A/N: Sorry for the long wait.


Chapter 27
Eunhyuk pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned his head back to rest it on the back of the sofa. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Meanwhile, Hangeng leaned back on his seat as well and watched the younger male take a break.

They were at the hospital, in charge of looking after Kyuhyun for the afternoon. To pass time by, Hangeng suggested that he help Eunhyuk with his Chinese as Super Junior M was returning to China once again to continue their promotions.

“I don’t understand why we’re going back to China and promote without Kyuhyun,” Eunhyuk muttered, eyes still closed. They had been told just a couple of days earlier that they were going to continue promoting. The one and a half month break that they got due to Kyuhyun’s accident was now over.

“It’s your job,” Hangeng reminded him gently. “Besides, there’s no telling when Kyuhyun will wake up. We can’t just stop our lives because we don’t know if he will—.”

“Hyung,” Eunhyuk immediately interrupted, opening his eyes to look at him and shake his head. “Don’t.” He paused to swallow the lump in his throat. “We can’t think like that. He will wake up, just like before. And everything will be okay again.”

Hangeng stood up and sat down on the space beside Eunhyuk. He reached out and touched his forearm, lightly squeezing it. “I’m sorry. I forget. You’ve gone through this before,” he murmured.

“No, hyung,” Eunhyuk corrected. “We’ve all gone through this before. That’s why we should be strong because we know better. We can’t fall apart. Riri needs us.”

Hangeng put an arm around the younger male and half-hugged him. Every time something happened to any one of the members, it was always Eunhyuk who was affected the most. He cried every time a scandal, a scolding or an accident befell any of the members. He cared about each of them so much that the older members of the group always made sure that someone looked after him as well.

“Speaking of Riri,” Hangeng responded, changing the subject. “Where is she? I haven’t seen her the whole day.”

Eunhyuk shrugged, picking up his Chinese notebook. “I called her this morning, said she had something to take care of,” he shared.

“Maybe she just needs—,” Hangeng began to say.

The door slammed open. Zhoumi hurriedly walked in and shoved his phone onto their faces. He sat down on the chair that Hangeng vacated, panting. “We need to find her,” he urgently directed.

Mimi, please come get me. I’m scared.

Eunhyuk and Hangeng’s heads shot up, worry etched all over their faces.

“Where is she?” Eunhyuk demanded, standing up to get his coat, just as Hangeng stood up to pack his things.

Zhoumi hesitated. “I’m sorry,” he hastily declared.

“Mi, this is no time to be scared of revealing things, especially when Ri needs us,” Hangeng rebuked.

“She went to see Hyo Sun,” Zhoumi blurted out. “I couldn’t stop her,” he went on, looking away from the shocked expressions on the members. “I thought I’d dissuaded her from going but then she suddenly took off without telling me.”

“Where did they meet?” Hangeng impatiently questioned.

“I think she went to her house, but I don’t know where that is,” Zhoumi answered, biting his lip.

“Dammit, Mi,” Hangeng cursed, throwing the door open. “If something happens to her…” He murmured some more curses, all of which Zhoumi understood since they were in Chinese, and walked out of the room.

Eunhyuk put a hand on the taller male’s arm. “He doesn’t mean it,” he assured him.

“If something does happen to her, it’ll be my fault,” Zhoumi pointed out.

Eunhyuk merely shook his head and pulled his mobile phone out. He waited for a couple of seconds before he finally spoke. “Hey, Na Young, would you know where Hyo Sun lives?”

~ * ~

Jin Ri shivered once she took her coat off as she entered Hyo Sun’s house. She looked around as she hung her coat on the rack and stepped into the living room. It was a very well furnished place. The walls were papered with beiges and creams, while the furniture supplemented the colors with browns and woods, some of which looked expensive. There was even a chandelier hanging on the ceiling of the living room. For a bungalow house, it felt like more of a room of a person of a certain stature. But, even so, the place was dark. Not all the lights had been lit up and the place sort of stank of not having been cleaned in a while, dusty, dingy.

She rubbed her arms as she shuddered. There was a computer in the corner of the room. The screen was badly scratched and had a big red X mark right in the middle of it. Beside it lay a broken mouse.

“It’s very brave of you to come here, Jin Ri-ssi,” Hyo Sun said by way of greeting. The corner of was lifted up in a smirk and there was a glint in her eye that made Jin Ri take a step back. “And all alone, too.”

“I didn’t think you would talk to me if I came with someone else,” Jin Ri responded, putting on a fearless front, despite alarming bells going off in her head.

“Like I said, brave,” Hyo Sun repeated, her smirk widening. She glanced around for a second then turned her attention back to the guest. “Is there anything you would like to eat or drink?”

“No, thank you,” Jin Ri shook her head.

Hyo Sun gestured towards the sofas in the living room for Jin Ri to have a seat. She sat down across from her, her legs crossed primly and hands on her knees. She gave her a broad smile.

“I know why you’re here, Jin Ri—I can call you without honorifics, right? I mean, aren’t we practically friends already?” Hyo Sun chuckled, but not in a friendly way.

Jin Ri merely looked at her, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. Discreetly, she let out a breath, ignoring the warnings that Zhoumi had thrown her way when she told him of her plan. Maybe she should have listened to him.

“Na Young has said some things about you,” Jin Ri blurted out, not knowing what else to do or say.

“Of course she did,” Hyo Sun commented, rolling her eyes. “Na Young has always been meddlesome. Even in high school, she was always butting into my business. Look where it got her with Kyuhyun.”

“What do you mean?” Jin Ri pressed, confusion on her face.

“She didn’t tell you, didn’t she?” Hyo Sun realized, a happily wicked smile on her face when Jin Ri merely frowned further. “Let me tell you something about me, Jin Ri. I’ll tell you in a form of a story.”

All the things that Zhoumi and Siwon had relayed to her, things that Na Young had told them and had confirmed to her herself, spilled out from Hyo Sun’s mouth. She told her, quite enjoyably, how she had her eye on Kyuhyun for a while, how she finally managed to make him hers, and how she had effortlessly kept him to herself and kept every other girl away from him.

“Of course In Jung dying in that fire wasn’t entirely my fault,” Hyo Sun carelessly dispelled. “I had come to her house to do our project for a class together, even though it repulsed me that we were ever partnered for anything.” She gave half a shrug. “I was nice about it, even gracious. I told her that I knew how she felt about Kyuhyun, that I saw how she looked at him. I told her to stay away or else.”

She met Jin Ri’s wide eyes. “The choice was clear, right? I told her in a very apparent manner that there were going to be consequences.” With another shrug, Hyo Sun smirked. “Stupid fought with me. She was the one who knocked down the stupid candles she lit around the house. So she killed herself. Thank god for that. But my parents wanted to be sure nothing was traced back to me, so I left the country for a while.”

Fear shook Jin Ri. She clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking, to keep herself calm. She bit her bottom lip to keep herself from screaming or even just gasping. It suddenly was very real to her. Hyo Sun could really have been the one who had hurt Kyuhyun.

“Imagine my surprise,” Hyo Sun heartily continued, “to find Kyuhyun dating Na Young when I came home, when I thought I’d made it perfectly clear to everyone that he was mine. Apparently not.” She then smiled in somewhat of a sweet manner, making the hairs on the back of Jin Ri’s neck stand. “That’s when Na Young and I had a little chat of our own. I told her the same thing I told In Jung: stay away or else. Good girl didn’t fight me, didn’t even stop to think. She just broke up with Kyuhyun. I guess she knew about what happened to In Jung being the nosy that she was, but that made things so much easier for me.”

“But Kyuhyun didn’t take you back,” Jin Ri whispered, having felt the need to retort.

“Yeah well, he was busy trying to become a superstar all of a sudden,” Hyo Sun replied, making a face. “So I bid my time.” She paused, looking at Jin Ri straight in the eye, a tilt in her head. “Then you came along. Simple, but pretty little Chung Jin Ri, niece of one of the most powerful men in South Korea attracted Cho Kyuhyun, one of the best singers in the country.” Jin Ri almost cowered at her condescending tone.

“I…I’m not sorry for that,” Jin Ri spoke, lifting her chin somewhat defiantly.

“Of course you aren’t,” Hyo Sun sneered. “Kyuhyun is everything a girl could want. Why would you be sorry for being with him?” She sighed, shaking her head. “But you are a thorn in my side, Jin Ri. And I have to say, a very persistent one. Even when he slept with another woman, me, you still wouldn’t leave him.”

“So is that why you stabbed Kyuhyun?” Jin Ri stated boldly, not caring if she was outright accusing her without any evidence.

Hyo Sun chuckled. “Of course I didn’t stab Kyuhyun,” she denied. And Jin Ri was about to feel something like relief or disappointment when Hyo Sun continued to talk. “I merely gave out the order.”

Jin Ri let out a strangled cry, covering with both of her hands. Her eyes welled with tears and her heart was struck with pain and fear. She didn’t know anymore what her goal was in coming to talk to Hyo Sun, she couldn’t remember anymore. But now that she heard it straight from her, that she was the one who hurt Kyuhyun, on top of trying to destroy their marriage, she couldn’t think. She didn’t know what to think.

“It’s just a small message, my dear. Tiny,” Hyo Sun told her in a fake comforting voice. “If you leave him, he’ll be okay.”

“How is he going to be okay when he won’t even wake up?” Jin Ri sobbed loudly.

Hyo Sun’s brows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

Jin Ri stared at her. “You don’t even know,” she realized. Glancing around, she saw the television, also broken. It looked like it had been smashed into with a heavy object. “Kyuhyun’s in a coma,” she spat, suddenly feeling angry. “Are you happy with what you’ve done? You almost killed Kyuhyun. Is this what you want?”

Hyo Sun looked like she was shaking as she spoke as she blinked repeatedly. “I’d rather have him dead that have him be with someone else that’s not me,” she defiantly declared.

Jin Ri stood up and was in front of Hyo Sun so fast that the other girl hadn’t had the chance to react. Jin Ri reached out and slapped the other girl on the cheek so hard that her head practically turned.

“Your selfishness disgusts me,” Jin Ri let out in a deep and angry voice. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “If Kyuhyun never wakes up, if he never gets to see our baby born, I hope you never forget how you destroyed everything that made Kyuhyun happy. I hope you never forget how you destroyed the life of the man that you loved.”

“You’re…pregnant?” Hyo Sun asked, eyes wide with tears, as she looked up at her. Her eyes then trailed to her abdomen.

Suddenly, Hyo Sun stood up and left the living room, leaving Jin Ri stunned at her sudden departure. She sat back down on the sofa, suddenly tired. As she waited, the fear started to creep up on her again. She was in the house of a murderer. Hurriedly, she brought her phone out and sent out a SOS text message to Zhoumi, who was the only one who knew she was there.

Zhoumi never replied and this made her worry. She checked her watched and realized that Hyo Sun had been gone for 15 minutes.

Smoothing her jeans, she slowly stood up and stared at the hallway that Hyo Sun went through. She wondered if she should go and leave or if she should check on her. Standing up, she slowly inched towards the empty and dimly lit hallway. It felt like she was going to intrude on someone’s privacy if she went on with the plan of checking on her.

Slowly, with her fingers lightly grazing the wall, she walked down the hallway. Glancing up at the yellow light, she felt the hairs on her arms stand up. The things going on in her mind, the scenarios, scared her. Quickly glancing at the phone she was tightly gripping, she wondered if Zhoumi even got her message.

As her fingers touched the first door she came across on the left side of the hallway, the door that was open just a bit, creaked. The light in the room was turned off. It scared Jin Ri even more. All of a sudden she felt like she was in a suspense, thriller movie. Unhurriedly, she pushed the door open.

“Hyo Sun-ssi?” she meekly called out.

She pushed the door open wider and looked for the light switch, turning it on. As the room was bathed in light, she completely stopped moving.

The walls were covered with photos, news articles, and magazine clippings of each and every event or place (for work or personal) that Kyuhyun had gone to. Everything that he did was documented until the smallest detail as to what he wore and whom he was with. She noticed that she was in a lot of the photos.

It seemed Hyo Sun had been following everything that Kyuhyun did ever since he had stepped into the spotlight. To Jin Ri, it seemed that it was the only way Hyo Sun could know and follow what she had missed and what she continued to miss when she left. There were photos of the competition that he had joined, photos of his debut, photos of his performances, going out with the members, with her, with family. It scared her even more.

A blinking of some sort to her left caught her eye. Stepping a bit closer, a laptop placed on a desk flashed a news clip. It was about Kyuhyun being stabbed and being in a coma. Seeing the headline reminded her of why she went to meet with Hyo Sun in the first place. She glanced down at her phone and was disappointed when there was still no message from Zhoumi. So she decided to just leave, while she still could.

As she turned, she gave a loud gasp and stumbled backward.

It was Hyo Sun.

Hanging by a rope from the ceiling.

Jin Ri got up from the floor and moved to rush out of the room, only to crash into someone. She screamed and screamed and screamed as familiar arms gripped her tightly, holding her together.

~ * ~

“What happened?” Angie panicked as soon as Eunhyuk rushed into their home, Jin Ri in his arms. Hangeng and Zhoumi, who both looked shaken, followed him in.

Angie helplessly watched as Eunhyuk led a hysterical Jin Ri to the couch, not letting go of her for a second. Zhoumi sat down on Jin Ri’s other side, watching as his best friend clung onto Eunhyuk as if her life depended on it. Hangeng pulled Angie aside. As they started talking, Angie gasped loudly and covered with both of her hands.

“Ri,” Eunhyuk gently spoke to her, lightly rubbing her back to ease her sobs. “Ri, please stop crying. Please.”

“Riri, please,” Zhoumi implored as well.

Angie turned to Hangeng in order to look away from the heart-wrenching sight. Seeing a hanging in movies or on TV was already horrible and for Jin Ri to have seen one in person, right in front of her face, was just horrifying. She couldn’t imagine the fear and the trauma that would come with it.

“I’m sorry,” Hangeng sighed, putting an arm around Angie. “We tried to get there as soon as we could.” He took another deep breath and let it out soundly. “I’d already called the police. We left as soon as we could. I hope you don’t mind that we brought her here.”

“Of course not,” Angie dismissed his concern. “She can stay here for the meantime. I don’t think she would want to be alone.”

“I wish Kyuhyun wakes up,” Hangeng said, his eyes watering as he took in Jin Ri’s continuous crying. “Jin Ri needs him. Not one of us is going to be able to comfort her like Kyuhyun can.”

The phone rang suddenly and Angie rushed to answer it. It was probably her husband.

“Baby,” Angie immediately greeted as soon as she recognized his voice. Her eyes widened as she listened to what her husband said. She glanced at Jin Ri then looked up at Hangeng. “Okay…okay, baby, thank you. I love you.” She hung up.

“What is it?” Zhoumi asked from across the room, worry etched all over his face.

“It’s Kyuhyun…” Angie began. “He’s awake.”


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Author's Notes:
1. Is it time for me to run away? At least Kyuhyun's awake, right? :D
2. Yes, it was Hyo Sun. Like I've mentioned before, or to some of you, she's pretty sick in the head. She's obsessed with Kyuhyun to the point where she really wants him only for herself. So she's really gone to some great lengths to keep other girls away from him. But she's been unsuccessful with Jin Ri. She was too late. They'd already gotten married and she hadn't had a chance to reconnect with him until that night in the bar. She has tried to hurt Jin Ri but was always successful, even when she made Kyuhyun cheat on her, so she tried something else. She decided she would go for Kyuhyun himself. She meant it when she said that she would rather have him die than let him be with someone that wasn't her. But Jin Ri's words kind of knocked some sense into her. She didn't know that Kyuhyun was in a coma. She hid herself away from the world after what she had done, because, of course, she did care about him and was still afraid of what she'd done. But, at the same time, she was happy with it. Although when she found out that she practically killed him and that Jin Ri was pregnant with his child, she realized that she'd lost and that there was no way she could ever get him back. Sure, she could have killed Jin Ri, but what would the point of that be? She'd still know she lost. So she killed herself (which she had contemplated before).
3. Eunhyuk is so precious, don't you think?
4. Still unanswered questions will be addressed in the next chapter, I promise. :)
5. YAY KYUHYUN IS AWAKE. FINALLY!!! /parties