(Continued)

—Ryeowook’s POV—

All of us didn’t speak once we heard what Sungmin hyung said. Kyuhyun got into another accident. The only difference was that this time, it wasn’t an accident. It was part of Sooyoung’s revenge, and Kyuhyun was hurt because of me. I didn’t expect her to go to the extent of running any of my friends over like that. I thought she would be better than that.

I could feel my blood run cold in my veins as I stuttered my reply. “H-how?” Why was I even asking? I clearly knew how it happened. Sooyoung just had to threaten some people and blackmail them into doing her dirty work for her, just like before.

“I-I don’t know! One moment, we were crossing the road. Then, he suddenly pushed me away and all I saw was b-b-blood. I have to go,” Sungmin hyung choked out hastily, hanging up without even letting us say anything. He could have at least told us which hospital they were going to.

The other three were already hurriedly calling people and grabbing their stuff. Sungie saw that I was still in shock and pulled me up, handing my phone to me. I was brought back to my senses as Teukie umma raced out of the room, and we all rushed out with him.

It was a good thing that hyung had the keys to appa and umma’s car. I think we could probably find out which hospital Kyuhyun was going to.

Just as Teukie umma was about to track Sungmin hyung’s phone – bless him, he was so good with technology – Sungie received a message from Sungmin hyung. Sungie told hyung where to go and hyung made a sharp turn, making me bang into Sungie due to the sudden change in direction.

“Ryeowook, does this have anything to do with Sooyoung?” hyung demanded. I bit my lower lip nervously. Should I tell? I turned to look at Sungie who nodded at me encouragingly. I took a deep breath and nodded.

“She warned me earlier on. She said it was time to strike again. I didn’t think…” I felt my eyes water and I sniffled. When was this going to end? Will Sooyoung ever stop? She doesn’t seem to care about anyone but herself. I should have seen this part of her. I guess I was blinded back then.

Hyung sighed heavily. “Thanks for the truth, Wookie. It isn’t your fault, I know,” he assured me. A small weight was lifted off my chest. It was good to know that hyung no longer thought that I was at fault. Nevertheless, I knew that all this was happening partially because of me.

I began to cry and Sungie could only hug me as I did.

Teukie umma, in the front, was also crying silently. I could imagine just how he felt. As the self-proclaimed leader of our little group, he saw himself as the one responsible for our well-being. Seeing Eunhyuk hyung and Donghae hyung get hurt, getting hurt himself, seeing hyung get hurt… and now Sungmin hyung and Kyuhyun too, Teukie umma must be really stressed.

It took an agonisingly long forty-five minutes before we finally arrived at the hospital. Along the way, I think I might have seen the accident scene. I only saw a glimpse of it though, because my face was buried in Sungie’s chest and my vision blurred by my tears.

Hyung parked the car in record time and we all ran to the Accident and Emergency sector of the hospital. I bore with the throbbing pain in my ; that was nothing compared to how Sungmin hyung must be feeling. I wonder what Kyuhyun felt, too.

We spotted Sungmin hyung huddled in a corner instead of on the waiting chairs, knees to his chest and rocking silently. He didn’t look like he was hysterical or anything; the tears were just streaming down his cheeks. I felt even guiltier seeing Sungmin hyung like this. If he was crying and trashing around and blaming people, maybe I would feel better.

“Sungmin-ah,” Teukie umma called out, his voice breaking in the process. A dead weight settled on my chest, completely negating the effects of my relief earlier on. Even if hyung had forgiven me, this… I’ll never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to Kyuhyun.

Sungmin hyung turned to look at us slowly, his eyes bloodshot and tears still making their way down his face. He didn’t make any sign to move, so Teukie umma walked to him and wrapped his arms around Sungmin hyung. “Let it all out,” he said softly.

I let out a strangled sound and walked away quickly before I could cry in Sungmin hyung’s presence. I didn’t deserve to feel hurt; this was my fault. Kyuhyun had gotten into two accidents since meeting me, and both times were caused by me. The first time wasn’t intentional, and the second wasn’t directly caused by me either, but I couldn’t forgive myself anyway.

I managed to make it to the hospital garden before breaking down. I felt arms wrap around me and I was pulled to someone’s chest. I knew that it was Sungie, again, and I just let everything out. I had thought that I wouldn’t cry again, but evidently I was wrong. Seeing Sungmin hyung so broken like that… I couldn’t help feeling even guiltier.

Sungie led me over to a bench and sat me down, pushing my head onto his shoulder.

“It isn’t your fault, Wookie. It really isn’t.”

No matter how much I wanted to believe Sungie, I couldn’t.

It took at least twenty minutes for me to calm down. By then, Sungie had been informed that the others were in the waiting area with Sungmin hyung. I felt terrible for not being there for Sungmin hyung, but I didn’t think he would appreciate another person crying.

I told Sungie that I was going to make myself look more presentable and limped my way to the toilet. He followed me anyway, joking that I would probably fall on my face because of how I was limping. I could only let out a humourless chuckle at his attempt to cheer me up.

After spending around five minutes washing my face and trying to get rid of the tearstains, I gave up. We headed to the waiting area and saw that Sungmin hyung was curled up on the chairs, still rocking himself although he didn’t seem to be crying anymore.

I walked over hesitantly and immediately dropped down onto my knees. “Hyung, I’m so sorry,” I apologised, head hung low. I heard a small gasp of surprise from one of the others, and then somebody trying to pull me up. But it wasn’t Sungmin hyung.

“Ryeowook hyung, get up,” Henry told me. I shook my head adamantly.

“I’m not getting up unless I hear that Kyuhyun is fine,” I said firmly, still facing the floor. I don’t think I could bear to see Sungmin hyung in his current state. It would just make me break down again and I don’t think I should do that.

“Let him be. This is his way of easing his guilt,” I heard Sungie say. I could hear from his voice that he was worried, more about me than Kyuhyun or Sungmin hyung. I was glad that he didn’t force me to get up too. I needed a way to make myself feel better.

I stayed in that position for the rest of the time that the operation was going on. It took pretty long, but I was determined to punish myself for bringing so much pain to my friends. As it is, I didn’t know why they didn’t ask me anything. Weren’t they curious about why I blamed myself?

The operation finally ended and the doctor came out of the operating room. Everyone but me rushed to him to ask about Kyuhyun’s condition. I merely waited, still on my knees.

“Kyuhyun-sshi is alright now. There was a lot of bleeding, especially on his head, but he’ll come to in a couple of days. He was pretty lucky, because he might have died of blood loss if he had been sent here a few minutes later,” the doctor told us. Relief washed over me and I tried to hide it. I still needed to tell Sungmin hyung the truth.

They thanked the doctor and he left with a small smile. Sungmin hyung finally noticed me kneeling, apparently, as he let out a shocked ‘oh’ upon seeing me. He quickly made his way over to me and pulled me up, but I forced myself to continue kneeling.

“Ryeowook-ah, what’s wrong?” he asked worriedly, already seeming to forget that Kyuhyun was just involved in an accident. I guess he just needed to know that his boyfriend was out of danger. That was all he wanted for now.

“I’m sorry for getting Kyuhyun in this mess,” I told him, my voice breaking as I did.

“Why?” Sungmin hyung asked, sounding confused.

I looked up at him and his swollen eyes and I bit my lower lip hard. “It was Sooyoung. She did this. She ordered someone to run Kyuhyun down,” I admitted. Gasps were heard and Heechul hyung immediately stepped up.

“That ! She’ll get it from me!” he swore. I shook my head morosely.

“She has a mafia to back her up. Hyung, you can’t,” I said truthfully.

Sungmin hyung bent down so that he was at my level. “Ryeowook, what Sooyoung does isn’t your business. Yes, she wants to get back at you. But you didn’t want this,” Sungmin hyung told me. I shook my head.

“You don’t understand! She’s behind everything that’s happened to everyone!” I shouted. Sungmin hyung seemed to have been taken aback by my outburst. In fact, I was shocked too. Where did all that anger even come from?

“If I hadn’t ever been together with her…” I trailed off sadly.

Sungmin hyung sighed. “You loved her, didn’t you?” I nodded. “Then we can’t blame you.”

This time, Sungmin hyung did manage to pull me up and force me to sit on the couch. He proceeded on to ask the others exactly how long I had been kneeling. Zhoumi hyung, being the honest person he was, said that it was at least three hours. Sungmin hyung stared at me with wide eyes.

“Three hours?!” he asked incredulously. A nurse shot him an annoyed look and he apologised before turning back to me. “Seriously?”

I shrugged. “It was nothing.”

Sungmin hyung spent the next few minutes scolding me and telling me to stop blaming myself for everything. I just listened silently and nodded whenever I was expected to. The rest of them decided to just head to the canteen first, and I could hear Heechul hyung talking about how we visited the hospital way too often.

Sungie stopped Sungmin hyung mid-rant, announcing that it was already getting pretty late. Sungmin hyung realised that it was way past dinnertime and rushed us all to the canteen. He said that he wasn’t expecting Kyuhyun to wake up today, so he wasn’t going to hope for something that wouldn’t happen. After all, staying vigil by Kyuhyun’s bedside wouldn’t make him wake up faster. He had learnt that after the first accident.

We found the others in the canteen and joined them after getting some food. Nobody seemed to want to talk, so we finished our dinner in silence. Some of them left after that, and Sungmin hyung went to contact Kyuhyun’s parents.

As for Sungie and I, we headed back home with hyung and Teukie umma. After dropping Teukie umma off at his place, hyung drove us back to the apartment. It seemed that he suddenly recalled why he was angry in the morning.

“You better not let me see my brother limping next time, after you guys have , got it?” hyung warned. I rolled my eyes at him and pulled Sungie into the house, not even bothering to reply hyung. I locked the door before hyung could even do anything and sighed in relief.

I do not need people poking their nose into my life.

Ok, don't even ask about the ending of this chapter. I didn't know how to end it ><

How was this? I'm surprised that I actually managed to type this within a day ._. Usually, my inspiration doesn't last that long XD

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and Kyu isn't gonna die. I'll never do that to him!

Look forward to the next chapter, not sure if I can type much next week but I'll try! Annyeong! ^-^