Sunggyu immediately leaped into the scene and shoved away the tall boy to refrain from creating any bigger mess. He narrowed his eyes at Yongguk, motioning the other man to help him.

 

‘How come we didn’t notice any of this sooner..?’ Sunggyu thought as he gritted his teeth. He adverted his attention towards the unconscious boy in Myungsoo’s arms.

 

            “Woohyun-hyung.”

 

Woohyun pulled away from Myungsoo with wide eyes. Myungsoo, who had noticed the fact that his friend had somehow tensed up, turned around only to receive a painful contact with someone’s fist.

 

            “What the hell?!” Myungsoo groaned, shooting a look towards the other boy.

            “Junhong, don’t do this..!” Woohyun said with a begging tone.

 

Zelo was hesitant for a while. Woohyun saw it in his eyes. But the moment Myungsoo stood on his feet, all mercy turned into pure rage. Woohyun backed away for a moment, looking around for help. There weren’t much people around since it was still an hour before opening time. He decided to send an emergency text to a specific doctor.

 

            “No one touch what’s mine,” Zelo growled, pulling Myungsoo’s collar up.

            “Since when he became yours? He belongs to no one,” Myungsoo spat, ignoring the pain coming from the side of his face. Zelo’s expression darkened almost instantly.

            “Well, I am no one.”

 

Woohyun grabbed Zelo’s wrist when the tall boy raised his fist. He looked at him with worry evident in his face, hoping that he could find the gentle side of the younger. He let out a loud shriek when Zelo forced him down to bend uncomfortably on the bar table, pressing his fingers around Woohyun’s neck.

 

            “J-Junhong…” Woohyun gasped, frantically clawing at the other’s wrist.

            “Woohyun-hyung,” Zelo muttered.

 

He was suffocating. He couldn’t think properly. Woohyun started seeing dark spots in his vision as he felt himself weakening. He remembered hearing someone calling for his name before his arms dropped to his sides.

 

Sunggyu just stepped into the place and he was greeted with the sight of Zelo about to send Woohyun to the other world.

Sunggyu was scared. Heck, he was horrified. He didn’t even think before he shoved Zelo away, not even minding the fact that he slammed the tall boy’s head to the counter harshly. All that mattered to him was the unconscious boy.

While Myungsoo held the tall boy down, Sunggyu tried to find something, anything, which would assure him that Woohyun was still alive. He desperately looked for a sign, until he could finally breathe out a relieved sigh when he found the weak pulse under his finger.

Within a second, Yongguk got a hold on Zelo and dragged the tall boy out, leaving the other three near the counter.

 

            “What happened?” Sunggyu asked in a low tone. Myungsoo sighed and shook his head.

            “I’m not too sure myself… Suddenly he popped out of nowhere and before I knew it he attacked us,” Myungsoo muttered, caressing Woohyun’s cheek gently.

 

Sunggyu stared at the unconscious boy in his arms. He trailed his fingers down until they reached the boy’s neck, noticing the blue marks starting to form. His breath hitched.

 

‘Just how strong did he choke him..? Was he trying… Was he trying to kill Woohyun..?’ Sunggyu thought.

 

            “… Thank you…”

Sunggyu snapped out of his thought. He raised an eyebrow at Myungsoo, who just kept his gaze at Woohyun.

            “Thank you… For saving us,” Myungsoo muttered.

            “I think I’m a bit too late, though,” Sunggyu said. Myungsoo shook his head.

            “If it’s too late then… I might lose this guy here already,” the boy smiled a bit. “And I noticed your expression when you approached Woohyun. You looked really serious… Really… Desperate,” Myungsoo chuckled.

 

‘Desperate?’ Sunggyu thought.

 

Now that he think of it, he was panicking. A doctor was supposed to stay calm at any situation so that he wouldn’t rush when he was doing his job as it might risk the patient’s life.

But he didn’t have time to stay composed.

All that mattered to him was the fact that the boy was about to die, and obviously anyone couldn’t stay calm at that kind of situations.

But desperate…

Sunggyu inwardly shook his head. He just couldn’t bear losing another Woohyun. Yeah. That’s probably the reason why he was panicking.

 

            “Do you need help bringing him home?” Sunggyu asked.

            “Ah, to be honest… I can’t leave my job even though the situation is pretty tight right now…” Myungsoo muttered. He looked around to see the shards of glass on the floor and smiled sheepishly.

            “Someone needs to explain this to the boss,” Myungsoo said.

            “All right. I’ll bring him home,” Sunggyu motioned at the unconscious boy. Myungsoo blinked at him.

            “I mean I’ll bring him to his apartment,” Sunggyu corrected himself.

            “You know where he lives..?” Myungsoo raised an eyebrow. Sunggyu frowned at the seemingly accusing look.

            “You know that Zelo lives with him, of course I know where they live…” Sunggyu shook his head slightly. Myungsoo just stared at Sunggyu with a small frown.

            “Wait a sec. Zelo lives with Woohyun?”

 

Sunggyu blinked in confusion.

 

            “You don’t know about it?”

.

.

Woohyun almost screamed when he felt a cold hand on his neck. He jolted and opened his eyes to see a certain red head looking down at him. The boy gulped when Sunggyu traced his fingers to his collarbone.

 

            “You were asking for help,” Sunggyu muttered. “So this is what it is…”

Woohyun looked down and he couldn’t hide his surprise when he found out that his shirt wasn’t on him anymore. Heck, he was completely bare.

            “I… I didn’t want you to see me like this…” Woohyun muttered, his voice slightly raspy.

            “Don’t worry, he won’t bother you for a while,” Sunggyu said with a small sigh.

            “Why?”

            “Dr. Bang’s taking him away. Junhong would have to undergo another therapy, probably a more intensive one this time.”

            “Oh…” Woohyun muttered.

 

Sunggyu silently observed the boy. The more he looked at him, the more he noticed the ugly marks on the boy’s torso. Sunggyu frowned.

 

            “I thought we had a deal. How come you never mentioned anything about this?” Sunggyu stared at the boy. Woohyun just stayed silent.

            “I thought you’re supposed to tell me about his behavior, about what he did to you…”

            “… Yeah…”

            “I thought you were asking me for help. Why didn’t you say anything?!” Sunggyu almost growled. Woohyun looked up at him and Sunggyu’s eyes softened at the sight of the boy’s watery eyes.

            “Because I’m the one to be blamed…” Woohyun muttered.

            “Excuse me?”

            “I was the one who asked Junhong to stay with me, to live with me,” Woohyun sighed. “I didn’t remember when these things started to happen, but… I can’t bring myself to blame everything on him…”

 

Sunggyu narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t understand Woohyun’s reason. For all he knew, it was quite obvious that Woohyun was the victim.

 

            “… Because I’m afraid that you’d blame me too in the end…” Woohyun muttered. Sunggyu stiffened almost immediately.

 

            “Woohyun, find something else to do. I’m busy.”

            “Gyu-hyung…”

 

Sunggyu bit his lips, preventing himself from screaming profanities at the boy behind him. After all, a kid is a kid. He couldn’t exactly blame a kid for wanting to have fun, right?

 

            “Gyu-hyung… I’m sorry…” The boy sniffled. Sunggyu turned around to face the boy.

            “Don’t apologize.”

            “Gyu-hyung…”

            “I said don’t.”

            “Gyu—“

            “DON’T BOTHER ME!”

 

Sunggyu himself gasped and immediately covered his mouth. He noticed the boy’s eyes had turned wide, but all hints of tears had vanished.

 

            “Now I’m wasting another minute, all thanks to you.”

 

Sunggyu clicked his tongue and turned his attention back to his work, simply ignoring the boy’s existence. He didn’t even notice the sound of the door opening.

And Woohyun left.

 

            “I’m sorry.”

            “Don’t apologize,” Woohyun muttered. “You did nothing wrong…”

 

Sunggyu looked at Woohyun sadly. Why couldn’t he say the same thing to the boy he looked after years ago? Why did he force it all out on a little kid..? And now that he’s gone Sunggyu couldn’t stop blaming himself for what happened.

 

            “But why did you think I will blame you..?” Sunggyu asked. Woohyun was visibly hesitant for a moment, and Sunggyu took notice of it.

            “I don’t like to be alone… And uh… Junhong he… He actually…” Woohyun’s eyes shifted from one direction to another. Sunggyu motioned for him to continue but Woohyun sighed instead.

            “I… I don’t think I’d like to talk about it now…” Woohyun muttered. “I mean… I’m not ready yet…”

 

Sunggyu’s eyes softened. Woohyun was starting to open up to him and he was planning on telling the truth. The doctor reached out a hand and caressed the boy’s cheek gently, making Woohyun looked at him with wide eyes.

 

            “Dr. Kim, is this how you usually treat your patients..?”

 

Sunggyu abruptly pulled his hand away. He felt his cheeks getting hotter and he thanked himself for forgetting to turn on the lights. He heard Woohyun chuckled and he mentally cursed himself for being so obvious.

 

            “Oh dear, the famous and most wanted Dr. Kim is actually having a secret affair with his patient?”

 

Sunggyu swore he could hear the smirk in the boy’s words. But being Sunggyu he is, he didn’t want to lose to Woohyun. Instead of giving any smart retorts, he gripped both Woohyun’s wrists and cocked his head to the side.

 

            “Truth to be told, I’m not exactly a relationship person… But I don’t think I mind hooking up with this specific patient.”

 

Sunggyu couldn’t help but laugh when Woohyun spluttered out whatever he was trying to say. Sunggyu decided that a flustered Woohyun is something he should really see the next time he had the chance.

.

.

            “Hey, have you heard?”

            “Zelo’s admitted to the hospital again…”

            “Man, I know something’s wrong with that guy…”

 

Sungyeol frowned when he heard the murmurs around them. He glanced at Myungsoo, but the other boy just rested his head on his arms, so Sungyeol decided to bug Hoya instead.

Myungsoo wasn’t in the mood to talk about it. After the encounter with the boy last night, along with the newfound fact that Zelo had been living with Woohyun for the past two years, Myungsoo started to think that the best friend he had been spending time with is not the real Woohyun.

Myungsoo frowned when realization hit him. Since about a year ago, Woohyun started to change. His grades slipped slightly until they just fell off the cliff extremely. He preferred spending time in the infirmary rather than class, and Myungsoo knew that all Woohyun did was sleeping.

At first Woohyun would only skip one or two classes. But then time passed and before Myungsoo knew it Woohyun had skipped the whole day. The only reason for Woohyun to attend the school was only because his ‘parents’ expected a lot from him, and Woohyun is the type of person who couldn’t say no.

 

‘Just what happened to Woohyun during the time he’s home..?’ Myungsoo frowned.

 

He snapped out of his thought when the other students gasped. He looked to the front to see Woohyun, with bandages around his neck. Woohyun noticed Myungsoo’s stare and he sent an assuring smile towards the boy.

 

            “So that people won’t make assumption,” Woohyun chuckled.

            “People would assume even more, Nam,” Myungsoo shook his head.

            “OH MY EFFING GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!”

 

Hoya winced as Sungyeol screeched next to his ears. Woohyun just laughed it off.

 

‘Why are you laughing, stupid..?’ Myungsoo sighed.

.

.

            “Right… Right—no, wait. We received the report since a week ago and yet the patient isn’t showing any symptoms—hold on a second,” Sunggyu turned his attention to the phone in his other hand.

“… No, you can’t just punch them like that! What do you think is the use of sedation…No, even though they’re trying to bite your ears off you’re not supposed to whack them across the head like that!”

 

Sunggyu rubbed his temple in irritation. A new temporary doctor had been placed to substitute his morning shift, and he wasn’t really pleased with the amount of e-mails he got this morning concerning the said man. He was about to ignore the man until he received a disturbing report about him.

 

            “Handcuffs, seriously..? He wasn’t even responding to what you said and you’re handcuffing him—You know what? Just do whatever you want,” Sunggyu disconnected the line before he slammed the phone to the other side of the wall.

            “Goddammit where’s your common sense… Ah, hello? No, I wasn’t talking to you… Anyway, just inform Dr. Bang about it and I will let him handle the rest of the task,” Sunggyu mumbled. His ears perked up at the sound of the infirmary door creaking.

            “Anyway, I have works to do. I’ll inform you about it later,” Sunggyu ended the call before he turned towards the boy who had stood in front of him.

            “Can I help you, Kim?”

 

Myungsoo sighed and plopped himself on one of the clinic beds. Sunggyu raised an eyebrow at him.

 

            “This is about a certain idiotic Nam…”

 

Sunggyu immediately sat up straight and focused his whole attention towards the boy.

If Nam Woohyun won’t speak up about it, then Sunggyu might as well dig up some information from his friend.