Chapter 24: Falling for the Inevitable

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Clumsy notes floated through the humid summer air.

Baekhyun adjusted the guitar lying on his lap before struggling to place his fingers in the A Major shape and strumming a couple of times. After a measure, he shifted to E Major and continued playing around with the chords for a few minutes.

He sighed and slowed down the strumming, closing his eyes and softly humming a sweet melody. He was never good at the guitar, but he loved singing.

He remembered those Sunday afternoon after history class where he and Chanyeol would sneak out of the Palace and into the forest half a mile away. They would hike into a clearing—a clearing that they claimed for themselves, a special sanctuary only to them—and stay there until the sun set and the stars began blinking their way into the sky. Chanyeol would always bring his guitar, and they would sit against their favorite trees just belting out haphazard melodies.

The sky swallowed their voices and laughter, but Baekhyun still remembered the warmth of the sun shining against his body and the brilliance of Chanyeol’s smile. Somehow, their voices harmonized perfectly, baritone and tenor.

The song seemed to be sweeping Baekhyun away as he reached a forte near the bridge, drenching the words with emotions he couldn’t identify himself. The melody slowly died away as the song ended, and Baekhyun’s last arpeggio rang softly, echoing melancholically into the air.

Applause sounded from somewhere behind him, and he started, spinning around and nearly dropping the guitar.

“Whoa, careful there,” a familiar, deep voice said, hands reaching out to steady the guitar.

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asked, somewhat surprised once his guitar was safe in his hands again. “What are you doing here?”

Chanyeol grinned. “What, is it illegal to visit my best friend now?”

“But it’s seven in the morning. On a Saturday. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Baekhyun protested, swinging open the door that led to his house.

Baekhyun liked singing in his back garden. There was a marble gazebo there; Chanyeol had built it for him for his fourteenth birthday. Chanyeol had a habit of jumping the flimsy iron-wrought gate and scaring the life out of Baekhyun whenever he visited.

Baekhyun watched warily as Chanyeol shuffled around his kitchen, pulling out varieties of cereal that Baekhyun didn’t even know he had.

“Yeah, but Jieun has jet lag so she woke up at like, five. And you know Jieun. She’s loud,” Chanyeol explained, waving a spoon around.

He dug into a box of lucky charms and stuffed them in his mouth, dry, laughing hysterically when he saw Baekhyun’s expression. Baekhyun sighed in exasperation before tugging the box out of Chanyeol’s hands and making him a proper breakfast.

Amidst scrambling eggs, Chanyeol’s arms somehow made their way around Baekhyun’s waist.

“Chanyeol. Do you want this spatula in your face?” Baekhyun raised the metal spatula he was using threateningly.

“But Baekhyun…”

Baekhyun could literally hear the pout in Chanyeol’s voice, and he rolled his eyes, wriggling in an attempt to get Chanyeol off. His arms merely tightened around him, and he rested his chin on Baekhyun’s head.

“You know you’re really short right,” he said conversationally, nuzzling his nose in Baekhyun’s head.

“No, you’re just freakishly tall,” Baekhyun deadpanned, stabbing at the eggs.

Chanyeol giggled as Baekhyun dragged him towards the table, two plates in hand.

“You are like an oversized rag doll!” Baekhyun groaned.

He shoved a plate towards Chanyeol and quickly put away the cereal before Chanyeol lunged for it again. After he watched Chanyeol devour his plate in less than a minute, he spooned over half of his eggs.

“You eat like nobody feeds you. Which is funny ‘cause you’re the Crown Prince. Do you see something wrong with that picture?”

“No,” Chanyeol replied with his mouth full, spraying egg everywhere over the table.

“…You’re cleaning that up. And washing the dishes.”

“But I’m the Crown Prince! How could you make the Crown Prince do housework?!” Chanyeol shrieked in mock horror.

“And I’m feeding you, so stop complaining. Why are you here anyways?”

Chanyeol shrugged, poking at the remaining eggs. “Missed you.”

“…I literally just saw you two days ago.”

“That’s forty-eight hours!”

“Less than that. You made me play video games with you until three in the morning, so technically I saw you a little more than a day ago.”

“…Do we really have to go into the technicalities?”

“Well, you’re the one being ridiculous.”

“But I really did miss you! Dr. Baekhyun, I think I’m really sick. I can’t live a day without you.”

Baekhyun growled and threw his fork at Chanyeol, nearly skewering him in the eye.

“Hey, that was like a freaking love confession! And you just threw a fork at me? How rude.”

Baekhyun laughed at Chanyeol’s pout, ignoring his words and bringing the dishes to the sink.

“Just stop talking and start washing dishes.”

 

---

 

There was a soft knock on Luhan’s door, startling Luhan while he was brushing his hair.

“Sehun-shi?” He placed his comb down gently on the bureau and walked over to a tired looking Sehun. “You shouldn’t be in the servants’ quarters.”

“I’m bored,” Sehun whined quietly, tugging on Luhan’s arms. “Jieun woke me up much too early today, and then she ditched me to go play badminton with this duke’s son or something, and now I have nothing to do!”

Luhan glanced at the clock, noting that it was only seven-thirty. Seven-thirty wasn’t early for him, but for Sehun, it must bean hour undreamt of.

“Ah, you usually wake up at ten, huh?”

“Twelve,” Sehun admitted. “But that’s not the point. Anyways, I’m bored, and—oh, where you going somewhere?”

For the first time since he’s knocked on the door, Sehun noticed Luhan’s outfit. He wasn’t wearing his usual Palace uniform, but a white, collared shirt and dark jeans.

Luhan flushed self-consciously, smoothing down his shirt and looking away from Sehun.

“I was going to visit Centurion Kyungsoo,” he said in a small voice.

“Oh!” Sehun’s eyes lit up. “I’ll go with you. I’m bored anyways.”

He grinned wide, latching onto Luhan’s arm. Luhan narrowed his eyes and tried half-heartedly to extricate himself from Sehun’s hold, knowing that the attempt would be futile. Sehun frowned in return and gripped tighter.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Luhan,” he scolded lightly.

Luhan sighed. “That is not proper behavior for a prince, Sehun,” he said wearily. He knew Sehun wouldn’t listen to him, and he had long stopped actually meaning his words; he says it merely out of formality now.

“It’s okay. It’s okay when I’m with you.”

Luhan doesn’t question Sehun’s words, nor does he dwell on the lingering warmth somewhere in his stomach. Instead, he reaches out to hesitantly ruffle Sehun’s hair, smiling when Sehun scowls and swats his hand away playfully.

Ah. I guess that isn’t proper behavior for a servant either, Luhan thought as they make their way down the hall.

He guessed he stopped caring long ago. With Sehun, social distinctions seemed void, and it was comfortable. Maybe a little too comfortable.

 

---

 

“I don’t get it. You said he’d wake up in a few weeks or so. It’s been a month and a half.”

Jongin paced impatiently around the room, stopping once in a while to glance warily at Kyungsoo. Joonmyun calmly switched the IV bags and checked Kyungsoo’s vitals, ignoring the agitated Jongin until he was done with his job. He tapped his pencil against his clipboard before placing it down on the counter behind him, leaning against it and bracing himself with his elbows.

“I said he should. Every patient is a unique case; there’s no set formula for recovery. Some may wake up a little earlier, and some later. It really depends.”

“Bu—”

“Be patient, Jongin,” Joonmyun said gently, albeit firmly. “He’s recovering well; there aren’t any permanent injuries. Now, it’s only a matter of time and faith.”

Jongin raised an eyebrow. “Faith. I thought doctors believed in science, not God.”

Joonmyun smiled wryly. “Faith in science, faith in God—once it all boils down, it’s just faith. Plain old faith in the patient.”

He gave Jongin a minute of silence, watching him as he moved over to Kyungsoo’s bedside, taking a hand in his.

“Anyways, his heartbeat is normal, although a bit slow,” Joonmyun began briskly, shifting easily into his doctor persona. “But that’s normal for a patient in coma,” he quickly added after seeing Jongin’s look of panic. “His blood sugar’s a bit low, but we’ve set him on some dextrose, so that’ll be fine. As for when he’ll wake up,” his eyes swept over Kyungsoo’s sleeping body, “that’s actually a very good question.”

“But he’s going to wake up,” Jongin said, eyes flickering to Joonmyun for confirmation.

Joonmyun lowered his gaze. “I hope so.”

“He will.”

Joonmyun smiled. “You know Jongin, Kyungsoo is lucky to have you as a friend. Really lucky.”

When Jongin turned around to ask what he meant, Joonmyun was already out the door, white coat tail floating away.

He returned to Kyungsoo’s bedside, grasping his hand once again and instinctively pressing his lips against Kyungsoo’s knuckles. Perhaps once upon a time, he wondered what his actions meant, but now, he couldn’t bring himself to care. He could only close his eyes and pray fervently that Kyungsoo would wake up.

I could exchange so much for you to just wake up, he thought, clenching his eyes shut. So much for you to speak, for you to hear me.

I have so much to say to you. Are you just going to leave me like that?

Aren’t you going to wake up? Did you forget our promise?

“Jongin-shi?”

Jongin lifted his head, aware of the moisture in his eyes and rubbing them away carelessly.

“Luhan?” He croaked, smiling slightly when he saw the pretty male standing hesitantly in the doorway.

“Hello, Jongin-shi,” Luhan said politely, stepping in the door and bowing. “Sehun is here too. He went to buy some fruits.

Jongin raised an eyebrow, watching as Luhan walked towards a vase on a bureau, emptying the wilting flowers and replacing them with a bouquet of daffodils he had brought with him.

“Sehun…is buying fruits? Sehun? That brat of a brother?”

Luhan glanced at Jongin, blushing slightly at his amused gaze, and nodded.

“He asked why people bring flowers and fruits to the hospital, and I told him they were gifts for the patients and that he should bring something too. Then he ran off to a fruit stand to buy s—”

“I AM BACK--”

Sehun pushed open the door and strolled in with vigor, placing the overflowing basket next to the vase of flowers.

“WITH GRAPES. AND APPLES. AND THIS THING I DON’T KNOW THE NAME OF.”

“Um.” Luhan moved to speak up, only to be interrupted by Sehun.

“AND I THINK THIS IS CALLED A MANGOSTENE BUT IM NOT SURE. AN—“

“Sir, please keep your voice down.” A nurse poked her head in through the door, giving Sehun a disapproving look before making a shhh gesture.

Sehun bowed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

“And this is a dragon fruit? It’s pretty,” he finished, grinning a little and shuffling towards Luhan until their shoulders were touching.

Jongin raised both eyebrows at the gesture, and Luhan scowled. Sehun remained oblivious, fingers sneaking down Luhan’s arm to grip at his wrist.

“Uh,” Jongin began, eyes shifting between the two people and the flowers and fruits. “Thanks… I guess?” The he glanced at the unconscious Kyungsoo and then back at the fruits.

Luhan poked Sehun in the side and whispered, “I think you’re supposed to buy fruits for people who are awake. Kyungsoo can’t eat them right now.”

Sehun’s mouth dropped open.

“Wait what.”

Jongin felt the unfamiliar feeling of bubbling laughter as he tried to bite back his chuckles.

“It’s okay Sehun,” he said, barely keeping a straight face. “You tried.”

“Would you like a gold star?” Luhan asked innocently, batting his eyelashes at Sehun and smiling.

Sehun narrowed his eyes at the two of them, opening his mouth to retaliate and possibly call Jongin a few bad names, when his eyes widened and all disdain disappeared from his face.

Jongin and Luhan both looked at him, nonplussed, and Sehun raised a shaky finger to point at something behind Jongin.

“K-kyung—”

Jongin’s eyes grew wide as well, and he spun around, freezing when his eyes met Kyungsoo’s blinking ones. Kyungsoo was looking at him blearily, expression a little confused and worried, and a hand raised weakly towards Jongin.

Jongin caught it, clutching it towards his chest as he leaned forward for a better look of Kyungsoo, wanting to confirm that he was truly, truly awake. Kyungsoo gave him a small smile, still a little puzzled, and Jongin felt relief crash into him with the momentum of a speeding train. All of a sudden, he felt much too tired, and his shoulders sagged, and he couldn’t stop the tears springing to his eyes, but he couldn’t let go of Kyungsoo’s hand, couldn’t stop thanking God over and over again in his mind, couldn’t stop looking at Kyungsoo and marveling at how beautiful he was.

Jongin his lips, mouth feeling all to dry, and struggled to find something to say, but his mind was blank. All he could think of was he’s awake, he’s awake, Do Kyungsoo is awake, am I dreaming?  

“I-I’ll call the doctor,” Luhan spoke up suddenly, looking as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing either.

As he watched Luhan hurry out the door, Jongin was glad that there was at least one rational person among them.

Sehun slowly walked towards Kyungsoo, hand reaching out hesitantly, almost as if he was scared to touch him, afraid that he would break.

“Kyungsoo-hyung. Are you really awake?”

Kyungsoo furrowed his brows with much effort.

“W-what happened?” He whispered in a tired voice, like the very act of speaking took a lot of energy.

“Shh,” Jongin urged, shushing him with his finger. “Don’t talk, okay. Just. Just stay with me okay, don’t scare me like that again, just—“

Jongin’s words were abruptly cut off with a broken gasp, and he lowered his head. His shoulders began shaking and he gripped Kyungsoo’s hand even tighter, brushing his lips over them again and again.

Kyungsoo was surprised by the gesture, but he felt oddly comforted by Jongin’s gentleness, and he wearily lifted his other hand to sift through Jongin’s hair.

“Don’t cry,” he said softly. “Don’t cry, Jongin. I’m okay. I’m okay.”

Jongin let out another shuddering gasp, finally looking up again with red eyes and murmured, “Thank God. Thank God you’re okay.”

They waited patiently for the doctors and nurses to arrive. It was only mere minutes after when Joonmyun rushed in with his entourage of nurses and interns. Luhan was with them, and he immediately moved to Sehun’s side. The two of them had to forcefully tug Jongin away from the bed so Joonmyun could check Kyungsoo’s vitals.

It was a tense ten minutes, with Jongin holding his breath the entire time. He kept his eyes in Kyungsoo’s direction, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth until it started bleeding.

“Jongin-shi,” Luhan whispered. “It’s going to be alright. Relax.”

“Yeah, hyung,” Sehun agreed, tugging on Jongin’s arm. “You’re going to pop a blood vessel at this rate.

Jongin gave them an anxious, quick nod before craning his neck to see what the doctors were doing again. He heard Luhan and Sehun sigh, and knew they were exchanging looks behind him, but he ignored them, his attention solely focused on Kyungsoo.

“How is he?” Jongin asked urgently once Joonmyun turned to face him.

Joonmyun shook his head and smiled. “Congratulations, Jongin. Your faith must be really strong. He’s doing fine.”

Jongin felt his knees buckle beneath him, and he grabbed onto Sehun for support.

“Thank you so much,” he choked out, bowing to Joonmyun again and again. “Thank you so, so much.”

Joonmyun stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder and looking him in the eye, smiling kindly.

“It’s fine, Jongin. You don’t have to thank me so much.”

“I—”

“It’s our job. To save the people we can—both the patient and those who care for them.”

He angled his head towards Kyungsoo and gave Jongin a sort of sad, wistful smile.

“Don’t let go of him,” was the last thing he said before he disappeared out the door.

Jongin watched him go, wondering absently to himself if Joonmyun had personally experienced loss, if that had anything to do with his choice of a career, when Kyungsoo called out his name.

“Jongin?”

His head snapped towards Kyungsoo immediately, and he half-ran towards him.

“Y-yes? Are you okay? Do I need to call the doctors again? Should I—”

“Shhh.”

This time, it was Kyungsoo placing his fingers against Jongin’s lips, effectively silencing him. Jongin slowly took a seat, noticing that Sehun and Luhan were leaving the room to give them some privacy.

“What happened?” Kyungsoo asked.

Jongin swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump in his throat, and said, “You were caught in an artillery barrage.”

“Oh! Oh, I think I remember now.” Kyungsoo’s face contorted with distaste.

“What’s wrong?” Jongin asked worriedly, hands flailing uselessly above Kyungsoo’s covers.

“It hurt,” he replied. “I remember it really hurt.”

Jongin’s heart broke as Kyungsoo’s expression twisted from memory of the pain, and he wished he could do something, anything, to alleviate even just an ounce of discomfort.

“But,” Kyungsoo smiled brightly once he caught Jongin’s eyes, “I think I’m alright now! That’s good right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s really great,” Jongin whispered.

 

---

 

“He’s awake?! Do Kyungsoo’s awake?”

Baekhyun stood up abruptly, chair screeching against the wooden floor as he circled around his desk towards Luhan.

“You’re not lying to me, are you? Kyungsoo’s awake?” He asked again, eyes frantically searching Luhan’s face.

Luhan shook his head, smiling. “He’s awake, Praetor.”

Baekhyun swallowed, face flooded with relief, and he let out a small laugh.

“Thank the heavens, oh my God. I can go see him right?”

Luhan nodded. “The doctors already did a check up on him.”

Baekhyun muttered thank the heavens once more under his breath before rushing out of his office, sprinting to the garage.

Sehun was waiting with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall, when Luhan left Baekhyun’s house. They watched as Baekhyun’s black BMW tore down the streets.

“Well,” Luhan began, stealing a glance towards Sehun. “Now you know you didn’t buy thefruits for nothing.”

Sehun replied with a light punch at Luhan’s houlder.

 

---

 

“Do. ing. Kyungsoo. You are so dead.” Baekhyun enunciated each word with unhidden fury as he stomped into the hospital room, ing his own bouquet of flowers into a corner.

Kyungsoo laughed weakly from the bed, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

“Please don’t kill me.”

Baekhyun shoved Jongin away from the bed (“Hey!”) and took his seat. Kyungsoo shrank away from his glare, but retained his soft grin. Baekhyun made to reach for his neck and possibly strangle him, but enveloped him in a large hug instead.

“God, you had me so worried,” he said against Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “You had all of us worried. Jongin was going to die.”

Jongin cleared his throat, and Baekhyun pulled away, noticing Kyungsoo’s look of surprise.

“Um. Did I…say something I wasn’t supposed to?” Baekhyun asked slowly, looking from Jongin to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened, and he quickly lifted his hands to wave that idea away, a light blush tinging his cheeks. Jongin merely gave Baekhyun a pointed look.

Baekhyun laughed nervously as he turned back to Kyungsoo.

“Do you know when you’re going to be discharged? We need to go on another trip. Get away from all of this you know,” Baekhyun began enthusiastically.

Kyungsoo nodded eagerly. “We should! I don’t know when the hospital’s going to let me out though.” He pouted. “They said they still need to ‘observe’ me for a little longer.” He made some half-hearted finger quotes around his words.

“The doctors said a week at least,” Jongin spoke up. “I think he should stay longer though. Just to be safe.”

Kyungsoo glared at him.

“I think he wants me in the hospital forever,” he told Baekhyun.

Baekhyun laughed. “Don’t worry, he’s only looking out for you.”

They spoke a while more, the three of them making rough plans about their next vacation and joking around about the silliest things.

It feels nice to be talking to Kyungsoo again, Baekhyun thought as he watched Kyungsoo laugh happily at something Jongin said. Really nice.

When the nurses said Kyungsoo should have his rest, Baekhyun and Jongin both rose. Kyungsoo looked startled, glancing at Jongin questioningly. He gave Kyungsoo a promise that he’ll be back and that he was only going to be walking Baekhyun out, and Kyungsoo visibly relaxed.

Baekhyun watched the entire exchange with much interest, and bid Kyungsoo good-bye. He looked sorry to see his friend go.

“So…” Baekhyun began as he and Jongin made their way down the hospital corridors.

“Don’t you even start,” Jongin warned through clenched teeth, looking straight ahead.

“God, you’re so whipped, why don’t you just confess? I honestly thought you’d tell him once he woke up, but noooo. Did you chicken out or something?”

Jongin shot Baekhyun a look. “Dude, did you really think I’d have the time? He barely woke up. I don’t…want to scare him or anything.”

“Aha!” Baekhyun pointed at Jongin, expression triumphant. “But you admit it don’t you? That you like Kyungsoo? In a non-friend way?”

Jongin shoved Baekhyun and stuffed his hands in his pockets, refusing to look at him. The tips of his ears were red.

“What about you, huh?” He retorted. “What about you and Chanyeol?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Jongin snorted. “Please. Can’t you see the way hyung looks at you? It’s like he’s seeing Apollo up close or something.”

Baekhyun was silent, waving absently at a little girl who was running in his direction.

“You’re thinking too much into it,” Baekhyun finally said when they exited the hospital doors. “Besides, he’s getting married.”

Jongin searched Baekhyun’s face, looking as if he wanted to say something, but apparently thought better of it and leaned back. He waved at Baekhyun as his car pulled out of the driveway, and stayed there for a while, staring at the bright sun.

After a few moments, he lowered his eyes and went back into the hospital, stopping outside of Kyungsoo’s room only to lean against the frame and silently watch Kyungsoo. He seemed to be reading the book Jongin had left on his bedside table.

“Like it?” He asked when he walked into the room and sat down.

Kyungsoo looked up and smiled. “Yeah. It’s a really good book”

“Here, let me show you my favorite part…”

Jongin leaned forward and flipped a few pages until he reached the passage he was looking for. He watched as Kyungsoo’s eyes moved across the paper with a sort of focus he’d never have.

When Kyungsoo looked up from the book and smiled at him again, Jongin felt his heart skip a beat. He couldn’t help but think that the sun was nothing compared to Kyungsoo.

 

 

I’m in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, but I am in love with you.

 

 

 

_______

A/N: OMFG I FINALLY UPDATED. HALLELUJAH /throws confetti around. I felt bad for not updating for so long, so I wrote an extra long chapter. This is a solid 11.3 pages :DDD

After this KaiSoo stuff, I think there'll be another one...and a half arcs? It'll basically be them going on their trip and then returning, and then hopefully, everything will be resolved. But, knowing me, it'll probably be stretched out into twenty plus chapters ;___; I'm sorry.

And guys, I feel really bad for making you guys wait so long for an update, so I wanted to do something for you guys?

But, I don't know what ;___; Should I write some background stories on a few characters you guys want, drabbles on pairings that I had decided to forego in this story (since you guys picked those 3 pairings :D), edits, or what? Leave any ideas in the comment please!

And for the comments, I know I don't reply to every single one of them, but I do reply to some. Like, I don't want to reply with the same "Aww, thanks for reading!" and the same "Sorry, I'll try to update soon!" because I feel like it gets really impersonal :/ But I do reply to longer comments and questions though (as long as I won't spoil anything, lol). But every comment means something to me okay! I just love getting comments and knowing that you guys read this story ;___;

AND AND when I saw the number of voters in the poll the other day, I was so happy ;___; I really didn't think so many people actually continued reading this story, and just dsgfgaadsf I WAS SO TOUCHED I WAS GOING TO CRY OKAY. No joke ;_; Thank you guys so much.

Schools about to start soon, so I don't know when I'll see you guys again, but I'll try my best to get the filler chapters out there and start on the actual plot again.

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I LOVE YOU ALL. REALLY. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. YOU.