A Private Conference At 3 A.M.

While Bryan and Celinda were having their sweet talk session, Aaron was stuck in a sticky situation in his room. After Michael carried him back to his room, they've been having a staring contest with each other. Guilt rose in Aaron's chest as he recalled how anxious Michael looked when he watched the medical staff bandage his leg.

Flashbacks of Michael's tightened fists and winced expressions appeared in his mind. Although he was the one who suffered from pain, Michael's reaction looked as if his leg was stuck in a functional meat grinder. Whenever a hiss escaped his mouth, Michael would end up looking ten times worse than him. When the staff reached the sanitizing process, Michael held him closely to prevent him from moving around.

Aaron looked at Michael who was sitting with crossed arms and legs. As he pondered with great difficulty on what he should say to dissolve Michael's anger, his saliva slid down the wrong pipe. Coughs escaped from his mouth as he covered his lips and bent forward.

At the same time, Michael didn't know his expression and quietness was causing such chaos in Aaron's thoughts. Right when he parted his lips to speak, he heard Aaron's relentless coughs. Immediately, he reached for the water pitcher on the counter and poured him a cup of water.

Pulling Aaron into his embrace, he rubbed his back and fed him the cup of water. Once Aaron's coughs had stopped, Michael took a deep breath. He sighed, "Why are you always so careless?"

"Hey! Who are you calling careless? If I was careless, then I wouldn't be alive right now! I jumped out of the car before it fell all the way down the cliff. I climbed my way up despite this injury. Hmph, you didn't even say any comforting words. Now, you're even calling me careless." Aaron pouted disapprovingly.

"Comfort? Do you think your injury is considered a light one? The doctor told you to have bed rest for a whole month! Not only did you promise me about taking rest for the rest of the month, you also said you wouldn't move around recklessly! If the nurse didn't remind me about you being in the room, then you might be climbing stairs by now." Michael placed his hands on his hip as his chest heaved.

Turning his head to the opposite direction, Aaron decided to not speak another word. He wasn't great at arguments, and Michael was clearly the one with the sharper words. Silence filled the awkward space between them as Aaron emitted a moody aura around him.

Michael shot him a few glances before taking a seat beside him on the bed. Feeling the bed sinking down slightly, Aaron shifted his body to the left. Michael inched closer to him every time Aaron moved away until he reached the edge of the bed.

Seeing Aaron facing the other direction, Michael released a deep sigh. "Does your wound still hurt?" He asked, trying to extinguish the active blaze next to him. As expected, Aaron didn't answer his question.

Sliding his arm around Aaron's waist, he rested his chin onto Aaron's shoulder. "I raised my voice slightly too much just now, but I said it because I care for you. You have no idea how worried I was when I saw the disastrous accident scenery. I walked around the crashed cars and felt my heart hesitating to look through the corpses. I was afraid of losing you. Very afraid."

Michael picked up Aaron's bandaged hand and brought it to his lips. He stared at the thick bandages for a few seconds before planting a light kiss on it. "Luckily, you're alright. When I arrived, I saw how that bastard attacked you. I was so angry that I almost shredded him with my bare hands. Unfortunately, that kick only broke a few bones. He hasn't died yet."

His fingers playfully filled the gap between Aaron's fingers and interlocked them to form a fist. "I've never felt more afraid of losing someone in my entire life. I could still smell the burning parts of the vehicles and see pieces of mutilated body parts. My heart only calmed after I spoke to the doctors about your condition."

Sneaking peeks at Aaron's face, Michael could see the corners of his lips angled upwards. He straightened his spine and reached his palms out to caress Aaron's cheek. "Since you won't listen to the doctors' words nor me, how about I order a wheelchair for you? I'll push you wherever you want to go."

"Wheelchair?! I don't need one. I am good at using crutches. Don't waste money like flushing a toilet." Aaron frowned at the thought of how convenient traveling would become if he navigated using a wheelchair.

"Oh? Then, forget about the wheelchair. I'll carry you to wherever you want to go. This way, it would be less pressure on your injury, and we save money. What do you say?" Michael smirked as he slanted his body forward and minimized the gap between their lips.

Right before Michael's lip touched his, Aaron tilted his head slightly. Instead of kissing him on the lips, the peck landed on Aaron's earlobe.

"Did you think your sweet words could coax me?" Aaron gave him a side glance before looking away.

Chuckling at his partner's response, Michael licked his lips and replied in a husky tone. "But I'm not coaxing you. I'm seducing you." He shamelessly said in a lowered volume, teasing Aaron with his true intentions.

Since Aaron didn't respond to him, he whispered a few more words into his ears. Seconds after he said these words, Aaron's cheeks heated up as if he had eaten a Carolina pepper. He covered his face in his palms as Michael let out soft laughs and continued wooing him with his loving words.

- 2 hours later -

Shortly after Aaron had fallen asleep; Michael received an important phone call and left the hospital. Meanwhile, Bryan, Jason, the Clovers and the Huis also left to discuss their secretive plan in arresting Justin's father.

Around three in the morning, Celinda and Selina snuck out of their rooms and tiptoed down the hallway to Aaron's room. Since the doctors had checked their rooms already, the girls decided to have a private talk with Aaron. Perhaps because the mattress was too hard for his back, Aaron woke up half an hour before receiving the girls' text messages.

The thought of having a sneaky conference about boyfriends sounded pretty interesting to him. Hence, he replied instantly to their messages with a smirk emoticon. Less than ten minutes later, the door creaked open and the girls snuck into his room quickly.

"We're here!" They whispered excitedly.