Siwon clutched an ice pack against his jaw with a very tired expression, and it didn't escape Donghae's attention that Kyuhyun stood very close with a hand on his arm; almost as if he anticipated another random attack. All residents sat in huddles around the dining hall, silent as they tried to stay awake and waited for what this meeting would be about...considering the mayhem that had just happened, there was no doubt it was bad news. Kyuhyun finally cleared his throat, his face an expressionless mask.

"We've decided to call this meeting due to tonight's alarming events, because we have decided we need to get a few things straight. Now we all know there's been...a few things going on lately," His eyes flickered briefly to Hyukjae and then to Donghae, "But putting those things aside...this is still a professional environment and above all a place of recovery, a place of healing. I think whoever has been involved in this incident should think very seriously about your actions. What you are doing is being selfish. Sabotaging other people's treatment when what they need is to remain away from the very substances you've been providing them with."

Kyuhyun paused to take a deep breath, looking up at Siwon as if for reassurance.

"With all this in mind, we have a couple of announcements. Firstly, We will be conducting full room checks first thing tomorrow morning-" There was a collective groan and a lot of muttering after this, "and Secondly, I've agreed with Dr Choi that we will be trialling a new daily schedule for patients with a little more structure but...if everybody can follow this new timetable for the next week, there will be a New Years Eve party- with a few guidelines, of course."

Though the mutterings still continued, the prospect of a party seemed to break the tension a little, and as Donghae followed his weary friends up the stairs and lay awake on his bed- he'd already dismissed the possibility that he'd be able to sleep again tonight- he couldn't help but to feel a twinge of guilt. Perhaps he had been too hard on Kyuhyun all along. Hadn't he treated him with kindness? A job was a job, and being professional had to come first...he also grudgingly admitted to himself that Siwon and Kyuhyun suited each other and must have been together a long time to consider becoming engaged. Slowly as his mind sorted through the facts and events of the last few months, his resentment  started to melt away, to be replaced by a kind of reluctant acceptance…A fist crashing through the wall certainly drew his attention away from his line of thought though, and he hurried over to hear loud cursing from the other side of the wall. The hand withdrew, replaced by a mouth with clenched teeth.

"Ok, think I just broke my ing hand..." It groaned. Donghae looked at the hole in the wall in complete shock. The walls were very thin or Hyukjae had nearly superhuman strength, because under normal conditions that surely wasn't possible; no one sane would even attempt it. Then again, Hyukjae’s sanity could quite easily be questioned.

"Hey," The voice was a little slurred, and his laughter sounded dark as he seemed to temporarily forget he'd just broken his hand, "Too bad this hole wasn't a little lower, shoulda thought about that right?......." The last words were said in a sing song voice and a snicker followed by a loud crash could be heard through the newly made opening.

Donghae stood frozen for a second as his mind struggled to process all that had happened in the last minute, trying in vain not to blush at the other's crude words then shaking his head in disbelief as he cursed Hyukjae's stupidity and burst through his door into the corridor. Sighing, he ran a hand through his messy hair. He didn't even know why he was bothering to help this . But hearing Hyukjae’s muffled whimpers reminded him that equally, he couldn't just leave him, and in addition to this there was now a large hole connecting their rooms, which made drunk almost impossible to ignore.

The door was unlocked, yet another example of Hyukjae's carelessness that had Donghae rolling his eyes before the latter stepped through and closed it, making sure to twist the lock in case anybody had heard the crash and decided to investigate...because he was pretty sure they wouldn't want to see this.

An astute and unhelpful part of Donghae's mind casually noted that this was the second time he'd seen Hyukjae in nothing but boxers, but the majority of his attention was held by the uncharacteristically cute pout on the other’s face as he examined his limp hand. Lifting his eyes to Donghae the expression was immediately replaced by a smirk, the uninjured hand waving from his crumpled position on the floor.

"Come to join the party?"

"More like come to help your sorry ." Donghae huffed, exasperated. "How did you even get down there?"

 Hyukjae shrugged, struggling a little onto his knees and wobbling with a high pitched giggle while his eyes glazed over. Donghae may have been called naïve at times, but he wasn't stupid...he knew Hyukjae was incredibly drunk.

"I dunno, just felt like lying down. Why are you here, dickface?"

Scoffing at the unconventional name calling, Donghae crossed his arms and hoped he didn't look too much like a pissed off girlfriend. "If you don't remember, you punched a hole in my wall about 2 minutes ago. That kind of thing isn't exactly easy to sleep through." He chose not to mention the fact he wasn’t sleeping anyway, and made his priority getting the drunken idiot in front of him patched up and safely seated before he hurt himself more than he had already.

Wedging his hands under Hyukjae's arms and linking them in the middle of his chest, Donghae began to pull him up and towards the bed in the centre of the room. Hyukjae made it far from easy, simply letting his feet drag along the floor and leaving the other to heave his full weight slowly across the room. Finally they were within reach of the bed, and Donghae dumped Hyukjae unceremoniously onto the mattress, ignoring the sharp hiss of pain his rough actions had elicited.

Leaving him to mutter about being careful with his hand, Donghae retrieved the first aid kit each room had in the small cupboard in their en suite bathroom, noting that it had been opened before- unlike his own, which still sat in it’s neat plastic packaging- before pulling out what he would need. Bandages…A chemical icepack… painkillers…Donghae bit his lip and carried the whole kit out with him, hoping he wouldn’t do anything to make the injured hand worse. Fleeting memories from a school first aid course hovered at the edge of his mind. He’d need a splint. Looking around in vain, he finally settled on a pillow for lack of anything else and proceeded to secure it to his arm with the bandages, placing the icepack in Hyukjae’s uninjured hand. His full lips pushed out into a childish pout as he watched Donghae's actions, frowning in confusion.

"Why...did you just tie a pillow...to my arm?"

"I needed something to support your hand and I couldn't find anything better than a pillow, ok?" Donghae replied sharply. This new version of Hyukjae, even if he was less intimidating, was wearing on his nerves, "Just hold the damn ice pack on your hand." Following the instructions obediently he placed the pack on his hand before stamping his foot on the floor, his single lidded eyes squeezed shut in pain.

"It hurts..." He whined loudly, extending his words and sounding like a 5 year old. "This isn't helping!"

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you decided to slam your fist into a wall." Donghae said, though a small smile played on his lips at the other's tone, "So...how much have you had to drink? You must be drunk, right?"

Creeping doubts crept into his head. Was it simply alcohol, or perhaps a darker substance, similar to what Jiyong and Minho had smoking? Biting his lap at the idea of drugs infesting Hyukjae’s system and whether he would be safe to be around, Donghae found a shirt in another draw and began to make into a makeshift sling.

Hyukjae fell back onto the bed, thankfully having the sense to keep his hand out of the way and sparing everybody in the building from the shriek of pain that would have come if he’d been less cautious. He then grinned while lolling his head backwards to look at Donghae upside down, attempting a shrug in his awkward position.

“If I’m honest, I lost count a while ago. But hey, it’s all gonna be taken away tomorrow, so I might as well enjoy it while a can. Go ahead, help yourself if you want.”

“No thanks…I don’t drink.” Donghae kept his eyes down on his task, ensuring they wouldn’t betray his true feelings. He had always despised drinking, it made his nightmares worse, his mood swings worse. All it did was make everything worse. And yet, when he became manic, he could usually be tempted by the intoxicating liquid, another thing he hated about those periods.

“Suit yourself.” Of course, Hyukjae was drunk himself and thankfully didn’t pick up on his sudden upset tone, but instead puffed his cheeks with air and began to look around his room. “These walls must be . Honestly, I punched the wall because I got told the walls were pretty thin plaster…didn’t expect it to be that thin though. No wonder it gets cold in winter. You know, once in here there was frost on the inside of the windows? Not safe. Then again, still a lot better than the streets at winter. Nothing more depressing than having to sleep under a bridge on Christmas Eve because it’s snowing too hard to get anywhere-“

He seemed to be talking without purpose, a blank smile and blank eyes making up his face, but on the contrary Donghae’s eyes went wide with shock, his hands slowing to a stop on the t-shirt.

“Hyukjae.”

“Hm?” The drifting eyes came into focus and pointed in the general direction of the voice.

“You’ve…been on the streets? Is that why you’re here?”

“What?” He snorted, sweeping away his fringe with his good hand while he sat up to give Donghae a scrutinising look. “People don’t go to rehab for living on the streets, Donghae, jesus.”

“What was it then? Drugs?” The question rushed out of his mouth before he could stop it, the curiosity he’d been holding back overtaking his rational thoughts, “You’re the person who gave Minho that stuff right? How did you get it? Aren’t you-“

“Stop.” Harsh and cold, that voice was very different from the dreamy tone he’d only a minute ago. Hyukjae now glared directly at him, alert and angry. “Stop talking about things you can’t even begin to understand.”

“But you’re messing with other people’s treatment, don’t you get that? How can I-?”

“How can you what?” Standing up with one hand clenched, Hyukjae advance with gritted teeth, “Are you going to play the saint now, tell me what to do? Guess what sweet cheeks, maybe I gave them their drugs, but they asked me. Pretty much begged at my feet. Who the are you to interfere? I’m just a supplier, the middle man. That’s all.”

Numerous questions were added to the tangle of confusion in Donghae’s mind. Still, how had he gotten any drugs or alcohol…Wasn’t this supposed to be a secure facility? How did he have contacts who were apparently able to obtain class A drugs at the click of a finger? What was Hyukjae’s past…that he had ended up alone, sleeping under a bridge on Christmas eve and could talk about it so casually? Zhou mi had mentioned his past with gangs before…

“Th-that still doesn’t make what you’re doing right.” He managed to stutter. Suddenly he felt himself being dragged across the room and jostled into the hallway again, the unfriendly wood of Hyukjae’s door slamming inches for his face for the second time during his short stay. Bitter disappointment at ruining the relatively calm meeting flooded through Donghae’s veins. Why could he have kept those stupid questions inside him, why had he felt the name to blurt them out?

He walked into his own room, pulled the covers over his head and turned up the music in his headphones until he felt his head might split in two; but somehow he could still hear the enraged cries and crashes through the hole in the wall.

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............oh my god hello strangers. So I've had most of this written for weeks but exams got so so crazy I had no time for anything else. I also got distracted by a random one shot that for some reason got popular , but I'm turning it into a full length fic now, my bad? ANYWAY finally this is up and with endless free time hopefully more chapters will be up soon! If you're still reading thank you and sorry for the wait!! <3