Warning: Extremely long chapter ahead. Proceed with care.

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Sehun trailed behind the woman that had taken care of him so many years ago. He didn’t know where they were going, but Taeyeon had said she needed to talk to him about something important, so he followed without argument or hesitation.
Not that there would have been much of one if he had tried – but it wouldn’t have taken up much energy for him to turn and walk the opposite way.
Still, he walked not that far behind her, through the crowd of people that paced through the streets on their way to work or shopping or school. Everyone had something to do, somewhere to be. And yet there he was, following behind the doctor that hadn’t told him anything.
He didn’t have a place or a word to speak. He was just there. He had always just been there.

Taeyeon held the door of a small café open for the younger boy to walk through. She smiled instinctively, her eyes crinkling as her curled hair fell lightly over her shoulders and she guided the ex-patient to a table in the far corner of the less-than-packed room.
For a moment she didn’t say anything. Her eyes lingered on the people outside the window, rushing across a road before the lights changed again and the cars sped off.  Then she looked away from the busy lives that everyone was engaging in and returned to the comforting quietness of the café.
Her eyes paused on Sehun, a faint smile playing on her lips. “Luhan doesn’t get many visitors.” She spoke, hands cupped in front of her and resting on the table. Sehun was sure that if she had a mug she would be rubbing the top to keep herself busy. “I felt sorry for him for the longest time. He was in the hospital even before I joined as a trainee nurse and all that time he’s been alone. So when you came to visit him, I was happy – I really was – but…”
She paused, searching Sehun’s eyes to make sure he was paying attention to the words she was saying. “You see, Luhan is different to most patients. He was born with a disorder that stops his body from defending itself against illnesses. For a long time we’ve kept him alive with medication and surgeries, but we have reason to believe that the medicines we ‘re using are attacking his body.”
Sehun looked away from her. Why was she telling him this? Why was this information that she felt she had to tell him?
Taeyeon reached out, lightly touching his hand and bringing his attention back to her words. “Luhan doesn’t have much time left – I think he knows even though we haven’t said anything. I don’t want him to go in pain or alone or without something that he can smile about. Sehun?”
He nodded – the only thing he could do.
The doctor let out a breath of air, looking out the window once more as though searching for something. “His parents don’t visit much so Luhan doesn’t get out. I don’t think he’s ever been outside the hospital grounds. Even if you end up exposing his body to the things we’ve been trying so hard to keep him from, I’d like you to take him to see the things he hasn’t. Please fill Luhan’s last days with the happiness he’s never had.”
Sehun took a while, looking at the woman as though she had suddenly grown a second head. She removed her hand from his, the soft skin lingering a moment like the request she had made. And then she stood, her mood lifting instantly as she waved towards the front of the café and called over a familiar looking man and young looking woman.

He didn’t really pay attention to the three people sitting around him. He didn’t join in with their laughter and idle chit-chat – he couldn’t have even if he wanted to.

Sehun just sat in silence; the remainder of his thoughts floating away.

“Sehun! You’re early.”
The man sat up cheerfully, hiding the pain that was seeping through his vanes as he propped himself up and lent on the pillowcase behind him. His eyes were reduced to small slits as he smiled brightly, but his face was dull and lifeless as he sat wasting away.
Sehun simply nodded, closing the door behind him with a small creak as it moaned against the movement. He would have been even earlier if Taeyeon hadn’t called him out.
Luhan watched the boy as he walked slowly and quietly, eyes distant and attention far from where he was. He sighed. “Are you okay Sehun? You seem to have something on your mind.”
But the boy shook his head and placed his rucksack on the white sheets of Luhan’s hospital bed. He carefully took the prewritten planes from their confines inside the bag and handed them to the man who took them in his delicate hands. He watched as Luhan picked each one up and inspected it for a red number that Sehun had scribbled onto them, telling his close friend which order to read the letters.

When he was done he looked up with excited, curious eyes. They brought even his tired body to life, and Sehun watched as he quickly stood from the bed – still dressed in the hospital gown that he used to sleep.
“What’s an arcade?” He suddenly asked, walking straight past the teen and struggling to pull some clean clothes onto his body. Sehun watched him, unsure if he should help as the slender man tripped forwards slightly as his leg caught in the jeans he was trying to put on. “Ah. Oops.” He let out, a giggle leaving his mouth as he stood straight and turned to Sehun.
The boy’s eyes grew wide when he realised that Luhan was waiting for an answer, and to distract himself from the topless form of the patient he turned and hurried to pull paper out of his jean’s pocket as he lent on the bedside table, scribbling a small description of what an arcade was like.
Sehun ce more and handed the paper to the man who was wearing a thin t-shirt and greyed jeans. He sighed, quickly writing more words as he tried to persuade his friend to dress warmer.
Luhan did as he was told – pulling on the thickest jumper in his small collection and nodding at Sehun as a sign that he was ready to go.
The younger boy pulled the door open, and Luhan let out a small sound of disappointment.
“Oh. Do I have tests today?”
The woman smiled just like she had earlier that day – a smile that showed both sorrow and happiness. “Not today Luhan” She spoke softly, and Luhan seemed to light up once more. “I’m not on duty today. So I thought that – considering the fact Sehun can’t drive and it would be an awfully long walk – I could drop you off at the arcade.”
“You’d do that? But Doctor Kim it’s your day off.”
Sehun looked at Luhan in wonder. He had expected the man to ask how she knew that was where they were going – but he had probably guessed that Sehun had ran the idea past the woman before deciding it was going to happen.
“I know.” She her heel, and the two followed after the shorter woman. “And that’s why I’m not Doctor Kim today, but Taeyeon. Besides, I have a favour to return.”

The drive was quiet as Luhan watched the sights passing by. He was amazed by the people that worked hard and the children that walked in groups both big and small. He acted like a little puppy, only just being introduced to the world that he had lived in all this time.
Sehun didn’t know if he should smile at the man’s reactions or take pity for the fact that he was a fully grown man but had never seen the outside world. He didn’t know what an arcade was, and Sehun was sure that was just one of the many things that Luhan didn’t know about.
He felt angered. Why could he witness so many things when someone like Luhan was locked away for so long – only able to see the world when his light was already fading. It didn’t seem fair.
And Luhan didn’t seem to mind. Which made things even worse for Sehun; how could the man be so accepting to the fact that he would never live a life like everyone else would? How could he be so okay with that?
Or maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he seemed okay with it, and the man had actually given up on his life long before he had ever met Sehun. Maybe Sehun was looking at things wrong; he closed his eyes suddenly as he tried to stop himself from over thinking.

Taeyeon quietly turned the radio on, and Luhan stopped looking out of the window to focus on the music that was now drifting through the car. Sehun wondered if Luhan had ever listened to much music inside the hospital – he didn’t think there would be much room for music to blare through the paper thin walls as people were trying to sleep or focus on their jobs. But the man hummed along to the tunes that played – it made Sehun wish that he could sing along, but instead he watched, the lyrics racing through his head as they passed through the car.
“What song is this?”
The woman driving glanced at the rear-view mirror as she looked at Luhan quickly before stopping at a red light. She pursed her lips and hummed in thought. “I’m not really sure. I don’t get to listen to the radio much anymore unless it’s on my way to or heading back from work.”
Luhan nodded. “You must be really busy.”
“I suppose.” Taeyeon smiled, her laugh fusing with the beat of the radio. “I don’t mind so much – I chose this job and helping people is what I want to do. But sometimes I wish I had some time to do things of my own.”
Sehun sighed and opened his mouth, but closed it instantly as he remembered that there would be no words. He watched the woman in the mirror, her expression one of pure concentration as she followed her instinct on which roads to head down.
He wanted to tell her to let them walk the rest. He wanted to thank her and tell her to enjoy the rest of her day off, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t help anyone – no matter how much he tried.

He couldn’t help Luhan who was standing on death’s doorstep.

He couldn’t help Taeyeon who was chin deep in work and put everyone before herself.

He couldn’t even help his mother who was struggling with debts and juggled two jobs just to keep a roof over her family’s head.

“We don’t mind walking the rest of the way. Right Sehun?”
The boy nodded, his eyes wondering to Luhan as he stared back at him with a look of understanding and pity. Sehun was sure Luhan had seen him lose himself, but he nodded it away, convincing himself that Luhan was actually just sympathetic because he was taking up Taeyeon’s only day off.
“I’ve told you already ‘I don’t mind’.” She smiled. “I’m returning a favour.”
There was no argument after that. Maybe it was because Luhan knew all his past attempts to argue against the woman had been unsuccessful – or perhaps it was because he wondered if he even had the energy to walk to the arcade.
Another ten minutes passed in silence. No one talked, they only listened to the radio that changed songs ever few minutes.
Until the car slowed to a stop and the doctor turned in her seat. “You two go and have fun; just give me a call when you’re ready to leave and I’ll pick you up.”
“Oh but, I don’t have a phone.” Luhan patted his pockets as though he was stressing his point. “And I don’t have your number.”
“Sehun has it; it’s fine. Now out out – I have to go somewhere.”
Sehun shrugged, nodded in thanks to the woman and opened the car door – followed by Luhan who stumbled out of the car as he grabbed the younger boy’s arm to keep himself from falling face first into the ground. He muttered a sorry, waved to Taeyeon and then stared up in wonder at the flashing lights that made up the sign of the arcade.
He laughed suddenly, hand still wrapped around Sehun’s wrist as he unintentionally pulled him forwards; towards the loud music and sound effects that could be heard for miles away and into the dark room with colourful lights and crowds of people.

Sehun sighed, pulling the last of his change out of his pockets as the man laughed loudly next to him. It was crowded, loud and the boy had to pay extra attention to the hospital confined man as he yelled about trying every game that the arcade had.
But Sehun didn’t have enough money for that. There was barely enough for Luhan to play one more game – but the boy had managed to track down a few extra coins in his pocket that would make up the exact change for the man to have one last bit of fun.
“Sehun I want to play this one!”
He nodded, handing the last of the money to Luhan and wondering how to explain that there was nothing left. But the man smiled warmly, and Sehun couldn’t bring himself to somehow tell him that that was the last of the fun – or at least the last of the money.
Instead he watched as the child at heart ran halfway across the arcade and started frantically pressing buttons and talking to himself as lights flashed and obnoxious music blared from the metal box. He returned not a minute afterwards – he hadn’t won – but he smiled anyway. Luhan didn’t expect to win the game he had never played and he was content with simply playing them.
He laughed as he reached the mute boy. “I nearly beat the high score Sehun! I think that one’s my favourite – but I wish you’d played with me.”
Sehun shook his head. He had wanted to play – he really had. But there wouldn’t have been enough money for Luhan to get around so many games if they had played together. So he had gave all his money to the boy who had never played and hung around behind him, watching happily as a bright smile found itself on the sick man’s face.
“How many more can I play?”
He shook his head again, wanting to say more but being left with nothing. Sehun pointed to his pockets and sighed, and Luhan seemed to understand. His smile faded slightly, but he laughed anyway and nodded. “Well that’s okay. We should probably ask Taeyeon to pick us up now anyway.”
The boy nodded, passing his phone to the man who stared blankly at it, playing around as he tried to figure out what to do. A harsh “ah” left his mouth, then he lowered his brows and groaned. Then suddenly he smiled and put the phone to his ear.

He had figured it out.

The next day Taeyeon laughed as the two boys walked out of the patient’s room. They looked at her in confusion, but she said nothing and fell into step with them suddenly.
“Do you have a day off again today?”
She smiled and shook her head, car keys jingling in her hand as she lightly threw them. “Nope, but Tiffany and Joonmyeon said they’ve got me covered if I want to go gallivanting with my favourite patient and his best friend. So where to today?”
Sehun looked at Luhan, expecting him to answer. But the boy looked at Taeyeon with not a word, and the woman stared back equally as blankly.
“What?”
“You’re skipping work? Aren’t there other patients that need you to look after them?”
“No it’s fine. You were my main patient anyway, all the others were just routine check-ups – Fany and Joonmyeon have got that though. They’re just going to work it into their jobs.” She paused for a moment, Luhan not buying any of it. “Technically I’m doing my job still. I’m looking after you aren’t I? Whether it’s inside or outside the hospital, I’m still doing it.”
“But your other jobs-”
“I have friends doing them. Chill Luhan. They’re fine with it.”
Luhan sighed and shook his head. There was no point arguing with Taeyeon – she would win anyway. The woman seemed to have a reason for everything. “Fine. We haven’t really planned where we’re going, we were just going to walk around. Right Sehun?”
He nodded.
“Great!” Taeyeon nodded as she passed a red haired woman – who smiled a bright smile as she pushed a cart with syringes and other medical equipment. She smiled at Sehun. He recognised her as one of the people who had sat around the table at the café the day before. “There’s a firework display going on this afternoon. I have three tickets – but none of my friends were free today so they would have just gone to waste. Of course, we’d have to find something to do to pass the time before that though.”
“You’d have to ask Sehun.”
The boy opened his mouth to talk, but nodded instead and faked a smile.
Taeyeon’s eyes focused on him for a second, a smile that spoke a million words aimed at him before she turned. The silence lingered for a moment, and then the woman cleared and spoke in a melancholy voice. “I know somewhere that sells some really nice cakes. I’ll pay.”

Explosions of colour filled the sky suddenly. Sehun watched them quietly, fireworks weren’t so amazing to him anymore. They made noise and colour, they could put on great shows, but they weren’t that amazing.
But Luhan was fascinated and Taeyeon made a fuss as she stood beside them and watched. They talked together about the mixture of colours, purple, red, green, yellow, pink – every colour that Sehun could think of he had seen that night, whether it be in the sky or on the clothes that people were wearing.
Another bang went off. Luhan clapped his hands excitedly.
“Sehun did you see that!”
He nodded, but Luhan was too caught up in the display to notice. He was simply content with knowing that the boy was beside him watching the colours line the sky and didn’t think for a moment to ask if he was having fun too. Because Sehun would just smile back anyway. He always smiles and nods, no matter how he is feeling, no matter what he is doing.
It’s always just a smile and nod.
“It’s starting to get cold though. I think we should head back soon.” Taeyeon spoke over the noise of the cheers and bangs and high pitched squealing that surrounded them. She grimaced as another firework was set off.
Luhan looked at her with disappointment written across his face. “But Taeyeon we only just got here!”
The whine made Sehun laugh. Luhan really was just child trapped in an adult’s body.
“We’ve been here for over two hours Luhan! You’re going to get sick if you stay in the cold any longer.” She stared at the man, who stared back at her in a silent act of rebellion. They were quiet – and then Taeyeon sighed and shook her head. “Fine. I’m going to wait in the car. But don’t stay out here too much longer.” She looked towards Sehun. “You’re in charge. Make sure he doesn’t get too cold.”
Sehun nodded and watched as Taeyeon walked through the crowd, quickly disappearing from sight. As soon as she was gone an empty can of coca-cola flew into the air.
“Damn. They always treat me like I’m a child.”
He looked at Luhan in disbelief, the outburst sudden and unexpected. The man watched the floor carefully, then lifted his head to look at Sehun – avoiding his direct gaze as well as he could.
“Because I’m sick, you know? They act like I need to be protected all the time; looked after. But I’m a grown man. I don’t want to be babied all the time.”
Sehun nodded and lightly tapped the man’s back. He smiled softly, offering words that couldn’t be said.
“I’m bored of the fireworks, can we get something to eat?”
Nod.
“Sehun do you like burgers?”
Nod.
“Awesome. Can we go to some of these stalls after we eat? I want to look around.”
Nod.
“Say Sehun? What does your voice sound like?”
The boy stood still, his mind blank. It had been years since he had last heard his voice – Sehun had forgotten what it even sounded like. Surely it wouldn’t be the same as it was all those years ago; he’d grown older, changed. It would have changed too.
Luhan seemed to realise what he had asked after it left his mouth. He turned, eyes wide as he looked at the still boy. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. I didn’t mean to.”
Sehun shook his head and reached for his pocket. They were old, but there were songs he had recorded with friends when he could still use his voice. Songs that he hadn’t shown anyone. And now he was going to show Luhan – a man who had simply asked what his voice sounded like through curiosity.
But Sehun didn’t mind. Because he felt close to Luhan. Closer than he had ever felt with anyone else.
Luhan took the earpiece that he was offered and listened without a word as they walked towards the stall selling food. He finished listening long before they reached the stall, but said nothing. He didn’t even mention anything as he ordered for the two of them.
They were half finished with their burgers by the time Luhan finally spoke again.
“It was cute.”
Sehun looked up from the half eaten food and opened his mouth, quickly covering himself by taking another bite of the burger.
Luhan smiled. “Your voice I mean. That probably isn’t the right word I should use but. I… I thought you’d sound different.”
The boy nodded, no way to tell him that it had been recorded years prior to him listening to it.
But it probably wouldn’t have mattered to Luhan anyway.
“Come on Sehun! I want to look around the stalls.”

The remainder of the time Sehun was content with following Luhan around. Because if he couldn’t do anything else, he at least wanted to witness Luhan’s happiness. Even if it was short lived.

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I just want to apologise for the wait and probably outcome of this chapter. I was pretty busy the remainder of the year so I didn’t get much done. I’d say I was going to update and then something would happen and I’d only get a few words down. So I’m really sorry that happened because I honestly wanted to get this chapter done.

The paragraphs in this chapter aren’t very long because I wanted to get a lot in, and I felt wondering on one scene for too long would just make this a lot longer than it needed to.

The next chapter is the last. Just a warning.