YOUR POV

I froze as that voice echoed in my ears. I felt a chill go down my spine and there definitely was cold sweat forming, my palms turning clammy. Jake. The sound of a beast. Omo, ottoke ? …D-donghae oppa…

“You’ve changed. How rude of you not to greet,” He said, and I could sense the disgusting sarcasm behind that statement.

Very slowly, I turned around, my eyes wide opened as a wave of shock swept over me upon looking at his face --- forever stained with a tint of darkness that brought back unwanted memories. I closed my eyes as my body broke into a shiver, earnestly hoping this was just a nightmare that would end when I open them again. But it was a mistake. Memories of that night once again flashed across my mind, replaying the scene in each and every detail. I could feel his tight grip on my body, his harsh lips on mine followed by an intensed pain. My helpless cries seemed to be fruitless, the love of my life out of sight despite my constant callings…

“Andwae, ANDWAE…! Donghae oppa !” I screamed, squatting and hugging my knees.

“M-miss…are…you alright ?” I heard a voice ask, but I just cupped my ears in response.

Then, I heard quick footsteps as a man ordered, “Take him away, now.”

“Goodbye my darling, I’ll see you soon…” I heard Jake chimed as he was probably taken away by the police.

No, I didn’t want to hear him. I hated him, the sight of him, his presence…even the sound of him. I felt my body giving up on me, the misery engulfing my body, causing my tears to fall endlessly.

The members jerked their heads up and looked towards the door upon hearing ___’s cries outside the ward. For a moment, the scream seemed too sudden and their eyes darted from the door to one another as the ward fell silent.

“…It’s ___,” Donghae said, a solemn yet rushed tone behind his words before he jumped out of bed and scampered outside.

The two policemen left behind while the rest escorted Jake to the car stood beside ___, not knowing what to do. “Miss…” One of them whispered, gently tapping on her shoulder.

“GO AWAY, don’t touch me !” ___ swatted his hand away and hugged her knees, as if trying to hide in an invisible shell.

Without hesitation, Donghae quickly squatted down beside her, and then wrapped his strong arms around her tightly.

“I said go away !” ___ shrieked, attempting to push his arms away.

“It’s me, ___ ! It’s me, Donghae…” He said calmly as if expecting her reaction and shook her slightly. “You’re fine, it’s okay now, he’s gone. Look at me, open your eyes…”

She resisted for a bit, but as Donghae held her closer to him, he felt her eventually calm down, her breathing slowly steadied. He stayed there patiently, gently rubbing her back, continuously trying to soothe her with his warm, comforting touch.

Very slowly, she opened her eyes, paining Donghae more that he already was as he saw her bloodshot eyes red from all the crying. Behind her dark, brown pupils, he could see her fear, her fragility, and how the light seemed to vanish in her eyes. Her eyes still sparkled, but it was her tears. Her tears clouded with helplessness.

“Donghae oppa…” She sobbed, burying her face in the crook of his neck and inhaling his scent.

Donghae softened, using his fingers to comb through her long, silky hair, and said in his low voice, “Ne, I’m here, there’s no need to feel scared.”

Seeing that all was fine and that ___ was in good hands, the policemen bowed slightly to the other members who were watching at the door, getting ready to take their leave. With that, Donghae mouthed a simple ‘I’ll call you’, seeing how ___ was not paying attention to his face and they left, joining their colleagues in sending the deserving criminal behind bars.

“C’mon, let’s go back to the ward, I’ll get hyungs to settle the paperwork instead,” Donghae said after a while and helped ___ up, bring her towards the ward.

As they saw the couple make their way towards the door, the members nodded in acknowledgement and moved aside to give them their privacy.

“I’ll make sure I’ll beat him up when I get the chance to !” Heechul hissed once they were a safe distance away, ensuring that their conversation would not be head. “Disgusting jerk.”

“Yaaa ! How could he do that to ___ ! Aish, whoever messes with my dongsaeng is going to get it from me. I mean it,” Shindong said with a look of hatred in his eyes.

“Guys, resorting to violence isn’t going to benefit anyone,” Leeteuk tried to convince them being the leader although he was equally mad at Jake. “All the evidence we have points towards him now. We’re going to win this lawsuit and that bastard is going to be put behind bars, so let’s not do anything irrational.”

DONGHAE POV

I sat her beside me on the bed, covering her lap with the blanket. She stared into blank space quietly and I looked at the fragile her as I waited for her sobs to subside. It was like time went back to the time when she was still sick and it got me slightly afraid for a while. I reached my hand out to hold one of her cold ones on her lap, rubbing my two hands against it. With her tear stained face, she looked up at me with a small smile, as if trying to tell me she was fine.

“Gwaenchanayo ?” I asked her gently, releasing one of my hands to wipe away her tears.

She didn’t say anything, but just nodded and looked down before she let out a heavy sigh.

“Are you still mad at me for getting into an assault case now ?” I asked with a hint of victory, slightly confident that she would reply me with a ‘no’…but I guess I was wrong.

Instead, she let go of my hands. “Why were you with him ?” She asked, looking at me in the eyes, her face devoid of any smile.

Surprised, I stuttered, “It’s…a long story. Well, you see-“

“Do you know how dangerous being with him can be ?” She interrupted with a question. Or was that a statement ? “What are you thinking, getting into a fight with him ? Everyone knows about your injured ankle. What if he does something to make it worse ?”

“But everything’s fine now, ___. There’s no need to make a fuss out of it…” I relied with a sulk, unhappy that I didn’t get my justice victory.

However, she slightly raised her voice, “I’m not making a fuss, oppa. You… I was just-“

I eyed her curiously, wondering what was with her drastic mood change as she tried to compose herself. Her hands were doing funny hand actions, the frustrated her not knowing what to say to the stubborn me.

It wasn’t long before she sighed and slouched, muttering, “Never mind…”

Then she turned away slightly from me, her lips forming a cute pout (although I didn’t know if it was on purpose).

An awkward silence fell between us and I stole several glances at her, not knowing what to do. Sigh, Lee Donghae, maybe it’s okay for a man to lose some of his pride to his woman…or isn’t it ? Man…

“…Ne, ne araso, araso. I’m sorry, ___ ah,” I apologized, slightly tugging on her arm.

It seemed like she gave in for a bit, her eyes peeping at me briefly. One more sentence would do the trick now kekeke, I silently thought to myself.

“Don’t be mad at me pleaseeeee...” I whined and laughed when she turned to look at me with her lips slightly curved upwards, making me feel embarrassed.

“Aniyo…” She finally spoke after my efforts. “I’m sorry for flaring up but…I just want you to be okay. I don’t want you to get into any more trouble because of me. I brought you a  lot of unhappy things you don’t deserve and I feel really guilty… It’s fine if I get into trouble, but not you-“

“Ya, what’s that supposed to mean ? I’m your boyfriend, boyfriend ! I have every right to protect you,” It was my turn to interrupt.

She sighed, probably giving up since I wouldn’t let her get her way, “Just…promise me you’ll be safe from now. No more hospital visits because of me…”

Then, she lifted her right hand to cup my left cheek, looking sincerely into my eyes. She’s grown up so much, matured so much since the first time I met her. My jagiya ~

“Ne, araso,” I replied, probably saying the only thing that satisfied her ears for the night. “I’ll take good care of you and you’ll be fine. When you’re fine, I’ll be fine too. I promise.”

Having said that, she blushed slightly and smiled. As she shyly attempted to remove her hands from my cheeks, I held it close to my chest. Our eyes looked into one another’s as she felt my heart beat, expressing love in words which would not do any justice.

“Oppa, saranghae,” She whispered, quickly hiding her face once she did so.

I chuckled, cupping her face and looking at her lovingly before I inched closer to her.

“A-ah, I’m sorry…” She said softly, gently pushing me away as her hands were on my chest. Her eyes looked left and right, avoiding my eyes as if thinking of an excuse.

“___ ah ! We’ll be going ba-“ Heechul exclaimed, bursting through the doors together with the rest of the members, causing ___ to jump up in surprise, quickly taking her hands off my chest as I too, immediately removed my hands from her face. “OH SORRY ! It’s okay, we’ll leave you guys alone first. Carry on, carry on…!”

As the members made their way towards the door and tried to suppress their giggles, ___ suddenly said, “Aniyo, it’s okay. What is it you wanted to tell me ?”

It was probably obvious that I was disappointed since Heechul hyung kept looking towards my direction., and awkward tension filling the room.

“Um…we wanted to tell you that we’ll be heading back first since we have schedule in a few hours,” Heechul hyung asked awkwardly. “So will you be staying here or coming with us ?”

___ looked towards me shyly before turning towards the members. Sure, she must have felt awkward because of what had just happened, which is why I reckon chances of her choosing to go back were quite high. Unfortunately.

“It’s okay, the doctor said I’ll be discharged tomorrow afternoon if there are no problems,” I told her, forcing a smile as part of reassuring her. “You can go back first, and I’ll just meet you in the dorm tomorrow.”

She hesitated for a while, before she said, “Um…I think I’ll stay here for the night to accompany oppa...”

Leeteuk hyung looked at her for a while, and after confirming that she didn’t want to change her mind, they bid their goodbyes before leaving me alone with her again. The both of us said nothing and she just looked down, sitting on the chair beside my bed. C'mon Lee Donghae, say something already…!

After taking in a deep breath, I cleared my throat and apologized, “Ahh…um, I’m sorry for just now, I didn’t me-“

“Oh no, no. I’m sorry…” She interrupted, finally looking up at me. “It’s just that…I know it’s been a...well, long time but…if you would just give me a bit more time…”

“Don’t worry about it,” I smiled. “I’m sorry I was impatient, I’ll give you more time, as much time as you need…!”

YOUR POV

Upon hearing that, I gave him a small smile, reaching out to hold his hand. I did feel bad, really. I know things between us have never exactly been the same since I fell ill. Sigh, all the times when he’d surprise me with his comfortable bag hugs and the random kisses he gave… They all seemed to be a form of his habit whenever we were together, and now because of me…

“What are you thinking about ?” Donghae oppa suddenly asked, playing with my fingers as he saw me stare into blank space.

“Oh, aniyo, it’s nothing really,” I managed to reply, turning to look at him, only to be mersmerised by his deep, brown eyes.

No words were spoken, only our eyes speaking a language only we understood. I smiled, cutely jumping out of my seat and sitting beside him on the bed, giving him a peck on the cheek.

He seemed surprised as eyes slightly widened and a smile crept on his perfect, thin lips. “Yes ?”

“Nothing ~” I simply answered, feeling my cheeks get hotter as I lay beside him, resting my head on his built chest.

Then, he chuckled and gave a sweet, gentle kiss on my forehead.

A/N: There ! Here's an update for you guys ! I'm sorry if it's a little short but before I spend another month thinking of what to do to lengthen this chapter...I guess posting it up is a safer option :x AND also considering today is a special day since it's SJ'S 6TH ANNIVERSARY YAY ! Hope you enjoyed it ! Thanks for reading, commenting and subscribing (:

Thank you to our boys for their blood, effort, hard work, sweat and tears to bring only happiness into our lives ! I can never imagine the day where you guys disband, so I'll continue to PROM15E TO 13ELIEVE ! Until that day comes, rest assured we'll always be there to stand by you, no matter thick or thin. We've been through so much together and I believe that only makes our sapphire blue family stronger and stronger only. May you guys continue to achieve super successes, Super Junior ! ♥