unhealthy - 2jae

ten - tuan

but he makes me forget about it

"Youngjae-ah, you took a longer break than usual. Is your health doing okay?"

"I'm fine, hyung. I just needed time to... think."

I smile at him. "Good. It's nice to see you here."

The younger makes a weaker smile in return.  He doesn't look as fine as he promises he is.

"Um, hyung? Can I ask you something about health issues?" he asks. He looks uneasy.

"Of course," I nod, "What is it?" It must be something important or at least something he's secretive about, since he peers around the room to see if anyone can hear us.

"I looked it up on the internet often..." he begins. His hands are in his lap and they're fidgeting. ...Why are they gloved? "I think I have mysophobia."

Mysophobia. That makes me stop and think a little bit.

"If you have mysophobia, Youngjae, why are you working at a hospital?" I ask him. It's the first question that pops up in my head. He chews on his bottom lip.

"That's the question I asked myself, too. I didn't want to work at a regular place because I was scared of the germs everyone working there could have. Hospitals are strict on hygiene, right? That's why I thought I could work at one instead. Then I realized what hospitals are for in the first place. It became a dilemma for me..." He's looking around the room with his eyes in anxiousness while he's talking. When he finishes, though, he glances up to me, and it looks like a plea for help.

"What did you do after I took your hand that time?"

"We were already in a restroom so I washed my hands again..." he admits quietly. "But, the thing is, hyung."

I look at him with an eyebrow raised.

"There's someone I'm not afraid to touch or have them touch me. He-"

"Im Jaebum," I finish his sentence for him. I could already tell when he mentioned it. "I saw you two walking in the hallway the other day."

"Uh huh," Youngjae murmurs with a tiny blush forming on his cheeks. "Oh, that reminds me, I should go see him."

I stop him before he goes any further. "Jaebum was released yesterday night. He went back to his home, since it apparently is close from here. None of his friends or family came to see him in the end. We tried calling his relatives, but none of them answered."

Youngjae sure did look confused at this. I expected that he wouldn't hear about it until someone told him. "I wanted to talk to him today..."

Mhm. I thought you'd say that, Choi Youngjae. I slide him a small piece of paper with some numbers on it.

"This is Jaebum's cell phone number. I thought you'd want it to text him or something," I tell him with a smile. He takes the paper, reads it, and thanks me quickly. He's already taking out his cell phone and entering the number.

Just then, my phone rings as well. I look at the screen and laugh softly. I stand up from my cushiony chair and take my phone with me, waving a hand at Youngjae.

"Sorry, I have to take this call. It's my boyfriend."

...

Jaebum-hyung?

hello?

who is this?

it's youngjae, hyung

...

are you another one of his boyfriends?

excuse me?

where's jaebum?

...

dead

???

chill, he's just sleeping

oh

who are you?

...

jinyoung

oh.

are you his friend?

...

his ex

why do you have his phone

he crashed at my place

...

came to me screaming about this guy

that he really likes

...

why was he screaming?

he's said he's afraid

of what?

...

of himself

"i remembered something" is what he told me

he's waking up

i'm gonna go kick him out of my house.

wait, don't

he just got out of the hospital

he has his own house

i'm not his mom

can you tell him that i want to talk to him?

...

sure

hey. do you know a guy named choi?

uh

i think so

tell him to be careful

i think jaebum wants to fuck him.