The doctor who seemed to have just woken up walking away from the bed, raised his head and met Haruki's gaze taken aback. His look of surprise disappeared in seconds as he approached Haruki unhurriedly.
Haruki paused at the moment unsure of how to process it. He had thought the doctor left since he did not come to study. He did not expect the man to have made himself quite comfortable in his guest rooms enjoying a good night's rest while Haruki had waited for him.
"What are you doing here?" he had to ask as the need for an answer to that question lay heavily on his mind.
"I came here to sleep," the man replied as though he had every right to. "I have to check on your later to make sure you are well that is why I did not leave," the man replied naturally.
"Leave, someone wants to use this room," Haruki told the man firmly.
"That . . ." the doctor began but paused as he turned to the young man standing behind Haruki as though Haruki would shield him from any harm. "Your wound hasn't fully healed and any strenuous actions could open it and if it gets infected, it could cause more problems than the first time."
What further shocked Haruki was the fact that the man was courageous enough to lecture him despite what happened. The man seemed to not understand the extent of the insult he gave him.
"Who do you think you are to lecture me?" Haruki had to ask because he felt the man must think himself special enough to dictate his routine.
"Your doctor who is scared of losing his life if anything happens to you when I take care of you," the doctor boldly replied. The warmth in his eyes did not diminish but his gaze was firm when he looked into Haruki's eyes with his light-colored eyes.
Haruki scoffed at the boldness the man had that his father never showed. "I guess your father did not train you well on what it means to work for me," he said as he approached the man.
"He did," the man refused to back down from the argument. The young man behind was shocked that there would be anyone bold enough to oppose Haruki after all he heard about him from friends and those in his circle.
Haruki's lips twitched, he wanted so badly to continue the argument but he was sure that he might just end up having a body cleaned from his guest bedroom and it might be two since he would not want to leave a witness.
"He told me my family will be annihilated if anything happens to you under my care and I will die after months of torture," the doctor replied seriously. "The wounds haven't healed yet and since you are under my care, I will not let you do anything that could hurt you."
The man seemed to intentionally make emphasis on him being under his care. Haruki felt hurt hearing those repeated emphasis as though the man was trying to give him an explanation behind the warmth in his eyes.
The bitter feeling those brought him felt as though he had been betrayed. Scared that he might not be able to hold back from killing the man, he turned and walked out of the room. The youth followed him causing him to stop in the hallway to look at him.
The young man bowed his head unable to meet Haruki's gaze. "What is your name?" Haruki asked calmly, almost too calmly considering the storm raging in his mind.
"Takumi Kobayashi," the young man raised his head and glanced at Haruki as he responded. He lowered his head after meeting Haruki's gaze for less than two seconds he seemed shaken by that exchange too.
"What do you do?" Haruki asked seriously. He could almost guess the guy was either an actor, a trainee, or an upcoming idol but since he was not sure, he wanted to confirm.
"I am an actor," the young man replied.
Most of the time, they were told what there were about to get into before being brought to him and he never treated them any worse than they were briefed. He stays with one partner when he was with someone regardless of how short it lasted or how long . . . depending on how pleased he was.
Looking at the scared young man, he could almost guess that none of these would last long. "You can leave. If you are sure of your decision, I will ask them to bring you over next time," he told the young man.
"I am sure, I am very sure," the young man sounded like he was willing to give his all to this even though his voice shook as he spoke.
Anyone would have expected Haruki to shy away from such relationships because of the injury the last relationship brought him but he was sure that no one under him would be strong enough to kill him even with poison. The young man would never have stabbed him if he did not feel the need to escape the numbness life brought him by seeing his mother's smile.
The young man left with one of his guards and he walked back to the guest room his doctor had so brazenly occupied. The doctor was sitting on the sofa when he walked in and slowly stood meeting Haruki's gaze fearlessly.
"Your job is done here, you can leave. I will have someone take you away for the right training to become my doctor," he said to the man. He turned to leave but the man stopped him by hurriedly standing on his path.
"I want to make things clear," the doctor began.
Haruki had to say the doctor had a thing for staring into someone's eyes when talking and Haruki found that weird as many people around him would not have the guts to.
"You invited me to your study without asking about my sexual orientation, I am not gay, I am not bi either, so I cannot give you what you want even if I went to your study," the doctor said.
Finally, they came to an understanding that suited Haruki since some people would gladly turn gay for Haruki, he did not expect the man's sexual orientation to be the reason behind it, well, that sounded like an acceptable excuse – acceptable for his hurt ego.
Haruki could not conclude if he had won this round or not but since the man took an effort to explain things to him, he coldly met the man's gaze and nodded before saying, "You can leave."
The man looked conflicted but he nodded in defeat, "I will pack my things and leave."
The newness of this feeling the doctor brought to him in the few days they spent around each other, was enough distraction to his stable life. It was foreign and unwanted.
As he closed the door closed behind the doctor, Haruki made a serious mental note to avoid getting hurt or falling ill because he did not want to meet the man anytime soon until he gets his mind fully back to its normal state.