Yesterday, Yoon Taehee left the on-site cleanup and aftermath to Paehyeon, and headed straight to Jaegeom's house. The most urgent priority was treatment. They couldn't go to the headquarters infirmary or a regular hospital in this situation.
What was needed at a time like this was ginseng and Mesani's healing ability.
Jeongju and Mesani had been pacing the yard waiting for Jaegyeom ever since receiving his message that he
"might get badly hurt."
Jeongju's face turned pale at the sight of the two's miserable state. He had braced himself for the possibility of serious injury, but actually seeing them collapsed and covered in blood with his own eyes was heartbreaking.
Mesani was equally shocked. Startled by the blood, he shed tears like chicken droppings while healing Jaegyeom and Yoon Taehee. Jeongju asked Yoon Taehee what had happened, who then explained vaguely that he had been injured during the mission and lost consciousness after going on a rampage.
Jeongju turned ashen upon learning that Jaegyeom had gone on a rampage. After going on a rampage, the backlash usually causes one to lose consciousness and hover near death for days.
However, one difference from the previous incident was that this time the rampage stopped in the early stages rather than going all the way. Since he hadn't completely exhausted his energy, it was uncertain whether he would wake up in a few days or regain consciousness soon. Yoon Taehee stayed there for a day to monitor Jaegyeom's progress.
Thankfully, Jaegyeom opened his eyes the very next morning.
"Where did Jeongju go?" Jaegyeom asked, patting the back of Mesani's head as he sniffled.
"He stepped out for a bit because he had something to do."
Jeongju had a meeting scheduled today with Director Kwon Suncheol. He had tried to cancel the appointment, but Yoon Taehee told him not to worry and to go ahead since he would stay by jaegyeom's side.
Meanwhile, Mesani sat on the sofa with a gloomy face, just waiting for Jaegyeom to wake up. Yoo Namsaeng was also slumped over with a listless expression.
Given the situation, the atmosphere in the house was quite dreary. So Yoon Taehee had been playing house with Mesani to try to comfort him.
"Why are you crying, kid? Stop it."
Jaegyeom consoled the crying Mesani, then said:
"Come here for a sec."
He gestured to Yoon Taehee. After telling Yoo Namsaeng and Mesani to keep playing, he went back inside the house. Yoon Taehee obediently followed
behind him. Back in the room, Jaegyeom plopped down on the edge of the bed. He jerked his chin, indicating for Yoon Tehee to sit beside him.
As he sat down, there was a creaking sound and the bed frame tilted slightly. Jaegyeom silently looked at Yoon Taehee's face. Before discussing what happened yesterday, there was something he wanted to ask.
"Didn't Mesani heal you?"
This was Jaegyeom's abrupt first question.
"He did."
"Then why does your face look like that?"
Yoon Taehee's face still had various small and large wounds. There were scabs on his lips, cheeks, and other areas, and a large bandage on his forehead. His skin was also mottled with bruises from being hit in the face.
"I asked him to leave the visible wounds on purpose."
"Why?"
Yoon Taehee stroked his cheek and answered with a slight smile:
"To make a statement to Department Head Seok."
Jaegyeom said nothing. It seemed Yoon Taehee had deliberately left the visible injuries to show how much he had suffered. Jaegyeom's eyes lowered slightly.
"What? Do you think it's a shame?" Yoon Taehee asked teasingly as he touched his cheek.
"What's a shame?"
"Getting scars on my handsome face."
Yoon Taehee joked as he fiddled with a scab.
"..."
Jaegyeom looked at him with half-lidded eyes. The fact that he was spouting nonsense even after nearly dying showed he must be doing alright.
"So, what happened yesterday?" Yoon Taehee asked, not answering the previous question.
"Is your wrist okay?"
In response, Jaegyeom lifted his wrist and rotated the joint. It was perfectly fine, unbelievably so considering it had been stabbed by a knife. It didn't hurt at all.
"Mesani healed it. It doesn't hurt anymore."
"What about your shoulder?"
At Yoon Taehee's words, Jaegyeom let out an "Ah" and grabbed his shoulder.
"Right, my shoulder."
The wrist injury had been so severe that he had forgotten about the knife that was stabbed into his shoulder. Assuming Mesani had healed it properly, he pulled off the t-shirt he was wearing to check. He examined his shoulder.
"It's fine."
Jaegyeom nodded and spoke casually after confirming his shoulder was flawless without a single wound.
However, Yoon Taehee was staring intently at him without saying anything. A moment of silence passed.
He wondered why he was looking at him like that.
"What?"
Yoon Taehee shoved his hands into the pockets of the borrowed sweatpants and flopped backwards. Then he muttered loudly as if intending to be heard:
"What's this, is he interested in me or something?"
Jaegyeom was baffled by the sudden remark.
"What?"
As Jaegyeom turned his head to look at Yoon Taehee with a confused expression, the latter, who had been blankly staring at the ceiling, tilted his head to look at Jaegyeom. With an expressionless face, Yoon Taehee raised an eyebrow and said:
"You're carelessly taking off your clothes in front of a sodomite."
"..."
Jaegyeom's face flushed as he belatedly understood his words.
"W-what nonsense are you saying? I just took it off to check if it healed."
After a moment of embarrassment, he quickly put his t-shirt back on with a serious expression. He hadn't thought anything of showing his upper body to another man, but Yoon Taehee's unexpected comment suddenly made him self-conscious.
Jaegyeom subtly shifted his body towards the headboard, distancing himself from Yoon Taehee.
Looking at the back of his head, Yoon Taehee chuckled and said:
"You're right, it's nonsense. So don't get hurt anymore in the future."
"Don't worry about my body, worry about your own."
Jaegyeom retorted, feigning nonchalance. At that, the smile gradually faded from Yoon Taehee's expression.
After a moment of silence, he looked up at the ceiling.
"No, this isn't me worrying about you."
Yoon Taehee murmured, finally erasing his smile.
"It's because I'm the one who's in pain, it's me..."
At the weakly whispered words, Jaegyeom's shoulders stiffened.
"When you got hurt, it was so painful."
Jaegyeom slowly turned his head to look at Yoon Taehee.
"..."
He was lying with his hands on his stomach, eyes closed.
"It hurt me so much..."
This wasn't just idle talk.
For Yoon Taehee, simply looking at Jaegyeom covered in blood was unbearably painful. Sensing the gaze, Yoon Taehee slowly opened his eyes and looked at Jaegyeom.
"So don't ever get hurt like that again."
A face devoid of any trace of a smile. Eyes alive with sensitivity and sharpness. Yoon Taehee sometimes had that kind of expression. Jaegyeom unconsciously lowered his gaze.
"..."
For some reason, Jaegyeom couldn't find the words to say.
A moment of silence passed.
Just then, Yoon Taehee, who had been lying down, sat up. Sitting on the edge of the bed again, he leaned his upper body towards Jaegyeom and reached out his arm. Jaegyeom instinctively flinched and hunched his shoulders.
"Oh, this is what I gave you back then."
Yoon Taehee reached towards the bedside table and picked something up. It was the dome-shaped music box he had given as a gift after collecting stickers some time ago.
"You didn't throw it away. I thought you would have."
Yoon Taehee smiled faintly as he fiddled with the music box in his hand.
"..."
Jaegyeom felt slightly embarrassed for some reason.
For a moment, he thought Yoon Taehee was going to do something sodomite to him again. But it was a misunderstanding. He had just reached for the music box. This was all because of the strange joke Yoon Taehee had made earlier. Jaegyeom lowered his gaze, averting his eyes.
Yoon Taehee wound up the spring with his straight fingertips, a faint smile on his face.
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling...
The music box chimed softly. Jaegyeom stared blankly at Yoon Taehee sitting on the bed, listening intently to the music box.
His slightly hunched back, the contours of his shoulder blades and subtle muscles visible through the white short-sleeved t-shirt, his bangs falling naturally as he bowed his head.
Suddenly, Jaegyeom realized this was the first time he had seen Yoon Taehee in such casual attire. As he quietly observed him sitting on his bed listening to the music box, a strange feeling came over him.
At some point, the music box melody ended.
When the song finished, Yoon Taehee leaned towards Jaegyeom again to put the music box back in its place.
Having misunderstood once before, Jaegyeom sat defenseless. Just then, after returning the music box, he hugged him tightly.
"W-what are you doing..."
As Jaegyeom flinched and reflexively tried to push Yoon Taehee away.
"I was so anxious, wondering what if you didn't wake up for days."
Yoon Taehee bowed his head deeply and buried his forehead in Jaegyeom's shoulder.
"I was so anxious..."
"..."
"So never. Never get hurt like that again."
"..."
Jaegyeom couldn't understand why Yoon Taehee was suddenly acting like this when he had been joking around and acting normal just moments ago. He could clearly feel Yoon Taehee's breath on his neck.
Jaegyeom's hands, which had tried to push the other away, now hovered hesitantly around his back, unable to settle anywhere.
Jaegyeom couldn't bring himself to push Yoon Taehee away.