They had to wake up really early the next morning since the surgery was scheduled for nine ‘o clock. They had to be there by seven and it was an hour drive to the hospital, so Heechul woke up at five. Glancing out the window he saw that the sun hadn’t started to rise yet. It had been decided that only him and Kibum would go to the hospital, Leeteuk would come later so the rest of the boys weren’t stuck home alone all day.

After getting showered and dressed, Heechul crossed the hall and went into Kibum’s room. He was a little surprised last night when Kibum said that he’d sleep alone; he knew how scared the young boy was but he was putting on a brave face. Little did he know that wasn’t going to last much longer.

Kibum was sitting awake in bed, not having gone to sleep at all last night. Despite his nerves being shot from the thought of being in the hospital, Kibum was kept awake due to his body. The doctor had said he couldn’t eat so hi stomach was completely empty; an empty stomach made his ulcer hurt a lot worse than usual. Not only that but the pain in his body only got worse as the hours had progressed. But the worst part of all, which Kibum was almost ashamed to even admit to himself, was…

His body urged for drugs again.

He glanced up as Heechul the lights.

“What are you doing awake already?” Heechul asked, walking over to his bed. Kibum shrugged and said nothing, keeping his arms wrapped around himself protectively. What would Heechul think if he knew that Kibum was craving drugs again? This , it’s even worse than before.

“I don’t feel well,” Kibum said softly. It wasn’t a lie, he felt really crappy and hot but he knew that he wasn’t sick. If the urge for drugs was back, Kibum knew that everything going on the past few days was withdrawal symptoms. No wonder I was being so cranky.

“We’ll leave for the hospital in half an hour. Get dressed,” Heechul said, pulling the blankets off Kibum’s legs. The younger boy sighed softly and stood up out of bed as Heechul left the room. He oh so slowly changed into some comfortable clothes and then left his room, dragging his feet as much as he could.

Kibum really did not want to go to the hospital. The thought of his stomach being cut up, his nerves being slice through, and all that was just…he didn’t want to do it.

“Hyung, I don’t want to go,” Kibum said as he walked into the living room where Heechul was getting his things together.

“I know you don’t, but you have to anyways. I know this is scary but it’s going to help you so much,” Heechul replied, sticking his phone in his purse. He also had the fake documentations that said Kibum was legally his son for the doctor. He was so grateful to Hongki that his best friend had gotten these for him because without the papers, Kibum couldn’t get surgery.

“Can’t we wait a little longer until I’m emotionally ready for it?” Kibum asked hopefully, looking at Heechul with aegyo eyes. Heechul chuckled softly and just patted Kibum’s head as he walked past him.

“Not a chance. The quicker we get this over with the sooner you’ll get healthy and once you’re healthy you’ll be able to eat which means you’re going to gain weight and not look like some kid from Africa,” Heechul said gleefully.

“I do not look like some kid come Africa,” Kibum pouted, crossing his arms as he followed Heechul into the kitchen. He got himself a glass of water and wished he could eat something, but he wouldn’t be able to eat until tomorrow at the earliest. Truthfully, despite how nervous he was, Kibum was glad that he was going to get better. The pain of an ulcer really hurt and he didn’t particularly enjoy vomiting everything he ate.

“I’m going to go say goodbye to Teuk and then we’ll leave,” Heechul said. As he walked out of the room, Kibum waited and listened as Heechul headed up the stairs. He idly wandered if Donghae would be mad if he woke him up to say goodbye. Oh whatever, I’m about to go into surgery. He treaded out of the kitchen and walked down the hallway to Donghae’s bedroom and pushed the door open. His brother was sleeping on his bed, looking very peaceful. Kibum tiptoed out to the side of the bed and watched as he slept.

And then he noticed something.

There was a red splotch on Donghae’s neck.

Kibum covered his mouth and bit down on his lip to keep from giggling. His brother, his sweet, innocent, childish brother had a hickey on his neck. I wonder if hyung knows what Donghae and Eunhyuk are doing when they’re alone. Kibum took a deep breath and calmed himself before reaching to turn on the lamp. Donghae groaned in protest and pulled his pillow over his head.

“Donghae…Donghae…Donghae! Wake up,” Kibum said, kicking the bed with his foot. Donghae grumbled something incoherent and threw one of his pillows at Kibum’s head.

“Go ‘way,” He slurred sleepily. Kibum sighed softly, he was left with no choice.

“I said get up!” He said, jumping on top of his brother. This seemed to do the trick because Donghae yelped loudly and quickly sat off, causing Kibum to fall to the floor.

“What the heck, Kibum! Don’t do that to me,” Donghae said, glaring over the side of his bed. Kibum grinned up at him with an evil glint in his eyes.

“Hyung’s going to kill you if he sees that hickey on your neck,” He said with a smirk. Donghae’s eyes went wide and he quickly scrambled out of bed to look in the mirror completely horrified.

“Oh no! Stupid monkey, I told him not to leave a mark! What am I going to do, Bummie?” He whined, covering the spot up with his hand. Kibum shrugged and got off the floor to sit on Donghae’s bed.

“Not my problem. Figure it out yourself. Anyways, me and hyung are leaving so I wanted to say bye,” Kibum said, changing the subject.

“Oh, I forgot. Good luck, I hope it goes well. I’ll come visit you later, okay?” Donghae said, giving his brother a hug. Kibum nodded and leaned his head against Donghae’s shoulder. He really didn’t want to move from this position. He’d rather stay with his brother all day than get operated on. It really hit him then that this was really about to happen.

“Donghae, I’m scared,” He said softly, holding on tightly to his brother. Donghae patted his back comfortingly and gave him a kiss on the top of his head.

“I know you are, but like hyung said, you need to get this. You’re really sick Kibum; I don’t think you can see how bad it is. I want you to get better so we can go and hang out some more,” Donghae told him encouragingly. Kibum nodded and pulled out of the embrace. He heard Heechul come back down the stairs and so he got off the bed.

“I have to go now,” He said.

“Don’t worry, Kibum, it’s going to be okay,” Donghae replied. With one final look at his brother, Kibum turned and left the room. Heechul was waiting in the foyer and handed him his jacket when he got there. Kibum followed Heechul out to the car, shivering slightly because of the bitter cold air of the morning.

During the hour long drive, Kibum tried to distract himself from thinking about the surgery because he knew that he was just going to freak himself out some more. But there wasn’t really anything to think about and he couldn’t concentrate anyways, so instead he settled on just staring out the window. He felt rather restless and anxious but couldn’t tell if it was just the nervousness or the fact that he was withdrawing again. Tell hyung or don’t tell hyung…Nope, not going to tell him.

“What are you thinking about?” Heechul asked out of nowhere while he drove. Kibum glanced over at him and shrugged.

“Nothing,” He said.

“I can tell you are, you get this look in your eyes,” Heechul replied. As an umma, he knew all the traits of his children. Kibum would get a distant look in his eyes when he thought about things, Donghae sighed a lot when he was bored, Henry puffed up his cheeks when he was annoyed, Mir couldn’t look anyone in the eyes if he was lying, etc. He knew Kibum was thinking about something and he was curious to know what.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Kibum told him, turning his attention back out the window.

“You know, yesterday while I was talking with Jia she said that, and I agree completely, that you’