“Thank you for coming Jongdae” Junmyeon looked tired, his hair was disheveled, he had been sweating.

“Is she okay?” Jongdae pushed past him into his mother's hospital room,

“She’s alive” Junmyeon said. Jongdae’s mother was asleep in her bed. She looked more pale and sick than usual, like someone had animated a corpse. “Jongdae, we need to talk.” Junmyeon said gently. Jongdae nodded and somehow managed to tear his eyes away from his mother to follow the doctor.

They sat at one of the tables in the waiting room. Junmyeon folded his hands on the table and sighed deeply. “I’m going to be blunt; your mother is not getting better. I called you today because she coded, we were able to save her however it’s unlikely she will wake up from the coma.”

“What are you saying?” Jongdae looked down, he knew what Junmyeon was saying, he had seen tv shows. She was going to die, soon.

“Right now you are her only living relative so you have complete control of her care plan, her quality of life has deteriorated so far even if we could keep her alive and awake at most it would be for maybe six months and she would be in a lot of pain, not to mention the significant cost of keeping her on life support for that long.”

“Are you suggesting we kill her?”

“No, no absolutely not. I am just laying everything on the table.”

“So, I do what? Put no a ‘do not resuscitate’? Then she just...dies whenever she decides to.”

“I mean, that is an option you have. I know you’re not in the best place and these decisions are never easy.”

“I was on a date.” Jongdae said almost bitterly.

“I’m sorry to interrupt.” Junmyeon sounded sincere.

“It’s not your fault. Even now she’s trying to stop me from-” Jongdae put his head in his hands, “If we take her off life support how long does she have?”

“A week,  tops. Probably less”

“Can I think about it?” Jongdae

“Of course. But don’t think for too long okay?” Junmyeon said, “that will make it harder on you as well.”

“Yeah, I don’t think it could get harder for me right now” Jongdae chuckled.

“Jongdae- I, I wish things could be different.” Junmyeon said. Jongdae had never agreed more.

“Is that all you wanted to discuss?”

“Yes. It’s late, you should get some rest.” Junmyeon said, standing up. Jongdae stood up as well and they shook hands, “Sorry for interrupting your date.”

“It’s- it’s not a big deal” Jongdae said, “I uh, I don’t really have any business dating right now anyway.”

“Was it not going well? Sorry- not that it’s any of my business.” Junmyeon put his hands deep into his lab coat pockets.

“No it was going really well. That’s the problem. I’ve- sorry. You probably have a lot to do I shouldn’t keep you with stupid drama.” Jongdae plastered on a smile. Junmyeon looked at him with compassion. “Have a goodnight Junmyeon, don’t forget to take care of yourself”

Jongdae got outside into the biting cold. It was about one am.. No bus was running, he couldn’t afford a taxi. There was no way he was calling Baekhyun. Jongdae sat down on a bench and shoved his hands into his pockets, it was too cold for him to cry otherwise he was sure he would have. He felt so heavy. He stood up and looked around, there was no one else outside. The fresh snow was pristine and untouched. He glanced back towards the door and saw someone coming out. He was small and bundled up, he looked really familiar.

He was on the phone and as he got closer Jongdae could hear his voice and recognized him.

“He’s home already? I thought he would be spending the night- oh well is he okay? Just send him to bed remind him he’s opening tomorrow and I need him awake. Okay okay. Yeah I’m coming home now. He’s fine it wasn’t a huge deal. Yeah-” as he got closer Jongdae turned hoping he wouldn’t be recognized, he stopped talking and turned, Jongdae had been recognized, “yeah Luhan I gotta go I’ll see you when I get home okay? Don’t wait up okay? G’night” He hung up the phone. Jongdae sat back down and ducked his head. Soon he was standing close enough that Jongdae could see his sneakers.

“Jongdae?” He said, looking down. Jongdae glanced up and pretended to look surprised.

“Minseok?”

“What- is your mom okay?” Minseok looked concerned.

“Yeah she uh, she’s fine now.” Jongdae said

“So you were just....sitting outside?” Minseok glanced around, “waiting for a taxi?”

“Um, no.I was just, um. I was just-” Jongdae couldn’t think of a good reason to be outside alone at one am.

“Do you- need a ride?”

“I was um about to call Taeyeon and uh, see if she could come and-”

“Jongdae I’ll take you home it’s not a big deal” Minseok said, “are you okay though?”  Minseok sat down next to him on the bench.

“I’m fine.” Jongdae lied, “did Baekhyun get home okay?”

“Yeah he’s fine. Luhan is reading him a bedtime story and tucking him in now.” Minseok said with a hint of sarcasm, Jongdae nodded,

“Good, I- I guess I’ll call him tomorrow”

“He’s fine- from what it looks like he is the least of your worries right now.”

“Why are you here? Is your dad okay?”

“Yeah he had an emergency surgery he’s fine. It just, no big deal. I’ll stop by tomorrow to be filial but he’s not in danger.” Minseok said, “you don’t- you don’t look good. Come on, I know what you need.” Minseok stood up and grabbed Jongdae’s arm, pulling him along with him. They made it to Luhan’s car and Minseok pushed Jongdae in.

“So I heard your date went well- I mean- until the end.” Minseok said, turning up the heater, “did his stupid conversation starters work? He spent all day googling them and printing them out and testing them out- he must have done like five dry runs of all of those questions.”

“I’d like to see some of the ones he discarded.” Jongdae wasn’t even sure where Minseok was driving, he wasn’t sure if Minseok even remembered how to get to his house.

“Maybe one day he’ll let you see them” Minseok chuckled.

“Minseok-”

“Mhm?”

“I- is this, is he-”

“Is he...” Minseok prompted

“Nevermind” Jongdae sighed, “I’ll call him tomorrow.”

“Don’t call in the morning, he is opening the cafe and I don’t want D.O. to kill him for answering the phone at work”

“Minseok how well did you know Chanyeol?” Jongdae wasn’t sure why he was asking, what he was hoping Minseok would say, he wasn't even sure where that thought came from. Minseok was silent for a long time, “You know what just for-”

“Are you asking as Baekhyun’s boyfriend or is there another reason?”

“Is...what other reason would there be?” The fact that Minseok assumed there would be another reason- Jongdae realized he knew something.

“I dunno.”

“Fine, I’m asking as his boyfriend”

“I knew Chanyeol really well. Or, I thought I did.” Minseok said quietly.

“How dramatic”

“Well you asked. Unless there’s something specific you want to know I don’t know what to tell you. You can ask Baekhyun anything too you know, he’s not gonna fall apart if you mention Chanyeol's name anymore.”

“Anymore?” Jongdae looked over at Minseok.

“It was not an easy break up. For any of us” Minseok said, “But I’ll let him tell you about that if he wants to”

“Did- how well did Baekhyun know Chanyeol” Jongdae remembered Siwon mentioning Chanyeol’s questionable past. Minseok was silent.

“I don’t know what you want me to say I- anything I can tell you Baekhyun could also tell you” Jongdae could tell he was lying.

“Sorry you’re right. I shouldn’t be so nosey.”

“It’s natural. I found out Luhan had an ex in China and spend like three weeks on facebook trying to figure out things about him before Lu told me anything. Just don’t worry okay Baekhyun- he really likes you.”

“I’m- thats what Im worried about.” Jongdae sighed. He found it easy to talk to Minseok. It was easy to see why he and Baekhyun were best friends. Minseok pulled up in front of his coffee shop.

“What does that mean?” He asked, glancing at Jongdae.

“What are we doing here?” Jongdae looked out the window.

“This is the best hot chocolate in town and for us, it's free.” Minseok smiled and got out, unlocking the door and turning on the lights and heat inside the shop. He quickly the hot cocoa maker and handed Jongdae a muffin.

“Junmyeon said I might have to pull the plug on my mom” Jongdae wasn’t sure why he was telling Minseok that, Minseok seemed to just make Jongdae talk. Minseok was quiet for awhile.

“Are you going to?” He asked.

“I dunno.”

“Who's with Jongsu now?” Minseok asked, “take the rest of these muffins. Luhan should have thrown them out when he closed but we can’t sell them tomorrow so you should take them home.”

“One of my coworkers is there now, he’s going to spend the night so it’s fine but I can’t keep asking him to do this. It’s not easy on Jongsu either- I” Jongdae fell silent as Minseok handed him a cup of hot chocolate, “sorry I guess I have a lot on my mind”

“Jongdae you know I’m not just Baekhyun’s roommate- I’m your friend too” Minseok said sincerely.

“That’s so cheesy” Jongdae managed a laugh. Minseok smiled too,

“Well it’s true. Luhan really likes you too we all...we’re here for you okay? You aren’t alone.”

“Thank you Minseok.” Jongdae said, he wanted to cry but he wasn’t about to in front of Minseok, friends or not Jongdae tried to preserve some of his dignity. “I’m- I’m really grateful.” Minseok smiled and drunk his own coffee,

“You are welcome to just stay with us tonight if you want”

“If it's okay I think I need to go home.” Jongdae said, mostly because of Jongsu, partially because he didn’t want to have to see Baekhyun. “Thank you for the hot chocolate and the ride.” Minseok winked and closed the shop before driving Jongdae home.

Jonghyun was passed out on Jongdae’s sofa, his limbs hanging off. Jongdae left him and went to Jongsu’s room. The door was open and his bed was empty. Jongdae checked the bathroom and his mother's room but Jongsu wasn’t there. “Jongsu?” He called out quietly, finally he checked his own room and saw a smallish lump in the corner of his bed. He sighed, swallowing the worry that had begun to build. He quickly changed out of his wet clothes and crawled into bed with Jongsu, wrapping his arm around the child.

“Uncle?” Jongsu said weakly,

“Mhmm”

“I missed you” Jongsu curled into Jongdae.

“I missed you too Jongsu.”

“Don’t stay out so late anymore” Jongsu scolded softly. Jongdae felt like he had been punched. “I won’t.” He said, Jongsu’s hair until he fell back asleep. Jongdae however, barely slept at all that night.

A/N: wow 30 chapters omg 
sorry i moved states and also like started school and became super busy so expect lots of updates bc this is how i procrastinate lol 
also xiuchen <3<3 also i needed a break from writing bbh he gets exhausting LOL but i have big plans for the next couple chapters esp w ch*****l so stay tuned ;)