[ Irresponsible is one of those words you can't help but use to describe Jaejin as a person. He's lazy, thinks nothing about his future, and would rather sleep than work towards anything that will have any kind of positive impact on his life. He'd sooner drop a baby than gently hold and rock it to sleep, and he's about as irresponsible as teenagers come.
But this, this is a different situation entirely, and one which Jaejin is more than willing to be an adult in. As much as he wants to leave right now and get his white hot revenge when it's still bright in his chest, Minhwan needs him more, and he can push all that aside in order to take care of his best friend.
The phone itself isn't important, and if it were just that and nothing else then Jaejin wouldn't care about it at all, and he'd go shopping with Minhwan tomorrow for a new one... but it isn't about the phone. It's about a group of good for nothing thugs out there in the city thinking that they can beat the shit out of Jaejin's best friend and get away with it with no harm no foul on their end. Maybe Minhwan is a bit of a dick, but he's always been Jaejin's bit of a dick, and Jaejin is hardly eager to see him get his ass handed to him.
He makes a complicated, unreadable expression as Minhwan's fingers tug at his sleeve, swallowing down his cold rage with a dizzy feeling in his gut. He grabs a clean towel from the rack to their side, wetting it with warm water and wringing it out until it stops dripping, holding it in one hand. ]
The real question is when were you ever handsome in the first place. This is just enhancing your inner ugliness.
[ He kneels down in front of his best friend, surveying the damage up close. It doesn't look nearly as bad as he first thought... but it doesn't look good. It doesn't make him feel good, either, and he's still got that dull, painful ache in his chest, even as he presses the towel to Minhwan's face and does his best to clean off the dirt and crusty blood. ]
[ As the other cleans off his face with the towel, Minhwan starts to realise just how tired he is. No matter that he apparently passed out for hours in a nook of some dark street or alley, he still feels completely exhausted - even keeping himself sitting up like this feels like it takes too much energy, but even Minhwan can figure out that just plopping down on Jaejin's bed and passing out for a few more hours won't do much good for him as long as he's caked with dried up blood and dirt.
At least Jaejin is saying something that makes a little more sense to Minhwan. Their usual insults back and forth are something he can easily understand, it's just how everything between them goes at all times. He doesn't even think for a moment it's cruel for Jaejin to insult him while he's in this state. It'd only be weird if Jaejin didn't do it, no matter the situation.
Not that it means Minhwan will stay quiet. Especially in a situation like this, where the exhaustion in his bones and the way Jaejin rubs away the blood almost rhythmically feels like it'd be enough to lull him into sleep while sitting here. Running his mouth makes him feel a little more normal, at least, and it'll keep his brain going enough to keep him up too, even as he's obediently sitting there unmoving while Jaejin works on making him a little more presentable. ]
Just because you're in denial about it, does that mean the whole world is...? [ Usually it'd be said with a stupid smirk plastered all across his face, looking at Jaejin so eagerly, like he's almost excited to see the other's reaction to it - even though it usually wouldn't be more than a jab to his side or a punch in the shoulder.
Now it feels more lifeless instead, like Minhwan is too far gone in a haze to show the qualities about him that are the most like Minhwan.
Instead he stares at Jaejin's face while the other is still using the wet towel, something about the other's expression starting to bother him more and more, no matter how slow his mind feels for once. ]
.. Why do you keep making that face? [ It's an expression he never sees on Jaejin, and coupled with some of the other things he's said so far.. it's something beyond Minhwan's level of emotional understanding. It's why there's no teasing hint in his tone, even though he wouldn't be able to summon that much even if he wanted it anyway. ]
[ Serious between the two of them is something that doesn't come by often; their entire friendship has always been built on banter and mutual hassling of one another that changing it now would feel like a disconnect; something so uncharacteristically Jaejin and Minhwan that it would feel like two children trying to slip into the shoes of their parents. Kind care and concern are things that belong to someone else's friendship.
Not that they don't care, of course, they just have different ways of showing it. As much as Jaejin gives Minhwan a hard time throughout every step of his life, he would die for his idiot best friend if he had to.
He softens his expression somewhat when Minhwan calls him out, shaking his head to rid himself of it. He didn't realize he was getting so externally obvious about his internal white hot rage. He doesn't know what he's going to do yet, but he's going to do something. ]
It's lust. I'm about to ravish you.
[ Concern and anger more like. Minhwan's lifelessness makes Jaejin's chest tight, and he wants to punish the people who dared suck all the fun and bite from Minhwan's awful personality that only Jaejin unconditionally loved. Maybe he'd be more accepted as he is now, downtrodden and sore, but Jaejin liked him better when he was insufferable in the way that only he enjoyed.
He rinses the cloth until it runs clear, pressing it against Minhwan's cuts again to clear the dirt without smearing it. He's starting to look a little more human, but it only makes it more obvious how messed up Minhwan got. ]
[ He knows it's not true. Even if what's in Jaejin's head might be beyond Minhwan's emotional level of understanding (which has never been very high), it's obvious that's a lie. If even Minhwan can tell it is, then it's the weakest cover up anyone could have used in a situation like this.
And yet.. he's not sure he wants to pry. It's an odd sort of feeling to Minhwan, and he honestly can't help but wonder for a moment if it's because he feels so exhausted and sore that it's dampening his natural curiosity. He's usually so eager to tug at anything that might even in the slightest seem like a secret, wanting to uncover anything about anyone without thinking of stuff like boundaries or the idea that people might get hurt if everything about them is revealed so easily. And yet in this moment he's staring an obvious lie from his best friend's side in the face and doesn't feel like finding out what's behind it.
It suddenly feels almost weird to ask Jaejin what's really going on with him. Like it'll break some sort of momentum they've had going on forever, tipping some balance that can't easily be restored. Although they've always had each other's backs in an unspoken sort of way, it's never been like them to go deep. Not with how Jaejin likes to keep everything about him that isn't cool buried deep, not with how Minhwan doesn't even understand emotions beyond a kindergarten book level.
(It's doubtful he would understand even if he did ask - for all his outward self-importance and vanity, Minhwan doesn't expect anyone to do anything for him just like that.) ]
Ah, right. [ His response still sounds lifeless though. Even if it's more just the state of his body talking than anything else. He tries moving the hand that got hurt pretty badly, but it doesn't move an inch... no dice, huh. ] Well, we're going to share a bed tonight anyway. Might as well take the opportunity.
[ Because Minhwan isn't going home. Not tonight. It's not as if he's afraid of running into those guys again - honestly, even if he did meet them, he'd mouth off to them all the same, even if it'd have the same result in the end - but he just doesn't feel like explaining this to his parents or Minji. Especially the latter would throw a fit, since it's just what Minji does. Even if Jaejin is being a little odd, he's still treating all of this in a way that's a lot easier for Minhwan to wrap his mind around than that. Not to mention he's way too tired to get himself all the way back to his house.
It's not like anyone will think it's weird for him to suddenly stay over at Jaejin's anyway - the two of them do it all the time, no matter whether it's at Jaejin's house or his own. Even Jaejin's mother should find it normal enough that he can mostly avoid her and along with that avoid further questions. ]
[ It's better for the both of them that Minhwan doesn't pry into what Jaejin is really feeling. The sharing wouldn't help either of them, and only make it awkwardly, abundantly clear that there's something dark growing in Jaejin that he can't shake off without an outlet. He grew up with this stunted moron at his side, and the very idea of sharing all his thoughts and emotions with him makes Jaejin feel tense and uncomfortable. He's never liked admitting just how much this tall, broken idiot means to him, and he isn't about to start now when that idiot is barely held together pieces. Everything he's feeling, he'll keep it to himself.
Which is why he only nods when Minhwan announces he's going to stay over--announces, not asks, and Jaejin wouldn't have it any other way. Even if Minhwan had gotten up right here and insisted on going home, there's no way Jaejin would have let him. He would have come up with some poor excuse or thin joke veil in order to get Minhwan to stay here, at least for tonight. He won't tell him, but he doesn't want Minhwan to be alone right now.
Or, is it that he doesn't want to be alone right now? He feels kind of rattled by the whole experience, and he wants nothing else than to be able to be his best friend's second set of hands.
Finishing rinsing Minhwan's face, he tosses the wet cloth into the sink, wiping his forehead like he's just done hard, manual labor, when it's really all his emotions running high that tire him out. ]
Yahh, I don't know if I even want to now. You've gotten uglier.
[ More thinly veiled attempts not to overwhelm himself. He gestures to the rest of Minhwan's body, trying to seem casual as always. ]
[ The casual tone at least makes things a little easier for Minhwan - even though the pain and exhaustion from dragging himself here in the first place is finally starting to take its toll on him, like he managed to get here on sheer adrenaline and now it's wearing off, he feels even more like just collapsing into a boneless puddle. Thank god he's still sitting and already slumped, so it doesn't mean he topples right over - but it still means that everything feels a little further away, like there's a hazy fog inside of his mind that clouds over everything he sees and feels right now.
Jaejin's question is pretty clear though, and the pain shooting through Minhwan's body gives him a pretty clear answer too. With some slight trouble he manages to lift the arm with the bad hand, blinking blearily for a moment at the way the wrist is twisted a little unnaturally, the hand hanging limply under it. ]
Nothing else you can fix.
[ Because while Minhwan is enough of a moron that he would have zero problems with Jaejin performing things on him that should clearly only be done by professionals unless you want to make it even worse, he at least knows that while there's something weirdly different on the emotional scale going on with Jaejin that he can't quite figure out, it's probably better to let it rest for now.
He shakes his head a little, dropping the arm back to his side to just hang there like dead weight. Not like Minhwan feels much for going to see a doctor or even go to the hospital right now either, no matter how much his body might ache. He doesn't feel like questions and doctors tend to give him weird looks even when he's mostly healthy that he never quite understands. Everything inside of him is screaming not to go out and instead just curl up on a bed with the one thing that is familiar to him here, the one thing he knows he can always trust - when it comes to the serious and important things, anyway. His idiot best friend.
It's a strange kind of fragility that even Minhwan himself isn't fully realising right now with his low level of emotional understanding, but despite that, it does show up on his face just a little bit. It's small, but it's enough to make him look like less of the confident jackass he usually is 24/7. ]
... Just get me to a bed. [ Although he's sure he won't be fully comfortable lying down either, his body is slowly starting to protest against the cold toilet against his back, pressing against all the soft and sore spots on his torso. ]
[ The casual tone is all Jaejin really has to stop himself from freaking out. He's never felt so unjustly wronged before, and the reality is that nothing actually happened to him personally to make him feel that way, he just feels so connected to Minhwan that every personal slight against him that he doesn't deserve (and he deserves a lot of them) cuts him as if they were directed at himself personally.
Just like the way his body gets phantom twinges of pain just from looking at Minhwan and clearing the dirt from his cuts. He aches all over, but it's not nearly enough to dull the white hot rage that builds dizzyingly just below the surface of his casual and calm exterior he's trying to keep up. Minhwan comes first, but revenge is on the table for later and there's no putting it off.
He watches Minhwan uselessly flex his hand with that same white hot rage making his body feel hollow, suddenly unable to look away from it or hide what he's feeling behind some clever quip or bad joke to lighten the mood. It's so hard for him to know that he can't fix any of this, and just has to watch Minhwan suffer through it. He'd feel a lot better watching Minhwan struggle if he knew that the people who did this were out somewhere suffering in the same way.
He tosses the filthy cloth into the sink; there's not a lot more he can do right now, and Minhwan looks exhausted. Tomorrow it might be easier to get him into a shower to wash the dirt off himself, or have Jaejin clean him off in the bath. For now, it's definitely time to lay him down and let him recover.
Jaejin kneels down on the floor by Minhwan's knees, reaching back with both arms to help Minhwan get onto his back. ]
[ Some people might feel like they have to preserve their dignity in this sort of situation by at least just letting the other support them in a slightly less obvious way - like an arm across their back as they stumble their way over to a bed. Minhwan however completely lacks any sense of dignity; which can be incredibly annoying and embarrassing in most situations, but actually helpful in some others, like this one.
It means he doesn't even think of protesting against how Jaejin clearly is telling him to get onto his back to be able to get to a bed the quickest and easiest way, so they won't have to waste even more time sitting here uselessly in the bathroom while Minhwan looks like a mess and Jaejin can only barely contain his feelings about this whole situation.
He just easily - well, mentally speaking, physically is a different story entirely with the current state Minhwan is in - reaches over with the arm with the good hand first, slinging itself around Jaejin's neck to secure himself before letting the arm with the useless hand join in and getting onto the other's back that way. It doesn't exactly go as smoothly as he might have normally jumped onto the other's back just to harass him, but at least he does manage, just with some aching limps as an aftereffect.
For a moment he seems almost wobbly, like he might fall off any moment now, but he does manage to remain relatively steady as he leans against the other. Even though his legs are a little clumsily long in this situation considering he's taller than the other - he still manages.
Maybe there's something about this that feels oddly familiar, but whatever it is, it seems to spark a little bit of the usual Minhwan back into existence. It's far from anything you could call high energy, but at least he sounds a little oddly amused as he speaks up, voice half muffled from the way his cheek is leaning against the other's back. ]
Maybe I should have this happen to me more often. Would you parade me across the school like this too?
[ Because shitty physical state or not, that idea is highly amusing to Minhwan - if not just for the amount of attention they'd get that way. It's amusing though to a point where he would actually actively look for trouble and get himself beaten up though if it would make Jaejin do stupid things like this.. which is slightly less of a good thing. Not like he can go anywhere for now though, so it's not any direct problem. ]
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no subject
But this, this is a different situation entirely, and one which Jaejin is more than willing to be an adult in. As much as he wants to leave right now and get his white hot revenge when it's still bright in his chest, Minhwan needs him more, and he can push all that aside in order to take care of his best friend.
The phone itself isn't important, and if it were just that and nothing else then Jaejin wouldn't care about it at all, and he'd go shopping with Minhwan tomorrow for a new one... but it isn't about the phone. It's about a group of good for nothing thugs out there in the city thinking that they can beat the shit out of Jaejin's best friend and get away with it with no harm no foul on their end. Maybe Minhwan is a bit of a dick, but he's always been Jaejin's bit of a dick, and Jaejin is hardly eager to see him get his ass handed to him.
He makes a complicated, unreadable expression as Minhwan's fingers tug at his sleeve, swallowing down his cold rage with a dizzy feeling in his gut. He grabs a clean towel from the rack to their side, wetting it with warm water and wringing it out until it stops dripping, holding it in one hand. ]
The real question is when were you ever handsome in the first place. This is just enhancing your inner ugliness.
[ He kneels down in front of his best friend, surveying the damage up close. It doesn't look nearly as bad as he first thought... but it doesn't look good. It doesn't make him feel good, either, and he's still got that dull, painful ache in his chest, even as he presses the towel to Minhwan's face and does his best to clean off the dirt and crusty blood. ]
no subject
At least Jaejin is saying something that makes a little more sense to Minhwan. Their usual insults back and forth are something he can easily understand, it's just how everything between them goes at all times. He doesn't even think for a moment it's cruel for Jaejin to insult him while he's in this state. It'd only be weird if Jaejin didn't do it, no matter the situation.
Not that it means Minhwan will stay quiet. Especially in a situation like this, where the exhaustion in his bones and the way Jaejin rubs away the blood almost rhythmically feels like it'd be enough to lull him into sleep while sitting here. Running his mouth makes him feel a little more normal, at least, and it'll keep his brain going enough to keep him up too, even as he's obediently sitting there unmoving while Jaejin works on making him a little more presentable. ]
Just because you're in denial about it, does that mean the whole world is...? [ Usually it'd be said with a stupid smirk plastered all across his face, looking at Jaejin so eagerly, like he's almost excited to see the other's reaction to it - even though it usually wouldn't be more than a jab to his side or a punch in the shoulder.
Now it feels more lifeless instead, like Minhwan is too far gone in a haze to show the qualities about him that are the most like Minhwan.
Instead he stares at Jaejin's face while the other is still using the wet towel, something about the other's expression starting to bother him more and more, no matter how slow his mind feels for once. ]
.. Why do you keep making that face? [ It's an expression he never sees on Jaejin, and coupled with some of the other things he's said so far.. it's something beyond Minhwan's level of emotional understanding. It's why there's no teasing hint in his tone, even though he wouldn't be able to summon that much even if he wanted it anyway. ]
no subject
Not that they don't care, of course, they just have different ways of showing it. As much as Jaejin gives Minhwan a hard time throughout every step of his life, he would die for his idiot best friend if he had to.
He softens his expression somewhat when Minhwan calls him out, shaking his head to rid himself of it. He didn't realize he was getting so externally obvious about his internal white hot rage. He doesn't know what he's going to do yet, but he's going to do something. ]
It's lust. I'm about to ravish you.
[ Concern and anger more like. Minhwan's lifelessness makes Jaejin's chest tight, and he wants to punish the people who dared suck all the fun and bite from Minhwan's awful personality that only Jaejin unconditionally loved. Maybe he'd be more accepted as he is now, downtrodden and sore, but Jaejin liked him better when he was insufferable in the way that only he enjoyed.
He rinses the cloth until it runs clear, pressing it against Minhwan's cuts again to clear the dirt without smearing it. He's starting to look a little more human, but it only makes it more obvious how messed up Minhwan got. ]
no subject
And yet.. he's not sure he wants to pry. It's an odd sort of feeling to Minhwan, and he honestly can't help but wonder for a moment if it's because he feels so exhausted and sore that it's dampening his natural curiosity. He's usually so eager to tug at anything that might even in the slightest seem like a secret, wanting to uncover anything about anyone without thinking of stuff like boundaries or the idea that people might get hurt if everything about them is revealed so easily. And yet in this moment he's staring an obvious lie from his best friend's side in the face and doesn't feel like finding out what's behind it.
It suddenly feels almost weird to ask Jaejin what's really going on with him. Like it'll break some sort of momentum they've had going on forever, tipping some balance that can't easily be restored. Although they've always had each other's backs in an unspoken sort of way, it's never been like them to go deep. Not with how Jaejin likes to keep everything about him that isn't cool buried deep, not with how Minhwan doesn't even understand emotions beyond a kindergarten book level.
(It's doubtful he would understand even if he did ask - for all his outward self-importance and vanity, Minhwan doesn't expect anyone to do anything for him just like that.) ]
Ah, right. [ His response still sounds lifeless though. Even if it's more just the state of his body talking than anything else. He tries moving the hand that got hurt pretty badly, but it doesn't move an inch... no dice, huh. ] Well, we're going to share a bed tonight anyway. Might as well take the opportunity.
[ Because Minhwan isn't going home. Not tonight. It's not as if he's afraid of running into those guys again - honestly, even if he did meet them, he'd mouth off to them all the same, even if it'd have the same result in the end - but he just doesn't feel like explaining this to his parents or Minji. Especially the latter would throw a fit, since it's just what Minji does. Even if Jaejin is being a little odd, he's still treating all of this in a way that's a lot easier for Minhwan to wrap his mind around than that. Not to mention he's way too tired to get himself all the way back to his house.
It's not like anyone will think it's weird for him to suddenly stay over at Jaejin's anyway - the two of them do it all the time, no matter whether it's at Jaejin's house or his own. Even Jaejin's mother should find it normal enough that he can mostly avoid her and along with that avoid further questions. ]
no subject
Which is why he only nods when Minhwan announces he's going to stay over--announces, not asks, and Jaejin wouldn't have it any other way. Even if Minhwan had gotten up right here and insisted on going home, there's no way Jaejin would have let him. He would have come up with some poor excuse or thin joke veil in order to get Minhwan to stay here, at least for tonight. He won't tell him, but he doesn't want Minhwan to be alone right now.
Or, is it that he doesn't want to be alone right now? He feels kind of rattled by the whole experience, and he wants nothing else than to be able to be his best friend's second set of hands.
Finishing rinsing Minhwan's face, he tosses the wet cloth into the sink, wiping his forehead like he's just done hard, manual labor, when it's really all his emotions running high that tire him out. ]
Yahh, I don't know if I even want to now. You've gotten uglier.
[ More thinly veiled attempts not to overwhelm himself. He gestures to the rest of Minhwan's body, trying to seem casual as always. ]
Where else?
no subject
Jaejin's question is pretty clear though, and the pain shooting through Minhwan's body gives him a pretty clear answer too. With some slight trouble he manages to lift the arm with the bad hand, blinking blearily for a moment at the way the wrist is twisted a little unnaturally, the hand hanging limply under it. ]
Nothing else you can fix.
[ Because while Minhwan is enough of a moron that he would have zero problems with Jaejin performing things on him that should clearly only be done by professionals unless you want to make it even worse, he at least knows that while there's something weirdly different on the emotional scale going on with Jaejin that he can't quite figure out, it's probably better to let it rest for now.
He shakes his head a little, dropping the arm back to his side to just hang there like dead weight. Not like Minhwan feels much for going to see a doctor or even go to the hospital right now either, no matter how much his body might ache. He doesn't feel like questions and doctors tend to give him weird looks even when he's mostly healthy that he never quite understands. Everything inside of him is screaming not to go out and instead just curl up on a bed with the one thing that is familiar to him here, the one thing he knows he can always trust - when it comes to the serious and important things, anyway. His idiot best friend.
It's a strange kind of fragility that even Minhwan himself isn't fully realising right now with his low level of emotional understanding, but despite that, it does show up on his face just a little bit. It's small, but it's enough to make him look like less of the confident jackass he usually is 24/7. ]
... Just get me to a bed. [ Although he's sure he won't be fully comfortable lying down either, his body is slowly starting to protest against the cold toilet against his back, pressing against all the soft and sore spots on his torso. ]
no subject
Just like the way his body gets phantom twinges of pain just from looking at Minhwan and clearing the dirt from his cuts. He aches all over, but it's not nearly enough to dull the white hot rage that builds dizzyingly just below the surface of his casual and calm exterior he's trying to keep up. Minhwan comes first, but revenge is on the table for later and there's no putting it off.
He watches Minhwan uselessly flex his hand with that same white hot rage making his body feel hollow, suddenly unable to look away from it or hide what he's feeling behind some clever quip or bad joke to lighten the mood. It's so hard for him to know that he can't fix any of this, and just has to watch Minhwan suffer through it. He'd feel a lot better watching Minhwan struggle if he knew that the people who did this were out somewhere suffering in the same way.
He tosses the filthy cloth into the sink; there's not a lot more he can do right now, and Minhwan looks exhausted. Tomorrow it might be easier to get him into a shower to wash the dirt off himself, or have Jaejin clean him off in the bath. For now, it's definitely time to lay him down and let him recover.
Jaejin kneels down on the floor by Minhwan's knees, reaching back with both arms to help Minhwan get onto his back. ]
C'mon, princess.
no subject
It means he doesn't even think of protesting against how Jaejin clearly is telling him to get onto his back to be able to get to a bed the quickest and easiest way, so they won't have to waste even more time sitting here uselessly in the bathroom while Minhwan looks like a mess and Jaejin can only barely contain his feelings about this whole situation.
He just easily - well, mentally speaking, physically is a different story entirely with the current state Minhwan is in - reaches over with the arm with the good hand first, slinging itself around Jaejin's neck to secure himself before letting the arm with the useless hand join in and getting onto the other's back that way. It doesn't exactly go as smoothly as he might have normally jumped onto the other's back just to harass him, but at least he does manage, just with some aching limps as an aftereffect.
For a moment he seems almost wobbly, like he might fall off any moment now, but he does manage to remain relatively steady as he leans against the other. Even though his legs are a little clumsily long in this situation considering he's taller than the other - he still manages.
Maybe there's something about this that feels oddly familiar, but whatever it is, it seems to spark a little bit of the usual Minhwan back into existence. It's far from anything you could call high energy, but at least he sounds a little oddly amused as he speaks up, voice half muffled from the way his cheek is leaning against the other's back. ]
Maybe I should have this happen to me more often. Would you parade me across the school like this too?
[ Because shitty physical state or not, that idea is highly amusing to Minhwan - if not just for the amount of attention they'd get that way. It's amusing though to a point where he would actually actively look for trouble and get himself beaten up though if it would make Jaejin do stupid things like this.. which is slightly less of a good thing. Not like he can go anywhere for now though, so it's not any direct problem. ]