Jongin hadn't wanted to leave Taemin's room when they finally finished, but Yifan had ushered him out, assuring him that Taemin would still be fine if Jongin left for five minutes to eat. Jongin had conceded, because he was hungry, and he wasn't about to argue with someone in as high a position as Yifan. When he got to the cafeteria, though, he found that he really couldn't stomach much of anything, too consumed by worry to have much of an appetite. So he hurried back, feeling somewhat reassured at the sight of his sleeping boyfriend, but the knot of fear in the pit of his stomach still remained, keeping him on edge. Taemin was still unconscious, which was definitely not good, considering that he had sustained a head injury in whatever incident had occurred that put him in this state. The fact that Jongin still didn't know what had happened to Taemin was only another thing to make him scared, adding to the ever-growing list of things. He wrung his hands nervously as he sat in the chair next to Taemin's bed, wondering when this nightmare would end. 

"Jongin?" His head popped up at the sound of his boss's voice. Junmyeon was standing in the doorway, wearing a sympathetic expression. "How's he doing?" 

Jongin shrugged, unsure of how to answer. He had no idea, and it absolutely terrified him. 

"Oh. Well, uh, I'm giving you off for a couple days, starting now. I'd tell you to enjoy it, but... yeah. Anyway, I hope he has a quick recovery." 

"Thanks, Junmyeon. A lot, I really mean it." He really did, he knew that Junmyeon didn't have enough staff on hand to give him off for so long, and the fact that he was still giving him time off was probably the kindest thing Junmyeon had ever done. 

"Right. Even though you're off, I'm sure I'll be seeing you around, so see you later, Jongin." 

Endlessly thankful to Junmyeon for being so kind, Jongin sagged back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. It was going to be a long night. 

*****

He didn't remember falling asleep, but he awoke in the middle of the night to a strange noise, almost like... someone gasping for breath. 

.

Jongin jumped up, trying to find the light switch. He located it quickly, flipping on the lights and rushing back over to Taemin's bedside. Taemin was still unconscious, but he was struggling for air, chest heaving as his body desperately tried to breathe. Jongin froze in horror, a sick feeling beginning to grow in his stomach as he watched his lover labor to breathe. 

This is a nightmare. This can't be happening. 

But Jongin knew that this was real, and he snapped back to his senses in an instant, pressing the emergency button on Taemin's bed. Within a few seconds, the first nurse had arrived and began ushering Jongin out. He protested, but the nurse was insistent, pushing him out of the room just as Yifan and a few others arrived. He opened his mouth to speak, about to plead with Yifan, but before he could speak, Yifan cast him a warning glare, making him stop in his tracks. The doctor disappeared into the room with everyone else, shutting the door and leaving Jongin alone in the hallway. 

.

*****

Left with nothing to do, Jongin found himself pacing the hall in front of Taemin's room, apprehension increasing by the second. Time passed by painfully slow, and it seemed like it'd been hours when Yifan finally emerged from the room, nurses following him with Taemin on a stretcher. Yifan turned to Jongin. 

"We've stabilized him for now, but we're moving him to the ICU." Yifan informed him. He didn't respond, not trusting his voice in that moment. The ing ICU? This was terrifying, he just wanted it to be over. He just wanted Taemin to be fine, was that too much to ask? 

The nurses began moving, taking his boyfriend away from him, and Jongin followed, not about to be left behind. But just before he entered the ICU wing with them, Yifan stopped him. 

"You can't go in, you're off duty." 

"Yifan, please, I'm begging you." Tears pricked the backs of Jongin's eyes, but he refused to let them fall. 

"I'm sorry, no. But don't worry too much, he's in good hands. We're doing everything we can, he'll be fine."

Jongin nodded. Yifan seemed to take that as his cue to leave, because with a small smile of reassurance, he turned and walked off into the ICU, quickly catching up to the nurses. And once again, Jongin was left outside, completely in the dark about what was happening to his boyfriend. 

*****

Yifan had forced Jongin into the waiting room, insisting that there was no use in his wandering the hall outside the ICU for hours on end. And so Jongin found himself anxiously pacing the small space of the waiting room, wishing he could go back out into the hallway. He was just about to try going back out when he heard someone calling him. 

"Jongin? You're Jongin, right?" He turned to find a vaguely familiar man approaching him, footsteps rushed. Jongin nodded. 

"Oh, good. I'm Taemin's brother, Jinki. Do you know how he's doing?" 

"Sort of. When he was admitted he had a head injury and multiple injuries to his back and spinal cord, but he's gotten worse. They haven't told me what's happened though, they just kicked me out and moved him to the ICU. He was having trouble breathing before, and as far as I know he still hasn't woken up..." Jongin trailed off, voice trembling. 

"Oh God," Jinki breathed. "What happened to him?" 

"I don't know." Jongin wrung his hands, shifting from foot to foot. Jinki's face reflected the terror that Jongin was trying to keep down, and he had to look away for a moment. There was nothing either one of them could do now but wait. 

"When can we see him?" 

Jongin shrugged. 

"I don't know." There was too much that he didn't know today. He just wanted it to end. 

There was a buzzing from one of Jinki's pockets. The man glanced down as he pulled out his phone. 

"Sorry, I have to take this, I'll be right back." 

Jongin didn't even have time to respond before Jinki walked away, phone to his ear. Left with nothing more to do, he turned around, ready to begin pacing again, but his gaze settled on something - or rather someone - rather disturbing. Minho was sitting across the room, staring at Jongin. Which, on its own, was rather unnerving, but even more so was the fact that Minho was smiling. A wide grin split his broad features, making a strange emotion bubble up in the pit of Jongin's stomach. 

Before he even knew he was doing it, he'd stormed across the room and grabbed the other man, dragging him out of the waiting room and into a service hallway. He shoved the taller up against the wall, arm pressed firmly against his neck. He could finally place the emotion he'd felt just seconds before - anger - a pure, unadulterated rage. Minho, though slightly struggling to breathe, was still smiling.

"What the do you want?" Jongin forced through gritted teeth. 

"I knew you were his boyfriend," Minho answered, choking out a laugh. Jongin pressed down further on his neck. 

"Why are you here, then?" 

The smile disappeared from Minho's face as his hand came up, grasping at Jongin's arm. 

"W-why... do-" He gasped as Jongin once again pressed harder, cutting off more air. "L-listen..." Minho wheezed, his voice no more than a whisper. "I- I can't... breathe..." 

Jongin stepped back, releasing Minho. The taller man slid to the ground, grabbing his neck. He rested his head against the wall as he looked up at Jongin, the fear in his expression a complete change from the smile he'd been wearing just minutes before. 

"Answer my question." 

"I'm here because Taemin's in the hospital. I just... I feel bad, I guess." 

"For what?"

"I can't say." 

"Well, get out. You're not wanted here." The fact that Minho even thought he could show up here was enough to make Jongin's blood boil. He had absolutely no right to even show his face here. If Minho didn't leave now, Jongin wasn't sure he'd be able to restrain himself from strangling the man. 

"I can tell. I'll go." Minho slowly picked himself up, heading out of the service hallway. Jongin followed, not trusting Minho to actually leave. He followed him all the way back to the waiting room, where the taller man went straight to the door, hurrying more when he realized Jongin was still behind him. Just as he was about to leave, Jongin stopped him. 

"Minho," 

He turned, meeting Jongin's gaze. 

"If you ever go anywhere near him again, you're a dead man." 

Minho's hand came back up to his neck, rubbing the spot where Jongin's arm had been. He gave a small smile, again a very peculiar one, but not unsettling as it had been before. 

"I don't doubt it." 

And with that, he was gone, leaving a still-furious Jongin standing at the door. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N

I'm so sorry this took so long, I started school and I've been soooooo sooooo busy, please forgive me :((( 

Anyway, lots of drama in this one!! Hopefully the next chapter comes out sooner...

Thanks so much to all of my readers and subscribers, you're really the best for sticking with me through all of this inactivity<3<3<3

Thanks for reading!

-H