home at last

ix

"Namjoon!" A familiar voice cheered as Namjoon walked into the hospital with Naeun.

Namjoon turned and saw Byeol waving at him from the front desk, a big smile on her face. He waved back, smiling a bit shyly.

"Be calm, Byeol." Naeun sighed, walking over to her friend, holding her hand out.

"It's my favorite people!" Byeol protested, handing Naeun a coffee from a coffee shop, her tablet following.

"Namjoon, would you like to take a pill that blocks out the smells around you?" Naeun asked, poking Byeol's head before walking back to Namjoon. "This hospital has a lot of smells."

"No thank you." Namjoon shook his head. "I don't want my senses dimmed."

"I figured." Naeun gave him a kind smile, waving goodbye to Byeol as they walked down the hall. "I'm sure you've noticed I spray a physical scent blocker on myself. It's for the same reason. I can't be with a patient smelling of something that terrifies them or just a combination of too many scents."

"That's really smart." Namjoon turned his head slightly to get a smell of Naeun, double checking what she said. And yeah, she was right. She smelled, neutral. "Will I have to do that?"

"No, since you'll be with just Wonshik." Naeun walked up to a standing computer on a cart, picking up a badge. "He's still in a hospital room, but I'm hoping to move him to a rehabilitation room soon." Naeun clipped the guest badge on Namjoon's shirt, smoothing the shirt out on his chest. "You can talk about that with him as an icebreaker, if you'd like." Naeun frowned slightly and ran her fingers against the small bulges of the dog tag under Namjoon's shirt. "You can take that off here, if you'd like. I can hold onto it or you can, if you want."

Namjoon touched the dog tag, Naeun lowering her hands from his chest. To be honest, Namjoon completely forgot he was wearing the tag from Naeun. And to be even more honest, Namjoon didn't mind it...

Only because Naeun's name was on it.

"It's okay." Namjoon shook his head. "It's a part of moving on from the sex shelter. No more stapled pieces of paper in our chests. Dog tags or collars."

Naeun's eyes filled with sadness, remembering the hundreds of hybrids' chests she's treated and seen. Always full of scars of staples. Sometimes there would be cigarette burns and nail holes...

Hybrids didn't deserve that.

"If you're sure." Naeun reached up and fixed Namjoon's hair, just giving her hands something to do. "He has a beautiful head of golden hair, just like you." Naeun smiled softly. "A beautiful mane."

Namjoon smiled as well, lowering his head a little, hoping her hands would find his lion ears. But she pulled away, not wanting to overstep a boundary neither of them were clear about. "How long do you want me to talk with him?"

"As long as you are comfortable with." Naeun smoothed her white doctor's coat over her hips. "I will check in on you both every thirty minutes or so, make sure everything is okay." Naeun pulled a little pager out of her coat pocket, the device about the size of her thumb. "If you feel unsafe or if you're concerned for either of your safety, press this button and I will be there immediately." Naeun quickly added, "I'm not saying anything bad will happen, it's just a precaution... to put my heart at ease."

"Thank you." Namjoon put the pager in his sweatpants pocket. Well, one of her brother's sweatpants. They have yet to go clothes shopping and Namjoon had felt too uneasy to use Naeun's credit card for any online purchases. "I'm ready."

Naeun nodded, but didn't move, her eyes darting across his face. Finally, she broke. "Are you sure? You feel 500% comfortable with this?"

Namjoon smiled softly. "I feel 1,000% comfortable with this."