𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐒 + 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐔𝐁𝐈𝐌

5 | the moon is down

      jeongguk was lost for words.

     he was left speechless as the hand rested against his chin, stroking him ever so slightly. he revelled in the way skin rubbed against skin, and was speechless as slightly burly arms lifted him off the floor and placed him back on the springy surface of his mattress. the touches were like a sudden dose of euphoria which he couldn't properly handle all at once. all the hunger he had for warmth and contact was satiated in the space of a few minutes, but came back seconds after he was made to lay down.

     a tingling feeling spread over the places those hands had touched: his bloodied arm, his small waist, his back and legs. the bed wasn't nearly as comfortable and warm as being held bridal style by the man stood beside him.

     his posture was suddenly all professional-like, and the white lab coat was stained with petals of blood red, even though jeongguk tried his best not to get any on his uniform or the clothes underneath. the burgundy polo sweater was layered above white checkered shirt - he was definitely giving off dark academia vibes. there was even a paperback in his right coat pocket to complete the look. the same rosy colour splattered across the coat glowed brightly through the skin on jeongguk's cheeks at his embarrassment for causing such an inconvenience for the man.

     "i'm sorry about the..." jeongguk did not want to repeat a certain word the man used to describe the gory scene on the floor. instead he just gestured vaguely at his coat and the tiles.

     he had better list this down as one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. his spur of the moment decision to take the tubing off, the blood he had left everywhere, and his encounter with the man beside him.

     obviously this wasn't a movie.

     but jeongguk swears he saw several hollywood action flick protagonists rip off any tubing connected to them while hospitalised. unlike him, they successfully paraded out of the building without being pathetic and bleeding out. fiction will always be fiction.

     "you mean the mess?" despite still feeling dizzy, the teen managed to catch the faint grin on the man's mouth as he spoke. he seemed amused by the whole ordeal, as if jeongguk's pitiful attempt at escape was pure comedy to him. it was proving difficult for the teen to avoid being overly provoked and screaming at the top of his lungs. until his throat was red and raw with overuse.

     the itch to get out of that godforsaken room was enough to make his legs twitch under the bed sheets.

     "well, it's nothing i haven't seen before, kid."

     "'m not a kid-"

     "my apologies. so you're not jeon jeongguk, 17 years old, admitted today at 3:57am? maybe you won't remember the last part; you were unconscious, after all."

     damn, he's got me there, jeongguk thought, pulling up the sheets as if they could provide any defence against this domineering doctor who appeared to be too pretty for his own good.

     "don't move around, kid. i need to stop the bleeding on your arm." a more serious expression spread across his face. his tone was quiet and subdued, lips forming a slight pout as he opened a pack of blue gloves and wriggled his hands into the stretchy material.

     at hearing that, jeongguk looked back up at the spinning chandelier in need of a distraction. anything to distract from the skilful gloved hands which smoothed down plasters on his skin. he would have fallen asleep at the soothing feeling if it weren't for the discomfort he felt in his ankle after walking on it.

     it was a struggle to not squirm while the doctor wiped down jeongguk's arm. the cool, moist cloth swiped against the epidermis ever so slowly, collecting the stripes of blood as it went.

     looking back down, jeongguk noticed that the doctor was wearing a lanyard and on it, was his photo. jeongguk couldn't read the name well, but his expression in the moment the picture taken was stoic but he still radiated genuine beauty at the same time. jeongguk wondered how the doctor would react if someone were to point out how stunning he was. maybe, somewhere, there was a universe where he would stammer his gratitude while fidgeting slightly.

     "there. almost clean," he grinned, flashing stainless teeth. they complimented the brilliant reflection of the chandelier on his eyes, along with the incarnadine tint of his plump lips.

     "somebody will come and deal with the... rest." he made a quick glance to the floor, then back at the teen.

     "i'm dr. kim taehyung, and i'll be your hepatologist for now." suddenly a clipboard was in his hands, fountain pen rested between two fingers as he proceeded to spout medical jargon. "it says here that you were brought into accident and emergency by a man this morning, who claimed to be your brother. a nurse told me he went out to get you some things so he should be back soon."

     "h-he's my half-brother, yes..." jeongguk chuckled nervously, weaving tiny fingers into his brown locks.

     "i see." dr. kim's left hand drew short lines across the paper, as if he was scribbling something out, then penned in more information as he continued to speak. jeongguk looked at the weak brown strands left in his fingers after he removed his hand from his hair.

"you were unconscious, as i previously mentioned, with slight hypertension - high blood pressure. dehydration is likely the reason you passed out, and it seems a fall caused you to hurt your ankle. thankfully it's only a sprain, but you'll need an x-ray just to be safe."

     jeongguk wasn't actually alarmed by his ankle injury, but more by the x-ray, of all things. he remembered having one when he was quite young and it still didn't sit well with him that everyone else had to leave the room.

     "jeongguk. i'm only asking you this out of concern, but why haven't you been eating and drinking enough?"

     he really did look concerned. however on such a youthful face, the expression the doctor wore didn't befit him. where there should have been forehead lines and wrinkles there were clean-shaven planes of skin which jeongguk so intensely wanted to caress for himself, his fingers twitched in anticipation of doing so.

     "dr. kim, i-"

     "just taehyung is fine," the doctor interrupted, jeongguk had never known a doctor who preferred to go by their first name. it was a bit weird to speak to him like that in such a professional setting.

     "taehyung," yes, it was definitely weird, but jeongguk knew he probably gave the same luxury to all his other patients "i'm guessing you know about my condition."

"of course."

"so then you know it's difficult for me to stay healthy, a-and i was all caught up in, in studying for some stupid test which isn't even that important so-"

taehyung reached over to jeongguk's bed, and grabbed his hand which wasn't again twisting and pulling at his hair. the teen didn't notice him take off the gloves, so the initial impact of palms against each other was a warm distraction from his hysteria.

     the doctor's palms enclosed his frail one completely, due to their larger size. he began rubbing in circular motions as an attempt to comfort his patient, who sat wide-eyed at the gesture.

"no, d-don't cry," pleased taehyung, who observed the glassy look in his patients eyes.

"j-jeongguk," he tried again, but his attempt proved to be pathetic. a blink triggered the hot tears to cascade beautifully down jeongguk's face, pooling at his trembling chin as he weeped harder.

agonisingly, the cries could be heard though the bundle of sheets jeongguk had buried his face in, dampening the sheets with tiny droplets of his anguish.

all taehyung could do was rub circles against jeongguk's tiny palm, regretful when it began to clench and tremble regardless.

he was unsure of what else he could do.

none of his patients had ever cried before.

———

do people actually like this book idk