Love Business

"Senior, you have to eat. At least, a bit.." Han sighs as he tries to persuade Kim to take a bite of the food that he prepared for him. His eyes stare at the senior, who keeps his composure tight on the bed. He gives Han no response, even his eyes are far away drifted at the sight of the window.

"Senior... Please eat..." Kim shuts his eyes, ignoring Han completely. The boy patiently scoops the food using the spoon and when he brings that closer to Kim, the senior suddenly swats away the spoon, making Han jumps in shock.

"Can you just fuck off, will you?!" Kim spitfires Han. The boy watches Kim with his sorrowful eyes as he tries to calm the senior.

But, things turn from bad to worst.

Kim shoves Han away from him as he slaps the boy's cheek. Then he throws anything that he sees on the side table at him, making Han fleet away from the spot.

"Senior..."

"Go away! I don't need anyone to take care of me! Fuck off! Get lost!" Kim chases Han out, expressing his anger by screaming and yelling at the poor boy.

Han slowly crouching down and picks up the spoon on the floor. He holds back his tear, reminding himself that Kim is still on recovery; physically and mentally.

"Why did you scream at Han, Kim?!"

Han lifts up his head as he sees Lin; Kim's older sister. Perhaps, she brought dinner from home for Kim. As Han stands up carefully, Lin gives him a soft touch, trying to say sorry for Kim's attitude.

"I'm tired!"

"Han is even more tired than you. Have you ever ask him if he had been eating properly or not? Did he gets his sleep and rest? He spend almost all day, stuck in this room with you, treating you like a king! And this is how you repay him, huh?!" Lin scolds Kim, big time. She puts the food on the table, crossing her hands, both wrapping her thick, voluptuous body.

"I never ask him to come! I never ask him to take care of me–"

"He did this out of the feeling of responsibility, which obviously you don't have, Kim! At least, be grateful for that! Had not been Han who saved you that day, you might be dead!"

"I rather die, Cé! I rather die than looking at his face!"

Han can feel his heart is torn apart. So, this is how much Kim hated him!

"That's not a bad idea, actually! At least, I can get back my friend. He has been stuck in this room doing nothing but becoming your punching bag!"

Han turns around, looking at Daou, who is leaning against the door.

"Daou..."

"Pack your bags, Han. You're leaving tonight..."

"But..."

"No but. I had enough of seeing you being someone's entertainment all day. Pack your bags," says Daou. He glares at Kim, who sits silently on bed while gazing sharply at him.

"Han, pack your bags and leave. It's okay, I can take care of Kim. You deserve a good rest," Lin nods, watching teary Han, blinking his eyes while looking at her. She softly pats Han's hand, encouraging the man to leave.

Seeing Han reluctantly moves to pick up his thing, Daou hastily snatched the bag from him and drags the boy out of the house. Before they leave, Kim takes a glance at Han as his tears slowly roll on his cheek.

I'm doing this for your own good, Han...

****

Han smucks while his fingers racking the noodles using a fork that he holds. His lips let out a huge sigh as his eyes almost shut.

"If you wanna sleep, we can go home," says Daou. He was balancing his plate with his palm before puts the plate carefully on the table.

Han sighs again, shaking his head faintly.

"I need to eat..."

"You need some sleep too, Han. When is the last time you sleep properly on bed?" Daou asks, giving Han a sharp glare.

"I don't know. I think I did sleep but..."

"Eat faster, then you can go home and sleep. Don't worry about Kim. His sister is taking over now," Daou pushes the plate.

Thinking about Kim, Han suddenly feels bitter. The noodles suddenly feels soggy. His mind wander to some places, thinking about Kim makes him slowly losing his mind.

"Senior Kim hates firm noodles.." he still racks the noodles with a fork, looking at the floating meatballs in the soup. "Soggy noodles can be chew easily..."

"Han, could you stop thinking about him, for once?" Daou glares at Han, with his face obviously irritated by his words.

"I didn't think about Senior Kim... It's just came in my mind–"

"Pierrot is laughing at you, my friend! From when I pick you up, until we arrived here, you mentioned Senior Kim's name for at least seven times. Senior Kim likes this, Senior Kim hates that..."

Han sits silently on his chair. He understands why Daou scolds him. It seems that he has a hard time to let it go. He spends almost two weeks taking care of Kim. It still lingers around him. Now that they senior seems doesn't need him anymore, he has lose his purpose of life.

At least, according to him.

"Give me some time to move on, Daou..."

Daou sticks his fork into his food. His eyes glare sharply to Han, hands firmly on the table.

"Han, I don't care about your charity act. But, let me ask you something. For the past 14 days, has Kim ever treat you right? You sacrifice a lot for him; your time, your effort. You even skip classes for him! But, I never see, him, for once, appreciate all that!" Daou vents out his anger.

Han shuts himself. He can't even denies those allegations. Kim indeed treats him badly. His rejections, his temper, his harsh words. Normal people won't survive that.

Not only Daou points out the flaws. Even Seth; Kim's long time friend, seems to share the same opinion after he stopped by for a visit two days ago.

"Daou, he is sick..."

"That's not the reason. He's not a dog that has no brain!" Daou's voice is getting louder. "Even dogs appreciated us if we treat them kindly everyday, Han..."

"Daou... I'm not talking about his body. Senior Kim, his injuries are more leaning towards emotion. It's much more hurtful than those wounds and bruises," Han finally explains the real cause of Kim's rude attitude against him.

Daou softly pats Han's hand so the boy can look at his frustration face.

"I know you wanna help him. But, until he discovers everything by himself, there's nothing you can do. You only hurt yourself by forcing him to accept you in his life," he cares to share a piece of advice to Han. Knowing him since they were thirteen, Daou blends so well with Han's thoughts and personality.

"I wonder, when we decided to get together, you just easily said yes. But with Senior Kim, he keeps rejecting me," Han asks, looking at Daou with his curious sight.

Daou snickers a bit. "Because I did want that relationship. Although I know, you decided to date me out of curiosity, not because you liked me.That's why we broke up," he shakes his head faintly when he thinks about how silly Han was when he tried to figure out things.

"We still remain friends even though I broke your heart..."

"This..." Daou makes a circle using his finger. "This is out of mind act. To he honest, a lot of my friends find our relationship is weird, because not everyone can have a good relationship after they broke up. We are bestfriend, before we became couple, and even after we broke up. You wanna know why?" asks Daou.

Han lifts his shoulder.

"Because, I see you as a good person. As a friend, you're the best. As a lover, you're better. My love for you isn't base on feeling love, or lust. It's more like I respect you and care about you."

"That's why, when we broke up, when I asked you the reason, and you said you didn't love me for real, I respect your decision because you're being honest with your feelings. And you stick around, as a good friend who always support me no matter what. That is the most important thing that I treasure," Daou smiles while explaining his opinion to Han.

Han finally draws a slight smile on his face. He couldn't be more agree with the statement. He wants to keep the friendship with Daou because he too, treasure it so much. They started as a friend, then lovers, then broke up but in that journey, one thing that stays between them is their friendship.

"But Han, let me tell you something..."

They exchange looks before Daou sighs a bit and slowly grabs Han's hand with care.

"That only happened to us. Except you, I don't think I can befriend any of my ex," says Daou.

"Daou, you only have one ex, and that's me," Han reminds Daou. The man smiles and he chuckles between Han's words.

"Ah... Yeah..." Daou replies with his expression slowly turns a bit gloomy. Han stares at Daou, slowly grasping the air around his bestfriend.

"Daou... Are you...?"

Han fails to finish his inquiry when his phone blasts out with a call. He picks up at the instant once he sees the caller is Kim. Daou watches Han with his sorrowful eyes as he shifts his sight away, avoiding Han's anticipating reaction.

"Senior..."

"Han..." Kim sighs from the other side of the call. "I think we need to talk."