The Sound of Magic (Ri Eul x Reader)

His Answer

"You stayed," he comments. His deep, gravelly morning voice is slightly muffled by the fabric of your shirt, but it still gives you butterflies. 

"Of course," you say as your arms wrap around him too. 

You stay like that for a few minutes. You almost think he's fallen back asleep, but he suddenly moves. He hoists himself up on one elbow as he looks up at you.

"Have you been awake long?" he asks.

You shake your head, and he smiles a little. You're glad to see that he's almost back to normal. He sits up all the way and scoots back a little until his back is against the headboard. You decide to do the same.

"Are you feeling alright?" you ask quietly, studying his face. He smiles again, avoiding your gaze, and you notice that this time the smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. He gives you a small nod, but you can't shake the feeling that he's just doing it so you don't worry. 

"Everything will work out," you tell him, repeating the phrase that he had told you many times over the last week or so. He nods again, still not looking at you. His face turns a little serious.

"I hope so," he says quietly, then almost to himself, "But I can't shake the feeling that things are just going to keep getting worse."

Strangely enough, he just voiced your own feelings. You've been having this ominous feeling ever since last night. The feeling that things aren't going to get better. But you're not about to tell him that. 

You reach up, gently taking his face in your hands, and turn his head until he's looking at you. His eyes meet yours and you can see the anxiety he's been feeling. It just now occurs to you that he probably felt anxious about the investigation all along, ever since you first told him about it, but he just didn't want you to worry. For someone who's usually so easy to read, he sure did a good job of hiding how nervous he was. You feel a little pang of guilt for not noticing sooner, but there's nothing you can do about it now. 

"Everything's going to be okay," you repeat firmly, but gently. His eyes soften a little at your words. You're sure he's still not completely convinced, but he seems to take comfort in your words, at least. 

His hand comes up to grasp one of yours, and you watch as he turns his head a little to place a soft kiss on your palm.

"Your hand--" he says, abruptly stopping before his lips touch your skin. You see his brows pull together worriedly as he looks at your palm. You wonder what he's looking at until you remember that you have some pretty bad scrapes on your hands from when he shoved you last night.

You quickly snatch your hand away, not wanting him to see the injuries. 

"It's nothing," you say with a small, reassuring smile, but he's not buying it. He frowns at you before grabbing your wrist, stretching out your fingers until he can see your palm again. Some of the skin around the wound is red and inflamed, and small scabs have already formed around the broken skin. 

"What happened?" he questions, his voice tight with worry. Then, as if he realizes the answer, he asks in a quieter voice, "Did.... did I do this?"

You're not sure what to say, so you remain painfully silent. You open your mouth in an effort to force words out, but nothing comes. Min-hyuk takes your silence as confirmation, and you hear him let out a small groan. He lets go of your wrist, bringing both hands up to cover his face. He just sits silently for a moment, and you're not sure what to do to comfort him.

"I... I'm so sorry, Y/N," he mutters, his voice muffled by his hands. "Sorry you had to see that yesterday. Sorry I hurt you.... Sorry for everything."

After a moment's silence, you take his hands, prying them away from his face.