Chapter 17

Euphoria
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C h a p t e r  1 7

Attention: this is kind of a double update so make sure that you read Chapter 16 first!

The next days passed by in a blur.

Donghae's condition got better; he was still in a coma but his life wasn’t in danger anymore. That didn’t change anything about how Eunhyuk was worried about him though – he couldn’t see any improvements. All he had were the doctor's words but it was really hard for him to believe in them; it simply didn’t look like Donghae was better and he couldn’t calm down as long as it was like that.             
The other members weren’t allowed to visit Donghae because he was still in intensive care and Eunhyuk, Donghae's mother and Donghwa took turns so that he wouldn’t be alone any time; there was always someone with him and it was Eunhyuk during the most nights. But even when he had the time to relax, Eunhyuk didn’t. He commuted between the younger's room and the hallway, only visited Siwon's apartment now and then to take a shower. He couldn’t remember when he had eaten the last decent meal and his sleeping habits were just as unhealthy. The nurses were almost used to find him sleeping with his head pillowed on his arms next to Donghae or on a chair in the hallway. There were always a few members around – mostly to make sure that he wasn’t starving himself.

The raven head avoided going home to the dorm, he even avoided to leave the hospital on his own. After the press conference he had told the others to not tell him anything about how the public reacted to his statement. He didn’t want to hear a single word about it, no matter what was happening. All of his attention should be with his boyfriend and he didn’t waste a second on thinking about the media. He didn’t want to hear anything about SM either. His phone was turned off and none of the managers were allowed to come close to Donghae anyway. Mrs. Lee had decided that they wouldn’t be allowed to see her son in future either when he would be at the general ward after waking up.

But even without knowing about all the headlines and articles there were some things that even Eunhyuk couldn’t ignore. There were fans outside the hospital that somehow had found out where Donghae was; the other members had already talked to them and told them to go home but they insisted on staying. They spent time with them now and then and Siwon sometimes prayed with them – and there were more fans every day. But it all was different now; there wasn’t this usual fuss when one of the members appeared. It was very calm, no one rushed to them or persisted on being close to them. The fans kept their distance and stayed close to the entrance area, gave them gifts for Donghae and Eunhyuk sometimes and asked them how both of them were. They couldn’t really give them an answer but they always thanked them for their support. This whole situation affected the fans just as much as it affected them; those poor girls almost looked as devastated as Eunhyuk.

There were some journalists as well – but they didn’t bother them much because all they did was taking some pictures from afar. And if they dared to come any closer the fans were really successful in making them leave. So it seemed like Eunhyuk's speech had at least worked a bit.

***

Eunhyuk rubbed his eyes and suppressed a yawn before he let his eyes travel to the clock on the wall. It was almost eight in the morning so Mrs. Lee would be there soon. Turning his head slightly he looked back at Donghae who hadn't moved an inch since he had been hospitalized. The younger still seemed so pale, so fragile and if the doctors hadn't told Eunhyuk that his condition had gotten better he would still fear for the brunet's life with every heartbeat.

Slowly he reached his hand out to brush some hair out of the other's face before caressing Donghae's cheek carefully. Eunhyuk was so used to the beeping and all the other noises that filled the room that he felt like something was missing when it was quiet around him. By then he knew the exact order of all the machines' noises by heart, they had become a melody in his head. He had learned to like it, almost needed it because this melody told him that Donghae was still living; it calmed him down to hear it.

Soft knocking interrupted the order of noises before the door was slowly opened. As he turned his head he could see Donghae's mother coming in; she sent him a small smile that he forced on his own lips as well.

"Good morning, my dear", she said silently while coming closer. "How are the both of you doing today?"

Eunhyuk nodded slightly and looked back to the younger. "It's alright, I guess", he mumbled as his eyes fell to the cold hand in his hold. He squeezed it a bit and let his thumb run over the pale skin. Leaning a bit closer towards Donghae he started to speak to him in a low voice, almost whispering like the other was only sleeping and he didn’t want to wake him up.

"Donghae, I'll leave now, okay? Your mother is here; she'll stay with you for the next hours."

He kept watching him for a moment like he was waiting for a reaction; there was none of course. Eunhyuk sighed silently but just as he was about to stand up he felt a movement; it was almost unnoticeable but he thought he had felt the other's hand twitch a tiny bit. He immediately turned his head back towards the other while squeezing his hand once more.

"Donghae?" he asked, full of hope. He waited a few seconds and watched him alertly but Donghae didn’t move again – if he even had been moving to begin with. The hope slowly disappeared as he remembered Dr. Kim's words. It was possible that Donghae's muscles jerked slightly now and then but that didn’t mean that he was starting to wake up. Those were only unconscious movements and they shouldn’t put too much optimism in them.

"What's wrong?" Mrs. Lee asked a bit concerned. Eunhyuk shook his head.

"Nothing. I… I guess I'm just starting to imagine things."

He sent her another weak smile and let go of Donghae's hand unwillingly before he eventually got up. Mrs. Lee hugged him shortly and patted his back before she took his place and sat down next to the bed; he could hear her faintly whispering to her son as he left the room.

With slow steps he walked along the hallway, saw the encouraging smiles the nurses sent him and tried to give them a small smile himself. He thought about going out for a bit but changed his mind as he remembered the fans waiting there. He knew that they wouldn’t start screaming or anything but he just didn’t want to see them right now. All he wanted was some time to relax – or at least to try doing it.

He left the ICU through a double door and even though his eyes were still looking at the floor he could see somebody standing up and approaching him.

"There you are."

Eunhyuk hummed and didn’t look up as he got patted on the back. Leeteuk smiled at him either way and tried to let their eyes meet. "Are you hungry?" the leader asked.

The younger shook his head and only looked at him as Leeteuk grabbed his chin and made him. "Let me treat you to breakfast. It's been a while since I did so."

"Hyung, you don’t have to-"

"I want to. So let's go."

He grabbed his arm and pulled Eunhyuk along until the other followed him voluntarily. They made their way to the cafeteria in complete silence; Leeteuk ordered something but Eunhyuk didn’t pay enough attention to know what it was. He didn’t plan on eating it anyway.               
The leader asked him about Donghae's condition but the answer he heard was the same as all the days before; nothing had changed after all. And so they sat there with that heavy silence around them that none of them liked; Eunhyuk's mind blank and Leeteuk's full with questions.

"Hyukjae", Leeteuk hesitantly started after some time; a cup of coffee in his hands. The other hummed again while staring at the fog of his own cup, biting his lip nervously. He was always very uneasy when he wasn’t

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Caande
HOLY I GOT FEATURED?!?! Omgggg... Thank you all for upvoting and reading this! What to do.... T_T Don't know what to say, I just love you all ♥

Comments

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eunhiyuga #1
Chapter 38: Waw kayanya ini story ter realis krn kaya nyata banget ditulisnyaa. Baru selese baca tapi dah pengen ngulang baca lagi
eunhiyuga #2
Chapter 17: I am surely crying at this chapter
Kethryveris
#3
Chapter 39: Je suis venue commenter, c'était vraiment une fic difficile à lire (j'ai du lire des passages en diagonale parce que la torture subit par Donghae ce n'est pas mon truc) néanmoins c'est très bien écrit et l'intrigue est vraiment bien monté, tu as beaucoup de talent. Bravo
rbdgirl
#4
Chapter 37: Eunhae are getting married:)
rbdgirl
#5
Chapter 22: Heechul:)
rbdgirl
#6
Chapter 17: Well done hyukjae:)
Lyuta_Kozhina #7
She used to start reading Euphoria. but then I was not affected. I recently read Courage and after that everything turned out to be much more interesting. Written very well! You can describe all emotions. I only learned a couple of years ago that there is such a band and there are such guys and now I'm drowning in their sapphire ocean.
PenguinLOvers772
#8
Chapter 11: Back in here to torture myself :')
because this story is so good <3
Eun_haekk
#9
Never read angst as this, got me so frustrated but this just shows how good of an author you are to elicit such emotions from the readers.
hyukkie_chin
1455 streak #10
Chapter 17: hyukee :(