(A day later)

—Taemin’s POV—

As usual, I woke up in hyung’s soft, fluffy bed. I inhaled deeply before getting up slowly and heading to the toilet to wash up. It’s like 9am now? I bet umma and appa left already. How could they keep abandoning me at home?

Hmph, I don’t need them to survive.

Kidding! I love them and all but they should stop pampering me. Ok, let’s go find some breakfast!

I went into the kitchen and found some kimchi, strawberries and cheese. I still don’t know why I’m so addicted to these foods, even if I’m pregnant.

Oh well.

I looked in the microwave and saw porridge from this morning’s breakfast. Again, umma left a note for me saying that the food was mine and to bring some over to Onew hyung. Why am I not surprised? I just don’t get how umma finds all this time to cook porridge every single day.

I heated the food up and saw that it was fish head porridge. It looked a little oily but I’ve heard that oily fish is good for the brain. Umma really knows what to cook for hyung, huh? I’m kind of amazed by how mothers always have this vast knowledge about food.

I threw in some cheese before heating the porridge. After I took it out and let it cool, I added some strawberries and kimchi as well. I did tell you that I’m addicted to these three foods, didn’t I? I wasn’t lying when I said so, just saying.

I ate well before packing Onew hyung’s porridge and heading for the hospital.

Of course, I had wanted to take a cab. But Jonghyun hyung called and said that he would drive me over. He was surprisingly free today.

I got into his car when he arrived about ten minutes later and buckled the seatbelt.

“Taemin, you remember when you asked why fans didn’t stalk us anymore?” he asked out of the blue. We just started on our journey to the hospital.

I nodded at him and stared at him curiously, wondering why he suddenly brought the topic up again. I haven’t wondered about this ever since I asked Jonghyun hyung.

“It turns out that Heechul hyung had made sure that no one stalked us. I don’t know how, but the stalking stopped since a week after Onew hyung went into a coma. I think he may have hired some people to protect us against the sasaeng fans. That’s what I’m thinking, anyway. Heechul hyung told me before that he was behind it,” he told me, eyes not leaving the road even once.

Heechul umma, you did it for us? Aww, I’m touched. I’ll thank you properly when I see you next Tuesday so you better come, arasso? Hehehe.

I started giggling to myself and Jonghyun hyung looked at me strangely.

“Taemin, are you mad with happiness that your Heechul umma did all that for you?” he deduced. I nodded gleefully and Jonghyun hyung smiled. “Glad to know that your mood’s up.”

“Hyung, you’re all free next Tuesday right? Even Key umma is free right? I think I might want to apologise to him after ignoring him for so long. Hyung’s awake and he has the right to know. Then maybe he’ll be able to keep his mouth shut. We’re celebrating Minwoo’s birthday and my own, as well as Onew hyung’s ‘awakening’, next Tuesday and I hope most of you can come. Don’t invite Minho though. He’s out. U-Kiss, Infinite, Boyfriend, f(x), B2ST, SuJu, Teen Top, Sooyoung noona, Hyoyeon noona and Sunny noona are all going,” I explained.

He pondered over it for a brief moment before nodding.

“I’m sure Key would love to get your forgiveness. God knows he’s been praying for it every day ever since he nearly caused a miscarriage,” he sighed.

Internally, I sighed too. I can’t believe it took so long for me to want to forgive Key umma. He’s always been wonderful to me, but because of that one incident, I’ve ignored him for three months. I don’t even understand how that can be possible but it is.

After the months passed, I felt a little lonely. Since Onew hyung woke up, I think I can finally put down the weight that’s been pressing on my heart. I’ll apologise to him for sure. I can’t chicken out when so many people will be there.

I just hope Key umma can forgive me for being so mean to him. He didn’t even mean things the way I interpreted them. I was just being a self-centered who didn’t care about others.

“I’m sorry for hurting Key umma,” I mumbled to Jonghyun hyung. I doubt if he heard me, but he pulled over after a few beats of silence and turned to look at me.

“Taemin, it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t Key’s fault, either. It was both of you who equally contributed to the past few months of ignoring each other. If Key hadn’t said something as insensitive as that, or had he thought things through before he said them, you wouldn’t have overreacted. You’re pregnant; it’s normal to have mood swings. I’m just happy that you’ve finally decided to forgive him,” Jonghyun hyung told me, smiling and patting my head before he started the engine again.

After some time, we finally arrived at the hospital. During the remainder of the ride, hyung talked about what’s happened to Key umma in the past three months that I’ve ignored him for.

He went in with me to visit Onew hyung who was awake, as per normal.

But there was something wrong about today. There was someone in the room.

I could read the fear on Onew hyung’s face.

I turned towards the direction of his panicked gaze, landing on a familiar figure.

Dr. Choi Minsuk.

Long time no see, hyung.

—Onew’s POV—

I shot awake to the sound of rustling papers. I opened my eyes and scanned my room quickly.

My eyes landed on the weird doctor who accused me of hurting Taeminnie. Dr. Choi Minsuk. So that’s his name, huh? I kind of forgot it. Heehee.

I tried my best not to make a sound and spy on what he was doing in MY room for no reason. He isn’t my doctor anyway, so why is he here?

He seemed to be going through my medical reports from my entire seventeen months stay in the hospital. The freaking hell would you do that for?

Although I barely moved, he turned to check if I was still sleeping. Of course my reaction was too slow and he caught me looking. I turned to look at the clock. 9.32am.

“Onew, I see you’re awake. Come, let me show you something,” he whispered and drew a small bottle of pills from his coat pocket.

“What’s that?” I asked him. I refuse to be intimidated by this man.

“Oh, you know. It’s just a little poison that I’d add to your drink. Don’t worry though, cause I won’t let you feel pain when you die. It’ll be a swift death, I promise,” the crazed doctor told me and opened the bottle, cracking open one of the capsules and pouring the powder into my water.

I gulped. Who is he? I won’t drink it, sure, but he seems pretty crazy.

“Scared now, are you? Well you should have known better than to wake up. I was supposed to make sure you didn’t, bastard,” he spat at me and attempted to force the drink into my mouth.

Expecting something like this, I punched his groin and he stumbled backwards, spilling the poison all over the floor. Wasted~!

He seemed to want to confront me again, but I sensed danger this time. Real danger.

He grinned at me menacingly, like some kind of e, and he pulled a knife out from inside his coat. This time, I gulped for real. Is he going to stab me?

“Since you refuse to die the easy way…” he told me and inched closer to my bed. “I’ll have to do it manually,” he said and walked over to me before he slashed the knife across my right arm, causing it to gush with fresh red blood.

He laughed like the maniac that he is and stepped back, allowing my blood to drip on the floor.

“Oh, I forgot to mention something. After I’m done with you, I’ll head for your parents,” he said.

I looked at him, wide-eyed. Could he possibly mean what he said? I couldn’t let him attack my parents, oh hell no.

He seemed pretty serious. I started to feel some fear. Not for myself, but for my parents. They wouldn’t even know what happened to them.

He stared back at me, smirking evilly. Bastard.

We just stayed in our respective positions, both having a sort of staring competition. Neither of us wanted to give in and let the other have a chance to retaliate.

After what seemed like forever, I heard the door creak open. I know its Taeminnie, but I can’t turn now. I suddenly felt fear again. Will this psycho attack Tae?

I saw Tae look at the man from my peripheral vision. His gaze landed on the doctor and he seemed pretty calm despite the fact that I was bleeding and the doctor was holding a bloodied knife.

“Hey hyung. What’s your problem? Didn’t we send you to the mental hospital a while back?” he asked. Mental hospital? This guy is really mad?

“Yeah, but I recovered. Why did you even help my brother send me in?” he shot back with a deadly glare. Taeminnie didn’t shrink under the glare, but he straightened up.

“Cause at the time, you threatened to kill your entire family. I had to help my high school friend. Somehow, he’s my band mate now. I don’t like him as a friend like I did before, and in fact, I hate his guts. But the thing is that he’s gotten worse. Does your family have a history of mental problems or something?” he spat disgustedly.

“As a matter of fact, yes. But it skips a generation, so our dad didn’t get it. Our grandpa did though. Back to the matter at hand – Minho sent me to get rid of him,” he said, pointing at me.

Minho is his brother? No wonder they look quite similar. But really? Minho sent his elder brother to kill me and his older bro happened to be mental? That’s wonderful, really.

“How did you become a doctor when you’ve had a history of medical illness?” Tae asked curiously.

Minsuk shrugged. “I deleted my history by hacking into the system. Not a single file about my stay in a mental hospital was kept,” he explained.

“So you decided to cut hyung’s arm?” Taeminnie questioned incredulously. He just nodded.

“I’ve called security,” Jonghyun came in and announced. Oh right, he came in with Tae and disappeared for a moment or so.

Minsuk’s eyes widened. “What?! No! I can’t be thrown back into that hell!” he screamed and started to swing the knife around blindly, cutting my left arm in the process.

He nearly hit Taeminnie, but thankfully, Jonghyun moved in front of Tae quickly enough. However, Jonghyun’s left arm got slashed too.

The whacko started to knock down stuff in my room and security rushed in, pointing a gun at his temple. They subdued him and got him to drop the damn knife before handcuffing him and bringing him either to jail or back to his personal prison – the mental hospital.

The moment security dragged a wriggling Minsuk out of the room, Taeminnie rushed over to my side, a concerned expression on his face.

“Hyung, are you ok?” he asked me, his voice trembling. I nodded and smiled at him.

“How about Jonghyun? Are you alright?” I asked. He nodded at me and pressed the call button beside my bed.

Only now do I start to feel the pain in my arms. When Tae tried to touch my arm, I winced but kept my arm there. He looked at me worriedly.

“Hyung, you’re not alright. And neither are you, Jonghyun hyung. You both desperately need medical attention,” he chided. Just then, Mrs. Kim came into the room, looked at the bloody mess and went back out to call a few more nurses and probably a doctor, too.

When she returned, I could fully feel the pain. I could barely stand it, but I know I have to be strong for Taeminnie. Dr. Jang first attended to me before he attended to Jonghyun. Of course, he had given us a slight anesthetic so we wouldn’t feel the pain when he disinfected the wound.

“I suppose we have to tighten security for you, Onew-ah. How do the both of you feel?” Dr. Jang asked me and Jonghyun. We both replied with a ‘fine’ and he looked relieved.

“We completely didn’t expect Minsuk to do something as despicable as that, and we hadn’t any info of his past stay in a mental hospital. For that, we sincerely apologise. And Taemin, you could have gotten hurt by Minsuk and he might have caused a miscarriage. The hospital is very apologetic to you three,” Dr. Jang apologised profusely, even when we told him to stop.

After a while, he checked on my condition and made sure that I was fine before reminding me that I could be discharged next week. Hell yeah!

He also promised us that Minsuk would go to jail and receive treatment while he stayed in there, giving us some measure of safety from him. But who could confirm that Minho wouldn’t do something else?

He left the room after wishing us a speedy recovery, especially considering the fact that I haven’t even recovered fully from the accident. Sure, physically I’m fine, but mentally I couldn’t remember a about my life before I was knocked down.

I can remember Minho, my family, flower arrangement and SHINee. But the sad thing is that I don’t remember my relationship with Tae.

A few minutes later, after Dr. Jang left my room, Taeminnie walked over to my side, dragged a chair over and sat down. “Hyung, I’ve finally decided to forgive Key umma,” he said. He seemed a little reluctant to do so, but I’m glad he finally decided to.

“That’s wonderful! I’m sure he’ll be elated when you forgive him,” I smiled at him as a form of encouragement. He looked down a little sadly.

“But before that, I want to apologise to him. Jonghyun hyung, can you just make it a surprise for Key umma? Tell him that you’re bringing him somewhere special and give me a call before you arrive, but don’t mention my name. Key umma is very sharp to catch these things,” Tae requested.

Obviously, Jonghyun acceded to the simple request. It wasn’t by any means hard to do, anyway.

A while later, Jonghyun decided to leave. The two of us talked randomly and a ton of rubbish came out, but we had fun. Taeminnie actually laughed a lot in about twenty minutes, which is probably more than he’s laughed recently.

Suddenly, the door burst open and six people came in. I spotted the guy who looked like Heechul hyung, so I’d bet I know who they are.

We waited for them to settle down first before talking. They were no other than Boyfriend.

“I’m your Boyfriend! Annyeong haseyo, Boyfriend imnida!” they bowed while introducing themselves. Then the leader, Donghyun, stepped forward.

Dressed in a white tee, a black vest and a pair of normal jeans, his face looked overly matured.

“Annyeong haseyo, I’m Kim Donghyun. I’m born on 12^th February 1989, so that makes me older than you, Onew. I’m the lead vocal in the group as well as the leader. I’m together with the maknae, Minwoo!” he exclaimed and pulled his Boyfriend forward.

The maknae looked like a little kid! He was looking down at the floor, a light shade of pink coloring his cheeks. He was dressed in a hoodie, skinny jeans and a cap.

“Annyeong! No Minwoo imnida! I’m the main dancer, lead rapper and maknae of Boyfriend! Donghyun hyung has been my boyfriend for about a year now,” he introduced. He sounded like a freaking 5 year old! That is so adorable!

“I’m Lee Jeongmin who loves looking in the mirror! I’m together with Hyunseong hyung and I’m the lead vocal as well,” Jeongmin said simply.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Taeminnie’s eyes widen in shock and he almost choked.

“I’m Shim Hyunseong, together with Jeongmin. I’m the main vocal and have been labeled as ‘chinless’ by a sunbae, reasons unknown. I’m not chinless, just saying,” the Hyunseong guy added and smiled lightly at me before walking back to stand beside Jeongmin.

“I’m Jo Youngmin, the older twin! I have a more slender jawline but we’re both the same height. I won’t say who I’m with, but he’s within the group. If you don’t approve of , I swear…” Youngmin pretended to punch the air.

So he’s together with his brother then. That’s fine by me, but their parents…

“Anyway, I’m a vocal, lead dancer and one of two flower boys. I kind of fail at jumping, I don’t know why. Thank you!” he chirped and pulled the last member, Kwangmin, forward.

“I’m Jo Kwangmin, the younger twin. I’m the younger twin and the other flower boy. My hyung is my boyfriend and I’m the main rapper as well as the lead dancer and the other flower boy. We, the twins, are both the visuals. I have a sharper jawline and usually have brownish-black hair while my hyung has blonde hair. I… can’t really run well at times,” he admitted.

Huh. I’m thinking that their parents are either really open, or really in the dark. I’m thinking that it’s the latter cause I doubt that any parents would ever approve of their twins having an uous relationship, especially when they’re so close and sleep in the same dorm, have the same schedules and practices. It’s like giving them so many opportunities to have .

“I just noticed something, hyungs,” Minwoo pointed out, getting our attention.

“Ne, Minwoo?” Jeongmin asked, turning to the maknae.

“Isn’t there a surveillance camera right there? Don’t you think that they’ve captured everything that we said?” Minwoo asked curiously, fear starting to creep into his voice.

“Don’t worry Minwoo-ah. The hospital upgraded some time ago, so the cameras and mikes for security in the room can be turned off with a remote. Every room has one, cause the hospital staff respect our privacy. It’s only by the security at night when visiting hours are over. Apart from those times, it’s the patient’s choice to have the surveillance cams on or off,” Tae explained to the very worried maknae who heaved a huge sigh of relief.

“That’s good, cause otherwise we’d be dead by tomorrow,” Minwoo said.

Right. Boyfriend is still active, unlike SHINee. We’ve been inactive since my coma, I heard.

That brings something up though. Did Infinite know about the security cams? I think they would have at least thought it through, or they would have asked. I don’t think they’ll just leak their biggest secrets to the hospital since it may be spread to the rest of the world within hours.

“Onew, what happened to you?” Donghyun hyung asked me in shock while pointing at my arms. Both were neatly bandaged up and luckily, Dr. Jang was kind enough to use the lighter bandage.

“Ah, well, I was attacked by Minho’s maniac of a brother who was working as a doctor,” I explained.

“What the ?” Minwoo asked incredulously. He seemed freakishly similar to Taeminnie in terms of behavior. Both weren’t afraid to curse about things like this.

“It’s true. Jonghyun hyung got hurt while protecting me. If it weren’t for Jonghyun hyung, I might have suffered a miscarriage,” Tae sighed.

“Are you serious? That has gone too far, really. He shouldn’t have asked his brother to do something as dirty as this. I mean really, assassinating the lover of the man he ? That’s just low,” Hyunseong clucked his tongue in disapproval.

“Well we’ve always known he had a screw loose,” Youngmin shrugged.

“I agree with my hyung. Who the hell someone in the hospital room of that someone’s lover who’s in a coma? That’s just ed up,” Kwangmin sighed,

“That’s Minho for ya. Always has been crazy and always will be,” Jeongmin said. Just like Taeminnie, he didn’t respect Minho and refused to call him hyung. Nice!

“He used to be normal, when we were in high school together.  Then at the end of 2010, he just lost it,” Tae said, shaking his head.

We quickly brushed the matter off and changed the subject.

 “Should we visit L? Minwoo told me that he was in a minor accident, from what you told him,” Donghyun asked Taeminnie. He shook his head.

L should have already been discharged around two days ago. Hmm, I wonder if Boyfriend had visited him. Sure, he wasn’t injured as badly, but still… I feel bad for his boyfriends.

“Myungsoo hyung’s been discharged two days ago. It was just some minor scratches, along with a long but seemingly shallow gash on his arm. You can go to their dorm to find them, if you want. I’m sure I can help you get the address since even I don’t remember it,” Tae offered.

“No need, Taemin hyung. We can contact them on our own. How have you been?” Youngmin asked.

Taeminnie smiled and rubbed his belly lovingly. “Five months. I’m having two girls and a boy, so that means I’ll have triplets,” he told them while continuing to rub his belly subconsciously.

“That’s so cool! Why weren’t we triplets?” Kwangmin pouted.

“Cause then we might not be together?” Youngmin shot back with a ‘duh’ look on his face.

“Then what are your plans?” Hyunseong asked. I think he was referring to how Tae would name the triplets. I already know and much as I don’t approve of Minho getting a descendent, the boy still has his blood running through his veins.

“The boy will be a Choi while the two girls will be Lees. That means Onew hyung will be the dad to the girls while Minho will be the dad to the boy. No matter what, I’m making all of them stay with me. I don’t give a damn what Minho has to say, and when they grow up, I’ll tell them the truth. But I’ll love them all the same, since they’re mine,” Taeminnie said.

“That’s noble of you, Taemin hyung. But I still think Minho hyung deserves no part of them despite the fact that he created half of them each. You’re carrying them and come on, they’re out of . I don’t even understand why you didn’t abort them in the first place,” Jeongmin said.

True that. Why didn’t Tae abort them? I know it’s cruel, but the fact that he has to suffer like this cause of Minho is a completely good reason to have aborted them.

“I didn’t want to kill my kids. Yes, they were made cause I was , but I still love them. I’ve always loved kids and just because Minho fathered these triplets doesn’t make me love them any less,” Taeminnie reasoned.

“That’s the love of a mother, Jeongmin. You’ll never understand it unless you are one,” Donghyun hyung chided the mirror prince.

“I know we’re all gay in here, but I understand how a girl feels like. It’s nice to be gay and able to have kids of your own, and it makes life better, but that doesn’t mean that you have to snub all girls. Having menstruation every month is a real killer, so don’t hold it against girls when they PMS. It’s really annoying to have menstruation,” Tae told them.

“Tell that to someone like Shindong hyung who has a girlfriend then. I know I can be mean to girls when they PMS, but I try my best to put myself in their shoes. It does not work.” Kwangmin stated firmly, sounding a little annoyed.

“What made you so angry?” Minwoo asked.

“I think he’s reminded of our umma. Whenever she has her period, she goes nuts and starts scolding us for no good reason. I don’t even know how appa can stand her, really,” Youngmin complained.

“Imagine bleeding for a few days straight. Who wouldn’t be annoyed? I mean guys only have to serve in NS for two years while girls have monthly period from around ten years old to fifty-five years old. So that means having period twelve times a year and around five hundred plus times in a lifetime. People like me who are interual and look like guys? We have to suffer both. I wonder how I can go into NS without my roommates knowing about my condition,” Taeminnie suddenly thought aloud.

I should probably go in with him and room with him. Kekeke.

“Well maybe you could arrange for a doctor, preferably the one who diagnosed you as an inter, to write a letter to the NS to excuse you from having to go. Then you could be someone who helps the country to increase our population instead of someone who defends the country,” Hyunseong suggested. Tae seemed to think about it and decided that it was a feasible idea.

“Maybe. Only my umma knows who that doctor is though, and she might want me to go serve the country as a soldier for two years and abandon my kids for the same two years. That’s not very nice, so I think I’ll attempt to plead and beg and whatever to get the name of that doctor,” Taeminnie joked. “But seriously, she might not tell me.”

“Look at it this way: The country’s average fertility rate is around 2-3 children per woman and you’re already having three kids. I think you intend to have more, don’t you?” Minwoo asked. Tae nodded, quite sure of where this is going. I know where it’s going alright.

“Since you told me that guys usually have more than one child per pregnancy, I’m sure you could help to share the burden of mothers countrywide. Tell it to your umma that way and she’ll probably agree,” Minwoo smiled, proud of himself for thinking of such a brilliant reasoning.

“I guess I could. Thanks Minwoo!” Taeminnie exclaimed and hugged his good friend.

Aww, then I’ll have to enter by myself in the distant future. Sigh.

We began to chat about other random stuff, just like we had in the twenty minutes before Boyfriend arrived. Midway, at around 2pm, Tae took out the porridge that umma had made and we each ate a bowl. While we ate, Donghyun and Minwoo went to buy lunch for the six of them as well.

Slightly after we ate, Mrs. Kim came to pass me my medicine. She was pretty calm when she saw the Boyfriend members gathered in the room. I guess its cause her son is an idol and she’s used to seeing idols every now and then, especially since this hospital is frequented by idols due to its high security and ideal location.

At 5pm, Boyfriend decided that they would go and practice more on their own. They were due to comeback soon, so Taeminnie and I wished them good luck and pumped our fists for them before they left for their practice room.

At 7pm, visiting hours were ending and Tae was getting pretty exhausted from the day’s activities, so he went home after I ate my dinner. Mrs. Kim had been nice enough to let him stay with me for a little while as I ate. She’s really nice.

After I ate and Tae went home, I decided to take a rest and wait for Taeminnie to visit me again tomorrow. I wonder what’s going to happen.

Aish, I don’t care anymore. I’m too beat to care anymore, especially after getting injured.

So I lay down on my side, closed my eyes, and let the weariness take over my body.

I’ll just skip to a few days later, ok? I think I’ll go mad if I write one chapter for every day… ._.

Subscribe and comment! Those are loved <3

Look forward to the next chappie cause I’ll try to add something more interesting in. I’ll probably skip all the way to the celebration which is six days later ^^

Please keep reading my story and I finally said who Minsuk is! :D

I’ll see you guys next week then. Annyeong~! :)