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It hurt. A lot, in fact. The stabbing pain of his left eye was almost unbearable. But no matter, the boy named Yoosung swore he would overcome it and get back safely. He promised her and himself that he would grow as a person. So how could he do that if he couldn’t even handle an eye injury?
“Did V feel like this when Rika hurt him?” he mumbled, but he instantly knew that wasn’t the case. That... psychopath he was left with couldn’t have been the same as Rika.
He turned his attention to the front, watching as the seperate white stripes of the road passed rapidly. It gave him a headache added to his eye damage but he couldn’t force his attention away.
Ride was silent, only the engine roaring.
“I need to tell everyone we’re safe, Seven.” he informed his companion and pulled out his smartphone. Seven didn’t say anything and Yoosung didn’t need to look to see his haunted face. He wished in his heart that his friend would stop blaming himself.
He opened a R.F.A chatroom and let them know he was alright, alive and kicking. He also didn’t forget to send a selfie, to soothe them further.
Everyone in R.F.A was his family. That included the member that joined not-too-long ago, as she became one of his best friends even without meeting him once and Yoosung was proud to do what he could to ensure her safety. Even if it was in exchange for his own.
“Arghh!” maybe typing at that moment wasn’t such a good idea.
“Idiot!” Seven called, his voice full of pain. He scolded the younger member, urging him to put the phone away and think of himself.
With the promise of driving him to the hospital as quickly as possible, the ride again returned to silence.
...
“Oh... so it seems mine is a bit worse than V’s..” The blond laughed quietly. His injured eye was covered with bandages and he wore a simple blue hospital gown. He looked terribly tired but had a satisfied air around him. This made his friend that was seated next to his bed, almost angry.
“This isn’t a laughing matter...”
“Seven...” he mumbled. The genious hacker didn’t look all that fresh either. His eyes were red from lack of sleep and possibly something else. “I know.. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologise!” Seven narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth. He waited a bit, until he could find his words that gave justice to his guilt. “I’m the one who should be apologising. I shouldn’t have accepted so easily when y-”
“No.” He said simply, interfering with whatever he was going to say. “No Seven, there’s nothing you need to be guilty about.”
“How can you say that?”
“Easy. It made me worth of something.”
“That’s stupid. You could have... You were already worth of something.”
“I certainly didn’t feel like it. You know it already. After Rika died, I wasn’t living at all. I didn’t...” He paused. “Perhaps it’s selfish of me, but being needed, no matter how dangerous the task is... is an extremely happy thing for me.” he concluded. His eyes shone with a new light Seven had never seen before and it momentarily made him forget his long apology. But as his gaze rested on the bandages, the sufficating feeling in his chest came back again.
The redhead slowly raised his hand, touching the boy’s cheek, rubbing his thumb close to his eye in feathery-like touches. They were almost the same age, but he had seen how pure hearted he was, he didn’t deserve this. If only he could take his place.
“Because of my weakness. If only I hadn’t broke there, you wouldn’t have to come and get me. Now, you...”
Yoosung had noticed his gaze was on his eye but not on the fonctioning one. Seven’s expression was closed off, so the boy could only guess. He was certain there was guilt and maybe there was a bit of... disgust? He lowered his gaze, his smile freezing and warping into something not quite right.
“Does it look that ugly?” he asked in a small voice. The hand on his cheek faltered its movements. ‘Oh... so it is true’. Perhaps he was right feeling selfconcious. He forced a grin. “Well, I guess I can try an eye patch. The cool ones from the pirate films? Aah.. Pirates of Mederian? We loved it, didn’t we? Oh! Maybe I can get a girlfriend if I tried changing my image.. who knows?” he ranted. Certainly acting normal would help with his friend’s worries as well as his own.
“Yoosung.”
His name... why did he have to say it like that? He tilted his head to the side, silently giving him a chance to say what he wants.
The hand on his cheek slowly slided down, still in contact, so he could feel it leaving its warm trace. As the feeling disappeared, it was replaced with coldness. He needed to surpress his shivers.
“There is no way you could be ugly.”
Yoosung blinked, not fully comprehending what he was told. Seven did just say that, didn’t he? He was... complimented. So he was wrong? Which also didn’t change the fact that he was wrapped in bandages and looked like a legit mummy. Wasn’t he properly seeing him?
“Thank God, then. At least people won’t be repulsed.” He thought for a bit. “I hope, I can say the same thing after I remove the bandages” His voice was light, not meeting the gravity of his words.
Seven’s eyes widened as he swallowed the implication. He frowned as he realised he was sulking in place of helping his friend who was, frankly, in need for some encouragements. ‘What am I even doing... I’ll apologise throughly later.’
Yoosung suddenly felt something warm on his hands. He looked down to see Seven’s hand on top of his own, holding it firmly but gently. He guessed he needed to be embarrassed because of this but he couldn’t bring himself to do anything but just stand (or still?) there and try to meet his companion's eyes.
“You don’t understand, Yoosung.” He said, slowly leaning closer. So close, in fact, that they could count each other's eyelashes. Yoosung didn’t know what to think let alone do, as Seven gently rested his forehead against his. “You will stay attractive with or without bandages.” A ghost of a smile played along his lips.
Yoosung felt his cheeks heat up. That was unexpected. Well, talking about Seven, nothing would be expected, right? No one could honestly say they could read him perfectly.
Trying to slow down his heartbeat, he slowly exhaled. The silence was comfortable, but he felt like he needed to hear Seven’s voice again. “You mean it?” he asked queitly. He waited for confirmation.
Seven’s eyes softened and he nodded, their foreheads rubbing against each other. He closed his eyes, making up his mind. He slowly lifted his head only to rotate it, for his lips to find the corner of the covered eye, leaving a kiss there. He smiled with more force when he heard a quiet gasp.
Pulling away, he got up and turned around, walking towards the door. Yoosung whose face slowly returned to normal from its dazed state looked at him curiously.
“Stay still. Be right back.” Seven promised. Yoosung smiled.
“.. Got it!”
When the hacker got back, his arms were full of Honey Budha Chips.