Hyunjin pried his eyes open to the sound of gravel crunching outside his house.
Felix lifted his head from Hyunjin's lap.
"Binnie?" He asked, desperation and hope leaking through his words.
"Wait here, Baby," Hyunjin patted Felix's head and stood up.
He opened the door right as Changbin ran up the steps.
"Hey, Bin." Changbin didn't respond, he just pushed Hyunjin to the side and ran into the house.
"FELIX? WHERE ARE YOU?"
"Changbin, shut up! My mom's sleeping!" Hyunjin whispered through his teeth as he grabbed Changbin's hand.
"Does it look like I care? Where is he?" Changbin shook Hyunjin off of him and stormed further into the house.
"Lixie! Oh my gosh! I was so scared! Are you okay? What happened?" Hyunjin walked in to Changbin by Felix's side, trailing his eyes over his body and touching his face lightly in concern.
Felix's eyes began to water, and he nuzzled his face into Changbin's neck, letting out a painful sob.
"Lixie?" Changbin ran his hand down Felix's back, trying to comfort the younger boy.
The touch elicited a string of curses, Felix's shoulders involuntarily caving in as his legs tucked themselves up to his chest and his hands held tightly to the back of Changbin's shirt.
Changbin's face was grave.
"We're going to the hospital."
"What? Binnie, no! You know I can't go there!" Felix looked into Changbin's eyes, tears streaming down his face.
"You have cracked ribs! You can't just stay here! Who knows what else that demon did to you!" Changbin stopped talking with Felix enough to look at Hyunjin, "you got any blankets?"
Hyunjin stood in a daze, shock visible in his eyes.
"Hello? Hyunjin? Blankets? Now?" Hyunjin snapped out of his trance.
"Binnie, please!" Felix tugged on Changbin's shirt, hiccuping through his words.
"No, we're getting that x-ray no matter what. Now give me those." Hyunjin tossed him a few blankets. Changbin picked one up and gave Felix a meaningful look before wrapping him like a burrito.
"Get off of me! What do you think you're doing!"
"Keeping you safe! Now stay still!" Changbin retorted, physically fighting Felix's wildly flailing arms.
"No! Stop making me do things! It's really not that big a deal! I'll heal! I always do!" Felix yelled, still trying to break free. Changbin shook his head.
"Sorry, Lix. Not this time." Changbin made a sharp movement and caught Felix's arms in a blanket, wrapping him like it was a straitjacket.
"Changbin!"
"Felix, shut up, will you? I'm trying to help you."
"No, you're not! You're making it worse!" Felix wiggled around like a worm, his elbows pushing out on the blankets surrounding him.
"If you're worried about your dad finding out, then don't." Changbin's voice had descended to a normal volume and he barely paid attention to Felix's words in favor of making sure he was safely swaddled.
"What do you mean don't? He could literally kill me!"
"He won't find out. I've got it covered."
"Yeah, right! What about a guardian? They're not just gonna not contact my parents!"
"Lix, calm down! I know what I'm doing!"
"You sure? 'Cause this is kind of a matter of life and death!" Changbin cupped Felix's face and leaned in close.
"I'm sure. Okay?" Felix's heaving chest gradually calmed down, and he nodded his head, "good. Now can we go?"
"Okay." Felix said weakly.
"Thank you, Baby," Changbin kissed Felix's forehead.
Changbin tucked in the ends of the last blanket and picked Felix up bridal style. Felix whimpered, but the padding from the blankets seemed to lessen the pain of being moved.
"Let's get to the car."
"What is going on here?" The boys froze at the sound of a woman's voice.
Hyunjin sighed dramatically.
"Changbin, I told you to be quiet!"
"Why is this my fault? We need to go!" Changbin shuffled to the door, putting a knee under Felix as he attempted to open the door by himself.
"Oh, dang. Yeah, you're right." Hyunjin ran to the door and opened it for the two.
"And where are you going at 3:30 am?"
"Sorry, Mom! No time to talk! I'll see you in a bit!" Hyunjin waved and ran out of the house, slamming the door shut. He could distinctly hear his name being called through the door, but he didn't turn back.
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The drive to the hospital was tense, and Changbin tapping on the edge of the window was not helping.
Hyunjin ran a hand through his hair, trying to hold it in place despite the windows being down.
Changbin sighed and turned on the radio. Some random pop station was on, but not for long. Changbin scrolled through the stations before landing on some rock-and-roll. He smiled a bit and turned it up.
Hyunjin grimaced at the volume, but didn't say anything. At least it blocked the tapping sound.
Hyunjin looked back at Felix to see him lying on his side, a blank, resigned, expression on his face. He met Hyunjin's eyes and smiled lightly.
When he had laid Felix down, Changbin had looked very conflicted about whether or not to put a seatbelt on him. He ended up leaving the boy to curl up in as comfortable a position as possible. Hyunjin wished he had forced him into a seatbelt though because as nervous as Changbin was, he wouldn't be surprised if they wrecked out of nowhere.
Hyunjin looked back outside at the passing streetlights and brightly illuminated gas stations. The smell of damp oil floated into the car, making Hyunjin scrunch up his nose.
"Sorry, no AC, or I'd have the windows up." Changbin yelled over the music.
"No, it's fine." Hyunjin tried to breathe through his mouth, but somehow the oil smell was strong enough for him to taste it. He aggressively ran his tongue on the top of his mouth and resorted to resting his head on his hand so that his fingers sort of blocked his nose.
They stopped at a red light and Changbin glanced back at Felix, who now had sweat on his hairline and was struggling with the blankets.
"Just a bit longer. Okay, Baby?" Felix meekly nodded and stopped moving.
Green tinted the car and Changbin put his eyes back on the road, stepping on the gas harshly. Hyunjin flew back and gripped the small pocket in the door. He stayed that way until bright lights illuminated the street, and he could see the hospital looming ahead. A sigh escaped his lips.
"Finally," Hyunjin whispered to himself.
Changbin whipped his car to the right just as the light in front of them turned red. Hyunjin flung to the side and quickly reattached himself to the door as Changbin navigated his way to the emergency area.
They reached their destination, Changbin barely putting the car in park before rushing around to the back door. Hyunjin exited after him, offering to help, but instead was hit with the car keys.
"I'm gonna take him in, go park the car, please." Hyunjin nodded and climbed into the driver's seat, hoping Changbin couldn't see his fear.
He didn't have his driver's license yet.
Hyunjin twisted in the seat and watched Changbin grab Felix, pulling him out sideways so he wouldn't hit anything. He shuffled quickly to the emergency room door, leaving Hyunjin with the car.
When they were out of sight, Hyunjin stared dumbfounded at the mechanical things in front of him. He pulled a few things before the car started to roll. He gripped the wheel tight, trying out the pedals. One made him stop, but the other accelerated him way faster than he wanted to go. His shoulders tensed as he hit the brake repeatedly.
"Stop, stop, stop! Oh my gosh!" The car came to a stop and Hyunjin took a few deep breaths, "okay, you didn't die. You can do this!"
Once he calmed down, he sped up again. In reality, the car barely moved, with Hyunjin hyperfocusing on staying in his lane. He was so focused that he almost missed the turn into the parking lot, and slammed on the brakes just in time.
He pulled into a parking space and turned off the car, murmuring congratulations to himself. He patted the dashboard as a silent thank you to the car and took one last deep breath before opening the door.
Hyunjin ran to the entrance of the hospital. The doors slid open, the lights blinding in the mostly white interior. Hyunjin scanned the area and spotted Changbin in the waiting room.
"Where's Felix?"
"They took him back."
"Already?" Hyunjin sat beside Changbin.
"I convinced them."
"Mm, good."
Hyunjin flinched at Changbin letting out a shaky sigh. He looked over to see Changbin's head resting on the wall behind them, tears at the bottom of his eyes. Hyunjin took his hand and squeezed it.
"It's okay, Bin. He's gonna be fine." Changbin tilted his head and gave a tight-lipped smile that made a few tears spill down his cheeks.
"I hope so, Jinjin," he said, crashing his head down on Hyunjin's shoulder.
A wet shoulder later, a nurse came out of a door calling for Felix's guardian. Changbin shot up and pulled Hyunjin with him, asking the nurse constant questions on the way to Felix's room. When they got there, the nurse pushed the door and gestured for them to enter. Changbin gulped and gripped Hyunjin's hand tighter.
Felix looked up from the bed, properly bandaged and seemingly calm. Changbin broke away from Hyunjin and ran to the edge of the bed.
"Hey, Baby. How are you feeling?" Felix giggled.
"I'm fine, Binnie. Did you cry for me?" he reached up and patted Changbin's cheeks, "you're so cute!"
"Stop it~ I was worried!" Changbin held Felix's hands to his cheeks and squeezed them.
"Well I'm fine now, okay? I think I have to stay here tonight though."
"That bad huh? Well, I guess I'm staying with you then."
"What? You can't do that! You've got Mi-blurgheosnd!" Changbin covered Felix's mouth and sent Hyunjin an awkward smile.
"I'm staying." Felix didn't look convinced, but let him have his way.
Hyunjin took this chance to walk up to the bed.
"Hey, Lix."
"Hey, Jinnie."
They shared a look of longing before breaking in sweet smiles. Hyunjin got down on his knees and held Felix's hand, kissing the individual fingers.
"You gotta get better for me, okay?" Felix grinned and nodded, "good."
Hyunjin paused as the nurse came back in.
"It's time to get him to his room for the night." Changbin gave Felix one last sign of affection and left the room, but Felix held Hyunjin back.
"Make sure he goes home, okay? I know he hasn't slept yet, and Minsoo's gonna be worried."
"I will, don't worry," Hyunjin squeezed Felix's shoulder, "see you in a bit."
Felix gave him one last smile, and Hyunjin left the room.
As soon as Hyunjin got to the waiting room, Changbin ran and collapsed onto Hyunjin, holding him tight.
"Jinjin, what do I do?"
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These teaser pictures are killing me!