Chapter 14
"So you've been listening to my album, huh?" Conrad raised an eyebrow at Jun as the younger speared a little bit of his red velvet cake with his fork. "What do you think?"
"Oh, I love it!" Jun giggled before he covered his mouth and chewed on the cake. Conrad blushed too at the compliment.
"Humour me. Which is your favourite song?"
Jun offered him a forkful of his cake, which Conrad gratefully accepted, before he answered.
"I loved There's Nothing Holding Me Back. It's got such a good beat and it's so fun and I love it. I can't tell you how good it is! But I love pretty much everything on the album. It's such a good debut album."
"Well, it is named after you," Conrad admitted, and Jun adored the blush that painted his cheeks. "Jun, July, August."
"To be honest, my album was for you too. The songs are about my love story and..."
Conrad bit his lip and lowered his eyes. With a smile, he reached over and squeezed Jun's free hand.
"I love you," he whispered, earning the softest, happiest smile Jun had worn for a while, "so much. I know you probably don't want to date a fan, or can't date anyone, or--"
Jun silenced him with a red velvet flavoured kiss that lasted both for a second and forever. When he sat back down and busied himself with his cake again, it took Conrad a good few minutes to truly understand what had just happened. When his brain came down, he hid his face in his hands as Jun giggled at his reaction.
"You are the dorkiest dork who ever was a dork," Jun teased before he sighed and fiddled with his fork. "I wish I could join you on the tour dates, but, as soon as I'm discharged from hospital, it's back to whatever my managers say basically."
"I'd love to have you on tour," Conrad squeezed his free hand. "It'd be so much fun."
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I understand. But I do wish that your management would cut you some slack and let you be freer."
Jun hummed. "I normally have Sundays off, and I don't think I should go to a concert anyway at the moment. Yuna said we've got a long way to go in therapy still."
"Your recovery is the most important thing, and you need to take care of yourself."
Jun stabbed another piece of his cake with the fork and held it up with a smile. "To recovery and self care."
"To recovery and self care," Conrad agreed before he opened his mouth to accept the cake offered to him.
The doors to the hospital cafeteria were thrown open and Jun's manager stalked in like a lion hunting down its prey. His face twisted from pissed off to murderous when he saw the pair of them, and Jun shuffled around the table to sit next to Conrad for both protection, and to present a united stance.
"We said no dating. And particularly no dating boys. And have you gained weight, Cha Jun Hwan?!"
With Conrad's hand on his back comforting him, Jun popped in another mouthful of cake before he tried to answer.
"Ajsnfnowejbfoan."
Conrad cut in for him before his manager could respond. "He's at a healthy weight now, and he's doing a lot better. And you shouldn't scream in a hospital. It's extremely rude."
The manager looked him up and down, curling his upper lip in disgust. "Shut up. Who even are you?" He dismissed Conrad easily before he turned back to Jun. "Just how heavy are you now? That doesn't look like 100 pounds."
"That's really not a realistic weight, nor is it healthy." Conrad cut in again. "I care about him, and he's making great progress with their help and without you enforcing stupid and unrealistic expectations on him."
"God, I knew this Canada crap wasn't worth it," his manager said with a firm glare. "Pack your things. I'm signing you out of here and we're flying back to Seoul as soon as possible."
"Okay, that's enough," Yuna cut in as she walked over and sipped at her cup of tea. "Hello, I'm Cha Jun Hwan's doctor, Dr Kim. Jun Hwan isn't going anywhere until I give the green light."
"I will sign out against medical advice then."
"You will do no such thing. You are not a parent or guardian of his. Who, by the way, has been forced into hiding and can't even visit her own son because of what you're not doing to help the situation."
"And also, you can't just take him like that," Conrad pointed out. "He's got a contract with the Cricket Club. You legally cannot take him back without his consent and him breaking that contract."
"I heard legally." In all his Armani suit glory, Stephane walked over to the table and sipped at his own cup of tea. "Nice to meet you, I'm Stephane Lambiel, and I'm a lawyer."
The manager scoffed and fixed him with a firm look. "Am I meant to be scared? And Jun Hwan Cha, put the cake fork down right now."
"Jun, don't," Conrad said as he pulled the younger closer to him and rubbed his shoulder. "You're going to eat it. All of it. And you're not going to do anything about it."
"And if you keep yapping, I can make life very difficult for you. Remember, I'm a doctor."
Jun kept eating the cake and his manager's frustration only increased. His glare darkened at Yuna.
"Is that a threat, Doctor? I can have your license."
"It's a reminder. Until he's discharged, Jun Hwan is under my care and is my responsibility. If I say he needs to gain weight, then he needs to gain weight. And if you keep trying to interfere, especially by pushing your eating disorder triggering beliefs onto him, then I will report you and your entire team for endangering his life."
"Actually," Nathan cut in as he set his freshly brewed cup of coffee down on the table and started dumping handfuls of sugar packets into it, "from the report we took down when we brought him in, he was in a life threatening situation because of his weight. So, Mr Lawyer?"
"Mr Lambiel, please," Stephane smiled before he tapped his chin, "Hmm, I'll have to look at it more carefully, but, if it was intended, it could be interpreted as homicide. Not to mention the actual damage that cause him to collapse during a performance and the lack of proper assistance in the venue. That would be personal injury and negligence." He sipped at his tea. "Again, I'd have to check everything thoroughly but, from what I have now, you will definitely serve time."
The manager turned more and more pale with every word that Stephane spoke. almost in desperation, he turned to Jun and locked eyes with the young singer.
"Jun Hwan, I'm the one who saw your talent. I made you a star!"
Stephane stepped between them, gently but firmly pushing him back by the shoulders. "I'm sorry, but, as the legal representative for all those signed under the Club, I have to ask you to leave my client alone while he recovers. Once he is discharged, I will set a meeting and you can bring your proposal for the termination of his contract."
"This isn't over," Jun's manager snarled as Jun finished off his cake.
"I must insist," Stephane cut in, "that you leave my client alone, or I will be adding harassment to the list of charges."
"Okay, okay," Nathan swallowed down a large mouthful of his strong sugary coffee, "you should probably go before all this caffeine kicks in and I go into cardiac arrest. You really don't want to witness that."
"A wonderful example you've just set Nathan," Yuna rolled her eyes. "This has been enough drama in the cafeteria. I must remind all of you we are in the hospital. Jun Hwan, unless you want another piece of cake, you can go back to your room. With the exception of Mr Lambiel, the rest of you have to leave. Now. Especially you, Mr Paramedic Coffee Addict Chen."
Nathan grumbled and downed his heart attack in a cup as he left. Jun's manager got the sharp, cold look Yuna gave him and finally decided to back down. Jun slipped his hand into Conrad's and looked up at Yuna with puppy dog eyes.
"Can Conrad stay with me?"
"Sorry Jun, but he has to go. Only next of kin are allowed in your room during nighttime."
Leaning against the doorway, Mao couldn't help but smile as she watched the events unfold; the entire time, she was focused on Yuna.
"My God, I love that woman so much."
Jun's managers didn't let up, but neither did Stephane. In Yuzuru's eyes, the Swiss man was a genius who managed to multitask both his case and Jun's case. Yuzuru's court date was fast approaching, and Stephane was still managing to prepare both him and corroborate the evidence for Jun's case. Brian managed to get into the hospital to visit the pair, as well as Tracy, Ghislain, and Jun's mother. Conrad spent most of his free time before his tour visiting Jun, and Jason publicly supported the pair of them on social media before he went on to announce that he was starting writing his new album. Javier spent a lot of time in the hospital under the guise of working with the pair of them, but, whenever he arrived, Jun would give him a knowing smile and tug Conrad out of the room and down to the cafeteria. Javi opened his arms and cuddled Yuzuru, stroking his hair as he pressed kisses to Yuzuru's cheeks. Their cuddles were disturbed by someone opening the door, and Yuzuru's gaze turned murderous when he recognised the manager who stepped in.
"Get out." Yuzuru said with a voice colder than Siberia in the winter. "Now. He doesn't want to talk to you."
"I can see he isn't here. Do you know where he is and when he'll be back? This hospital isn't so big that he'll be able to hide for long."
"Let me handle this," Javier stood up and advanced on the manager, who matched his every step with one backwards. "Yo no hablo idiota."
The manager looked at him in confusion and Javier flashed him a sunny smile before he slid the door shut in the guy's face. Yuzuru came from behind him and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, pressing kisses to his neck.
"I love it when you speak Spanish. What did you say."
Javier couldn't help but chuckle, and he turned and cupped Yuzuru's waist. "I only said I don't speak idiot."
Yuzuru giggled and dragged Javier back over to the hospital bed where they fell down together. "Well, it sounds sexy."
Javier rolled them so that he was above Yuzuru, smiling down at him as he pressed kisses to the singer's neck.
"Will Mao and Yuna kill me if I have sex with you on this hospital bed?"
"Most likely, but," Yuzuru nibbled on Javier's earlobe and ran his fingers through the other's curls, "I couldn't care less."
Afterwards, Mao was waiting outside the room with her arms folded across her chest and a look of murder on her face.
"You go further than a kiss in this hospital again, and I will castrate both of you. And I'm not talking about the chemical kind."
Yuzuru squeaked and lowered his eyes out of embarrassment. "Understood! Sorry Mao-san!"
She gently tapped him on the head with his clipboard before she turned to leave. Javier wrapped his arm around Yuzuru's shoulders and leaned in next to him to whisper.
"There's a supply closet here. I'm sure no one would notice if we were gone for just a little while."
"We would notice!" Mao shouted back down the corridor to him. "Don't you dare! Rabbits, the pair of you."
"Males," Yuna leaned against the door of her office and smiled down the corridor to Yuzuru and Javier. She pressed a kiss to Mao's cheek and took the clipboard from her. "I'll see you after the rounds? I'll even make you something sweet for dessert when we get home."
"See you," Mao gave her a wave as Yuna went to do her rounds. After a short while, she ended up at Jun's room and slid open the door.
"A wild stringbean appeared," she joked as Conrad's head snapped up and he stroked Jun's hand. "What are you doing in Jun's room alone with the patient."
"Holding his hand while he sleeps," Conrad said gently as he turned his attention away from her and back to him. "He's gorgeous. So gorgeous."
Yuna smiled as she checked his vitals and changed his IV line. "You're a good man, Conrad Orzel. But I have to ask that you go, because it's getting late and you're not allowed to spend the night with him."
"Of course," Conrad stood up and left an envelope on the bedside table. "Sleep well Jun." He leaned down, pressing a kiss to his forehead before he stepped out of the room.