Sprain
Seokjin x reader
fluff
5037 words
In which a beautiful man appears out of nowhere and saves you.
You didn’t remember the night being this chilly, and wished you had a jacket as you walked home from the club. You had arrived there only an hour ago with your best friend, but they found a guy to have a one night stand with. You didn’t feel like dancing with men you didn’t know, so you decided to call it a night.
“I’m too sober for this…” you grumbled. You momentarily regretted not drinking enough to warm yourself up, but who knows what may have happened if you drank that much. You helplessly hugged your shivering body tightly. The tight velvet dress you wore looked great on you, but left your arms and most of your legs exposed to the unforgiving night air.
Thankfully, you were only two blocks away from your apartment. You didn’t live very far from the club, and normally you would’ve called a cab, but you forgot your phone at home. The only thing you had on you was a tube of lip gloss and ID tucked in your bra.
The crosswalk up ahead was running out of crossing time, so you decided to teeter across as quickly as you could in your stilettos. Luckily, there weren’t any drivers on the small road to witness your embarrassing attempt at running. To your horror, as you were crossing, your left heel got stuck in between the cobblestones of the road. You heard a crack as you instantly fell to the ground with a yelp. Suddenly, your ankle was in excruciating pain and your first thought was that it was broken. That would explain the cracking noise you heard. You looked at it, and thankfully, it didn’t look broken.
You looked around and noticed that there weren’t drivers nearby, but there were some pedestrians walking on the other side of the street. Realizing how strange you looked, you dusted off your hands, your palms still stinging, and you tried to stand up, pulling your dress down while doing so. It occurred to you that the gravel may have cut up your bare legs, but you didn’t bother to check. It was also then when you realized that the heel you tripped on had snapped off of your shoe. With an exasperated sigh, you took off both of your shoes and threw them across the street. Accepting how strange you looked, you gave up on trying to stand up, and just sat on the middle of the road. You wanted to cry. You were alone, your ankle was in a pain you’ve never felt before, your most expensive shoes were broken, and you were freezing.
“I don’t deserve this,” you muttered as you tried to get up again. Suddenly, you felt a warm hand touch your bare shoulder from behind you. You turned around to see the most handsome man you’ve ever seen.
“Are you alright?” the stranger asked. His face was marked with concern, but was still incredibly beautiful. You were still in pain, but you instinctively nodded yes.
“You don’t look alright. I saw you fall from back there and ran over.” He pointed behind himself with his thumb.
Your mind went blank and you couldn't say anything. You just stared at his flawless face. Unknowingly, you shivered.
The stranger took off his jacket and put it around your shoulders. It was warm from his body heat. "Here take this."
“Let me help you get up. You can’t just sit in the middle of a street.” He helped you stand up, and you leaned against him, afraid of putting weight on your left foot.
“Did you hurt your ankle?” He practically shouted. You nodded. You didn’t want to speak, afraid that your voice would give away your pain and shame.
“Do you want me to take you to the hospital? Do you need to call any family or friends to let them know what happened? Do you think your ankle is broken? How badly does it hurt? Where were you headed? Let me get you a ride..” He was speaking rapidly, and didn’t even give you time to answer.
“Thank you, but I don’t think my ankle is broken, so I don’t need to go to the hospital. I live by myself, so I don’t need to call anyone. I was actually heading home; it’s a block away. I think I’m okay to walk by myself. And I'm not that cold, so you can have your jacket back. Thank you.” You tried your best to answer his questions as politely as possible. "You did more than enough to help me get up. I should be okay though. Thank you so much.”
You tried to take a step towards the sidewalk without his help. However, when you put some of your weight on your left foot, you nearly fell out of his arms, but he caught you before you could fall.
Before you could say a word, the attractive stranger carried you up bridal style.
“You said home is that way?” He tilted his head towards the direction of your apartment building. You gave a small nod, too embarrassed to speak.
"Put your hands around my neck. I don't want to drop you." You did so, and felt your cheeks redden.
He didn't seem to mind your cold hands around his neck. "I can't leave a freezing, injured, beautiful girl alone in the middle of a street. That's dangerous."
Your heart skipped a beat at the word "beautiful". It seemed like so much more of a compliment from someone who looked like a celebrity.
The walk was silent; you couldn't think of anything to say. You were too embarrassed with the turn of events.
"That's my apartment." You gestured with a tilt of your head. "Thank you, but I think I can get home from here."
The handsome stranger furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "There are steps to get up to the entrance of your building. No way am I going to let you walk up. What floor do you live in? Is there an elevator?"
You sighed quietly. He was quite persistent. "I live on the fourth floor, and there is an elevator."
"Please let me take you upstairs. I want to make sure that you're safe." He was persistent, but he was sweet.
"I'm alright. You don't have to."
"No. Please let me." He furrowed his eyebrows and pouted, making his puffy lips even plumper. You sighed and grumbled okay.
He took you up the steps and bent down by the door, where a keypad was to enter the apartment's code. You caught him politely looking away as you quickly entered the code.
You two were silent as he made his way to your floor. Once the elevator arrived on the fourth floor, he asked you where your room was.
"It’s on the right, room 423."
He bent down for you to enter the code to your apartment, and you caught him looking away again. He was much more gentlemanly than you thought he would be. However, his politeness matched his princely exterior.
Without thinking, you invited him in. You were blushing, but didn't want him to leave just yet. He was already here, so why not keep him around just a bit longer?
He took off his shoes by your entrance and headed to your living room to place you on your couch. His jacket had managed to stay to your shoulders, and you took it off of yourself and placed in on your lap in an attempt to cover your bare thighs.
He bent down to inspect your hurt ankle. "It looks more swollen than your other ankle, but there aren't any bruises. Can you put your weight on it?"
You nervously placed your toes on the ground, before your entire foot, testing it. "It hurts, but not as badly as before."
"Good." He got up. "Do you have ice?"
You nodded. "In my freezer on the right. You can find sandwich bags in the drawer on the left of the island."
You watched him make your way to your kitchen. You were glad that you cleaned your home earlier today. He seemed like a man who kept things tidy.
He returned with a bag of ice and gestured for you to hold it. You did so, watching his eyes look around next to you.
"Do you mind if I use a pillow to lift your foot up on your coffee table? We need to keep it elevated."
You reached over and brought a throw pillow to him, watching him place it on your table. Without warning, he lifted your leg up and gently placed your ankle on the throw pillow. He then took the ice from you and held it on the swollen part of your ankle. You flinched at the coldness.
"Does it still hurt a lot?" His dark eyes tried to read your face for any signs of pain. Instead, your cheeks were pink from embarrassment.
"No it was just colder than I thought it would be. But of course it is - it's ice," you chuckled. "Thank you for doing all of this. I'm sure other people would've just ignored me and walked away."
"No problem. I wasn't doing anything important tonight anyway. And I can't just leave someone hurt in the middle of the street." His eyes suddenly lit up in surprise. "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Seokjin, but people call me Jin."
You told him your name and he smiled. The way his the corners of his eyes wrinkled when he smiled was extremely cute.
He repeated your name. "Your name is pretty. It suits you."
You blushed and looked down at your ankle. You wondered how he got away with saying such cheesy things. Probably from how good-looking he was.
"What were you doing out by yourself at this hour?" His dark eyes looked into yours.
"I was walking home from the Wing, you know, the club? I went with my friend and she went home with a guy, which is fine." You shrugged. "I didn't feel like dancing or drinking by myself so I decided to walk home."
"You didn't want to call a cab or anything?" he asked.
You just realized that he was sitting on the floor, in the space between your couch and coffee table. He was still holding the ice on your ankle for you. You decided to let him continue, because you figured that he would insist upon him holding the ice to your ankle for you.
"I didn't have my phone with me, and the walk isn't very far. I guess I should've been watching where I was walking better. I think my heel got caught in the cobblestones and it broke so I fell."
"I saw you fall. I was on my way home too. I live nearby."
"What were you doing out? It's chilly."
"Speak for yourself. I'm fine, but you're barely wearing anything." He raised an eyebrow at you.
You blushed and instinctively tried to cover your body by hugging your arms.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Jin's ears turned pink. "I just meant that you weren't dressed appropriately for the weather. I wasn't checking you out or anything - not that you're not attractive! I think you're very attractive. You're really pretty, and your dress is really nice too!"
He stopped himself mid-ramble. "I'm sorry. That was out of line." He looked down.
You giggled at how embarrassed he got. He was really cute. "Thank you. I think you're attractive too." You didn't mean to say that last sentence, but it just came out.
He looked up and smiled deeply. "I'm not trying to hook up with you or anything, so don't think I'm a creep, okay?" he joked.
"I believe you. It's my fault for wearing a slutty dress," you chuckled. "And I don't think anyone would want to get with an injured chick."
"I've never thought that!" he justified. "I honestly do think your dress pretty. The velvet is a nice material for the Winter season."
"Thanks." You laughed. His awareness of fashion was amusing, but you weren't going to press on it. "What were you doing out?" you asked again.
"Oh, I was out at a bar with some of my friends. They wanted to go to the Wing, actually, but I didn't feel like it so I was on my way home."
You wondered what would've happened if you two met each other at the club instead of how you really did. Would he have danced with you? Maybe. Would he try to take you home? You couldn't imagine him trying to get into a girl's pants in the way that other guys would. He seemed too genuine and kind for that.
He spoke before you could say anything. "Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital?"
"I'm sure. I think it's just a sprain. But I've never sprained anything before."
"Do you have gauze or anything like that? I almost forgot, but we need to wrap your ankle up."
"I think so, I have a first aid kit in my bathroom closet - on the highest shelf."
He got up to retrieve the first aid kit. You told him where your bathroom was. You admired how broad his shoulders were. He returned with the first aid kit and took the ice off of your ankle. He carefully bandaged up your ankle, making sure that the gauze wasn't on too tight. You felt the skin of your leg and foot heat up where his hands brushed against it.
After he was done, he looked at you. His eyes were warm and comforting. "Can I have your number?" You stared at him blankly. "To check on you tomorrow." He added quickly.
"I don't want to stay over or anything - not that I wouldn't want to. You're really pretty and hot and cute and nice! But I'm sure you don't want me to. I'm worried about how you're going to feel in the morning. I can come by tomorrow morning if you want. But only if you want! Since it's a sprain, I don't think we need to go to the hospital, but let's check up on it tomorrow. Did I tell you that you need to keep your ankle elevated? It's to reduce blood flow." Jin had a habit of rambling when he got nervous. You found it very adorable.
You giggled. "Sure. Can you get my phone for me? It's on the nightstand of my bedroom - it's the door on the right, behind you."
He blushed but got up gracefully and went to retrieve your phone. As he turned away from you, you unknowingly licked your lips at the sight of his shoulders.
He then sat next to you on the couch, and you noticed that he was still blushing. He handed your phone to you and pulled out his own.
"What's your number?" you asked. "I'll text you so you can have my number."
He told you his number, and you took note of how pink his cheeks were.
"My ankle feels better. You can head home if you want. It's getting late."
"Are you sure?" Your heart fluttered at his worry.
"It's not like you can help me take my makeup off and get ready for bed. Thank you for everything. I really appreciate it."
You reached across the couch and held his hand. You rubbed your thumb on the back of his hand soothingly. "Call me tomorrow?"
"Of course." Jin's eyes were sparkling. "Do you need any other help? I can get you painkillers if you want."
"I'm gonna be alright. Thank you though. I'd walk you to the door, but I'm not gonna." You laughed, hoping that he'd find your situation humorous too.
He cracked a smile. "Do you need any help on getting to your bedroom?"
"I'm fine, Jin. Really. Thank you for your help."
"Okay. He put his jacket back on before he headed towards the door. You watched him put his shoes on. He turned and smiled. "Goodnight. I'll call you tomorrow. Thanks for letting me come up. I hope you feel better."
"Goodnight. Thank you for everything, really." You waved goodbye from your couch and smiled at him as he shut the door behind him.
You managed to get ready for bed, only with minor struggles. As you laid in bed, you thought of Jin. You were surprised at how thoughtful and nice he was, in addition to how handsomeness. It was unfortunate that your injury was the way you met him, but you were glad you did. You looked forward to his call tomorrow morning. You smiled to yourself before falling asleep.
The first thing you did when you woke up was check your phone. It was 8:37am. He hadn't called yet, which was understandable. You weren't sure on why you woke up so early. And dismissed the idea that you woke up early to catch his call.
You tried to wiggle your toes and bend your foot. Your ankle was definitely sprained. You limped out of bed and got ready for the day. You made yourself a coffee with your breakfast. At around 10 o'clock, your phone rang. It was Jin. You stared at his name on your phone. You let it ring twice before picking up.
"Hello?" you answered.
"Good morning. How are you feeling?" The pit of your stomach squirmed at the sound of Jin's voice.
"I'm feeling okay? I definitely think it's a sprain."
"Should we get you crutches? I have a friend who has a pair."
You laughed. "It's fine. I'll just hop around like I've been doing."
The tone of his voice changed. "What type of music does a bunny listen to?"
"Huh?"
"Hip-hop." He began to laugh. It sounded like someone was wiping a window.
Your jaw dropped at his lame joke. Was he even real?
"Jin?" You interrupted his laughing.
"Yes?"
Your eyes were wide. You didn't know what to make of his joke. "What was that?"
"Oh yeah." You heard him take in a breath to collect himself. "Don't be a bunny and just hop around. I'll bring you crutches."
"I'm fine. You don't have to."
"Are you busy today? Can I come over?" It was amazing how easily he slipped in a dad joke into a normal conversation and reverted back as if he didn't say anything cringe-worthy.
"I'm not busy today. And you can if you want." You couldn't help but smile at the prospect of seeing him again.
"I'll be over in thirty."
Was thirty minutes enough for you to be presentable? He saw you at your probable worst so you figured that you could only go up from here.
"'Kay. See you then. Bye."
He told you goodbye. The way he said your name sounded different. It wasn't like he was mispronouncing it, but something about him saying it sounded different. You decided that you liked it.
As promised, Jin arrived in thirty minutes. When you answered the door, your smile turned to a frown.
"You really brought crutches?" You furrowed your eyebrows as you let him inside.
"I'm not gonna let you hurt yourself more. And these are my friend's. He hurts himself all the time so he just has stuff like this handy."
"I can't take someone else's crutches, even if he's not hurt right now." You took them anyway and rested them against the wall.
"It's okay. I asked him and he said it's fine. He said that he's glad that someone else can find use for them. He told me to tell you that he hopes you get better. He's been there." Jin smiled. "Oh, I brought you some painkillers too."
"Thank you." You mumbled, "you really didn't have to."
He held your hand with one hand and held your waist with the other as you hobbled to your couch. The throw pillow was still on your coffee table, and you rested your swollen ankle on it.
Jin inspected your injury. "You took off the gauze."
"I had to shower. Showering on one foot was hard. I didn't want to slip and fall."
"You should've called me for help."
"Help showering?" You raised an eyebrow quizzically.
Jin caught himself and blushed. "No, not like that! I'm not a pervert! I didn't mean it like that, I just..."
You laughed. "It's fine, I know what you mean. It's really sweet that you're so thoughtful. You really don't have to do any of this."
He smiled as he said your name. You swallowed nervously at the way he said it. "I want to help you. I'm not pitying you or anything. I can't just leave knowing that someone was injured right in front of me."
You stared at him. His eyes looked innocent and kind. His dark hair grazed his eyebrows. His skin was fair and flawless. Your favorite feature of his was his lips. They were so puffy and pink. The shape of his was unique but cute.
"You're too nice." You shook your head.
"And you're too cute." He grinned.
"You're too smooth." You squinted your eyes at him playfully.
He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but he closed it. "Let me wrap up your ankle."
You nodded and he proceeded to wrap up your ankle with the gauze from the first aid kit you didn't bother to put away last night. Your skin tingled where he touched it, just like last night.
"Did you eat?" He asked without looking up. "Eating well will help cure anything."
You mumbled something about eating a bagel earlier.
"That's not enough. Do you want to order anything? Or do you want me to cook you something?"
"If you're hungry, we can order something. I don't want you to see my fridge." You weren't one to cook, so you didn't have many ingredients. But what you did have was a little to embarrassing to show a man who you've just met.
Jin smiled mischievously. "Why not?"
"It's empty 'cause I don't really cook. I'm too lazy." You shrugged.
"I wanna see." His eyes twinkled. He was still smiling. You liked seeing his smile, but you had a feeling that he'd stop smiling if he saw the contents of your refrigerator.
You sharply shook your head no.
"Fine. What do you want to order?" he asked politely, deciding not to press any further.
Pleased with the end of the teasing you asked, "Do you want fried chicken? I have a coupon on my fridge."
He got up to retrieve your coupon from the fridge door. Before he did, he turned around and put his hand on the door handle and grinned at you.
"Jin! My fridge is embarrassing. You're gonna judge me if you see what's inside." You couldn't help but giggle at him.
"You're laughing, so I'm gonna look inside." You didn't stop him, partly because you wanted to see his reaction.
"Two, four, six, eleven bottles of white wine? And ginger ale, some beers, tequila, guava rum, vodka, three different whiskeys, and tons of liqueur?" He turned around and raised his eyebrows at you.
You blushed. You didn't realize how much alcohol you had. You also had a wine rack for your red wines too, but you weren't gonna let him find it either. "I'm not an alcoholic! I just have a ton of alcohol right now and order out."
"You look so healthy. I wouldn't believe that you ate out and drank every day. I've been fooled." He walked back to you with your coupon.
"I don't drink every day." You crossed your arms. "Like every other day? My friends come over almost every weekend to drink. I swear that I'm not an alcoholic. I just like to try new drinks every so often."
He laughed. "I believe you."
You two decided on the type of chicken to order. He had different pros and cons to say about each type of chicken, the size, and combination of orders. It was amusing to see someone so insightful about something as simple as fried chicken.
As you waited for the delivery to arrive, you and Jin talked about basic introductory information. You noticed that he was talkative, but listened to you enough as well. He wasn't boring to talk to, and kept the conversation going naturally.
You told him about your job, and how it wasn't your ideal job but that you were planning on achieving your dream job soon. He listened to you patiently, and said that he was an actor but he was working in a restaurant in the meantime. He's only had minor roles in dramas and movies, but he's been networking to get his foot in the door. He was in the middle of talking about his job at a restaurant when the chicken came.
Before you could bring up paying for the meal. He practically leapt to the door and paid the delivery man. Your heart fluttered at his genuine smile as he strided over to the living room with the chicken. He placed the chicken on your coffee table and helped you sit on the floor. Without a word, he adjusted the throw pillow for your ankle. He sat across from you and excitedly opened the delivery. You admired his grin. Fried chicken does wonders for one's happiness, you thought.
"Here." He held up a piece of chicken to your face, indicating that you eat it.
You laughed. You tried to take the chopsticks from his hand, but the chicken started to slip out.
He shook his head and extended the piece closer to you. "Just eat it. This piece looks really delicious."
"Isn't it silly for you to feed me?" You blushed.
"You're injured," he replied matter-of-factly. "Say ah."
"Jin! My hands aren't injured. I don't eat with my ankle. I can feed myself." You let out a laugh.
"But..." He pouted and tilted his chin down. He looked up at you with sad eyes. "I wanted you to eat the good piece before it gets cold," he said quietly.
You quickly took the chicken from his chopsticks with your mouth. You weren't quite sure on why he made such a big deal of something as minuscule as delivery fried chicken.
"You're cute when you eat." Jin said before he shoved a large piece in his mouth. He drank his soda to help wash down the food.
You looked down and silently ate another bite, ignoring his compliment. It was strange that you allowed a stranger into your home and let him pay for a meal in your own home. You didn't know what he was in your life? A friend? A stranger? A crush? You continued to eat quietly and avoided eye contact with him.
After what seemed like only five minutes, Jin broke the silence. "Is something wrong? Are you okay? Should I get you water? Is your ankle hurting? Tell me if you need anything."
You looked up slowly. His eyes were wide with concern. You smiled. "I'm fine. I guess I'm not feeling chatty today."
He apologized. "I won't talk to you then."
You shook your head and told him that you enjoyed him talking, and wanted to listen to him. He nodded enthusiastically when you told him that, and began talking about how tasty he thought the chicken was. You found out that he worked as a waiter at an upscale restaurant that you pass by on your way home from work. He admitted that it wasn't the coolest-sounding job for someone his age, but he sincerely enjoyed working there and loved being surrounded by tasty food. You admired his confidence in himself.
You and Jin continued talking after the meal. He told you about his acting roles, and you surprised him when you told him that you've seen the shows that he was in, despite you not remembering that he was even in them. You told him about your hobby of being a wine connoisseur among your friends.
Eventually, the conversation turned to your current relationship statuses. You told him that if you had a boyfriend, you wouldn't have had him come over today. He replied that if he had a girlfriend, he wouldn't be over at another woman's home. You and Jin cleared that up, and found out that you two were single and weren't talking to anyone either. His last relationship was several years ago, and yours was in college, which was years ago.
For once, the conversation ended. Neither of you could think of anything to say. It wasn't an awkward silence by any means, but it was just silent, as if you didn't have anything left to talk about.
Jin cleared the silence. "Once your ankle feels better, I'd love to take you out on a real date." He smiled a small, sweet smile.
Your eyes grew wide. He was more forward than you were used to. But you couldn't deny how attracted you were to him. He was thoughtful, kind, fun, cute, and handsome. You didn't realize that you were holding your breath until you exhaled to reply.
You nodded. "I'd like that." You couldn't stop yourself from smiling.
Jin leaned over and gave you a small kiss on your cheek. He muttered a "you're so cute" before he leaned back.
Your heart fluttered at how close he was. You could still feel the tingle on your cheek where his soft lips pressed on it. You knew that you were blushing and you looked away.
"I'm starting to like you too much," you mumbled as you looked down. Thankfully, he didn't hear you.
“Is something wrong?” He sounded concerned.
You turned to him and shook your head with a smile. “Nothing. It’s just, your lips are as soft as I thought.”
It was his turn to blush and you took this time to place your hand over his. “So how long do you think it’ll take for my ankle to feel better? I’d love to go on that date.”
HO NOTE: I love a classic damsel in distress trope and all, but I love a shy boy just as much too.