[Super]Hot À† Minsung 18 ; 5:31 A.M. .ᐟˎˊ˗

Guys I’m on a roll with updates for this story

Seungmin has dealt with a lot of weird shit showing up at his doorstep at some strange hour of the day.

Policemen. Feds. Clowns. Literal clowns. Jisung after he had a particularly tough order and needed someone to dig a bullet out of his shoulder  (Ugh, go get a life you piece of shit), or if the hitman was lingering around to steal his ice cream. Coworkers from his office. Other hitmen, he usually turned them away before they even stepped foot inside. Hitmen he worked with. Hitmen that wanted to kill him for an order. Sometimes the neighbor’s parrot would make a run for the exit and would bump into the door of his apartment, his penthouse. Delivery people with online shopping packages. Delivery people with his pizza. Missionaries. Sales men. Jisung again (Go away????). At all hours of the day. 24/7, it was like the hallways was a clown car filled with the random people who would come piling out at some weird hour to bother him.

So he almost expected it when he was fully dressed in his suit with his tie undone around his neck, ready to leave for work, brushing his teeth in his bathroom at 5:31 a.m., and his peaceful morning routine was abruptly disrupted by someone knocking on his door. What he didn’t expect however, was for the person knocking at his door to be Hyunjin of all people.

Don’t get him wrong. He expected to see Hyunjin around his apartment at some point: During their date, he had given the poor guy his address and apartment number to save in his phone, in the case he ever needed a place to escape to or if he needed help and couldn’t reach anyone else. There were just certain things he said or mannerisms he acted in that waved red flags in his head, that something wasn’t right in his personal life, so he did it hoping to help him.

What he didn’t expect was to see Hyunjin standing at his door at 5:31 a.m. on a Friday morning, with a blossoming bruise on his cheek and a busted lip seeping with budding petals of blood, a streak of it already dried down on his chin that he had tried to wipe away with his dirt-covered and copper-stained sweater.

He was on the verge of tears as a whisper left his broken lip, “Sorrー”

Seungmin lightly grabbed his elbow, tugging him into the apartment before he could finish his sentence. He slammed and locked the door shut behind him.

What the fuck…?

Was the only concealable thought pulsing through Seungmin’s mind as he loosely gripped at his elbow again, dragging the other after him as he walked him through the penthouse. His pride of his affluence, but he could save the gritty details about his opulent living space for another day, when said living space wasn’t about to be bled all over by the scrapes on Hyunjin’s wrists or the manner the barista was shifting his step as he walked. Limping with his ankle loose underneath him. Like that day in the café he exploded at Seungmin, he was bitting hard into his bottom lip to keep the tears built in his eyes from spilling over, an almost rosy tint to his cheeks that Seungmin could only pinpoint to be embarrassment. Shame at his own situation? He could almost feel his own heart breaking at the sentiment.

He hurriedly escorted Hyunjin into his bathroom (At this point he would typically brag about how expensive the pearl marble and black granite theme of this bathroom was, but that didn’t seem necessary at the moment), depositing the kicked puppy of the barista on the closed lid of his toilet seat as if his limbs had gone completely limp and void of their own weighty autonomy. A limp ragdoll moving his command in the absence of the thoughts. In the absence of his mind, wrapped up protected in his own bubble of existence clueless of the world around him. Even if Seungmin felt the teary gaze drilling into his back as he turned around to draw up a hot bath for the other. His voice hardly audible underneath the rushing of the steaming water into the catch of the marble basin, “I’m sorry, I didn’t have anywhere else to goー”

“Don’t stress about it. Use the bath, relax, and scrub the scrapes on your wrists well, try to get any dirty in them out,” He instructed him carefully, trying to keep his words simple and calm enough for the other to still understand him through whatever emotional turmoil he was boiling with. Hyunjin didn’t even dare to look him in the eyes, he watched his hands, but he didn’t do more than continue to scald with that same shame, to burn with the swelling of tears in his eyes. Once the bath was filled up he shut the faucet off. From one of the towel racks, Seungmin grabbed a fresh towel and folded it up, offering the soft fabric to him as he continued to lay out his orders, “I’m going to leave the room now, but I’ll stay nearby if you need me. When you come out, wrap the towel around yourself and knock on the door. I’ll bring you some fresh clothes, then we’ll get you treated and bandaged up. Okay?”

Refusing to budge at first, Hyunjin unstatued from his seat and gingerly plucked the towel out of Seungmin’s hands with a nod. As he stood back up on his shaky legs, Seungmin quietly left the bathroom to allow him his privacy. Shutting the door behind him gently to not startle the one inside.

First things first, he was going to be late for work now. Even if he was able to leave the apartment at his usual time, the chance that he would be staying later into the morning to help Hyunjin was incredibly likely, afterall he still needed to eat breakfast, still needed to pack up his case, still needed to make the hour commute into the government offices. So, first task on his end while he had Hyunjin distracted with taking his bath at least for the next twenty minutes or so, was sending a text to his superior to let them know an emergency was slowing him down that morning. Any other details, was not their business, and they could go fuck themselves.

Next, medical supplies. Bruising. A few cuts. Scrapes. Limping. So, ointment, disinfectant, bandages, and medical tape to wrap up his ankle injury. For the sake of keeping his supplies easy to find in the case that he or anyone else needed to patch up their wounds, he kept all necessary items in a tin box underneath his bed. He wasn’t a professional by any means, he wasn’t a trained nurse, nor a licensed doctor, but he did know a thing or two about stitching blade cuts or stuffing a bullet hole or two, and he did know how to make a tourniquet at this point, so he’d say he would be qualified at “battlefield emergency” type medical situations. A few scrapes or bruises were nothing compared to some of the bullshit Jisung had him doing at times. Seriously. Talk about burdens in his life. Hyunjin wasn’t even an itch on his mind compared to the broken bone Jisung was.

Third, waiting. He chucked off his suit blazer and the tie that had been hung loosely around him, discarding them carelessly as he then sat down on the edge of his mattress with his phone. Quietly checking emails, texts, social media, anything to keep him lightly distracted until he heard Hyunjin knocking on the bathroom door. At that, he rocketed to his closet to grab a few oversized clothes, a t-shirt and some joggers to make his job easier to work on, to slip through the bathroom door for the other to take. Once fully dressed, and slightly shivering from the change in temperature, Seungmin moved him into the bedroom and plopped him down at the edge of his mattress. Diligently, he got to work.

First taking care of the opened wounds. Mainly scrapes it seemed, as if his elbows and his wrists had been grinded against concrete during a fall. The first few layers of his skin shredded off on impact, slightly bloodied still but not as bad as it must’ve been before he washed himself off in the bath. Meticulously, Seungmin put his full attention to dressing those first. Checking there weren’t any pockets of dirt or concrete in the wounds the other missed, he then dividend his attention to layering ointment over the opened spots and covering them up with whatever plasters wouldn’t fall off. There weren’t too many scrapes, as he said, mainly on his arms. Especially underneath his right arm, as if he used it to brace himself from being hurt too badly.

Next, he focused on the bruises. A trickier, perkier situation to deal with, considering you couldn’t slap a plaster on a bruise and call it a day. He had a few of them too; The one on his cheek, he had more lopsided and scattered bruises around the scrapes of his arm (Also, likely, from an impact, but the inflammation was more mild and would heal in a day or two), one on his ribs, and another lower on his stomach, the latter two of which he had to gently coax Hyunjin to lift his shirt a bit to see. All of them in a certain oblong shape, the impact at the center an inflamed scarlet mess that heard him quiet hisses every time Seungmin tried to apply arnica to it (The stuff was magic, seriously!), even if the cream seemed to allow him temporary relief. Not to mention, these bruises couldn’t have been old. They must have been recent. Within the past few hours, they hadn’t begun to transition into that characteristic dark indigo color yet.

What the fuck…!

Who would even do this to him?! During their date, Hyunjin had been such a soft, timid, and quiet person. He was unbelievably tender and gentle with everything his hands touchedー Why would anyone want to cause pain to someone with a heart as loving as his?

“What happened?” Seungmin wiped his hands off from the arnica gel with a sterile wipe he opened for his own use (He was dealing with someone else’s blood after all). He stood back to inspect anything else he missed, watching as Hyunjin pulled the loose shirt down over him again, and realizing he had completely forgotten about the split lip. While the other went quiet, eyes refusing to lift off of his hands loose in his lap, Seungmin plucked the antibiotic ointment up again and placed a dab on his ring finger. Stepping into the other to quietly wipe the wound off, and coat the broken skin on his lip over.

Hyunjin kept tipping his head down and away from Seungmin. His shoulders slumped over, as if the curling in his body could hide him away from anyone seeing him in the state he was in. As if he wanted to bury his face into his hands, as if he wanted to dash for the door and leave before he could be caught, as if he wanted to disappear right then and there without ever having to look up at Seungmin. Despite showing up at his doorstep, it was as if he now regretted ever coming to him. When Seungmin was finished tapping the ointment into his lip, Hyunjin tugged his head and his eyes away from him again, “I fell down my stairs.”

Bullshit.

Was the first response he had, but he bit his tongue before he caused Hyunjin to run away. He’s seen enough fights, he’d thrown enough punches, he knows exactly what those bruises were. He grabbed the muscle tape and the elastic bandage from his medical supplies, kneeling onto his carpet in front of Hyunjin as he gingerly rolled the hem of the joggers back and began to inspect the swollen ankle, “I didn’t know stairs have fists.”

“I fell down the stairs… and landed on my neighbor’s fist,” Hyunjin whispered the excuse. Though he would hardly even call it an excuse, it wasn’t much of one. More as if he wanted to avoid the subject entirely. And a ridiculous excuse such as that would be enough to ward Seungmin off.

“Yeah. Sure, alright, let’s go with that,” Seungmin commented. He was certain he could feel the other’s eyes glancing at the top of his head every few seconds. With every prod he took to inspect his ankle, he’d say. Whenever he tried to feel where exactly the inflammation in the ankle began, he seemed to have bruising along the blade of his foot too. A sprain? Though it seemed more mild. Painful, judging by the hiss of air and the flinch from the barista attempting to pull his foot away. Propping his ankle up on the table of his bent leg, Seungmin got to work on taping up the sprained ankle, “Who was the neighbor? A friend?”

“No…”

“Family?”

“I don’t live close to them anymore.”

“A boyfrieー”

“No!” Hyunjin interrupted him. The near-shout from the usually meek barista startling Seungmin, attention immediately shooting from the half finished ankle up to the one above him. After his eyes locked with the other’s wide ones, Hyunjin recoiled. A sudden color that flushed along his cheeks as he turned his head away once more, his hands in his lap starting to fiddle together. Twisting at the skin on his index finger as his eyes scrunched down. If you asked Seungmin, he looked like he was attempting to consider his next words carefully, “What I meant to say is, that, I don’t have one. You and I went on that date, after all, and, I really liked it, so… So… No… It’s not… I justー”

But those motions, the light sparkle on his features at the mention of their first date on Tuesday, they vanished the longer Hyunjin stared off. The longer his iris’s reflected the rising sun filtering through the transparent windows of Seungmin’s high rise, where the early-morning fog of that autumn day hazed between skyscrapers in the skyline: That sunrise had looked more gray outside of that window than it usually did. Seungmin had only wished Hyunjin came to his apartment on another day. Maybe then he could’ve seen the burnished break of day differently.

Seungmin watched him for a few beats. Allowing quiet breaths to collapse his lungs and the livid dust of dawn slate a somber expression on the other’s dropping body. No longer able to withhold himself up with the same lifted exterior, if he had any to begin with. At times, he doubted it. He doubted it for himself more often than not too. Days in this time of year were often too clouded and drab for him to like. He drew his attention back to the tape. Moving on to lightly wrapping up his ankle with the elastic bandage for a lighter hold, “Is it anything I could help you with?”

“No… It’s just… A few years ago, I met some bad people, and I stupidly took a loan from them. I owe them back now. That’s all,” The barista tucked his head down. He stared at his hands in his lap as they came to still against one another. Palm pressed to palm, as if his wrists were chained and bound together by hands neither of them could see or rip away from. He could’ve sworn that his eyes filled up with tears once more, or that he inhaled a deeper breath than he normally did, but Hyunjin kept his head too hung to truly make out the difference, “Sometimes I get a few punches thrown at me. But, I’m paying the money back. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Loan sharks? That’s the situation?

Seungmin finished with wrapping up the bandage. On knees that cramped up from being bent in an uncomfortable position for so long, he gently rolled the leg of the joggers down and stood from the floor. The achenes in his joints long fallen asleep from their pinched nerves sending him to plop down on the mattress beside him, “Well, how much do you owe? I can lend you whatever you need.”

“I’d rather not borrow any more money. That’s what got me into this situation in the first place,” The barista finally unfurled from his slouched position. Finally lifting his head a bit as his thumb began to rub over the back of his own hand in an idle motion, finally addressing Seungmin beside him with a weak smile, “But thank you.”

He couldn’t help the frown that pulled his lips down, “Then, if they show up to threaten you, call meー”

Hyunjin softly cupped the sides of his face, bringing him closer to press a peck into his cheek. Hardly lasting more than a second or two, yet long enough, tender enough that Seungmin’s heart melted against his hands. If he was there on any other day, if this had been under another sunrise, without the split in his lip he felt pressing onto his skin, without the plasters of bandages on his wrists and the stale scent of disinfectant from the other’s wounds, without the tightness in his tone suffocating around his words, he might have melted a little more. He might have caught him back. He might have wished for a kiss against lips rather than a peck on his cheek.

He might have wished for something else, something more, but didn’t. He didn’t dare to. He didn’t want to. All he did, all he dared to do, all he wanted to do, was softly allow the other to inch closer to him; Allowed Hyunjin to make what moves he wanted, what he wished for, what he dared to do. Allowed for Hyunjin to drop his hands from Seungmin’s face to cup his neck, allowed for the barista to knock his forehead into his own hands. Even if the wavy patterns of his black hair tickled the bottom of his chin, feathering into his lip as that strangled voice told him, “I couldn’t… Those men, they’re… They’re so, very dangerous, Min.”

On his neck, his warm fingers were the softest thing he had ever felt. A sweltering warmth radiated off of the barista too, balmy comfort that fit snugly against him on that ashen morning. Delicate in his touch yet frail in his skin. He couldn’t touch Hyunjin. No, he couldn’t. He didn’t dare to. Fearful that his own calloused hands, stained with blood and gunpowder, would break the other apart in an instant. Sure, he could lightly hold onto his shoulder, he could rub circles with his thumb into the sleeve of his shirt, but he could never truly touch him.

“It’s my problem. I’ll handle it. But. Thank you. It means a lot you’d try to help me. And thank you for the bandages, and cleaning up the scrapes,” Reluctantly, Hyunjin lifted his head up once more. However, he didn’t move away. If anything, he seemed to move himself closer to Seungmin, until their noses were nearly brushing against one another, “I’m very grateful for your help. Really, I am. So, is there anything I could do to… You know?”

Not entirely sure what he was trying to do, Seungmin stayed perfectly still when the barista’s eyes hooded ever so slightly, and his hands moved off of his neck.

Instead slowly dragging down his collar, his chest, and laying themselves on his stomach instead.

“To… Repay you?”

“Yeah. There is,” Seungmin peeled the other’s hands off of him and stood up from the bed. He swiftly grabbed the medical supplies, his jacket and his tie from where he chucked them on the opposite side of the mattress, “Sleep it off. You can use my bed.”

Hyunjin blinked at his empty hands, then at him, “Oh… Alright. Okay.”

He gave the barista a thumbs up and ditched him in the bedroom.

To be fair, he’s not an idiot, and he’s not oblivious, and he knew exactly what Hyunjin was attempting to insinuate, but let’s think critically for a moment. One; The guy showed up on his doorstep bruised, battered, nearly crying, he’s probably not in the best state of mind and he’d basically be taking advantage of his mental state. Two; He had injuries and bruises on him, doing anything would probably end up hurting him or straining any other internal injuries that aren’t visible. Three; He only said he would be late to work, that meant he still had to go into work, which meant his superior would be waiting for him to arrive at work, and he would be interrogated why he was late at work, and truly, he didn’t want to make his situation worse for himself if he was more than an hour displaced.

So, with Hyunjin cared for and safely secured in his bedroom, Seungmin got back to his morning routine. He slipped his suit and tie back on, actually doing the tie into the knot it was supposed to be. Went to the bathroom. Put the medical supplies away somewhere to remember later. Washed his hands off, well. Just in case. Washed his face off to clear his mind (And got his collar and sleeves wet. It would dry eventually anyway, it didn’t matter). Went to the kitchen. Found the pancakes he had meant to finish for breakfast today, reheated them and left them covered on the counter of his kitchen, grabbing only an apple for himself to chew on. Grabbed his laptop case and slung it over his shoulder.

By the time he returned to his room to tell Hyunjin he was leaving, the barista had already crawled under his sheets and was fast asleep. Obviously. Whatever really happened, he had a rough night. So Seungmin grabbed a sheet of paper from his notepad, ripping it off to leave a note for him to wake up to.

I had to go into work, I tried to tell you but you were too knocked out. Pancakes are under a plate in the kitchen. Use whatever you want in the fridge.

There’s an unopened bottle of water in the second drawer to the right. Painkillers are in the left nightstand drawer if you need it. I left the arnica cream for your bruises there too, take it with you. It’ll help reduce the inflammation.

Take a bath if you want to, you can use any clothes that fit you, don’t worry about returning them. Take a backpack or something if you need to carry your old clothes back, but don’t go out in them.

Feel free to stay. I’ll be back around 5p.m. if you do. If you have somewhere to be, press the lock button on the front door’s pin pad.

Be smart. Don’t make an impulsive choice.
– Seungmin (  •̀ – •́  )

By time he returned home that evening, Hyunjin had slipped into his clothes from the morning against his advice and left the apartment. The bottle of water he had mentioned emptied. The plate of pancakes he had left devoured. The painkillers were left on the nightstand instead of put away too, and the arnica cream was gone.. There were still droplets of water and traces of steam fogging up the mirror in his bathroom, so he couldn’t have left to long before Seungmin himself returned. Aside from those hints, the rest of his apartment had been untouched. As if Hyunjin hadn’t turned up at all. As if he had left without another address of that night.

Or, he thought so. Until he went to collect the piece of paper he left his note on and realized there was another chunk of unfamiliar handwriting scrawled in the bottom corner:

I wanted to stay, but I have a class to get to. Thank you for the pancakes, water, and the painkillers. Sorry to trouble you again

Are you free on Sunday? Text me when you have the chance. Let’s go out again! I’ll repay you for helping me ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ Ë‚ )⸝♡

·Hyunjin ᥫ᭡.

“Cute,” Seungmin murmured underneath his breath.

He snapped a picture of the note with his phone, reviewing the photo once before he went to the familiar contact to send him a message. First to check up on how he was feeling now,

Second, to see if that offer for a second date was redeemable.

▄︻デ ══━一ᝰ.ᐟˎˊ˗

Hmmmmm 🤔🤔