~Chapter 16~

It was pitch dark, the room was cold and the thunderstorm was too loud. He couldn’t stop his body from shaking and collapsing to the floor. Everything hurt and his cheeks were wet from all the crying. He hugged his knees, whimpering at every movement and tried his best to stay in a position that could possibly be somewhat comfortable. At that point it was too much and what he felt was overwhelming in that moment.

He was in pain.

In that suffocating silence he could suddenly hear water drops somewhere in the end of the hallway.

Waterdrops that only became louder and louder with each drop. In the end, they were just unbearable and he found himself covering his ears while closing his eyes tightly, almost scared of what he would see if he opened them.

He just wanted it to end.

But… it never did.

Suddenly, he felt a big hand with long and cold fingers comb through his hair slowly and gently, but still making sure that the pressure was there for him to know that he wasn’t alone.

And for some reason, it was soothing.

Meanwhile, a pair of red eyes looked at him from above, still moving his hand gently. With a soft sigh, he analyzed the state the boy under him was in.

Sehun’s hair was all messed up from twisting all the time and his forehead was covered in a layer of sweat. He had a bothered expression and a deep frown, his lips slightly parted trying to catch as much air as possible.

He looked… miserable.

With great care, he softly cleaned him up with his left hand while his right hand kept caressing the mortal.

Chanyeol couldn’t help but wonder what got the blond so worked up and scared. He never really expressed or showed any kind of emotions so saying him like this hit different. When he decided to pass by and sneaked through the window he didn't think he'd find the other like this.

At first he didn’t know how to react nor what was going on but once he realized what was happening he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the blond. What could he be dreaming about that tormented him so much? And for some reason, he believed that it was somewhat related to his past. It would make sense since the detective always refused to talk about it. Yeah, there were people out there that avoided the topic, but somehow they ended up sharing something. Even the smallest details either by accident, either willingly.

But not Sehun.

He was always on guard and thought twice, maybe even thrice, before speaking.

Chanyeol somewhat appreciated it but also hated it.

It made it difficult to read him and not to appear confident or something, but Chanyeol was really good at reading people.

It was frustrating yet at the same time exciting because, let's be honest… that way he never knew what was going to happen and… who doesn't likes a good challenge?

As he finished, the detective looked much calmer than when he got there. With a sigh, the raven put the wet cloth on the nightstand and stared at Sehun for a few minutes, trying to understand what was going on in his mind.

What was Sehun hiding?

Of course, he could have made things easier and just get in the other's mind but he knew Sehun wouldn't appreciate it and would definitely end up hating him and he just got the detective to tolerate him so… does he really want that?

Nah.

Only after a few minutes dared Chanyeol to get off the bed and walked to the kitchen without making any noise.

After looking around a little bit, he finally found the cups and took one just to fill it with water, supposing that the detective would be thirsty once he woke up.

He couldn’t help but want to stay by his side and be there for him when he woke up. The raven wanted to comfort him. And not being able to do so… made his heart feel weird.

— —

He slowly opened his eyes, blinking many times before realizing he was facing the ceiling. His heart was beating way too fast, his chest rasing repeatedly. His head was pounding and he could tell that he would have to deal with it all day.

He brushed back his hair and rested his forearm on his forehead for a while before getting up slowly, just in case he got dizzy.

He could remember clearly every detail of his nightmare, just like he always did. It was the same thing over and over again. Just that… this time there was something different.

That hand, brushing his hair and comforting him… it never happened before. Instinctively he touched his hair again, almost feeling that touch again. Who was it? Who could have been? It made no sense to him. Feeling goosebumps crawling up his back, Sehun shook his head to snap out of it and almost running, he went to the shower and turned on the water, getting underneath it without even taking off his clothes but still paying attention to his bandaged arm.

— —

“Surprise!”

Sehun blinked a few times before wondering if he should just close back the door.

“What are you guys doing?”

He looked at Juwon, Haneul and Chanyeol, who seemed too happy to be back at work.

“Making sure you get the warm welcome you so deserve? I thought it was obvious.”

Sehun couldn’t help the sigh from escaping his lips once he heard what Juwon said. A warm welcome? Really? He didn’t need anything like that.

He murmured a small “thanks” before walking to his desk. He didn’t catch the glare that was analyzing his every movement.

No need to say that Chnayeol was worried about the other’s well being. Initially he wanted to approach him and ask him how he was feeling but it would have been too weird. He never asked him that and now the same exact day the detective has a nightmare, Chanyeol suddenly gets curious? The other would be skeptical.

And it was hard to deal with a skeptical detective.

After a lot of begging and insisting, the blond finally gave in to eating with them before starting work and in just a few minutes his desk was full with all types of food.

“Isn’t this too much?”

Chanyeol only chuckled before placing a bowl in front of him and offering a glass of water.

“It’s not too much. Because of all the medicine you’ve been taking I bet you spend more time sleeping than eating so you need to regain your energy. Besides, we all know how you get once you start to work. You forget to eat, drink water and even forget about your surroundings if someone doesn’t bother or annoys you.”

Juwon laughed while Haneul looked at the two of them.

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this but you are right.”

The fact that Haneul didn’t really like Chanyeol wasn’t a surprise. Everyone knew that since the blond got shot Haneul blamed the raven and couldn’t really stand being around him.

The raven was also aware of the other’s hatred but honestly, he couldn’t care less. As long as the detective didn’t hate him he was content.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s just eat so you can leave.”

Juwon and Haneul looked at each other before yelling.

“Yah, you brat! That was mean!”