent all day trying to wrap his head around some of the stuff Baekhyun has said to him. Not only that but the way Baekhyun acts in general. He can’t get that scared look Baekhyun had out of his head when he told him that he wasn’t being a burden to Kyungsoo.

 

Kyungsoo puts plastic wrap over the dough, sets it somewhere else to let it rise, keeps his eyes off of Baekhyun, who he can feel staring him down, and begins pulling out new vegetables to begin slicing.

 

The idea of someone wanting to genuinely understand him, get to know him, shouldn’t be so foreign to Kyungsoo. In fact, it isn’t. It’s the fact that it’s Baekhyun. And for some reason that makes Kyungsoo want to hold back more than usual. He already isn’t comfortable with sharing certain personal details about his life with people he does know, Baekhyun is no exception.

 

The silence settles among the two of them as Kyungsoo continues working. The only white noise filling the shared space is the TV playing in the living room. It’s not tense, there is nothing awkward about it despite the two having a small moment. It’s oddly comfortable. THe longer Kyungsoo thinks about it, the more he realizes that this happens quite a lot, and everytime it always feels too comfortable.

 

He can still feel Baekhyun watching him from his seat. He pays it as little attention as he can, takes a nervous sip of wine and continues.

 

“You know what?” Baekhyun’s sudden question startles Kyungsoo, “What?” Kyungsoo sighs, silently bracing himself for what Baekhyun could possibly ask next.

 

“You never told me when your birthday is.” He says.

 

Kyungsoo glances at Baekhyun, his eyes flicker down to the males empty wine glass and he turns back around.

 

“January twelve, ninety-three.” He answers.

 

“Woah, you’re a whole year younger than me?”

 

Kyungsoo lets Baekhyun roll around in the fact that he’s older and how Kyungsoo should have been addressing properly this whole time. Kyungsoo just rolls his eyes.

 

“Okay,” Baekhyun breathes, “What’s your favorite food? Am I allowed to ask that? Do chefs even have a favorite food?”

 

He really doesn’t stop.

 

Kyungsoo pauses to think for a moment, “I really crave seafood these days.” He answers. Maybe not very specific, but Baekhyun is kind of right, he doesn’t really have one.

 

“I really want pizza.”

 

Kyungsoo can’t help but chuckle at the answer. He thought Baekhyun was going to give something deep and complex and expensive, but instead he just says pizza.

 

“Come on, Kyungja, ask me something. Anything.” He beams. Kyungsoo turns around to glance at him, he’s pouring himself another glass of wine already.

 

Kyungsoo hums, thinking of a simple question he could ask Baekhyun as he moves to place the noodles into the broth.

 

“Hobbies,” He says, “What do you enjoy doing aside from… CEO stuff?”

 

Baekhyun sips thoughtfully as he thinks, “CEO stuff?” He answers, “I dunno, I don’t really do much else outside of that.”

 

“Well,” Baekhyun stops backs himself up, Kyungsoo watches his eyebrows press together and his eyes narrow as he thinks, “I play video games on occasion.”

 

Kyungsoo nods, it’s good enough for him.

 

“So what about you? Besides cooking, what do you like?”

 

“Movies.” Kyungsoo answers almost immediately. Probably a stupid generic answer, but he doesn’t really do much else.

 

He listens to Baekhyun talk about some new release movies he’s been wanting to watch lately while Kyungsoo strains the noodles and adds them into soup bowls. Baekhyun’s eyes light up as soon as Kyungsoo slides the steaming soup across the counter to him. Kyungsoo joins him, sitting a stool over, leaving some space, and they make small talk over some of their favorite films.

 

Baekhyun is probably a little tipsy. He keeps giggling and rambling too long about his favorite scenes in action movies, quoting them with oddly good impressions that Kyungsoo can’t help but to laugh at.

 

There’s a shift that Kyungsoo can’t help but to notice. Maybe Baekhyun did this on purpose. Start playing twenty questions and make stupid jokes that make Kyungsoo’s ears turn red as a way to prove his point.

 

Point being that he wants to genuinely get close with Kyungsoo. And Kyungsoo feels it, he can’t quite pin it, but he feels the shift his heart makes and the way his pessimistic thoughts ease themselves for a moment to allow Kyungsoo enough room to laugh and, on occasion, joke back.

 

He hasn’t felt like this in a long time, almost a feeling he’s forgotten after the stress of keeping his business open. But he knows for a fact he’s never felt this kind of shift before.

 

Once he cleans everything up, and puts everything back in its original place, he follows Baekhyun up the stairs slowly, carefully trailing behind him to make sure he won’t fall as he limps up, slowly pulling himself up each step.

 

He follows Baekhyun into his room, still trailing behind him slowly, pain medicine in one hand, water in the other.

 

Baekhyun groans and he sits on his bed, “So will fixing my head be as bad as everything else?” He asks, watching Kyungsoo set everything down with a tinge of fear in his eyes. Kyungsoo shakes his head, “I don’t think so.” He cracks open the bottle of pain medicine and pops a couple into Baekhyun’s hand, followed by water.

 

“We’ll worry about all that tomorrow. I think you’ve handled enough today.” Kyungsoo says, taking the glass and setting it back on Baekhyun’s bedside table. He was going to change the bandage on his head, but decided it against it once he saw how unnerved Baekhyun appeared to be.

 

“Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun looks up at him with that same tinge of fear in his face, “Would you mind… Staying? Just for tonight?”

 

The shop. Paperwork. He has to check on his mom. A sudden rush of excuses start coursing through his mind and he struggles to come up with a decent one.

 

“Uhm…”

 

“I have a guest room down the hall… If you want.”

 

He had two glasses of wine and was just given pain medicine. Baekhyun is talking nonsense.

 

“I… Have to take care of some stuff back at the shop. I’ll be here early tomorrow morning. Before you even wake up.”

 

Baekhyun’s face changes to disappointment. He nods, tearing his eyes away from Kyungsoo and looking back up, “Promise?”

 

Kyungsoo smiles, “Of course.”

 

“Then… Can you at least stay until I’m asleep?”

 

Kyungsoo isn’t going to ask. He isn’t going to question. Baekhyun is a little wine drunk, he’s been there.

 

He nods and watches Baekhyun shuffle over some, leaving enough space for Kyungsoo to sit down. He pats the mattress signalling for Kyungsoo to take a seat, which he does silently.

 

He watches Baekhyun’s eyes flutter closed, “I’m sorry for causing all this.” He mumbles sleepily, “I didn’t mean to.”

 

“I told you, you aren’t being a burden. I don’t mind it.” Kyungsoo chuckles.

 

Baekhyun’s eyes open and he stares up at the ceiling, “I do, though.”

 

“I can’t even remember how I put myself into this situation. I mean, you said it yourself, you barely know me, why should I put you through this?” Baekhyun mutters.

 

Kyungsoo feels himself wanting to reach out, grab his attention somehow.

 

“Baekhyun,” It feels strange saying his name. He isn’t familiar with being so comfortable like this. Baekhyun turns his head to look at him. Despite sleeping for most of the day, Baekhyun still looks exhausted, “Stop beating yourself up over something you very likely didn’t have control over.”

 

“Trust me,” Kyungsoo continues, “If I didn’t care I wouldn’t be here right now.”

 

“Go to sl-”

 

Kyungsoo gets cut off abruptly. The light tug of Baekhyun’s fingers curling into his shirt pulls him forward and there’s a warmth of closeness that washes over Kyungsoo.

 

Baekhyun’s lips are planted right on the corner of Kyungsoo’s mouth.

 

Kyungsoo feels the back of his neck get hot, he freezes up, paralyzed by abruptness of it all. The closeness, the warmth, the softness. 

 

It felt like so much longer than a few seconds. Baekhyun pushes him back, stares at him for a little longer, “Go home.” He says.

 

And for a second, Kyungsoo doesn’t want to.