Chanyeol’s day started early. After breakfast, he was bathed. He asked if he could be dressed by the nurse in charge, who was male, much to his relief. Personally, he wanted to spare himself the embarrassment of having to give his mother the responsibility. Mrs. Park pulled out a new black hoodie and another pair of jeans and left the room. This time, it didn’t take ten minutes for him to get ready.

Then he was immediately taken in for basic check-up. His condition was still the same, no new improvement on his eyesight, but his ribs were slowly healing that he didn’t need painkillers starting from today.  Afterwards, he was brought to an indoor spacious area by a young male nurse, who spoke to him in English. He was made to stand up and was given simple instructions on how to use a metallic cane for walking.

Chanyeol hesitated at first, not sure how he was feeling about using this confounded cold contraption. An image of a blind man walking down the street flashed into his mind’s eye. He didn’t want to perceive himself this way.

He shut his eyes. He kept repeating in his head that this was a temporary condition. It had to be...

Mrs. Park immediately went by his side and took his arm. “Chanyeollie?” she called, having inkling that her son was disturbed.

He tried to smile at her and put on his trooper face. He gripped the cane’s handle. He pushed it forward as he took one step, but basically, he had to lean to his mother for support.

The lead therapist left them alone for a while so Chanyeol could get a feel of using the cane.  They did what they were told. Although her son was quiet and was doing very well, Mrs. Park knew that Chanyeol was not letting her know how much this really was upsetting him.

The therapist came back and gave Chanyeol good encouragement. He swallowed and smiled good-naturedly, just to get it over with.

Someone peeked through the crack of the open door, making as little noise as possible.  The male nurse welcomed Kyungsoo into the facility as he bowed in thanks.  Mrs. Park gave Kyungsoo a smile, albeit a strained one, as she guided Chanyeol to turn to a corner. Kyungsoo helplessly watched on the side, fidgeting with his hands.

The male nurse looked at Kyungsoo curiously.   The smaller guy appeared a little edgy, like he wanted to do something than just stand there.  He had noticed them visiting the garden yesterday morning, and it seemed as if they were good friends.  Suddenly, the male nurse had an idea.  “Go on.  You can help him,” the male nurse prompted in motivation.

Kyungsoo glanced at him for a moment and then mutely proceeded.

Mrs. Park was surprised when Kyungsoo came up to her and bowed low in greeting.  As if reading his mind, Mrs. Park gave way as she carefully guided Chanyeol’s arm to Kyungsoo’s hands.

Warmth spread through Chanyeol’s arm as he turned his head to his left. He immediately knew who it was. “Kyungsoo-ssi.”

“De, Park sajangnim.  How are you today?”

He knew Kyungsoo smiled. He couldn’t see it but it was in his voice. “You’re late.” Then he grinned to indicate that he was joking.

Kyungsoo laughed out loud, an unrestricted, belly laugh that caused Chanyeol’s heart to…

Flip?

Mrs. Park was watching them amicably.  The male nurse stood by her side and commented, “The patient seems more relaxed than yesterday.”

It was plain as day, and much as Mrs. Park wanted to question it—if Do Kyungsoo’s intentions were indeed as pure as he made them out to be—she couldn’t help but agree.  She would do anything in her power to give Chanyeol whatever made him feel most comfortable.

And for now, it was Kyungsoo being by his side.

The CEO felt himself blushing as Kyungsoo guided him to walk around with the cane, saying, “Joseong-haeyo, I waited for the market to open to buy ingredients.”

“For the takoyaki?” Chanyeol asked excitedly, that he almost lost grip of the cane.

“De,” Kyungsoo answered sincerely, closing his hand over Chanyeol’s that was holding the handle.  His sudden touch made Chanyeol miss a step.  

Kyungsoo laughed again.

Yep, Chanyeol’s heart definitely did a flip just now.

“And I also brought Yixing hyung’s guitar,” Kyungsoo continued, guiding Chanyeol along his steps.  “He said you could use it for as long as you like.  He even tuned it for you.”

“Wow… that’s kind of him.”  But he was actually anticipating getting this therapy session done with so he could go back to his room and eat the takoyaki and play the guitar for Kyungsoo…

Wait… what?

For Kyungsoo?

Where did that come from?

He meant… with Kyungsoo.

“Gwaenchanayo?” The sous chef asked suddenly, when the CEO abruptly halted.

Chanyeol cleared his throat, before he went on further censoring his thoughts.  Before the accident, he was setting up his own music studio—something that he had kept from his parents, even his father—as a side project.  He had recently registered the name LOEY PRODUCTIONS under the Korean Music Copyright Association (KOMCA).  He had written a few songs, but it was not enough to create an album yet.  He wanted to look for singers, to create a demo at least, but now… that dream was going to be put on hold… just like everything else in his life, including being CEO of Seomse.

“Uh, Omma told me that your other roommate, Junmyeon-ssi, will be helping us process my passport in the embassy,” Chanyeol said instead, as he diligently took his steps, just thinking to himself that he was getting some exercise at least, with Kyungsoo on his arm.

“Ah…” Kyungsoo hummed.  “He’s very efficient.  He has been working there for a few years.”  He whispered for Chanyeol to turn to his right, as they had completed a whole round.  “If it weren’t for him, my work visa might have taken longer.”

“W-Why is that?”

“I had to immediately… transfer,” Kyungsoo hesitated, not sure if Chanyeol knew why he ended up in Tokyo when he had just been sous chef in the Seoul branch for less than a year.  He also didn’t really want to go into detail.  “My options were… to move to Japan or… enlist in the army… and the work visa came first, so I deferred.”

“Oh… so you haven’t enlisted yet,” Chanyeol murmured, reliving his tough army days when he had just been