Hyunwoo doesn’t know much about Romeo’s life - something which is, of course, entirely the mobster’s doing. In fact, Hyunwoo could count the number of things he does know about the other man on one hand and that already small list didn’t even include Romeo’s real name.
And, for the most part, that was okay. From what he did know, it was obvious that Hyunwoo shouldn’t involve himself with Romeo any more than he already had. He’s dangerous - something he’d been aware of since night one when Hyunwoo walked into his own clinic, baseball bat in hand, and found himself staring down the barrel of the gangster’s gun.
And yet… there’s moments where Hyunwoo wants to throw caution to the wind and press closer - to see what it is that’s driving Romeo so exhaustingly forward. Because, plainly speaking, Hyunwoo doesn’t understand the other man and that bothers him much more than it should. Especially during those moments where he thinks he’s caught sight of something - something to explain what the mobster is really after despite all the pain and suffering it’s clearly causing him.
But it’s almost as if Romeo caught on to those same little moments that Hyunwoo was already overanalyzing and firmly slammed the door closed on them before Hyunwoo could muster up the courage to ask anything else.
‘Matters of my own that need attending to’ and if that wasn’t a more clear cut dismissal then he didn’t know what was. But, as he’d learned these past few months, the easiest way to deal with Romeo’s dismissals was to just ignore them.
And he had no shame in admitting that all of Romeo’s injuries gave him a bit of an unfair advantage.
“I think you can spare me a few more minutes,” he countered as he began to close the wound, pressing the edges of the torn skin together as he applied the first of the butterfly strips, “especially since I know that won’t take me up on my offer for a ride to Myeongcho Hospital.”
That knowledge prickled, knowing that he would allow Romeo to leave despite not providing him with the fullest of care and he couldn’t stop the small frown that graced his features.
“At least promise me that you’ll stop by the clinic today or I guess to-...,” and before he could even finish that sentence, Hyunwoo found himself flailing as he fell face first against Romeo’s chest, completely caught off guard by the man’s sudden action.
He didn’t even notice the sting of the gravel against his gloved hand as he looked up wildly to stare up at Romeo, a question on the tip of his tongue that was immediately answered as another paramedic blew past them, barely missing them where they lay.
“You know, it’s sorta unfair that you’re still somehow more coordinated than me even while sporting a head injury,” he finally managed, looking away from the paramedic as Romeo spoke.
And for a moment, he found himself unable to look away, caught between the desire to push back the hair from Romeo’s forehead or simply not move at all as he drank in his features - somehow the close proximity of that weary smile making his heart clench.
