Every Day
Ephemeral
N POV~
Leo was so handsom when he slept.
N had been awake for a total of 27 minutes and at least the past 20 of them have been spent watching the sleeping man by the window. He was still confused about the kiss. Everything about Leo confused him, actually. The way Leo scared him to death and yet made him want to squish his cheeks together and make cutesy little noises at him. How the touch of his lips made his heart race and yet the whole world slowed down. N was sure he was going crazy.
While N stressed over his inner termoil Leo seemed to sleep like the dead. He must have been exhausted. He hadn't even woken up when the doctor checked on N and said he was free to go home whenever his ride arrived. N wanted to call Ravi so they could leave the hospital but he didn't know the number. So he just stared down the sleeping Leo and tried to figure out his life past the giant memory gap he was working with.
"Good morning, Hakyeon. How did you sleep?" When Leo finally woke up he gave N the sweetest smile he had ever seen. N was scared to death. Was Leo sick? Was he dying?
"Taekwoon... Are you feeling okay?" N questioned nervously as he stood up. "Um... We can leave but I didn't know who to call..."
"I'm fine." Leo sighed and got up, grabbed his phone and stormed out of the room. His cheery mood was apparently a fleeting thing. N began to clean the room of any reminants of his stay. He was kind of sad to see the happiness in Leo leave him so quickly.
Leo POV~
When Leo woke up he was so relieved to see N that he momentarily forgot his grumpy exterior. Yet N quickly remedied that problem by opening his mouth. So Leo went out of the room to call Hyuk so that Ken could come pick N up.
"Just Hakyeon?" Hyuk questioned after Leo informed him of N's release from the hospital.
"I have things to do." Leo replied, sounding more irritated than he had intended to. "I'll stay with him until Jaehwan gets here." Taekwoon hung up. He wasn't mad at the maknae. He was mad at himself. He had a second chance with Hakyeon and he was already blowing it. Why did he have to act so distant? Why the hell did he have to say N was nothing more than a roommate?! Now N was with Ravi and probably thought Leo hated him. Leo could never hate him... But he was starting to seriously dislike himself.
Ravi POV~
When Ken woke up, Ravi pretended to be sleeping. He didn't want Ken to know that the kiss he claimed never happened had kept him awake all night. He didn't want to admit an accident had solidified his feelings for Ken.
Ken scampered out of the room and Ravi finally convinced himself to get up. He heard Hyuk's cellphone ringtone as he went into the bathroom. It wasn't long before Ken was pounding on the bathroom door.
"I have to go save Hakyeon from an octopus!"
"You what?" Ravi washed his hands and opened the door. "I'm coming with you to make sure you don't drive Hakyeon into the ocean or anything..."
"I said I was saving him. Not murdering him." Ken giggled and skipped away. Ravi rolled his eyes and followed him. Honestly. He loved the imagination of Jaehwan. His crush was beyond weird and he enjoyed it. But sometimes it concerned the hell out of him when he decided to involve helpless victims like a friend with a severe case of amnesia...
N POV~
Leo was quiet.
N and Leo were standing outside the hospital waiting for their friends. Leo hadn't said anything since he left the room that morning. N was beginning to realize that silence, at least silence between he and Leo, made him uncomfortable. But every time he opened his mouth to speak he saw that distant look on his companion's face and lost his nerve. He'd mostly spent his time outside devided between glancing at Leo, the ground, and traffic.
"Look..." N jumped when Leo broke the silence. He hadn't been expecting that. "I'm not coming home with you today. I have something important to do."@
"O-okay Taekwoon..." N nodded and looked down at his shoes. He wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't even sure why Leo was telling him this.
"Hakyeon... I..." Leo hugged him suddenly, holding him tightly against his chest. N froze in shock. He had taken him entirely by surprise.
"T-Taekwoon..." N hesitated before holding onto Leo's shirt and leaning into him. Leo smelled good. A little like sweat but mostly like cinnamon. And he was warm, a nice change from the chilly winter air.
"Please..." Leo's lips were next to his ear as Leo spoke which sent a wave of shivers through the redhead. "Please don't hate me. I know I seem cold right now... I'm working really hard to fix that though. So until then... Please don't hate me. Promise me."
"I... I won't... I promise..." N's heart was racing again. What was happening? Leo sighed and N felt his warm breath in his hair. The embrace lasted a moment longer then Leo stepped away and started to walk off as a car pulled up to the curb. The lack of Leo's warmth left N shivering and feeling oddly lonely.
Ravi POV~
Ken chattered on about the most random things on the way to the hospital. About how once when they were all children and playing hide and seek he climbed a really tall tree and got stuck and his parents had to call the fire department after everyone went home to get him down and he had never told them because they all thought he was an amazing hider. How one time he had a dream that they were all in a boy band and Ravi was some amazing rapper. About how he wished he could be Spider Man. Not because he fought crime (which was still awesome) but because he probably got a lot of free food.
Ken was in the middle of a dramatic retelling of an episode of his favorite show as they pulled into the hospital parking lot. Ravi was laughing at a particularly dramatic part when he noticed Leo stepping away from N. He jumped out of the car before Ken even fully parked and went after the dark haired bundle of angst, grabbing his arm.
"What the-?" Leo turned and glared at Ravi. "Let go Wonshik."
"No." Ravi held his arm tighter so he couldn't pull away. "You listen closely Taekwoon. Don't break Hakyeon's heart again. I won't see him crying over you anymore. He has a fresh start. And if you put him through what you did before I will end you."
"You don't even like him." Leo stated with a cold voice. "Your loyalty is for Jaehwan. Maybe you should focus on that instead of my Hakyeon."
"I may love Jaehwan but it doesn't mean I want to see my friend in pain anymore." Ravi finally let Leo go. "So remember what I just said." Leo made a growling noise before storming off.
"Wonshik?" Ken sounded nervous. When Ravi turned around he saw N and Jaehwan giving him very concerned looks.
"I just had to talk to Leo for a moment." Ravi shrugged and went back over to hug N. "Let's get you home. Hyuk and Hongbin stayed behind to finish decorating your cake."
"And we came to save you from an octopus!" Ken exclaimed excitedly then shrieked as a car pulled in. "OH GOD IT'S A SHARK! EVERYONE IN THE BOAT!" He half dove, half slipped on ice and fell into the driver's seat of the car and started the engine.
"Is he always like this?" N questioned. Ravi couldn't hide his smile as he nodded.
"Always." He admittee as Ken started frantically honking the horn.
"First mate, Wonshik! Cabin boy, Hakyeon! Get in the boat! Quickly!" Jaehwan screamed out his open window. "Before the sea creatures eat us! We have no time to waste!" It was amazing how urgent he could make his voice sound despite the fact he was only pretending.
"Coming Captain." Wonshik laughef as he got into the front passenger seat, opening the back door for N.
"Why do I have to be a cabin boy?" N pouted as he got into the car.
"Because you're short." Ken smiled as he started to drive off. Ravi couldn't help but laugh at the indignant gasp N gave Ken at being called short.
Leo POV~
Who did Ravi think he was? It wasn't like he had ever wanted to make N cry. He hated himself every time he saw the pain he put the redhead through.
Taekwoon was going to change. He was going to find N's ring and be the man he had always wanted him to be. The man Leo had always wanted himself to be. A man who wouldn't hurt the one he loved.
So he set off for the second day in a row to search every shop he could think of that someone could sell a stolen ring. He would stay out until late at night when all the shops closed if he had to. He would do so every day and every night until he found it. He just hoped that N would live up to his promise and refrain from hating him before he found it.
Because he didn't know what he would do if Hakyeon hated him. Not again. Watching him leave with the intention of never coming back had already shaken Leo to his core. He couldn't handle that again. It would kill him to lose N. And the more he thought about it, the less he thought he could handle N with someone who wasn't him, even if that did make him incredibly selfish.
Leo had no choice. He was going to find that ring.
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