hold me 𐦍 yeonbin

008 ᯓᡣ𐭩

Soobin takes a long time reading from the small box called a phone. It's a device humans use to relay information to each other through pictures and words displayed a screen. Soobin's phone has a small pink object dangling from the top. Though the detail is lacking, the shape of the ears and placement of facial features indicate a rabbit.

Yeonjun focuses on the rabbit and not on the pounding coming from Soobin's chest overwhelming him. Soobin is scared. He is nervous, anxious, and confused along with Yeonjun.

Soobin could have sided with the cops, yet he carries pride in knowing he is strong enough to protect himself.

The species of human Soobin belongs to reminds Yeonjun of the harbor seals he watched, while cops and doctors relate more to the leopard seals. Though similar in origin and physicality, leopard seals and harbor seals vary in personality, habitat, and levels of aggression. Taehyun had been studying the angular, vicious leopard seals. Soobin and the two humans he met at the magic store are the softer, scared harbor seals that rely on defense before offence.

"Did anyone see you before you went into the magic store?"

Yeonjun's eyes snap from the pink rabbit back to Soobin, who looks tired despite just having rested for a few hours. Human bodies are inefficient in that way.

"No," he says.

"You said you were in the trunk of a car. Did the driver see you? How did that even happen?"

"I...." Don't know what a driver is. "I don't know."

"Yeonjun, I'm trying to help you, do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Then you need to tell me everything that happened the night you escaped. You don't have to go into detail about whatever fucked up institution they held you in. I understand that might be triggering, and I don't want you to panic. But can you tell me what happened, from the second you got out until I found you?"

Yeonjun doesn't know what it was that hit him, or how he ended up in a trunk of a car, or what a driver is. All he remembers is the opportunity he couldn't miss, the door propped open in an act of unanticipated carelessness, and the sound he tried to follow before everything went dark.

"When I left the building," he begins, "Something hit me. It was bright and I couldn't see because it ran too quickly. I was in some creature-a car. Then I kicked my way out, I fell, and then I saw the magic store. I thought there would be a mage inside who could help me but it was just humans."

Soobin nods. He is more patient than a doctor. More patient than Kai and Beomgyu. He doesn't look down on Yeonjun when he displays his lack of knowledge.

"Sounds like a hit and run. Fuck. Okay." Soobin leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and holding his forehead in his hands. Frustration. "And you didn't see a person in the car?"

"It was just me."

"Okay. So, you escaped. Some trashbag hit you with their car, probably thought you were dead, and threw you in their trunk to dispose of the body? God, what a nightmare. I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"That sucks, Yeonjun. You've already been through a lot, and then..." Soobin sighs. "I'm glad you ended up here, at least. Could have been worse."

Yeonjun can't think of anything worse than the operating room.

"What about the phone? What did it say? Why was my face on the phone?"

Soobin presses on the bottom of his phone and it lights up. He swipes a finger over the surface and a block of text appears. Next to the text is a picture of Yeonjun, his eyes open, staring directly at the viewer. He recognizes the sheet of metal under his head as the operating table.