(A day later)

“Is Ilhoon going to be alright?” Gikwang asked, looking at the frail and skinny boy who totally didn’t look like the Ilhoon he knew and loved. When Junhyung had called him last night, telling him that he’d gotten Ilhoon back, Gikwang had ran to Dongwoon and told him the good news. What they weren’t expecting was for Ilhoon to look so weak and thin. What had actually happened?

Junhyung nodded with a small smile. “The doctors are putting him on a drip for now. We just have to wait for him to wake up,” he said, staring at Ilhoon’s unconscious figure. Ever since Junhyung brought his son to the hospital yesterday, Ilhoon hasn’t woken up. It was painful for both Junhyung and Hyunseung to see their son in such a condition, but what mattered was the fact that Ilhoon was back with them again. They would nurse him back to health, they were sure of it.

“Sorry to ask, hyung, but what exactly happened? How did you rescue Ilhoon?” Dongwoon asked cautiously, unsure if Junhyung was willing to share the full details of what happened. If it was Minhyuk who’d gotten kidnapped, he’d probably refuse to speak until his baby boy woke up. He wondered if Junhyung felt that way now.

With a sigh, Junhyung gave the couple all the details. From tracking Jaewon down till Hara shielded Junhyung with her own body. By the end of his explanation the couple was looking at him as if he were mad. He understood, of course. It wasn’t every day that they were so closely associated with the Korean mafia, and killing people like that was probably horrifying and inhumane in their opinion.

“I understand if you don’t want to associate with me after this but Hyunseung loves you guys, you know that,” Junhyung told them. He wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to cut off their ties with him. Who knew what could happen in the future? Jaewon’s fellow gang leaders might come after Junhyung, and then what?

Gikwang looked appalled at his hyung. “Do we really come across as that kind of people, hyung? We already knew that you were involved in crimes before, but this time you had no choice. They had your son; if I had to, I’d have done the same things that you did. So don’t ever think that we’ll just cut ourselves off from you,” he said sternly. Dongwoon nodded in agreement, giving Junhyung a reassuring smile. The elder heaved a sigh of relief, returning the smile with one of his own, and looked back down at his son.

“We’re all waiting for you, Ilhoon-ah. Wake up soon, please.”

---------------------------

Junhyung kissed Hyunseung softly on the forehead, not wanting to wake his fiancé up. It had been more than physically and mentally straining on the elder, what with just having miscarried and still having to worry about Ilhoon. Junhyung felt like he’d let the elder down; he promised to take care of Ilhoon and still the boy was kidnapped.

Sitting in silence, Junhyung couldn’t help but feel calm for once in his life. Jaewon was dead, Hara was gone too. There wouldn’t be anyone who would mess with him and his family again, hopefully. At least for now, Junhyung could enjoy life to its fullest, and love his family with all that he could. It was the least he could do, to make up for the past seven years of pain that he’d caused Hyunseung.

It was only about a half hour later that Hyunseung stirred, blinking groggily and looking up at Junhyung. “Is Ilhoon awake?” he asked, throat dry and scratchy. Junhyung handed him a glass of water, but Hyunseung frowned and refused. “He isn’t, is he?”

“Yeah. Gikwang and Dongwoon are staying with him now. Come on, drink the water and I’ll bring you to him,” Junhyung coaxed, pushing the glass back into Hyunseung’s hands. This time Hyunseung did drink it, and downed the water within seconds. Wasting no time, the elder swung his legs over the side of the bed and let Junhyung lead the way to Ilhoon’s room.

It wasn’t a long walk, but it felt like forever to Hyunseung. It’d been five days since he’d seen Ilhoon; when Junhyung brought him back yesterday, Hyunseung had been asleep and Junhyung hadn’t thought of waking him up. “You need to rest, and he isn’t going to wake up yet,” was what Junhyung had said and, true enough, Ilhoon still hadn’t woken up.

Noticing the elder’s tension, Junhyung wrapped an arm around Hyunseung’s shoulder and squeezed it softly. “Don’t worry. He’s a strong kid,” Junhyung assured. After all that Ilhoon had been through before he was born, this was nothing. But ultimately they were his parents, and all parents worried about their children, so it was normal that Hyunseung was freaking out.

“I know,” the elder mumbled, more to himself than to Junhyung. What if being starved for days gave Ilhoon some incurable disease? What if it would have some long-term effects on his health? What would Hyunseung do if anything happened to his son?

“Let’s go in. Maybe he’ll wake up if he hears your voice,” Junhyung said hopefully. Hyunseung nodded, bracing himself and pushing the door to Ilhoon’s room open.

The first thing he saw was Dongwoon’s figure hunched over the bed. Then he spotted Gikwang and Minhyuk on the couch reading a book. And lastly, Hyunseung’s eyes landed on his son. His hands immediately flew to cover his mouth, muffling the loud gasp that had escaped.

“My poor baby,” Hyunseung couldn’t help but sob. Ilhoon had gotten so skinny over the past five days, and all because he failed to protect his son. What kind of mother was he?

Gikwang looked at Junhyung and nodded at the look that the latter was giving him. Picking Minhyuk up, Gikwang woke Dongwoon and ushered him out of the room, leaving the family of three alone. Hyunseung wanted so badly to move to Ilhoon’s bedside, but his legs seemed to have lost all their strength. Junhyung had to half-carry him to the chair there, and then Hyunseung collapsed into the chair almost instantly.

Junhyung pulled another chair over, sitting beside Hyunseung and letting the elder lean against him. “He’s going to be fine, Seungie. He has to be,” Junhyung said, holding Ilhoon’s small hand in his own.

Hyunseung nodded, forcing a small smile. “Sleep well and wake up soon, ok?” he said, all the while choking back tears. “Umma will wait for you, but don’t take too long.”

Almost as if in response, Ilhoon’s eyes moved beneath his eyelids. Hyunseung gaped in wonder as his son slowly opened his eyes, and Junhyung could only smile and try not to cry. “I told you that he would wake up after hearing your voice,” Junhyung said, eliciting furious nodding from the other.

“Umma,” was the first thing that Ilhoon said once his eyes were open. Hyunseung could only cry in relief, throwing his arms around the frail boy and hugging him tightly. Meanwhile, Junhyung had run off to call the doctor.

Now everything in his life was falling right into place.

------------------------------

After getting the doctor, Junhyung decided to get lunch for everyone. He had to thank Gikwang and Dongwoon for watching Ilhoon anyway; they’d been at the hospital with him since the previous night. He thought about buying lunch for Yoseob, but the younger’s room was a little further away and besides, he had Doojoon with him now.

By the time he got back to the room, the doctor was already leaving. Junhyung bowed in thanks, watching the doctor go off before passing some food to Gikwang and Dongwoon and then entering the room. Ilhoon was still weak, but at least he was livelier than when Junhyung found him.

“I bought bibimbab,” he announced, setting the food on the table and opening it. Ilhoon’s eyes immediately widened, and he looked hungrily at the box of rice. Junhyung handed his son the first box of rice, and the boy quickly began eating as if there was no tomorrow.

Hyunseung’s heart ached for his son. “Don’t choke, honey,” he reminded, knowing that Ilhoon was probably still starving despite already having gotten drips. Ilhoon nodded, but continued eating at the same pace without any signs of slowing down.

Leaning over to Hyunseung, Junhyung whispered, “We’ll share one box, let Ilhoon have the other one, alright?” Hyunseung nodded instantly, more than willing to give up some or all of his food for his son. So they did just that, and shared one box of rice while watching Ilhoon devour the last box.

When they were done eating, Junhyung cleared up before sitting back down.

“I dreamt of someone while I was sleeping,” Ilhoon said, frowning slightly to himself as he recalled the dream. “She said her surname was Yong, but that her parents didn’t get to give her a name. She was all grown up, and she looked like umma and Geurim noona! She told me to wake up, that umma and appa were waiting for me and to tell you guys that she was sorry for leaving so soon. She hopes to meet us again in the future – something about next lives? I didn’t really understand, but she called me oppa.”

“A girl,” Hyunseung muttered, looking helplessly at Junhyung. “It was a girl.”

Pursing his lips, Junhyung nodded. “She looked healthy, right, Ilhoon-ah?”

“Yup! She was a pretty noona, and… she was definitely older than me, so how could I be her oppa?” Ilhoon questioned, extremely confused. He looked to his parents, hoping for an explanation, but all they could tell him was that it was complicated, and that they’d explain when he was older.

We should give her a name, and let our baby rest in peace, Hyunseung sighed inwardly, looking over at his fiancé. Junhyung smiled wistfully, nodding in understanding. At least they knew that the baby girl they lost was living well in the next world. It made them feel just that bit better.

“Ilhoon-ah, get some rest. The more you rest, the sooner we’re out of the hospital, alright?” Junhyung said, earning an excited grin from his son. The boy shooed his parents away, telling him that he wanted to sleep in peace and quiet. Hyunseung gave Ilhoon a sarcastic look, but nodded and left with Junhyung. They went to sit beside Gikwang and Dongwoon, sighing simultaneously and getting a curious look from the couple.

Gikwang was the one to ask, “What happened?”

“Well, Ilhoon said that he had a dream of a young woman with the surname Yong, and she called him oppa. So if what we think is correct… Ilhoon met his younger sister,” Hyunseung explained.

Dongwoon’s eyes doubled in size, and Gikwang’s jaw fell agape. “Wow. That’s a lot to handle.”

“No kidding.”

-----------------------

The four friends stopped by Yoseob’s room briefly, since Gikwang and Dongwoon were about to get going. As expected, Doojoon was with his husband, but the twins were probably in school. Yoseob was awake and having hospital food for lunch, while Doojoon looked like he was starving.

“Dongwoonie!” Yoseob exclaimed with a wide grin.

“What about me?” Gikwang questioned with an accusing look.

Giggling, Yoseob said, “Heh, oops.”

Dongwoon rolled his eyes at how childish his husband was, and smiled at Yoseob. “We just wanted to see if you were doing fine, hyung, because we actually have to go home,” he explained. Gikwang nodded in agreement, already walking back to the door with Minhyuk in his arms.

Yoseob pouted, but nodded anyway. “I’ll see you guys soon?”

“Of course! Minhyuk needs playmates,” Dongwoon replied, bowing and saying goodbye before leaving with his husband and son, leaving the other four in the room.

Doojoon gave Junhyung a sharp glare, clearly not having forgiven him for putting Yoseob’s – and his unborn child’s – life in danger. And while Junhyung could deal with that, Hyunseung wasn’t having it. After all, it wasn’t as if Junhyung wanted Yoseob to be hurt. Sure, Jaewon had been after Ilhoon that day, but was Junhyung really at fault?

“Yoon Doojoon, do you have a problem?” Hyunseung demanded.

Appalled, Doojoon nodded furiously. “Yes! Do you honestly think that I want him near my family? When he could be putting us all in danger?” he retorted, earning himself a hard slap on the arm and a very disapproving look from Yoseob.

“Don’t talk like that! It’s not as if hyung wanted to be chased down by a psycho!”

Hyunseung agreed instantly, adding, “Besides, the man is dead. Jaewon died already, so what’s your problem exactly?”

At this, Yoseob’s eyes widened, and he turned to look at Junhyung. “You really managed to kill him?”

“Yeah, well… BoA noona shot him at the same time he shot me and, Yoseob, I’m sorry but Hara died. She shielded me from the bullet and died,” he mumbled in reply. Yoseob stared blankly at his best friend, unable to process what he’d just said because what? Hara was literally his first friend and although she did go overboard with her love for Junhyung, she was still the one who first reached out to Yoseob. And now Junhyung was telling him that she was dead?

Doojoon looked equally shocked, because even though he hated Hara for making Hyunseung’s life miserable, he didn’t exactly want her to die. He didn’t know whether he was supposed to feel glad that Jaewon was gone, or upset that Hara had gone with him.

After what seemed like forever, Yoseob sighed softly. “I just hope that she’s in a better place now.”

“Yeah, me too.”

It took me like a month to come up with this pathetic chapter I'm so sorry ;A;

I'm gonna try and come up with another chapter within the next two weeks BUT no guarantees I'm a little dry on ideas. Also the next chapter might be the last idk

Thanks for putting up with my slowness and my crappy writing and I'll see you guys in a couple weeks' time! Annyeong~ ^^