ˋ❖ Creature Clinic

@✞ eunki h。 /when you turn it around and say if it were swapped i would also try to help as you are, i know i can't argue with that and it makes me glance away, still not wanting you to do more than you already want to
/as the mention of the man is brought up, i realise for sure now you didn't see what i did to him and i wonder if i should tell you or not
/instead i find myself sliding on my shoes and muttering under my breath that he's well on his way to being greeted in the gated of hell
/picking up my jacket i hold it under my arm, not thinking i can stretch much to put it on as my shirt was painful enough, looking back at you now and i immediately move closer
... you're exhausted
/sighs the words to myself, realising i wasn't careful enough with looking after you and i give a small nod of my head, draping one of your arms over my shoulder
hold onto me
/leaving no room for argument i walk with you quietly, signing out at the front desk and paying for the bills before i continue out with you
/wincing at the cold air for once, i actually ache for the warmth despite how it makes any and all pain more obvious, though i'm more concerned about you
we'll get you home right away
you can rest as soon as we're there. you need it.. especially after what you did today for me
/gives you a small smile, one that says i'm sure we'll be fine and get through this together, bruises, scars and all
come on
/whispers softly to you before we begin on our way home again, smiling to myself as i think how lucky i am to have you at the end of it all

@✞ yunho j。 I-- my love...
/seeing you need the extra support of the bed and your gaze fall to my stomach I self-consciously bring a hand to my waist, a small shake of my head causing my hair to fall across my eyes/
It's not... it's not anything like that.
And it did prove that, not that you needed to prove it, but please...
/there's some small part of me that wants to ask you not to shield me, to stop treating me as if I'm not considering the consequences of my actions or my suggestions/
My love, it's not that your happiness is my only goal...
But we are a family... and I'm not running myself into the ground to take care of you and make sure the children are taken care of.
I know that if our positions were traded and I was the one who was hurt, you would find a way to take care of me, would you not?
/the mention of home is reason enough to keep quiet for a moment and I lift my hands, palms gently cupping your cheeks though I apply so little pressure that it almost seems as thought I'm worried of crushing a fragile treasure when I see the marks on your face from the rough treatment you received/
I only hope that monster gets what he deserves.
/my hands carefully slip from you and I gently pull at the collar of the borrowed sweater, trying to draw it up toward my jaw as if to hide myself in it, needing the comfort now more than moments ago; feeling my knees grow weak, I take a step away, coming near the door to place a hand on the wall and hold myself up when I only just begin to realize just how drained I really feel, though I attempt to play it off as opening the door for you and I glance over my shoulder with a small smile as I do/
Shall we... ?

@✞ eunki h。 mnh... let's hope mei doesn't mind seeing it though. same with the other children
/murmurs as i hover my fingers over my stitches, curling my hand away from the wound soon afterwards as i have no want to touch them
i know- i know you love the children. i know you love me... however, you already do so much and you know we don't have much. i can't ask you to give even more
/sighs softly to myself once more, struggling with my clothing but listening to you when you begin talking again, wincing when i move a little too quick for my own good
i don't want what's yours, eunki. not that anyway
/shakes my head, beginning to button up my shirt as well before i struggle last with my pants, zipping them up before i glance back at you once more
/taking a seat back on the bed, needing the support when you mention a child, i look from your face to your stomach and then back to your face
eunki. are you trying to tell me something right now?
/inhaling deeply i sigh softly to myself once more, pushing myself back up and running a hand through my hair, looking at the floor as i speak
you know i love children, you know i do-
if tonight proved anything it was that. but eunki you need to realise that you can't live your life with your one goal to make me happy
i appreciate you trying to do that, its sweet- really... but you're going to run yourself right down into the ground because of this
/lifting my gaze once more i look into your eyes this time, looking tired to say the least as i meet your gaze, just watching you for a moment
/moving a little closer i brush the back of my hand against your cheek, biding my time before i exhale my next few words
i'm already yours. you don't need a child to prove that
now let's go home and sort things out there, okay?

@✞ yunho j。 /though there's a part of me that's stubborn enough to argue, I opt against the first words that want to leave my mouth and instead, with my eyes turned toward your hand and to the tattoo just inside your wrist that I think to ask about later, I speak softly/
If I get hurt, then I bear a little of your burden with you.
/at the mention of another scar, I lift my head, eyes traveling to the fresh stitches and my smile serene/
There's character in your scars, my love.
I think I'll admire that one even more, seeing as you got it trying to make things right for Mei...
/when the nurse enters the room I stay quiet, not wishing to interfere and instead letting myself fall quiet for just a moment, only soothed by your voice when you speak to her; while I wouldn't jump in to help you in dressing, not wishing to emasculate you, it's when you mention the children that I'm left shaking my head again/
You wouldn't be making me help you more.
This is our family you're talking about, and when you're injured I'll make up for the extra weight you can't carry.
That's what families do... real families, that love each other.
/the thought forces me to lean back, my free hand rising to brush at the inner corners of my eyes as I fall quiet once again, and a soft sigh leaves my lips as I try to push back the emotion just managing to wet my lashes/
Perhaps it's not a perfect family, but I love you, my Yunho, and you have to know that I would do anything for you.
If I could, tonight, I would give you everything I have and I wouldn't bat an eye because it's ours.
/whether out of those little anxious tremors, or just the thought that I could have lost you this evening without ever really knowing why, my voice rushes on and words spring to life that I can't stop as foolish and perhaps even childish as I know they must sound even as I begin to stumble to my conclusion/
I would even find a way to give you a child if that's what you want and it's not because you've made me do anything but because I love you and I only want for you to be safe, and happy, and and-- and-- and mine...

@✞ eunki h。 no-
/frowning i shake my head once more, regretting how it makes my body ache and i end up sighing once more, enjoying how you lean against me and i look down at you
i don't want you anywhere near those things... not that they happen often- but i just don't want you to be there. what if you had gotten hurt?
/the thought alone is enough to make my own heart monitor go up a little bit more, trying to bring it back down to my slower than usual tempo though
/brushing it off in favour of your question about if i can come home i perk up just a little, my mind foggy but i'm able to remember what i need to
actually i can come home tonight. i'm waiting for the nurse to come round and confirm that but also get me out of these cables then we can go home
i'll need to come back for another x-ray in a few weeks to make sure the bone has set back into place properly but that's it. these stitches dissolve on their own too
/lifts my hand to pint at the stitches on my forehead, giving you another small smile before i return my hand back to your own comfortable
more scars, huh?
not like they'd be out of place...
/mumbles more to myself, eyes downcast before i frown and then look back at you, giving you another small smile as i do so
/hears someone come in, finding its the nurse and i smile a little at her, hearing her say i can leave but yes i need to come back to double check everything is alright
/leaving me with my clothes i thank the woman, knowing the blood stains and whatever else on my clothing isn't going to be nice to change back into but i have no other choice
i'll wash up as soon as i get in
/muses as i slowly try to begin dressing myself, asking you for a moment as i still try to be independent despite everything, wincing as the painkillers are also slowly beginning to wear off too
as for the children... i'll have to see if i can call in some favours
i can't make you help me even more. its not fair on you and you have your job

@✞ yunho j。 /your words cause me to lift my head, surprised to hear that you aren't afraid of my form, all but the little pin pricks of horns at my hair line that might rival the nubs of a goat kid save for their sharp points having receded back into a very human presence; anyone else, I'm certain, would be afraid to see that, so it's some comfort that you aren't, but I'm left shaking my head when you mention not wanting to involve me/
I want you to, Yunho.
You're my Yunho, and I'm your Eunki. If you're going into danger I want to be beside you.
/with our fingers carefully laced together, my own cautious of disturbing anything medical in the process, I let my thumb brush against the side of your hand, savoring such a simple, small connection after this evening; when you squeeze my hand, asking if I've been hurt, I give a small shake of my head/
I'm fine. Not a scratch on me.
/the shift, particularly back to this form, has deprived me of energy and I can feel it in the shallowness of my breathing, but outwardly there's no injury that would need medical attention; I summon a small, faint smile to my lips and shift closer to the side of your bed, my knees pressed to the side to let me get a little closer and gently press my cheek against your forearm, as if to let you feel my warmth/
See? Your spring time, healthy, unharmed, and almost completely back to... normal.
I'm more worried about you, my love. Did they tell you when you'll be able to come home?
/there's a hint of anxiety that makes my mouth run, unable to stop myself from speaking a little too much because the sound of the medical equipment makes my stomach turn while I sit beside your bed/
I'll make sure to stay with you while you're recuperating.
I-I could probably even get a few hours off of work a week so I can spend more time with you and the children.
I'll do as much as I can around the house so you'll barely have to lift a finger.

@✞ eunki h。 /hearing you return my call of your name i sigh softly in return, relieved to hear you and for a moment i can forget about the fatigue sinking into my bones, the aftermath of the drugs making me want to just sleep
/i feel you before i see you, my fingers twitching slightly when you sit beside the bed and find my hand, the warmth of your hand against my even cooler flesh letting me know this is real, i'm awake
/your fingertips brushing over the inside of my wrist makes me smile just a little bit, wondering what you're staring but but i don't have the will to lift my head and look
/the way you speak so softly it makes me wonder if perhaps you're frightened of how i might react to what your true form is, looking into your eyes as you finally meet my own but ask me how i am
/itching to reassure you, i find myself putting my answer to your question on hold for now, blurting the words out but not without a shred less of confidence and conviction
i'm not afraid-
i'm not afraid of you, eunki... what you turned into- that's still you. still my eunki, my spring time
/slotting my fingers gently between your own, careful of the cannula in my hand, i squeeze softly before i sigh in content, brushing my thumb lovingly over the back of your hand still
when mei told me finally not only what happened but who- i had to go. i had to find him. and i'm sorry it brought such a mess in the wake of it all too
i never meant to involve you
/my heartbeat slow, alarmingly slow if it were anyone else, it reminds me that despite that, these injuries prove i'm still so easily harmed though i feel the greatest wound of all is how i couldn't stop what happened to mei
/remembering how i killed the man, someone like me who wouldn't harm a fly, i remember the oily darkness inside of me that hides there, knowing its there but so scared to confront it
/turning my face away quietly i shake my head this time, wondering how you would feel about me then as you always seem to see me as someone so kind, selfless and almost pure
eunki-
/turning my head back to look at you, i get caught up looking at your features, smiling just a little to myself before i give your hand one more squeeze
how do you feel? you didn't get injured at all?

@✞ yunho j。 /once we reach the hospital, things seem to move in a blur for me, taking care of your needs first, answering the questions of the hospital staff to the best of my ability until they need nothing more from me and I'm left with the sight of you disappearing through the hospital doors on a gurney; when I'm left alone I find the nearest bathroom off the waiting room, placing my hands into the sink I rub at my fingers, dried blood flaking off in tiny flecks that dot the bowl of the sink in a ruddy, speckled pattern; when I turn on the faucet to wash my hands, the blood is slow to run down the drain, more like a toxic sludge than lifeblood; my eyes fall shut so I won't have to confront my face in the mirror, looking drawn and pallid and my hair left a mess; running my wet hands through my hair, I leave the bathroom only to pace the empty waiting room until they finally let me through to see you, your condition stable; the first words that leave me when I enter your room are half of a prayer, words that rarely find a place on my tongue/
Yunho...
/the soft whisper is meant to gauge if you're conscious, and when you say my name I quietly pull a chair up to your bed side; taking a seat, I gently reach for your hand, taking it in my own, my eyes falling to the intricacies of a tattoo I had seen but never quite paid attention to when most often we were in the midst of making love; the pad of my thumb carefully brushes over the shape of an eye at the center, your pulse cool, slow, but present beneath my touch as I sit by your side needing to speak before I can listen/
I love you so much... I don't know what I would do without you, you know.
You scared me. I didn't mean to act out like that, but I... I would do anything for you...
/my words are soft, barely a whisper beneath the beep and hum of the medical sensors and equipment while I sit by your bedside, my eyes slowly rising from the ink on your skin, something foreign to me regardless of its presence on you, and come to meet your own gaze a moment later/
How do you feel, my love... ?

@✞ eunki h。 /looks at you from the corner of my eye when you murmur about you being sorry, frowning at that and wondering why you'd even feel as such at all
last time i checked, you weren't the one to break my ribs or punch me down to the ground
/murmurs as i try lighten the mood, figuring it probably failed though considering the look on your face and the way your feet drag along behind you
i'm sorry... i should have told you but i-
i didn't...
i couldn't-
/still walking with you its a slow and arduous journey to the hospital but when we finally reach it together i sigh in relief, letting you call for help
/whilst you talk to them and i'm laid on a gurney, i notice how you didn't seem to notice my final act in the club, thinking its best it stay that way too, a darkness only i have to carry the burden of
i'll be fine
/promises you before i'm wheeled off to an emergency room, my hand reluctantly leaving your own as a nurse comes over an asks you your relation to me
/the sight of me disappearing behind double doors can't be nice for you to see but its the last sight you get, for a while at least
/an hour, maybe two later and a doctor comes through, telling you there was some internal bleeding and indeed a broken rib among other injuries of a minor nature though they're worried the blows to my head might affect my mind at some point
/she tells you you can go through to see me with a nurse to guide you, showing you the room and leaving you with me in peace as i seem tired from the drugs, voice groggy and rough as i slowly open my eyelids when i sense someone else here
eunki...?

@❀ hyunjin h。 [what a mood]

jiwoo held his hand, they were soft and dainty, fragile like a child's, jiwoo's farm hands were rougher than this so-called blacksmith apprentice's was and that was honestly totally bull. she made a close inspection at his hand, the wound had actually closed itself and left behind a burn, but seeing that this was a fire fairy or something from his charts, i'm on mobile at work rn lol i'll check later, it didn't seem to hurt him as badly as it should have. cool, she didn't have to do much.

jiwoo shook her head at him with a sweet, wide smile. "it actually looks okay from up close!" she reassured, but still, his hand looked a little gnarly from the cut and burn. she wrote a few notes on her clipboard, recommending a doctor to prescribe him a burn cream because she technically cannot prescribe anything as a student by herself, and then wrote down a couple other things before looking up at him with a cheery grin, "I have to get a couple things, I'll be just right back, okay?" and shuffled out of the room like a waddling penguin to get permission from a doctor to prescribe, treat, and handle hyunjin.

after a couple minutes, she was back, her head poking into the room with a big sneaky that waited until she made eye contact with hyunjin to actually enter the room with a buttload of supplies and a tetanus shot that she was instructed to do very very carefully. "did you wait long?" she asked with a teasing grin and bounced around with her cotton and tongs dipped in a disinfectant, cheerfully prepping to treat this poor boy. "since your wound doesn't look so bad, we're just going to clean it up and prescribe you a cream so that it heals over properly and doesn't get infected!" she cheered cheerfully as she cheered and I have a small vocabulary okay okno- "come back to check in with us in a couple weeks, okay?"

jiwoo held his hand once again and held it so his wound was out in the open, then with the cotton ball, she dabbed on it and dabbed on it until it was clean, then wiped it with a disinfecting wipe. "does it hurt?" she asked in a soft motherly tone, her eyes crossed as she focused on his wound.

[tbh I ing dare you-]

@❀ jiwoo k。 [ wheezes i'm finally getting to all my replies
we got this bby also i love you more hush ]

he had never been too fond of hospitals, especially needles. one would find that amusing considering he worked with such coarse, dangerous materials but he couldn't help it. besides, not many would say they enjoyed getting shots. anxiety seemed to creep in as he began nibbling at his lower lip, convinced that his teeth would eventually rip at his skin if he kept it up. "my hand -- oh, right, yeah." extending his hand towards her, he couldn't stop attempting to analyze the girl. if he was going to be getting stabbed by a needle, he'd feel much more comfortable being with someone experienced - yet, the female in front of him looked like she couldn't be any more than a student.

"is .,, is it really bad?" he inquired, his voice soft, almost as if he was too scared to hear her answer.

[ "her big eyes looked at him with her smile that nobody could say no to." you don't know how badly i wanted to respond to that with a straight up "NO" i die ]

@❀ hyunjin h。 [i am somehow slowly getting to it uwu
loves you lots and lots and lots]

jiwoo tucked her hair behind her ear, tugging firmly to her clipboard as she listened intently to the patient, nodding to his every word, taking mental note of it and then scribbling it down on the margins. she grimaced with deep sympathy to his words and hurried to usher him into a room in the back. "that sounds like it hurts a lot, mr. hwang," she replied with her high pitched voice and patted down on the patient table for him to sit down on. "could you please sit here please?" she asked, but more so ordered, but in a friendly way with her enthusiastic smile that didn't seem to extinguish in this environment. jiwoo independently looked at his chart and over once again, then gasped. "it looks like here you're missing a couple shots, sir," she pointed out before putting down the clipboard and returning her attention to him and his injury. jiwoo cautiously approached his hand, this was actually her first time independently working on a patient like this, but she had done it many times before. "can i look at your hand?" she asked with a weird sense of innocence in her tone, her big eyes looked at him with her smile that nobody could say no to.

[SC REA MS WHERE AM I TAKING THIS AHHHH HELP PLS]

@❀ jiwoo k。 [ i'm crying you have so many tabs open hOLY
but u w u
wait i'm so honored ; ; you love me so much and ily more !! ]

the sudden high pitched voice that echoed across the room startled the poor boy, almost losing balance in his seat. he watched in disbelief -- mostly at her chipper attitude and over enthusiasm - as she approached him. there was no way this girl was his nurse. refusing to accept the situation, he glanced around the room several times, wondering if someone else would step up and assist him. he was wrong. with a defeated sigh, he rose to his feet and followed after the female into an empty room. glancing around at all the medical posters he could hardly understand, he quickly took a seat and eyed the girl.

she wasn't exactly someone he could imagine working in a hospital. he nibbled on his lower lip as if clamping it shut, silently observing the female. heck, if she wasn't wearing the hospital uniform, he wouldn't have believed that she worked there. she seemed too pure, too innocent, to be working in a place that dealt with suffering and pain on the daily.

feeling as if he should say something, he cleared his throat, only to have his voice crack the minute he spoke. "i - uh, it was an accident with a knife .,, i'm not really sure how deep the cut is -- but my hand's been feeling irritated ever since ..."

[ sHES SO CUTE BYE
HE CAN'T BE THAT ANGSTY AROUND HER BC SHES SUCH A BUBBLY PURE BEAN
i'm sad u w u ]

@❀ hyunjin h。 [screaming i've been waiting for this ahhhhhhhhhhhh throws all my other replies for you like
https://i.imgur.com/N8J6KUr.png
do you see that mess
this is how much i love you u w u]

she stood there with her pale pink scrubs, a permanent wide smile on her face as her big googly eyes zoomed in to study the hands of the nurse before her was doing. wasting time - that's what she was doing with her cute enthusiasm for learning more - her eager foot tapping distracted and annoying the nurses around her as she just stood there and watched, until finally, somebody bothered to say something. "kim jiwoo, if you have time to stand around, go help out in the er - they're short-staffed," the head rn ordered, half annoyed, half impressed by jiwoo's enthusiasm to learn. the er ought to teach her everything she needs to know.

without knowing a thing about what she was walking into, jiwoo rung into the emergency room with a big, lively smile, bursting with joy as she called out the next patient that would see her, a student nurse. her big googly eyes stared down at the paper as she carefully read the name, her huge mouth in a wide, thin smile as she hummed into articulating the name, "HHH-WANG. HHH-YUN. JJJ-IN. MAY HWANG HYUNJIN PLEASE FOLLOW ME INTO THE BACK? HHH-WANG. HHH-YUN. JJJ-IN." she looked up from the clipboard and looked around the room in hopes of identifying this hwang hyunjin, then continued to read the chart, gasping as she, for the first time, read his injury. "oh no, hwang hyunjin, you have to hurry!!" she exclaimed as her shoulders bounced in sympathy to his injury, "that sounds so painful!!"

[casually makes it light and cute just to contrast their difference as characters
d A BS
also touches your angsty face u//w//u]

@❀ jiwoo k。 [ this is utter garbage but what else comes out of trash, but more trash??? i cry i can do better i swear ]

stepping into the overly air conditioned clinic, hyunjin held onto his poorly bandaged hand with a pained wince. why did suffering like to follow him around, he thought, acting as if his life was desperately on the line. making his way over to the receptionist counter, he quickly checked in and found an empty seat, promptly letting himself sink into it as he peeled bag the bandage -- more like, dirty rag -- to look at the cut.

his boss had left to go meet with a customer and left hyunjin to fix up the rest of their orders. some idiot grim reaper had managed to shatter their scythe and as difficult as the job was, the boy still found some sort of joy -- the warm feeling of the blazing fire felt like home. of course - that's where it all went downhill.

consumed by the thought of home, friends, family, he had drifted off into an old memory, momentarily forgetting his current setting. what followed next wasn't very pleasant -- he tripped over a spare hammer on the ground, crashing into their tool shelf, managing to practically slice open his hand against one of their forging knives.

wincing at the sight of blood, he quickly wrapped his hand back up, along with the flashback of his day. his boss would be back soon and hyunjin knew he'd get an earful for leaving the scythe unfinished and the working space, a mess. just the thought of it started to rile him up with a sense of urgency as his foot began to jitter around, nervously. where the hell was his nurse?

/╲/\(╭•̀ﮧ •́╮)/\╱\