"What's going to happen now?" Rain asked with a voice barely above whisper, sounding uncharacteristically weak and discouraged as his eyes never moved away from Mir's limp body on the hospital bed. He hold Mir's limp hand in a gentle yet firm grip, ghosting his thumb above the ring that was neatly fixed on Mir's thumb.

                After Mir went limp in his arms, Sanghyuk had immediately slipped off a ring from his own finger and put it on Mir. He didn't bother to question that act when he saw Leo flew across the ground as if something powerful had pushed the man off. Something he couldn't see was there. And he do believe Sanghyuk was just doing something in Mir's favor.

                As Mir won't react to his calling, he had resorted to carry his dongsaeng to the nearest hospital even with Sanghyuk kept trying to tell him that it was of no use and to his dismay, Sanghyuk might be right after all as even the doctor couldn't explain on Mir's condition. All that the doctor could tell was that Mir's condition closely resemble a comatose state and he felt how his heart plummeted into his stomach.

                Leo and Sanghyuk had followed Rain and Mir to the ward, standing at the corner of the room quietly. They closed their eyes in regret for not being fast enough to save Mir and now Mir's soul had been taken away and when a soul was taken away, especially by a demon, there was no way to take it back. Mir was just as good as dead.

                "You guys know how to bring him back, right? Please bring him back." Rain slumped over the bed, lying his forehead against Mir's hand and cried there silently. "I was supposed to protect him." He sobbed.

                Couldn't just look over at that view, Sanghyuk looked away, trying his best to hold back his own tears while Leo approached the slumped figure, placing a comforting hand on Rain's shaky shoulder, but he didn't say anything. He didn't know what else to say. Sure Sanghyuk had done the best to keep away other spirits from trying to take over Mir's body by slipping the ring on Mir's finger but other than that, there was nothing else they could do for Mir. He had explained the situation to Rain despite knowing Rain didn't need that. He just need Mir back to him...

                "I want Mir back." Rain whispered sadly and all Leo could do was giving a light squeeze on the hurting older brother who had lost his baby brother.

                The door to the ward room opened slowly, revealing the bandaged up Joon and Yunho. Following just behind were Seungho and Sanghyun. Sanghyun looked like he was about to cry as he had overheard about the situation when Leo had explained it to Rain. It was unthinkable to him but it hurt him all the same knowing he had lost his best-friend. Even when the explanation was kind of out of the world, Sanghyun somehow didn't find it hard to believe, maybe because Mir had always gave out that kind of aura as if he had some outrageous secret...

                Rain looked up to see who was the guest, half expecting it was his mother but his face darkened when his eyes met Joon's. "You!" He seethed, standing up so quickly that he knocked the chair he was sitting over, almost knocking even Leo off of his feet as well as the young lad was standing close behind him. He stomped towards unmoving Joon and grabbed the younger's collar. "It was all your brother's fault! How are you going to take responsibility now? Bring him back! Bring my baby brother back!" With each sentences, Rain was shaking Joon in his grip harshly.

                Joon didn't fight back. Him, too, had heard about the situation from Sanghyun. Actually almost all the people involved in the warehouse incident had knew about what had happen since start. Joon could relate how Rain was feeling. Seeing Mir lying unmoving on the bed like a dead body was enough to remind him of the pain seeing GO in the exact same situation.

                "Please, Sir. Let him go. He's injured." Yunho tried peeling Rain's hands off of the son of his employer but was interrupted by his phone screaming to be answered. He had to take the call since it was from his employer, Joon's stepmother. He listen carefully when his lifted his head to watch Joon who still let Rain throwing all kind of accuse and hurting words to him. "Joon-shi." he called out after finishing off the call. "Your mother called." The tone in Yunho's voice was enough to get Joon's attention as he watched his butler curiously. "It's your brother..."

#######

GO walked through the dark space. His hands were both outstretched forward to feel his way yet all he could touch was just air, as if he was walking along a really wide open ground and he felt soft grassy touch under his shoeless sole. "Anyone there?" He asked and his loud voice echoed back to him.

                "Hyung..."

                A small soft voice called back to him and GO whipped his head around despite all he could see was only black. Pitch black. He couldn't spot where the voice came from as it echoed everywhere but he felt how familiar that voice, how easily that one word pushed his heart into overdrive yet he couldn't put his finger on it. "Who's that?"

                "Hyung, it's hurts..."

                GO palmed his chest as he felt stabbing pain there, as if someone had plunged a blade in between his ribs. He winced in pain. "What do you want?"

                "Hyung please... ARGH!"

                GO fall on his knees, hunching over his own form as his fingers digging into his own chest, trying his best to keep his thought away from this torturing pain. When it was finally over, he couldn't hear more of that voice. It was complete silence around him. Who was that? Who was the owner of the voice that could put so much pain on him with just mere sound of his voice? He could feel deep inside him that he knew that voice, that the owner of that voice was someone important to him. GO raised up from his fall. He need to find that person.

                "Hello? Where are you?"

                Silence...

                GO started running around in the dark, he wanted to call a name. A name was just at the tip of his tongue but it didn't come out as he'd like it to. "Hey! Talk to me!" He called. A few more steps and he suddenly lost the feel of the grassy ground under his feet. With long scream, he fall into a deep hole that felt like it has no end to. He kept falling and falling until his ear caught a very distant voice, this time different voices, ringing around him which became clearer as time moved on.

                "Is that?"

                "I don't know... I'm not sure."

                "Well, look closely! There!"

                "He moved! Call Madam!"

                "Young master... GO-shi? Can you hear me?"

                As GO was falling, he saw deep down, probably at the most bottom of the hole was a small circle of white light which became bigger as he got closer and those voices came even clearer to him. Were those voices came from that light? And when he finally reached the bright light, he automatically squeezed shut his eyes.

                "Byunghee..."

                "Byunghee! Oh, thank god!"

                GO opened slowly, sense of realization slowly dawned on him and when he blinked a little bit more, he realized he was in a room, on a bed. A few people surrounding him and he only recognized the face of his father, smiling down at him and with tears in his eyes. Happy tears.

                What had happened to him? Last thing he remember... Was Seungho, holding him who was injured while crying, calling out for him as he drift into unconsciousness...

                Was he dead? Ani... Obviously he was still alive... But... What was with this pain? This pain deep in his chest?

######

A few months later...

Sanghyun plucked on the string of the guitar, producing soft melodies of new song he had created for Mir. Hearing the sound he was producing himself slightly hurt him in an unexplainable anguish. Lizzy and Nicole who was sitting separately at the tables in this empty classroom bore the same look in their face.

                Sanghyun had called them in early for today school and they had agreed easily and they were given a surprise in a form of Sanghyun sitting on his table with an acoustical guitar on his laps. The first thing that Sanghyun told them was that he wanted them to listen to his new song. So they each picked a spot to sit and listen.

                As the soft melodies bellowed through the wind, Lizzy threw his gaze out of the window of the classroom, lone tears fall on her cheeks which she quickly wiped away. Nicole had already been reduced to a sobbing mess, hiding his tear-streak face into her palms. Unable to just watch Nicole crying her eyes out, Lizzy pushed herself to approached her best friend and wrapped one arm around Nicole's shaky shoulder. They didn't say a word until Sanghyun finished playing the guitar.

                They let silence engulfed them for a while as the last pluck of the guitar quieted down, leaving slightly remains of sweet bitter taste for them to reminisce.

                Lizzy was the first one to break the silence. "It was beautiful." She said.

                Sanghyun put the guitar down. "It's for Mir."

                At the mention of that name, Nicole buried her face into Lizzy's shoulder, crying even more. For these past months, all three of them had cried a lot for Mir but Nicole was the one who cried most. She cried when she walked past the basketball court, saying she missed watching Mir playing there. She cried when they hung out at their usual spot on the rooftop of the school, saying how fun would it be if Mir was with them. She even cried when they went to the shopping mall where they used to go and play together with Mir in the past.

                "I miss him too." Lizzy said while patting on Nicole's head and Nicole nodded once to indicate that she indeed was missing Mir so much.

                Their friendship was still too new. They haven't spend much time together yet it felt like they had known Mir for a long time and Mir had taken up a special place in their heart. And Sanghyun knew that, thus he felt guilty for keeping the girls in the dark, especially Lizzy who he bet like Mir a bit more than friendship. It wasn't obvious but Sanghyun was sure Mir, too, at least crushing on Lizzy. A stage where a very vague unsure line between friendship and something more was there. He just told these two girls that what had happened to Mir was due to the incident with AXE for trying to help Joon. Nothing more, nothing less...

                "Do you think if he hear this song, he would like it?" Sanghyun asked quietly, eyes skimming the paper on his table, scribbled with music notes.

                Lizzy chuckled softly. "Of course. He's your first ever fan after all."

                Sanghyun nodded with a small smile, looking out at the window as students started coming to school. "I miss him." He whispered.

######

Rain made sure to check on Mir before he went to work. He stepped next to Mir's bed and checked on the machine hooked on Mir. A few weeks after Mir was hospitalized, Rain had decided to bring Mir home with a trained nurse to care for his younger brother's need despite their mother insisted on taking care of Mir by herself. He didn't want their mother to fall sick or exhaust herself too much. So, eventually, he got their mother to agree for a private nurse.

                The private nurse was really dedicated on Mir. He did everything in his job scope, even out of his area of job scope. Rain sometimes caught the male nurse reading a book to Mir when Rain got home from his work and was deeply touched by his sincerity. And from their mom, he got to know that the male nurse would always and never fail to talk to Mir as if he was conversing with the teenage boy. Although obviously it was just a one-way conversation.

                "Jihoon." Rain turned around when his mother's voice reached him. The woman looked beyond tired. Dark rings under the rim of her eyes and she seemed a lot older than she used to. She spent her days either in Mir's bedroom, sitting on the chair next to her maknae son's bed or on the bed, sleeping next to him or in the kitchen, busying herself with preparing food.

                "Yes, umma."

                "The nurse is here but..." Umma didn't finish her sentence intentionally and stepped aside as a new face shown up from behind her, bowing politely to Rain.

                "Anyeonghasaeyo. My name is Junho. I'll be temporarily in charge of Mir-shi because Taecyeon hyung got some emergency today. If it isn't fine with you, I can ask for another replacement from the hospital." The man gently said, eyes stealing glances at the weak frail frame of Mir lying on the bed unconscious.

                Rain blinked. Well, that was quite sudden. "What kind of emergency?" He asked in genuine concern.

                Junho smiled softly, small eyes almost looking like mere lines as he concluded that Taecyeon was right. This family had a kind heart. "Just some family problem back in his hometown. He was very sorry for not being able to inform this to you directly."

                Rain shrugged. "It's an emergency after all. I hope he will be fine." Rain said softly, turning back his stare on Mir. "Do you know what you have to do?"

                "Yes, actually. Taecyeon hyung had explained to me in details. I'll make sure to give my best in doing this job." He assured, taking an initiative step into the room only to shudder as he felt his hair stood up slightly. He frowned for a second before forcing a smile back on his lips. Luckily, Rain's eyes were trained on Mir since and these two siblings' mother was standing behind him to not noticing the slight change in his expression.

                "Well, then, I'll leave my baby in your care. If you have anything to ask, my mother will be around." Rain said, bending down to leave a tender kiss on Mir's forehead, stopping by close to Mir's ear to whisper, "I'm off to work, see you later." He then took off after giving a small nod to Junho, closing the door behind him.

                Junho's eyes glued to Mir intensely as he approached the body cautiously. A tense look on his face as he scanned the frail looking figure until he saw the ring on Mir's thumb. His eyes gradually softened.

                "So, you're one of the kind too. Didn't expect to meet one here." He whispered, holding Mir's hand and closing his eyes. He must do something.

######

Sanghyun was just doing his own things, which mostly scribbling weird drawing on his assignment paper when he saw Rain walked past his room. He bolted out of his classroom and called after his teacher. "Seongsaengnim."

                Rain stopped and his heels and waited as Sanghyun ran to stood before him. He offered his dongsaeng's best friend a friendly smile. "Yes, Sanghyun? Running along the corridor? It'll get you in trouble."

                Sanghyun scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I wasn't running." He denied. "It was power walking." He grinned wider at his own absurd excuse and Rain just shook his head in disbelief. "Urm... Teach, can I visit Mir today? It's been a week since I last saw him."

                Rain patted Sanghyun's head. "Of course you can. Didn't I already say you are always welcomed at our home. Why don't you bring Lizzy and Nicole too? Last time they came to visit together, Nicole got quite emotional. Maybe because you weren't there with them last time."

                "Of course. I'll make sure to-"

                "Sanghyun?"

                Sanghyun stopped talking to Rain and turned towards that voice. His mind wasn't working as quick when the shock strike him hard. Not far from where Rain and him were standing, passed a few students standing around the hallway, stood someone whom he knew deeply and used to be closed with.

                GO!

                Sanghyun flinched when he could practically felt dark aura coming from beside him, to the point that he hesitated to turn and look at Rain who he was sure was more than angry right now, not that he could blame Rain. Rain's little brother was lying limp without a soul in his weak body because of the exact same boy who was waving at him, smiling brightly. Sanghyun jumped slightly when he felt Rain moved from his side, expecting his teacher would charge at GO and land a raging hit on GO who seemed very lively and didn't seem to look even the least guilty but released a relieved breath he hadn't realized he had been holding back when he saw Rain left towards the teacher's room.

                "It's been so long! I missed you." GO engulfed Sanghyun into a tight hug once he got closer and that was when the younger saw Seungho was there too, smiling nervously at him.

                Sanghyun pushed GO away slightly. He wasn't surprised to see GO alive, which was the opposite to the students here who had thought GO was dead and now was gathering around the three of them, whispering questions along the line that was it really GO or how come he was back to life and so on.

                "What are you doing here?" Sanghyun asked, surprised how he sounded so cold to the older.

                GO rose his brows high at the tone the younger was using against him that he even threw Seungho a questioning glance when the best friend of him just shrugged and looked away. Weird. "I... Uh... I've been wanting to graduate from here. I might be absent a lot but I've been having a private tutorial class to help me keep up with the studies. So, here, I am, back here. Surprise~" He grinned. "I was quite shocked that a lot of students ran away when they saw me this morning until Seungho told me that you guys thought I was already dead? Wow... Changsun really didn't tell you guys anything. That's kind of hurt." He faked a sulk.

                Sanghyun smiled a bit, just as respect to the person who once he care dearly and was close with, almost just as close as him with Seungho, however, he couldn't coaxed his heart to look at GO the same way for now. He was still hurt because of what had happened to his own best friend.

                GO cleared his throat. Now, this is even weirder. It seemed that Sanghyun didn't look all that pleased to see him back here and the lad didn't even look up into his eyes. "Urm... How are you doing these days?"

                "Fine."

                "Oh... Okay. I... Uh... Are you... Urm... Mad at me or something?" GO tried again.

                This time, Seungho interrupted as he grabbed on GO's shoulder. "He's just a bit tired these days. He's been staying up to write new song so he is a bit grumpy."

                Sanghyun kept quiet even when GO turned to him for confirmation. He inhaled deeply. How could GO just act so happy like this after ruining a life? Sure, what happened to GO was unfortunate and as a friend, he would have wanted the best for GO, but not at the expense of someone else's life, especially not Mir. Then again, it's not like GO remembered...

                "Hey, I got all done." Joon came towards them with a file in his hand, pushing it into GO's hands. "Geez, hyung. Why do I have to take care of your notes." He grumbled.

                GO chuckled and pinched on Joon's cheek. "Because you're my cute obedient baby brother and hyung want to go around and meet his old friends."

                "I have to leave." Sanghyun blurted out, bumping his shoulder on Joon as he walked past the older. GO was one thing. Joon was another. To Sanghyun, these two siblings are just so selfish. And Seungho too... He was disappointed to say the least. Joon and Seungho knew the truth but they hadn't once visited Mir except that one time at the hospital on the day of that incident happened. Hadn't they got any conscience?

                For GO, well, Sanghyun knew GO didn't remember even the existence of Mir. Maybe it wasn't really the older's fault for not remembering Mir but... He couldn't help but get angry at that fact and his anger had nowhere else he could direct to other than GO. After so much things Mir and GO had gone through together, he just forget?

                "What's wrong with him?" Sanghyun heard GO asked the other two but he didn't stay long enough to hear the answer.

                Or maybe it was better that GO didn't remember...