Jeonghan felt himself slowly wake up as sunlight started to filter through the room and hit his face. He turned his head in annoyance and buried himself deeper into the pillow he was resting on, inhaling the familiar and comforting scent that the sheets gave off. Just for a more seconds, he wanted to enjoy the feeling of laying in bed lazily. However, his wish was short lived as he heard his alarm go off, signaling that it was time to get up and wake up the kids. 

He groaned as the annoying ringing refused to stop and he reached out to his left to jolt the person beside him to turn off the cursed alarm. Only, when Jeonghan stretched out his arm, he was met with empty space. Seungcheol wasn't there.

Because Seungcheol was currently at the hospital. 

Suddenly, yesterdays events came flooding through his mind, from the second they stepped out on stage to the loud bang Seungcheol's hospital room door made after the nurses had kicked him out and finally to the moment they had returned to the dorm and Jeonghan absentmindedly crashed onto Seungcheol's bed. Jeonghan sighed as he felt a headache coming on. He didn't need to deal with these stressful thoughts so early in the day so he distracted himself with his usual morning routine and then he woke up the members before preparing a simple breakfast for everyone which consisted of some cereal and carefully sliced fruit.

As the kids filed into the living room to have their breakfast, Jeonghan was scrolling through his phone in the kitchen and checking the news feed. There were already articles written about Show Champion's disaster last night and "the tragedy that struck Seventeen." There were reports from eye witnesses as well as fancams of the accident happening (Jeonghan made sure to ignore those because he really didn't want to relive that again) and when he scrolled down even further to the comments, there were already hundreds of messages from fans showing their support and wishing for their beloved S.coups to have a speedy recovery. There were also some hate comments from losers with no lives, saying bull like Seungcheol deserved it but Jeonghan was more than happy to see so many Carats tell those people off in the replies.

Just as he was about to click on another online article, he felt Dokyeom place a hand on his shoulder. The younger stood next to him, leaning against the kitchen counter and stared at his feet while not saying a thing. He did a terrible job of hiding the troubled look on his face because with just one glance, Jeonghan could tell something was wrong. He knew the other probably felt tremendously guilty just as he did but he needed to convince his dongsaeng that nothing was their fault, no matter how much he didn't believe that for himself. 

"Dokyeom nugu pabo?"

The younger broke into a smile at his hyung's 'brainwashing' and knew that Jeonghan was just trying to lighten the mood.

"Jeonghannie's pabo"

"That's right! You're my precious dongsaeng and I can tell when something's wrong. Now what can I do to help my Dokyeomie?" Jeonghan continued with his babying treatment and even pinched Dokyeom's cheeks before the younger swat his hands away and let out a little laugh. That seemed to do the trick because Dokyeom looked less hesitant to talk. Seeing the other relax a little, Jeonghan tired again.

"Seriously, what's on your mind?" And this time, Jeonghan only needed to wait a few moments before Dokyeom took a deep breath and asked his question. 

"Hyung...what happened after you left Seungcheol's room last night?"

Jeonghan froze for a second. He certainly wasn't expecting to be asked that. "What do you mean?"

"I know you thought we were all sleeping but I saw you when you came in the van. You were the last one to leave Seungcheol's room and when you came back into the van you looked like you had seen a ghost. What happened while you were in that room?"

Jeonghan sighed. He knew he was eventually going to have to share what had happened while he was in that room with the others, but he was really hoping that the conversation would've come a lot later. Jeonghan then pushed himself off of the counter and told Dokyeom to follow him into the living room where the others were eating their food.

Jeonghan clapped his hands which got everyone's attention. "Okay, time for a little heart-to-heart!"

Now the others just looked confused. Even Joshua gave him a look at the sudden announcement. Their heart-to-heart sessions were usually at least an hour long and they never had one first thing in the morning before.

"Hyung, I know yesterday was eventful but I'm pretty sure we all already shared our feelings in the vans on the way to the hospital. Why do we need to have one now?" Vernon asked. 

"Because there's something I need to tell you all about Seungcheol and his recovery." Jeonghan had their full attention now so he kept going. "During these next few months, it's going to be hard and we need to promise that we'll be there for Seungcheol as well as for each other."

"Well, we already knew that hyung." Mingyu said in response.

"Yes, I know that you all know that but you didn't see what I had to witness in Seungcheol's room last night....He looked so small and frail and when he woke up he couldn't even remember my name! And that's not even the worst part!" Jeonghan felt his throat closing in and he took a moment to recompose himself. "The worst part was when he started to vomit."

"He what?!" Seungkwan shouted

"Seunggil said that it was a side effect. And he told us that it would be bad but I wasn't expecting it to be so violent. Seungcheol looked like he was hurting himself in the process and I couldn't do anything to stop it. He kept throwing up and he was retching so hard, I knew it had to hurt. I'm pretty sure I saw some blood too....it was such a horrible thing to see. But it also made me realize how unprepared I was to take care of Cheol. I just stood there while Seungcheol was in pain and all I could do was call the nurses in. God, I was an idiot for even thinking that we could've handled this on our own."

"What do you mean? Are you saying that we wouldn't be able to take care of him?" Minghao asked.

"I'm saying that now I think Seungcheol's family did the right thing by requesting Seungcheol to return to Daegu for the months that he'll be recovering. Because at least at home, he'll be looked after properly by his parents rather than the rest of us who are completely unprepared both emotionally and mentally."

"Does that mean we won't be able to see him?" Dino asked quietly.

"We can still see him Chan. Daegu is only a 3 hour drive from here and besides, we already promised Seungcheol's mother that we would be there to help whenever we could so you don't have to worry about not seeing Cheol. I would just prefer traveling everyday to see him rather than having him here where we would be absolutely clueless about what to do majority of the time."

They all understood what Jeonghan was saying but they looked more and more dejected as the seconds went by. Jeonghan felt bad but they needed to hear this.

"I'm not saying any of this to scare you all. I'm just trying to be honest with you and let you know that none of this will be a walk in the park. That's why I need you guys to promise me that we will be a family no matter what obstacles we may face. Seungcheol's recovery is going to be a long journey and it's going to be hard and frustrating and sometimes it may seem hopeless but we cannot give up on our leader or on each other."

"You don't have to worry, Jeonghan. We know that it'll be tough but we promise to be together as one, no matter what." Joshua said, and then he put his fist forward with his thumb out, waiting for the others to catch on. They all did the same, grabbing onto each other's thumbs and getting ready for their cheesy cheer. Jeonghan noticed that Vernon and Wonwoo left a gap between them and knew they were leaving a space for their leader. He couldn't help but smile.

Honestly, these kids were too precious.

Joshua yelled 'fighting' and then they all broke apart and returned to finishing up their breakfast. 

After a few minutes, Jeonghan gave a shout that we was leaving to find their manager so that he could ask for Mrs. Choi's phone number.

"I already have her number. Actually, she texted me earlier this morning." Woozi said just before Jeonghan was about to put on his shoes.

"What? Why do you have her number?"

"Seungcheol gave it to me after I met his family a couple of years ago. Apparently she loved me so she asked him to give me her number so that we could keep in touch."

"What? But I'm close to Seungcheol too! Why don't I have his mother's phone number?"

"Maybe she likes me more than you. Are you jealous?" Woozi said smirking, sticking his tongue out at the end.

"Shut up. What did she say in her text?"

"Just that they were staying in a hotel close to the hospital and that they were going to visit Seungcheol again. Seunggil texted me too and said that Seungcheol was doing better. Hopefully, if all goes well, Seungcheol will only need to spend a week in the hospital's ICU before they can let him go home to continue his recovery."

"That's good to hear. Do you think the others will be up for visiting him again later today?"

"That should be fine. It's better to visit him before he goes back to Daegu and also while we don't have too many schedules." And with that Woozi went back to his room, probably to write some lyrics while Jeonghan left to find their manager so that he could steal Mrs. Choi's number and become her new favorite.

The next few days passed by quicker than Jeonghan expected. Jeonghan tried his best to make a trip to the hospital whenever he could by there were a couple of days where his schedule was so packed that he would miss the visiting hours. On those days, Jeonghan would message Mrs. Choi for updates. The two had become quite close over the past week and Jeonghan felt proud of himself for becoming one of her favorites in such a short amount of time (Take that Woozi!).

On the days that his schedule did allow him to go, Jeonghan would have to give himself a pep talk just because the visits to the hospital were still hard to wrap his head around. He never knew what they would be walking into each day but every time they visited, Dr. Kim and the nurses assured them that Seungcheol's condition was improving to the point where he would be healthy enough to return home sooner than they had thought.

Jeonghan was relieved to hear that. And he was even more happy to see some color return to Seungcheol's features. There were a few times where Seungcheol would have trouble moving his neck or his arms and he got tired more easily but he was still looking better than he had that first night he was brought in. Jeonghan held onto that thought to give him hope that Seungcheol was indeed getting better. But he still looked too fragile for Jeonghan's liking. He knew it would take time but it still didn't seem right to see Seungcheol in the state that he was. And it wasn't just his appearance. Seungcheol's behavior and mood also took a 180 and their once cheerful and full-of-life leader was now always quiet and depressed. It wasn't right. Everyone would try to cheer up the other but Jeonghan could tell that Seungcheol was faking a smile so that the others wouldn't worry too much about him. That idiot. He was still putting other people's feelings before his own even when he was hospitalized and had every right to feel bad.

Jeonghan would have to have a word with the older after all of this was over and teach him to put himself first sometimes.

The last day of the week was finally here and Jeonghan was both relieved and disappointed that Seungcheol was being released from the hospital. Relieved because that meant Seungcheol no longer needed to be monitored so strictly and that he was finally well enough to go home and recover under the care of his family. Disappointed because Seungcheol was finally well enough to go home and recover under the care of his family....in Daegu.

Seungcheol would be leaving for Daegu in a few hours and no one knew when he would return to Seoul and to the rest of Seventeen.

The 12 members had made sure to clear their entire schedule so that they could spend all their time with Seungcheol until it was time for him to go. They all stayed in his hospital room, laughing and joking and completely avoiding that fact that today was the day. They were brought out of their happy bubble of avoidance when they heard a knock on the open hospital room door. It was Seunggil with a nurse who was pushing a wheel chair.

"Ya, Cheol! Mom and dad are almost done getting the car ready. It's time to go."

Seungcheol gave a small nod towards his older brother. Seventeen all looked disappointed that it was finally time to say goodbye to their leader for god knows how long. They all moved around so that the nurse for get the wheelchair to the side of the bed and then Wonwoo, Mingyu and Joshua all helped Seungcheol onto the wheelchair while Seunggil got behind it in order to push. 

The all followed the Choi brothers to the car park and waited as Seungcheol's mother finished adjusting some things in the car. While they waited, Seungcheol called for his group's attention.

"While I'm gone, Jeonghan and Joshua are in charge. You kids better listen to them or else you'll be sorry when I come back to the dorm. Understand? Remember to work hard and to do your best no matter what you're doing. Pay attention to Hoshi carefully when he's teaching you a new choreography and listen to Woozi if he's giving you advice during a song recording. And don't forget to work on your lyrics for the new album...I probably won't be able to participate but I'll still try to write some lyrics and I'll send you guys whatever I come up wi-"

"What are you saying? Of course you'll be participating in our next album!" Jeonghan said angrily.

"Jeonghan...Our CEO already set a date. I won't be healthy enough by then to participate in the comeback."

"Then we'll push the date back! We're not doing anything without you!"

"I agree hyung, Seventeen won't have a comeback without their leader" - Mingyu

"Yeah! And Hip hop unit won't be the same without you!" - Vernon

"Sorry hyung, but I only create choreographies fit for 13 people. Without you there, we can't perform." - Hoshi

"And my songs are meant to be divided into 13 parts. It wouldn't work without you." - Woozi

"And we need our Seventeen dad to be there on stage with us." - Seungkwan with Dokyeom nodding eagerly beside him

"Yeah and sorry but China line only follows S.coups" - Jun with Minghao agreeing with him

"And we're always our best when you're on stage with us." - Wonwoo

"Plus, it's more fun when we're all together...don't you think?" - Dino

"Ya! Our CEO will be mad!" Seungcheol said, but anyone could see the the man was more than touched by the words of s.

"We don't care. It's all or nothing with Seventeen. You're too important to us and we refuse to participate in any promotions without you. So you might as well give up on trying to convince us because we've already decided." - Joshua said and Jeonghan was agree with him, giving Seungcheol a look that told the other to just accept what they were telling him.

"Fine! But as soon as I come back, we are working our butts off to give Carats the best comeback ever!"

They all agreed and by the end of their discussion, Seungcheol's parents said they were ready to leave. Seunggil was about to help his little brother get inside the car when he was shoved aside by Seungkwan who said that he needed a hug before Seungcheol left. And before they knew it, the 12 had formed a line, each wanting to get one last hug in before Seungcheol left. Jeonghan was the last in line to get a hug, and when he did held on a little tighter than he needed to.

"Don't you ever say something stupid like that again."

"I'm sorry I upset you, angel. I'll try better not to say such foolish things."

Jeonghan smiled at his nickname and pulled back slightly. "You just focus on getting better. Don't worry about writing lyrics or comebacks or our CEO. Just focus on yourself. Do you understand me, Choi Seungcheol?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now go home and rest."

And with that, Seunggil and Mr. Choi helped Seungcheol into the car before shutting the car door. Then the boys said farewell to the family, making sure the hug Mrs. Choi as well and then they all waved as the car slowly made it's way out of the carpark and on it's way to Daegu.

The others made their way back to the company vans while Jeonghan could only stand in place and stare as the Choi's car drove further and further away from him. He already missed Seungcheol and he wondered how long it would be until he could see the other again. He hoped it wasn't too long.

A/N: This chapter was harder to write because I kept getting writers block in between paragraphs. I'm not too happy with it because I feel like I jumped around a lot with the pacing but I need to get comfortable with writing small time skips since I plan to do that with Cheol's recovery time in Daegu. Let me know what you guys think in the comments!
Please and thank you so much for reading!!