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There's an itch on the right side of his neck, probably a mosquito or a rash from the new bed covers he got delivered last week. Cotton always makes his skin feel a little more sensitive the few first days after it's washed. Chanyeol refrains himself from scratching, being sure that that particular patch of skin is now red and sore.
It's that time of the month when their dinner table is filled with scattered envelopes holding bill after bill, ready for revision. A task that Chanyeol had insisted on taking himself instead of paying for an accountant, which on his own words, was absolutely unnecessary. That, and because after coming back from the army, he would need something to do or he would go insane.
Chanyeol had been honorably discharged after he found himself very near the range of explosion of a grenade from the enemy side; splinters of metal had pierced his skin, cutting through nerves and veins, causing loss of blood and partial immobility. He could have lost his leg, if it wasn't for the immediate attention he received. After months in the hospital, doctors finally gave him a sense of hope, assuring him that with the proper rehabilitation, he could recover around the 85% percent of mobility and sensitivity on his limb, which was still better than nothing, even if that meant that he could never go back to the army again. It still hurt sometimes, a numbness spreading from his gluteus down to his calf that only disappears after some exercising and a delicious massage from his insistent husband, not that he minded, though.
He had technically became a housewife , by staying home while Baekhyun was out working; helping their housekeeper manage the enormous house ㅡwhich Chanyeol honestly thought of it to be a little bit too much for four peopleㅡ, managing their bills and taking care of their daughter, who had finally come home barely two months ago after a very long, very tedious and very emotionally exhausting adoption process. Jiein is a blessing in many aspects and leaving her alone when she needed them the most was something they were not going to do. He could still see the reluctance on Baekhyun's face every time he had to travel out of the country for business and Chanyeol, not wanting him to miss on anything, would send picture after picture and video after video of every new thing their daughter would achieve.
Park Jiein, found at the tender age of three months by the authorities in the apartment where she used to live with her mother, after the neighbours heard the incessant, shrilling cries of a baby for days . The child was malnourished and neglected, showing signs of abuse; fortunately, the mother and the man that the neighbours couldn't identify but assured the police used to come and go, left before ㅡor whatever ㅡ they could do something worse to an innocent child. It had been love at first sight, when Baekhyun and Chanyeol saw her sleeping on her crib in the shelter for abandoned children; they decided she would be their daughter, their little baby girl they swore to love and protect from the world.
After deciding it was safer for the baby to take Chanyeol's last name, Jiein was officially theirs. Baekhyun didn't want to drag unnecessary attention to his daughter, with his job having him constantly in the eyes of hackers, thieves and scammers, sometimes even mafias, it was the best option. Jiein remained hidden from the world, it wasn't the ideal life for a child, Baekhyun knew, but he couldn't take any risks. Not with his family.
Despite that, Chanyeol isn't going to deny how happy they are. Jiein is safe with them and Baekhyun… well, Baekhyun had people with him 24/7 to watch his back; Chanyeol had learnt the hard way that worrying over his husband couldn't bring anything good. It was stressful and tiring. There were fights, horrible fights that ended up with them not talking to each other for days ; Chanyeol knew that that wasn't what he wanted for their marriage and Baekhyun wasn't going to just abandon something he had built from nothing, making it grow at the expenses of his own sweat, blood ㅡquite literallyㅡ and tears. Chanyeol wouldn't even ask for it.
The sound of Jiein's crying pulled him out of his dazed. He had lost track of the operations he was making and about what was the bill he had in his hands. Chanyeol blinked, leaving the sheet of paper down the table and getting up to tend to his daughter's need. It was late at night, so Mrs. Kim had long gone to bed. He rushed to Jiein's bedroom to find her sitting in her crib, crying her eyes out. It never failed to break Chanyeol's heart; he hated it terribly, when she cried.
"Jiein-ah. Baby." Chanyeol calls for her softly. The little two year old looks up at him, chubby cheeks soaked in tears and face as red as a cherry. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm here, daddy is here." Chanyeol keeps talking slowly, trying to convey safety into his words for his girl to feel it. He picks her up, holding her close to his chest. "It's fine. You're fine." Chanyeol rocks her from side to side.
After ten minutes of shushing and soothing, Chanyeol finally manages to calm his daughter down. Jiein rests her head on his shoulder, softly snoring and drooling over his shirt; Chanyeol smiles, he wouldn't mind being drench in baby's drool as long as he gets to have this: the warmth of his baby pressed against his body, her soft and calmed breathing and her tiny hand fisting his shirt in her dreams. How he wishes Baekhyun could be here to witness this magnificent moment.
Chanyeol faintly registers the shrilling noise of the landline ringing. He frowns, the phone number of this house is something they guard fiercely, no one outside the house knows it, with the exception of Baekhyun's parents and Chanyeol's father, so it is strange, for the phone to be ringing this late at night. He carefully puts Jiein back in her crib and silently leaves the room, but by the time he returns downstairs, the phone has stopped ringing. Chanyeol frowns, but decides to not dwell on it too much as he sits back on the table to continue with his task. His phone lights up a moment later with an incoming call from Baekhyun's bodyguard. His heart leaps through his throat.
"Sang." Chanyeol answers the phone, his voice shakes and so do his hands. The voice of the man on the other side of the phone is barely understandable, he sounds like he has been through hell and back, tired, scared and worried. "What happened?" Chanyeol asks, because there's no other reason he would be calling him.
" I'm sorry, Mr. Park. No one saw it coming. "
" What happened?" Chanyeol repeats through gritted teeth.
" Mr. Byun has been shot. " Sang says, quietly. Chanyeol breathes sharply through his nose, hand tightening around his phone; he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath this time, there's no point on venting out his anger to the bodyguard even though Chanyeol wants to scream and yell at him. Protecting Baekhyun is his only job.
"Where is he now?" He fiddles with the pencil, thumb aggressively rubbing over the wood.
" He's… he's in surgery. Iㅡ the bullet pierced one side of his stomach. "
Chanyeol nods even though he knows no one can see him. "I'll make the necessary calls for him to be transferred back to Seoul as soon as possible. Do not move from there and call me back when you have news."
" Yes, sir. " Sang says and with that, he hangs up.
Once the call goes dead, Chanyeol slumps on the chair and cries. He cries out of frustration for not being able to do anything more than sit there and make a few calls, for not being able to protect Baekhyun himself and because he's scared. Scared that something could happen to his husband while he's miles away.
Three days later, Baekhyun is brought back to Seoul and admitted to a private hospital. Security guard the room and the hospital grounds as well, no one can ever be so careful. No one is allowed inside Baekhyun's room aside from Chanyeol, the doctor in charge and two nurses, having to identify themselves before going in.
Baekhyun has been waking up in short intervals due to the pain medication he's under, getting glimpses of his husband sitting on the couch near the wall opposite to the bed, sometimes with their daughter in his arms, sometimes alone. Baekhyun wants to talk to him, hear his voice, make sure they are okay, but his eyes feel heavy, his mouth dry and spongy like a cotton ball and his body hurts; his head is a little dizzy too, it must be an effect from the medication as well.
Slowly, flashes of what had happened come back to him: they were coming out of a restaurant, just finished a business lunch with a potential partner. His security team was, as always, surrounding him tightly, shielding him from people's view and any possible threat. It was a minute, a single minute that one of his bodyguards broke the line to open the car door for him when it happened, the sharp pain of something sinking in his stomach, there wasn't even a sound nor anything suspicious; but the pain was there and the hand he had pressed against his side felt wet and hot. He was slowly losing consciousness, Baekhyun remembers his bloody hand being the last thing he saw before passing out and waking up in a hospital room.
"Don't move." Chanyeol's soft voice tells him when he finally manages to keep his eyes open. Baekhyun looks at his husband with narrowed eyes, the room is too bright for his foggy brain. He stops any attempt he had at moving.
"How are you feeling?" Chanyeol's hand moves to wrap around his.
"It hurts and I'm dizzy." Baekhyun surprises himself at how hoarse his voice sounds.
"Do you want me to call a nurse?"
Baekhyun shakes his head. "I can take it. Stay."
With a sigh, Chanyeol sits back and pulls the chair closer to the bed.
"Baekㅡ"
"I'm sorry. I'm worrying you again."
"I am worried, but it's fine. You're fine."
"Jiein?"
"Snowflake House, with your mom and Mrs. Kim." Chanyeol says with a hushed tone. Baekhyun nods. "Sang told me what happened. A sniper? Really? They're outdoing themselves, huh?"
"The client I met with that day. A japanese mafia boss from Tokyo." Chanyeol opens his mouth to protest and scold him, but Baekhyun beats him to it. "I didn't know, I swear. The bullet was meant for him. They said they were going to take care of the issue in my behalf."
"In exchange of what?" Chanyeol frowns. During his service, he had seen himself involved in several crossfires with mafia gangs, he knew how they worked.
"Work for them."
"Baekhyun!" Chanyeol almost jumps out of his chair. Baekhyun tightens his grip around his hand to stop him.
"Two years." Baekhyun says, his face twisting in slight pain. "We signed a contract for two years. One year and a half to develop the software and six months of trial. If everything works, they'll never contact me or the company again and erase all traces of me working for them."
"How can you be so sure that they'll stick to their word?"
"I'm not, but do I have other option?"
"Fine." Chanyeol sighs. "Let's not talk about that anymore. Jiein wanted to see you awake."
"Not yet." Baekhyun says as he shakes his head. Chanyeol nods in understanding.
"I… also wanted to talk to you about something else."
The door opens then and one of the nurses walks in with a tray of syringes for another dose of painkillers and antibiotics. She moves fast, sensing the tension in the room due to her interrupting and in less than ten minutes she's gone again.
"What is it?" Baekhyun asks as soon as the door closes behind her.
"I want to be part of your security team."
"Yeolㅡ"
"I can't just sit at home anymore, knowing that I can do something to protect you out there." Chanyeol's tone is insistent.
"We've talked about this." Baekhyun sighs, frustrated. "I don't wanna fight."
"We don't have to. You just have to say yes."
"Chanㅡ"
"I'm a soldier, I have military training, Baek. You know what that entails. I am perfectly capable ofㅡ"
"I don't doubt of your capabilities." Baekhyun interrupts. "I know you can do an excellent job but… your leg…"
"My leg is fine. It won't kill me."
"What about when I have to fly out of the country or to another city? I don't want to leave Jiein without the two of us for such long periods of time, Yeol, you know we can't. No right now."
Chanyeol nods, he had thought about that before. "Okay, how about this: I'll be in charge of your security here in Seoul and out when we know the trip won't take more than five days."
Baekhyun remains silent for a moment, the painkillers are starting to kick in. "You won't desist, will you?"
"You know me."
Baekhyun lets out a silent sigh. "Fine. Let's clear the details once I'm out of the hospital."
"Okay." Chanyeol nods. "Rest now." He kisses Baekhyun's forehead and sits back, allowing him to fall asleep.
He won't desist, not this time.