When Yunho had said he’d somehow find a way to see Changmin, Changmin hadn’t expected anything like this. Changmin wasn’t sure what he’d expected something along the lines of Yunho finding a way to interrupt his meetings. Whether it was with other mob bosses, drug dealers or the police officers they bribed. That Yunho would turn up and act as if he was supposed to be there, and Changmin would not call him out for it. Then afterwards he’d strike up a conversation with Changmin and say something that would confirm Changmin’s suspicions that he was only there for Changmin’s sake. Or that he would visit him at the hospital which he was prone to do. He didn’t do it very often, but often enough for Italian mob members to attack him in the hospital because they’d spotted him with Yunho in the parking lot. Often enough for the receptionists to ask Changmin what his handsome friend was up to these days. For them to giggle and ask if Changmin knew if he was single. And then by Changmin’s dismissive answers coo over how cute they would be together as a couple.

Yunho didn’t crash any meetings. Nor did he show up at the hospital. The last time Yunho had been at the hospital was when Changmin had forced Yunho to drop everything to come to help him, and Changmin was content to keep it that way. He preferred keeping his two lives separate. Changmin was disturbed by a sudden harsh knocking on his door. It almost sounded like the person on the other side was trying to break an entry, but then again people who were trying to break into his apartment didn’t knock.

It was a Thursday, not that the fact mattered. He’d just finished his middle shift in the hospital and had returned to his apartment. Where Changmin had cooked himself dinner and had cleaned after himself. Changmin had just finished doing so when he realised he still had a few hours until he would go to bed. He’d wandered off to his bookshelf and had tried to decide what he wanted to read. Changmin had always enjoyed reading, but he sadly found too little time to do so. However, now with the few hours before he should go to bed to be ready for his early shift Changmin had the time to sit down and actually read. There were times like these when Changmin noticed Kyuhyun had taken the reins of his gang back. Had Kyuhyun been working for Leeteuk right now, Changmin wouldn’t have had the luxury of sitting down to read a book. He would have to file paperwork until he realised he could no longer keep his eyes open. Now those tasks landed on Kyuhyun, and Changmin had more time to just enjoy himself. He’d just decided on Metamorphous by Kafka when the knocking had started.

Changmin couldn’t help but grow alert. He wasn’t expecting someone, and he didn’t have friends that would pop in unannounced. Kyuhyun would’ve called if he needed anything, while all his friends at the hospital didn’t know where he lived. Changmin placed the book on a table and reached for another book on his shelf. War and Peace by Tolstoy, it wasn’t really a book, it was just camouflaged as such. He opened it to retrieve a gun. It had been a gift from Kyuhyun, Kyuhyun had thought he’d especially funny with the choosing of the title. He took the gun out and placed the false book back in its place. Carefully he tip-toed to his door when the knocking started again. Changmin cursed silently for not having a peeking hole to watch through, he would have to fix it later he vowed to himself. He opened the door in a swift moment and raised the gun towards the person on the other side. Only for the gun to falter.

“Yunho?” he asked in confusion before he registered the shape of the other man. His left hand was gripping Changmin’s door frame for support. His right hand was protectively wrapped around his stomach. It was bloody, and Changmin could easily tell from Yunho’s shirt that he was excessively bleeding.

“Didn’t know where else to go,” Yunho explained. His voice was lower than usual and raspy. As if it strained him too much to use his voice excessively. Changmin’s instinct as a doctor took over, and he started to help Yunho into the apartment. He wasn’t sure where he placed the gun, somewhere out of sight. He barely registered that he locked the apartment door before he helped Yunho to his bed so the older man could lie down. Changmin wondered how much blood Yunho had lost before he came here, but he couldn’t bring himself to think of it. Yunho was still conscious and had been able to walk and talk, so that was a good sign.

“What happened?” he asked Yunho, so he could know what he was dealing with.

“Shot,” Yunho managed to reply back with short-hand breath. Changmin didn’t need to ask any other follow-up questions.

He took a quick look at Yunho almost to make sure that Yunho would be able to survive while Changmin took a quick tour to the bathroom to retrieve the first-aid kit. He seemed fine, so Changmin deemed it alright to let him rest on his bed before he got the first-aid kit. The first-aid kit didn’t hold many of the things Changmin knew he needed, and he silently cursed Yunho for not going to a real hospital. Changmin might be a trained doctor, but it wasn’t like his apartment could replace a hospital. Luckily, Changmin had played field doctor too many times for Kyuhyun and had a lot in his first-aid kit. Not necessarily because he wanted to have a lot of medical supplies in his own apartment, but Changmin was also tired of seeing Hyukjae with bullet wounds and not being able to do anything about it besides clean the wound and wrap a bandage around it and recommend the fastest route to the nearest hospital. It had started slow, but the supplies had been building up over time. Changmin hated coming unprepared and had vowed after treating some burn wounds on Shindong that he should expand his first-aid kit. After all, Changmin hated being unprepared, so he had stocked up on all kinds of supplies. He was tired of treating wounds with painkillers and wrapping a clean bandage around a wound and looking into their hurt face and telling them that was all he could do. Usually, he didn’t need the supplies, but in cases like this, it was useful.

Changmin started buttoning up his shirt to get better access to the wound. Yunho looked at him and even through all of the pain he was going through he managed to send Changmin a smirk, much weaker than the ones he usually sent Changmin’s way but albeit still a smirk. “So, you can’t wait undress me, huh?” Yunho joked, and Changmin couldn’t help but visibly smirk.

“,” Changmin quickly retorted, “don’t use excessive energy.” He moved the shirt out of the way, so he had a better view of the wound, but it didn’t help much. Yunho was bleeding so much that it was hard for Changmin to tell where the wound was exactly. The white shirt covered in blood stuck to the skin, and when Changmin removed it a low hissing sound escaped Yunho’s mouth. Changmin wanted to tell Yunho to not be a baby, just because that’s how they acted around each other, but Changmin held his tongue. He knew what pain Yunho was in, and it was honestly rather impressive that Yunho managed to stay so still and silent. If anything, Changmin should be praising him. “This is going to sting,” he told Yunho as he pulled up a small transparent bottle of liquid morphine, which read MORPHINE with capital letters and labelled as 2 millilitres and injected the liquid into a syringe. Yunho would need the sedating medicine if Changmin was going to get the bullet out of the wound. Changmin had gotten the morphine from the black market since he had no reason to walk around with such strong medication. Then he’d made Kyuhyun pay for it since the entire reason Changmin needed it was because he kept dealing with wounds that the others refused to see a hospital about. He understood that it would be suspicious if Hyukjae got repeatedly treated for bullet and stab wounds at an actual hospital, but if Kyuhyun was going to make Changmin play doctor he was going to pay for the morphine as well. Kyuhyun had yet to complain – or notice – so Changmin reckoned Kyuhyun didn’t care. He was loaded either way.

Changmin’s trained eyes had no problems finding a vein and set the needle swiftly before he injected the morphine into Yunho, careful to not give him too much. The last thing Changmin wanted to deal with was an overdose amidst it all. Yunho let out a low hiss, but the sound disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

“It’s going to take some time before the morphine starts kicking in,” he told Yunho. The other only looked at him but didn’t reply. Changmin didn’t need a reply though. He knew that Yunho had heard him, and that was enough. He didn’t want Yunho to use more energy on fruitless answers when he really should be resting. “You’re going to be awake when I do the stitches,” he told Yunho, “but at least it’s going to hurt less.” The older man had no answers to this either, and Changmin had no qualms about that either. He got rid of the syringe; he would throw it away later. For sanitation reasons he used one-time syringes, to make sure there weren’t any bacteria that could potentially infect the wound. Changmin found some one-time blue latex gloves from the first-aid kit and pulled them tightly over his own hands. He didn’t want to touch Yunho’s wound and risk infecting it with his bare skin.

“This is going to sting,” he told Yunho again when he pulled up a ball of cotton and drowned it in alcohol. He didn’t wait for Yunho to confirm what he’d said before he started cleaning the blood away from his wound. Yunho let out a louder hiss this time, but he seemed to bite down to his lower lip to contain the sounds of pain. The cotton ball quickly turned red from all the blood, and Changmin switched it out with a clean cotton ball with an equal amount of alcohol. It didn’t take him long to have cleaned the wound, it was still bleeding, but Changmin had a clear view of it now. It was much easier to see where the bullet wound precisely was. It wasn’t very huge, which meant Yunho must’ve been shot from afar, from the look of it the wound didn’t seem very deep. Luckily enough. Changmin would’ve hated to dig around to try to pull the bullet out.

He looked at the clock on his arm wrist, it would still be a while before the morphine kicked it, but Changmin had to stop the bleeding quickly. He figured Yunho would be able to deal with the pain of him starting the operation a bit early, and then he would go numb midway. It was either doing that or waiting until the morphine kicked in and then cleaning up all the blood again. Changmin wasn’t too keen on bleeding Yunho dry before he took the first cut. At least, he gave Yunho a few more minutes while he prepared. He changed his gloves to clean ones, and did all the necessary preparations, finding all the utensils he would need, and sanitating them so he was sure they were all clean and wouldn’t infect the wound. When all that was done, he took a quick look at Yunho to make sure Yunho was still alive and well, he was breathing quicker than usual and sweating, but he was still awake – and Changmin took that as a good sign. Yunho looked a bit drowsy, but Changmin couldn’t tell if it was because of the morphine or the blood loss, probably a bit of both.

Changmin wanted badly to tell Yunho something. That it was going to be okay, or that he was lucky for making it to Changmin, or that he was being too reckless and this time it got Yunho badly hurt, but he could muster no words. When he looked at Yunho, all sweaty, obviously in pain and his dark eyes following Changmin’s every move all fight left him. Instead of giving Yunho a piece of his mind Changmin focused on what he was good at, being a doctor.

“This is going to hurt,” he told Yunho seriously holding the scalpel in his hand. Once again, he didn’t give Yunho a chance to reply, because nothing Yunho said would change anything. He made a clean cut straight above the wound. Yunho made a sound of pain, but Changmin completely tuned it out. He could feel himself slipping into a zone where the only thing he could concentrate on was the wound in front of him. He was bleeding a bit, but Changmin could easily spot the silver bullet and changed the scalpel out with a tweezer so he could retrieve it. He didn’t say anything to prepare Yunho and just went for the bullet. Yunho screamed again and turned in pain, Changmin said nothing, but he pressed Yunho down with his left hand, and forced him to lay still. It didn’t take him long to get the bullet out of the wound. He quickly discarded the bloody bullet before he got out the needle to stitch the wound back together. Changmin was unsure how long the whole operation took him, when he first got into his zone, he lost all sense of time and space. When he deemed his own work good enough, he cleaned up the wound and wrapped Yunho’s torso in a clean bandage. When Changmin once again looked at Yunho after everything was done, the older man was breathing slowly, looking drugged down. He’d stopped being responsive after a while, and Changmin had figured the morphine had kicked in.

Looking at Yunho now made him seem so vulnerable, Changmin tried not to think of what it meant that Yunho had come to him. He had to trust Changmin a lot to let him see him like this. It was funny in a morbid sense, Changmin had the most powerful weapon dealer in Illinois drugged down on his bed, and Yunho trusted him to let Changmin do something like that. Because he knew Changmin wouldn’t do him anything. If he’d wanted to, he could sell Yunho out to the Italians who were after him, or he could sell him out to someone else. It wasn’t like Yunho was lacking enemies. However, it was true, Changmin wasn’t going to Yunho anything. Aside from nagging him when he woke up again. His chances of a quiet evening had disappeared, and Changmin was left with cleaning up Yunho’s mess. He wanted to be annoyed at the weapon dealer, but no matter how hard he tried he didn’t have it in him. So, instead, Changmin decided to get Yunho out of the bloody shirt and clean it, he was unsure if it was even salvageable with how much blood there was on it, but Changmin decided he would at least try. When he let the shirt soak in cold water he decided to clean up around the bed, he sanitised all of his tools that would go back into the first-aid kit. While he got rid of the gloves, the bloody cotton, and the bullet. Yunho was fast asleep when Changmin went back into his bedroom, he’d probably been asleep for a long time now. Changmin knew Yunho didn’t like Changmin to see him like this, but he was probably worn out and exhausted. Changmin didn’t know where Yunho had been when he was shot, but he doubted it was right down the neighbourhood. He’d probably walked quite the distance to get to Changmin while being shot, and then he’d been awake for most of the operation – that was sure to wear a man out. Not to mention his excessive blood loss. Changmin didn’t think it was serious enough that Yunho would need blood transfer, but he would probably be a bit dizzy when he woke up tomorrow.

For a brief moment, he wondered if he should get out a shirt for Yunho to sleep in since Changmin had taken his shirt, but he decided against it. He wasn’t going to play dress-up with Yunho. He could borrow some clothes for tomorrow when he woke up again. Even so, Changmin couldn’t resist the urge to pull off Yunho’s shoes and place them in the hallway. Fair enough that Yunho needed to sleep there for the night, but there was no way that Changmin was letting Yunho sleep in his bed with shoes on. Either way, he would have to change bed sheets tomorrow because he was sure Yunho had bled all over his duvet and mattress. He looked at Yunho’s resting body, even after all these years Changmin couldn’t help but find him attractive. His body stayed in shape, and Changmin could see the outline of a six-pack, not very defined, Yunho would never be a bodybuilder, but there was no doubt that the man was built. Changmin had to force himself to tear his eyes away. Of course, he could remember what Yunho looked like – even though it seemed like he’d gained some muscle since New York – but seeing it now with his own eyes made it more real. When it was a fogged memory from their time in Yunho’s apartment it was easy to will it away, but now with Yunho lying half- in his bed, it was quite a different case. Changmin almost wondered how he could’ve been stupid enough to let Yunho go, but the heartbreak and the rejection came flooding quickly after reminded him.

He exited his own bedroom with bitter feelings. He wasn’t necessarily angry at Yunho, he was over him, despite still finding him attractive, he was just bitter that things had ended the way that they had. Nothing good had come out of their relationship, besides Yunho teaching Changmin how to protect himself and how to fight. He was left with a feeling that the almost four-year relationship, which also wasn’t a relationship, had been wasted, which wasn’t something Changmin liked thinking about. He didn’t want to admit that Yunho had been a waste of time. Everything had been easier before Yunho had shown up in Chicago. Changmin had been slowly getting over him, and he’d been doing well for himself. Then 15 months ago, Yunho showed up out of nowhere had decided he was going to be a part of Changmin’s life again. Without asking Changmin if he’d even wanted that. It would’ve been easier to deal with Yunho if there had been so much unresolved tension between them. Like there was something that was bound to happen. Changmin didn’t like it, he didn’t want something to happen with him and Yunho, he wanted them to be over once and for all. Yunho didn’t seem to agree with him with the way he kept seeking out Changmin, and seemed convinced that they would find their way back together. But sometimes there was a joking tone to Yunho when he said it, and Changmin had a hard time understanding if he meant it. Had an even harder time understanding why he wanted Yunho to mean it.

Changmin forced himself to not think about it, he knew nothing good could come out of it. Instead, he made the couch so he could sleep there for the night, seeing as Yunho had taken his bed. Before he got ready for bed, brushing his teeth and changing into some clothes he could sleep in. The last thing he did before he went to sleep was check that the door was locked – which it was – and then turn off the lights. Walking in darkness to the couch and got comfortable. He seemed to fall asleep at once.

When he woke up Changmin felt a little distorted, he couldn’t quite remember why he was on the couch, but it all came back to him quickly. Yunho knocking on his door, the operation and Yunho probably still sleeping off the morphine in his bed. Changmin checked his wristwatch, it was a little before eight, but he had no reason to rush. He had a middle shift at the hospital today as well, and he didn’t need to be at work until two o’clock. Changmin had plenty of time before then. The first thing Changmin did was check on Yunho, he was still sleeping soundly as Changmin had left him yesterday. He wanted to check on the stitches underneath the bandage and change the bandage, but he figured that could wait until Yunho had woken up. So instead, he went into the kitchen and started making a pot of coffee. Usually, Changmin would never make an entire pot for himself, knowing he could never finish it before it became cold, but Yunho would probably care for some coffee when he decided to wake up.

He made some simple breakfast for two, it all felt too homey and brought back too many memories of New York when Changmin had been making breakfast for the two of them in Yunho’s apartment. Then Yunho would find him in his kitchen loop his arms around Changmin from behind and kiss his neck, allowing Changmin to feel Yunho’s stubble on his neck before Yunho had the chance to shave. Changmin didn’t want to find himself in a situation like that again but did seem awfully rude to not serve Yunho breakfast when he was making a portion for himself. Besides, from a medical perspective, Changmin knew Yunho had lost a lot of blood, the best thing he could do now was rest and eat a lot, to regain energy and let his body have a chance to reproduce the lost blood. Changmin made some avocado toast for them both but didn’t bother to impress Yunho with his cooking skills like he would’ve done back in New York. Back when he’d thought if he could just impress Yunho enough it would make him want to stay. Changmin liked to think he wasn’t that naïve anymore.

Just when he’d finished Yunho came walking out of his bedroom, walking much slower than usual. His black hair was messy from sleeping, and his right hand holding his right side where he’d been shot. The idiot was still shirtless, and Changmin wondered if Yunho did it on purpose to . Changmin found Yunho much easier to deal with if he was annoyed at the other man, which prevented him from feeling other things around him.

“Idiot, sit down at once, you should be resting,” Changmin scolded Yunho, who luckily obeyed Changmin to take a seat at one of the barstools so he could sit by the counter and watch Changmin work. Changmin found it unnerving, but he didn’t say anything about it, instead, he continued with his nagging. “You’ll end up pulling the stings and then you’ll bleed dry.”

Yunho only found it amusing and had the energy to laugh at him. Not just a slight chuckle, but the same kind of laughter he’d laughed when they first met at that club in New York. Head-tilted backwards, his laughter loud and booming filling the entire room, and his body shaking from laughing so intensely. “Don’t worry too much, Changminnie,” Yunho only cooed at him. “I know you’ll just fix me right up again,” he discarded Changmin’s warning quickly. Changmin had no better reply than to huff at him and roll his eyes a little. Instead, he directed the attention to the breakfast. He placed a cup of black coffee in front of Yunho and pushed a plate with the avocado toast towards him.

“At least eat something, you lost a lot of blood, I’m surprised you didn’t pass out in my hallway,” he told Yunho and tried to hide his worry by taking two large gulps of coffee. He hoped Yunho didn’t see it but knowing Yunho – he probably did. Yunho was too smart. It was something that served Yunho well, but Changmin hated it sometimes because it meant nothing got past him. Yunho took a bite of his toast and said nothing for a while, it fitted Changmin perfectly. It meant fewer chances of him making a fool of himself in front of Yunho. The silence didn’t last long though, it couldn’t when it was Jung Yunho sitting in Changmin’s kitchen.

He took a sip of the coffee before he sat the cup down. The cup made a slight sound when it came in contact with the surface of Changmin’s counter. His dark eyes looked directly into Changmin’s, gaze not wavering, and even though Yunho was hurt his confident aura didn’t falter one bit. “Changmin, thank you,” he told him sincerely. Changmin couldn’t help but feel the need to look away or blush, Yunho’s gaze on him felt too heavy, it was too meaningful in a way.

“Ah, don’t worry,” Changmin quickly brushed it off, “it’s just breakfast.”

Yunho seemed to not like his response, and grabbed Changmin’s hand, holding it a bit tighter than for it to be called romantic. Holding Changmin’s hand in place, but he could still pull it away if he felt the need. “No Changmin,” Yunho told him. “Not just for the breakfast, but for helping me last night. I … You saved my life, thank you. You didn’t have to, but you still did. Yesterday, I was so out of it, I didn’t know where to go, and through all the pain and the haze I could only think of you,” Yunho’s gaze didn’t waver even once as he said it, and Changmin felt speechless. He didn’t know how to respond to that, and he only managed to stutter back a weak reply. Yunho let his hand go, and Changmin pulled his hand back because it would be weird to let it rest there.

“It was uhm … really no trouble Yunho, seriously.” They stayed silent after that but not for long before Changmin decided to speak up again. “Can I ask what happened?” Changmin didn’t want to come off as nosy and was ready to add that if Yunho didn’t want to talk about it, he was free to do so. However, he didn’t have a chance to add it before Yunho started speaking.

“It was those damn Italians,” Yunho told him quickly. Changmin nodded and was about to let it rest, but Yunho wasn’t done apparently. “They’ve been singling me out ever since Leeteuk forced me to stop selling to them, and it’s just because they’re too afraid to go against Leeteuk or Kyuhyun again. I didn’t think it would escalate so badly, but now I have no choice but to take them out,” Yunho traced an imagery pattern on Changmin’s counter before he continued. “I can’t let them think they got the upper hand on me.” Changmin knew that Yunho meant he needed to act soon, and the doctor in him wanted to have none of it. If Yunho didn’t rest he could end up tearing up his stitches. Despite Yunho’s joke that Changmin would just fix it right up, there were limitations to that statement. If Yunho went full Kill-Bill style after the Italians and tore his stitches while Changmin was working, there was not much he could do for Yunho. He doubted Yunho knew a second doctor who could fix him right up, and he would be forced to go to a hospital. Or God forbid, fix it himself.

“When are you thinking of doing this?” Changmin asked, hoping Yunho had the common sense to let his body rest for a few days – at least – before he put himself into more danger.

“Preferably today,” Yunho said and took a bite of the toast when he’d swallowed, he continued. “But I might not be able to do it before tomorrow,” he told Changmin honestly. Changmin tried his best to be dramatic, but he also knew there was no way he was letting Yunho leave his apartment for today. He knew that if he did Yunho would definitely pull his stitches, and although he doubted Yunho would bleed out, he was at risk of losing too much blood. If Yunho lost any more blood at this point, he would be in need of a blood transfer. Changmin’s makeshift hospital might be good for some cases, but didn’t store blood bags in his freezer, then he would be forced to admit Yunho to the hospital. In which, the police would be involved because the medical staff would recognize it as a bullet wound.

“Absolutely not,” Changmin told Yunho. “You need to rest up, if you go out today, you’ll end up pulling your stitches. If I’m nowhere close when it happens and can fix it you’ll need to go to a hospital,” Changmin told Yunho.

“It’ll be fine,” Yunho tried to brush it off.

“I don’t think you realise how much blood you’ve lost,” Changmin told Yunho, his voice stern. “If you lose more blood you’ll be in need of a blood transfer, I can’t give you that here. Besides, with the amount of blood you’ve lost, you’ll probably end up passing out before you get out of this building.”

“Then what do you want me to do?” Yunho asked. It didn’t seem like he had the intention of listening to Changmin, but at least he wanted to hear him out, which counted for something.

“Preferably, I’d have you rest for two weeks,” Changmin told him. He was going to continue, but Yunho interrupted him.

“Two weeks?” Yunho exclaimed. Changmin only rolled his eyes and continued as if he couldn’t hear Yunho.

“I know you won’t agree to that, but it’s crucial you rest up for three to four days, you’ll put yourself in unnecessary danger if you try to go out before then. Especially, if you’re planning to take your revenge on the Italians.” Yunho said nothing for a while, and Changmin wanted to believe that Yunho was agreeing with him, but he knew better than to think such silly things. Yunho was probably one the smartest people Changmin knew, but even so, he had the tendency to put himself in stupid situations. This being one of them.

“Changmin, in this kinda world,” Yunho began, and then he sighed, “I don’t need to explain this to you, you know how this works. I can’t let them get away with it for four days. Things move too quickly, one day can be the difference between Leeteuk ruling Chicago and somebody else.” Yunho took a sip of the coffee cup and sent Changmin a look that meant this was the end of this discussion, Changmin wasn’t having it. He pretended not to see it because he wasn’t going to let Yunho have the last word on this matter.

“Yunho, let me put this as clearly as I possibly can,” Changmin could feel himself seethe with anger, but he tried to not let it show. Getting into a screaming match with Yunho wouldn’t help anyone. “If you overexert yourself, you’ll pull the stitches and you’ll have a fresh wound all over again. And don’t say you’ll be careful, because the stitches are so fresh it will practically take nothing to rip them open. Just lifting your right arm too fast can cause them to pull. If you plan on taking on the Italians you wouldn’t be able to move fast, and especially use your right hand. Yunho, you’ll be handicapped, and it could cost you your life.”

“Alright Changmin,” Yunho sighed, “but what do you think they’ll think of me if it takes me four days to seek them out?” Yunho didn’t let him answer before he continued. “They’ll think I’m weak, and in our world, there isn’t any place for weaklings.”

“Yunho, you just got shot,” Changmin told him as if the other wasn’t aware of the fact. “They won’t think anything other than that you’re recovering. Maybe, if you’re lucky they might think they killed you and won’t see you coming. Outside of that, they probably think they got you off their backs for a while.”

“Exactly,” Yunho answered, “which is why I need to attack now.”

“As your doctor, I simply will not allow it.”

“Changmin, do you understand the importance-…”

Changmin interrupted him, “look Yunho. I can’t reason with you so let me put it this way instead, what do you think they’ll think of you if you come barging into their lair later today but before you’re able to make the first shot you pull the stitches and all they see of you is you bleeding out on the ground. I wouldn’t just call it weak, but also pathetic.”

“Pa-pathetic?” Yunho began. “Now hold on a minute,” but he wasn’t able to start a sentence. Changmin’s point seemed to have gotten to him, and he couldn’t help but grin triumphally about it. However, he did have the decency to hide it behind taking the last sip of his coffee.

“Yunho, can’t you just accept you’re human too and need to rest for a couple of days?” Changmin asked him. “It won’t kill you, on the contrary, it might help you.” Yunho said nothing, but he didn’t fight him on it, and that was the best Changmin could hope. The morphine had probably worn out by now if there was still something left in Yunho’s body when he woke up. Yunho wouldn’t admit it out loud to Changmin, but he was tired. The wound was probably hurting, and his body wasn’t used to excessive blood loss. Changmin knew that if Yunho did overexert himself, he would pass out. They finished the breakfast in silence after that, before Changmin washed the dishes and cleaned his kitchen. He could tell from the corner of his eyes that Yunho wanted to help him, but Changmin wouldn’t let him. Back in New York, they’d had silently agreed on a system they stuck to, Changmin cleaned the dishes, and Yunho dried them and put them away. Because Changmin wouldn’t let anyone clean the dishes in fear that it wasn’t cleaned the way he deemed proper. However, it had been long since New York and Changmin were more than capable of drying the dishes himself and putting them away. Besides, Yunho had never been to his apartment and wouldn’t know where the plates were supposed to go. When the job was done Changmin forced Yunho back to bed, knowing it wasn’t good for him to be up and about. Yunho might think it was a bit dramatic and might hate Changmin for putting him back to bed, but Changmin wouldn’t budge on the matter.

“I’m not even tired,” Yunho tried, but that didn’t stop Changmin from forcefully putting him back to bed, but still careful of his wound.

“Idiot, stop being so stubborn,” Changmin told him. “Besides, I need to change the bandage.” Yunho stilled after that and let Changmin roll off the bandage to check on the wound, with Yunho sitting on the edge of the bed. The wound looked as expected. Fresh, but it didn’t look irritated, it was too early to tell if it was infected, but Changmin didn’t think it was. He wrapped a new bandage around Yunho when deemed the wound to be okay, and then he threw an old t-shirt in Yunho’s face, so he’d stop seeing Yunho shirtless. Yunho accepted it gracefully and took it on slowly. He didn’t say anything, but Changmin could tell that it hurt him to do such a simple thing as taking a shirt on. How Yunho thought he was in any condition to take out the Italians was beyond Changmin’s comprehension. When he was certain Yunho wouldn’t move from the bed he went back to the bathroom and found some strong painkillers – also bought from the black market with Kyuhyun’s money – and retrieved a tall glass of water and gave it to Yunho.

“Take this,” he basically ordered Yunho, and the older didn’t disobey, and dutifully swallowed the pills handed to him by Changmin. “It will make it hurt less,” he told Yunho as if the older hadn’t already figured out what the pills were for. “Don’t mistake the pain going away for being completely healed. The pills will make the pain go away, but it won’t speed up the healing process.” Yunho nodded, and Changmin deemed that as an appropriate answer before he exited the bedroom, he had no business there anyway. Unless he wanted to hang around Yunho, but he didn’t know what to say to him, or what they were even supposed to do, so he decided to let him be alone was the best option. He checked the clock; it was almost eleven. His shift started in three hours, which meant Changmin still had a few hours to lounge around before he needed to go. He would leave forty minutes before his shift started to make sure he was there on time. The drive wasn’t that long, but the traffic was unpredictable. Changmin would rather be ten minutes early than be late.

Changmin wasn’t necessarily hungry having just eaten, but he figured he should make something Yunho could eat while he was away. He started making preparations for shrimp fried rice, it was easy enough, and also something he could put in a container for himself so he could eat it whenever he got his lunch break at the hospital. Usually, he didn’t have much time for a break, he would just run from room to room, and then when he figured he had a few minutes to spare he would throw the food in his face, resting his feet for a few minutes before it was back to running again. Like any hospital, they lacked staff, but the work was so tiresome, and the pay wasn’t high enough. Many didn’t stick to the profession, and those who did were usually burnt out. The sick leave was high, and they were swimming in untrained personnel who didn’t know how to do the job properly. It wasn’t an issue that was specific to their hospital, he was certain most hospitals around the states, aside from the private ones which only took in the rich people who could afford the high price, faced. He was cutting the spring onion idly when he heard Yunho scream for him from the bedroom.

“Changmin, I’m bored!” Changmin couldn’t help himself from rolling his eyes. Yunho had been in bad for what, thirty minutes? He understood that it was boring to lie in bed all day, but what was Changmin supposed to do? He couldn’t speed up the healing process and Yunho was in dire need of rest.

“Entertain yourself,” Changmin yelled back and tried to go back to chopping. He was just about done with the spring onion before Yunho yelled at him again.

“But Changminnie!” Changmin could feel his anger flare up, and he went to his bookshelf and ripped out the first book he could spot and went to his bedroom where Yunho was in bed looking miserable.

“Now stop bothering me,” he told Yunho, and threw the book at Yunho, he only glanced at the cover then and saw that it was ia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse. Yunho flinched a bit as the book hit him, but he did pick the book and gave it a decent look.

“I’d rather spend time with you,” Yunho complained, but Changmin didn’t spare him a thought, and exited the bedroom brushing him off.

“I’m busy.”

He went back to making the food, and Yunho didn’t bother him anymore. Maybe he recognized that there would come nothing good out of continuing to bother Changmin, or hopefully, he found the book entertaining enough. Changmin didn’t really care, and soon enough the food was done. He split it into two halves and gave one part to himself which he put in an air-tight container, and the other he gave to Yunho. He changed his mind and took some of the food that was meant for himself and gave Yunho a bit more. Yunho needed the food more than him; his body would need a lot of energy since he was healing from the bullet wound and the blood loss. He glanced down at the clock on his wrist. It was half past twelve, he would leave in less than an hour. When he got back into the room he saw Yunho reading the book, but the older quickly glanced up at him when he heard the sound of Changmin entering.

“Here,” Changmin told Yunho as he set the bowl on the nightstand, laying a pair of chopsticks next to the bowl.

Yunho smiled at him in gratefulness, “thanks, I’m not that hungry though.”

“Yeah, but you probably will be when I’m at work,” he told Yunho matter-of-factly.

“You’re going to work?”

“Yeah, in an hour.”

“Kyuhyun?” Yunho couldn’t help but ask, and Changmin couldn’t read his voice. He couldn’t understand if Yunho wanted something from Kyuhyun or if he was just angry with him. It wasn’t unreasonable to blame Kyuhyun and Leeteuk for getting Yunho shot, even if it was the Italians who pulled the trigger.

“No, hospital,” Changmin answered, and he could tell that Yunho relaxed a little. It would mean that Changmin would stay out of trouble. And he wasn’t at risk of ending up like how Yunho was right now. That seemed to be the end of their discussion, but Changmin reckoned he could join Yunho reading. He got a chair from his living room and placed it at the bedside next to Yunho, the older seemed surprised by his action, but said nothing about it aside from a slight satisfied smile. Changmin got his book from yesterday that he didn’t have the chance to start before Yunho came knocking on his door. They spent their time like that reading in silence, it felt awfully sweet, like a testimony of their relationship. They could be comfortable in each other’s presence, doing nothing, staying silent. However, Changmin ignored it all, until it was time for him to go.

“I need to leave so I won’t be late for work,” he told Yunho. Yunho’s eyes found his quickly, and the look on his face told Changmin that even though he understood he didn’t want their time together to end. Changmin could understand, they hadn’t spent their time together like this ever since New York. If Changmin left, there was no guarantee they would ever do this again. For his own heart’s sake, Changmin would prefer they didn’t.

“Alright,” Yunho settled on, it wasn’t like he could say anything else. Yunho would never beg him to stay. He hadn’t begged Changmin to stay in New York, and he certainly wouldn’t start now.

Changmin closed the book and let it stay on the nightstand, he contemplated whether or not he was going to say something, but he landed on speaking his mind. “Just,” he began, “just don’t leave while I’m at work,” he told Yunho.

Yunho looked like a deer caught in headlights, almost as if he couldn’t believe that Changmin had seen through him so easily. “Changmin,” he began but Changmin wasn’t going to do this argument all over again.

“Yunho, I’m serious. You need to rest, if you leave while I’m not here you’ll probably pass out before you get out of the apartment complex,” Yunho didn’t seem like he was going to agree, and Changmin sighed annoyed. “I mean it. I’ll chain you to the wall if I need to.”

“Ooh ,” Yunho retorted in his familiar flirtatious tone. “But sorry Changmin, you’re not the boss of me.”

Changmin wanted to scream at him, but he didn’t have the time for this argument. “Would you please just stay put? I’ll give you whatever you want,” Changmin desperately tried to negotiate. Yunho seemed to perk up at that.

“Anything?”

“Within limitations,” Changmin quickly added. He wasn’t going to give in to an impossible demand, meaning Yunho would get his way because Changmin couldn’t give him what he wanted. Yunho didn’t seem to think that was unfair though because the -eating grin didn’t disappear from his face at all.

“I want a kiss,” he told Changmin seriously.

“Seriously?”

Yunho acted like he couldn’t hear him, “and I don’t mean a peck on the lips, I want a real kiss, the ones we used to have in New York.” Changmin rolled his eyes again. Of course, Yunho would use this situation to ask for something like that. He was practically a parody of himself at this point. However, Changmin didn’t have time to argue with him, either he gave Yunho what he wanted, or he walked out on him and let Yunho risk his own life. One of them seemed much worse than the other. Besides, it was just a kiss, and Changmin wasn’t twelve years old, he had made out with Yunho multiple times, it wasn’t something he didn’t know how to do, or hadn’t done before. Yunho seemed to interpret his silence as scepticism. “It’s whatever,” he told Changmin. “Either I get to make out with you, or you leave for work, and I get to finish my business with the Italians.”

“Fine,” Changmin relented. “Just as long as you stay here when I come back,” he told Yunho seriously. Yunho only nodded obediently. Changmin realised that was as good as it was gonna get, and climbed into Yunho’s lap, mindful of his wound. He sent Yunho an ugly glare as his hands lopped around Yunho’s neck, and then their lips met. Changmin hadn’t kissed Yunho since New York, which was more than three years ago, he’d forgotten how good it could be. Yunho’s hands quickly found Changmin’s side and pulled him closer, but it was done in a calmer matter than what he did in New York, probably because he was wounded.

Changmin opened his mouth and let Yunho’s tongue roam freely. He’d forgotten how compatible he was with Yunho. Kissing Yunho had always left Changmin hungry for more, but more importantly, it had always felt like they were two pieces of a puzzle piece fitting perfectly together. Having Yunho’s hands holding him, having his body pressed up against him, or having his lips brushing against his own had always felt right. Now Changmin was painfully reminded of it. Changmin had been with others since Yunho, but he’d never found someone he was as compatible with as Yunho. Which was why he was still single. Because he kept comparing everything to Yunho. However, the memory of Yunho had started to fade with time, but now with Yunho’s hands sneaking under his shirt, his warm breath against his skin, his lips hotly on his own, he was forced to remember everything. They parted to breathe, but Yunho had no intentions of letting him go and started walking on Changmin’s neck, forcing Changmin to bend it for better access. Changmin wanted to pull away now before he got in way too deep, but he had a feeling he already was. Instead, of pulling away he moaned rather loudly when Yunho on a particular spot. Giving him the exact response he wanted. Their lips met again, hungry for more. Changmin couldn’t lie to himself, he had missed kissing Yunho, and he could tell that the other man had missed it as well. With the way he kept holding onto him, almost afraid Changmin would slip away if he held tightly enough. Yunho’s touch was like fire, but Changmin still found himself leaning into it. Then he came to his senses and managed to pull away. He was breathless, and he was sure that his eyes were full of lust, not to mention that he could feel himself being semi-hard.

“I… just stay here,” he told Yunho and managed to tear himself away. Yunho kept quiet, but Changmin wasn’t stupid enough to think that Yunho didn’t want to continue. If Changmin had let him nothing was stopping Yunho from going all the way. Changmin left his apartment in a hurry, taking his belongings and locking up the place before he ran to his car. He was running short on time; he’d spent too much time with Yunho. When he finally started driving, he found himself still thinking of Yunho. For the entire car ride, he couldn’t forget the feeling of Yunho’s hands on him or Yunho’s lips against him. Changmin was so ed.