I'm Into You

18

‼️warning: If you are uncomfortable with the mention of abuse, please feel free to skip the chapter.

-

Tay watches New silently eat the breakfast he cooked for him. He knows that the younger man has a lot of questions in mind, but glad that he never decided to shoot one. It's not like he wanted to dodge explaining, he just doesn't  know yet how to explain it to New without making him worry about the mention of Joss. The timing was epic. He just told him about Joss then everything happened.

It was Thursday when he received a call from Off, telling him about Joss. At first, he has no plan to meddle, but when Off reminded him that the man is literally alone in the country without any family in the city, he knew that he had to go.

Flashback

"Peng, what happened?"

Tay asked the moment he saw Off standing outside the emergency room.

"He's still inside. He called me early this morning, begging me to pick him up. I thought it wasn't urgent, so I took my time, but I instantly regretted the moment I saw him. He has bruises and blood on his face, and he's curled up on the floor, clutching his stomach."

Off said, he looked so worried. Off was Joss' former manager, he just decided to end the contract with him when he met Luke.

"Did someone rob him?"

Tay asked, and Off gave him an unsure look. It's obvious that he's contemplating whether to tell Tay the truth or not.

"Peng-"

"He was beaten by Luke"

"WHAT?"

Tay's eyes widened in surprise. He took care of the man when they were together, only to be beaten by an asshole?

"I'll kill him"

Tay said before attempting to leave, but Off was quick to stop him.

"What? Do you want me to just calm down about this? Off, it was Joss!"

"I know, but Joss told me not to do anything about it"

"What?"

Off sighed before sitting down on one of the waiting chairs outside the emergency room.

"Let's just wait for Joss, okay? I can't understand it either, but that's what he told me. He repeatedly told me that"

Tay curses.

"He's stupid"

"He is"

They said before the doctor went out of the emergency room. The doctor told them that Joss' already out of danger. There's no serious injury aside from the bruises on the side of his lips and cheek, plus a broken rib. The doctor advised him to stay in the hospital for the next three days for observation.

-

They are currently inside Joss' room, waiting for him to wake up. Tay's eyes never left Joss after he was transferred to the said room. He can't deny the fact that he's worried about Joss. a lot of thoughts start building in his mind, like if he never left, he won't be dealing with such an incident. Or if only he didn't let go of Joss, he wouldn't be with Luke.

Tay's blaming himself, even if he doesn't need to. He knew that he won't be able to turn back time, and even if he can, Joss will still leave him anyway. But, he can't help but think that he could've done something to prevent what happened. He can't stop thinking as to why Joss doesn't want to report this to the authorities. It was a serious case of abuse.