Chapter Text
It was romantic until Juyeon passed out in Chanhee’s arms. In his panic, Chanhee dropped Juyeon and called for Changmin, almost crying in alarm because what if he’s dead, Minnie? What will I do? Changmin had to call for Jacob to affirm that Juyeon was indeed, still breathing, and Chanhee was just being paranoid.
“So… is everything okay now?” Hyunjae asked them, joining the little gathering by the stairs. “Kevin’s making waffles in the kitchens, by the way. He asked if you guys want some so he can make more. He makes really nice waffles… what happened to Juyeon?”
“I kissed him and he passed out!” Chanhee was still high-key very worried, caressing Juyeon’s face gently like he was made of glass and would shatter and break at the slightest mistake in touch.
“Your idiotic friend ran around the mansion looking for you and Kevin after he jumped out of the second floor.” Changmin summarized, still bitter that he wasn’t going to kill Juyeon after all that time and effort. “He must have had a serious arm injury before.”
“Oh yeah, he fell from six floors and landed on a cushion two weeks ago when we stole from the Han family.” Hyunjae recalled, nonchalant and completely oblivious to the growing anxiety emanating from Chanhee. “Kevin told him to go to the doctor, but Juyeon hates hospitals, so he suffered in silence.”
Chanhee felt his bottom lip quiver as more tears spilled out. “Juyeon, you idiot.”
“He’ll be fine. I’ll give him some painkillers when he wakes up.” Jacob tried to calm Chanhee down. “His arm is just dislocated, Hee. We can just pop it back on. Changmin-ah, Hyunjae-ah, please help carry Juyeon to a room, preferably one without windows.”
“The only room we have that doesn’t have windows is the basement…” Changmin trailed off, looking at Hyunjae nervously. “…where we do… mafia stuff.”
“You mean, torture?” Hyunjae looked nonplussed. “We’ve all had our share of torture chambers, it’s normal at this point in the job. Anyway, I don’t think Juyeon’s going to appreciate waking up in a dark room, so maybe just put him back in the original room? I’m sure he’s not stupid enough to try and jump out again.”
“You have too much faith in your friend.” Changmin replied dryly.
“It’s what best friends are for.”
They carried Juyeon upstairs again, taking extra care not to dislodge the dislocated arm any more than it already was. Chanhee was beside himself with worry the entire time, asking Jacob all about dislocated limbs and their possible side effects, scared that he might lose Juyeon to an infection or something.
“Jesus Christ, Chanhee!” Changmin has had enough, apparently not having the same patience as Jacob has. “Look at your man! He’s already waking up! Stop being so paranoid!”
True enough, Juyeon was indeed waking up. His eyebrows scrunched from the pain of his dislodged arm, but his eyelids fluttered until they opened and focused on Chanhee. His eyes turned from confusion to panic, then to defeat as he realized Hyunjae had sided with his enemy.
“Hyunjae-hyung… why?”
“Maybe if you’d stop running away, you’ll find out.” Hyunjae rolled his eyes. “We were in the kitchen, Ju. Kevin’s making waffles for everyone.”
“But—”
“No buts. Listen to Chanhee explain.” Hyunjae scolded. “You jumped off the second floor!”
Juyeon winced at the pain the memory of his actions brought. “I panicked!”
“Maybe we should leave them now.” Jacob gently pulled Hyunjae and a seething Changmin towards the door with him. “I’ll make sure they won’t eavesdrop, Chanhee-yah! Be as comfortable as you want. Juyeon-ah, please listen well, or else I won’t give you painkillers for your arm.”
“What?” Chanhee was the one who jumped at the threat. “No, hyung! Don’t do that to him! Where are the painkillers?”
Jacob peeked his head in through the door, only to show his tongue before laughing and closing it, leaving a distressed Chanhee and an in-pain Juyeon alone. Chanhee began asking him if he’s okay, how he’s feeling, if it hurts, and Juyeon could only nod in pain.
Chanhee suddenly burst out crying. “This is my fault! I should have just talked to you at the airport instead of elaborately surprising you! I just was embarrassed because I dressed up as a flight attendant, but you didn’t even seem to notice! I’m so sorry, Juyeon!”
Chanhee… was dressed as a flight attendant?
The little sane part of Juyeon’s brain, the part that isn’t affected by the pain from his arm, would have cooed and praised the other man, since Juyeon knew Chanhee always wanted to be a flight attendant. He was also regretting not being able to see it, since he felt like he might actually die from the pain in his arm.
“Chanhee…”
“Ju? Yes, yes, I’m here.”
“I think I’m dying.”
That sent Chanhee into louder weeping, holding Juyeon’s hand as gently as he could even if it was the wrong arm that got dislocated. He started babbling more than talking, sobbing into Juyeon’s good shoulder and wetting the fabric of both their t-shirts.
“Chanhee, I can’t say I love you yet.” Juyeon breathed out, starting to black out from the pain again. “But if I was given more time to know you, to cherish you, I think I’d have fallen in love with you. Please remember that, Chanhee. You’re the closest I’ve ever had to love.”
“Oh, Juyeon. With the limited time I’ve known you, I’m sure I’m in love with you already.” Chanhee hiccuped, kissing Juyeon’s cheek with all the tenderness he could muster. “I’m so in love with you, it hurts, Lee Juyeon. Please live, please live for us. Please give us a chance.”
“They’re so dramatic.” Changmin muttered, listening at the door and pouting.
Hyunjae shushed him before turning to Jacob. “I think we need to give Juyeon some medicine now, Jacob.”
“They’ll figure it out.” Jacob dismissed. “Now, you said Kevin was making waffles?”
Chanhee then gasped when Juyeon went limp, having blacked out due to the pain again. He was almost about to cry again when something caught his eye in the corner. A small, unlabeled box that looked suspiciously like the first aid kit Jacob had been carrying the entire morning, was on the nightstand.
He crawled over to it, desperate and hoping it was what he thought it really was, and yanked the box open. There, written in Jacob’s pretty cursive writing, was ‘acetylsalicylic acid, acetaminophen, and caffeine’, along with the appropriate milligram dose beside it.
Chanhee had no idea what those words meant, but he figured those sounded medical enough to be painkillers or something. At that point, he was just desperate to do anything to save Juyeon, who, in Chanhee’s tear-boggled mind, was dying.
Besides, wasn’t caffeine supposed to wake someone up? That will work on Juyeon, right?
Another thing was that the medicine seemed like it needed to be injected, what with the injection Jacob had placed in the medicine box as well. Chanhee searched through the entire kit for a needle, because he was just so sure the injection needed a needle first before being used, but there was none.
His panic started to come back, feeling so bad because all Juyeon needed to survive was in his hands but he couldn’t administer it because Chanhee didn’t know what to do. In a desperate move, Chanhee mixed up all the medicines and used the syringe to take it all up, emptying the contents into Juyeon’s mouth.
Juyeon immediately started coughing, coming awake at the sudden bitterness at his tongue. He doubled over, trying to retch out the medicine, but to no use as he had already swallowed most of it.
“Juyeon!” Chanhee screamed, elated and a little confused that his desperate acts worked. “Are you okay?”
“What the fuck was that?” Juyeon complained.
“I don’t know, but it seemed to have helped.” Chanhee felt like crying again when Juyeon looked at him with gratitude and a little of something else. “Juyeon, I’m bringing you to the hospital. We need to have your arm looked at. Af… After that, you’re free to go and do whatever you want.”
Juyeon looked confused at the sudden declaration. “What?”
“I’m not going to keep you here against your will, Juyeon.” Chanhee explained, tearing up again. “I’ll only stay with you until you get treated, but after that… you’re free to go. I won’t brainwash you. Y-You can go.”
Juyeon stared at Chanhee in disbelief. Was that really happening?
“Hee.” Juyeon moved to sit, using his good arm to hold Chanhee’s chin and make him look at Juyeon. “Hee, I just confessed to you. I can’t leave you now. Sure, I don’t know you all that well yet, but… but I really want to. Please, give me the chance to get to know you, Choi Chanhee.”
Chanhee started crying harder. “If you’re only doing that out of pity, just leave.”
“No, no.” Juyeon suddenly leaned in to kiss him; a sweet, innocent peck that Chanhee chased after. “No, Chanhee. I’m staying.”
“You are?” Chanhee brightened up, unable to see clearly through tear-stained eyes.
Juyeon nodded, smiling. He leaned in for another kiss, but Chanhee stopped him, wiping his own tears away first before smiling back shyly at Juyeon.
“Will you accept this, then? As a token of our relationship?”
Juyeon blinked, opening the black velvet box presented to him.
Staring at him was the CTF Pink Diamond.
“It only seems fitting.” Chanhee explained.
“Screw that.” Juyeon whispered, throwing the box aside. “You’re the only jewel I want.”