Xiumin felt his heart drop as Chen spoke. How could this be Chen’s fault?

          “Hey, hey… No, this isn’t your fault, okay? If anyone’s it’s my own. I was the one that took off my seatbelt,” Xiumin murmured.

          “If it wasn’t for m-me though, you would… would have kept it on,” Chen choked.

          “No… Don’t think that, please… I voluntarily took it off. What happened is my fault. Not even a little bit yours,” Xiumin said, wrapping his arms around Chen’s shaking form.

          “I hate that you g-got hurt… Min Seok, I just want to go back and stop it all,” Chen said, burying his face in Xiumin’s shoulder.

Xiumin winced as Chen brushed against the bruises on his upper body. Chen pulled away as soon as he felt Xiumin tense.

          “See! You’re hurt because I was st-stupid… It’s my fault that you’re in pain, Min Seok,” Chen said, his voice barely above a whisper.

          “Jong Dae,” Xiumin said firmly, lifting Chen’s chin to look him in the eyes, “The fact that I got hurt is not your fault. I don’t want you even thinking that it was. I made the conscious decision to take off my seatbelt, when I knew it was late and that our manager was tired. I’ve learned my lesson, but I need you to promise me that you’ll stop blaming yourself for this.”

Chen swallowed and breathed in shakily. After a moment or two, he slowly nodded.

          “Okay. I’m so sorry you got hurt though… Min Seok, I was so scared. One moment you were next to me, and the next, you were flying away… You have no idea how much I’d like to hug you right now; I just don’t want to hurt you more than you’re already hurting,” Chen admitted with a tight smile.

Xiumin returned his smile and guided each Chen’s hands to their own places on his back that weren’t covered in bruises or cuts. He leaned against the younger’s chest and wrapped his arms around his back, pulling himself close.

          “You can hold me, just like this,” Xiumin whispered.

          “I love you, Min Seok,” Chen whispered almost inaudibly, holding Xiumin delicately, “Please don’t scare me like that again.”

          “I promise,” Xiumin said happily, “And I love you too, Jong Dae.”

          Xiumin stayed curled up in Chen’s bed with the younger for the rest of the day. He leaned against his chest and drew small circles on his stomach as the pair of them watched movies on a laptop. Chen’s arms were still circled around Xiumin; careful not to touch him anywhere he was injured. Two movies into their marathon, Xiumin found himself yawning.

          “Sleepy already?” Chen teased.

Xiumin lightly poked him in the side, where the younger was ticklish.

          “Yah, you would be too if you’d just come home from the hospital,” Xiumin said, trying to defend himself, but yawning again in the middle of his sentence.

          “Do you want to sleep?” Chen asked gently.

          “I really should shower first. I’ve been putting it off since I got home, because I don’t really want to have to deal with figuring out how to do so without killing myself,” Xiumin said, turning to look at Chen as he finished.

Chen’s smile suddenly turned devilish and Xiumin knew he was planning something.

          “I could always help you,” Chen said, smirking evilly.

Xiumin sat up and smacked the younger on the head with the DVD case that had been sitting on the bed next to him.

          “Yah! What was that for?” Chen cried out indignantly.

          “You know what, byuntae,” Xiumin said, making a move to get off the bed.

Chen grabbed his hand firmly, but in a place he knew was not hurt.

          “It was an honest offer! You said you didn’t want to kill yourself, so I offered my assistance. It really would be a shame if you died trying to take a shower.”

          “I’m going to ask Luhan to help me,” Xiumin muttered.

          “Like Sehun would agree to that,” Chen said, “I’m pretty sure he’d brand Luhan with his own name because he’s so possessive. Remember the bubble tea incident a couple weeks ago?”

Xiumin remembered alright. The couple’s temporary break up had caused him a head ache, having to deal with Luhan’s tears.

          “I’m sure he won’t mind,” Xiumin said, standing up.

While Xiumin was getting his crutches, Chen hopped up and blocked the door.

          “Xiuhan is not sailing tonight,” Chen grumbled.

          “Get out of the way! I need to shower! And I think Xiuhan is a perfectly fine ship, thank you very much,” Xiumin said.

          “Like hell it is,” Chen said, “Wait until I tell Sehun!”

Chen dashed out the door, leaving Xiumin to totter after him.

          “Don’t you dare!” Xiumin called.

          “Oh Sehun!” Chen called out ahead of Xiumin.

          “Yah!” Xiumin said out of breath, but finally caught up to Chen in the living room.

          “Xiumin says that he ships Xiuhan!” Chen blurted out.

Sehun, Luhan, Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Kai were scattered around the room with very different expressions each of their faces. Sehun’s expression was unreadable, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were both trying to stifle their laughter, Kai was outright laughing—mostly at Sehun’s face though—and Luhan, who had a smirk on his face, was making his way toward Xiumin. He wrapped his arm around Xiumin’s shoulders and leaned in close.

          “So you agree we’d make a good couple?” Luhan whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Xiumin wanted to face palm as the laughing trio only got louder. Sehun’s eye twitched visibly, and Chen stood gaping next to Xiumin. Xiumin chose to play along just to get back at Chen for causing this whole fiasco.

          “Oh yeah,” Xiumin said, attempting to be seductive, “The best, in fact.”

Luhan’s smirk grew. The two of them angled their heads as though they were going to kiss, but, as they’d expected, Sehun and Chen pulled them apart. While Chen stopped tugging Xiumin’s hand once he was away from Luhan, Sehun continued to pull Luhan away and into their bedroom.

          “Someone’s getting laid tonight,” Kai said from the couch.

“Looks like I’m staying with you tonight,” Xiumin said sighing.

          “Not like I mind,” Chen whispered into Xiumin’s ear.

Xiumin hummed.

          “I really need to take a shower though,” he said lowly.

          “My offer still stands,” Chen whispered, “And I promise not to try anything. We can even wear swim trunks, if it’ll make you feel better.”

          “Fine,” Xiumin reluctantly agreed.

It would be awkward, but he really did need the help. The two of them headed towards their rooms, but Xiumin stopped outside his, not really wanting to go in after Sehun and Luhan had disappeared into it.

          “You can borrow a pair of mine,” Chen said, “I wouldn’t send you in there after them. Sehun should thank me later for starting this whole thing.”

Xiumin laughed and pushed Chen lightly. They headed to Chen and Lay’s room. The younger handed him a pair of dark blue drawstring swim trunks and grabbed a pair of silver with dark stripes for himself.

          “I’ll change in the bathroom,” Xiumin said awkwardly, gesturing to the door.

          “Okay,” Chen said naturally.

Xiumin slowly slipped his shirt and shorts off and the swim trunks on. He looked at his reflection and scowled at how pitiful he looked. He was still on a lot of pain killers, so luckily he didn’t feel as bad as he appeared. He heard a knock on the door and called back to come in. Chen opened it and entered, closing the door and locking it. When he turned and saw Xiumin fully for the first time, his breath left him.

          “Hey, I’m okay,” Xiumin said, trying to reassure the younger.

          “Yeah,” Chen said with a tight-lipped smile.

Xiumin smiled back less tensely to put him at ease.

          “Relax… And help me take some of these bandages off.”

Chen walked to Xiumin and took in his beat up arms and torso for the first time. Xiumin let him look for a moment, but then began to feel self-conscious. He gently lifted the younger’s chin to eye level and smiled again. Chen reached up and held Xiumin’s cheek for a moment before beginning to take off the band-aids on his face. Feeling the light tugging of the adhesive on his skin, Xiumin reached up to take the larger bandage wrapped around his head off. Chen continued to take off the smaller band-aids as he moved to Xiumin’s torso. Xiumin gasped as he finally saw what lay under the white bandage. As he unraveled it, the cloth became a more reddish-brown color from his blood. Underneath, there was a large gash, about three inches in length across his forehead and had been closed with stitches. Xiumin let the bandage fall into the trash, knowing they’d have to put a fresh one on after showering. He then removed his neck brace, carefully and slowly. He felt the weight of his head on his neck and began to appreciate the work the brace had been doing previously. He rotated his head around to try to get used to supporting it himself. Chen stood up from where he’d been kneeling and turned the water on.

          “Do you want to take a bath?” Chen asked, “It might be easier.”

          “A shower is fine,” Xiumin mumbled.

Chen hummed in response.

“How warm do you want it?”

          “Um, in the middle is fine,” Xiumin replied, beginning to feel awkward again.

Chen held his hand out to help Xiumin into the shower. Xiumin took it and also supported himself on the bar inside. He stepped in slowly, hissing as he adjusted to the water flowing over his cuts. When Chen came in after him, Xiumin realized how little space there was. The two of them had barely a foot between them to move around. Chen, determined not to make the situation more awkward than it already was, grabbed the bottle of shampoo and squeezed some into his hand.

          “Turn around,” he said, after seeing Xiumin’s hair was already wet.

Xiumin did as he was told and soon felt the younger running his hands through his hair, bringing the shampoo into a lather. His hands were gentle, making sure not to hurt any injuries he couldn’t see below Xiumin’s hair. Xiumin found himself closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling, but was cut short when told to rinse. He leaned back into the spray of warm water as he watched Chen rub the suds into his own hair. They switched places so Chen could rinse while applying the conditioner to Xiumin. Chen then moved on to wash Xiumin’s back and torso. He used a washcloth and ran it cautiously across his skin. Xiumin winced every once in a while, to which Chen apologized each time. Once finished, Chen cleaned himself up and rinsed both of them. He turned the water off and moved the curtain aside. He helped Xiumin sit on the edge of the bathtub. Xiumin waited while Chen grabbed the first aid kit. The younger was very gentle as he applied new band-aids after drying the skin. Retrieving the hair dryer from under the sink, Chen plugged it in and began blow-drying Xiumin hair.

          “You don’t really have to do this,” Xiumin said, not wanting to be a burden to the younger.

          “If we’re going to wrap that cut up again, your hair should be dry,” Chen responded.

          “Oh…” Xiumin found himself at a loss for words, “Thank you…”

          “Of course,” Chen said.

After blowing his hair dry, Chen wrapped his head and helped him with his neck brace.

          “This means a lot to me, Chen. Really, thank you,” Xiumin said.

          “It’s not that much, Minnie,” Chen replied.

          “I feel like such a burden to you though,” Xiumin huffed.

          “It never feels like a burden when it’s someone I love,” Chen said softly.

Xiumin felt his cheeks warm as he turned to face the younger.

          “I love you too,” he whispered.

Xiumin leaned forward and kissed Chen lightly. He lifted his hand to wrap around his head and ran his fingers through his wet hair. Chen pulled Xiumin close and deepened the kiss, running his tongue across Xiumin’s bottom lip before pulling back with a groan.

          “We should really stop. You’re hurt, and we both need to get to bed,” Chen said reluctantly.

          “You’re right; I just don’t want to,” Xiumin said with a pout.

          “Come on, Minnie Mouse. We both could use the sleep,” Chen said, standing up.

          “Yah! Who are you calling Minnie Mouse?” Xiumin grumbled as the younger helped him up.

          “Just my wonderful and beautiful boyfriend,” Chen said cheekily.

          “Shut it… Let’s get to bed,” Xiumin said.

          “As you wish, my little dormouse!” Chen teased, making a break for the door.

          “Just wait until I get my hands on you!” Xiumin chased after, determined to smack him upside the head.