There was a soft knock on the door. Sehun turned around to see that someone had joined him in the room. He stood up to greet his guest, but in the dim light, he wasn’t entirely sure of who it was.

            “Sehun. It’s been a while.”

            Only one person had a voice like that. Sehun recognized it immediately.

            “How have you been doing, hyung?”

            “Fine. I guess.”

            “And him?”

            The man paused.

            “That question is like me asking you how Luhan is doing.”

            Sehun couldn’t help but agree.

            “Sit down, Chanyeol hyung.”

            “I can’t stay. I just wanted to make sure that you were doing fine.”

            “The bigger question here is how you’re doing. You’re not fine, and we both know that. I heard the news. I’m so sorry.”

            “Don’t be. I had so much more time with him; I should be the one who is sorry.”

            Sehun looked Chanyeol in the eyes.

            “I want to come with you. To see him.”

            Chanyeol stared at him.

            “It’s not pretty, Sehun-ah. I don’t think you want to see it.”

            “Even the most beautiful things don’t stay beautiful forever.”

            Chanyeol looked at Sehun with newfound respect.

            “Well then. When do you want to leave?”

            “How about now?”

            Sehun ran his fingers through his gray hair.

            “Five minutes.”

            “I’ll be downstairs.”

            Sehun dressed himself as quickly as he could, surprisingly agile for someone so old. He hurriedly splashed water on his face and ran a comb through his hair. As he was zipping up his jacket, he impulsively reached for both the locket and the folded piece of paper. He tucked them into his pocket, having never gone anywhere without the two items.

            Chanyeol had been leaning against the front door during Sehun’s five minutes. When Sehun carefully made his way down the stairs, Chanyeol unhitched himself from the wall. He wasn’t any different from when they were younger. They both slipped on their shoes and exited the house.

            “You really need to clean this place up.”

            “You know I’ve never been a neat person.”

            “I think I know that too well.”

            They laughed, remembering years ago when they had all been sharing one dorm. It had been so long ago, but not very long ago.

            Time was a funny thing.

            Chanyeol somehow managed to find a parking space in the hospital’s crowded lot. Sehun couldn’t help but be impressed as the elder expertly pulled into a narrow opening between two trucks.

            “You weren’t this good at driving when we were 20.”

            “I was too!”

            “Don’t be ridiculous. How many parking tickets did you get again?”

            “Parking tickets are crude ways of telling how skilled a driver is.”

            “Only people that have gotten many parking tickets can say that.”

            “Shut up.”

            They burst out laughing. Sehun lightly punched Chanyeol on the arm.

            “I’ve missed you, hyung.”

            “I missed you too, Sehun-ah. And I was always an amazing driver.”

            Sehun rolled his eyes but gave up arguing against Chanyeol.

            Inside, the hospital smelled sterile. Sehun shuddered, remembering all the times he had had to make hospital visits everyday, roughly twenty years ago. The smell had never really left him; it was one of those things that were impossible to forget.

            Chanyeol looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

            “You okay?”

            “Yeah. I’m fine,” Sehun lied.

            Chanyeol didn’t believe him, but he decided not to press it.

            The room they were visiting had obviously been occupied for a while. The walls were covered with posters and signs, and there were boxes and boxes of gifts on the floor.

            There was only one bed in the room, and it was occupied by a frail looking old man.

            The man looked to be roughly the same age as Chanyeol and Sehun, but it was hard to tell, because of all the tubes that were connected to his body.

            It had been years since Sehun had seen the man in the bed. Now, he regretted it, wishing that he had spent more time with him while he could have.

            There were three other people in the room, seated around a six-person table. They all stood up to welcome Chanyeol and Sehun when they entered the room. It had been a while since Sehun had seen these people too.

            “Jongin hyung. Kyungsoo hyung. Joonmyun hyung.”

            It had been so long since Sehun had called them all by name.

            “You finally left your house?” Jongin looked at him disbelievingly.

            “It’s about time. You’re like a hermit, Sehun-ah. It’s not healthy.” Kyungsoo was still such a mother. That was one thing that was never going to change.

            “I’m just happy to see you, Sehun-ah.” Joonmyun was as solid and dependable as always.

            Chanyeol laughed.

            “Let’s all take a moment to thank the person who coaxed the hermit from his cave.”

            “I am not a hermit!”

            “Admitting it to yourself is the first step toward acceptance,” Jongin said in a superior tone.

            Sehun paused. “That makes absolutely no sense. If I admit it to myself, I’ve already accepted it.”           

            “Ouch. Maknae showed up Jongin again. What’s the score now? Like 200:0?”

            Jongin elbowed Chanyeol and glared at the others in an attempt to stop them from laughing. It didn’t work. They laughed anyway.

            Sehun turned his attention to the man in the bed.

           Byun Baekhyun had been a smaller man even when he was younger. He had always been on the skinny side, the type that never gained weight no matter how much food he ate. He had also been such a happy person; he and Chanyeol had always been the ones to tell jokes to break the tension.

            Chanyeol had been right. Baekhyun wasn’t a pretty sight. It was hard to see someone as bright as Baekhyun on a hospital bed.

            But he was Baekhyun. And Sehun loved him for that.

            A couple days ago, Chanyeol had called him for the first time in years to tell him that Baekhyun had been involved in a drunk driving accident. A couple of college kids that were drunk had been carelessly driving on the highway had collided with law-abiding, smart Baekhyun.

            The college kids were being charged for DUI because they were all over the drinking age. They had not been injured at all.

            Baekhyun, on the other hand, had suffered from multiple injuries to the head, spine, right ankle, left elbow, hip, and collarbone.

            Chanyeol had been beyond angry.

            Luckily, all the surgeries Baekhyun went through were successful and he had been stabilized fairly quickly. His concussion was minor and did not result in any memory loss, which was a huge relief for Chanyeol.

            The doctors had said that he was lucky because he had not been pierced by any metal or glass that was all around him at the scene of the accident.

            Then Chanyeol had asked if Baekhyun would ever be able to go home.

            The doctors had nervously exchanged a glance before apologetically telling him that Baekhyun was to go through rehabilitation, and then transferred to a nursing home. Chanyeol didn’t like the idea, but his concern for Baekhyun’s health had won out, so he agreed.

            Sehun was watching Baekhyun sleep when he suddenly stirred. His already lined forehead wrinkled a bit more, and the tubes that were connected to him strained to stay connected. Chanyeol was instantly next to the bed, making sure that everything was intact. Then, he gently shook Baekhyun awake.

            “Baekhyun, wake up, Sehunnie’s here!”

            At this, Baekhyun opened his eyes.

            “Sehun? What’s the hermit doing out of his house?”

            Sehun flushed. “I am not a hermit!”

            “Should I repeat my words of wisdom?”

            “Jongin-ah, here’s some words of wisdom. Shut up.” Everyone laughed at Joonmyun’s words, even Jongin.

            “Chanyeol-ah, help me sit up.”

            Chanyeol pressed the buttons that caused the top half of the bed to rise, and helped Baekhyun reposition himself so he was comfortable.

            They spent the next couple of hours talking about all of their times together.

            “Remember our first broadcast ever? Kyungsoo hyung was in charge of introducing MAMA, and he totally screwed up.”

            Kyungsoo smacked Jongin for bringing that up.

            “Oh God, that was the worst broadcast experience I’ve ever had, it was so awful. I couldn’t even lift my head after that because I was so embarrassed. I couldn’t believe I screwed up so badly. Whose idea was it for me to introduce MAMA anyway?”

            They all looked at each other.

            “Didn’t we play a game of poker to determine that?”

            At Baekhyun’s mention of poker, they all burst out laughing.

            “Sehun, you were so bad at poker, it was ridiculous,” Kyungsoo said.

            “Joonmyun hyung was worse!”

            “Was not! I was pretty good.”

            “That’s what you think,” Jongin muttered.

            “It’s not like you were that good either Jongin, I distinctly remember you thinking that two queens were able to beat a flush,” Chanyeol remarked.

            “I didn’t know the rules!”

            “Either way, I’m the king of poker here, am I not?” Kyungsoo was pretty proud of this.

            The other guys agreed, Jongin a little grudgingly.

            “Where did you even learn to play poker like that?” Joonmyun looked curious.

            Kyungsoo shrugged. “I guess I’m just a natural.” Everyone else rolled their eyes at this.

            “Remember how our fans called me Bacon?”

            “And me a Kaiser roll.”

            “And me Egg-yeol.”

            “And me donut.”

            Sehun and Joonmyun exchanged looks.

            “I don’t remember what they called me.”

            “Neither do I.”

            “Probably because yours wasn’t as amazing as Bacon.”

            “Or donut! You have to admit, donut is pretty awesome.”

            “You do realize that our fans were the weirdest people ever?” Chanyeol observed.

            “I’d rather have weird fans than normal fans. Normalis so boring.” Baekhyun said.

            “Bacon has spoken!”

            Joonmyun’s statement was followed by almost instantaneous chortling.

            “I take it back. We’re even weirder than our fans.”

            “I would say ‘Egg-yeol has spoken!’, but it doesn’t sound right.”

            Sehun couldn’t stop laughing at his dorky hyungs.

            It had been a while since he had laughed like this.

            Sehun glanced at the floor and noticed that the folded piece of paper had fallen out of his open pocket. The locket was in the other, closed pocket.

            He bent to retrieve the paper from the floor. When he straightened up with it in his hand, Joonmyun looked his direction.

            When the elder saw the piece of paper, his face changed. He met Sehun’s eyes.

            “Is that…?”

            “Yes.”

A/N: I'M BACK :""DDDD

to all my subscribers and readers and people-that-comment:

anyway, I WILL NOT BE POSTING TOMORROW

because EXO-M IS PERFORMING ON SHOW CHAMPION 

yeah. I'm excited.

OMG EXO-M ON SHOW CHAMPION AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

/fangirling