NINE

‘D-Donghae?’

Hyukjae is blinking at him like he can’t believe his eyes, and almost as if it’s an involuntary reaction he reaches out for Donghae, bottom lip trembling.

‘Hyukjae!’ Donghae’s heart feels like it’s going to jump out of his chest in panic as he rushes to crouch beside the other man’s chair, gesturing sharply at the attendants to leave. It’s all he can do not to scream at them to get away from Hyukjae, who is already distressed and hurt and doesn’t need the hospital staff frightening him too. Even though the nurse has told Donghae that Hyukjae has no serious injuries, he can’t help but look him over, a frantic scan of his body in case the doctors missed something important.

‘W-what are you doing here?’ Hyukjae whispers, and Donghae doesn’t know when or how, but he’s taken Hyukjae’s hand in his, and Hyukjae’s is cold and trembling.

‘What happened?’ Donghae asks desperately. ‘Hyukjae, who did this?’

‘The police were called earlier,’ the nurse says, somewhere behind them. ‘He refused to make a statement. Dr Lee, we need to get a catheter in his arm in case he needs sedation for the dental-’

‘Just give us a moment!’ Donghae sees how Hyukjae shrinks away from the approaching woman, eyes darting to the tray of equipment she is holding. Donghae forces himself to take a deep breath. The last thing Hyukjae needs is for him to be panicking as well. He turns to the nurse.

‘Let me have a few minutes with him, please,’ he says, more calmly. ‘He’s my friend.’

The nurse nods, understanding. Then the door clicks shut behind her and they are alone. Donghae turns back to Hyukjae, squeezing his hand tightly. But Hyukjae is looking at Donghae again, at his white coat and his name tag, and his face is creased with confusion.

‘Donghae?’ he says again, hesitantly. ‘I didn’t- did someone call you? But my phone is broken and- and-’

He touches the back of his hand to his nose, and he looks moments from tears. Donghae wants to hug him more than he’s ever wanted to do anything his whole life. But only one of them can afford to be frightened and emotional right now, and Donghae knows he needs to be professional, he needs to keep it together for Hyukjae’s sake.

‘It’s alright, Hyukjae,’ he says instead, soft and reassuring. ‘You’re gonna be okay now, I’m going to help, okay?’

Hyukjae blinks at him.

‘Donghae, do- do you work here?’

Donghae nods.

‘But you- you’re a salesman?’ Hyukjae whispers. ‘You- I thought you worked at the mall?’

‘I only work here during the weekend,’ Donghae says, and now he’s feeling ing apprehensive. He never lied to Hyukjae about his job, but he wasn’t exactly truthful either. ‘I do work near the mall during the week, Hyukjae. Only not- not as a salesman.’

‘You’re a doctor?’

‘No,’ Donghae says hesitantly. ‘Well, not exactly.’

He takes a deep breath.

‘Um- I’m a dentist, Hyukjae.’

Hyukjae stares at him, and Donghae is not sure if the other man believes him or not.

‘Dentist?’ he says faintly.

‘Yeah.’ Donghae says, still holding Hyukjae’s hand but nervously now. ‘Can we- um, can we still be friends?’

‘Friends?’ Hyukjae repeats, and Donghae suddenly remembers that the last time he saw Hyukjae, the other man had said he was only a customer. But he’s also remembering that it was he who ignored Hyukjae’s message apologizing afterwards. Maybe- maybe Hyukjae needed someone, maybe if Donghae had replied, had been there for him, then this would not have happened. If Donghae continues to think about that right now, he is going to ing break down in tears himself.

But Hyukjae’s lips twitch like he’s trying to smile despite the situation. He ends up wincing instead, the hand that Donghae is not holding flying up to cup his painfully bruised mouth.

‘Careful!’ Donghae moves forward automatically, taking Hyukjae’s other hand and easing it away. He knows he needs to focus on work for now, on helping Hyukjae. They can talk later, once the other man is not in pain. ‘Hyukjae, is it okay if I take a look?’

But Hyukjae retreats back into the chair, his initial agitation returning.

‘No,’ he says, ‘Please, I’m fine, and I want to leave. You- you work here, so tell them that I can go.’

‘You can’t leave just yet,’ Donghae says gently. ‘You need a few stitches in that lip, Hyukjae, and I just want to check your teeth-’

‘Donghae, I need to go home!’

‘You’ll be able to go home soon, I promise,’ Donghae tells him. ‘You’ll most likely be discharged in the morning, okay? But first I really need to-’

‘You don’t understand!’ Hyukjae wrenches free from his reassuring hands and it’s obvious he is trying his very hardest not to cry. ‘It’s Ch-Choco, I lost her, I- I don’t know where she is-’

‘Choco?’ Donghae’s eyes widen. ‘What happened?’

‘She- she tried to defend me,’ Hyukjae manages, the first tears escaping from his red-rimmed eyes. ‘I just- I couldn’t do anything and she was so scared- I don’t know if she’s hurt, or if she ran away-’

He turns his head away, rubbing at his face with one too-long sleeve.

‘I need to go find her Donghae, please.’

Donghae’s heart aches. He now understands why the other man has been so desperate to leave. But Donghae can’t let him go, not in the state he’s in, not even to search for his little fluffy pet.

‘Listen,’ he says, reaching to take Hyukjae’s hand again, pulling him gently to face him. ‘I’ll help you look for her, okay? But you need to let me help you first. If you leave now, you’re going to pass out in the street or something, and that’s not going to do Choco any good, is it?’

‘I couldn’t even call anyone,’ Hyukjae whispers. ‘They broke my phone, I can’t even contact anyone to get them to look for her.’

Donghae has a brainwave.

‘Listen, Hyukjae,’ he says. ‘What if I call my friends and ask them to find her? Then by the time you’re ready to go home, she will probably be sitting there on her cushion waiting for you!’

Hyukjae looks uncertain.

‘I’ll make sure they message me and let me know how it’s going,’ Donghae continues, earnestly. ‘And she’s a clever little dog, she’s probably already at home waiting. I can just get someone to go check?’

‘But-’ Hyukjae tries again, weaker this time.

‘Please, Hyukjae.’ Donghae squeezes his hand. ‘Give me two minutes to make some calls and then I can help you, okay?’

He lets go of Hyukjae’s hand and marches determinedly from the room, like a man who has many friends waiting to go search for small dogs at 3am.

Yeah. Donghae chews on his lip anxiously and stares at his blank phone out in the corridor where Hyukjae can’t see him. This is going to be a bit of a problem.

Donghae doesn’t have any friends.

Well, he does. They just live in Mokpo or Busan or the United States.

He scrolls through his Seoul contacts