“ thank you . i will hold you to that , ” he told them , though the truth was that even if duckie had wanted to , it didn’t feel likely that he would have the capacity to considering how extremely out of sorts he was . thankfully seeing jiwon in a nurse outfit was far from something that really mattered all that much , especially not right now when things had been put into perspective for him in such a brutal way . “ hmm , ” he acted apprehensive , as if he had even believed in the healing powers of jiwon’s face at all . duckie wasn’t a very hopeful person - hopeful wouldn’t at all be the right word to describe him , actually , but in a moment such as the one he found himself in then , beaten , broken , stuck to the confines of a hospital bed , playing around a little - particularly in order to distract from the seriousness of the situation he was in - it was doing him no harm .
“ i don’t want to hear what i think of myself , ” he argued , though there was an ounce of jest in his tone . he wasn’t genuinely fighting jiwon , or trying to be combative ; he was only playing around in order to further distract them both from the severe trauma he had been through , and playing around for duckie so often came out in that combative sort of way regardless of his intentions . though he couldn’t think too much about it in the state he was in , he hoped that he did enough - or that the situation they were in - was enough for jiwon to know the intentions behind the words he said . “ i wanted to just hear that you think i’m beautiful , ” duckie even went as far as to laugh softly at his own words , at his strange demands , demands that didn’t really need to be fulfilled , but that were all part of his attempt at presenting in far better condition than he really was in . “ vitamin d ? d for duk-soo ? ” he spoke in english for a rare moment , as if to exaggerate the amusement of the other’s words .
while it might have been funny to jiwon to think of duckie having his admirers , it was a reality that duckie lived . he could be a bad person in his ways , but the duckie that he presented to most people was nothing short of completely charming ; duckie cared to get what he wanted , and he hadn’t gotten away with his life of crime for so long because he allowed himself to be seen as somebody who was suspect . hardly anyone in shrike heights even knew about his untowards history , or his uncouth tendencies , but he had had many partners who believed him to have at least at one point been completely charming and desirable . after all , duckie wasn’t in the mall to work when his attack begun , he was there to see rune . “ well , you could always look in a mirror . ”
“ you can even be my best friend , if it makes you feel any better , ” his words were once again playful , and so contrasting to how duckie really felt . he knew jiwon already had a best friend , and guessed that he wouldn’t have wanted duckie to be his best friend even if he didn’t have hoseok , but duckie - as usual - was prepared to say whatever he needed to get what he wanted more easily . it wasn’t meant as deception as much as it was meant to be flattery to make jiwon feel better about helping him . “ i don’t know what i want exactly , ” his mind wasn’t with it enough for him to make any real decision , with all of his energy going towards making himself feel better about the situation he was in . “ but i trust your judgement . as long as it really is super yummy , i’m sure it will be fine . ”
with the matter of the nurse outfit laid to collect dust on a shelf until another day, jiwon felt the need to find some other charming and distracting thing to pivot to. everyone's emotional needs were different. if this had been hoseok, the approach would have had to be entirely different. his blood ran cold at the idea of it ever being hoseok in this situation. that was something that could never be allowed to happen. he cupped his own face, eyes wide and bright like a disney heroine. "believe in the process. it'll work. it may take a few business days, that's all."
despite the other's tougher than nails, too-cool-for-school attitude he often wore, jiwon never felt confronted by the way duk-soo spoke. instead of coming across seriously argumentative, it was cute in the same way a small, harmless thing could be; like a kitten pawing its owner across their forearm. the brunet doubted that it was truly a priority for duckie to hear that he thought he was beautiful, not when he had bigger things to worry about, but it was an easy request to fulfil. with perfect sincerity, they said, "well, i think you're very beautiful, duk-soo-yah. my grandmother would say the heavens took extra time making you." the wry smile he'd had on his face split into a wider grin when he heard duckie echo his terrible vitamin d joke, laughing softly at how ridiculous it sounded repeated back at him.
though he preened a little at the reminder he was pretty, he refused to take the bait of focusing on that. "i do look at the mirror. this perfect skin doesn't come with no work, you know," he drawled. then quieter and perhaps a touch more serious than he had seemed during the entire encounter, he murmured, trembling fingers twisting into the hem of his sweater. "so you have to get better. i hate saying it, but my pretty face just isn't enough. i need to see yours, too."
his eyebrows lifted slightly at the playful offer to be best friends. "wow, you must really not want to eat this food to offer me such a high honour." they thought about it for a moment, thinking of their mother back in busan and what she would have made him in this situation. his mouth twisted to one side thoughtfully. "okay, you got it, duckie. i'll come back with lots and lots of yummy food for you."
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