3rd Chapter – “I was wrong.”

Soundtrack: „I Was Wrong“ by 2AM

-the hospital's car park, 10:15-

Taemin rushed over to the hospital's entrance, not caring about the cars and people he nearly bumped into. It had been 10 minutes since he got that call from Onew, who told him about your situation and where to find you and the others. So he made his way to ward I03, ignoring the nurses and doctors calls because of running along the corridor... just one turn left, one to the right and he walked straight through I02 before finally noticing his friends in sight... even though they didn't look happy at all.

It was the exact opposite: Minho and Jonghyun were beating each other to death while Onew and a male nurse tried to separate them. The punches and kicks were accompanied by several screams, shocking Taemin like hell.

"Why didn't you help her, huh? Did you want her to die?!", Jonghyun exclaimed, trying to escape from the male nurse's grip.

"Says the one who broke her heart and made her start drinking!", Minho shouted back while Onew tried to get in front of him and tried to calm him down as he noticed Taemin arriving. "Tae, finally! You see, those two are--"

"AND WHY DIDN'T YOU NOTICE HER DRINKING THIS ?!" Jonghyun screamed, breaking out of his keepers grip and trying to plant another hit on Minho, hurting Onew's shoulder in the progress. The sports student himself used this opportunity to free himself from Jinki's grab and approach his opponent.

"ARE YOU ING KIDDING ME?! I'M NOT THE ONE WHO DIDN'T CARE FOR HER, AM I?"

"AS IF YOU EVER DI-"

"HYUNGS, STOP! NOW, IMMEDIATELY! CAN'T YOU EVEN TRY TO REMEMBER WHY ALL OF US ARE HERE?! YOU'RE ACTING LIKE KINDERGARTEN KIDS!" An awkward silence arised as the four man freezed and looked at Taemin, their little baby Taemin, who in- and exhaled slowly to calm himself down.

"Aish, this is a hospital! You can't scream here like that, ne? Hyung?" The youngest looked at Onew, who seemed to be relieved. "Guys, he's right- and you know that.  We aren't here because of your quarrel. Our cutie is in danger, so we should hold together. The two of you killing each other won't help her, will it?"

Minho and his opponent glanced at each other, slowly calming down. Just as Jonghyun opened his mouth to speak up, the door to your hospital room opened up and a doctor stepped out, looking at the four young men. His eyes carried a small trail of pity, but Onew was able to read his expression immediately. This will become harsh... he thought, sighing soundless.

"Doctor, how is she? Is her condition stable?", he asked, tapping Minho's back to hold him back.

"Well, her condition is stable, but her breathing and pulse slide out of our control from one second to another. She still is in danger, so..." Suddenly, the doctor stopped talking and started to eye Onew from head to toe, who withstood his look and watched him with a questioning expression in his eyes.

"...aren't you one of our second year students? Lee Jinki?", the doctor asked, while taking a look at his clipboard. "Because it's you, I'll allow you to visit her. But since the risk of her vital functions breaking down is still high, I recommend you to visit her alone or in twos."

"So she is awake? Did she talk to you? What did she say? Did she ask for-" Jonghyun stopped at the serious glance of Onew, his own eyes slowly went back to the sight of the ward's floor. Taemin, who couldn't stand the sight of his weak and enervated friend, gently guided him over to offer him the chair across from Minho.

"She is awake, but... well, you should take a look at her on your own." With that, the doctor took his leave, walking over to his office.Onew and Taemin thanked him, exchanging glances afterwards. Finally, the medicine student waved Taemin over to talk to him in a quiet manner

"Tae, do you think it's okay to leave them alone? I would like to go in first, just to check up on her condition, but..."

"It could be best to let them talk alone for a while, but you're afraid of them fighting again?", Taemin summarized, recieving the nod as an answer. "I could stay at the door to get out as soon as we hear anything suspicious, if that calms you down."

"Then...let's go?" Onew asked, bewildered by Taemins sudden change of behaviour. Since when did he have a adult-like character trait? "Jonghyun, Minho... we'll be in first. You'll be next, so please try to calm down."

-Jonghyun's POV-

"Jonghyun, Minho... we'll be in first. You'll be next, so please try to calm down." Tse, as if I had to calm down... those idiots didn't even try to imagine how painfull this whole situation was, huh? They didn't understand how it felt to finally realize your feelings for someone and loosing this person at the same evening. If Minho only had taken care of her better...

"I made a mistake when I let you stay with her. She should have moved in with me as it was planned from the start." If only I hadn't given in to your wish of living together with this good-for-nothing, _____. "Honestly, how could you, our always-praized-by-everyone Mr. Perfect, leave her on her own like that? Didn't you promise me to watch over her? And instead of caring about her, you're BAKING CAKES?" It didn't feel right to shoot him down like that, but I wasn't able to think clearly. It surely is his fault, he had lived with her, he had walked her to the collage and back each day, he had eaten out with her, he used to sleep next to her as she was shaken up by a nightmare again... No, I'm not jealous.

"Yah, moron! Aren't you going to defend yourself? YAH, Choi Minho! Minnie! Minmin! Minny-Boy~..." Okay, now I got curious. What the hell was he doing? He did neither look at me, nor move an inch. He had always nagged at me for calling him "Minnie" or "MinMin", so why didn't he move his stupid over here and beat me up?

"YAH, don't tell me you're annoyed of waiting here? Or are you sleeping? Huh? Is it too boring to sit there and wait for her to recover? YAH! YAH, talk to me!" I grinned as he finally lifted his head, waiting for him to scream at me, to attack me... I wanted to fight him again. Believe me, I even don't know why, but fighting him kept me away from thinking about her in a sentimental way. But what I had wished for didn't come true- no, his reaction shocked me like hell.

"...I hate to say that, but you know what? You're right. It was my fault, I'm the one responsible for her dea... sickness. So come and get me, scream me, beat me up, I will take it as my punishment." Minho looked at me, his eyes red and swollen, his cheeks wet- from crying. Did he cry before? Did he just fake this to get away without a punishment?

"Y-yah, hyung... Minho... you aren't crying for real, are you? Hey?" Unaware of my actions, I stood up and got over to sit next to him, looking at his face and careful tapping his shoulder. "What's up? I... I didn't want to offend you, I just..."

"No, it... you're right, I should have protected her the way I always wished. I know that I don't even have the right to cry, it's just... I... I don't want her to go away without telling her... how I felt for all those years."

"O...o-okay, wait a sec. You aren't trying to tell me, that you... you loved her?" Seeing my best friend breaking down in front of me was horrible, but this gave me the final blow. I mean, he did hang out with her since middle school! "But... hyung, for how long? You aren't trying to tell me, that you liked her since all of us attended the same class? Are you stupid? She was such a loner until I took her in!" I laughed slightly, though I didn't want to. I just couldn't believe it.

The stories regarding your other men

The stories regarding your behaviour

Pretended I didn't know, that I couldn't hear

I tried to ignore them

"That's what I started hating you for. You changed the girl I loved into a lighter version of these es you always hang around with. I was so happy when we moved into that appartement together, seeing that she hadn't changed her attitude when beeing around me. I wanted her to fall for me, so that you wouldn't hurt her anymore and the three of us could be happy again, but I... couldn't win against you. I was blinded by her sadness, by these rare faint smiles of hers which only belonged to me. I did see the pain she was in, but I never noticed the way she tried to erase it." Minho took a deep breath, looking at me as his eyes caried a mix of pain, sadness, loneliness and... hatred?

"Hyung, I... I didn't know that you... If you hate me now, I'm okay with it. I'm sorry for never noticing your feelings for her, it was such a long time... So if you want to, just punch and kick me, scream at me, I'll deal with it." I was ready for his punch, closing my eyes and waiting for the pain to overwhelm me. Instead, I felt a light pressure on my sholuder, which surprised me. Opening my eyes again, I saw Minho smiling slightly.

"Yah, didn't you just copy me? I said that a while ago", he said, his voice still a little rough from crying. I didn't want to, but I just had to laugh along. It was nice to see him a little happier after these last weeks of ignoring each other.

"Minho, listen... I'm sorry for badmouthing you. If I had acknowledged the feelings of us three earlier... maybe our lifes would have gone into a different direction. I was wrong, I'm sorry."

"Onew, Onew, HYUNG! Come here, I think those two morons finally grew up! I can't believe it!"

"Yah, Lee Taemin, shut your mouth! She's sleeping!"

"Bu... but Hyung, they..."

"Aish, and twenty minutes ago I thought about you finally growing up!"

I glanced at Minho, only to find him snickering at those two friends of ours. Instead of laughing, I stood up and made my way to the door. "Shall we? Minho?" He glanced at me, biting his lip. He seemed nervous.

Since Onew spoke up, I wasn't the only one to notice that. "Don't worry, she's just sleeping. She seems okay for now."

With a final sigh, Minho stood up and made his way to the door, entering her room first. I exchanged a last glance with Onew and Taemin, both of them didn't seem to be as happy as they were a second ago. "Wh...what?" I asked, slightly irritated.

"It's nothing bad... if you ask me. It's just..."

"Don't be hurt if you're not the one she was waiting for.", Taemin said shortly, nodding at Onew, who gave me an encouraging gaze.

"Take your time, she doesn't have much left."

-End of POV-