What Friends Are For

"Yo, yo, yo~! Are you still alive?"

The door to Hyuk's ward slammed open and an exuberant fellow strutted inside with big steps.

"Tsk, you son of a b*tch, do you have to be so loud?!" Hyuk glared his visitor. He had been dozing off earlier but the b*stard woke him up.

"Sorry, sorry." In Guk grinned sheepishly. He kept forgetting that he should mind his volume since they were in a hospital.

"How are you holding up, Hyuk?" Behind In Guk, Jin Goo walked in with a neutral pace. He placed down the paper bags he was carrying on the bedside cabinet. "Where's Yeo Ri? I thought she'd stay over."

"Only on the weekends. She still needs to go to school, after all," Hyuk grumbled. He didn't understand why she wanted to go back when it's so much safer at the hospital.

"Oh." Jin Goo nodded. It was probably inconvenient to commute to school from the hospital. And uncomfortable as well.

"Ah, sh*t!" In Guk cursed. He had just realised that they forgot the beers. "I think I left the beer at the store. I'll go get them!"

"Hey, dumb*ss. How can you forget about them?" Jin Goo frowned. He had one job but he didn't even do it right.

"I got it, geez," In Guk sighed exasperatedly. "I'll go get them so don't get your panties in a twist, Jin Goo-ya. I swear, are we even friends anymore? You always get angry at me," In Guk ranted as he stormed off to the store where he left the beer he was supposed to carry.

Hyuk chuckled at In Guk's behaviour, "Retard."

The room became quiet now that In Guk left. Hyuk and Jin Goo were originally not very talkative so they spent the moment in comfortable silence. The only sound that one could hear were the wrinkling of the paper bag as Jin Goo took out its content.

"Jin Goo." Hyuk suddenly called out.

"What?" Jin Goo replied but did not raise his head. He emptied out the bags first before stopping to pay attention to Hyuk.

"About the hospital bills..."

"Don't worry about it," Jin Goo pulled up a corner of his lips. Then, he grinned wickedly, "I'll just take it back from your savings account."

Hyuk rolled his eyes at Jin Goo. He was going to pay him back the money anyways so he didn't really mind it if Jin Goo really raided his savings. "Go right f*cking ahead. I was planning on doing that anyway," he snorted.

"What are you going to do after this?" Jin Goo asked. Although he appeared nonchalant, he was actually very worried about his friend.

"Find another job, I guess." There were so many things he needed to do, and most of it required money. He needed to rent a house as soon as possible, and he also needed to start saving up for the future. Yeo Ri needs to go to college too and that wasn't going to be cheap. He had so many worries that his hair was probably going to turn white prematurely.

"Not in the service industry, I hope," Jin Goo smirked. He remembered the last time Hyuk worked as a waiter. He wasn't the patient type and having to deal with annoying customers irritated him greatly. In the end, he had gotten into a physical fight with a complaining customer and almost got sued for assault.

"Never," Hyuk seemed to be remembering the same memory as he gritted his teeth. Just thinking about it made him feel like beating someone up.

"So, how's Yeo Ri? She was in pretty bad shape when I last saw her," Jin Goo sat down on the chair, crossing his arms and legs, leaning back comfortably. "That reminds me; you never told us what happened. I thought your dad never hits Yeo Ri. What changed?"

Hyuk kept quiet, but his darkened expression showed that he knew what happened and didn't like it one bit. Finally, he opened his mouth, "Yeo Ri is... better. The bruise on her face faded so she doesn't need to wear a mask anymore."

"...That's good to hear," Jin Goo narrowed his eyes when Hyuk deliberately avoided answering his second question. But, he didn't want to push him to talk if he didn't want to. Hyuk will probably open up to him when he's ready.

Another bout of silence ensued.

"I'm...! Back...!" In Guk came crashing into the room holding a plastic bag. He huffed and puffed from running back and forth as fast as he could. The man stopped to catch his breath before moving over to Hyuk and Jin Goo and placing the drinks next to the food containers that Jin Goo had taken out.

In Guk took out a can of the beer that he had painstakingly brought back and opened it up.

Jin Goo got up and offered his seat to the tired-looking guy, which In Guk gratefully took. He collapsed on the chair unceremoniously, "F*ck, I ran like hell!"

"Good job," Jin Goo says. "Now you should know not to leave the most important thing behind again."

"F*ck you!" In Guk made a grab at Jin Goo, looking as if he wanted to strangle him.

Hyuk raised an eyebrow at the duo. Looking at the beer, he frowned. "If you wanna drink beer, go somewhere else." He clicked his tongue. Hyuk wasn't allowed to drink because of his injuries so he could only stare as In Guk downed the drink thirstily.

"So did you guys talk about anything while I was gone?" Now revived, In Guk regained his vigour.

"Nothing much," Jin Goo replied offhandedly. Then, he took turns looking at both Hyuk and In Guk. He smirked inwardly as an idea popped up in his mind.

"Hey, Hyuk."

"What?"

"I have to say, your brother, Gun, is really nothing like what you've told us. He's a pretty good guy," Jin Goo casually remarked.

Hyuk scowled, "that's what you'd think. But that's just an act, I tell you. That b*stard's rude and annoying."

"Everyone thinks their brothers are annoying," In Guk commented. He shrugged his shoulders, "I think my brother is annoying too. In Gong, that f*cking show-off," In Guk glared at his older brother's face in his mind. "But Jin Goo's right. I think your brother's a good dude."

Hyuk's scowl deepened.

Jin Goo suddenly chuckled, "Ha, I remembered my first meeting with Gun. I told him that I take Yeo Ri out to eat sometimes and he looked like he was about to throw me to the ground. You two are really brothers, huh?"

"Shut up," Hyuk growled.

Jin Goo went on, "and then I had to tell him that I wasn't interested in Yeo Ri since I think of her as my little sister. Think about it, would you date your little sister? Augh, it gives me goosebumps. What kind of trash would I be if I dated my own sister? Seriously, it's disgusting to even think about it."

He paused for a second, gauging Hyuk's reaction.

"..." Hyuk shifted uncomfortably on the bed. He felt as if an invisible arrow had been hammered straight into his chest at Jin Goo's words.

Goosebumps...

Trash...

Disgusting...

"...Yeah." He slowly squeezed out.

"But let's be real; Yeo Ri's a really pretty girl! Who wouldn't date her?" In Guk tilted his head, a foolish smile on his face. Once he realised that he was almost drooling, he slapped himself, snapping out of his thoughts. That was close! Yeo Ri's overprotective brother was right in front of him and he barely controlled himself. In Guk glanced at Hyuk anxiously, hoping that the man didn't notice his actions. Luckily, Hyuk seemed lost in thought and hadn't been paying attention to him.

"Yeah, but she's still a minor," Jin Goo says matter-of-factly. "She's technically still a kid. If someone our age wanted to date a 14-years-old girl, doesn't that seem creepy? That's pedophilia, you know. A crime," Jin Goo raised an eyebrow, reiterating his words.

"...That's true," In Guk says, nodding his head. His complexion was pale as he broke into cold sweat.

Creepy...

Pedophilia...

Crime...

He was crying in his heart at Jin Goo's ruthless words.

Jin Goo smiled evilly in his mind and his mood improved as he looked at his two friends who seemed to have received some heavy damage on their brittle hearts.

"But anyways, enough about Yeo Ri. I'm hungry. Short ribs, anyone?"

"..."

"..."

In the end, the two visitors were kicked out.

"...Get out! I'm going to sleep." Hyuk sullenly lied down and turned away from his friends.

"Fine. We'll be going," Jin Goo walked out of the room sporting a victorious look, while In Guk followed behind him with hunched shoulders.