Jongin walked into his own office and threw his brief case onto his chair. His white coat hung from his chair. Jongin was still fuming at what Kyungsoo had told him. He paced in front of his desk mulling the conversation over and over again. Each second he lingered on the words that Kyungsoo had told him the more rage built up inside him until finally Jongin raised his fists and slammed them onto his desk. He kept his balled fists pressed against the wood on his desk as he took long deep breaths, trying to calm himself.
Eventually Jongin grabbed his coat from his chair and slung it over his shoulders, pulling it on. He tugged at the front of the coat and picked up Luhan’s report file that he had been working on and walked out of his office walking briskly towards Luhans ward.
Jongin pushed open the door of the ward and stopped once he was inside the waiting bay. He blinked as he stared out past the glass. A broad smile swept itself across his features as he walked closer to the glass.
There, sitting propped up in bed, looking as if nothing had happened, was Luhan. And sitting next to him was Sehun, smiling strumming on an old guitar.
Jongin shook his head amazed and chuckled as he walked towards the door that lead into the ward. As soon as Jongin opened the door he was hit with an instant rush of music.
Jongin’s eyes widened as he realized that it was Sehun playing the guitar and Luhan singing along. The music reverberated across the room, amplified by the acoustics in the ward. Jongin gazed, awe struck, at the pair as they both sung. They both had smiles on their faces as they looked at each other. Sehun’s arm was strumming in a uniform pattern as Luhan closed his eyes and sang each note perfectly.
Jongin’s mouth gaped open as Luhan sang one last note of the song and opened his eyes again to look at Sehun. Sehun smiled up at his hyung. He was glad to finally see the smile back on his face.
The both of them jumped as loud claps reverberated around the room. They turned their heads to look at the source of the noise.
Jongin had tucked his report file underneath his arm and was applauding loudly. He smiled as he walked forward, looking at the two brothers.

‘That was amazing.’

Sehun smiled and stood up

‘Thank you hyung’

Jongin smiled and looked at Luhan. The smile was now gone from Luhans face and his eyes were down cast, hidden by the brown locks of hair framing his face.
Jongin smiled and sat in the seat Sehun had occupied and held out his hand for Luhan to shake.

‘Hello Luhan, my name’s Kim Jongin. It’s nice to meet you.’

Luhan looked at Jongin with big curious eyes and meekly took his hand, shaking it.

‘Nice to meet you Jongin-ah’

Luhan kept his voice low as Jongin took Luhan’s small hand in his. Luhan’s skin was soft and delicate. It was then that Jongin realized how shy Luhan really was. Jongin smiled as he pulled his hand back and produced a pen from his pocket, opening up his file.

‘Now I just need you to answer some questions for me..’

Luhan blinked and looked a little worried as he quickly glanced at Sehun and back to Jongin

‘E-Eh?’

Jongin laughed softly and smiled warmly at Luhan

‘Don’t worry. It’s just basic protocol. You don’t have to answer some questions if you don’t want to.’

The process was slow, but Jongin was willing to take everything at a slow pace. In his mind he was afraid that if he rushed things and pushed the boy to hard, the fragile being in front of him would crumble into a thousand pieces.
Luhan answered each question in a soft voice, taking a few seconds to mull the question over in his mind before giving a hesitant answer. Jongin nodded patiently and smiled every time Luhan answered a question and noted it down, whilst Sehun leant against the wall not saying a single word throughout the entire process.
When Jongin finally stood up the sky was already dark. Jongin smiled at Luhan

‘Thank you for your time. I’m glad to see that you’re up and at it so quickly, but we can’t let you leave until you’re fully recovered.’

Luhan looked up when he heard this. His eyes looked as if they were going to overflow with tears. Jongin was taken aback as he looked at those light brown eyes. He realized that the tears weren’t because of the amount of physical pain Luhan was in, they were for his brother. Sehun seemed to sense Luhans reaction as he immediately walked over and sat at the edge of the bed, taking Luhans hand in his.

‘It’s alright hyung. I’ll come to visit you tomorrow first thing.’

Luhan smiled sadly at his brother as his chin wobbled and nodded. Sehun smiled and kissed Luhans head.

‘You just rest up and get better quickly baby hyung. Then it’ll just be us again.’

Luhan nodded quickly as his eyes welled up,

‘B-Be careful on the way home ok Sehuna?’

‘Don’t worry. I’ll drop him off home.’

Both Sehun and Luhan looked up at Jongin. Sehun quickly stood up.

‘Anniyo hyung. Its fine I can go home by myself.’

Jongin shook his head and smiled at the younger boy.

‘Your brother wants you to go home safely. And it’s the least I can do.’

Sehun looked at the older boy for a second then turned back to his brother. He kissed Luhan on the forehead, keeping his lips pressed against Luhans skin for a minute. Luhan smiled at Sehun.

‘Go, on Sehuna. You need sleep. I’ll be waiting.’

Sehun nodded and pulled back reluctantly. Jongin smiled at Sehun and motioned towards the door.

‘Shall we?’

Sehun nodded and walked out of the ward. Jongin smiled at Luhan one last time

‘If you need help, don’t be afraid to just call ok?’
Luhan nodded in response. Jongin smiled and his heels.
He followed Sehun out, shutting the door behind them with a clack.

…………………………………..

Jongin and Sehun were in the car in less than 5 minutes and were already pulling out of the hospital driveway. Sehun was glad that Luhan was finally awake. It felt as if a world of burden had just lifted itself from his shoulders as soon as he looked into Luhans eyes. He finally felt calm flooding into his veins, in what seemed like the first time in millennia. Now that things seemed to be easing up, Sehun finally realized how exhausted he was.
Jongin pulled up at a light. His mind was a mess. He was glad that Luhan was recovering so quickly, but he didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

‘So you like playing the guitar?’

Sehun blinked

‘E-Eh?’

‘You like playing the guitar?’

Jongin turned to look at the smaller boy. The streetlights cast a dim shadow on the road and the car was drowned in darkness but in the faint light Sehun could make out a smile on Jongins features. Sehun nodded slowly and looked back at the road. The street light turned green.

‘Yes. One day… maybe someday… I want to play in front of a big audience. I want the world to listen to my music. And I want Luhan hyung standing beside me to witness the moment when I do. But I don’t know if I can…’

Jongin nodded, a knowing look on his face.
Sehun opened the door of the car and stepped out onto the street. He shut the door behind him but before he could take a step towards his apartment, Jongin had gotten out of the car and was calling out to him.

‘Yah, Sehun-ah.’

Sehun blinked and turned to look at Jongin

‘N-Nae?’

Jongin grinned, standing underneath the crimson street lights of the Red Light District.

‘When you stand on the world stage, and you perform for the whole world, and they fall in love with your music, I want to be there to witness it.’

Sehun stared at Jongin. He couldn’t understand this being that stood in front of him. This being that unconditionally gave others so much and expected nothing in return. Sehun smiled and nodded his head.

‘Then I’ll be looking for you in the crowd hyung. You better be there.’

Jongin chuckled and got back into his car.

‘I’ll come pick you up, same time tomorrow.’

Sehun nodded and waved as the silver Audi rolled out of the RLD, but instead of going upstairs to his apartment, Sehun lingered for a moment longer, watching the vehicle disappear into the night.

………………………..

Jongin drove deep into the inner city. His head was reeling and it felt as if his skull was cracking open. The lights from the traffic glared in his eyes, forcing him to squint slightly. He reached up to a small storage compartment over his head and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, slipping them on clumsily over his eyes.
He was stuck in a pulsating throng of vehicles. Although the city seemed busy by day, peak hour for the roads was always between 10pm to 2 in the morning.
By the time Jongin reached his destination his head was numb, a side effect of sitting in the middle lane for over half an hour. Jongin parked his car near the footpath and opened the door. He heaved himself and his brief case out of the car and shut the door, locking the vehicle with a flick of his wrists.
Jongin walked slowly towards a row of apartment blocks. He groggily pulled out his keys from his pocket and swiped it against the scanner before pushing open the front door and walking into the building.
It was expensive, living in the city, but Jongin could afford the rent easily enough. He walked up to the elevator and pushed the button pointed upwards. He stuffed himself into the elevator and shut his eyes. His head lolled back as he swayed on the spot, counting in his head.

‘….14…15…16…17…18…19…20’

Jongin opened his eyes as the lift doors opened. He stepped out onto the marbled floor and walked down the corridor. His footsteps echoed as he neared the centre of the corridor. He stopped in front of a door marked 20’08 and rummaged in his pockets again for his key. He unlocked the door and pushed it open into a dimly lit apartment.
Jongin shut the door behind him and dropped is brief case and coat onto the wooden floor boards. He placed his palm on the cream walls and slipped off his shoes. Jongin walked into the small apartment. A cream coloured couch was positioned near the window with a tv blaring out the weather report opposite it. In between the couch and the tv was a small coffee table, littered with papers and books held down with coffee mugs. Pens were scattered across the table and on top of all the mess was an opened laptop harbouring a blank screen. Jongin collapsed onto the couch and reached beside him to flick on a lamp. A burnt yellow light lit up the coffee table. He groaned and tugged at his shirt, he stripped it off and picked up a grey wife beater that lay abandoned next to the coffee table. He slipped it on and slid onto the floor sitting in front of the small table with his legs jutting out from underneath. He groaned as he sat down a little too quickly and felt his phone dig into his thigh. Jongin pulled it out, realizing that the small objet was vibrating.
He frowned as he looked at the unfamiliar number on the screen. Jongin answered the phone speaking in a business-like manner.

‘Hello?’

‘Hello? Mr Jongin?’

Jongin blinked as he recognized the soft voice of Kyungsoo, the cardiologist.

‘Yes?’

‘It’s me Doctor Kyungsoo?’

Jongin couldn’t help but chuckle at the hesitant sound of Kyungsoo’s voice.

‘I figured it was you. Anyway. What do you want?’

‘I-I’m not bothering you am I?’

Now Jongin laughed.

‘Let’s see; you put me in an off mood earlier today that stressed me out and have now decided to call me at what, 12pm? No Doctor Kyungsoo. You aren’t bothering me.’

Jongin could hear Kyungsoo flinch over the line

‘So I’ll call you again later?’

‘No.’

Jongin sighed and rubbed his head

‘I’m just being a grumpy bastard. I haven’t gotten any sleep for the last two days you see…’

‘E-Eh!? You haven’t been sleeping? What are you doing awake? Go to bed r-right now.’  

Jongin laughed again, a little more softly.

‘I will after you tell me why you called me for.’

‘O-Oh a-about earlier today…’

Kyungsoo paused and Jongin could tell that he was taking a deep breath

‘I’m sorry if I seemed a little heartless. At the time it was the only thing I could do to help Luhan… I could only wager at how it felt like to be in his shoes at that moment. And…. I’ve been thinking about what you said… I want to help… I’ve screwed up once already and believe me I’ve been regretting it… So please…’

Jongin smiled as he leant back on the couch

‘Be at your office by 8 am tomorrow. I’ll pick you up from there and we’ll head over to the hospital and get things started. I think I’ll be needing all the help I could get.’