After what seemed like eternity, the doctor finally came in to the VIP room, causing Donghae to shoot up from his seat immediately.

“How is she ?” He asked, a hint of both sadness and anxiousness in his voice.

The doctor then showed them a stiff smile, bowing to them. “Physically, she’s no longer under critical condition. She’s extremely weak though, and her body suffered quite a number of bruises and superficial cuts. We had her body checked, and we’re very sorry to inform you that she is highly likely to have been as we have found out that she has lost her ity. You guys should make a police report as soon as possible and have this investigated.”

The members’ lips formed a tight line and looked towards Donghae, who hung his head low and let out a deep sigh upon hearing the news.

“Will she be waking up soon ?” Ryeowook asked.

“Yes, when the anesthesia wears off she would be awake, but we would like to keep her here for observation. Meanwhile, we cannot guarantee that she will be but we urge you to be mentally prepared as she might be mentally affected. We will give you more details regarding this issue when she awakes and we conduct a check up on her.” The doctor informed them before leaving the room.

The members sat down on the seats, no one saying a word. There was an extremely somber atmosphere in the room as the members all hung their head low. Donghae felt tears filling his eyes again and he pinched the bridge of his nose, unable to face reality. Eunhyuk who was sitting beside them placed his hand on Donghae’s back and started to rub it gently in attempt to comfort him.

Then, Donghae stood up. “I’m going to see her,” He said solemnly.

“Don’t go anywhere else, there are lots of reporters downstairs and the security is preventing them from coming upstairs.” His manager told him. ___ had also been assigned to a private ward.

Without saying a word, Donghae left the room and went towards her ward. He paused at the door, his hand on the door handle but he didn’t open the door. Instead, he stood there and stared at her through the glass panel. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turn around to see Siwon, who nodded at him.

DONGHAE’S POV

I entered the ward slowly, keeping my eyes on ___. I could see clearly now that her cheeks were bruised and swollen, and so were her hands. She had a bandage around her forehead as well. Then, I sat on the chair beside her bed and held onto her hands. With her palm on my hand, I could feel the warmth from her, the one I had missed the most when I had been away from her those 4 months. My heart ached, it ached so badly I could feel it scrunch up inside of me. I squeezed her hand slightly and brought my lips to the back of her hand.

“Mianhe, jagiya,” I said with a shaky voice. I kissed the back of her hand and her cheek. “I wronged you, I’m sorry. You wanted to talk to me, you missed me so badly, you waited till dawn for me to come online but I didn’t trust you. I…I’ve failed so badly as your boyfriend…”

As much as I wanted to continue talking, the tears never seemed to stop falling, and I started to choke up. I closed my eyes, both my hands still holding tightly onto hers.

“Let it all out, it’s okay,” Sungmin said as he placed his hand on my shoulder.

I sobbed uncontrollably, not caring about how embarrassing I sound when I cry out loud. “I don’t know how to face you when you awake, I’m not fit to. I’m the reason why you’re in this state, I…I…I know how much I apologize isn’t enough to make it up to you but…even if it means taking my life, I’m willing to do it to make it up to you. You have no idea how much my heart aches and yearns for your forgiveness…I just want you to be okay, so...p-please do.”

Leeteuk who had just entered the room heard what Donghae had said. His eyes felt teary, his heart full of sympathy for the couple, “Ya, what are you talking about Lee Donghae. Taking your life ? Then who will take care of ___ in the future ? Who will help her recover from her trauma, huh ?” He said and patted my head.

“Have you called her parents ?” Sungmin reminded.

I shook my head. “I’ll…I’ll call them now.”

“Please do,” Leeteuk told me. “Manager hyung has already called the police regarding the issue.”

Though I was afraid and nervous of calling them, I knew I had to be responsible. So I dialed for her parents’ number to break the horrible news to them, under the help of manager hyung who did most of the translation.

Firstly, I apologized for disturbing them late in the night. Then I went on explaining what had happened to ___ and apologized sincerely for what had happened. Her parents were shocked, of course, and after hearing the whole story decided not to blame me and constantly reassured me that they weren’t angry with me. They would also board the plane to Korea the first thing next morning to check on ___’s condition.

I went on talking to ___ though she was asleep, and not to long after, fell asleep on the chair beside her bed as well, my head resting on the bed and my hand holding onto hers. The members were still in the VIP room, as they were discussing the situation on what to do about it. Besides, they had to wait for security to clear most of the reporters downstairs since getting rid of them totally was impossible.

“Donghae-ah…why don’t you catch some sleep at home and come again later ? You haven’t rested properly ever since your flight back home, and it’s going to be sunrise,” Heechul tapped my shoulder to wake me up.

“…I’m fine here, you guys can go home first, no need to bother about me,” I said sleepily, checking if ___ was awake. She was still asleep.

“Of course we need to care about you,” Heechul said. “You haven’t eaten dinner right ? C’mon let’s go get you something to eat at the canteen before your gastric acts up again.”

“I’m not hungry, hyung…” I said as a matter of fact. “I just want to stay here, and be here when she wakes up.”

Heechul sighed in defeat. “Then at least sleep on the couch, okay ? You’ll hurt your back like that. I’ll go get a sandwich from the canteen for you.”

Heechul left the room. Some of the members who had schedule early the next day had already made their way back, leaving Leeteuk, Eunhyuk and Heechul who wanted to keep me company. Heechul left the sandwich on the bedside table for me and gave us some time alone, going back to the other room with the members, who were currently sleeping on the couch as well. Though my back was starting to hurt, it was nothing I couldn’t handle compared to the pain ___ would have already gone through.

“Donghae…?” ___’s mother slightly tapped his shoulder. They had come immediately from the airport with their luggage.

He opened his eyes slowly, adjusting to the morning sunlight that shone into the room. Upon seeing her parents, he immediately stood up and bowed, greeting them.

“She hasn’t waked up yet ?” Her father asked, looking sadly at her daughter.

Donghae shook his head.

Her mother immediately went towards her daughter, cupping her face gently. “Oh my poor thing…” she said gently, starting to tear already.

Soon, Donghae’s manager came into the ward with Siwon and explained the entire situation to them.

“I’m really sorry, really sorry. You can punish me, it’s all my fault and I should be responsible for it,” Donghae said, bowing.

“It’s not your fault, Donghae,” her father said. “We’re not mad at you, so don’t be too hard on yourself. It was ___’s own choice to date you, to study in Seoul. Long distance relationships are never easy to maintain and misunderstandings are inevitable in a relationship. Things like that are common and we have experienced it too. It’s just unfortunate that she has met with such an incident. You’re not to blame, don’t be so hard on yourself alright ?”

Then, her father patted him on the shoulder. Her mother had too acknowledged what he had said and nodded, giving him a small smile before turning her attention back to her daughter.

All of their eyes turned to ___ as soon as she saw her move. Her mother then tightened her hold on her hand.

“___ ?” Her mother called before smiling and sighing in relief.

“___...” Donghae trailed off seeing how ____ was starting to open her eyes slowly.

___ stared at the trio in front of her absent mindedly, her eyes blinking, trying to get used to the sunlight and recognize their faces at the same time. Then, she started to shiver and her eyes grew wide looking at the three of them.

“…___ ? Are you okay ?” Donghae asked out of concern, moving closer to her and holding her other hand.

Upon the skin contact, ___ shrieked and shook off both Donghae and her mother’s hand, sitting up, hugging her knees and staring at them with her eyes wide open, shivering.

“DON’T TOUCH ME !” She screamed.

“___, it’s us ! It’s Mom…” Her mother said slowly, shocked at her daughter’s reaction.

The three of them had backed away from her.

“GO AWAY, LET GO OF ME, AND DON’T TOUCH ME !!” She continued shouting as she grabbed the sheets. “I’M A MURDERER. I’M A MURDERER !! GO AWAY, STOP TOUCHING ME, IT HURTS !!!”

They were confused for a moment, and upon hearing the shouts and screams, the doctors and nurses walking along the corridor immediately rushed into the ward, attending to ___. ___ struggled and continued shouting at them, flailing and kicking at them, screaming at them not to touch her and repeating those lines before breaking out in tears as well. Having no choice, the nurses had to tie her to the bed to keep her still so that they could perform a quick check up. They drew the curtains around the bed.

Donghae stared towards the direction of the bed. What was that ? What had happened ? Why was ___ acting like that ? Her parents were also dumbfounded, and her mother held onto her husband, tearing.

“Oh my poor ___...what has happened to her ?” Her mother cried.

The nurse then told them to leave the ward temporarily while they attended to her. The trio left the room, all shaken from what they’ve just seen. Just then, the 3 other members who had been resting in the room stepped out of the room due to the screams they heard from ___’s ward, which was right beside it. Upon seeing her parents, they did a quick bow and greeted them before going to Donghae to ask about her situation. They did not really attempt to introduce themselves just yet to her parents, since they saw that her mother was now sobbing into her father’s chest, probably upset and not in the mood to talk.

“What happened ?” Leeteuk asked anxiously. “We heard ___ shouting and screaming, something like that…”

Donghae looked up at Leeteuk, looking so lost yet sad at the same time. “I…I don’t know…”

“What do you mean you don’t know ?” Eunhyuk asked, sounding more impatient.

“The…t-the doctors are attending to her now. She,…I don’t know if she r-recognized me but…she told us all to go away and not touch her and that…she was a m-murderer…”Donghae explained, tearing.

The three members looked at one another, not knowing how to react. Heechul then pulled Donghae in for a hug, letting him cry on his shoulders while he rubbed his back gently. “D-don’t worry about it, the doctors are attending to her now right ? Shh…hush now, you have to hang in there…”

Although the members comforted him and told him not to be so worked up, they themselves could not contain their anxiousness. Donghae, on the other hand, didn’t care if he appeared like a crybaby in front of ___’s parents. He just felt so bad, his heart aching so much for the miserable plight she is in now. The members then sat on one side of the corridor in silence, while her parents sat on the opposite side of them, holding on to each other and hoping for the best.

However, what they have all feared was confirmed as the doctor walked out of her ward, only to release the bad news.

A/N: Hello there readers !! Like I told some of you who commented, I'll update by today so here it is ! (: Didn't get to check through the chapter as I was out for the day but wanted to post this up. So anyway here it is ! Thanks for all the really, really awesome comments !  ♥ Please continue to comment, it'll give me the boost to write the next chapter since I'm facing a lot of difficulty writing it ): I keep deleting what I wrote and I don't seem to be progressing. Sorry if this part is a bit boring, but after about one more chapter, it'll start to get less boring, I promise !! :B (Oh, if this update is boring, just tell me it is, I'll edit my next chapter to make it better, okay ?) Meanwhile please forgive me ! The more comments, the sooner the next update, alrighty ? ^^ Have to stop writing for now, have to wake up early for vball practice tmr ! Till then, tkcare readers, please anticipate the next chapter ! ♥