Treatment

“What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I had to! Literally what other choice did I have?” Chaewon snaps, patience long gone already. “Minju, there was no other way!”

“Also, when she finds out–”

“She won’t!” Chaewon shouts over her. “I went private! I’m not an idiot! You always assume the worst!”

“And what if–” Minju suddenly goes silent as soon as she sees you enter the room. Her eyes dart between you and Chaewon and you and finally back to Chaewon. “He’s still here?” she gasps.

“He probably just saved your life,” Chaewon angrily storms out of the room, slamming the door behind her and leaving just you and Minju alone.

Awkward in an understatement. You’re not entirely sure what just happened, but you can feel the tension as if it’s being carried physically through the air itself and directly inhaled into your lungs. Before you can even start deciding on your next move and how to handle the situation, Minju makes a noise from the bed.

“Sorry?” you turn your head towards her direction.

“I said, thank you,” she repeats quietly, seemingly a bit embarrassed, staring into her lap. “She’s right, you probably did save my life.”

You walk over to the bed slowly. Minju tries to sit up, but she quickly realizes it’s not happening, wincing in pain and clutching her side as she collapses back into the bed.

“Don’t get up,” you wave your hand, “how bad is it?”

“It’s… bearable…” she winces again.

Now that you’re closer, you notice that her hand has a bit of a tremor. It’s subtle, just like the slight sweat she’s breaking, and most people would probably miss it. Her eyes are also constricted, which is definitely abnormal for someone who just took a dose. She should still be feeling it, but her response isn’t typical. You’ve seen it a hundred times before, there’s just something different here.

Something is off. You decide to ignore it, for now at least.

“Minju, right?”

“Yeah,” she looks up at you.

“Look, I don’t know the full story, Chaewon barely told me anything to be honest.”

“It’s a long one,” Minju’s eyes turn away from you. “That argument was… you shouldn’t have heard it.”

“I didn’t hear much, and I’m not particularly worried about that right now,” you say, mostly being honest. “Your treatment though, if you want to keep going forward with it, will probably take at least a few sessions.”

Her eyes quickly snap back to you. “You’ll… you’ll do that for me?” she stammers. “I d-don’t, we don’t have any money right now. Well, we do, but–” she pauses, more nervous than ever, and you quickly realize Minju is just as miserable at hiding things as Chaewon.

“I can’t exactly leave you like this, of course I’ll keep going. I already told Chaewon I’d help you.”

“Yeah you can, you don’t even know me–” she suddenly gasps, clutching her side.

“You good?” you reach out and hold her hand. “Can I take a look?”

She has her eyes shut tight and her teeth gritted, but she nods in response. She gingerly moves her arms aside, giving you easier access to the blanket covering her.

Carefully, you lower the blanket, revealing her bare chest. Her side, presumably where Chaewon applied, is noticeably better and the discoloration has improved tremendously. With the wrapping off now, you can see the very obvious puncture wound.

“Does it hurt when you take breaths?” you ask, pulling the blanket back up to offer her some modesty.

“Y-Yeah,” Minju stutters.

Why does she seem so nervous all of a sudden? And she’s sweating more than before.

“The pleura is probably damaged, that’s not good,” you mutter under your breath. “The wound and bruising is a lot better, but I’m worried the internal damage might be a bit much. It’s really important that your airway is stable before I leave.”

Minju places her hand under her breast where the bruise is. “It’s really tender,” she winces as she massages the area.

It’s such a foreign situation to you. Normally, she should be feeling the effects still, but it’s like they’ve completely worn off already. Unless it’s because the damage is so severe. She obviously got stabbed, and it really begs the question – why?

“Yeah, I’m definitely not leaving you like this.”

“I guess I’m lucky to have such a good samaritan with me.”

“It’s not luck,” you carefully move her hand aside and take another look at the wound. “Your friend made it happen.”

Minju sighs and instantly recoils from the pain when you touch her chest.

“Sorry,” you hand her the water bottle next to her bed. “Here, drink.”

She sits up as much as the pain allows for and takes a small sip.

“You’ve been so incredibly helpful,” Minju says softly, glancing at your body as she puts the bottle back. “But I’m still not understanding why. What did Chaewon say to you?”

“She told me her friend needs help and she has nowhere else to go,” you pull the blanket back over her body.

“That’s it?”

“She… seemed genuine.”

Minju sits up straight, gritting through the pain. “In that case, I think it would help a lot if… not to pressure you or anything but… another dose?”

“Oh, yeah, you’re probably right,” your eyes watch as Minju slides her hand against the front of your pants. You glance towards the door.

“Don’t burden her,” Minju tosses the blanket off, revealing her entire body this time, covered only by a small pair of light pink panties. “You fucked me once, just do it again.”

“W-What? I didn’t fuck you,” you stammer as your eyes linger on her thighs. They’re stunning, and under most circumstances you’d be completely enthralled by their perfection, but there’s a glaring bruise on her knee staring right at you. It’s difficult to ignore.

“Why not?” Minju reaches up and turns your face by the chin so that you’re looking into her eyes instead of at her legs.

“What do you mean ‘why not’, you were passed out,” you answer as Minju’s hand returns to your crotch and begins carefully rubbing the bulge in your pants.

“Come on, that gene means you’re basically a king. You get to fuck all the pretty girls you want, whenever you want, no? Why would that stop you?” Minju whispers. “You think I’m pretty, right?”

Everything’s moving so fast. Just a moment ago she was wincing in pain and thanking you, but now she’s essentially forcing you to use her. It’s hard to think straight.

Her hand, which is now undoing your belt and tugging at your waistband, is incredibly distracting. She’s right though, you do think she’s pretty, incredibly so. It’s just so difficult to find the words at the moment. The circumstances aren’t exactly familiar.