Chapter 31

"Stop staring at me, Leo," N mumbled, knowing very well what his lifelong friend was doing even though he had his eyes shut. "I know that you are."

Leo, however, did not flinch nor did he comply with his lifelong friend's order. It had been ages anyway and he had not studied N's face in such a long time. His eyelashes fluttered with each time that he moved on to look at another part of N's face: from his eyes to his nose; from his nose to his lips. N had lip balm on and he smelled just like oranges that Leo discerned that he must still like fruity flavours as he did before. His past girlfriends had worn similar lip balms and they tasted nice on his tongue, but there was something about doing the same gesture with his lifelong friend and feeling his lips on his.

"Yah! I said stop staring at me, Jung Leo –" N lifted a hand to playfully hit his lifelong friend on the chest. Only that the latter immediately grabbed on to his wrist and caused N's eyes to widen from the suddenness. Their eyes met for a while and N had to look away because of Leo's overwhelming gaze. 'Had he always been like this?' The question popped up in his head. But as he already knew from before, he would not get an answer if he does not voice his question out. Either way, it was not like Leo would answer – "Have you always been like this...?" N asked him nonetheless, "It's no wonder Hyukkie was so scared of you when he first saw you."

"Yes," Leo answered honestly. With his free hand, he reached out to fix his lifelong friend's fringe. N flinched at first but allowed him to continue, his eyes fluttering shut. "How is your leg?" Leo murmured softly.

"I told you already..." N said, shifting slightly as his previous position felt awkward. The bed dipped when he did and the springs squeaked too. It made him embarrassed so he ceased moving altogether and tried to settle down. "It's just a scratch. It's nothing compared to what I've had before. You're worrying too much..."

But how could Leo not? Before, N would attend to him whenever he was sick no matter how much he pushed him away. He, too, knew that what N had were mere scratches but he could have at least prevented it if he had foreseen that Milk would attack him. It was just too strange that she was comfortable with everyone else that visited Leo except for that one person that was meant to name her in the first place. "I'm sorry..." Leo apologised again for the umpteenth time. He, too, adjusted on the bed and it was just then that he realised how small the space was.

N seemed to have noticed his lifelong friend's discomfort too so he sat up and moved the thin blankets that were on top of him over to Leo's body. "I need to go so you can rest too..." He whispered, leaving comforting on the latter's head.

"Stay," Leo pleaded, holdin onto N's wrist.

"Leo-yah..." His lifelong friend sighed. "I already told Ken that I'd return tonight. Don't make this difficult..."

"I'll tell him that you fell asleep," Leo insisted, already coming up with an excuse.

"You're going to lie to him?" N emphasised on the word. "