"Okay, Min," Yunho said after coming back into the room. He had just finished talking to the doctor. A big smile was on his face. "Are you ready to go home today?"

Changmin nodded as he finished putting his shirt on. He was seriously sick of this place. All he saw were white walls all day, everyday.  The sterile smell of medicine and bleach was permentantly embeded into his mind. He was tired of his captivity in the drab, white room, he really was. But he couldn't ever complain though, seeing as how he's lived through much worse. "I really hope this is the last time I'm in a hospital."

Yunho nodded, understanding Changmin's sentiments. "I just hope I don't ever have to wait that long for you to wake up ever again," he replied.

"I promise to never got shot again," Changmin said, raising his right hand, his legs swinging happily as he sat on the edge of his bed waiting to be told to leave. "I've learned my lesson."

"Good," Yunho said. "I'll be very disappointed in you if you go back on that promise." 

Changmin rolled his eyes. "That's gonna be hard," he said. "I seem to attract so many crazy people. Who knows what will happen?" Changmin smiled. "Remember the morning you came to pick me up from the hospital and take me home?" He sighed. "This kind of reminds me of that day. I was so excited to leave this hospital and I was really glad when you showed up."

Yunho nodded. "Honestly," he replied with a nod. "I still couldn't believe that you were back."

"I couldn't either," Changmin admitted. "I was just waiting for me to wake up from my dream. Everything...well...almost everything was too good to be true."

"When did you start believing that everything was real?" Yunho asked.

Changmin pursed his lips, deep in thought. "I'm not so sure," he finally said. "I want to say that it happened after you took me to the rooftop for the first time, but even then, I still questioned if everything was truthfully happening." Changmin smiled looking to the ground as he brought his knees to his chest. "But Hyung," he said. "If all of this is really a dream, even with all the bad that we've gone through, and I don't want to wake up."

"Well then good news for you," Yunho said happily. "This isn't a dream, and everything is as real as you think it is."

Changmin swallowed. "I'm glad," he replied, looking up at Yunho again. "And I'm glad everything isn't...you know...perfect," he continued. "If nothing bad ever happened during this time, I would doubt everything even more, you know? As bad as it sounds, I'm glad bad things happened to me. It proved to me that this is real life."

"It can work both ways, though," Yunho warned. "Sometimes, while you were gone, I thought it was all a bad dream and I was desperate to wake up."

"When I was...over there..." Changmin began. "Jinsuk...he saw that a lot of times, I couldn't sleep." Changmin let out a humorless laugh. "I hardly slept while I was over there. He said it was because people were dreaming about me."

"But they were," Yunho smiled. "Practically everyone you've ever come in contact with dreamt about you while you were gone."

"He said something else," Changmin added.

"What's that?" Yunho asked.

Changmin swallowed. "Remember that time I told you that I thought everyone hated me because it was my fault you died?" After Yunho nodded, Changmin continued. "He told me not to get my hopes up. He said the reason everyone was dreaming about me was because they all hated me. They were all having nightmares with me in it...or dreams about all the bad things they would do to me if they ever saw me again." Changmin smiled again. "But that's not true, huh? He was wrong. I found that out when I came back."

"I'm sorry he planted all those lies in your head, Min," Yunho apologized. 

Changmin shook his head. "It doesn't matter now, though," he reassured. "I realize his lies now. Thankfully, he didn't brainwash me too bad."

"There was a night you were in my dreams," Yunho started speaking. "I couldn't sleep all night because it was so bad."

"What was it?" Changmin asked.

Yunho swallowed the lump in his throat. "I was dreaming about what you might have been going through," he answered. "It was really bad." Yunho shuddered as images from his horrid nightmare from last year started playing in his head again. "Somebody...I guess he was Jinsuk...was hitting you. He pushed you into a bookshelf or something. I don't remember too clearly."

"How many times are you going to screw up before you get the idea?"

Yunho didn't notice Changmin's shocked look, so he continued speaking. 

"You were pretty banged up. Your back was pretty banged up, I think." Yunho sighed. "Anyway, I called Kyuhyun the next morning," Yunho added. "He told me that a few nights before, he had a dream about you too, and one of his legs started hurting so bad he could barely move."

"Try escaping me after this."

Changmin shook the voice out of his head, his mouth hanging open after Yunho's confession.

"Min?" Yunho said, finally noticing Changmin's odd expression. "Are you okay?"

"Hyung," Changmin said. "That actually happened."

"I-it did?" Yunho asked in disbelief.

Changmin nodded. "He kept hitting me for no reason so I hit him back and... that started a whole other thing. He did push me. I really bruised up my back that day."

Yunho's mouth hung open in disbelief.

"I have a scar on my left thigh," Changmin randomly stated. "It was from when Jinsuk stabbed me the first time I tried to run away."

Yunho gave Changmin a confused look. "What?" he asked.

Changmin nodded. "It hurt so bad," he continued, subconsciously rubbing his thigh. "I couldn't walk for a few days and when I finally could, I was walking with a limp for a month, I think." Changmin looked at Yunho. "Hyung, what does that mean? How were both of you able to-"

"I don't know," Yunho quickly answered, shaking his head. 

Changmin shuddered.

"Hey," Yunho said, thinking it's best to change the subject. "Let's get you out of here, okay? I'm sure you're really hungry, right?"

Changmin's eyes brightened before nodding, completely happy that he would never see a place like this again.

"Try screaming now, pretty boy," Jinsuk taunted as he tightly held Changmin's throat. He smiled sadistically as he watched Changmin struggle to free himself; struggle to breathe. He was choking on the nonexistent air. His arms flailed as he tried to claw at Jinsuk's hands.