“Do you know how worried I am?!”

 

‘… Who..?’

 

            “You can’t just jump out like that! I thought I was going to lose you!”

            “… Who… Are you..?”

 

The unknown figure tensed up. He looked at the boy on the bed with an unreadable expression.

 

            “Stop playing around.”

 

Woohyun gasped when he felt himself drenched with cold water. He looked up to see the tyrannical biology teacher smiling at him. Woohyun shivered momentarily.

 

            “I hope that would keep you awake until the last minute, Nam,” Himchan walked to the front and motioned to the door. “And you might want to consider the restroom for a while.”

 

Woohyun nodded and stood up, dragging his feet towards the door. He ruffled his wet hair and sighed.

The unknown figure.

The dream had been haunting him since forever, but he still couldn’t put a finger on the identity of the figure.

 

‘But why… Did he seem to be so…sad..?’ Woohyun thought.

 

He decided to shove away all distracting thoughts for the moment and focus to his school. His ‘parents’ had been informed about the last time he got sent to the detention room, and they weren’t pleased to say the least when the news reached their ears.

Woohyun splashed more water to his face and stared at the mirror, silently observing his reflection.

 

            “You’re a good son, Woohyun.”

 

“I can’t do this…” Woohyun mumbled and leaned against the sink. He breathed out heavily, lost in his thought that he was oblivious to the figure watching him from the doorframe.

.

.

            “Woohyun is very secretive about his background, so we don’t really know much about him… But I know that Woohyun was adopted,” Myungsoo said almost whispering.

           “He tried really hard to cover it from us, but I accidentally overheard his argument with his current parents.”

            “Do they argue often?” Sunggyu raised an eyebrow.

            “Not really. Woohyun is an obedient son. The problem is that when his parents told him to take care of his ‘brother’,” Myungsoo muttered.

 

Sunggyu looked at the boy, waiting for him to continue. But Myungsoo simply stayed quiet. Sunggyu was about to open his mouth to ask, but then he shifted his attention towards the door and he saw a glimpse of familiar dark raven hair peeking from the window frame.

 

            “I don’t think this is a serious problem, but if you feel worse then you can come back here so I can issue a permission letter,” Sunggyu said a bit louder.

            “I think an aspirin would be enough,” Myungsoo said chuckling.

            “All right. Please write your name and ID number there,” Sunggyu said as he observed the hiding figure.

 

Myungsoo quickly jotted down everything and smiled at Sunggyu before he walked towards the door. Sunggyu almost scoffed when the hiding guy immediately scurried away.

 

            “I’ll tell the rest later,” Myungsoo bowed and left the infirmary.

 

Sunggyu diverted his attention towards the paper on his desk. He examined it and his jaw clenched at what Myungsoo wrote. He quickly reached for his phone to make a call.

 

            “Kibum-sshi? Huh? Ah, Jonghyun... Yeah, it’s Kim Sunggyu. I just want to notify once again about the thing you mentioned to me…”

            “Did you finally manage to draw a line?” Jonghyun chuckled on the other side. Sunggyu felt a lump in his throat.

 

‘If it’s really true…’

 

            “I think so… Apparently you’re right about it,” Sunggyu muttered, eyes once again landed on the note in his hand.

 

Woohyun is Zelo’s adoptive brother.

 

            “It’s positive then? Just don’t rush things, since the boy doesn’t seem to know anything.”

            “All right. I’ll try to approach him once again,” Sunggyu said before he disconnected the call.

 

            “I don’t like to be alone… And uh… Junhong he… He actually…”

 

‘Brothers, huh..? No wonder I haven’t heard any reports from him,’ Sunggyu thought. But then he frowned when he noticed one thing.

 

            “Doesn’t that mean Junhong’s supposed to be aware of what he had been doing this whole time..?”

.

.

Day had turned into night. Yongguk stared at the papers in his hands, carefully examining each sentence. With an exasperated sigh, he slammed them down his desk.

He rested his elbows on his knees as he let his face sank onto his palms. Yongguk was tired. The first time his patient was brought here, things were fine, even though it wasn’t exactly normal. The therapy went silently. Zelo was too quiet that Yongguk thought the boy was mute. The same thing happened with the second and third meeting.

But then, during the next meeting, Zelo started to open up.

 

            “… Why..?”

 

Yongguk jolted in surprise. After a week of silence, the boy finally uttered out something.

 

            “Sorry?”

            “… Why did they bring me here..?”

 

Yongguk noticed the solemn look on the boy’s face. Zelo lowered his head as he decided to stare at the doctor’s shoes instead.

 

            “Well… We’re here to help you—“

            “Help me with what?”

Yongguk hesitated, “Your problem.”

 

Zelo looked up and Yongguk’s eyes went wide. The boy was crying. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at the doctor.

 

            “I don’t have any problem,” Zelo muttered. “I’m doing just fine. In fact, I was really fine until they sent me here.”

            “If they sent you here then that means you have a problem,” Yongguk said. “You might have not noticed it yet.”

 

The boy went silent once again. Yongguk sighed.

 

            “Look, I’m not trying to say that there’s something wrong with you or anything… It’s just, there’s a small problem. It might be either you or the world having problem, we’re going to help,” Yongguk said.

            “… In the end they’d say I’m the one at fault,” Zelo muttered.

            “What—“

            “You’re the same as the others. In the end you’re going to blame me as well.”

 

Yongguk put his finger on the boy’s lips, shutting the boy up almost immediately. Zelo looked up hesitantly and was surprised to find Yongguk smiling down at him.

 

            “As long as you cooperate with me, I will stand on your side.”

 

The words were merely said by the doctor in order to get his patient’s cooperation, but for the boy, they were more than that.

Zelo stuck out his pinky finger as he looked up with big eyes.

 

            “Promise me?”

 

Yongguk laced their pinky fingers and nodded. That was the first time he saw Zelo smiled as well.

 

            “Apparently I’m about to break the promise…” Yongguk muttered to his palms.

            “It’s been a while since the last time I saw you like this, Guk.”

 

Yongguk looked up to see Sunggyu leaning against his doorframe. A low chuckle escaped Yongguk’s lips.

 

            “Apparently I’m not as good as you, Kim.”

Sunggyu rolled his eyes, “Says the one who managed to cover my schedules for the past few days.”

 

Sunggyu approached the other doctor and pulled a chair to sit across the slightly younger man. He reached out both hands and pressed his palms onto Yongguk’s cheeks.

 

            “Stop making this face. What do you think the patients would think when they see their doctors approaching them with an expression as if the world is about to end?” Sunggyu said. Yongguk chuckled slightly.

            “Are you here to scold me?” Yongguk raised an eyebrow.

            “Well, that’s one of the reasons,” Sunggyu shrugged. “I mean, aren’t best friends supposed to comfort each other?”

 

A small smile reached Yongguk’s face. Yongguk tugged at Sunggyu, making the other man leaned forward.

 

            “Thanks, Kim,” Yongguk murmured as he leaned his forehead on Sunggyu’s shoulder.

            “… Don’t mind it,” Sunggyu muttered in a low voice. He didn’t question the sudden skinship, or the small trembles coming from the other man. Sunggyu stayed silent, even when Yongguk’s shoulders shook and Sunggyu felt something warm on his shoulder.

Sunggyu didn’t do anything, because he knows that was what his best friend needed the most.

 

‘It must’ve been hard for you…’ Sunggyu thought as his eyes fluttered closed, turning deaf ears towards the other man’s sobs.

.

.

            “So how’s the result?”

Yongguk sighed, “Apparently he’s leaning towards BPD…”

            “But it’s positive a personality disorder, right?” Sunggyu raised an eyebrow.

            “Are you seriously asking me that?” Yongguk furrowed his eyebrows. Sunggyu raised both hands defensively.

            “Just making sure. Because somehow I have a bad feeling about the boy I’m handling,” Sunggyu frowned slightly.

            “Have you done a background check on him?” Yongguk raised an eyebrow.

            “It’s hard to do so, since apparently his background is almost nonexistent… His friend said he’s really secretive about it,” Sunggyu crossed his arms and huffed.

            “You know that you can ask help from Kibum or Jonghyun, right? I mean, you’ve been reporting things to them lately…”

            “It’s hard, Guk-ah. Especially when I have to deal with Kim Jonghyun,” Sunggyu rolled his eyes at the thought of facing his superior more often.

            “Then why don’t you ask Himchan or any other teachers to help you?”

 

Then it hit Sunggyu.

 

            “Right. I forgot that most of the teachers there are medical-related.”

.

.

Woohyun opened his eyes and looked around. His mind was still a bit hazy and he didn’t feel like getting up at all. But he almost fell out of his bed when he noticed a pair of eyes watching him intently across the room.

 

            “You’re finally awake?”

            “The , Sunggyu-hyung. You could’ve at least the lights or something!” Woohyun clutched to his chest, feeling his heart pounding rapidly. “And why are you here at…midnight—Wait, midnight?!”

 

Sunggyu shook his head as he walked towards the boy’s bed. He forced the boy to the bed when Woohyun was about to sit up.

 

            “You need to rest more.”

            “I need to freaking get to work! God, I’m officially screwed now,” Woohyun groaned and covered his face with both hands. Sunggyu tilted his head.

            “Don’t you get allowance?” Sunggyu asked.

            “I do… But… I… I don’t want to use their money…” Woohyun mumbled.

            “Why? They’re your parents, of course they give you allowance for you to spend.”

            “They’re not my—W-well, I suppose you can put it that way…” Woohyun looked away immediately.

 

‘So Myungsoo was right,’ Sunggyu thought.

 

            “B-by the way, why are you here..? How did you manage to get inside anyway..?” Woohyun looked at Sunggyu questioningly.

            “I found the spare key,” Sunggyu shrugged. “And after all… I thought you said you don’t like to be alone?”

 

Woohyun blinked at Sunggyu.

 

            “You… remember..?”

            “Of course I do,” Sunggyu chuckled. “After all…”

 

            “Good night,” Sunggyu was about to close the door until a loud thump stopped his action.

 

He peeked inside the room to see the boy had once again gone out of his bed. Sunggyu sighed.

 

            “Woohyun, you should really sleep now. It’s past your bedtime already.”

 

The boy stood in front of Sunggyu, hugging tightly to his pillow with quivering lips. Sunggyu crouched down to get on his eye level and patted his head gently.

 

            “What’s wrong, Woohyun-ah?”

            “… I hate dark…” Woohyun mumbled to his pillow. Sunggyu chuckled, gently ruffled the boy’s hair.

            “I’ll leave the lights on then.”

            “I don’t want to be alone…”

            “Eh?”

            “Stay with me, Gyu-hyung…”

 

Sunggyu blinked, but then he smiled when he noticed how flustered the boy was. With a small chuckle, Sunggyu lifted the boy to his arms and carried him towards his bed.

 

            “Sleep, Woohyunnie~”

            “Don’t wanna—“

            “I’ll be here,” Sunggyu said with a smile.

 

Woohyun looked up at Sunggyu. Drowsiness was clearly visible in the boys’ eyes and Sunggyu felt kind of bad about it.

 

            “I’ll stay here until you fall asleep,” Sunggyu said as he tucked the boy in.

            “Will you be here too…when I wake up..?” Woohyun asked timidly.

 

Sunggyu looked at the boy’s eyes filled with expectation. With a small chuckle, he leaned in and kissed the boy’s closed eyelids.

 

            “Why don’t you sleep and find out?”

 

            “Gyu-hyung?”

 

Sunggyu looked down at Woohyun’s eyes filled with the same expectation. The boy was waiting for him to continue his sentence, but Sunggyu didn’t feel like finishing it. The older leaned down slightly with an unreadable expression.

 

            “W-what are you—“

            “Say it again… Call me Gyu-hyung again…” Sunggyu muttered.

            “G-Gyu-hyung..?”

            “Again.”

 

Woohyun looked at Sunggyu in confusion, but he complied nonetheless.

 

            “Gyu-hyung…”

            “… Again…”

            “Gyu—“

 

Woohyun was caught in surprise when Sunggyu suddenly leaned down and pulled him into a hug. Not too loose, not too tight, enough to be comforting.

 

            “G-Gyu-hyung?” Woohyun’s eyes went wide.

            “… Woohyun…”

 

Leaning on the bed, the two of them exchanged a look. Both stared into each other’s eyes. No one had the intention in breaking the eye contact.

 

            “... Go to sleep, Woohyun…” Sunggyu whispered, getting up, but the boy tugged at his arm.

            “Are you all right, hyung?” Woohyun looked at him worriedly. Sunggyu just smiled weakly and nodded.

            “What’s wrong? You don’t want to be alone?” Sunggyu joked with a small laugh, but his smile faded when Woohyun bit his lips and looked down.

 

Sunggyu slowly sat down on the bed. He put his other hand on Woohyun’s, which was still gripping tightly to his wrist. Woohyun loosened his grip a bit, but he didn’t pull away.

 

            “Woohyun…”

            “Stay with me, hyung… I don’t want to be alone…” Woohyun muttered.

 

Sunggyu gently pushed Woohyun down before he lied down next to the boy. Woohyun looked at him, pretty much surprised with the man’s action. Sunggyu just chuckled and patted Woohyun’s head gently.

 

            “Sleep,” Sunggyu said.

            “Eh? Ah, but I—“

            “You told me to stay, and here I am. So sleep now,” Sunggyu cut the boy’s words.

 

Woohyun was a bit hesitant at first, but he just nodded and shifted around to find a more comfortable position. Sunggyu watched the boy silently before he noticed Woohyun staring at him. Sunggyu was about to question him, but Woohyun’s next action silenced him. The boy pulled the older into a hug.

 

            “Hope you don’t mind…” Woohyun grinned lightly.

            “Do you do this with Junhong too?” Sunggyu raised an eyebrow.

            “Almost every night… Junhong likes to be hugged while I like hugging people,” Woohyun chuckled.

Sunggyu shook his head, “Quite a pair don’t you think?”

Woohyun pouted, “You’ll stay here until the morning, right?”

            “Why don’t you sleep and find out?”

            “… Heh. Good night, hyung,” Woohyun snuggled closer to Sunggyu.

 

Sunggyu silently observed the boy. He noticed the soft breathings and he smiled to himself.

 

            “Good night, Woohyun-ah,” he whispered before he draped an arm around the boy’s figure.

 

Sadly, Sunggyu didn’t notice the contented smile on the boy’s face.