The scent of desinfectant crept up in Jiyong's nose.

He got sick of this scent.

"Jiyong, have some coffee." , Seunghyun offered.

"No, thank you hyung." 

"Take it.", the older man urged, "Look at yourself, you are nearly dozing off from the lack of sleep. We have been here for hours now." 

"I..won't doze off..How can I when Youngbae..." He could not finish his sentence. What was with Youngbae anyway? Neither Jiyong nor the doctors knew whey he had passed out. The moment they had arrived at the hospital, they took his boyfriend to the emergency room, checking his condition and they were still not done.

Jiyong started to lose his patience. It was simply so frustrating. Why would he faint? Why, after they had spent such an amazing evening together with their friends? Just when Jiyong had thought he was becoming better, Youngbae lost his consciousness. It seemed like whenever they had a good time, a bad event would follow. When he thought about it for longer, everything started to make sense. Jiyong remembered back then, when he and Youngbae were in the happiest state of their relationship, the latter had broken up with him and now, the same was happening again. Kind of.

"Youngbae hyung will be fine, don't worry." , Daesung, who was sitting next to him, spoke softly.

Jiyong ran his hand through his messy hair. "He has to. They promised me they would do their best for him. They promised." 

----------

Seconds became minutes, minutes became hours. But for the four friends, it even felt like an eternity when they finally saw a man in white approaching them. Jiyong recognized him immediately, though his white teeth could not be seen this time. Was this a sign?

"Doctor!" , he called out, standing up abruptly. "How is he? Is he alright?" 

"Mr. Kwon, please don't worry. The patient is in a stable condition now."

They all exhaled from relief. None of them would be prepared to receive another message than this one. Not after they had finally been able to come together. Not after those sincere words Youngbae had uttered.

"But why.. I mean, is there a reason why he passed out?" , Jiyong asked worriedly.

"Well, you must know", the doctor started to explain, "Mr. Dong's current condition is not like yours or mine. Because of his illness and those rather aggressive medicaments he has to take, his immune system has gotten weak. Furthermore, a human body needs time until it can get used to all those changeovers happenig inside of it and since our patient has just started with this therapy... we assume that he fainted due to the strain of his system."

"Isn't there another therapy, Doctor? One which does not affect him that much? Please, whatever it is..tell me. I will pay everything!"

"Please, Mr. Kwon, those kind of side effects are totally normal. It is not the first time we experience a situation like this. Of course it is a torture for him but...for now, it is the only way. So please hold on to it and be strong. I told you we would do our best." 

Jiyong only nodded, looking at the ground. He bit his lip as he thought about what the doctor has just told him. Being strong. Two words which come off from a mouth so easily. But 'being strong' meant so much more. 'Being strong' meant not shedding a single teardrop when you feel like crying, it meant laughing and smiling while someone suffers and it meant forgetting about the fact that the love of your life could be gone anytime soon.

Being strong was so damn hard.

"We cannot offer a new therapy maybe, but if it brightens you up, we have a new doctor working in our hospital now. She has a brilliant degree and also has experience with complicated diseases. I am sure she will know how to help Mr. Dong."

There they were again, those perfect white teeth.

"Thank you, Doctor, uhm..can we see Youngbae?" , Seunghyun asked.

"Actually, he should rest now...but..since you have waited for so long, I will allow you to take a look at him." , the medic said smiling.  "Follow me please."

Everyone bowed politely and followed the sympathic man. "Do not be surprised if he is sleeping. He will surely wake up anytime soon."

----------

Their way led them to room 89, this time. The doctor excused himself for a second as a nurse came towards him, asking him to check some papers. However, Jiyong opened the door slowly so he and the other three could enter.

What he was seeing left Jiyong puzzled for a moment.

There was someone sitting on the edge of Youngbae's bed, bent over to his face. Even though long brown hair was covering the action, it was obvious that the woman, who was wearing a white smock, was pressing her lips on Bae's. The latter himself had his eyes closed, being motionless despite his chest moving up and down calmy.

The woman flinched when she heard the door getting opened, pulling back immediately in order to see who had caught her. A panicked expression looked straight at Jiyong's shocked face and he recognized the person in front of him instantly.

Yura Park, the woman who would always show up when he did not expect it.

Her eyes widened and she opened slightly. Her pretty face changed from panicked to embarassed as she stood up like a rocket.

"I...I..."

"Ah, Doctor Park! We were just talking about you.", the male doctor with the nice teeth said when he entered the room, too. He turned his head to Jiyong smiling. "Mr. Kwon, this is the person I have told you about. What a coincidence for you to meet in the patient's room." The poor man was so oblivious to the situation. How could he know what had just happened.

"The way I see it, this must be some kind of sign." , Jiyong answered dryly. Yes ,this was definitely a sign.

The other three friends looked at each other confusedly. They felt really awkward for wittnessing such a scene. It felt like that time when they had wanted to visit the couple and the one who opened the door was a half Youngbae who looked like he was about to do something with Jiyong, who was already yelling from another room: 'Bae, who is that? Why are you taking so long'

Well, this time. It was somehow different. Very different.

"It..It is nice to meet you.", Yura stuttered, looking down.

Jiyong had no time for this. He had enough of this. He wanted to see his boyfriend. Only his boyfriend. Never again would he be selfish again, so egoistic to only bother about himself and his possessiveness and jealousy. It was time to focus on what was really important. It was time for him to devote his time to Youngbae, his care, his love. His everything belonged to the man who was laying on the bed calmly. 

He slowly made his way to the edge of Youngbae's bed, sitting on the spot Yura Park had sat on a minute ago. She had already taken his role from him months ago.But now, Jiyong was there. He was not crying alone in his room. He was next to his Bae, being the air he needs, the shoulder he can lean on.

Jiyong took his lover's hand gently. "Baby..I am here.", he whispered.

"Hm...Ji...Is that you?" , Bae answered, slowly opening his eyes. That soft voice was like magic to him. He would always hear that voice, no matter where he was.

"Yes. Yes, it's me."

"I..knew it."  Youngbae smiled softly.

They both looked at each other's eyes for such a long time that they did not even notice how everyone left the room one by one. In the end, it was only the two of them, alone in that small and clinical room. 

"What...happened to me. I remember that I passed out and you screamed my name.."

Jiyong smiled, putting their interwined fingers on his lap. "You just overdid it, baby. But the doctor said it was normal, since the medicine you take is so strong, you know. We have to be more careful when we go back home again."

"Jiyong?"

"Hm?"

"Were you...scared?"

Their eyes met for a second and Jiyong saw worry and guilt in Bae's brown orbs.

Who was he kidding? He had been scared like hell. If he had really lost his lover that day...or any other day..

"A.A..bit." ,he lied, moving away his gaze. He was staring out of the window now, still holding his hand.

"I am sorry." Youngbae uttered sincerely, gazing at Jiyong's side profile again. "Hey, are you..are you crying?"

The patient sat up slowly, tugging at his lover's arm. "Ji? Look at me."

"I am okay.", the younger man answered, turning his gaze back to his lover while he whiped away some tears. "I..I should get you some water, you must be thirsty right?"

Just when he was about to stand up though, he felt how an amazing strength pulled him back on the bed and into two warm arms that wrapped themselves around his waist. Jiyong's heart pounded.

"My Jiyong, my everything, my air, my pride.." For every word, Youngbae gave his lover a kiss on his head, inhaling the scent of his shampoo. "As long as you are with me, I don't need anything else. Do you think what I believe? I believe that we will get through this. I have hope. And I feel how much I want to live on when I see your face in front of mine, Jiyong. I will fight with all my strength...and when I am healed, I swear that I will devote my all to you. I will make up for all of this one day. I promise. I promise, Kwon Jiyong, I will love you forever."

Jiyong closed his eyes and let the tears escape. He did not bother to hold them back anymore. He wanted to be honest. Nothing should be hidden anymore.

"You...", he slowly pulled away from those arms, looking directly at Youngbae. "You..make me cry even more, pabo."

The older man only chuckled and pulled him for a kiss. "I am sorry. I only make you cry, huh?"

Jiyong shook his head. "No...You nearly made my heart pop out of me."

"Then, I am apologizing to your heart...but I really need to kiss you now."

And with that, their lips met and a passionate kiss full of promises started.

This is the ending of the story, but a meaningful beginning for Youngbae and Jiyong.

END.

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A/N: It's done, everybody, puh! :')

I really hope you liked my first chaptered fic. Even though it was short, I tried to make it as plausible and romantic as possible and I hope you enjoyed reading this a bit!! I want to say Thank you to everyone who read this, especially those who took their time to comment and subscribe - Kamsahamnida!!! <3

See you soon, hopefully!!

Love,

Hatsumomo