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Christmas morning found N crying into a crocodile stuffed animal while his mother rubbed his back.

"I don't want to be here," N said for the fifteenth time. "I wanna be back at school." He sniffed and searched blindly for his (empty) tissue box.

"Oh, sweetie," his mom murmured. "I know, I know."

The family dog jumped onto the bed and nestled into N's side, its tiny, warm presence a slight comfort.

"All I wanted," N said, anger rising up. "Was for that son of a b  to get caught. Is that really so fing much to ask?" He tried to hit the wall, but Mrs. Carleton grabbed his wrist. 

"I know, baby," she said again. "Please, just don't hurt yourself."

N relaxed his hand, letting Mrs. Carleton draw familiar circles into his palm.

Roger, the nice police officer N had befriended, stuck his head in. "Hey, kid, some of us officers got Munchkins. You interested?"

N shook his head into the rough fabric of his crocodile, and Mrs. Carleton gave Roger a weary nod. 

"He'll be down in a second. Just give us a moment."

"Sure thing, miss." Roger clambered down the hall, closing the door softly as an afterthought.

Mrs. Carleton leaned down. "Come on, Hakyeon," she said quietly. "Just one or two Munchkins."

N sighed heavily. "I don't want any."

"Hakyeon, please."

N was still for a long moment, then sat up, gathering the dog into his arms as a snoring white mass. 

Downstairs, Roger and the plainsclothes officer, a young woman named Caroline, were arguing over three open boxes of Munchkins.

"I'm telling you, the chocolate ones are the best," Caroline said, waving a half-bitten Munchkin around for emphasis.

Roger grimaced. "Nah, jelly. I go jelly." He glanced up at N. "Hey, help me out here. Jelly over chocolate, right?"

Mrs. Carleton gave N's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and disappeared into the kitchen. N sat down on one of the barstools, taking a good handful of Munchkins and picking through them.

"I like chocolate glazed, actually," he said.

Roger looked offended, and Caroline gave N an affirming nod. "I like the way you think," she said, throwing a smug eye over at the other officer.

Roger seemed about to throw a fit when his cell phone screen lit up. He gave it a quick glance, then a double-take.

"Holy s ." He turned the phone around for Caroline. "He did it."

N felt something drop from his throat to his gut. "What...who's he?"

"Your...the guy after you. We caught him...at your school."

Three hours ago, Leo had been helping Hyuk sudy for chemistry in the library with a few of the other students who hadn't gone home for the holidays. Now he was in the hallway of the hospital, praying out loud for the first time in his life, hoping that Hyuk wouldn't let go.

A lot had happened in those three hours.

At exactly seven-thirteen, a tall man in a suit had walked into the school library and approached the librarian.

"I'm looking for a student," he said, hands fidgeting in the sleeves of the too-big suit. "My son?"

Leo, in his years of not talking, had gotten very good at people-watching, and something about the man unnerved him. He tapped Ravi, sitting beside him.

"Who's...that?" he whispered.

Hyuk overheard and glanced over his shoulder, then shrugged. "Parent of a freshman, probably." He pushed his textbook back towards Leo. "Can we go over dimensional analysis again?"

"Again? We've done this--"

Someone screamed, and everyone's attention went to the librarian and the man, who was holding a pistol to the librarian's forehead.

"I asked," he said calmly. "If you knew where Cha Hakyeon was."

Hyuk and Leo both went white, and Ravi grabbed Leo's arm.

The librarian shook her head slowly, and Mr. Cha slammed her in the temple with the of his gun. She fell out of sight.

Mr. Cha turned to face the rest of the dead silent library, with Hyuk, Leo, and Ravi in direct sight. He held his gun up, pointed at the only exit. "No one move. Where is Cha Hakyeon?"

Leo gulped and squeezed Hyuk's hand under the table.

No one spoke, and Mr. Cha sighed. "Well, if that's the case..." His finger shifted on the trigger.

Hyuk stood up.

"Mr. Cha," he said, and Leo scrabbled and Ravi for him, trying to make him sit down.

Mr. Cha turned his eyes on Hyuk, a bored look on his face. "What?"  The bored look turned into shock. "Wait, I know you."

Leo stood up and grabbed Hyuk's shoulder. "No, sir, he's delusional. Please--"

Hyuk threw off Leo's hand. "Mr. Cha, I'm the Han boy from down the street," he said, louder.

Mr. Cha moved his gun to point at Hyuk. "Well, it's certainly nice to meet you again," Mr. Cha said, a ghost of a smile appearing. 

Leo yanked on Hyuk's arm. "Sit--down--"

"Where's my son, Sanghyuk?"

Hyuk lifted a hand and gave Mr. Cha the finger.

And all hell broke loose.

There was the sound of a gunshot, and Hyuk staggered back into the table, grabbing at his chest. Leo pulled him and Ravi behind a bookshelf, and Ravi pulled out his phone, shaky fingers dialing 911. 

Someone else screamed, followed by another gunshot. 

Leo held Hyuk tight against him. "Hey, Hyuk, hey." He patted the sophomore gently on the face. "Hyuk?"

"Leo?"

Something warm and wet ran down Leo's arm, and he didn't need to look to know what it was. 

"Hyuk, hey."

Hyuk's eyes started to close, and his knees gave out.

"No, look at me. Hyuk, look at me." Leo sank down to the floor with the sophomore.

Hyuk squeezed Leo's shirt, leaving a red blotch on the white fabric. 

Ravi took Hyuk's other hand. "They're coming, okay? The police are coming. Hang in there."

Hyuk winced. "Leo?" he said again.

Ravi took Hyuk from Leo's arms. ". It's...the bullet's definitely in there."

Hyuk's eyes closed fully, and a single long, raspy breath seemed to tear itself from his throat. 

"No." Leo turned Hyuk's face towards him. "Hyuk, don't you dare."

A quiet click made Leo turn around.

Mr. Cha stood above him, gun pointed down at his head. 

"No, Mr. Cha--"

N's father pulled the trigger, and Leo closed his eyes. 

There was a loud, resounding boom, and something heavy hit the ground.

Leo opened an eye.

A police officer was checking a prostrate Mr. Cha's pulse, gun held against his back. She seemed satisfied before turning to Ravi and Leo and blanching at the sight of Hyuk.

"Was he shot?" She checked Hyuk's pulse as well.

Ravi nodded mutely from behind Leo.

Hyuk's hand fell onto the ground.

The next two hours passed in a blur. Leo remembered climbing into an ambulance, being told to let go of Hyuk's hand, hearing the shouting of nurses and doctors, watching the doors to the operating room swing close. Feeling the hollowness in his stomach.

Ravi had gone out to get food for Leo and himself, and Leo listened to the echoing footsteps in the hallway.

It had been an hour and a half. A single nurse had come by at the hour mark.

"You shouldn't be here. Anyways," she said, handing him a folded shirt. It was only then that Leo realized Hyuk's blood was still on his own.

He took it silently and switched it with his sweater

The nurse stood there for a moment, unsure of what to say to the mute teenage boy sitting on the floor outside the operating room.

"The café closes at eleven," she said, finally, then left.

At nine sixteen, a security guard ushered Leo into the waiting room, muttering about how he wasn't sure Leo had slipped by him in the first place. Leo sat by the entrance, arms folded against the cold air, looking down at his shoes. 

Leo was scared.

At nine forty-five, Ravi came in with McDonald's and a massive Oreo shake for Leo. 

"We're going to be here for a while," Ravi said quietly.

Leo wolfed down the burger. Ravi ate more slowly, then went on a walk.

At ten thirty, Ravi came back, ghostly white and shaky.

"There are, like, ten other people here from school," he said, sitting down hard. "One of them...that Sandeul senior kid...he's..." He didn't finish his sentence, and Leo looked away, no longer able to react.

At ten fifty-four, Leo himself went on a walk. 

He left the emergency wing and headed for the general entrance, where the café was. Leo wanted to buy some food for Ravi when he woke up from his nap, and for himself as a midnight snack.

If he had thought a little about it, Leo might have wondered about how he managed to think of Ravi's routines while he was grieving. 

In the general entrance, Hyuk's parents were demanding where their son was. 

"My Sanghyuk has been shot," Mrs. Han spat. "And you aren't able to tell me where I can find him?"

"I don't have him listed here, ma'am, perhaps--"

"He's in surgery right now, Mrs. Han," Leo said.

The Hans turned to him. "Leo!" Mr. Han grabbed Leo's hands. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"You're talking."

"I know."

The Hans said something else that didn't quite register in Leo's head, then left in a hurry.

Leo found a vending machine--the café had closed--and bought two snacks, one to bring back to Ravi. 

His legs gave out before he even reached the exit, and Leo sat down in one of the plush couches, much more forgiving than the cold plastic of the sterile white chairs of the emergency wing. An urge to cry clawed from inside Leo's chest, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

The revolving door of the front entrance slammed, and someone ran in, their footsteps sounding more like socked feet than shoes. 

"Where is he?" demanded a very familiar voice.

Leo opened his eyes to see N in the middle of the hospital lobby, shoeless, jacketless, and clearly crying.

Two police officers, a woman and a man, followed closely, flanking a sobbing woman with blonde hair. "Hey, kiddo, keep your voice--"

"I said, where is--" 

N stopped, and it took Leo a moment to realize he had stood up.

"N," he said.

The red-haired junior turned slowly. "Leo?"

Leo held out his arms, and N ran into him, tears starting anew.