Inside Of Me
Ephemeral
Ravi POV~
Ravi noticed Leo first. But only after Ken shrieked his way back into the room in a whirlwind of flailing limbs. Leo was giving them his usual monotone stare but Ravi noticed one of his hands twitch and then ball into a fist. Crap. He was going to die.
"See! See!" Ken was yelling and gesturing wildly at N and Ravi. Wonshik hadn't known Jaehwan supported the dysfunctional relationship between Taekwoon and Hakyeon so much.
"So...?" Leo takes a few deep breaths and turns to take a piece of chicken from Hongbin. Ravi sighs in relief. Maybe he wouldn't die then.
"Ravi Oppa feed me again please?" N pouts and Ken flails some more. Leo stiffens slightly but ignores them. Ravi does as N asks.
N's POV~
Ravi feeds him and N watches Ken react. The spastic man seems to be in full panic mode. N can't help but giggle quietly to himself as he watches Ken flailing at Leo.
"Leo! Leo! Leo!" Ken yells and when he realises Leo isn't going to help him he runs to Ravi and tugs on his shirt. "Feed me too Wonshik."
"I'm busy feeding N right now. He's injured Jaehwan." Ravi replies, feeding N again. Hakyeon thought it was cute how much Ken liked Ravi. It was even kind of cute how oblivious Ravi was too it.
"You want me to staaaaarve!" Ken wails and hugs Ravi around his waist.
Leo POV~
Leo can't handle watching those two. And Ken was starting to give him a headache. But what could he do? It had been so long since he saw a real smile on Hakyeon's face. Yet there it was. He had no right to drag him into the hell that was their relationship again.
"N-hyung, you have to stay overnight right?" Hyuk questions. Leo snapped himself out of his thoughts and listened. He knew Hakyeon used to hate hospitals. The redhead had seen too many people he loved die in this place.
"Yeah. For observation. I don't really want to though..." N looks nervous. Leo just wants to hold him and calm his nerves. "But you all could go home. I'm sure there's a lot you need to get done there."
"I do kind of want to make you a welcome home cake." Hongbin smiles. "And I think it's past Ken's bedtime."
"Wait. Are we leaving?" Jaehwan is still clinging to Wonshik as Hongbin and Sanghyuk try to drag him off.
"I'll stay here with you." Ravi hold's N's hand. Leo wants to pull them apart so badly but knows he can't. He grips his hands into fists, his nails leaving indents in his hands.
"Wait!" Ken tries to flail free from the couple holding onto him. "Wonshik I need your help at home!"
"With what?" Ravi looks confused but let's N's hand go. Leo sighs in relief and relaxes a little.
N POV~
"PINEAPPLES!" Ken blurts out. Everyone stares at him in silence for a few moments.
"Is that some kind of weird code word?" Hakyeon finally questions. He wasn't sure if he was just missing something he should already know or if his friend had some strange, complicated relationship with the fruit. From what he could tell, with this group, it could go either way.
"Nope. Just Ken being Ken." Hyuk shrugs as he and Hongbin let Ken go. Ken lunges at Ravi, nearly tackling him to the bed in a tight hug.
"Jaehwan what in the world do you even mean by that?" Ravi laughs a little, patting Ken on the top of the head.
"I... Um... I really want some pineapple but I don't know how to check if it's ripe... and... and... I don't know how to prepare it!" Ken gradually got more and more frantic as he came up with an explanation. It looked to N like he was reaching for something, anything to keep Ravi from getting closer to N.
"You cut it, Jaehwan." Ravi seemed to be enjoying himself.
"But knives are shaaaarp." Ken wails, clinging tighter to Ravi. "I could cut myself! I could bleed to death! I could slip in my blood and explode the whole kitchen! And maybe half the city too! The only thing that will be left unharmed would be the pineapple! Is that what you want Wonshik?!" Hakyeon was disturbing amounts of sure that if anyone could actually pull off that ridiculous scenario it would be Jaehwan.
"Okay okay. I'll go with you." Ravi shakes his head happily. Ken finally calms down and lets him go.
"Yay! Leo can stay with N." Ken cheers. He's already pulling Ravi out of the room by his hand but Ravi stops him and kisses N gently. N wants to beg him to stay, to not leave him alone with Taekwoon. His chest hurts. He thinks he may be having a panic attack.
"We'll see you tomorrow N-Hyung." Hyuk smiles as Ken shrieks and drags Ravi out of the room completely.
"Get a lot of rest okay?" Hongbin kisses N's cheek and then bounces off with his boyfriend. N stares at Leo. What was it about the grumpy man that made his head dizzy and his heart beat race? It scared him. He felt unstable around Leo and couldn't even remember why.
Ravi POV~
The four left the hospital and drove to the market to get what they needed for dinner and N's cake. Ravi noticed as they reached the cashier line to pay for their food that Ken had forgotten his pineapple so he ran to the fruit section and brought one back as the groceries were being scanned. He handed it to Ken and Ken looked at him like he was crazy.
"What is this for?" Ken questions.
"You said you wanted pineapple, remember?" Ravi smiles triumphantly. "This one is perfect."
"Wonshik... I hate pineapples..." Jaehwan grins and lets the cashier scan the fruit. "But I know you like it so let's get it okay?" He laughs and Ravi has to fight the urge to slam his head against a wall. He loved Ken but that man was so complicated.
Leo POV~
He sat down in his chair and tried his best not to look at N. He couldn't stop the jealousy from burning at his soul. How dare Ravi kiss his N? He just wanted to shake N until he remembered him. Or punch Ravi in the face. Both options were pretty tempting.
"Hakyeon..." Leo finally sighed, shattering the deafening silence. He hated this awkwardness between them. It was killing him.
"Y-yeah?" N jumped from shock and looked at him with his big, beautiful eyes. Leo loved those eyes. They always told him what N was thinking. But right now all they showed was confusion and nervousness.
"Nevermind." Leo turned to stare silently out the window. He couldn't tell him how he felt. He couldn't be that selfish. But he knew he couldn't handle life without the redhead either. Leo made a promise to himself. If he could find N's father's ring he would tell N everything, be the boyfriend N had always wanted him to be. Until then he wasn't worthy of N. Ravi was though. And if Leo could never find the ring then at least Ravi would keep N loved and happy. Like Leo never had.
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