“Still haven’t heard from Lay, huh?” Namjoon murmured from behind me as I checked my phone for what must have been the hundredth time that morning. It had been four days since Lay’s departure and thus four days since his offer to visit Yoongi at the hospital. When I nodded slightly, he sighed slowly, "I'm sure he has a lot to do over there, Zoey. He practically lives here full time, so he doesn't see his family that often."

"I know," I practically cut him off. "I know," I repeated, quieter and with a little sigh. It wasn't like me to be so impatient, but seeing Namjoon and Jin back together made me anxious to hear about Yoongi's well-being. All I had heard was doom and gloom about how horrible his injury was, but he was out there, alive, in a civilized country, and I couldn't stand the fact that I had heard nothing. The constant stream of visitors we got did nothing to ease my mind. When it had been just Namjoon, the other residents of the tower had been timid and careful in coming to see us- both Namjoon and I were clearly depressed and distraught. Now that a majority of the boys were out, I'm fairly certain just about every permanent occupant of the building at least stopped in to say hello. Of course I was overjoyed to have Jin, Taehyung, and Jimin back. Once Jin was feeling better, he was an absolute miracle worker around the apartment, helping me to keep things organized and running smoothly. Jimin and Taehyung were constantly moving, endless batteries of energy to keep us entertained and on our toes. Part of me missed the quiet closeness I had come to enjoy with Namjoon, and the sudden influx of joy only made me miss Hobie, Jungkook, and Yoongi more. It didn't exactly make sense, but hey- emotions are strange beasts. Despite being surrounded by more people, I felt a strange sense of loneliness.

With Jin and Namjoon engrossed in each other and the pair of Jimin and Taehyung inseparable, I sometimes felt like a strange fifth wheel. In retrospect, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it gave me the little push I needed to branch out and get to know my neighbors some. I determined that I was the youngest person living in the building by a large margin, but that didn’t seem to bother anybody, as most people I met were exceptionally kind and friendly, some perhaps overly so at times. I had expected there to be a bit more self-imposed segregation between the different groups in the various apartments, but I did find good company. One afternoon, I went out for a casual stroll in the local area, stumbling upon a beautiful college campus with mission-style architecture and lots of greenery. I settled on a bench near a turtle pond to enjoy the early spring air, alone with my thoughts. The reverie lasted only a few moments when I heard muffled Korean in the distance, causing me to sit up and twist around, looking for the source. It was a trio I would not have guessed to find together- Ravi, from the top floor, Taemin, from across the hall, and Kai, from the third floor who might have been Taemin’s slightly darker brother if I didn’t know better. “Zoey!” Taemin spotted me first, his bright smile spreading his thick lips to show wide, even teeth. The three of them came to stand around the bench I was sitting on as we exchanged greetings.

“Strange to see you alone,” Ravi, the tallest and most masculine looking of the bunch remarked with a smirk before sliding onto the bench with me. “Poaching our hand-out spot?” he accused, though his voice was light and teasing.

I managed a little smile as I scanned all three faces, “Yeah,” I agreed, my voice just a breath in the breeze. “I thought I’d get some air,” I said with a little shrug. It was mostly true, but I wasn’t about to whine about my baseless sense of isolation.

“It’s good to see you out and about,” Taemin agreed, clearly more enthusiastic about my outing than I was, but still, his sentiment was appreciated. Since he lived just across the hall, he was one of the few fellow tower residents that I interacted with on a regular basis, and he seemed to be genuinely caring, if not a bit immature himself.

The trio decided to join me, and as much as I would never describe myself as a social butterfly, it was nice to get to know some new people. It wasn’t like we did some deep soul-searching, but I got to learn a bit about them. They were close friends back in Korea, before the Reclamation. Despite being in different groups and Ravi even being under a different label, they became friends, seeing as how they were the same age. They seemed much mellower than I would have expected, especially given how boisterous Ravi generally was back at home. Kai was the quietest, with Taemin a constant supply of smiles.

In the following days, Taemin would always knock on my door before leaving to invite me out with them. It was a welcome change in routine, especially given my growing anxiety over the telephone silence. Staying at home with the four boys often made me even more morose. It was, of course, on one of these outings that my phone finally rang. Ravi snatched my phone from my jacket pocket before I could, reading the screen quickly. When his face lit up, I knew what it said. Kai, who lived with Lay, had often asked if I had heard anything, so they were all aware of the situation. “Wait, wait,” Kai reached to grab the phone from his friend, “Let me answer!” After fumbling with the device, he managed to answer the call on speaker, “Hi Yixing!” Kai practically squealed into the receiver.

‘Eh? Kai?’ the slightly robotic, but still familiar voice came through. ‘Did I press the wrong button?’

“No!” I was quick to speak up, scrambling to Kai’s side to speak, “Lay, it’s Zoey!” I was fully aware that I sounded desperate and pathetic, but all sense of dignity had left my mind as soon as the phone first rang.

‘Oh, hi!’ Lay responded cheerfully, ‘Are you busy?

I finally managed to wrest my own phone out of my tall companion’s grasp, though the trio edged closer around me to listen, “No, no, I’m not busy. Please, Lay, tell me you got to see Yoongi.”

‘Yeah!’ He replied quickly, but the line fell quiet for a brief moment, and I just had a crawling feeling of dread crawl up my spine. Lay’s sigh was audible through the phone, ‘I went to see him a few times. I didn’t call you at first because he wasn’t awake. I really wanted to be able to sneak the phone in so you could talk to him.’

“It’s okay, Lay,” I slumped down into a nearby bench, Taemin, Ravi, and Kai quick to follow suit, though they remained silent. “I know you can’t bring phones into the ICU,” I tried to reassure him, anything to get him to keep talking.

It took a moment before he continued, ‘They had to put him into a medical coma or something,’ he finally explained, his usually cheerful voice crestfallen at what he was relaying. ‘Zoey, I’m sorry, but he really doesn’t look good. The doctors say they had to remove a lot of dead skin and muscle on his arm, and it was really broken. They’re just glad they didn’t have to cut it off.’

I wasn’t sure whose hand fell on my shoulder to comfort me, and I didn’t bother to look. My chest felt tight and I was afraid that if I looked up into pitying eyes, I might lose my composure. “It’s okay,” I repeated, “Thanks so much for telling me, Lay,” my voice fell quiet, trying to hide the shaking.

‘The doctors are going to try and wake him soon. He won’t be able to talk or anything, but I’m going to be there, okay? I’ll call you again as soon as I can, I promise.’

“Okay,” I whispered, “Thanks,” apparently those were the only two things I could say. We exchanged our goodbyes and the call was over. I finally looked to the warm, gentle hand on my shoulder, following the attached arm up until I was looking into Kai’s kind eyes, and half-hearted smile. I was grateful I had the three of them with me, but I suddenly very much wanted to go home. It was uncomfortable to be comforted by such new friends, and I resolved not to cry until I stumbled back into TaeTae’s reliably waiting arms.

Thankfully, Taemin must have read my mind as he gently helped me up by the shoulder. “You should be back with Namjoon if Lay calls again,” he murmured gently as we began the short trek back to the tower. The silence was awkward,