ENG - Fractured Fates ʰʸᵘⁿˡᶦˣ

14

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„Then why don't you fuck him in future if he's oh so good to you." [...] „Maybe I'll do that too."

Felix POV

I stood there completely stunned, with an open mouth that reflected my shock as I looked back and forth between Minho and Hyunjin. Minho's words hit me like a slap in the face and made me lose my footing. „Have fun with it then," the black-haired man said, his voice laced with a hint of mordant derision. „I doubt he'll let you at all, though. He seems like a nerd, and guys like that are prudes," he added, emphasizing his words with a snide gesture. His face twisted into a mocking grin as he twirled his hand in the air.

Hyunjin then said with a mischievous grin on his face, which revealed that he was having a great time: „You know that the good ones are the worst." His eyes twinkled with amusement as he looked at me and a hot feeling of shame and embarrassment flooded my face, causing my cheeks to glow.
I was completely dumbfounded by what I was hearing. Before it was somehow about me, it was still quite amusing to listen to, but now? My throat felt like it was constricted and my heart was pounding wildly in my chest. I was simply speechless and probably as red in the face as a tomato, because I was more than just incredibly uncomfortable.

I drew attention to myself by clearing my throat, which made them both look at me. „I think I have a say in this, don't I?" I said, trying to make my voice sound firm, but it was shaking slightly with uncertainty. They both just stared at me without saying a word and then exchanged a brief, conspiratorial glance, followed by a shared grin. But their reactions made me feel even more insecure.
With shaky hands, I closed the folder in front of me and tried to hide my awkwardness. My hands trembled slightly as I put it back on the table. „Now that you have company, I'll go," I said and headed for the door. My heart pounded wildly in my chest as I closed the door behind me and exhaled shakily.

I leaned against the cool door and let my head sink back. My thoughts were racing. I felt humiliated and exposed and at the same time I felt a certain anger rising inside me. How could they talk about me like that while I was standing next door? I wasn't their plaything that they could use to relieve their boredom.
I briefly felt the urge to go back into the room and tell them they were assholes. But in the end, I did nothing. After all, I couldn't insult my patient. Besides, I quickly understood that it was somehow their way of dealing with each other and that it was normal for them to talk like that, even if it hurt me a little. I couldn't take it personally and let it get to me.

Shaking my head and with a bitter taste on my tongue, I pushed myself away from the door. The coolness of the doorknob still clung to my hand as I moved through the dim hallway, which was bathed in a ghostly semi-darkness by a single flickering light. My footsteps echoed softly in the silence as I made my way back to the ward room.
As I walked along the gloomy corridor, I felt a certain bitterness rise up inside me, a poisonous wave that crept up my throat and choked my throat. I couldn't understand why people had to treat each other like this and how they could cause each other so much pain. Was it really necessary to belittle others in order to feel better about yourself?
A feeling of confusion and pain spread through me.

For a moment, I was struck by a thought so absurd that I almost immediately suppressed it. Should I perhaps even feel flattered? Did I look good enough that someone would consider sleeping with me? But I immediately stifled these thoughts with a violent shake of my head.
What was I even thinking?
As if anyone would ever want to sleep with me.
How ridiculous.

When I arrived at the ward room, Jisung was still sitting in the chair with his upper body resting on the table, which was covered in papers and files. When I entered, he just turned his head and looked at me with his tired, dark eyes. „Are you coming to see me again?" he asked with a slight trace of boredom in his voice, which couldn't hide how much he had missed me.
With a tired smile, I sat down opposite him and rested my upper body on the table. „He has a visitor, I'm just disturbing him," I mumbled and sighed softly. The silence in the room was only interrupted by the quiet ticking of an old wall clock.
„Lix?" Jisung began at some point and his voice suddenly sounded fragile. „Do you think laser eye surgery hurts?" he added questioningly. I turned my head in his direction and looked at him worriedly. „What makes you think that?" I asked him. He just shrugged his shoulders and adjusted his glasses with his fingers. „I don't want the glasses anymore, they don't suit me," he mumbled.

I looked at him with concern, my upper body rising slowly as my hand stroked through his tousled blond hair. „There's always contact lenses as an alternative," I said cautiously.
Jisung turned his head even further in my direction and his eyes flicked up to me. A soft sigh escaped him as he shook his head. „I can't wear them, I've tried. But I can't see much without glasses, so I thought lasering might be a good option," he explained, looking at an empty spot in the room.
„Jisung," I whispered as my heart grew heavy, „who told you it doesn't suit you?" I could sense that there was something else behind his sudden decision, that he hadn't come up with this idea on his own.

Suddenly he straightened up, his eyes widened behind the glasses and a look of bewilderment spread across his face. „What makes you think that? Nobody told me, I just don't like myself when I look in the mirror and see these huge glasses on my nose," he explained frantically, waving his hands in the air. His voice became grumpier as he added: „I'll just do it. It can't get any worse than this anyway."
I loved Jisung's manner, he really was like a child sometimes, and he proved that once again here. He was far too spontaneous and made many decisions without thinking about it. I envied him a little for that, he could do what he wanted without everyone around him worrying about him and fearing he might break.

With a gentle smile, I took the glasses off his face and put them on myself. „If you don't want them, I'll take them," I said with a slight grin. But when I looked through the glasses, I felt dizzy, so I took them off again. „Or maybe not," I muttered. „You really are extremely blind."
With a snort, he snatched his glasses back and put them back on. „That's what I'm saying! That's why I'm going to make an appointment for laser eye surgery right now," he said, already pulling out his cell phone.
I could only shake my head at his attitude. „Maybe I should also make an appointment with the hairdresser," he added, lost in thought. „I think I'll do that. I want dark hair again."

I watch my best friend with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile on my lips. He is the living definition of a volatile character, a mixture of unpredictability and moodiness. „No matter what you do, Ji," I said with an amusement in my voice, „you always look good." He gave me a confident look, a smirk playing around his full lips. „I know," he replied, and you could literally see the confidence oozing from every pore of his skin.
There were times when he changed his hair color as often as other people changed their underwear and his once beautiful hair suffered from these experiments. It became brittle, dry and brittle until he finally got around to sticking with one color for a while and giving his hair a chance to recover. But I fear it might be the same this time. He'll dye it dark, then he won't like it, and he'll change it again. And so on and so forth in an eternal cycle of dissatisfaction, which was typical of him.

Suddenly, a loud ring interrupted the silence. A voice could be heard calling from reception: „Blondie, come here!" Jisung and I both looked at each other in confusion for a moment before he sighed and stood up. „He's really getting on my nerves," he growled and left the room.
Judging by his voice and the way he kept pressing the doorbell, there was only one person who would do that - Minho, Hyunjin's roommate.
Less than a minute later, my best friend called me over: „Felix, come here." Confused, I got up from my chair and went to him. The black-haired man was indeed standing there, resting his head on his hand while tapping his finger on the counter. „Hey, Blondie No. 2," he suddenly said, looking at me with a look that was somewhere between stern and condescending.
I returned his gaze questioningly. „Blondie No. 2?" I asked, confused, and looked at Jisung, who just shrugged his shoulders. „Yes?" I asked even more confused and looked at Minho, who was now moving around the counter and grabbing a piece of paper that looked unimportant to him. He grabbed another pen that was lying around and wrote something down, then held the piece of paper out to me. „This is my number," he told me, his voice now sounding serious and firm. „I have to go away for work for about five days. If anything happens with Hyunjin and if that idiot just refuses to eat the damn food, I want to know about it. Inform me of every little thing, no matter how insignificant."

Slowly, I reached for the piece of paper and looked at the numbers that made up his number. „I've spoken to him," he added, his voice sounding a little more concerned now. „He's going to stay in the hospital and not try to leave until he gets permission." He paused, looking at me, and I could see something dark and menacing flash in his eyes. „And if he doesn't listen, just smack him."
The black-haired man ran a hand through his hair and sighed. His dark eyes met mine and his expression turned serious again, causing me to smile uncertainly. „That's what you're going to do, isn't it?" he asked in a voice that brooked no argument. „Although you have no other choice. The two of us are still the most pleasant and I don't want to call someone else in to look after these idiots."

With another sigh, I put the note in my pocket and nodded. „My colleagues and I will take care of him as long as he's cooperative," I assured him, although I secretly doubted that Hyunjin was actually cooperative.
Minho raised an eyebrow skeptically and then rolled his eyes. „Whatever. Call me right away if there's anything," he mentioned again and then disappeared without saying goodbye. Jisung and I exchanged a confused look until his eyes suddenly widened and he stared at me. „Give me his number now!" my best friend demanded, his voice quivering with excitement. „What?" I gasped in surprise and looked at him with questioning eyes.

His eyes widened even more and a blush rose to his face. „I mean, so that I can contact him in an emergency. What else?" he stammered and turned his eyes away from me.
A laugh escaped me as I watched him. I gave him a quick hug and a kiss on his cheek. „You're so sweet, Ji," I said and let go of him again. I took the note out of my pocket again and handed it to him. „But give it back to me," I warned him. „I'm going to do my work now," I said and left my best friend standing there. „Yeah yeah, you're just going back to that redhead anyway," he called after me and I couldn't help but smile.

Shaking my head, I actually went on the inspection tour, which ended with me ending up at Hyunjin's house. I entered quietly and noticed that he was still awake and sitting up in his bed. He was illuminated by a light coming from his hands, bathing his features in a ghostly, bluish light. It emphasized his cheekbones and his full lips. It made him look even more attractive than he already was.
I slowly approached him, my eyes watching the new electronic device in his hands. „Did Minho bring it to you?" I asked him, beginning my routine as I pointed to the new cell phone. „Yes. I'd die of boredom in here without it," he mumbled without taking his eyes off the screen, his voice sounding tired.

After carefully recording his vital signs, I approached his bed. „Can I see your wounds?" I asked carefully, trying to make my voice sound as gentle as possible. Only now did he lift his eyes from his cell phone and look at me. „This is really annoying. Why do you want to see them every two hours anyway? Nothing will have changed in that time," he replied, but still lifted his top. His movements were slow and labored, as if every muscle in his body was aching. „I don't make the rules," I replied and looked at the wounds, which were still extremely red. Some were already getting a light scab around the cuts, which was a good sign.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he broke the silence with a question I hadn't expected. „Tell me, are you actually in a relationship?" he asked, his voice sounding curious, almost a little too curious.
I choked on my own spit, coughed and felt my face flush in a matter of seconds. Eyes wide and heart pounding in my ears, I looked at him in shock. „What?" I asked quietly, my voice shaking unsteadily.

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