Angels Die

Impossible. Not.

“You’d grow wrinkles even before your old,” Daehyun said, bursting my thought bubble with his index finger pushing against the crease between my furrowed eyebrows. He grinned at me widely once he got my full attention.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, surprised. I was in the lobby of the research facility.

He shrugged nonchalantly, hands inside his pants. I rolled my eyes heavenward and excused myself from the other interns and residences. They shooed me off with a couple of unnecessary actions, cheers and grunting noises, hopefully you get the idea.

“So what are you doing here? You don’t have any check-ups, I don’t remember you ever have any,” I ranted.

“Why are you so grumpy today? You can’t be having PMS, that’s only reserve for women,” he answered. “Is it because of the rumors again?” he asked, tilting his head slightly to get a better look at my face.

“No,” I retorted while I head for the vending machine. Daehyun tagged along.

“Sorry,” he said while we waited for my order to finish mixing.

“You didn’t do anything, what’s to be sorry for?” I said rather curtly.

He sighed. It had been ten months since we started exclusively dating each other, okay, being a couple and even if Daehyun had promised to be off the streets, to be out of controversies and rumors such things just keep following him. I can trust Daehyun, I know that and he really doesn’t have to apologize for anything because unless each of us weren’t tied down by studies and duty for me, he’d be busy annoying me instead.

“What really is wrong then?” he asked as he leaned against the wall as I cautiously sipped my hot, relaxing tea.

“I’m just tired from completing requirements, parasitic worms, uncooperative patients, difficult to locate blood vessels and fuckers who can’t seem to just shut up and mind their own businesses,” I muttered on and on until Daehyun laughed.

“You know Youngjae, you could’ve just simply tell me that you were actually annoyed about the rumors.”

“I know they’re a bunch of bullshit and I’m tired of clearing them all out or ignoring them, maybe I should just record every explanation then it won’t be too much a waste of spit,” I lashed out.

Daehyun pinched my nose until it was difficult to breathe that I had to shove his hand off. “Stop worrying yourself about those things, and just focus on your slimy, disgusting career choice,” he advised. “Or you could just leave me,” now he sounded sad despite how casual he was in saying it.

“Aren’t you being melodramatic now?” I said with a scoff. “Jongup said being with me has done you a lot of good so I’m not leaving you nor are you leaving me,” I said as I looked squarely at him in the eyes.

“You make me sound like some charity case, but thank you,” he said softly.

“And thank you too, for being my guinea pig soon,” I said with a cheeky smile.

He gave me a noogie careful enough not to topple off my cup of tea. “I still say it’s an awful big dream,” he said.

When I finally got back to the research lab after ten minutes my phone vibrated inside my lab coat.

Don’t think about the rumors, you know the truth. I am and will always be with you, unfortunately. I don’t like you getting affected by it, I want to kiss you and just make you think about nothing but I can’t and that makes me sadder. And for the record I don’t like texting or emailing you messages like this so quit being crappy because I don’t know what to do. I’m new to being actually sincere and celibacy.