Sojin bowed deeply first to Mado, then to Amon. Although he felt uneasy about the newcomers, they had saved him from his assailant so the least he could do was show his appreciation.
"Thank you very much! I would have been a goner if you hadn't showed up," he stated, glancing from the older man to the younger. "It's really late though, so I'd best be on my way now -"
The boy winced in pain as the gash on his arm throbbed, yet tried to conceal the wound behind his hand. The clothe that had once been a light blue was now dyed a deep red, his blood continuously seeping into the material. Amon glanced at the wound before taking a step closer to the boy and reaching for his arm. Sojin immediately took a step back, keeping the distance between him and the two men.
"That wound looks bad," Amon stated, unfazed by the boy's obvious fear of him. "You should at least let me take a look at it before you run off."
Sojin let out a nervous laugh before shaking his head and waving his hands in front of him.
"No, no! Thanks for your concern, but it's not that bad...I'm just going to head home now!" he stated, backing away from the men. Amon gave him a quizzical look, seemingly confused by the boy's reaction to his offer of help. The wound was obviously far worse than the kid was letting on. The man shrugged, not one to force assistance on those that did not want it. Sojin bowed once more before turning on his heel and speed walking down the street the way he came. The older man who had remained silent up till this point narrowed his eyes at the boy's fading figure before turning to his subordinate.
"That's certainly an interesting one, don't you think, Amon?"
After a few minutes of walking Sojin finally reached a street with a few cars passing back and forth. The pain in his arm was intensifying and he was beginning to feel exhausted from the lack of blood in his body. His eyes lit up as he saw the bright sign of a taxi heading his way, raising his uninjured arm to hail it. The cab pulled over and allowed the boy to hop in, the cab driver choosing to ignore the boy's injured state. The brown-haired boy gave his address and leaned his head against the window, closing his eyes and running through the whole day again in his head. He had always craved adventure, constantly complaining about his boring life, yet he hadn't expected it to manifest itself this way. Without realizing, the boy drifted into a mixture of sleep and unconsciousness. It was well past midnight at this point and the combination of drowsiness and blood loss easily overtook his willpower.
"Sir. Sir..." the cab driver stated, peering in his mirror at the boy passed out against the window as they pulled up to the destination. "SIR."
Sojin jolted awake, banging his head on the window then rubbing it in pain. He quickly fished his wallet out of his pocket, handing a handful of cash to the driver and apologizing profusely. Stepping out of the cab, he faltered and nearly fell to the pavement, gaining another concerned glance from the cab driver. Sojin turned to the man with a smile, rubbing his head and laughing a bit.
"Ah, I'm fine! Sorry...I'm just tired!" he exclaimed, trying to offer an explanation for his behavior. The man gave him a confused look before rolling up the window and pulling off. Sojin turned and climbed the steps of the apartment building one at a time, counting them to keep himself conscious. After quite a bit of effort, he managed to reach his apartment, entering and falling to the floor while clutching his aching arm. Pulling the cloth off, he gasped at the sight, barely able to resist heaving all over the floor. It was far worse than he had thought now that he could see it clearly in the light. The wound was deep and scarlet blood stained the rest of his arm. There was no way he would be able to patch this up himself, yet he had no strength left to get himself to the hospital. Not to mention, the last place he wanted to go right now was back to the hospital-for all he knew, all the workers there could be ghouls waiting to feast on him. His attention was ripped from the wound as a light turned on in the room next to the entryway. Hide's figure appeared in the doorway, his expression turning to one of horror as he saw the younger boy on the ground. Sojin didn't even try to hide the wound like he normally would, knowing it was too late as the orange-haired boy ran towards him, kneeling down and grabbing his arm.
"Sojin! Are you okay? What the hell happened to you?!" the older boy exclaimed frantically. "You need to go to the hospital! I'm calling an ambulance!"
The older boy turned to get up, but Sojin grabbed his shirt with his uninjured arm. Hide turned to face him in surprise, curious about what could possibly be more important that getting help right now.
"No! Please don't call an ambulance! I don't want to go to the hospital!" the younger boy exclaimed, pushing himself to his knees.
"What do you mean you don't want to go?! It's not an option. I think you're already delirious from blood loss!"
"No, Hide! Please!" exclaimed the younger boy, moving his grip to the older boy's arm and shaking it in a pleading manner.
"Sojin, stop being ridiculous. Look at your arm! Do you really think you can avoid a hospital trip with a wound like that?" Hide shot back, prying himself from the grasp on his arm. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and began dialing, placing the phone to his ear.
"Hide! Please! You don't understand why I can't go!" Sojin exclaimed, tears finally beginning to well up in his eyes. As far as he was concerned, Hide was unknowingly sentencing him to death. His roommate's eyes widened upon seeing his usually happy roommate tear up, dropping the phone to his side and kneeling down beside him.
"You're serious? If you don't want me to call then you have to at least explain what happened," the orange-haired boy stated, slipping his phone back into his pocket and peering into his roommate's eyes.
Sojin bit his lip, glancing to the side as he decided what to do. If he told Hide what had happened, he risked dragging his unknowing roommate into the dangerous situation that now surrounded him. The older boy took hold of his injured arm, taking a closer look at the wound before letting out a gasp.
"Did you get mugged? Although I don't think a knife could make a cut as precise as this..." Hide asked, mostly to himself. Sojin could tell that his roommate was already beginning to piece together the puzzle and would arrive at the answer regardless of whether he told him or not. Letting out a sigh, the brown-haired boy decided that it would be most beneficial to just come clean. With a look of fear, he retold the tale of what had just happened to him in his search for Kaneki.
"You what?! A ghoul? You survived a ghoul attack?" Hide exclaimed, grabbing Sojin's shoulders and shaking him slightly. "Why would you endanger yourself like that?"
"I didn't want to! I just wanted to help Kaneki. I thought he deserved to know!"
"You should have told me so I could have gone! How could you do something so dangerous alone?" Hide replied. Sojin's eyes widened a bit as he sensed a hint of anger in the older boy's voice.
"I didn't want to endanger you! I thought I could just tell him and be done with it. If the ghouls knew that you knew they would-"
"It doesn't matter!" Hide exclaimed loudly, through gritted teeth. He grabbed the younger boy's collar and pulled him closer, looking him in the eye. "Don't endanger yourself for me! Are you an idiot?"
Sojin felt his face flush at the last question. He pulled Hide's grip from his collar and pushed himself to his feet before turning for the door. The older boy immediately realized his error, jumping to his feet and grabbing Sojin's uninjured arm.
"Wait! I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that you shouldn't endanger yourself for me! I mean, look at your arm!" Hide exclaimed, trying to pull his roommate back. The younger boy gritted his teeth in annoyance and wrenched his arm free. Whether Hide was aware of his crush or not, he had expected the orange-haired boy to at least show some sign of gratefulness, not yell at him.
"Sorry for trying to protect my friends. Next time I'll let you get eaten by ghouls without a second thought," Sojin stated, edged on by a mixture of fatigue and annoyance. He made it out the door and to the top of the stairs before pausing in surprise.
"Sojin! I know you have a crush on me!" Hide exclaimed, following him out the door and standing behind his frozen roommate, aware that he had played his ultimate card. "It's because of that that I don't want you to go throwing your life away to protect me."
Sojin's heart rate increased, the remainder of the blood in his body now flowing rapidly through his veins. Should he pretend to not know what Hide was talking about? Should he make a break for it? Clenching his fists, he turned to face the older boy, taking a deep breathe. He tried his best to keep his face from turning red, but he could feel that it had already heated up.
"I...I don't have a crush on you! I'm just protecting you as a friend," he replied, his anger turning into humiliation and his gaze falling from Hide's eyes to the floor. His lying skills had failed him once again. To his surprise, he felt Hide's hand atop his head, patting it playfully.
"There, there. Don't worry, it's cute!" the older boy exclaimed, his happy personality returning as he moved closer and wrapped his arm around Sojin's shoulders playfully. Sojin buried his face in his hands in embarrassment, but was unable to refrain from a slight laugh at his roommate's drastic mood swing. He opened his mouth to question what Hide thought of him, but the older boy spoke first.
"That's the Sojin I know! Now...if you really don't want to go to the hospital, I have a senpai who's studying medicine. Let's head over to his place-and don't worry, he's not a ghoul!" Hide exclaimed, pulling his phone out of his pocket with his free hand and dialing a number.
"Ah, Nishiki senpai! Sorry to wake you, but my friend needs some emergency help! You can patch him up, right?" Hide asked through the phone. He paused for a moment as he listened to the response, before thanking the other boy and putting his phone away. His arm still wrapped around his roommate's shoulders, he led him down the stairs of the apartment.
"Don't worry, Sojin, he'll have you fixed up in no time," Hide stated as they walked. Sojin let out a quiet laugh, still quite traumatized from both the ghoul attack and his confession to Hide.
"It's not gonna be awkward between us now, is it?" he asked, glancing over at his crush. Hide's grin widened as he poked the younger boy playfully in the head.
"No way! Now I have even more incentive to take care of you!" he replied as they made it to the street outside of their apartment. Sojin wasn't sure whether that was a hint that Hide felt the same way or if he was reading too far into it. Regardless, he was happy to finally be safe under his roommate's comforting grip. Looking back at the ground, a slight smile spread across the younger boy's face as the duo headed towards Nishiki's home.