There’s fear in Kai’s heart, thump-thump-thumping as he enters the hospital. He pretends to be calm when the doctors and nurses lead him to the bed.

It’s been a long time coming. He’s not regretting this. He’s going to see Khánh very soon after.

He counts down as ordered by the anaesthetist.

10, 9, 8…

When Kai wakes up, it’s done, and it hurts. He does his best to listen to the doctor’s post-surgery run-down, hearing familiar words that he’s been preparing for.

He calls an Uber to collect him at the hospital. While getting into the car is fine enough, he finds it extremely hard to get up again.

“I’m sorry,” he quickly apologises to the driver, who has to get out and open the door for him.

“...Kai?” Khánh hurries out of the house, brows pinched in worry and mouth open in shock. “Kai!” They run over and take Kai’s arm, thanking the Uber driver.

“I’m okay,” Kai says as the two of them walk into Khánh’s house. He smiles dopily at Khánh, trusting them to lead him safely.

Inside, Khánh takes him into the living room and carefully helps him sit down on the recliner.

“Now,” Khánh says, brows pinching in worry. “Did you get into a fight? Who hurt you?!”

Kai’s head dips in embarrassment and apprehension. “Actually...I had top surgery.”

Understanding blooms in Khánh’s eyes. “Oh. Oh!” They pout. “Why didn’t you tell me??”

“I’m sorry?” He winces at a twinge of pain.

Khánh props a hand on their hip. “If you tell me everything you need immediately then I might just forgive you. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Need me to change something? How about going to the bathroom?”

Kai’s face splits into a smile as he is barraged with possible requests. He feels that Khánh is impossibly cute, his smile growing into laughter. “...Ow.”

Khánh’s eyes widen. “What happened?”

“Laughing hurts,” Kai says grumpily.

Khánh stares at him in disbelief for a moment, then rolls their eyes, while their lips curve up into a smile. “You sit there, I’ll get you some water,” they decide.

A few moments later, Khánh returns with a slightly steaming mug. It’s less than half full, warm in Kai’s hands. There’s also a straw, meaning that Kai won’t have to lift the mug as high.

“What is this?”

There’s a spice-like smell to it.

“Ginger and honey tisane,” Khánh says. “It’s good for you.” They turn the TV onto a nature documentary channel. “Science also says that looking at nature is good for you.” Their hand rests lightly on Kai’s shoulder. “Rest, okay?”

Kai hums affirmatively. He sips on the drink. He puts the mug down to watch the documentary. His eyes slowly glaze as he watches the scenes of nature and the soothing voice of the narrator.

When he blinks again, the TV is black and there’s a blanket draped over his legs. Various pillows are arranged to both his sides. The mug is now gone, and there’s the light fragrance of chicken stock in the air.

Wah? Where…

Kai blinks, confused. The urge to go to the bathroom also makes itself known.

Grunting, he stands up. Pain radiates from his chest. He shuffles on autopilot towards the bathroom.

He manages to pull his trousers down. He manages to sit on the toilet.

But...wiping with toilet paper is impossible. He doesn’t have the maneuverability.

“Fuck…”

Kai groans. Why. Why? Kai should have installed...a bidet or something. What if he just sits here? Would Khánh notice—

“Kai? Kai! Where are you?!!!”

“...I’m in here.”

Khánh’s footsteps hurry towards him and stop outside the door. “Are you alright?” comes Khánh’s worried voice.

“...No,” Kai admits. “Can you come in?”

Kai tries to blot out what happens next. Afterwards, Khánh helps him pull up his trousers and leads him back to the sofa in the living room.

“Are you hungry? I made some cháo gà, it’s a Vietnamese chicken porridge, very easy to eat and light on your digestive system.”

“Okay.”

That fragrant smell was the chicken stock that forms the base of the porridge. It’s a fairly loose porridge, and the chicken is already in small, easy-to-eat pieces. It’s followed with some more hot ginger tea.

Kai’s eyes mist up a little as Khánh takes away his used utensils. He’s so lucky that Khánh is willing to do this, even though Kai sprung it on them so suddenly.

He’s really, really lucky…

Kai dozes off again.

Days pass in a blur of sleeping and bouts of doze-y non-sleeping. Kai’s heart fills to bursting with all the love and attention Khánh is showering on him, especially since he can’t shower himself so Khánh has to help him wipe down his body. He sees now why the surgeon had urged him to find someone, friend, family, or otherwise, to help him during his recovery period. His face flames with embarrassment to think of the things Khánh has to help him with though. The showering and, god, the toilet aren’t even the worst parts (Khánh had in fact gone out the first day and had a bidet installed). No, it’s the drains attached to his chest to remove pus from the surgery sites that threaten to ruin things for Kai.

The second day, when they need to be emptied, he refuses to pull up his shirt. “It’s gross!” he protests fiercely, hands fisted at the hem.

“I don’t mind,” Khánh insists.

“You say that now, but then you’ll see the, ugh, the pus and then...and then—” Kai’s voice chokes off, his knuckles turning white with how hard he’s gripping his shirt hem now.

“And then what?” Khánh’s voice is so gentle, so kind. It makes Kai want to hide in a hole somewhere.

There’s a long moment where Kai hopes if he doesn’t respond, Khánh won’t push the issue. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen. If anything, they seem to get ever more patient.

After another tense two minutes, Kai can’t stand it anymore. “I’m already asking you for so much, and you just give and give and never let me really pay you back. I’m… afraid. What if this is the last straw? At what point is too much?” Kai says it all in a rush, his voice faint but growing stronger with every word. “I’m afraid if I give you the chance, it’ll go badly and ruin our friendship.”

“Kai…”

But the momentum of his unleashed anxiety will not be stopped. “I know you’re going to say it won’t matter, but what if it does?! You’re such a kind and generous person, I’m afraid you’ve just been holding in resentment over me, and when you see the gross tubes in my chest everything will backfire.” A thought occurs to him. “Oh shit, you haven’t gone to work at all since I’ve been here! Am I making you take sick days? I’ll pay you back your lost hours or, or something. Once I’m better, I mean, I can’t do much for a few days, but then I’ll get out of your hair and—”

“Kai!”

A warm hand is suddenly on his cheek, tipping his head up. Kai’s brain short-circuits at the sensation of human touch, something he’s been starved of for far too long. His eyes sweep up and find that Khánh’s face is much closer to his than expected, and his breath catches.

“Keep breathing, please. Slow and steady. Inhale, one, two, three, four, exhale, one, two, three, four…”

Kai does as instructed. He feels the tension begin to leave his body the longer he listens to Khánh’s soothingly hypnotic voice.

“It’s not good for you to get so worked up. I’ve been looking up things while you’ve been sleeping, and avoiding stress is one of the most important things for you to recover quickly,” Khánh murmurs. They move their hand from Kai’s cheek to his back, where they begin to rub soothing circles. Little by little, Kai feels his heart rate calm down.

After a time, Khánh speaks again. “It seems I can’t convince you that things will be alright, but I can assure you that no matter what, we’ll talk our way through it, because that’s what friends do. And you are my best friend. If the drains are too much for me, I’ll tell you that they are, and I won’t force myself to do anything I don’t feel comfortable with.”

Kai chews his lip nervously. “What about the… other stuff? Do you resent me? And what about your job?”

Khánh huffs a quiet laugh. “I truly, deeply, 100% have no regrets about you dropping into my life—quite literally!” They smile warmly at Kai, and then the expression falters. “As for my job, ah, my job…”

Tension snaps back into Kai’s body. “Your job?” he prompts.

Khánh hastily begins to rub his back again. “It’s nothing like what you’re thinking, I promise. It’s just a little… embarrassing.”

“Surely not more embarrassing than the things you have to help me with,” Kai responds drily. “Come on, it’s only fair for us to share embarrassment here!”

“Of course, yes, I just… my job… it’s…” Khánh turns their face away, but Kai can still see the flaming red of their cheeks. “I’mastreamer.”

“What?”

Khánh heaves a huge sigh. “I’m a Minecraft streamer. People pay me money every month because they like the content I make. Right now, I explained a family emergency came up and I’ll be out for about a week. I also came into the inheritance of a certain family member who supported me after I came out and my family… didn’t support me as much as I’d hoped. I hired a financial advisor, and all the inheritance money is a safety net in case I don’t make as much as I expect from my streaming.”

Kai’s eyes widen. “Oh.”

Khánh’s expression becomes unsure. “So. It’s okay, see?”

Kai shakes his head and smiles. “That’s really awesome! Can I watch you stream?? I used to play Minecraft, before work took up all my time…”

If anything, Khánh goes even redder. “Okay, whatever you like.”

It’s….cute.

Kai smiles. “But not right now, of course. I might play a bit to remember how it feels.”

Khánh nods. “Yes, that’s a good idea! There are also some great mods if you want me to tell you as well.”

Kai suppresses a smile. It feels really good to find something that makes Khánh as close to excited as they are about food. “But...um...before that...can you go with me to my post-op appointment then? At least to open the door and—”

“I’ll drive!” Khánh declares, voice brooking no argument. “Just leave it to me.”

Just leave it to Khánh. Kai’s chest aches, but it’s a good pain.

*

Bonus scene:

Minecraft streamer Khánh: And here’s my newest creation, a city where all the buildings are made out of food! There’s a rail car that goes around each section that looks like conveyor belt sushi!

Twitch chat: [frothing at the mouth]

Twitch chat: [donations and emotes streaming in]

Twitch chat: MORE! MORE! MORE! MORE!

*

Bonus scene 2:

Khánh feels they’ve never been such a light sleeper since Kai came to them in his time of need. As such, they wake up immediately when they hear his weak voice calling from the living room. They hurry over. “What can I do for you, Kai?”

"Can I ask you something...personal?"

"Yes?" they breathe, heart beating faster. Is this it? Could it be that he returns their feelings—?

"Can you please scratch the area just outside the bandages. I can't scratch on the area, but maybe just nearby it is okay? Pleeeease I can’t move my arms like that just yet, I’m so desperate!"

"...Of course, Kai.”

“Mmm...hey! Ouch! What was that for?”

“Nothing, nothing.”