Chapter Text
Darkness.
The same darkness that swallowed him two years ago was eating him now. He could clearly hear the laughs, the attacks, darker shadows looking at him in amusement how he was curled up in the floor, crying. He wished he could melt away, wished he could only disappear and leave behind everyone else.
"Concentrate on my voice, Ji."
The voice came from the darkness, Ji Yong was sure he knew that voice, it was familiar and the back of his mind was screaming him to move from the place and follow it.
"Everything is going to be fine."
This time, he managed to stand up, wondering how his legs were capable of supporting him "W-Who's there?" He asked, trying to ignore the shadows surrounding him.
When no one answered him, he started to give small steps to the way he thought the voice was coming, he didn't have a path to follow, he was barely able to see his own feet through the thick darkness around him. Who was the one talking to him? Why was he following it? "B-Bae?" The voice didn't sound like him but he couldn't think on anyone else and it was Youngbae who saved him from that nightmare before.
A flash of light startled him for a few seconds before he started to look for it, he looked around, desperately trying to find the source, finding it in front of him, just a couple of steps away from him. Ignoring the pain on his legs and the increasing laughs, he ran to it, stretching his hands towards it, wanting to escape this nightmare before it was too late for him.
Ji Yong's dark eyes fluttered open slowly. He felt his eyelids heavy while his arms seemed to be disconnected from his body; he tried to sit up but resigned when his head started to ache even more.
He was in his room, on his bed, he still had the clothes he remembered using before all the things went to hell, except for his shoes that were neatly placed at the bedside. How did he end up in there? Last thing he could recall was crying and making a mess on his own house, he remembered how he ended up with the bleeding wound on his hand but, who bandaged it?
He placed his healthy hand over his eyes, trying to remember all the blurry memories that were starting to appear. Someone arrived and called for him, that someone entered his house and noticed the mess he made, that someone tried to comfort him "Damn, who was it?" He whispered.
Being carefully and taking his time, he managed to push himself off the bed, enduring the blurriness and pain that shot from his head. Placing his feet on the floor, he sat in there for a couple of minutes before making his next movement, he felt like someone who just went out of surgery "Come on, come on..." He bit his lip while he stood up, praying for his legs to be able to hold him.
When he was sure he wasn't going to fall down, he started to give small steps towards the exit, he needed water, his throat was dry and it caused pain every time he wanted to swallow.
When he opened the door, he expected to find the same mess he made, chairs upside down, broken plates and vases and everything else he threw up, what he definitely didn't expect to find was everything on its place and someone sleeping on his sofa with his two dogs lying on him and of course, he never expected that the person was Choi Seunghyun.
He stumbled backwards, falling down with a startled cry that woke the one sleeping on the couch... Sending him to the floor.
"J-Ji! You're awake!" He managed to stand up, caressing the two dogs that were staring at him for sending them to the floor too.
"S-Seunghyun hyung?" He mumbled, looking at him from the floor.
The man walked to him and, carefully, helped him to stand up "Come here, you must be thirsty." He helped the stunned boy to the sofa and sat him there while he hurried to take a glass of water.
What was he doing there and why? It lacked of sense, Seunghyun was just working with him, he didn't need to be in here "W-What are you doing here?"
"Giving you water." He chuckled when he rolled his eyes.
"I mean, here, you should be working, hyung." He took the water and finished it quickly, thanking him with a small nod.
"I don't, actually, I finished my last song and the only thing I need to do for now is the project between you and me." He smiled, sitting down next to him.
Ji Yong felt his heart tightening on his chest, the way Seunghyun was looking at him felt so... good, his eyes seemed to be looking at someone precious, like if he felt something for him. He didn't understand the real feeling but it was breath-taking.
"What time is it?" He asked, looking away from him.
"It's eight o'clock."
"WHAT?!" He screamed, he slept for a whole day? "Oh God, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He stood up, bowing ninety degrees in front of him.
"Hey, hey, sorry for what?" He tried to push him up but Ji Yong wasn't moving.
"I'm pathetic, I'm 21 years old and I can't even get over what happened years ago. I forced you to stay in here." He said, feeling tears falling from his eyes.
"No one forced me to anything, I came here and stayed because I wanted" He sighed "And you're not, Ji Yong, it’s okay to feel bad, what they did to you was the worse. You have the right to feel that way."
Was he hearing right? He never imagined someone could ever tell something like that to him, Youngbae always supported him but he was used to his words, hearing that from the one he liked was completely different.
Can I trust him?
I think the answer is obvious.
But ,what if he betrays me?
He doesn't seem like that and in the case he do, you'll get over it.
"Youngbae came and said he wanted you to take care and don't hear those bunch of bullshit."
A sudden panic washed over him; did he tell him he was gay? He was sure Seunghyun wasn't gay like him, the last he wanted was him freaking out and abandoning him for this.
"Can't believe a person is capable of doing that for money."
Thank you, Bae.
"Yeah, me neither but… I don't want to talk about it." He muttered.
"Sure, fool of me!" He sighed "Come on, get ready, I'm taking you to the doctor."
"Doctor? Wha? Why?" He was starting to feel better and now he wanted to take him out.
"Your hand need stitches" He pointed at it.
"I'll be fine; I don't want to go out..." The last he wanted to do is have contact with the world that was currently making him suffer, he wanted to be in his house with his pets and Seunghyun, if it was possible.
"You need to, that bandage was white."
Ji Yong looked at the floor, he knew Seunghyun was stubborn, more than him, and seemed like no matter what he was going to the doctor, it wasn't even a question now that he thought about it.
The older kept looking at the boy, his body seemed smaller, the stains from his tears were present on his cheeks and eyes, his nose was slightly red and his hands were shaking, maybe it wasn't the best to take him out "Wait in here, I'll be back." He sighed, grabbing his keys and leaving the house.
Ji Yong panicked, his brain just started to scream that he was leaving, that he was going to be alone in his house once again, his lovely brain didn't acknowledge the words said by the rapper, it only entered in panic, dragging Ji Yong with him. He raised his head, seeing the door closing behind the other.
He felt his house empty while the loneliness feeling he hated came back, it lacked of sense, he knew, he was asleep almost all the time that Seunghyun stayed in his house but still, having him around changed the atmosphere "Don't be stupid..." He whispered to himself, he needed to get used to be alone; the work with Seunghyun wasn't going to last forever.
He exhaled loudly and was about to take a shower when his phone vibrated, surprising him and almost knocking him from the sofa, juggling with his phone, he looked at the screen, realizing he had two unread messages.
From: Bae.
Ji, hope you're feeling better, I'll visit you soon.
Know I understand why you like TOP.
From SeungRi:
GD hyung! It's me, SeungRi and Dae hyung too, we hope you're feeling better and we wanted to invite you to hang out for a while when you're better, I think I'm doing good and I want to celebrate! Although YG scolded me the other day for not training more...
Please let us know! ^^
He smiled, it was the first time someone sent him a message like that. He wanted to punch Youngbae for saying those things and laugh at SeungRi's words.
To: Bae.
At least I'm not at the bottom of the pit... Thank you for passing by, sorry I was asleep.
Shut up!
To: SeungRi.
Thank you, I really appreciate your concern. You should do what YG says to avoid his scolds; he doesn't like us to fool around while we have work, especially with beginners like you.
I would like to accept your invitation, thank you.
He hesitated before pressing the send button. When he read the news he thought they were right, that the others weren't paying attention to him but it was until he read the messages and found Seunghyun sleeping on his sofa that he understood that, only this time, what they said wasn't true.
Daesung, Seunghyun and SeungRi weren't acting like all the people he met before, now he was sure of it. Maybe they were the kind of person you can trust right away, but he was going to take his time to be sure of not committing silly mistakes.
"Good! You stayed in there." And again, he almost felt down from the sofa when the door opened and someone entered.
Placing his healthy hand on his chest, he looked at Seunghyun who smiled at him, following him was a middle aged man that looked, and surely was, a doctor.
"He's doctor Park, he'll cure you" He started, Ji Yong opened his mouth to say something when he cut him off "And before you say you don't want to have fans outside your house because he's going to reveal your address, don't worry, he's my doctor and I trust him."
"I-I wasn't going to say anything related to that..." No, he was astonished that Seunghyun brought a doctor for him "Y-You didn't need to bring him here, I-I was going to the doctor tomorrow."
"If you excuse me, Mr. Kwon, I can see from here that your wound is delicate, if you don't treat it correctly it can end up infected." The man said.
"Ah, r-really?" His manager was going to kill him if something like that happened "Okay then, sorry for disturbing..." He extended his hand to him, bowing his head down.
The doctor smiled affectionately and sat in front of him. Carefully, he unwrapped the soaked bandage from his hand "Yes, it's deep, you'll definitely gonna need stitches" He sighed.
Ji Yong whimpered when the doctor started to disinfect his wound, using a gauze and alcohol, his body had a very small resistance against pain; he wasn't able to handle it properly.
Seunghyun kept looking at the boy while the other worked, he could clearly see the smaller was fighting the urge to kick the doctor, he could understand him somehow, since he was a kid he hated doctors and hospitals because most of his childhood consisted in being there but now, he didn't care anymore. He was used to endure all those pains.
"Ah, stop, please!" GD couldn't stop himself from yelling when the needle from the anaesthesia pierced his skin, trying to retrieve his hand from his grasp.
"I'm sorry, I promise this won't be long. When the anaesthesia acts, you won't feel the needle for the stitches." He reassured him, holding his hand and injecting another in other part.
After a couple of minutes more, Ji Yong's wound was sewed close with three points. The doctor gave him medicine that he was going to need and indicated how he needed to take care of it. Ji Yong's tried to pay for his treatment but the man said it was already paid by the other, after he left, Ji Yong turned to glare at Seunghyun.
"You didn't need to pay, hyung!" He said, looking in shame at his hand "It was my fault I have to go through this."
"Stop whining, Ji, what is done is done" He chuckled at his expression "You feel better?"
"Y-Yeah... Thank you, hyung."
Things seemed to slow down when Seunghyun looked at him, he had the feeling that nothing mattered anymore, he just wanted to be there, with him.
"I'll go see my manager, call me if you need anything." He smiled, placing his hand on his shoulder.
"Oh, yeah, sorry for taking your time and thank you again for what you did..." But he knew it had to end, also, he was going to be lucky if Seunghyun accepted to be his friend, nothing else.
"Promise me you're not going to think the way you were thinking before again" He looked at him in the eyes.
"I, uh, yeah... I won't."
He was being sincere, now he was sure that the three of them were his friends, this time, he was lucky for the first time since he met Youngbae.