Aghh, what was that incessant, ear-splitting sound? It was a short, relentless beep that just wouldn't let up, each and every one cutting through his head like a knife. He tried opening his eyes but it was as if they were glued shut. Gravity was refusing to let go of them, like a pair of weights were dangling from his eyelashes, making it impossible to raise his eyelids even one-tenth of an inch. Lifting his arm to rub the sleepy dust away, he winced, clenching his teeth out of pain. Every part of his body was on fire, and not the gentle kind.

Terrifying glimpses of the brutal attack he had suffered started coming back to him, torturing him mentally as well as physically, a budding panic attack sowing its roots in his gut. He considered the possibility of being dead, his last breath stolen by those ruthless thugs, but he refused to believe the afterlife could be this painful. Unless... unless this was hell.

Chanyeol came to, disorientated and groggy. He must have fallen asleep again. This time his eyelids obeyed his order, opening like the hood of a rusty car that had been left to rot at the mercy of the natural forces. He looked around the gloomy hospital room, it had to be night since the only source of light came through the curtains from the poorly lit hallway. There was nobody around. How long had he been here? And where exactly was 'here'?

Like a dagger through his heart, he suddenly remembered what he had been doing in that alley. Kyungsoo!

“Kyungsoo! Doh Kyungsoo!”

Chanyeol started ripping out the needle in his arm. It stung.

New, louder beeps joined the beep-choir. A nurse came running into the room, her face panic-stricken.

“Mr. Park, Mr. Park! No! You can't get out of bed, you are seriously hurt.”

She threw her arms in the air, rushing towards him, blocking his awkward and futile escape from the hospital bed. His whole body ached, it was hard to move.

“I need to save Kyungsoo,” he objected, shaking his muddled mind, hoping it would help clear the fog that enveloped his brain.

“Mr. Doh is okay. He's safe,” the nurse nodded towards the dimly lit corner of the room.

As Chanyeol tried to turn his head, his chin clashed with the neck brace he was wearing, an arrow of pain shooting down his spine. A sudden pang of fear made him wriggle his toes to make sure he wasn't paralyzed. He sighed with relief as all ten of his toes did a little dance. The relief gave him the courage to try again, his curiosity getting the better of him once again, making him take unnecessary risks.

Taking a deep breath, he repositioned his body so his line of vision reached the dark corner. There was a guy sleeping in a chair next to his bed. He could barely detect the outline of his face, but as his eyes got used to the darkness, his jaw dropped with the accompanying agony. It was Kyungsoo alright, but his annoyingly handsome face was all banged up. Watching the dark bruise decorating Kyungsoo's cheekbone was almost more painful than all Chanyeol's injuries put together.

He was sound asleep, curled up on the chair like a cat.

“Can't you see he's hurt?! You have to treat him!”

Chanyeol grabbed the nurse's arm to stop her from leaving before attending to poor Kyungsoo.

“Mr. Doh refused treatment, he refused to leave your side. He adamantly insisted on staying the night.”

Idiot. Why would he do that? The Kyungsoo he knew was not the type of guy to put others before himself. And why hadn't he just run away, why did he stick around to be beaten up so badly?

He was alive, Chanyeol told himself repeatedly, his chest growing lighter each time. It was not that he was glad to see him, but he was genuinely relieved that he wasn't dead, and more importantly, he was grateful to be rid of that strange sensation of something constantly pulling at his insides, not letting him rest until he gave in to it and let it take him to wherever Kyungsoo was getting himself into trouble.

Kyungsoo looked exhausted, his tiny body moving up and down with the rhythm of his slow breathing. He seemed much smaller and sweeter asleep than awake. If he wasn't such an insufferable , Chanyeol would've thought he was cute.

The nurse's words echoed in his brain, 'refused to leave your side'. Even though he was looking right at him, Chanyeol couldn't believe it. There had to be another reason for his being here. Maybe he didn't want to fork out the dough for his own room, hijacking Chanyeol's hospital room to catch up on his beauty sleep. He was weirdly stingy for a rich person. Or perhaps he was using him as a cover, hiding out in his room, avoiding the thugs who had beaten them up.

What had he gotten himself mixed up in? Were those goons some kind of personal loan collectors? Or had he scammed them and they were out for revenge? Or had it maybe been a pure absence of luck, being at the wrong place at the wrong time?

It wasn't normal to have so many brushes with death in such a short period of time. Was Kyungsoo just that unlucky, or was he earmarked by some higher power? Could this really all be a coincidence? And how did Chanyeol fit into all of this? He had never even heard of Kyungsoo before all this, why did he always feel so compelled to save him, when he didn't even like him?

His head started to ache as more and more questions bombarded his tired brain, pointlessly attacking it since it could offer no answers. He pushed them all aside, deciding this was not the time to get to the bottom of this. For now, he was just going to focus on getting better. He let sleep whisk him away into a tumultuous dream.

Chanyeol opened his eyes, it was still dark. Was this night never-ending? The moment he remembered his little visitor, he turned his head a bit overzealously, sending a spear of pain down his back. For a brief moment, he couldn't move from the pain. His heart did an extra pirouette out of fear, he wasn't sure if he was ready to face the extent of his injuries.

When the pain handed him back the reins to his body, he slowly checked the corner for signs of life. There he was. Still asleep. A weird feeling of relief washed over Chanyeol, he wasn't completely sure why. Of course he didn't want him to stay, he was not in the mood for one of Kyungsoo's pompous, self-righteous speeches. Perhaps just knowing that Kyungsoo wasn't out causing any more trouble, for the time being, was enough to put him at ease.

Why couldn't he just remain asleep forevermore? He looked like an angel. So beautiful and peaceful. It was as if he was a drawing that had come to life, drawn by one of the greats. Sharp, but soft lines. Chanyeol traced them with his eyes. He couldn't but appreciate the genius of this piece of art he was admiring. If only Kyungsoo had a better personality. Although a faulty personality was a common side effect of people who were too aesthetically gifted. It was their cross to bear. Nobody was perfect.

A pang shot through Chanyeol's gut. Kyungsoo's eyes were open. For some reason, he held his breath, as if that would render him invisible, realizing way too late that it was useless, only bringing him pain as his bruised ribcage complained from being overextended for too long. His eyes shot into another direction, but he knew it was too late. Kyungsoo had seen him looking at him. He just hoped he hadn't noticed how much he liked what he saw, for that would be disastrous. He decided to nip whatever was coming in the , resolutely forcing his eyes to face the music.

“Before you start with your idiotic accusations... No, this is not some ridiculous scheme to get your money. I can't even imagine how you could spin it in that direction, except maybe to get you to pay the hospital bill, but that doesn't make any sense. How would I benefit from getting beaten to death, just to get free treatment at a hospital? Besides, I have a job, I have money. I can pay my own hospital bill, so there is no reason for you to hang around here any longer,” Chanyeol said dryly, crossing his arms firmly and then clenching his teeth as a wave of pain attacked him.

He knew he had to be firm for the message to reach Kyungsoo, but somewhere deep down inside he wished he wouldn't go. Maybe he was afraid of being alone and helpless, but having Kyungsoo around would most certainly do more harm than good.

“Well, you would benefit if you were already sick and in need of medical care,” Kyungsoo stated matter-of-factly, sitting up in the chair.

Oh, there it was. Chanyeol could feel the intolerable annoyance returning, mentally punching himself for having been intrigued for even a moment.

“Look!” Chanyeol started in the most indignant voice he could muster up.

Kyungsoo snorted.

“Relax. I would've thought you hired them to rough me up a bit so that you could pretend to save me and cash in on a hefty savior bonus, that is, if they hadn't all but sent you straight to the cemetery. Not even you could be that stupid.”

He smirked obnoxiously.

Chanyeol's skin started to boil with frustration. That guy. That guy! That insufferable piece of...

“I just came here to thank you,” Kyungsoo said in a low, soft voice.

His face transformed into a sweet smile, disarming Chanyeol's security wall.

“You might have just saved my life,” he added in earnest, uncharacteristically humble.

Might have? Chanyeol definitely saved his life, that was for sure. And it wasn't even the first time. But Chanyeol's rage was no longer on fire. At least Kyungsoo knew to say thank you, there was hope for him yet.

“And... ehm...”

Kyungsoo bit his lip awkwardly.

“I'm sorry.”

“...for everything.”