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If Zhang Hailou has to overcome his true nature of a snake that strike and kills,

Does that means Zhang Haixia has to overcome his true nature of a bird to fly?

Letting go of that youthful freedom, and accept his fate of a paralysed man?

But that darkening thoughts was slowly consuming him, telling how useless he is.

The bird wings was ripped away, and when it finally on the brink of death, only then did the snake realised his venom had been slowly killing bird without the snake knowing.

The snake had to overcome his true nature and instict, before he completly devoured the bird whole.

Li lianhua is the beauty of a wilted flower. A flower that once flourished in its bloom, admire and praise.

It is the beauty of silent grief that i am quitely envy of. Of that acceptance of death and solitude.

He calmly make his own bed that he patiently wait to lie on. Laboured by the heaviness of guilt and regret he refuses to let go. Every breath he took counted down to the end of his time.

Which at the end is true.

Except, the gun is Lee Do.

Lee Do basically stood up his junior for a man he just met 😭😭😭

The air was tense, and Lee Do had his hand on his baton. “Please surrender and put your hand in the air,” he warned. The two men scoffed and mutually agreed that they should fight their way out. Seeing the two men getting ready to fight their way out, Lee Do pulls out his baton. He only needs to buy some time until backup arrives. That would be 3 to 5 minutes at least, if he is lucky. But something feels wrong. He felt breathless and started to get dizzy. Fuck. He should have listened to Moon Baek. One-shot. 4181 word count

The room was cold; he could feel the air on his face, and a slight trembling passed through him. However, warmth won his senses as he realized he was safely enveloped in a blanket. It felt safe and comforting, and Lee Do let out a loud sigh of satisfaction.

His body has been running on high-sodium food and lack of sleep for the past week, due to a recent series of house break-ins in the station, so they decided to pull more manpower for patrolling. Lee Do easily volunteers to cover shifts for those who can’t stay longer, but his body is taking a toll on him.

Plus, yesterday was extra tiring because of those thieves.

Wait. He thought suddenly.

How did I get here?

Lee Do didn’t remember putting himself to bed last night. Or what even happened after he chased the thieves?

…

“Can’t you take a leave today?” the man on the other end of the phone said, pout clearly evident in his voice. Lee Do can’t resist the small smile he gave; thankfully, Moon Baek isn’t there physically to point it out.

“I’m fine, I don’t feel that sick,” a hoarser voice replied. Lee Do had woken up feeling a bit under the weather when he woke up, but had ignored it nonetheless. The week has been brutal, well, for a uniformed police officer at least. He was already feeling a bit tired yesterday, and Moon Baek must have noticed when they were eating dinner together last night.

But the younger was smart enough not to say anything at first, so Moon Baek let it be last night. However, the thought didn’t disappear for Moon Baek, and he decided to call him that early morning, when he knew Lee Do was getting ready for work.

“I have a day off in two days anyway, I’ll be fine until then,” the police officer assured Moon Baek. “Don’t worry about me,” he added.

The line was quiet for a bit. Moon Baek knew how devoted Lee Do was to his work as a police officer, and he hated skipping out on a day of work even. He takes more pleasure in helping his community than himself. Moon Baek huffed, admitting a temporary defeat.

“Fine, but I’ll come by during your lunch hour.”

“What no ne-“

The line was disconnected.

Lee Do sighed and rubbed his forehead. He can’t really do anything but accept his fate, he guesses. Moon Baek is stubborn and does what he wants to most of the time. Something that Lee Do has been used to for years.

Sometimes, after being with Moon Baek, he forgets who's the older one. As in Moon Baek didn’t really see Lee Do as an older person whom he should respect, but just another human being.

Moon Baek never really respects people who are older or younger. He just does what he thinks is right. Back then, when Moon Baek first met Lee Do, he was just a fresh high school graduate troublemaker. And Lee Do, who had just been released from his duty in the special task force and was starting anew as a police officer, met him.

After two meetings, Moon Baek, who keeps appearing in front of Lee Do, said that he wants to know Lee Do more because he is simply curious. Lee Do, of course, didn’t want to encourage such behaviour from a young person, repeatedly insisting Moon Baek spend his time doing something his age.

“I can’t go to university, anyway, better spend time accompanying Officer Lee Do,” the younger said cheekily while both of them were sitting in the park.

Well, Officer Lee Do was sitting at the park, relaxing on his break, and Moon Baek appeared and made himself comfortable. Lee Do doesn’t know what to make of what the younger person said. He didn’t take Moon Baek’s pursuit for real, even if he could call it that serious. The boy was young, and while not naïve, Lee Do could also brush it off as naivety.

“What about enlisting first?” Lee Do lightly suggests. His enlistment did lead him to a much bigger opportunity; maybe it could help the aimless Moon Baek.

“Enlistment? Aren’t you a soldier once, too, Officer Lee Do? And not just any officer, you were in some special task force, aren’t you?”

Lee Do stiffened a little bit, and he gave the younger man a pointed look.

Moon Baek held up his hands up in the air lightly.  “Or not?! I just overheard the captain talking about you once. I didn’t go do anything illegal,” he defended.

“But did you? You look really cool, fighting against that burglar the other day. I was so impressed,” Moon Baek excitedly continued.

Lee Do didn’t even know Moon Baek was there when he was arresting that house burglar.

Lee Do breathe deeply. “Oh, I did, something like that,” not giving too much detail. “But that is hard, you could not.”

Moon Baek, feeling curious, asked, “Why not? I’m stronger than I looked.”

Lee Do shook his head, “Not everyone can do it.”

“I’m not anyone,” he scowled.

There was a pregnant silence before Moon Baek said, “What if I joined it? Won’t that prove I’m not just anyone? Then Officer Lee Do won’t just brush my pursuit off that easily,” he jokingly said.

At least, that’s what Lee Do thought. Because later on, the younger enlisted himself and aimed to join the same military task force that Lee Do had joined. Lee Do didn’t want to tell the younger to think it over; he didn’t have much say in the younger's life.

But also, joining the military and being in that special task force would take years. Maybe then Moon Baek would let go of his attachment to Lee Do. So, Lee Do let him.

They met each other once or twice during Moon Baek's enlistment, but when Moon Baek transferred abroad to further his service and training. Lee Do didn’t see the man for almost three years. In those three years, Moon Baek had gained skills and recognition in military intelligence. And the younger seemed to like it, being in a high-risk situation for the thrill, he said.

Now, Moon Baek has grown and become a man. A man who towered over Lee Do not only in height anymore. And that definitely has zero effect or impact on their relationship at all. Nope.

Lee Do did have to take a minute to process how Moon Baek had grown when they first met each other again. Especially when the man rushed to him and hugged him so tightly in front of the police station. Lee Do, who was unaware of Moon Baek even in Korea and was just getting off from work, was flustered. He can’t even remember the last time he flustered, not even when Moon Baek, young and boyish Moon Baek, said he wants to pursue him.

If this Moon Baek asked him again, Lee Do doesn’t think he can give a nonchalant answer.

That was a month ago. Moon Baek was currently on leave for a bit. Taking the moment to come back and take some vacation days. Simply put, he is unemployed and available to bother Lee Do when he wants to. Just like today.

It was two hours before his lunch break, and Lee Do with Jeong-U were doing their second patrol of the day. The morning itself was already exhausting, between defusing a car accident quarrel and answering 119 calls twice, Lee Do could feel a headache coming with his occasional shiver of cold.

“Sunbae? Are you sure you are fine? Should we go back to the station right away?” Jeong-U suggested after looking at his senior pale face.

Lee Do, however, shakes his head, “It’s okay. We're almost done anyway.”

Jeong-U reluctantly agrees and continues driving.

Before they could drive away from the current neighborhood they were in, there was a loud scream, and Jeong-U immediately hit the brake before looking around. Lee Do also jolted up and unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car.

A woman was struggling to break free from two men, who seemed to be trying to steal her purse. The two men were dressed in formal white shirts and black jackets. Lee Do immediately charged after them when they realized that there were police officers.

“Jeong-U, check on the women and call for backup,” he ordered before rounding the corner to catch up with the men. 

“Eh! Sunbae, wait!” Jeong-U was in a dilemma to either chase after his senior or help the women. But the streets were empty, and he couldn’t leave a victim by themselves.

Lee Do was chasing the two men as fast as he could. It was close to noon, so the streets were not as packed, but it didn’t make it easier for them to escape.

Before long, the two men had ended up running into a dead-end alley by accident. Lee Do arrived there by the time they both turned around.

The air was tense, and Lee Do had his hand on his baton. “Please surrender and put your hand in the air,” he warned.

The two men scoffed and mutually agreed that they should fight their way out. Seeing the two men getting ready to fight their way out, Lee Do pulls out his baton. He only needs to buy some time until backup arrives. That would be 3 to 5 minutes at least, if he is lucky.

But something feels wrong.

He felt breathless and started to get dizzy.

 Fuck. He should have listened to Moon Baek.

…..

Lee Do grunted as he was kicked aside by one of the men, the bigger one. The other man was similar to his build, and Lee Do can use less strength to fight him. However, handling both of them at the same time and with his condition right now, Lee Do felt uneasy.

It was around 3 minutes, but Lee Do couldn’t hear any sirens or anyone coming.

Lee Do let out a heavy breath, preparing to face the two men again. He has been persistently blocking their way out of the alley, and by the looks, the thieves were getting impatient.

“Fuck this,” the bigger one said. With that, he took out a knife from his back pocket.

Lee Do cursed inside. This is getting bad.

The man with the knife moves ahead, making his attack. Lee Do quickly side-stepped step but the man was faster and slashed his thigh. But Lee Do had faced worse, so he didn’t react but rather used the same leg to kick the man's arm.

Sadly, it didn’t land right to help throw away the knife from the man’s grip. “Oh, you are a strong one.” The man swung the knife without care, trying to land a hit while Lee Do expertly missed it.

But this didn’t last long, the man getting frustrated and Lee Do getting more and more tired. Then, without realizing, as he was too focused on keeping his energy and avoiding the knife, he felt a kick to his back, making him stumble. Right, the other one.

He was momentarily halted when Lee Do pushed his body to the wall, but he had regained his motion faster.

Lee Do stumbles forward but swiftly avoids the knife from his body, but his tiredness has caused him to be slashed on the arm. And he stumbled down, his breath getting heavier. His thigh slash was deeper than he thought, the blood seeping out, and he could feel the sharp pain if he exerted more pressure on it.

“Ah, this bastard is finally down,” the man who just kicked him said. Sounding smug.

The bigger one stalked closer to him, dominating his views, and Lee Do, pulling his energy, was about to launch forward with the last of his strength. Knife or no knife on the man.

His heart beat fast, waiting for the right moment. But before he could, the bigger one was kicked away from him, hardly that the man fell.

“Eyy, two against one isn’t fair. You thieves are playing dirty,” a loud voice came from his side. A familiar one that he just heard this morning.

“Moon Baek,” he said hesitantly, like he could not believe Moon Baek was miraculously there, as his savior. Weird.

“Hyung, just wait here. I’ll take care of them,” the man gave him a cheeky smile before turning his attention to the two of them. His face darkened, and a sly and mischievous smile appeared.

Suddenly, Lee Do felt scared for the two men.

“Sunbae!” At the same time, he heard Jeong-U's voice. Finally.

The young police officer immediately came to his aid, along with two police officers who stood dumbfoundedly by their side. Spectating the fight in front of them.

Lee Do was clasping his thigh, that has been continuously bleeding was noticed by Jeaong-U, who quickly clasped his thigh too. Jeong-U used his other hand to support the man. “Sunbae? Are you okay?”

Lee Do gave a slow and unconvincing nod, and Jeong-U quickly called out the two police officers to call an ambulance. Lee Do can feel his energy depleted already, barely able to cling to his consciousness.

But the two police officers were silent, and Lee Do had to turn his head away when Jeong-U was dumbfoundedly opening and closing his mouth.

“Oh.. W-what is he doing here?”

Lee Do, with a slightly trembled breath, turned his head.

Moon Baek looks rather more like a bully than someone who is in versus one-on-two fight. He fights against the two with such ease and vigor. Lee Do gulped at the sight.

With a last kick, Moon Baek had knocked the two thieves out with ease. “That will teach you a lesson.”

Moon Baek, he thought.

As if the young man could hear him, he looked at Lee Do with a big smile and came closer. There was a big crease of worry on his face, but before Lee Do could tell him not to worry. His eyelids became heavier, and he silently passed out.

“Hyung!” was the last thing he heard.

….

As the events from yesterday came to his mind, that still didn’t explain how he got here. Because he is sure this isn’t the hospital or that he is lying down in a hospital bed. Lee Do blinked more as he tried to regain body movement.

He moves his right leg, the one that was slashed yesterday, but winces after feeling the sting. At that, he suddenly felt a pressure tighten on his waist. “Don’t move, you will reopen the sting,” a deep, hoarse voice came from his side.

“What?!” he jolted and tried to sit up, but the man tightened his weight on Lee Do. “Didn’t you hear me? Don’t move around.” Moon Baek warned.

Lee Do, feeling his head heavy from sleep and probably tons of pain medication.

“Why are you here?” he can’t help but ask in an offended way.

“Why are you asking like that? After Moon Baek helped you yesterday?” the man faced him with a slight put.

“No” he said “I mean why are you in the bed with me right now. And also where are we?” he added.

“We are in my condominium, of course.”

“But why not –“

“Because you said you didn’t want to stay at the hospital,” the younger said easily if it answered to.

“Oh,” Moon Baek sits up and twists his body so he is chest to chest with Lee Do.

“Does Officer Lee forget that he asked Moon Baek not to leave him alone in the hospital?” With that, he moves his arm to either side of Lee Do, trapping him to the bed. “Let me tell you then what happened yesterday”. He gave a small smile; clearly, whatever happened last night had been a true delight to Moon Baek.

…

“Oh, Officer Jeong-U, is hyung okay?” Moon Baek worriedly asked. He has stepped away to give his statement to the police officer on what had happened.

He was on his way to the police station when he heard a fight in an alley. So Moon Baek, being Moon Baek, when to checked, and thankfully he did, because the sight he saw had enraged him, that without hesitation, he ran forward and kicked the man who was clearly aiming to stab Lee Do.

He was enraged, so he had to take his revenge right away. If this man were detained, he couldn’t beat them up as easily right now anyway.

“He’s fine. Captain is with him right now.” Jeong-U said.

“What did the doctor say?”

“The slashed wound on his thigh is deep, and there was some blood loss. But the doctor said that he passed out because of exhaustion and dehydration. Plus, he was actually running on a high fever,” the young officer shakes his head. “It was a miracle he wasn’t badly hurt.”

Moon Baek nodded while having both his hands on his hips, feeling a bit angry at Lee Do for putting himself at such risk. “Can I go in?”

Lee Do was put in a private ward, demanded by the captain, who was inexplicably worried about the officer. “Supposedly, only close family member is allowed, but… pretty sure you are an exception to that rule.”

Moon Baek gave a sheepish grin before heading inside. He was aware that many people around them knew of Moon Baek's infatuation with the old man. Many would think that he was just joking about his likes for Lee Do, but as years go by, Moon Baek's feelings only grow.

Experiencing the special task force has only made him grow more fascinated with Lee Do; his admiration grows, and the time he spent with Lee Do during his breaks has only made him more sure of the man. But Moon Baek knows, while he is an easily going person, Lee Do wasn’t.

But if the man didn’t really want Moon Baek in his life, the old man would have pushed him away a long time ago. Lee Do would have been capable of doing that.

Moon Baek entered the room quietly. Captain Cho was already there, with an evident frown and worry on his face. “Oh, Moon Baek-ah,” he greets the man.

“Captain Cho. How is he?”

“He’s fine now. The doctor said he is basically sleeping and going to wake up anytime soon.” Moon Baek nodded.

Just on cue, there was a grunt coming from the bed. Lee Do was waking up.

“Oh, Lee Do-yah.” Captain Cho came to the side of the bed, holding the other shoulder down so he didn’t try to sit up with his condition.

“What happened?” the man said, voice tired and with a hint of some innocence coming from it, Moon Baek noted.

“You are in the hospital now, everything is fine,” the captain answered. “The victim?” Lee Do asked instead.

“Yeah, how can you worry about that right now. You are the one who fainted and was hurt. She’s fine, just a bit of scratch, you brat,” the old man scolded. “How are you feeling now?”

Lee Do closed his eyes shut, and nodded a little bit, saying he feels fine but weird, and then smiled. A smile that made Moon Baek take aback.

“Oh god, how can I forget?” the captain exclaimed.

“Forgot what?” Moon Baek voiced out, feeling the atmosphere was a bit awkward. But before the captain could answer him, Lee Do, who had just now realized the young man was in the room, looked up, and his grin went bigger.

“ Ah, Moon Baek-ie is here!” he said sluggishly. Moon Baek could only blink and look at the captain, who had dread on his face.

“Actually, Moon Baek-ah”

“He acts a bit weird when he has a fever and is on pain medication. He acts a bit drunk,” by the way the captain was saying, Moon Baek felt like there was a story behind that dreading tone.

Ah, that. Lee Do thought.

Lee Do rarely had a fever, but when he did, he became delirious and sluggish like a man high on drugs. But if he added a pain medication, he acted even worse. Which he thinks he did last night.

“Captain Cho told me that this one officer acts really weird and funny when he is on medication, but who would know that by weird he meant that the man does not want to be left alone and kept begging me to bring me with me,” the young man teased.

“You keep threatening to follow me back home and try getting out of the bed that Captain Cho said that it was better if they just discharged you and let me bring you back to rest,” he explained, and Lee Do silently nodded.

But he can feel the heat creeping up on his face at the same time. Back then, when he was a teen, he had a heavy fever and begged Captain Cho not to leave. The man actually stayed and accompanied him the whole day, saying Lee Do was about to cry if he didn’t stay.

Did Lee Do also almost cry when Moon Baek was about to leave? Fuck, how embarrassing.

Seeing realization dawn on Lee Do's face, Moon Baek can’t help but smile wider.

“Who would know that Officer Lee Do can be so cute?” he brings his face closer.

Lee Do shyly turned his head to the side, avoiding the gaze. But Moon Baek just mimics his movement, and soon they are turning their heads side to side until Lee Do starts giggling at the ridiculous sight of two grown men on the bed. Moon Baek followed by laughing.

Their laughter died down, and now both of them are back to looking straight into each other's faces. Moon Baek gave a small smile before saying, “Hyung, do you know how worried I was yesterday?”

“It made me really scared when you passed out. Don’t do that to me again?” Lee Do wanted to reply something back, but with that serious face on Moon Baek, he fell silent. Lee Do suddenly felt pitiful to Moon Baek; this young man, who was once a boy, might have said he liked him out of youthfulness, but the man on top of him now was serious.

Lee Do hesitantly nods and brings his right hand to cup Moon Baek's face at his jaw. If the younger was shocked by the sudden skinship, he was hiding it well. “I’m sorry for worrying you,” he comforts.

“But Moon Baek, were you serious?”

Lee Do didn’t have to say anything about what; the question was clear.

“I am”

“Why?” he can’t help but ask.  

“Back then, being an orphan with no hope of falling into that path of destruction, I thought people like me, us had no option but to fall. I had no interest in the world, but then I saw you, a police officer who was an orphan who once held a gun and aimed it at the man who killed your family." He cupped the hand on his jaw with his own.

“At first, I was just curious. Why didn’t he take the shot? But the more I pay attention to you, the more I can’t figure you out. You have the power, the skill to find justice, but here you are, a uniformed police officer who helps old women and smiles at others so easily.”

“And then I wanted that smile to be on me, for me, and because of me. Before I knew it, I wanted to be with you, and when I want something, I will try really hard to have it.”

Moon Baek finishes his confession, and Lee Do can’t help but feel breathless. Their face are now only an air apart.

Lee Do had never really dated anyone; he tried, but nothing had lasted longer than it should. He fears that people he loves will leave him, like his family. So he does not allow anyone to enter his heart and mind so easily, does not want to face the tragic heartbreak he felt when his family left him alone on that fateful day.

At night, he would wonder why he was the only one left alive. Why can’t the man kill him too, so he could be together with his family?

So for the past two years, he had denied this creeping feeling that pops in his heart when he thinks about Moon Baek. Lee Do started missing him and wished for Moon Baek to be back in Korea so they could talk to be together. For once in a long time. Lee Do wanted someone to stay.

So, he closes the gap between them with his lips.

......