A Wind Of Change [1] || EXO ✓

024: Wounded

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Mr. Oh walked out of the school's double door entrance.

"Hazel!"

She remained numb to his shout whilst weeping in copious amounts as she knelt on the ground near the bicycle shed, caressing a white cat. Mr. Oh held a palm over his head to shield himself from the rain although it barely helped.

"Goodness! What's wrong with you?" he asked, bewildered by her questionable actions.

Hazel's teeth chattered, "Th-The cat..." she sobbed. As soon as she'd observed the cat writh in pain from her classroom window, she fell into a state of panic. Neither able to help nor let the poor thing suffer, all she managed to do was sit beside it, crying empathetically.

He stopped asking further when he saw the injured cat beside her. It hardly took any time for him to comprehend the situation; the cat must have gotten hurt while squeezing itself out of the tightly packed bicycles therefore injuring its left foreleg in the process. The injury was serious with blood oozing profusely and the poor creature meowed in agony.

"It requires immediate attention," Mr. Oh said taking out a handkerchief from his pant pocket. Carefully wrapping the handkerchief around the cat's wound, he picked it up and quickly walked his way to the car. "We'll go to the reputed veterinary hospital I know of. Come on," he urged, opening the car door and letting her sit in the front passenger seat.

As opposed to Mr. Oh who was minimally drenched, she got into the car completely soaked to skin. He gingerly placed the agonising cat onto her lap and fastened the seat belt around her. Carelessly flinging off his wet glasses to the back seat, he pulled away from the curb. The car let out a sharp screeching noise as its wheels moved against the asphalt in return making her upper body jerk back and hit the backrest. If it wasn't for the seat belt hugging her body, she would've been thrown out of the car's windscreen. Such was the terrifying pace at which they moved.

He hit the brakes sharply when the signal turned red. The vehicle came to an abrupt halt letting a string of cuss words escape his mouth. Hazel was all the more aghast by this side of him which was in sharp contrast to his calm and composed nature.

"Calm down," she said with a shaky voice, in an attempt to ease his temper. Cold water droplets dripped from her wet hair. The icy coldness penetrated through her skin and made her forget what warmth felt like. The uniform's white top obstinately stuck to her torso, however, she remained unmindful to the see-through fabric. She was drenched to skin with rivulets of water streaming down her body.

The car sped its way traversing past fallen branches, muddy puddles and draining gutters. Mr. Oh was concerned about her all the while as he didn't want her to fall ill from the cold. Despite the halt due to the red signal, they'd reached the hospital remarkably faster.

She handed over the cat to one of the nurses. They both sat beside each other on the bench put outside while the cat received treatment from the doctor. Her empathy for the hurt feline was unimaginably strong. As bizarre as it may sound, she couldn't stop herself from feeling worrisome. Tapping her foot on the floor nervously, she closed her eyes and clasped her hands.

"Nothing to worry. I bring Vivi here. The doc will take care of it."

She nodded her head in response and shuddered feeling cold.

"It'll be alright," he assured once again. He was aware of her state, her teeth was chattering and he felt a sense of worry. He moved slightly closer, his shoulders lightly brushing against hers. He slowly lifted an arm to wrap it around her shoulder, his palm was an inch away from her skin when he suddenly decided to retract for some reason.

The warmth radiating from him made her feel cosy, his proximity  was inconceivably comforting. Snuggling comfortably close, she let her head rest upon his shoulder without second thoughts. Closing her eyes, she took a break from the worldly thoughts that wearied her. Mr. Oh felt blissful and gently patted her back to ease her tensed self.

"Ahem!" the nurse coughed and cleared her throat, interrupting their moment with a weird expression. "Whose cat is this?" she asked holding a pen in one hand and a scratchpad on the other.

"Mine," both said in unison and shot up from their seats.

"The doctor is calling both of you," she informed.

"Dressing of the wound has been done. The injury was treated at the right time so there's nothing to worry. The cat is malnourished. Please do make sure to take good care of your pet," the doctor signed off and the nurse handed over the cat to Mr. Oh.

"I'll drop you home," offered Mr. Oh.

"No, I need to go to school. Gotta take my bag," she said and mumbled, "Thanks a lot."

The rain had ceased but the overcast skies still prevailed.

"Are you going to keep the cat with you?" he asked while driving.

"I think I know it's owner," she replied.

As soon as the car stopped, she ran inside the entrance gate with the cat in hand. After spending a while looking here and there, she went to the classroom and came out with her bag. Overlooking from the fourth floor of the school building, she caught a faint figure of a boy coursing about the campus. She rushed frantically towards him.

"I presume you're looking for this cat," she said handing over the cat to Kai.

Kai grabbed the cat from her with both hands as if handling a fragile glass. His puffy eyes glistened and his anxiety level dropped considerably upon feeling the cat - his dear pet - meow in his arms.

"He's alright now. Nothing to worry. His left foreleg has been properly treated. Please feed him well," she said.

He stood staring at her with wide eyes wondering how she managed to appear like a life saver each time he required help. A tinge of pink dusted his cheeks and with a sudden movement of his head, he averted his gaze from her.

Oh yeah! He's not the type to thank, she thought reminiscing an incident and turned back to leave. It wasn't hurting anymore. He'd always been rude.

Warm cloth engulfed her from behind suddenly. She looked at Kai who had removed his blazer to cover her up feeling troubled by her see-through fabric. "Thank you," he said before leaving.

Feeling embarrassed, she quickly covered herself with the blazer, suddenly becoming aware of her wet clothes.

Mr. Oh who stood leaning against the hood of his car, watched Kai lend his blazer to her with gritted teeth. His anger level rose to the brim. Again, he had no idea why he was experiencing what people call 'jealousy'.

"I'll go home now. See you tomorrow," she waved a bye at Mr. Oh and pivoted her foot to leave.

"Get inside," he commanded and got inside the car with a stern face.

Although she very well knew that Mr. Oh was putting his best efforts to help her out, she wondered if it was right to depend on him constantly. She could choose to either walk away or simply obey. She pondered if it was alright to cling onto him this way given that he was her teacher.

The car door opened and she sat on the front seat without breathing a word.

"You can slow down. I don't see why you should be angry all of a sudden," she said baffled by his vexed demeanour.

Mr. Sehun sat tight lipped but slowed down nevertheless.

"Seems like my misfortunes have started to inflict upon you," Kai said to the cat while striding his way back to the garage.

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A/N: Wanted to let y'all know that the story is not just about shipping Hazel with exo but also revolves around friendship and family. I hope y'all liked it. Please do vote and comment. ❤

[Revised - March 4th, 2021]