NOISE

32.

Minho:

Jisung's movements woke him up and he opened his eyes, watching Jisung climb out of bed. "What are you doing?", he asked sleepily and sat up slowly. "I really need to go to the toilet", Jisung said and grimaced. "Are you in pain?", he asked and slid out of bed. He crossed the room and helped him walk towards the restroom. "I'm okay, it's already better than yesterday", Jisung answered and Minho knew he wasn't telling the truth. "Han Jisung", the doctor said, surprising them as soon as they walked out of the restroom. Minho helped him back into his bed and turned around, waiting for the doctor to speak. "How are you feeling?", the doctor asked and Jisung pulled his blanket over his body. "I'm alright, it hurts but I guess that's normal", he answered and the doctor nodded. "We would like to do an X-Ray before letting you go, is that alright with you? We want to make sure that everything is alright. I also prescribe bed rest for at least a week, better would be two weeks, but one week is the minimum." Jisung nodded. "That's alright with me", he replied and Minho watched the doctor scribble something onto a piece of paper, handing it to Jisung. "Follow the signs to the first floor and give this to the person at the reception. They'll call your name for the X-Ray", the doctor said and Jisung looked at it, slowly nodding. The doctor wished him a speedy recovery and left the room.

"You're going home today", Minho said happily after the doctor's words sank in, pulling Jisung out of his thoughts. He spotted pigments of worry and guilt in Jisung's pupils and frowned. "What?", he asked. "Is something wrong?" Jisung pulled the blanket away, revealing a blood stain. Minho gasped and rushed to the bed. "You ripped your stitches?", he asked and Jisung nodded. "Why didn't you say anything to the doctor?" Jisung frowned and reached for the nurse bell. "I didn't notice until now", he answered with a small voice, pressing the button and waiting for the nurse to come. "Can I help you with something? Oh", the nurse said as soon as she walked into the room and saw the blood. "I'll get a doctor immediately." Minho watched her rush out of the room, coming back a minute later followed by a doctor. "Wait outside", Jisung said and Minho blinked at him, letting the nurse lead him out of the room and close the door in front of his face. He paced up and down the hallway, waiting for the doctor to come out again. The nurse opened the door and smiled at him. "Don't worry, it's just a small stitch that ripped. We'll take him to the X-Ray to make sure that he's okay, then he can go home", the nurse reassured him and he thanked her.

A wave of anger rushed through his body and he walked back into the room. "What the hell?", he said harsher than he intended to, making Jisung flinch. "Why did you send me outside?", he added in a softer tone, almost sounding whiny. "I didn't want you to see it", Jisung answered and looked down at the red blood stain on his white blanket. Minho fought the urge to slap himself and nodded slowly. "Let's take you to the first floor so I can take you home later", Minho said, shoving aside his feelings. He helped Jisung change his shirt and dragged him through the hallway to the elevators. "Min?", he said as soon as the doors to the elevator closed and turned to him. Minho hummed, waiting for him to continue. He looked him in the eyes, finding pigments of guilt around his iris. "It's already on the news", he whispered and showed him an article, making the blood in his veins run cold. He should have expected the news to spread like a wildfire and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I don't wanna read it", he answered, taking his eyes off of the screen. "But I think you should", Jisung insisted and held his phone up. He took the phone into his hands and scrolled through the page, shaking his head in disbelief. "They're saying it's been proven that he murdered families?", he questioned, feeling sick all of a sudden. "They're saying that he was a horrible person, Min. And you probably saved not just me but other people", Jisung confirmed and wrapped his hand around his shaking wrist, carefully taking the phone out of his hand.

"Is that why you were feeling guilty?", Minho asked and scanned the signs in the hallway after getting out of the elevator. "I've known about it since yesterday. But you looked exhausted and I didn't want to add more to your plate." Minho stopped to look at him. "Since yesterday?", he asked and Jisung nodded. "I'm sorry", the younger one whispered abashedly and Minho spotted more pigments of guilt in his eyes. He closed the distance and raised his hand, softly stroking Jisung's nape. "Stop apologizing", he whispered back and dragged him towards the X-Ray floor. He sat on a bench while waiting for Jisung to be done, trying to collect his thoughts. Maybe going away for a while wasn't such a bad idea. He was getting tired of all the people in this city holding a grudge at Jisung for doing the right thing and he was more than tired of the danger they brought. "I think that's him", he heard someone whisper and looked up at two security guards. "Can I help you with something?", he asked, scared of the answer he might get. "Aren't you the cop killer?", one of them asked back with disgust on his face. Minho opened his mouth, not able to say a thing. "Is it true? Did you kill one of ours?", the other one asked loudly, making people turn around to look at them.