The new medicines were evidently not suiting Jongin. Jongdae had mentioned that it might take some time for Jongin's body to get adapted to it, especially considering that he was already suffering from the side effects of the excess of unnecessary multivitamins he had consumed over years, which included nausea, diarrhea, fatigue and even mild nerve damage which could be fatal in case of Jongin. He had taken only one dose of his new medicines before going to bed, and he was already feeling uneasy in the morning. Sure he didn't say anything, but Kyungsoo didn't require any vocal information to notice what was wrong with Jongin. The poor boy was so dizzy and drowsy that he had a hard time even getting up from the bed. But Kyungsoo had to leave for his job in about an hour, so he helped Jongin in taking a bath, and the clean freak Jongin did not protest against it at all. In spite of all the cooperation he had been showing, Kyungsoo could not help but feel pity for the silently suffering Jongin. 

Jongin slid out of the bathrobe and stood stark as Kyungsoo assisted him put on his underwear. It had been a while since Kyungsoo last saw his stepbrother , but it was not awkward in any way. Kyungsoo even used to get Jongin's pubic hair removed himself, because how could he risk Jongin alone with a razor blade? 

The doorbell rang and Kyungsoo had to leave Jongin half dressed to go and see who was there. When he opened the door, he was awestruck by the charm of a tall and handsome guy dressed like a cool teen with his cargo pants and plain white T-shirt on. 

"What's up?" 

And he sounded like a teenager as well.

"Uh...all good. You're...?" 

"I'm Sehun. Oh Sehun." 

Kyungsoo had completely forgotten about this male nurse Jongdae was talking about. The stress and exhaustion, added to the worries about Jongin's health was too much for Kyungsoo to keep his own memory active. "Oh yeah, Sehun. Right. Come on in." 

On their way to Jongin's room, Kyungsoo had a few seconds to think about how the hell was this sassy guy going to take care of Jongin? The confidence that Kyungsoo saw on Jongdae's face was way more convincing than what he saw on Sehun's, which was more like overconfidence. 

They went inside the blue room, and found a half cladded Jongin struggling to find the correct hole in his shirt. Kyungsoo chuckled at the overloaded cuteness, but he couldn't ignore the fact that Jongin was this much restless and uncomfortable that he couldn't even do such a simple task by himself. But at that moment, he had even more things to worry about. This weird guy Sehun, whose behaviour was nowhere near what Kyungsoo would have expected to be, was to spend the rest of his day alone with an already unhealthy Jongin. But Kyungsoo clearly remembered how Jongdae suggested to have faith in him and his treatment, so he had no other option than to let things happen the way they were planned. 

"Jonginnie, look who's here. You have a new friend." Kyungsoo said to Jongin with the fakest smile on. 

The still confused boy didn't reply but the curious burnette behind Kyungsoo sure did, "Wait...this is Jongin?" 

"Yeah" 

"Wow...I mean, he's too pretty to be autistic."

"What?" Kyungsoo screeched as he scrunched his face with an equal amount of confusion and anger on it, "That doesn't even make any sense." He then turned around and lifted his head up to catch a look of the tall guy's face. Sehun was staring at Jongin's body from head to toe with his mouth open and eyes wide. Kyungsoo frowned and turned back around to look at Jongin through the nurse's perspective. Jongin indeed, was looking really pretty. With a light sheen all over his chest and arms due to the fresh bath, and still wet hair unevenly yet so perfectly scattered and sticking to his gorgeous golden skin at places, he looked even more beautiful than he already was. The confused expression on his face only added to his beauty. The little pout complimented his naturally plump lips, and the light frown on his forehead made him look way manlier. Kyungsoo knew since forever that Jongin was really good-looking with his perfect facial features and perfect body structure helped by his broad shoulders and tall height, but he never thought of him as a man who could attract another exceptionally handsome man like Sehun. Although Kyungsoo could now see what left Sehun dumbstruck, he was utterly disgusted at how the weird nurse was staring at innocent Jongin with hawk eyes and a vulgar intention. Obviously he could not stand that, he had to get rid of Sehun as soon as possible. Because if he didn't, then there was a big chance that Sehun could try to take advantage of naive Jongin when left alone with him. 

Without any delay, Kyungsoo rushed to help getting Jongin inside his T- and told him to wait for the breakfast to be ready, and take some rest until then. After making sure that Jongin was comfortable, Kyungsoo came out of the room pulling Sehun by his arm along with him. He could have dealt with Sehun in Jongin's room itself, because the autistic kid would probably have ignored them, except for the case of them getting too loud in the argument. But after reading Jongin's journal, Kyungsoo was very well aware of the fact that he did actually listen to and observed every single thing around him, hence Kyungsoo didn't want to get anything wrong into Jongin's pure ears. 

"We don't need you here. You may go now."

The young man frowned, probably the first expression on his cold face. "Wh-What? But why?" 

"Because you are a fricking ert." 

"No I'm not. I'm really... I'm really not. Look, your brother is really attractive, I just stated the truth. But that doesn't mean that I want to...do something about it, you know?" 

The mere thought of 'doing something about it' drove Kyungsoo insane. He didn't even want to picture what the contemptible person in front of him was already probably imagining. "Just...just get the out of here before I call Jongdae. I-" Kyungsoo was not a type of person to curse easily, but at that moment he was so angry that he could have forgotten all his limits. Fortunately, he was cut off in the middle by Sehun. 

"Don't. Please don't call Dr. Kim..." all the sass was gone, and Kyungsoo could now see the real person behind that hard shell. Sehun stood with his hands joined as he literally begged Kyungsoo for forgiveness, "...try to understand. He's really concerned about this particular case, if he would get to know that I was sent back for being a 'ert', then I'll get fired. I really need to work under Dr. Kim and learn from him, I'm already expecting a promotion. Please understand, please don't do this to me." 

Sehun was being genuine, and he sure had a big enough reason to be given another chance. Kyungsoo was way too kind person and he woud have forgiven Sehun right away if only it wasn't for the sake of Jongin. Kyungsoo just couldn't hand over Jongin's responsibility to someone he had no faith and trust in, "I'm sorry. But I can't let you take care of my Jongin." 

"Please let me, not for my job, but for Jongin. I know you love your brother a lot and don't even want to take any risk regarding his health. But Kyungsoo I suggest you to check my record, I've helped many people in such a short span of time. You won't be able to find a better caretaker than me." 

This sold Kyungsoo. Of course he wanted the best for Jongin. And if Sehun really didn't worth a chance, then he would immediately be rejected by Jongin himself. So Kyungsoo let Jongin be the best judge to let Sehun in or out of his life, "Fine. I'm giving you a chance. But if my stepbrother faces any problem then consider yourself fired. And yeah, it would be better if you keep your hands away from him." 

*************************

Life was never this easy for Kyungsoo. He had been exploring new levels of happiness and content lately. He shared laughs with his colleagues more often, hung out with Baekhyun at every three days gap, gave time to himself and his own hobbies. It was as if he was getting a well deserved vacation after selflessly dedicating his life solely to Jongin. And all of this was possible only because of Jongdae and Sehun's collective efforts. But the reason of Kyungsoo's happiness was not that he was freed from his responsibilities, it was because Jongin's condition was improving at the speed of light. With correct medication and guidance, not only was Jongin doing better on his own, but also he was able to express himself better. His speech was way more coherent and understandable, he did speak less but still way more than he used to. Each behavioural therapy session inculcated something new and better things into Jongin. Kyungsoo still was not over the regret of wasting so many years of Jongin's life. The amount of progress he had made in just four months of treatment concluded that he indeed was a fast learner. 

Another reason of Kyungsoo's never experienced before joy was that he was getting even closer to Jongin, who sure was way too shy and hesitant to show his love for Kyungsoo, but had started acknowledging the elder's love for himself. Accepting all the valuable advices from Jongdae, Kyungsoo spent every single minute of his day with Jongin whenever he got to stay at home. 

So in conclusion, Kyungsoo was happy, really happy, but not for himself, he was happy because finally Jongin was happy. The only thing that added a little sourness to his sweet dream was the bitter truth that Kyungsoo was not the reason of Jongin's precious smiles and giggles, it was his new best friend...Sehun. The sassy male nurse unexpectedly turned out to be Jongin's most favorite person ever. Jongin immediately bonded with Sehun since the very first day they met, and ever since then, Jongin was the happiest whenever around him. Initially Kyungsoo thought that it was because Sehun got to spend more time with Jongin, but as he observed them talking or playing around (whenever Sehun overtimed and stayed in the house even after Kyungsoo came back home from work), he found out that the secret lied in the way Sehun treated Jongin. Unlike others who were overprotective and extremely careful for Jongin and treated him like a little sensitive kid, Sehun behaved like he would usually behave around a guy of his own age. He was casual and carefree around Jongin, he freely joked around, teased and even flirted with Jongin. And the last thing mentioned was the very reason Kyungsoo was salty about. It was awkward for him to see them together knowing that the person Jongin was whipped for was actually the same guy who laid his y eyes on oblivious Jongin earlier when he saw him. But in the end, all that mattered was Jongin's happiness, so Kyungsoo decided to let go of all the insecurities he had. 

"What are you thinking about?" 

Kyungsoo looked up from the empty coffee mug he had been staring at with a smile on his face. "No, nothing." 

"Really?" Suho scooted into Kyungsoo's cubicle and looked inside the same mug, "But I don't see anything in here that would make you blush." 

Just then Kyungsoo realised how stupid he would have looked doing so, he chuckled. Don't know about Kyungsoo, but Suho definitely blushed at the sight of the rare heart-shaped smile. Kyungsoo was in a good mood, so without giving much thought to how close Suho was to him, he simply pointed in the direction of a photo frame lying on his desk as he said, "I was thinking about him." 

Suho looked in the direction. His face lost of all its expressions as he saw a handsome guy smiling brightly at something which could not be captured in the frame. "Oh. Is he..." his tone definitely gave him away but he still cleared his throat to try sounding better, "Is he your...boyfriend?" 

"What?" Kyungsoo found it really funny and insane, "No. Oh god, No." 

Suho's face welcomed back a few expressions, "Really? Well then, who is he?" 

"He's my stepbrother." 

Suho frowned. He tried his best to not show it but he was extremely confused. He had many questions but he was scared to ask them, he didn't want to offend Kyungsoo or his feelings in any way.

"What's wrong?" 

"Uh..." 

"Come on. Tell me." 

Suho scratched his forehead before letting it out finally, "Nothing, its just...so unusual to see such strong bonds between...stepbrothers." 

Kyungsoo sighed, he had to tell Suho now, "Well, our case is different. We share something more than just a forced relationship. He needs me and I've been looking after him since years, and I need him because he's the key to my happiness." Kyungsoo could go on and on explaning his unique and strong bond with Jongin, but noticing Suho's frown getting deeper, he had to stop and tell Suho, "He's autistic."

The last words explained everything to Suho. But still he was so curious to know more. They spent the rest of their lunch break (which was just a coffee break for them) talking about Jongin, his past, his present, and future plans for him. Suho was extremely moved to see Kyungsoo's unconditional love towards the son of the woman who was the reason to break his family apart. 

While they were packing their office bags up at the time of departure, Suho reached out to Kyungsoo. "Hey Kyungsoo?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Are you...are you free this weekend? I mean...we could have dinner together, if...if you don't mind." 

Kyungsoo was not surprised at all, "Are you asking me out?" 

"Yes...I guess." 

"So, is it a date?" 

"Uh...yeah. You can call it that."

"Fine. Saturday night? Nine-ish?" 

Suho was about to jump up out of excitement, he didn't expect it to go so smoothly. He tried to contain his feelings and just let his face become the reddest it could get, "Perfect. I'll be looking forward to it." 

Kyungsoo nodded with a beautiful eye smile before walking down his way towards the parking lot. His decision was not rushed, it definitely was not. Ever since they had started talking to each other, Kyungsoo knew that Baekhyun's observations were actually correct. And the events of the noon were self explanatory to why Suho never asked him out before, because he had a misconception that Jongin was Kyungsoo's boyfriend (since obviously, Jongin's candid picture was placed up front on Kyungsoo's desk and Suho didn't even need to snoop in order to notice it). Kyungsoo still didn't have any feelings or attraction towards Suho, but he still decided to give it a try. Because one, he never dated anyone before and wanted to try it (or we can say that he was ashamed of being a twenty six year old ), two, he thought Suho was a nice guy and didn't deserve to be turned down, three, he was a little relieved from the stress of taking care of Jongin, and lastly, because he could finally be comfortable to come out as a gay after breaking all of the bonds with his mother. 

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Hey everyone !! 

I'm really curious to know your thoughts and predictions after reading this particular chapter. Won't take much of your time, but just want to mention that my daily schedule is really hectic so I've not been able to update frequently. These are not excuses, I swear, I love this story (ಥ﹏ಥ)

Can't wait to read your comments...

​​​​Thank you so much~~~