After Minho’s parents had left, we made our way down the hall and stopped in front of room 612. I wrapped my arm through Taemin’s and twisted the handle. I gently pushed Taemin inside. He looked back at me; I just nodded in assurance and shut the door behind him. I got out my phone and called Jonghyun.

“Hello.” As soon as I heard his voice, I began to cry. 

“Key? Babe? Are you okay? What is the matter?” 

“Jonghyun,” I sobbed. “Minho is dying.”

“Key, don’t talk like that. He is going to be fine. He is strong. He can make it through this.”

“Jonghyun, the doctor said that he was dying! He said that he wasn’t going to make it through the night. He was moved into the ICU. Taemin is with him now. I think that you and Onew should come down here.”

“Okay, I will call Onew. Babe, just try to relax until we get there, okay? Stay strong. I love you.” 

It wasn’t twenty minutes before Jonghyun and Onew made their way down the hospital corridor. Jonghyun wrapped his arms around my waist, while mine went around his neck. It was simply a hug, but it felt as if he was taking the weight of the world off of my shoulders and placing it on his own. 

I was speechless. I felt as if my world had been thrown upside down with no future of ever turning back around. This was it, but I knew that I needed to stay strong for Taemin. This was going to be the hardest on him. 

The next couple of hours, we spent most of our time taking turns spending time in Minho’s room, saying our goodbyes and remembering all of the good times that we had had. Visiting hours were finally over. We all took a couple more minutes, just looking at his angelic face knowing that this was going to be the last time that we ever could. 

The nurse came and told us that it was time to go. The four of us rode the elevator back to the lobby in silence. We had nothing to say, it could all be felt. We parted ways once we got back to the parking lot. I hugged onto Jonghyun, not wanting to let him go.


“The Choi’s are supposed to call me if anything happens,” I whispered into Jonghyun’s ear.

“Call me too. I love you, baby. Try to stay strong for Taeminnie. Don’t let him cry to hard,” Jonghyun said, before giving me a slight kiss on my forehead. I gave Onew a quick hug and returned to my car with a waiting Taemin already in the front seat. 

Another silent ride. We finally arrived home and Taemin went straight to his room. I decided to not follow him. I didn’t really have anything to say to make him feel better. We all knew what was going to happen and there was not much we could do to stop it. 

I went to my parent’s room and told them that we had returned before going to my room next door. I changed into my pajamas and plug my phone into the charger. I turned the ringer back on, awaiting the call that we were all dreading. I texted Jonghyun to tell him that i love him and good night, like I do every night and I drifted off to sleep. 
And then it happened.

I was awoken by the same ringtone that Minho had assigned to his parents years ago. Tears fell as I looked at the blinking light on my nightstand, hoping that it was just a dream, that everything had been a nightmare, that I was going to re-open my eyes and that everything was going to be okay. I re-opened my eyes to see the phone still sitting on my nightstand, blinking with the notification of a missed call. I reached my hand out and grabbed the handphone, flipped it open and called the number back.

“K-kibum.” 


I couldn’t answer. Mrs. Choi.

“You and Taemin should come down here. He isn't going to make it much longer,” she sobbed. “Come down and say your goodbyes.”

The last word hit me like a knife, straight through my heart. 

“Neh. W-we will be down soon. T-thank you for calling.” I hung up the phone.

I felt paralyzed. I couldn’t move my body. I shot my head up when I heard someone open my door.

“Was that Minho’s mom?” Taemin said, holding the bear that Minho had gotten him. I just looked down and shook my head. “What did she say?”

“We need to go.”