Chapter Four

Seungri watched Teddy walk away chewing the end of his thumbnail. ‘Don’t worry.’  That’s exactly what Yongbae had said before he left, and look where he was now. SeungHyun glanced at him and noticed that he was still gripping on tightly to his hand. He went to movie it away, but Seungri tightened his hold and shook his head. SeungHyun looked at Seungri’s face, he could tell that the younger boy was worrying over something.

“Yah…maknae, what are you thinking?” he asked. Seungri shook his head,

“It’s nothing Hyung.” Seungri answered.

“Seungri, I know you better than that. What’s going on?” SeungHyun asked again.

“It’s just…” Seungri started, “I wish Teddy Hyung would just stay here. I don’t want anything to happen to him.” SeungHyun chuckled,

“Teddy’s a grown man. He can take care of himself. Don’t worry maknae.”

“Don’t say that!”

“Seungri-“ SeungHyun started, but Seungri had already started to turn away, yanking his hand away from him and running towards the boys restroom. “Yah! Seungri!” Seunghyun shouted, running after him.

Seungri slammed the restroom door behind him and turned into a stall, locking it. He leaned against the wall and slowly slid down it into a sitting position, putting his head into his hands. He heard the bathroom door open and he knew that SeungHyun had followed him.
“Seungri, please talk to me.” He heard from the outside of the stall. Seungri stayed silent.

“Maknae.” SeungHyun said, his voice soft. Seungri almost never heard his voice like this. No one did. “Let me in.” he pleaded. Seungri wiped his eyes and leaned up, unlocking the stall door and letting it swing open. He leaned back against the wall once more and looked up and SeungHyun. SeungHyun crouched down in front of Seungri, looking at him questioningly.

“You can’t leave me too, Hyung.” Seungri said silently, looking away, not daring to meet SeungHyun’s eyes. SeungHyun frowned and tilted his head in surprise.

“What are you talking about, no one’s leaving anyone.” He said. Seungri shook his head,

“You said it Hyung.” SeungHyun breathed hard and sat all the way down.

“What did I say?” he asked.

“You said ‘Don’t worry Maknae.’” Seungri said, sounding distraught.

“I was only trying to make you feel better. Am I not allowed to do that? What’s so bad about saying that?” he asked, starting to get annoyed with his childish behavior. Seungri looked up at him,

“That’s what Yongbae said to be before he left this afternoon.” He said. All annoyance’s left Choi SeungHyun almost instantly. His visible features softened. He reached forward and tugged the younger man towards him, dragging him halfway onto his lap, hugging him around his shoulders.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, running his hand along the back of the maknae’s head, “I’m sorry.”

Jiyong watched as SeungHyun chased after an upset Seungri.

“I wonder what’s wrong with them.” He said aloud as he sat down next to Daesung.

“Seungri’s sensitive.” Daesung said, “This is probably really hard on him.” Jiyong nodded, as much as Seungri tried to show people how much he had grown up. There was still a part of him that would always be a kid at heart.

“Did you have a schedule today?” Jiyong asked, not remembering if he had had anything in the early morning. Daesung shook his head calmly,

“No. I was at the dorms all day, I never thought I’d say it, but I actually wished I had something. It’s too quiet at home by yourself.” Jiyong nodded,

“That’s why I go visit people on their schedules.” Daesung laughed and shook his head,

“You just get antsy when you’re apart from Yongbae for too long.” Daesung said. Jiyong stopped smiling.

“What?” he asked. Daesung looked at him,

“You and Yongbae have been best friends for eleven years. When you guys are apart for long periods of time, you change. Everyone see’s it.” Jiyong laugh’s awkwardly,

“I do not.” He said.

“You do.” Daesung said.

“I don’t.” Jiyong said forcefully.

“It’s not a bad thing.” Daesung said, frowning. “You don’t have to get defensive.” Jiyong sighed and closed his eyes. He hadn’t meant to get angry, but the closer people came to the truth, the more guarded he became. The truth was, he knew he changed. He just didn’t want to admit it.

“I’m sorry.” He said. Daesung shrugged, putting his hands in his coat pockets and leaning back in the chair.

Teddy had his hands stuffed in his pant pockets as he walked slowly around the garden that was next to the hospital parking lot. Why was what Jiyong said bothering him so much? So far, him and Yongbae’s relationship had been relatively easy. Sure they had their arguments, but what it all came down to was that they trusted. They were comfortable with each other. Yongbae had his insecurities sometimes because Teddy had never been ‘gay’, but Teddy though he always did a good job at calming his thoughts and convincing him that it was all okay. But throughout everything, Teddy had never questioned Yongbae.

Jiyong’s words made him look back and question everything. He had heard mentions of GDYB around the company, but he never stopped to look into it because Yongbae only looked at him. Seeing Jiyong so upset though, that set off Teddy’s insecurities.

Seungri clenched onto SeungHyun’s shirt,

“I told him to be careful.” Seungri said quietly, “What if that jinxed him?” SeungHyun knew Seungri was being serious and that he was upset, but he couldn’t help but laugh. “Hyungg.” Seungri whined.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. But that’s ridiculous.” Seungri pouted. SeungHyun smiled and tightened his hold on Seungri. “Things happen. You don’t have any control over it. No one could have possibly known that this was going to happen, so don’t blame yourself.” Seungri sniffed and wiped his eyes, pulling himself away from SeungHyun.

“I made your shirt wet.” He said, pointing at it slightly. SeungHyun blinked at him then looked down at his shirt. “I’m sorry.” Seungri said. SeungHyun laughed,

“It’s okay, dummy.” He said as he ruffled his hair. Seungri pouted once again, looking up at him with cute panda eyes and all SeungHyun could think was ‘I could get used to this.’

An hour later, Teddy walked back into the waiting area and sat down across from Daesung and Jiyong. Daesung smiled at him,

“Hyung, you’re back.” Teddy nodded and smiled slightly back.

“Where’d you go?” Jiyong asked.

“The garden.” Teddy answered shortly, not looking towards him. Jiyong watched him a while before getting up and walking away. Daesung sighed,

“What’s going on Hyung? You and Jiyong shouldn’t be fighting at a time like this…or anytime for that matter.” He said. Teddy shook his head,

“Not now Daesung.”

“Yes, now.” Daesung said firmly. “I should be focused on praying for Yongbae to come out of this okay, but instead, all my brain can think about is you and Jiyong acting like six year olds.” He exclaimed.

“Daesung!” Teddy shouted, “I said. Not. Now.” He yelled, getting angrier by the minute. Something passed behind Daesung’s eyes and he became silent. Teddy glared at him with hard eyes. “I don’t want to talk about this. Why cant you guys ever listen.” He said. Daesung looked to the floor and wrung his hands in his lap.

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly, sighing. He was tired of saying sorry.

Jiyong walked towards the bathroom, hoping that SeungHyun and Seungri would take his mind off wanting to strangle Teddy. He walked in and smiled when he noticed both of them sitting against the wall, playing a game on the younger boys phone. Seungri glanced up and smiled,

“Hyung!” he exclaimed.

“Hey maknae, SeungHyun.” SeungHyun nodded at him,

“Have we heard anything about Yongbae?” he asked. Jiyong shook his head,

“No, we’re still waiting.” SeungHyun nodded and went back to the game, realizing that it was his turn.

“Do you want to sit with us?” Seungri asked.

“Can I?” Jiyong asked, I promise I won’t interrupt your game.” He said. Seungri patted the floor beside him,

“Sit!” he said excitedly. Jiyong smiled.

Yongbae’s manager was pacing up and down the hallway when the doctor came out to him. The manager looked at him nervously.

“How is he?” he asked, “How did it go?”

“He did good. We did what we needed to do and it seemingly went well. I fixed the problem that I was concerned about and nothing went wrong. We’ve put him in recovery for now and we’ll move him to a different room later tonight.” The manager nodded,

“He should be okay now, right?” he asked. The doctor nodded,

“With a few days of rest, he should be just fine.” The manager sighed,

“Thank you.” He said. The doctor smiled and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

“Let him get some sleep tonight. Everyone can come back to visit tomorrow.” The manager nodded again,

“I have a couple security members coming soon, they need to be around his room.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that situation. Don’t worry, we’ve added some extra security for the time being. He’ll be alright here, I promise. Go get some sleep.” The manager bowed slowly to him.

“Thank you.” He said, once again.