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When Jaehyun woke up today, the last thing he would have expected was to be in an emergency room with a broken wrist. He twists the offending body part and lets out a hiss of pain. He was supposed to be painting a commission for a charity gala, not sitting and being possibly unable to work for who knows how long.
“You know.” A feminine voice interrupts his thoughts from the doorway. “It’s probably not the best idea to move your injured wrist. Just a thought.”
The doctor makes her way to the computer, logging in before turning to him. Jaehyun feels heat rise up his neck and travel to his ears.
He clears his throat. “Right.”
The doctor laughs. “I’m Dr. Jones, I’ll be taking care of you today.”
“Nice to meet you.” Jaehyun says weakly, still somewhat embarrassed at being confronted with his own denseness.
“I’ve taken a look at your X-rays, and unfortunately, you do have a fractured wrist, but there is some good news. It’s a non-displaced fracture so you won’t have to have any surgery.”
Jaehyun breathes out, more than relieved when he hears there will be no need to cut him open.
“You will have to wear a cast for approximately eight to ten weeks. You will also have to continue coming to regular check-ups every two weeks so we can monitor your wrist closely with X-rays. After eight to ten weeks, we can take your cast off and you should be able to return to normal activities.”
“That was a lot of information I just gave you. Do you have any questions or concerns so far?” Dr. Jones pauses.
“Um. Nothing so far.” Jaehyun says lamely. He’s not exactly jumping for joy knowing he’ll be wearing a cast for two months, but he’s also aware it could be much worse.
“Great. Feel free to stop me anytime if something comes up.” Dr. Jones adds.
Jaehyun nods slightly to let the doctor know she can continue.
“I’d also like you to see a physiotherapist after the cast is removed.”
“A physiotherapist?” Jaehyun questions.
He had been assuming regular check-ups and resting would be enough to get him back to perfect health. During high school, when Jaehyun was obsessed with playing every sport imaginable to man, he experienced his fair share of injuries. Only the worst of the worst required him to see a physical therapist. Jaehyun glances down at his now cast-covered wrist. He highly doubts that a physiotherapist was required just for a fractured wrist.
“I can see that you’re hesitant.” The doctor notes.
“Is it really necessary?” Jaehyun presses.
Though he wouldn’t be able to use his dominant hand to paint for a long time, he would rather spend his time at home instead of the doctor’s office. He can’t imagine he couldn’t do wrist exercises in the comfort of his apartment. He tells Dr. Jones the same.
“To be fair, you’ll be learning the exercises at the appointment and expected to do them on your own time at home.” The doctor explains patiently, a hint of humor coloring her tone. “It’s important that you have a demonstration for the proper technique.”
“It’ll also make sure that you don’t have to rely solely on medication for any flare ups of pain. So no, it’s not necessary but I highly recommend that it be a part of your treatment plan.”
Dr. Jones prescribes him said medication next, and then the appointment is over. He picks up his medication and goes home in a daze. When he gets to his apartment, he almost forgets that he’s injured until he feels a sharp pain in his wrist as he tries to open his door with his dominant hand.
Jaehyun sighs. His unfinished painting is standing proudly in the middle of the room. It was a painting of the skyline, one that would take precise technique that Jaehyun no possessed to finish the art. He walks over to his desk and forces a pencil in his hand despite the pain. He puts the utensil on paper and pushes, but he can’t even draw a straight line.
Jaehyun manages to get to his first physiotherapy appointment without too much of a hassle. As long as you didn’t count Doyoung marching his way into his apartment to make sure Jaehyun actually made it to the appointment.
Doyoung’s right after all; Jaehyun had half a mind to cancel the physiotherapy appointments all together. He’s feeling almost fine after taking off the cast. Sure, he still couldn’t paint, but Jaehyun’s convinced that a little more rest would be all that he needs to get him back. There’s no reason to subject himself to even more medical appointments.
But his friend wasn’t having it when Jaehyun told him this. Instead, he earns a lecture all the way on the car ride to the physiotherapist. On some level, he knows Doyoung has a point. He should be paying more attention to his health, especially when his livelihood was on the line, but he would never let him know that.
After he’s done giving his lecture Jaehyun only half-listens to, Doyoung simply closes his eyes and turns on the radio. The rest of the car ride is filled with top 40 hits that make Jaehyun roll his eyes.
When they get to the office, Doyoung immediately takes it upon himself to fill out all of Jaehyun’s paperwork. A part of Jaehyun wants to let him know that he could do that on his own, but another part of him is relieved he won’t have to deal with all of it.
“All done.” Doyoung says as he looks over the forms. “Please be on your best behavior with the physiotherapist.”
“Yes mom.” Jaehyun mocks.
Doyoung pointedly ignores him. Soon enough, the secretary calls his name.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Doyoung asks. “I can take notes.”
“I think I’ll be fine, thanks.”
“Whatever. Just don’t take too long. I told Johnny we’d meet him for lunch after your appointment.”
Jaehyun grimaces. He wasn’t necessarily in the mood for lunch, but Doyoung knows he hasn’t really left the house; he’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Jaehyun gets some proper human interaction and a good meal.
Jaehyun waits in the room for a couple of minutes before the physiotherapist comes in. He looks young, not much older than Jaehyun, and absolutely nothing like had imagined he would. He had long black hair, piercings, and was dressed in casual clothes.
“Jaehyun?”
He nods at the greeting.
“You can call me Yuta.” The physiotherapist says with a bright grin. “I’ve looked at the charts Dr. Jones sent over and you seem to be healing at a desired pace.”
“You’re scheduled for three bi-weekly appointments. We’ll examine your wrist then to see if any more therapy would help.” Yuta pauses, scribbling something down on the documents. “Now are you ready to start?”
The hour consists of Yuta massaging his wrist, showing him how to complete his at-home exercises, and allowing Jaehyun to try those exercises in the office first. He hates to admit it, but his wrist does feel better by the end of the appointment.
“We have an app you can download on your phone if you’d like. It has videos you can watch to make sure you’re doing the exercises right.”
“Then what exactly is your job?” Jaehyun says without thinking. It probably wasn’t the right thing to say, but Yuta seems to take it in stride.
“You’re right.” He says coolly. “Computers do half my job now. I’ll probably have to change careers in the next couple of years.”
“That’s not true.” Jaehyun backtracks. “People probably need human touch when it comes to physiotherapy.”
Yuta gives him a quizzical look and then hands Jaehyun a card. “If you have any other questions, concerns, or just want to chat, feel free to contact me using that number.”
“You’re the first medical professional that’s given me their number.”
“It’s pretty new age.” Yuta says. “But I hope you consider reaching out if you need the extra support.”
Jaehyun thumbs the edges of the card. “I will.”
Jaehyun tries to do his exercises, he really does, and under the watchful eyes of Doyoung and occasionally Johnny, he manages to at least stretch his wrist every day.
“It looks like you’re doing everything right to me.” Doyoung says through the video chat on his laptop.
“It doesn’t feel the same as when the physiotherapist does it.”
Doyoung rubs his temples. “Then maybe you should call the physiotherapist. He gave you his number for a reason.”
His friend had said the same thing for the past four days each time Jaehyun complained about his wrist. But Jaehyun couldn’t convince himself just yet to make the call. It felt like admitting to failure.
It takes him another day before he finally caves in and dials Yuta’s number. It’s late, almost eleven at night. But Yuta picks up on the third ring with a groggy hello.
“Is this a bad time?” Jaehyun asks. “If it’s too inconvenient I can call back tomorrow.”
“No, no. I’m available at all times for my patients.” Yuta sounds so energized despite seemingly being asleep a mere five minutes ago.
“What would you like to talk about?”
Jaehyun takes one long deep breath. “I think I’m doing the exercises wrong. It doesn’t feel like my pain is being alleviated at all.”
“I watched all the videos on the app, and asked my friend to watch me do them, but I don’t know what’s going on.”
Yuta makes a curious noise through the line. “Why don’t you show me through FaceTime and I can see if I can help.”
Jaehyun does what he says. It feels a little ridiculous, but he can see Yuta is trying his best to pay attention to Jaehyun’s demonstration.
“It looks like you’re doing it right.” Yuta says. “I think it might just be a mental block.”
“Or maybe you just have the magic touch.” As soon as the words leave his mouth Jaehyun feels the heat travel to his ears.
Even through the phone screen, Jaehyun can see Yuta’s soft smirk.
“Why thank you.” Yuta says before changing the topic back. “Maybe you need to focus on something other than your recovery. You’re doing the exercises right, so maybe you need a distraction.”
“A distraction?”
Yuta nods. “Yeah, like a hobby. I think it would help you get out of your own head. What did you do before your accident?”
“I mostly just painted for work. I used to go to the gym a lot.” It sounds sad even to Jaehyun. “I can’t really do either of those things right now.”
“You’re an artist?” Yuta asks.
Jaehyun tries not to let the shock show visibly on his face. He had quite a reputation in the art world and was used to people already knowing who he was. It was the first time in a long time someone didn’t recognize him.
“I am.”
“And let me guess, you’re one of those artists that basically doesn’t eat, breathe, or sleep until your work is done.”
“I am not.” Jaehyun says indigently. Maybe Yuta was a little right, but Jaehyun would rather injure his wrist again than admit that.
Yuta gives a look of utter disbelief. “Well, while you were busy smelling what I’m sure is too much paint fumes for a lifetime, you missed a whole world out there. And that’s where a hobby will come in handy. Focus on something else and just let your wrist heal.”
He takes Yuta’s advice and drags both Doyoung and Johnny to a Wine and Cheese tasting class. He had always heard good things about these types of events from his mom, and he figured he could repay his friends for sticking with him during his bad moods with expensive drinks and cheese.
Johnny doesn’t take anything too seriously, basically making fun of everything that came out of the host’s mouth. Doyoung on the other hand, was miffed that both of them weren’t following the reasoning for why one pretentious wine-cheese pairing was better than the other.
Other than that, he’s been enjoying catching up on the millions of movies and shows he’s missed throughout the years while he holed himself up in his apartment painting. It was refreshing, and surprisingly fun to obsess over a new show.
It was nice to be able to do something else for once, even if he missed painting. Some may say realism painting was boring, and Jaehyun understood why they would think that, but he loved the absolute rush he got from perfectly capturing a scene from real life.
He would have to get back to painting of course. When his wrist heals he would still have a week to paint something for the charity gala. It was less time than he usually took for his art, but he refused to pull out of the gala now, not when so many were already counting on him. He can already imagine the intense pressure he’ll be under when that week comes, but that’s a problem for future Jaehyun.
The second appointment he has with Yuta is mostly the same as the first. And even if the phantom pain he felt was only in his head as he completed the same exercises as home, it still didn’t feel as good as when Yuta was the one guiding him.
“I thought you should know, I found some hobbies.”
Yuta quirks up an eyebrow at him, the beginnings of a smile on the corners of his lips. “Oh. Really now?”
Jaehyun nods. “I'm watching Stranger Things.”
That gets a laugh out of Yuta.
“What could possibly be so funny about that?” Jaehyun whines.
“That show hasn’t been relevant in years, but I’m glad you’re spending your earned free time in a nice way.”
“What about you?” Jaehyun starts. “We’ve talked extensively about my hobbies, what are yours?”
“I play soccer a lot. I’m learning the guitar. I do a little bit of a drawing here or there but it’s probably nowhere near your level as a professional artist.” Yuta continues massaging Jaehyun’s wrist.
“I would love to see it regardless.” Jaehyun hopes he isn’t asking too much with that request. Art could be so personal, he didn’t want Yuta to think that he was obligated to show Jaehyun anything.
“After the appointment. Now hush while I finish up.”
True to his word, Yuta pulls out a sketchpad as soon as the appointment ends. It’s filled with art of all different styles, but Yuta has obvious favoritism for more abstract art. That, and art that looks like it could be from a professional manga. He was dripping with natural talent.
“Yuta this is amazing.” Jaehyun says. “I could never do all of this.”
“You think so?”
“Of course, I can’t believe you’ve never taken a class.”
“Thanks.” Yuta says softly. “And I’m sure you could do this if you let yourself try.”
“It’s just, not my style.”
Yuta shrugs. “Who says it can’t be? Maybe you should think outside the box with your art. Try something new and different.”
Jaehyun didn’t start painting because of passion or money, it was something that he was good at. When he took a class in his third year of college to fulfill a general education credit, he wasn’t expecting an art collector to like his work enough to buy it at a hefty price. He wasn’t expecting to somehow find a career in it.
His love for realism painting would come later. After he had spent a lifetime in nature capturing scenes many would never have the privilege to see as best as he could. He loved it, so much, much more than he was ever anticipating in the beginning. With every passing piece he painted, it became less about the money, and more about giving people a taste of unimaginable beauty.
But recently, his art has become more about perfection. An unattainable perfection he would never truly be able to capture. He still loved it, he always would. But maybe he had been doing realism painting for so long that it’s lost some of its novelty. Would it be so bad if he tried a new style?
Jaehyun chews on his lower lip. He can already imagine that some of his frequent buyers would turn their noses at any different art Jaehyun produced. Some of his clients were very set in their ways, thinking that any form of abstract art didn’t qualify as real art. And even if he did switch up, would a charity gala be the best place to do that?
Jaehyun stares at the blank canvas before him. It couldn’t hurt to try. He picks up his non-dominant hand and dips the brush into an electric blue paint. It’s bolder than anything he’s ever painted with.
He avoids the use of the clean lines that he had become so accustomed to. He gets risky with mixing colors. He even tries a splash technique his old art teacher raved about, but one that never made sense to Jaehyun. It takes him a while to properly hold the brush in his left hand, and hours to paint something that could even be called art, but once Jaehyun’s done, he’s not entirely upset with the outcome.
He can feel a smile making its way onto his face. No, the painting wasn’t that bad at all. In fact, maybe it was even worth showing to the charity chairmen. They knew more about abstract art than Jaehyun ever did and would know if the painting would make any money.
But even if the painting was worth nothing, he was still pleased. He wasn’t worried when painting. He had fun. He was more than just a one trick pony. And he couldn’t wait to show Yuta.
Jaehyun was equally excited and disappointed about his last physiotherapy appointment. He was ready to get back to normal life with his wrist, but he was also sad to potentially never hear from Yuta again. Technically, Yuta had no reason to keep in touch with Jaehyun after the clock struck three-thirty. Well, that is, if Yuta rejects his offer.
He didn’t think he was going to form such an attachment with his physiotherapist, but Yuta understood him. He always knew the right things to say and was the only person in the entire world who seemed to understand Jaehyun’s humor. Maybe he was projecting a bit and Yuta was like that with all of his patients, but Jaehyun had a feeling there could be something more. If nothing else, he wanted to thank Yuta for all that he’d done for Jaehyun.
It’s more of the same for the last appointment. Yuta massages his wrist, helps him complete the exercises, and asks him if he feels any pain. If Jaehyun didn’t know better, he’d think that he was coming back in another two weeks.
“That’s it.” Yuta starts. “Your required physiotherapy is officially done. We ended a bit early today, so you’re free to go whenever you want after I hand you your appointment summary.”
“I have to tell you something.” Jaehyun blurts out. His voice sounds urgent, and not at all as suave as he was hoping it would.
Yuta tilts his end in confusion. “Is something wrong?”
“No.” Jaehyun shakes his head. “Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to tell you that I managed to paint something abstract.”
A slow smile stretches onto Yuta’s face. “Jaehyun, that's amazing. I’d love to see it, if you don’t mind.”
“I’d love to show you.” Jaehyun takes out a ticket to the gala. “It’ll be on display for a charity gala I’m participating in. I have one extra ticket and was hoping you’d like to come with me.”
A light blush appears on Yuta’s cheeks, his wide smile stays intact. “Ask me again in three minutes.”
“What?”
“In three minutes it’ll officially be the end of your appointment, and I won’t be committing a violation for saying yes to a date with my client.”
“A date?” Jaehyun grins. “That’s a little presumptuous don’t you think?”
“What can I say, I’m very bold.” Yuta’s smile quickly transforms into his signature smirk.
“Lucky for you.” Jaehyun begins. “I’ve recently discovered my attraction to the bold.”