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스물

hyunjin opened the door of his house with his one hand, supporting felix with the second one.

after the doctor made sure felix was good to go, he was released, with an important put to rest and eat properly.

sitting felix down on the couch, hyunjin kneeled in front of him.
"so, how are you feeling?"

felix just stared at hyunjin.
"I'm...fine."

hyunjin sighed gently, before putting his hand on felix's knee.
"look lix, I am worried about you. I know that whatever progress we made three years ago about your eating is...gone. I don't want to see you on that hospital bed ever again."
he said.
"have you ever...considered therapy?"

felix looked down.
"I don't need therapy."

"I'm not forcing you to go on one. I'm just suggesting it. I will gladly pay for it. I just...want you to be okay."
hyunjin admitted.

"I'm going to be."
felix said.
"I don't need therapy."
he repeated.

hyunjin sighed, his head dropping low.
"alright. just...what do you want to eat for dinner?"

"I'm gonna have some apples-"

"stop."
hyunjin cut him off.
"how about I prepared you some fresh salat with some chicken meat to get some protein into you?"

felix lifted his eyes, finally looking at hyunjin.
and when he did, he almost stared crying.

hyunjin was looking at him, clearly worried, as he tried to get felix to agree to eat something that would actually be considered as a normal food.
he felt so guilty.
why was he such a burden?

"o-okay."
felix whispered.

hyunjin gave him a small smile.
"thank you. how about you went to take some rest, I will get you when it's ready."

felix nodded and slowly got up with hyunjin's help, before he made his way upstairs, supporting himself on the railing.

sighing, hyunjin walked into the kitchen, resting his hands on the counter, laying his head low.
it took so long three years ago to get Felix to actually take care of himself properly when it came to food, but now, all of his progress was gone.

with his head full of thoughts, hyunjin took out some fresh vegetables, together with the chicken meat.

the thought about sending felix on therapy crossed his mind again. I mean, it was very obvious felix didn't want to go, and he couldn't really force him.
but if something like this happened ever again, hyunjin would drag felix there himself.

seasoning the chicken breast and putting them on the hot pan, he started chopping the vegetables, while quietly thinking about how to approach this problem with felix. felix wasn't the one who liked to talk about his feelings, and when it came to his food habits, it was much worse.
hyunjin knew that all too well.

he had a few more months before felix would finish repairing the painting, and hyunjin vowed to himself that he's going to at least try to get felix on the right path before he leaves again.

huh, leaves again?
that's something hyunjin didn't really give that much thought.
felix will be leaving.
in the exact same way he left three years ago.
and for some reason, that made hyunjin feel uneasy, almost as if his entire chest was on fire.

•~•

hyunjin knocked on Felix's door, and when he heard a quiet 'come in', he opened it.
"the dinner is ready."
he said.

felix nodded, and he started getting up.

"should I help you down the stairs?"
hyunjin asked.

"I'm not that weak. I was able to come up, I will be able to go down."
felix said, getting on his feet and walking past hyunjin.

the two of them made their way down, hyunjin still keeping an eye on felix, they sat by the table, eating their salads in rather not so pleasant silence.

hyunjin was trying not to make it obvious as he looked how much felix ate, while felix was rather playing with his food then eating it.

it took felix a little while before he was able to actually start eating the food, and even tho he didn't finish his entire dinner, hyunjin felt a bit proud, because he did eat most of it.

"you said a few days ago that you need to go in the gallery earlier tomorrow, so when should I be up?"
felix asked.

"there is no way you're going into the gallery tomorrow. you still need to rest to recover and gain strength."
hyunjin said.
"if I will have to I'm locking you in this house."

"but I need to-"

"the painting can wait a few days, it won't run anywhere."
hyunjin said.
"so take your time."

"I need to finish it as fast as possible, and I already wasted a lot of time."
felix said.

"finishing it as fast as possible so you could return to Australia?"
hyunjin asked.

"yes."
felix said, looking down on his unfinished food.
"so im going to the gallery tomorrow."

"are you about to risk not being properly recovered and mess up the repairs instead of giving it a few days and be in full strength again?"
hyunjin asked.
"I'm not saying this, or insisting on you resting because I want to keep you here as long as possible. I'm myself worried about the painting as well, I mentioned a lot of times it's a favorite of mine, and I don't want it to get messed up."

"hyunjin you don't know how art repair works."
Felix said, resting against his chair.

"I might not, but I sure as hell am an artist, and repairing art is definitely harder then making it in the first place. and having a calm hand is a key when it comes to art, and I'm more then sure it's like that in art repairing also."
hyunjin shot back.
"so whether you like it or not, you're not going into the gallery tomorrow."

felix got up from the table and walked upstairs, definitely feeling frustrated.

hyunjin didn't move an inch.
he didn't chase for him.
he might have done that three years ago, but not now.

calmly taking the plates, he put them on the kitchen counter, before sitting down on the couch and turning the TV on.