“No,” A man in his mid-thirties shook his head. “I think that apartment was vacant,”

“Ah,” Kris smiled and bowed. “Thank you.” The man smiled back and closed his door. Kris groaned and lazily moved to the next person.

“It was like I was a ghost before I was dead,” Yixing muttered as he trailed behind Kris who climbed upstairs back to his apartment—tired and hungry and thirsty.

Yixing thought about what the other tenants had said—one foreigner insisted that no one lived in his apartment, and there was this woman who didn’t even know that he was a guy, oh and don’t forget about the woman—who was hitting on Kris (not that Yixing cared)—who called Yixing antisocial.

“I mean,” Yixing starts talking and Kris rolls his eyes. “If you were going to work out in the middle of the day—which is basically the only reason why we wear work-out clothes—do you really need to wear a push-up bra?”

“Okay, you know what?” Kris blurts out as they arrived in front of Kris’ apartment door. “You’re not coming with me anymore.”

Yixing stares at him. “But why? I might remember something.”

“Too bad,” Kris hisses. “Because you’re like some kind of AM radio someone shoved inside my head and I can’t turn off.” Kris begins to dig into his pockets to look for his key.

“You don’t think she was completely un-classy and predatory?” Yixing asks.

“Those happen to be two of men’s favorite things,” Kris retorts, still looking for his key.

“Why don’t you just date a pitbull?” Yixing snaps and crosses his arms.

“Maybe I will,” Kris answers through gritted teeth. “Damn it!” He hisses.

“What?” Yixing asks, putting his arms down.

Kris sighs. “I left my key inside the apartment.”

“Oh, there’s a spare key under the flower pot,” Yixing says and points to the flower pot located near the stairs. Kris looks at him intently before walking towards the flower pot. He crouched down and lifted it, and just as Yixing had said, there was indeed a spare key under.

…

“Look,” Kris says as he opens the refrigerator. “There are five other units here, and not one person even remembers what you look like.” He grabs a bottle of soju and closes the refrigerator. “Talk about being disconnected from people.”

Yixing eyes him—and his drink skeptically. “Are you sure you want to drink that?”

“Oh, you bet I’m sure,” Kris says as he opens a drawer and looks for the bottle opener. He closes it and opens another one.

Yixing sighs. “Next drawer on the left,” He says.

Kris shoots him a glare and moves to the drawer Yixing had said. He searches for the bottle opener, not listening to whatever Yixing was currently blabbing about. “Hey, check this out,” He says as he takes out two small pieces of paper from inside the drawer.

“What is it?” Yixing asks.

“New leads,” Kris answers. “Look, there’s an address written here. I-I can’t quite understand it though. Is that a five or a six?” He asks Yixing, pointing at the indistinct handwriting.

Yixing’s eyebrows furrows. “Uhm, I think that’s a s..no, no it’s a five. Definitely a five.”  He says and leans backwards. “So we have an address and a dry cleaning ticket. What are we waiting for?” Yixing turns around and heads out the door and Kris groans, leaving the untouched—and unopened bottle of Soju behind as he follows Yixing out.

…

“Oh yes,” The owner of the dry-cleaning shop says as he reads the dry cleaning ticket Kris had given him. “These pants were jet black. Armani, if I remember it right.”

“Yes, I remember them, they were expensive.” Yixing says.

Kris purses his lips and shoots a side-long glance towards Yixing before looking at the owner again. “Do you uhm, remember anything  else about the owner? It’s kind of important.”

The owner thinks for a while. “He's pleasant,” He answers. Yixing slightly furrows his eyebrows. “But, a little dull maybe.”

“Dull?” Kris and Yixing ask in unision.

“I think of him, I think of sadness, loneliness.” The owner answers.

Yixing rolls his eyes as and fold his arms in front of his chest. “You know what, I don’t need a psychological report from this guy, can we just get the pants?”

Kris runs his tongue on the front row of his teeth. “Can I.. get the pants?” Kris asks as he fakes a smile.

The owner shrugs. “Item left too long, we gave them to homeless shelter.”

Yixing’s eyes widen. “You gave them away? Are you crazy?! They were Armani!” He calls out.

“Okay, let’s go,” Kris says through his teeth and turns around. The owner looks at him, confused, wondering who he was talking to and why he was like that. He sits there, speechless and even more confused when he hears Kris saying “Are you coming or not?” and “They’re pants, what do you need them for?”

Next stop for Yixing and Kris was the address they had bickering about. “I think it’s a six,” Kris says. “No, it’s a five.” Yixing argues and in the end, Kris just gives up with a loud sigh. Arguing with him is useless, he thinks.

Kris gets down and stares at the numbers imprinted on the gate. “425, I think,” He says and turns to look at Yixing who passes through the door. “Does it look familiar to you?”

Yixing stares at the house for a while before shaking his head. “No, not really.” He then approaches the gate and Kris follows behind him.

Kris presses the doorbell and waits a few minutes before a guy comes out and opens the gate. “Can I help you?” He asks. He looks like he in his mid-to-late twenties and judging the way his house looks like, Kris thinks that he’s indeed a rich person.

“Hi,” Kris says awkwardly. “This uh, may sound a little odd but I-I was wondering if you knew a certain man, Chinese, about uh,” Kris raises his hand up to Yixing’s head, measuring how tall he is, “five-foot, nine,”

Yixing nods. “Ten,” he corrects.

“—ten,” Kris continues.

The man looks flustered, and he looks around before leaning closer towards Kris. “Oh my god, who are you?” He whispers and Kris takes a small step backwards.

“I-I don’t know you, I—“

“Did he hire you?” He asks, “Did Chen hire you?”

Kris looks around, confused. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I knew he’d find out,” The man says through clenched teeth. “Whatever he’s paying you, I’ll double it. Anything you want.” He says looking at Kris desperately.

Yixing’s jaw drops open.

“I-I’m not looking for money, sir.” Kris explains calmly.

“Jongin-ah! Who is it?” A voice calls in from inside.

“That’s him,” Jongin panicks. “Come here at around six, I’ll have a check ready,” He whispers before looking around and nodding at Kris and closing the gate.

Yixing stares at the gate in disbelief and Kris sneers. “Wow,” Kris says and turns around to walk back. Kris hums when the both of them were near the car.

“What?” Yixing turns around, irritated. “You don’t actually think I had with that person, right?”

“Kinda looks that way, Xingyi,” Kris retorts.

“It’s Yixing,” He corrects. “And that’s disgusting.”

Kris smiles. “Well, look on the brightside, at six o’clock I’m going to have some money,” He grins and hops inside the car.

Yixing hops inside too with a frown. “Oh my god,” He exclaims as Kris puts on his seatbelt. “Maybe I was a . A lonely, home-wrecking .”

Kris only snickers, starts the engine and drives off, completely missing the man who opens his gate and gets ready to leave for work, the one who lives at 426—Luhan.

...

“I mean, seriously, what if I was a ?” Yixing babbles as Kris walks beside him with his hands inside his pockets. “There’s nothing wrong with having a healthy ual appetite!”

“Absolutely,” Kris says sarcastically.

Yixing gasps and Kris stops walking. “Kris, this is it,” He stares at the restaurant in front of them.

“You recognize it?” Kris asks and Yixing nods. “Good.”

The both of them enter the restaurant and Yixing looks around, and gapes. “I love this restaurant.”

“You ate here a lot?” Kris asks.

“No,” Yixing frowns. “I never did. I remember looking in that window and wishing I could eat here, though.”

Kris raises an eyebrow. “What, were you some kind of homeless person? Though I doubt that since you’re claiming you live in the apartment I’m currently living in. Why didn’t you?”

Yixing rolls his eyes. “I wanted to, I-I  just never had the time.” He sighs and turns around to leave. “Maybe the dry-cleaning guy was right about me..”  Kris just shrugs and follows him.

The both of them stopped when they heard the sound of several people shouting, glass shattering and metal utensils—and probably a tray clanking. They turn around, surprised to see an unconscious guy lying on the floor, followed by the shouting of some people.

“Somebody call 911!”

“Is he breathing?” A guy says.

“I-I can’t tell,” One woman answers. “Maybe we should do mouth-to-mouth?”

“We need a doctor,” Another guy exclaims. “Is there a doctor here? Anyone?”

Yixing just stares at them, and after a few seconds, his eyes widen as if he realized something. “Feel his chest,” He whispers to Kris.

“What?” Kris looks at him, confused.

“Feel his chest,” Yixing repeats. “Check and see if it’s bloated.”

Kris looks at him with disbelief. “But h-how would I know?” He asks, staring at Yixing and the unconscious guy on the floor.

“Just do it!” Yixing shouts.

Kris doesn’t know why, but he followed Yixing’s order and walked towards the unconscious person. “Uhm, excuse me,” Kris says as he makes his way through the crowd (without much effort) “I need to feel his chest.” Kris kneels down beside the person, with Yixing just beside him to give him instructions.

“Can you feel his ribs?” Yixing asks.

“No,” Kris answers as he presses his hands on the guy’s ribs. He adds more pressure, “But I can if I press down.”

“What are you doing?” A guys asks, and Kris ignores him.

“Is he bloated?” Yixing asks again.

Kris furrows his eyebrows. “I think so,”

“Think what?” The guy asks again.

“Tell them you need a sharp paring knife and a bottle of vodka,” Yixing instructs.

“Uhm,” Kris says as he looks up. “I’m gonna need a sharp paring knife and a bottle of vodka,” He tells the guy infront of him.

“Got it!” A waiter shouts from behind them.

“What’s wrong with him?” The guy asks.

“It’s a tension pneumothorax.” Yixing answers.

“I think it’s a tension nemothaxer,” Kris says.

Yixing rolls his eyes. “Pneumothorax,” He corrects.

“Pneumothaxer?”

“Pneumothorax!” Yixing shouts, frustrated.

“Pneumathurman,” Kris says again.

“Never mind,” Yixing groans.

“Never mind!” Kris repeats.

“But what is it?” The guy asks, clearly confused.

“Air is escaping out of the lungs into his chest,” Yixing explains with appropriate hand gestures, and Kris repeats every word exactly as Yixing had said it—though he sort of messed up the hand gestures.

“Open his shirt,” Yixing instructs Kris.

“Open his shirt,” Kris repeats, facing the concerned guy.

The guy nods and reaches out his hand to open the shirt when Yixing shouts “No, you do it!” to Kris. Kris shouts too, “I’ll do it!” The guy retracts his hands and nods.

“There’s a valve at the opening of the lungs.” Yixing explains as Kris opens the shirt. “If it doesn’t close, then it constricts the lungs and compresses the organs.” Kris just looks at him, not understanding anything he’s saying. Kris undoes the last button when Yixing starts talking again. “I want you to feel for his ribs again,” Kris presses his fingers against the unconscious person’s ribs again. “A little bit lower,” Yixing says.

“The spot between two ribs, do you feel that?” Kris nods, remembering that people can’t see Yixing. “Okay, pour a little bit of vodka on it.”

Kris grabs the bottle of vodka—which was placed by the waiter—beside him and pours a generous amount (due to the slight trembling of his hand). “Get the knife,” Yixing instructs. Kris shoots Yixing an anxious expression before looking around frantically and reluctantly grabbing the knife.

“Uhm, can I just ask everyone to stand  back a little bit? J-just a little bit further,” He says as the people start moving. “A little bit more, please? Thank you.”

“What am I going to do with the knife?” Kris half-shouts, half-whispers to Yixing.

“You’re going to make an incision,” Yixing says.

Kris’ eyes widen and he shakes his head anxiously. “You know what? No.” He glares at Yixing.

Yixing runs his tongue on the front row of his teeth. “Kris,” He says calmly but in a sort of assertive way . “This man’s life is at stake.”

“I-I can’t stab a man,” Kris whispers again.

“Okay,” Yixing says as he takes a deep breath. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’re just going to make a small hole for the air to escape.” He assures. “So put the knife on that spot,” Yixing points to where two of Kris’ fingers are pressed onto.

“Oh my god,” Kris whimpers (in a not-so-manly way) as he slightly rests the tip of the knife onto the unconscious man’s skin. “How do you know this?” He asks Yixing.

“I don’t know, I just do!” Yixing exclaims. “Now do it! Put the knife there. Now you’re going to have to push harder than that.”  He says. Kris adds a little bit more force, and the knife slightly sinks into the skin. “A little bit harder,” Yixing explains and Kris (with his face scrunched up into a horrified-disgusted-I don’t want to live in this planet anymore expression) presses even harder.

“Oh god!” He exclaims as the knife punctures the skin.

“Okay, good!” Yixing shouts. “That’s enough.”

“AHH!” Kris shouts (slightly manlier this time) as he removes the knife and tosses it beside him.

“Alright,” Yixing says, a bit more relaxed now. “Now take the pourer out of the vodka bottle.”

“What?” Kris asks, his voice somewhat higher than it usually is, as he grabs the vodka bottle (with one hand, as the other is pressing onto the wound stop it from bleeding). He places the vodka in between his legs and removes the pourer with one hand, setting it beside him.

“Alright, you’re doing good. Now—“

“Hold on,” Kris pants as he drinks the vodka straight from the bottle. The people around them look at one another, confused—and some even probably thinking that they’ve entrusted a person’s life into some kind of psycho-drunkard’s hands. “Go,” Kris slightly growls as he puts down the bottle.

“Put the pourer on the whole that you made,” Yixing instructs.

“What?” Kris yelps with an even more terrified expression.

“It’s gonna keep the wound open so air can escape,” Yixing explains. “Now do it!”

“I can’t,” Kris squeaks.

“Do it!” Yixing shouts.

Kris takes a deep breath and presses the pourer on the wound. He hears a faint sound of air escaping and the man starts breathing.

“He’s breathing!” Someone shouts from the crowd. “He’s breathing!”

Yixing stares at the man with wide eyes after letting out a sigh of relief. “I’m a doctor,” He whispers.

“I’m a doctor!” Kris shouts, unconsciously copying what Yixing had said.

“I know!” A guy exclaims and walks towards Kris. “Thank God, the ambulance will be here right away.” He says and shakes Kris’ hand.

“Ask him where the nearest hospital is.” Yixing instructs.

“Do you uh—“ Kris says with his normal voice, “Do you know where the nearest hospital is?”

The guy nods, still shaking Kris’ hand. “Just a few blocks from here; SungAe Hospital.”

“Thank you,” Kris answers as Yixing gasps. “SungAe Hospital?”

“I may have been a lonely, home-wrecking but I saved lives!” Yixing exclaims as the both of them exit the restaurant. “Kris, I worked in that hospital. I know it, it sounds so familiar!”

“I’ve-I’ve never saved a life before..” Kris speaks softly, still dazed.

Yixing starts babbling about how wonderful it feels to save lives, and Kris slowly brings up his hand and stares at the small stain of dried blood on his finger. “W-what’s that?” He asks, slightly pale.

“Oh, it’s just a little blood,” Yixing answers.

Kris groans and Yixing’s eyes widen when Kris collapses on the ground. “Kris?”

----------

They walk inside the hospital, and Yixing looks around—everything’s slowly starting to come back now.

As for Kris however, all that’s coming back is his headache.

“I work here,” Yixing whispers as he continues to look around.

“You did?” Kris asks softly, trying to maintain his balance.

Yixing turns to his left to where the reception area is. “The receptionist, her name is Victoria,” Yixing explains as he looks left and right, trying to remember everything else. “It’s all coming back to me now.”

Yixing points to several doctors and nurses, “There’s Xiumin! And Kyungsoo, and..”

…

“Yixing?” Victoria asks. “You mean Zhang Yixing?”

“Zhang. Yes, that’s my name!” Yixing happily exclaims.

“Yes, that’s it,” Kris answers. “Zhang Yixing.”

The receptionist, Victoria, stares at Kris with her wide eyes (Kris is not sure if that was normal or..) before taking a deep breath. “Dr. Zhang is..” She hesitates, “..is not active on our staff right now.” She then straightens up. “Hold on, let me just talk to someone.” She stands up from her chair and approaches a doctor.

“Huh,” Yixing sighs. “She’s got that tone.”

Kris looks at him, confused. “What tone?”

“The tone when you’re trying to pass the responsibility to someone else to tell you that you’re friend died!” Yixing exclaims.

Victoria returns with a small smile. “Uhm sir, I need you to go to the third floor nurse’s station.”

----------

Yixing hops off the elevator first and sees a very familiar guy walking towards their direction. “Oh no, it’s Lu Han hyung,” He whispers as Kris walks behind him. “He’s my mentor. They wouldn’t send us up here if it wasn’t bad.”

“Mr. Wu?” Lu Han extends his arm and Kris smiles at him, grabbing his hand. “Hi, I’m Lu Han.”

“Kris Wu, nice to meet you,” Kris answers.

“You’ve been asking about Zhang Yixing?” Lu Han asks and stuffs his hands inside his white coat.

Kris nods. “Uhm yeah, that’s right. Could you-could you tell me what happened to him?”

Lu Han smiles. “Well first I need to know your relationship with him.”

“Tell him you’re my boyfriend,” Yixing says. Kris looks at him and looks back to Lu Han. Lu Han raises an eyebrow and follows Kris’ stare. “He can’t tell you anything unless he knows we’re intimately connected.”

“Uhm,” Kris straightens up. “We were.. romantic .. with each other.” Kris clears his throat and Yixing stares at Lu Han, hoping that he would believe Kris.

Lu Han looks surprised. “What do you mean?”

“He was my uhh.. boyfriend.” Kris tries his best to looks serious.

Lu Han chuckles.  “I know what romantic means,” He answers and returns to having this serious expression. “But I.. I have a hard time believing that.”

“What?” Yixing asks.

“What?” Kris asks too.

“Why?”

“Why?”

“Yixing’s whole life was this hospital,” Lu Han explains. “I don’t know of a single date he had ever been on.”

“’Was?’” Yixing whispers. “Did he say ‘was’?”

Kris takes a deep breath. “Well uh.. We were fairly recent,” He says. “I-I live in his apartment.”

“Kris!” Yixing exclaims with wide eyes.

“—building.” Kris corrects.

Lu Han stares at him intently. “So.. You don’t know about the accident?”

Yixing furrows his eyebrows and instantly, his memory comes back to him. He sees the truck approach him, how blindingly bright the light was back then, how he talked to Baekhyun before everything happened. “Kris I.. I remember it..” He whispers. “It was awful.”

“I was..” Kris thought of something to say. “I’ve been away.”

“It was three months ago,” Lu Han explains to Kris.

“Three months?” Kris asks, “Oh no. I’m sorry. I was away for a while.. on a business trip.”

Yixing—like his body had a mind of its own started walking. He didn’t know where, all he knew was that loud beating of his heart and how it called him—like it was leading him somewhere. He walks, until he reaches a room located near the corner. He turns to face the door and with furrowed eyebrows, he enters the room—passing through the door, like he did with tables and walls—and gasps when he sees himself lying unconsciously on the hospital bed with different tubes and machines attached to his body.

Kris enters the room shortly after. “What was that? You were like.. flying.” He whispers and shuts the door close.

Yixing turns around to look at him and moves aside. Kris’ eyes widen. “Oh my god.” He gasps. “It’s you.” Kris takes slow, careful steps towards Yixing’s body. “It’s you, it’s really you!” He exclaims. “You’re not dead, you’re alive!”

“I know, Kris. But I’m in a coma,” Yixing answers. “This isn’t good.”

“Well it’s way better than dead.” Kris answers, using that in-a-matter-of-fact tone. “Look at you, your body is healing. You don’t have any scars you look..” Kris pauses and thinks for a few seconds before continuing. “You look beautiful.”

Yixing looks at him, but sighs. “It doesn’t matter how I look. Three months, Kris. That’s a persistent coma.”

“Okay, well we’re here now. Let’s do something.” Kris says vigorously.

“Like what?” Yixing asks.

“Like..” Kris thinks for a while. “I don’t know, you’re the doctor.”

“Right,” Yixing answers. “You’re right.” He furrows his eyebrows in concentration, thinking of what to do. He then sighs. “Forget it.”

“What?” Kris asks.

“I need to find a way to put myself together again.” Yixing answers.

“Okay, good. What do we do?”

Yixing pokes his cheek with his tongue. “Maybe I should do this,” He sits on the bed and lies down—disappearing into his own body. Kris stares and waits for the body to move.

Yixing sits up. “I’m not sticking,” He frowns. “It’s like I’m no longer connected to this body.”

Kris’ eyebrows knit together. “Okay, okay. Turn around.” He orders.

“What?” Yixing asks.

“I just want to try something,” Kris explains.

Yixing answers with an ‘okay’ before turning around. Kris holds Yixing’s hand and Yixing, as if feeling it, lifted his hand and stared at it. “You felt that?” Kris asks.

“My hand tingled,” Yixing answers.

Kris lets go of the hand and approaches Yixing. “You’re still connected to your body.”

Lu Han opens the door. “Mr. Wu? I’m sorry, I have an urgent appointment and I can’t just leave you here unattended.”

Kris looks at him. “Can I have a couple more minutes? I’m just—“ Kris takes a deep breath. “I’m saying goodbye.”

Lu Han smiles warmly and nods. “Of course,” He then closes the door right after Kris had thanked him.

Yixing looks at the picture on the table beside him. “Look at this,” Kris approaches him and picks up the wooden frame. “This is the picture on my nightstand.”

“You look great,” Kris commented.

Yixing sighed and turned around to look at his unconscious body. “Look at me now..” He walks to the machines constantly beeping beside him. “These levels aren’t changing, Kris. If anything, they’re decreasing.” 

“I..” Kris looks at the door before looking at Yixing again. “I need to go soon.”

Yixing turns around to look at him. “Oh, right.”

“Do you want me to wait for you downstairs? In the lobby?” Kris asks.

“No, no” Yixing shakes his head softly. “It’s okay. You should go. Thank you for helping me.”

Kris nods. “It was my pleasure,” He looks at Yixing’s body again. “Are you sure you don’t  want to uhm.. come back with me?” He asks. “After all, it is your apartment. It’s fine.”

Yixing stares at him. “After coming here I..” Yixing looks at his body again. “I can’t imagine leaving myself, you know?”

“Y-yeah I know it’s j-just,” Kris fiddles with his fingers nervously. “It just feels weird leaving you here alone.”

“I don’t know where else I belong..” Yixing whispers.

The door opens again, revealing Lu Han. “Mr. Wu, I’m sorry,” He says apologetically.

Kris nods slightly before looking at Yixing. He purses his lips and looks at Yixing’s body. “Goodbye, Yixing.”  He walks towards the door, with Lu Han opening it.

“Goodbye,” Yixing calls out just before Lu Han closed it.

----------

Yixing decides to walk around—or rather, walk through walls—as he explores different parts of the hospital. He first enters the doctor’s longue, and finds a doctor sleeping on the table with a cup of coffee in her hands. He stares at the person for a few seconds before walking through another wall.

He finds himself inside a room full of medical supplies and equipment. What he didn’t expect to find though, was a person making out inside this very same room. Yixing squints to take a closer look on who this nurse was. “Kyungsoo?” Yixing chuckles softly. “No wonder I could never find you.” 

He hurriedly walks through another wall and finds Oh Sehun sitting lazily on his chair with a phone pressed onto his left ear. Yixing had assumed that this was Sehun’s office (which was supposed to be his’, if he wasn’t in a coma right now). “I guess you got my job,” Yixing mutters.

“Yeah, I think I’ve earned it,” Sehun says to the person on he was talking to. “I deserve it.”

Yixing stares at him with loath. “Is that everything you thought it would be?”

“It is,” Sehun answers, as if hearing Yixing.

 His telephone rings and Sehun holds the call first. “Hello?” He says, as he picks up the telephone. “What? You want me to do it? N-no, of course I can.” He then puts down the telephone and brings up his cellphone to his ear again. “Dude, did you know I can get a built-in jack for my iPod?”

Yixing crosses his arms and sighs in frustration—and slight anger. “Did you know there’s people out there dying? I’m in coma! Have you noticed?”

“I know!” Sehun grins happily and brings up his feet to rest them on the table.

Yixing rolls his eyes and turns around. He walks back to the his room and got a shock when his door opened and two kids entered—Baekhyun’s nephews.

They hold onto both of his hands, bickering on one another about who got in first. Yixing raised his hands and stared at it. “How could I feel Kris and not you guys?”

“Oh, that’s funny,” Baekhyun shuts the door behind him. “I seem to remember saying ‘no running, no screaming!’”

“Baekhyun?” Yixing turns around. Baekhyun replaces the flower vase on the window sill with a new one. “Baekhyun can you feel me?” Yixing asks desperately.

“Calm down, you kids,” Baekhyun warns as he walks past Yixing and puts the old vase inside a plastic bag. “I’m serious.”

Yixing frowns. “I guess not..”

“It’s nice to know that you still visit me, and you even bring your nephews along..” Yixing whispers to Baekhyun with a smile, even though he knows that Baekhyun can’t hear him.

“Excuse me?” Someone opens the door. “Mr. Byun, hi.”

“Hi,” Baekhyun greets and shakes hand with the doctor who had just entered.

“Dr. Oh,” He introduces himself. “Can I have a quick word?”

Baekhyun nods. “Of course,”

“What do you want?” Yixing glares at him as he follows the two to the corner of the room.

“First of all, I hope you know how we all love and miss Yixing,” Sehun says and Yixing rolls his eyes as he crosses his arms. “And because he was a senior resident here, we’ve taken some  fairly extraordinary measures to make him more comfortable these last three months.”

Baekhyun listens carefully and nods with a small smile.

“Well, this is hard to say. Uhm..” Sehun purses his lips, as if in deep thought as he crosses his arms in front of his chest. “When we come to work here, we are asked to sign release forms,” Sehun explains.

“Okay,” Baekhyun nods.

“I don’t like the sound of this,” Yixing mutters as he shakes his head.

“Did you know about Yixing’s opinion about artificially prolonging life?” Sehuns asks.

Baekhyun stares at him, and shakes his head a few seconds after. “..no.”

“He was against it,” Sehun answers.

Baekhyun was taken aback. “..really?”

“Okay, that was before,” Yixing explains anxiously, “I am completely for it now. I mean, come on, Baekhyun! You have got to feel me, I’m your best friend! I’m your hyung!”

“But there’s still some brain activity, isn’t there?” Baekhyun asks, “I mean, people have woken up from this kind of coma before..”

“All the time,” Yixing answers.

Sehun leans on the wall behind him and shakes his head. “Not on any record I’ve found.”

“Of course they have!” Yixing shouts hysterically. “Otherwise, what am I still doing here?!”

Baekhyun’s eyes widen when he sees his nephews running around. “WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!” He shouts and stomps his way to grab both the kids’ hands and walk out the room. Sehun and Yixing trailed behind them.

“Mr. Byun,” Sehun says as he shuts the door. “Yixing did sign a release. But because of the special situation, we won’t take any terminal action without your explicit approval.”

Baekhyun walks with his arms crossed, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips pressed into a straight line. “Now, I’ve prepared this paperwork—“

“Baekhyun-ah, don’t sign that!” Yixing exclaims. “I’m here!”

“—which, if you decide to sign—“ Baekhyun snatches the folder from Sehun’s hand as he shakes his head. “I’ll think about it.”

“Baekhyun-ah!” Yixing calls out desperately from behind. “I’ll baby-sit your nephews! And that jacket you’ve always loved? It's yours!”

“We sometimes find that it’s easier to not prolong the inevitable—“ Sehun starts but is cut off with Baekhyun’s gasp.

“I said I’d think about it!” Baekhyun shouts,  his eyes starting to tear up. He glares at Sehun before turning around to leave.

----------

Kris walks inside his apartment lifelessly. He turns the lights on and looks around—as if something was missing. He throws his keys on the table and heads to the dining room to get himself dinner when someone rings the doorbell. His eyebrows slightly furrow as he drops the bag of chips (A/N: LOL LAAAYS) he’s holding and walk towards the door.

He was left speechless when he opens the door and finds an unfamiliar girl standing infront of him. Who is she again? He thinks. “I’m locked out,” The girls smiles seductively, and Kris suddenly remembers her. Ah, the girl Yixing loathes—because of the work-out clothes.

The girl asks to borrow Kris’ phone so she could call the locksmith, and Kris lets her do whatever she wants.

The girl sits near the window with a bottle of Soju in her hand where she talks about how devastating being single is and some random things Kris isn’t interested to hear, to be honest, and Kris grows more and more uncomfortable everytime she takes off a piece of her clothing—she started with her shoes, and now all that’s left of her is her jeans and her sleeveless top, which was covered by her jacket by the way.

When she lets her hair down and lies seductively on the couch, Kris finally clears his throat. “I’m sorry,” He blurts out. “The locksmith, does he uh.. know how to ring my unit?”

The woman suddenly sits up and runs her fingers through her hair. “Uh, I think so,” She answers and stands up. “Where’s your bathroom?”

Kris stands up. “Right down the hall,” He answers and escorts her before turning around and rubbing his temples.

He hears someone sigh behind him and he jumps from surprise as he turns around. “Yixing!” He exclaims happily.

“Yeah,” Yixing answers, somewhat confused with the way Kris’ greeted him.

“No, I just-I didn’t think you’d come back,” Kris smiles slightly. “I thought you were going to stay at the hospital with your body.”

Yixing shakes his head and groans. “Kris it’s horrible. They’re trying to get my bestfriend to sign papers authorizing permission to take me off of life support.”

“No, what?” Kris asks with wide eyes. “They can’t do that!”

“I know, I said that,” Yixing sighs. “Nobody could hear me.” Yixing looked down and fiddled with his finger. “A-and I just wanted to talk to you—“

“Kris~” A woman sings from the end of the hallway, surprising Kris and Yixing.

“Uhm, just a minute!” Kris shouts.

“Well,” Yixing says, surprised, and slightly hurt, “that didn’t take very long.”

Kris’ eyes widen even more. “No!” He explains. “No, sh-she barged in! She got locked out of her apartment.”

Yixing nods with furrowed eyebrows. “You don’t have to explain, I get it.”

“No, you don’t.” Kris defends. “She’s just using the bathroom.”

“Her voice sounded like it came from the bedroom,” Yixing retorts.

“..it did?” Kris gapes.

Suddenly, pieces of clothing start flying from inside the room to the hallway floor. “Come here, I wanna show you something,” The woman calls out.

Yixing stares in disbelief, and Kris begins to whisper-shout. “I had no idea! That’s—“

“You had no idea she was on you bed?” Yixing retorts.

Kris shakes his head. “No.”

Yixing nods and stares at Kris intently. “You’re wondering what she looks like!” Yixing exclaims.

“No I’m not.”

“A little?”

“Not enough to go and look.”

“Tell you what, I’ll do a little peeking for you,” Yixing turns and walks towards the bedroom.

“Please don’t!” Kris goes back to whisper-shouting.

“Don’t worry,” Yixing assures as he fastens his pace. “I’m a doctor.”

“Yixing. Zhang Yixing. No no no no no no no no.”

“Relax!” Yixing brings up his hand and pokes his head through the door. “Oh, she has a tattoo on her ,” He pokes his head through again. “It says ‘all aboard,’” He says.

“Really?” Kris asks, clearly not amused.

“Yes,” Yixing answers and walks away. “In three languages. She’s very cultural.”

“You know, you sound jealous.” Kris smirks.

“Oh please,” Yixing rolls his eyes.

“You do,”

“Are you talking to someone?” The woman comes out from Kris’ bedroom with a towel wrapped around her body. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Kris answers.

“Look, I’m sorry if I’m coming on a little bit too strong, that’s just my style,” She explains as Kris stares at her and Yixing glares at her as he leans on the wall with crossed arms. “I hear you sometimes,” The woman starts saying. “Up here..” She slowly starts walking towards Kris, “.. by yourself.”

Yixing groans and turns to Kris. “Kris, just do it,”

“What?” Kris asks Yixing, not minding if the woman can see him talking to nothing.

“Go ahead, be with her. It’s what you both want.”

“No, it isn’t,” Kris answers.

“Are you alright?” The woman asks, and Kris completely ignores her.

“Kris, it’s okay.” Yixing says calmly. “She’s  beautiful, and she’ right here in front of you.” Yixing drops both his hands to his side and looks down. “And I’m in the way.” He then walks past Kris.

“No, you’re not,” Kris says. “Yixing. Yixing!”

Kris turns to see the woman still standing there behind him. 

...

Yixing stares at the nightlights of Seoul. He had always like the view—especially when he’s on the rooftop, like he Is right now.

He sees a figure moving so he immediately looks to his left and sees Kris approaching with his hands tucked in his pockets.

“That was quick,” Yixing remarks as he stares at the tall person.

“Come on,” Kris mutters. “Nothing happened.”

“What did you say to her?” Yixing asks.

Kris stares at him for a good five seconds before looking around. “Uhh-that I was sort of seeing someone,” Kris sits on the edge, opposite to where Yixing is.

Yixing lets us a small chuckle. “Honestly?”

Kris sighs. “Well, I didn’t mention that I was the only person who could.” And this time, Yixing chuckles louder than before.  Kris looks far away, “You know I-I haven’t uh.. haven’t really been with anyone since.. since Tao,” Kris runs his fingers through the edges of the cold cement anxiously. “He was cursing at his shoe,” Kris explains as he stares into blank space. “His heel had broken.. And then he just kind of sat down and put his hand to his head.”

“Cerebral hemorrhage?” Yixing asks.

Kris bites his lips and nods as tears begin to form in his eyes. “And..” Kris sighs as he shakes his head. “I couldn’t do anything to help him. He was like, gone. I couldn’t even say goodbye, and he was just..” Kris swallows. “He was just gone.”

Yixing looks at Kris with concern. “What was he like?”

“Uhm, well he was a huge pain in the ,” Kris says as he wipes a tear off his eye, and Yixing lets out a stifled laugh. “No, really. I mean.. His boxers were everywhere—sometimes even on doorknobs, he leaves the car with the gas needle below empty, and he has this total stubborn inability to master a remote.” Yixing smiles slightly as he listens. “I’m so.. I’m mad just thinking—“ Kris looks down with a forced smile, his eyes red and all watery “—thinking about him.”

“I’m sorry, Kris..” Yixing whispers.

“Your bestfriend wouldn’t sign those papers, would he?” Kris asks as he looks up.

“I don’t know,” Yixing answers. “I hope not. It won’t even matter if I don’t wake up soon. My brain activity’s decreasing everyday..”

Kris sniffs. “Well maybe that’s not such a bad thing, you’re kind of a smarty-pants.” Yixing smiles and Kris laughs lightly. “No, seriously. It will bring you down to my level.”

“You’re not dumb, Kris.” Yixing says. “just a little lazy. Cute—but lazy.”

Kris smiles. “Thank you, it wasn’t always always like this, you know.”

“What were you like?”

Kris takes a deep breath before looking around. “Come on,” He says and gets off from where he was sitting. “I wanna show you something.”

---

A/N: Okay guys, one last bargain. Three-shot. D; I'm really sorry!! It's too long. orz ;____;