For Your Protection- Sookai

The Silent Affection

Soobin was knocked out cold when the cab driver arrived at their destination. Hyuka softly tried to wake him. "Psst. We're here." The blonde groaned, switched his head position, then passed out again. "Hey. Come on. Wake up."

Hyuka shook his shoulder. Soobin still wouldn't wake up for more than a second. He apologized to the driver while getting out some cash. After paying, he picked the blonde up bridal style and carried him in. His arms started to kill him in the elevator.

The ride up never seemed to end. Out of nowhere, the blonde started coughing over his shoulder. Hyuka was freaking out from knowing what was going to happen. "No! We're almost there! Puke in the toilet!"

Coughing turned into gagging. The doors opened. Hyuka set him down then ran to find a trashcan. By the time he came back, the elevator stunk of chunky sliders, acid and booze. "God damn it Soobin..."

The blonde was barely awake enough to know what was going on. All he did know was that someone was bringing him into a safe place and that place had fresher air than where he left. His clothes were stripped off of him. He then was asked if he was awake enough to brush his teeth. Regardless of his answer, he was given a toothbrush and some mouthwash.

Hyuka waited down the hall to see what Soobin was going to do. To his relief, he saw him put toothpaste on his toothbrush. Knowing he was at least awake enough to do that, gave him some hope he would puke in the toilet later.

Still a little drunk, Soobin stared at himself in the mirror. He barely recognized his reflection. His eyebags were dark. His skin was sickly pale. His hair was drenched in sweat. Little did he know, the person behind him still thought he was beautiful.

He quit looking at himself to focus on him. Kai was his world. He thought his life was amazing before but being with him was like heaven. Like his soul was lost until it found a home. Looking at him was like seeing the beauty of the world for the first time after being blind. And he didn't know he was blind until Kai opened his eyes.

His heart wanted to explode when he was led to a small bed. Soobin dreamily watched the younger's every move. He was tucked in. His pillows were fluffed for him. His arm reached out for Kai to join, only for it to fall after he left.

Hyuka came back with an empty trashcan. He knelt by the bedside and explained "if you can't get up, this will be here for you. I'm going to sleep on the couch okay?"

"Stay with me..."

"I don't think there's room for both of us."

"You can sleep on me... I'll make room."

"I'll check on you later okay?"

"Kai?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Hyuka kissed the blonde's forehead then stood up. "Do you think you'll remember this in the morning?"

"No... but I want to."

"Then I love you too. I'll be back."

The lights were shut off. Soobin closed his eyes and smiled. Nausea was still present. His smile went away in fear he had to puke again. After five more minutes, he fell asleep.

Hyuka grabbed the trashcan from his kitchen, a pair of rubber gloves, a roll of paper towels, two cloth towels and a bottle of generic spray cleaner. Cleaning up vomit was not on his agenda tonight yet here he was.

Before he left, he went to check on Soobin again. The blonde was lost in a dream. His mouth hung slightly open to expose his little bunny teeth. Knowing he was okay made Hyuka feel better.

The worst part started when he reached the soiled elevator. The smell alone threatened more vomit to be added to the metal walls. Hyuka wedged the trashcan between the doors. His two cloth towels soaked up most of it. Those went straight into the bin.

Copious amounts of cleaning solution was sprayed onto the rest. The smell still wasn't pleasant. Hyuka took a step out of the metal box just so he could breathe normal air for a minute. While standing, he wiped the sweat off of his brow with his sleeve. Vomit residue was left behind. "Ugh. Gross."

Hyuka cleaned the rest of the elevator in five minutes flat. The trash was taken out. His cleaning supplies were tucked away. He then he ran a hot shower after stripping his soiled clothes.

The shower was quick. He was worried something happened to the blonde a wall away. To his relief, Soobin was safe and asleep. Color seemed to flush back into his face. It was like a new filter on a perfect picture.

Hyuka quietly changed into some sweatpants then stared at his laundry basket. It was eleven at night. He was exhausted but the laundry had to be done. He slipped a loose t-shirt on then decided to get it over with.

The timer was set to be done in 40 minutes. Paranoia had him run back upstairs to check on the blonde again. Nothing happened.

As quietly as he could, Hyuka slid the closet door open and grabbed his extra blanket on the top shelf. He then set a 35 minute timer on his phone so he would know when the washer was done. Mobile games and youtube filled the time. At one point, Taehyun texted "how'd it go?"

"We ate at a bar and he got really drunk. He's asleep right now."

"It's a good thing you were with him. A drunk wandering target is easy to kill."

"That's what I was thinking. I'll see you at the office tomorrow."

"See yeah. Oh wait. I'm supposed to meet Beomgyu. Any advice?"

"Not really advice. More like a warning because he talks a lot. Otherwise he's fine."

"That I can deal with. Goodnight Hyuka."

"Goodnight." Hyuka made their conversation private in his phone as a precaution. The timer went off. He forced himself to leave the comfort of his blanket to switch the laundry out. Soobin's shirt no longer smelled like stomach acid. It smelled like lavender and vanilla.

Clothes tumbled away. By the time he pushed "start" on the dryer, it was almost midnight. He wasn't going to wait until it was done. He slumped back up to his apartment to check on Soobin one last time. The blonde was safe and okay. Knowing he was, allowed Hyuka to finally get some sleep.