[BL] Checkmate: side story

"Cheers!"

The sound of glasses clinking against each other mixed in with the slow jazz music in the bar. Before he could raise the glass to his mouth, Hyunwoo's phone started to ring. He raised a brow at the unknown number, and though sceptical, he picked up. "Hello? ….What? I'll be right there." From a single phone call, he felt his world stop for a moment.

"Where are you--" Kei asked as he suddenly rushed out of the room, "oh, and he's gone."

"Leave him be, it's probably Kang Seojun." Haneul said.

"I don't get it. What's with you two and Kang Seojun?"

"What do you mean us two?"

"Did you think I wouldn't find out about your meeting with K company?"

"Ah... tch, I bet Lu told you," she crossed her legs after setting her glass down on the table then grinned at Kei, "what about you? Why have you been messaging him so much?"

"...Mii snitched, didn't he?"

-

In the still eerie room, a glow emitted from Kang Jia's eyes when she reluctantly opened them. Her hands moved by themselves and stopped at a short distance from Seojun's wound. Knelt down besides her older brother, her eyes shined weakly behind the curtain of tears. Though barely noticeable, there was a light green like healing aura from her hand that fed into the wound on the side of Seojun's head. 

Kang Jia had gained her ability.

Her head quickly turned as rapid footsteps approached. Jia felt the power she had in her hands waver before slipping away as she saw Seungcheol and Hyunwoo who hurried by her side. Hyunwoo lifted Seojun's head gently. The painful thud coming from his heart was drowned out by a sharp ringing in his ear as his hands tightly gripped onto Seojun's lifeless body. He felt like he was being suffocated but he had to do something, all three of them were relying on him in that moment. He was relying on him. 

He suddenly turned to Jia. 

"I need your help."

She looked at him unsurely.

"Whenever you're ready, pretend Seojun's body is like those anatomies you see in textbooks, focus on the blood vessels. Can you do that?"

Jia nodded.

"Good, then you should be able to see a red dot, more obvious than the others, try to do what you did earlier and focus all your energy in that spot. Seungcheol, I need you to get a first aid kit, we'll need to bandage him up before taking him to the hospital." 

Through a cooperative group effort masking each of their hearts' uncertainty, they managed to minimise the bleeding and transport Seojun into the car. 

"I'll take him to EO hospital—"

"No, you can't!" Jia blurted out almost instinctively but quickly slapped her hand over her mouth as she realised what she had said.

"The doctors won't treat him... It's owned by our family and..." Seungcheol trailed off, leaving his explanation incomplete.

Hyunwoo went quiet for a second, contemplating about what to do next. He looked at the two before asking, "do you two want to stay here or come with us?" In that kind of situation, his tone was calm and gentle when speaking to them so they could feel there was at least some bit of hope. If he could get that across to them, he could believe it himself too.

Seungcheol quickly stopped Jia before she could answer. He shook his head at her before turning to Hyunwoo, "we'll stay here. Please let us know when he wakes up."

Hyunwoo gave them a reassuring nod.

"Wait, where are you taking him?" Jia asked as he opened the door to the driver's side.

"To the hospital in district 4, don't worry, I'll make sure he gets treated."

-

"Let's go then."

"Erm, Mum and Dad are back."

The sound of metal utensils echoed through the spacious dining room, it was the only sound produced by all five family members. The rare family dinner was tense as each knew the reason behind the occasion. His father finally placed his fork down and pushed his chair back before gesturing at Seojun to follow him.

So he did. 

"I heard you're taking a semester off. Withdraw your application."

"No."

He turned to Seojun, "tell me, is what your professor said true? You're doing this because you're unsure of your future?"

Seojun nodded. Before he could proper raise his head back up, he felt the back of a palm drag across the side of his cheek, causing a sting immediately as it broke contact.

"Do you not recognise how bad that makes us look? Your future?"

"I'm not withdrawing the application," Seojun said bluntly. He could feel the side of his face getting redder but knew that wouldn't be the only penalty if he didn't do what his father said.

Oww... Seojun wrapped his hand around his arm, careful not to put too much pressure on the area that he knew was going to develop into a bruise. Wincing as he pressed the cold towel down, he jolted at the sound of his phone ringing. 

"Ugh.." Seojun groaned uncomfortably, stumbling his way out of the bathroom to grab his phone as one arm swung, almost numb from the pain.

"Still down to celebrate?"

That call was a way out of the house. It was a simple reason but that was why he said yes.

As the end of the movie rolled, he mindlessly replied to Hyunwoo's questions that raised out of nowhere. 

"Want to do it with me?"

It was absurd. There's no way someone would ask a person they hardly know something like that, right? 

…

Still. It was a way to escape. His escape. From the 20 years of following a strict and detailed plan made by someone else. It was finally something that was up to him. This was his decision to make.

Seojun leaned in to him, their foreheads clashing as his eyes looked up to Hyunwoo's that had a splash of red on it's usual black background. The side of his lips curled up as he muttered a reply.

"Show me what you got."

Seojun's eyes squinted open from the pain on the side of his head that quickly overtook all other senses. He slowly glanced around the foreign surrounding and tried to lift himself up but realised he couldn't move at all. Giving up, he sighed as he stared at the ceiling of the brightly lit hospital room. 

Why did I dream about that..?

His eyes glanced to the side as he heard talking in the halls. The door to the room slid open gently as Hyunwoo smiled at someone.

"Thanks, I owe you one." Hyunwoo waved before turning to see Seojun, his mouth opened for a moment before he rushed over to the hospital bed, but once by his side, he froze, not knowing what he should do. The only thing he thought to ask was if Seojun was feeling alright. Seojun gave a disoriented nod as he stared at him before speaking in a weak voice.

"Where are we?"

For some reason, his innocent question was filled was anxiety. 

"Don't worry, it's not one of your family's hospitals." Hyunwoo replied in a soft voice. As he watched the slight nod from Seojun, his heart ached in recognition of the hopelessness and despondency in his eyes. Seeing the person you love like that was a true form of torture.

"Seojun, do you want my answer?" The decision he had made that didn't count as in the heat of the moment nor was it one readily chosen came from the fear that he almost lost him. It was from that that he knew, he didn't need to wait for a special moment or for the timing to be right to confess, as long as his feelings were conveyed to Kang Seojun, his answer will hold the significance it deserves.

"Huh?"

"To what you asked before. If I liked you, or the idea of you."

"..." No. I don't know If I want to hear it.

He crouched down besides the bed, holding Seojun's hands in his, tracing his knuckles with the tip of his thumb. "I'll be honest, at first it was definitely the idea of you. The you at the airport six years ago, and the you I met on your first day that resembled him so well. Then it was the you I got to know slowly, whose first impression was aggressive and rude, then naïve and reliable and kind, and most importantly strong. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised I didn't want you to be a certain way. I wanted to find you to get to know you." Hyunwoo looked up at him, in his dull black iris, there wasn't the usual contamination of redness but a reflection of Seojun's feelings; the glow from the hope he had given him. "Kang Seojun, I've waited all this time to love you, not a fantasy."

The words he had never expected to hear, the sincerity and loyalty offered to him by Hyunwoo, if anything could keep Kang Seojun going, it might be this. His lips parted just as the door opened again. 

"How are we feeling?" The doctor asked. 

"Ah... I'm fine," Seojun replied.

"That's good, let us know if you need anything. Hyunwoo, we need you to sign a few things." 

"Ah, yeah, I'll be back," Hyunwoo stood up, squeezing Seojun's hands before letting go. 

Looking over the last few documents, Hyunwoo paused as the doctor asked something.

"How have you been then?" 

He turned to him in surprise and blinked a few times then smiled. Was this the consequence of not seeing a friend for a few years? No matter how close you were, a reunion starting with the usual 'how have things been' question is inevitable. 

"Are we seriously going to have that kind of conversation?"

The doctor chuckled as he looked at Hyunwoo pitifully before quickly looking away and shaking his head. "You're right, sorry." 

After a small chat, they went their separate ways as Hyunwoo headed back to Seojun's room. The latter was now sat up on the bed, staring mindlessly at the wall even as he heard Hyunwoo walk towards him. 

"You'll need to stay here for a few days so they can keep an eye on the injury."

"...Mm." 

Hyunwoo paused as he realised something. "Seojun, you're not thinking of going back there, are you?"

"...I have to."

"You don't--"

Seojun shook his head before he could say anything else. "I need to be there so the other two don't have to go through this." There was no reason Hyunwoo could give that would outweigh the importance of his siblings' safety.

Kim Hyunwoo went quiet. He understood the reasoning well so he couldn't argue with him.

You were always there whenever I hit a slump, whether you know it or not it doesn't matter, I just want to do the same for you. So if this is how you need things to be, I can accept it as long as I'm by your side.

Hyunwoo pressed his lips together then pulled over a chair and sat down. He let out a sigh then suddenly stood up, pulling the bedsheet off of Seojun.

"Huh? Wait, what are you doing?" 

"I'm staying here tonight."

"What?" 

He suddenly lifted Seojun up and plopped him down flat, creating a slight space on the edge of the bed as the latter continued to look at him, confused. The sounds of rustling and creaking came to an end as he finally shuffled in besides him. With them facing each other side by side again, a strong sense of deja vu arose. 

The stubborn look on his face resembled that of a child, so much so that Seojun ended up giving a small laugh before even attempting to change his mind. Being met with an approving smile, Hyunwoo looked away abashed. In the small space, their bodies pressed against each others intimately as they shared the warmth. With Kang Seojun's face so close to his, Hyunwoo couldn't deny the extreme nervousness he was feeling. A part of him knew why he had suddenly became so weak to him because he had revealed everything he felt and there was no part of him that Kang Seojun didn't know anymore.

"Hyunwoo, are you sure you like me?"

He turned back to Seojun with his eyebrows raised, "huh? Where is this coming from all of a sudden?"

"Well, I mean you said I had a nasty personality and called me a rude brat when we met again." Seojun said in a light tone.

"In my defence you were definitely being rude that day!"

"And you punched me."

Hyunwoo gulped guiltily, "yeah.. That was uncalled for, sorry."

"Oh whatever. I'm too tired to care about something that small now anyway." Seojun turned onto his back and leaned his head back, getting more comfortable as he took a deep breath.

"It's not small, you have a right to be upset," Hyunwoo mumbled, "shall we go to sleep?"

"No, I want to talk for a bit."

As the clock ticked away, their conversation slowly drifted from proper responses to sleepy hums of acknowledgement until Seojun eventually fell asleep. It was odd. Hyunwoo had learnt more about him in the hours they spent talking than in the months they knew each other. Things like who the senior they saw the other day was, how Seojun still likes the sound of the electric guitar but hated learning it, what movies and shows he liked, although most of them were because he was pressured into watching it by his siblings. In fact, majority of the conversation were memories of any time he spent with Seungcheol and Jia. And with all that, Hyunwoo knew he was right about something; he wanted to get to know Seojun because he knew he would love him. There were no expectations because he couldn't disappoint him.

Hyunwoo carefully sat up and left the room, making no noise even after he had closed the door behind him. He sat down on a bench in the corridor and pulled out his phone to call Haneul.

"Hey." 

"I know about your meeting with K company."

Uh oh.

"Listen, it's not what you think, I swear this has nothing to do with Kang Seojun. I won't tell them anything about him, I promise!" She said in a panicked tone.

"Huh? Oh right, yeah no, I was wondering if you could do something about that."

"Huh? Hmm... Sure, what is it?"