All of them stand in the early morning light shafting from the windows in Chanyeol's room. Snow falls generously outside; some of them tucked at the corners of the window. The room is silent, until now, when the doctor pulls himself up from Chanyeol's bed and jotts down something on his clipboard that he brought with him. Yoora sits beside the bed, holding Chanyeol's hand and pushing back the bangs that's falling into his pale face. Suho, Jongin, Kyungsoo, Sehun and Baekhyun watch in silence as the doctor takes out a few prescriptions from his antique medical bag that's aged from many years. Soo Yun stands behind by the door; feeling unwelcomed somehow, as if she doesn't have the right to be here at all.

Her heart aches whenever she glances at Chanyeol, laying lifelessly on the bed, his face as white as a sheet. If it wasn't for his chest heaving up and down slowly, people would think he was already dead. It unsettles all of them to see Chanyeol so lifeless, so helpless, like the beam of light and happiness that he represents is being out of their souls, leaving them feeling empty. 

A voice interrupts the quietude, and everyone turns to look at the middle-aged doctor, who's bearing a hearten smile.

"Chanyeol-ssi will be fine after a few days of rest. He had been experiencing extreme fatigue, I assumed from too much walking or far too much physical activities without having a proper meal to balance it out. I suggest he takes a good rest and make sure he eats these prescriptions three times a day." The doctor concludes, and offer them a warm smile. 

"So he'll be alright then?" Suho pipes up, the fretful expression never leaving his face. His eyebrows are pulled together in a frown, and he looks years older. 

"Yes, he will be fine." The doctor nods, as he swings his stethoscope around his neck and reaches for his medical bag at the table. His eyes lays upon each member before they settle on Suho. "And to all of you, get some rest too. I don't want any fainting cases to repeat themselves after this. Work is work, but your health matters most." He raises his eyebrows expectantly to Suho; asking for full responsibilty from the leader. 

After a chorus of gratitude, Baekhyun volunteers to lead him outside and they exit the room while closing the door behind them. 

Suho suddenly receives a phone call, and his face is yet again crunch up, as he mutters 'hmm's and 'yes' into the other line; evidently flustered. He hangs up the phone as the moment passes with a deep sigh of resignation. "We have to go." Suho's mouth puckers like he tasted something extremely sour. 

"I don't recall us having any schedule this bloody early in the morning, hyung." Jongin rubs his forehead in dismay, his shoulders slouch from exhaustion. If they keep having sudden work requirements, he might end up passing out as well.

"It's the recording, we're seriously far away behind from schedule. The album will be out before Christmas and the songs haven't even gotten through the recording process yet. We have to go, now." Suho pleads, his eyes mirroring his anxiety. 

"But what about Chanyeol? We can't just leave him like this. And it doesn't feel right to not have him there." Kyungsoo questions. 

Suho seems to hesitate for a second, but then Yoora interrupts before he changes his mind. "You guys go, Soo Yun and I will take care of him for now. We'll inform you when he wakes up, alright?" Yoora searches for Soo Yun's eyes and finally find the bright, glossy, almost-wary eyes of her and gives her a small smile. Soo Yun nods in return, her fingers fiddling with her sweater, trying to disguise her shaking hands. 

"Thank you," Suho breathes a sigh of relief and leans in to kiss Yoora on the cheek before he catches himself and stumbles back a few steps. Yoora stares at him bewilderedly. "I...I didn't mean to-" His cheeks burn is absolute embarassment just as the whole room erupt into laughter. Yoora flushes and quickly looks down, her pulse starts to pick up at an intense rate that she starts to hear it in her ears. The proximity of how close Suho was to kissing her burns at the back of her mind. 

"Yoora...I..." Suho still scrambles with the words to utter, but in the end, Jongin pulls him away to save him. Except for the defeated looking leader, all of them wave a goodbye to Soo Yun and Yoora before making their way out; promising they will stop by and visit Chanyeol as soon as recording session is over. 

*

"Do you like him, unnie?" Soo Yun smiles, a hint of a deep impression at the corner of in her left cheek. 

They are sitting by the bed, Yoora on Chanyeol's left while Soo Yun on the right. "Saying I like him doesn't quite suit the feelings I have for him, to be honest." Yoora looks up, and her lips forms a small smile. "So you do like Suho oppa then?" Soo Yun gasps, her eyes bright with excitement like a kid on Christmas day. Yoora merely laughs. "Yes, you could say that." 

Soo Yun nods, her heart feels warm by Yoora's confession. It's like witnessing true love blooming for the first time. 

"Love is...the strangest thing, isn't it?" Yoora says quietly, her eyes averting to Chanyeol who's still sleeping peacefully. Soo Yun follows her gaze, and her breath catches on . Yes, she admits. Love is the strangest thing. 

As the moments pass, Yoora abruptly stands up and gives Chanyeol's hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm going to get us some breakfast. What would you like?" Yoora asks Soo Yun, who shakes her head instantly. "I'm fine, you should go ahead unnie. I'll look after him." 

"Okay. I won't be long." She reaches her trench coat on the chair and slings it on her arm. She squeezes Soo Yun's shoulder gently before exiting Chanyeol's room. After she left, Soo Yun feels the aching pain stabbing her from the inside again. She slowly reaches out for Chanyeol's hand and intertwines her fingers between his cold ones. His breathing is steady, as she plants her lips on his hand and kisses it softly; a tear trickles down her cheek.

She feels Chanyeol stir, his fingers twitching in their hold. "Chanyeol?" She chokes, and leans closer towards him. Chanyeol peels open his eyes slowly and his eyelids flutter in confusion, or perhaps trying to adjust to the blinding sunlight peeking through the curtains. He slowly turns his head towards Soo Yun and tries to make out his surrounding. "Where...where am I?" His voice comes out hoarse and dry. 

"You're in your room, you pabo. I'm so glad you're awake." She chortles between her tears, the weight of sadness lifting up from her shoulders. 

"What happened?" His eyes land on their interlaced hands, and Chanyeol smiles a little. 

Soo Yun realizes she's still holding his hand, and pulls away her fingers rather reluctantly. Chanyeol's smile fades. "You...were gone for the whole day and didn't even pick up your phone. We were dead worried. We tried searching for you but we couldn't find you anywhere. But then you showed up at the front of the building after 10 hours and fainted." 

Chanyeol gets up into a sitting position slowly and tries to recall what happened last night. His head still throbs like being hit by a hammer continuously. "Really? Because I feel like I'm going through a hangover. My head hurts like hell." He tries to rub off the pain.

His words are like a reminder and Soo Yun fumbles for the bottles of prescription on the table beside the bed. She opens the cap and plops two pills on her palm. May cause drowsiness and sleepiness.  She mumbles to herself when her eyes scan over the sentences written at the bottom. 

"What's that for?" Chanyeol frowns at the pills that's laying on the palm of her hand. "It's your prescriptions. I don't know what it's for, really, but the doctor said you have to take it three times a day." She picks one up and attempts to feed Chanyeol, but he pushes her hand away. "I'm not eating that." 

"Ya, there's no option here. I don't know what you have against medicine but you have to eat this. Or else..." She scowls, and lets the word trail. Chanyeol sneers. "Or what?" 

Sneering Park Chanyeol is the most iest Park Chanyeol. Even in his ridiculously pallid state. 

Soo Yun shoves the pills and cups his mouth using her hand before he even had the chance to spit it out. Chanyeol's eyes widen as he struggles in her firm grip. His hand circles around Soo Yun's wrist to pull her away but her grip is tight, insistent. After a moment of incoherent mutters and death glares, Chanyeol knows instantly that he won't win this battle. He had no choice but to swallow it.

She smiles satisfyingly, and sits back on her chair. "Don't ever do that to me every again.." Chanyeol gasps in between breaths; nearly having a heart attack. "That's payback. For the other day. When you shoved that fried ice cream ball into my face." She smirks. 

"Well at least that one tasted heavenly." Chanyeol cringes at the after taste of medicine that lingers at his tongue. He wipes his mouth and feels the headache slowly fading; its grip on his brain receding.

"What happened? Where...did you go?" The words burst out of Soo Yun all of a sudden as she can't hold back any longer. Chanyeol is startled; his hand suspended in the air after wiping his lips. He knew the question was going to come out of her sooner or later. If not from her, then everyone else. He's unable to remember the details at first, what really happened that night when he walked from Hongdae back to Cheongdam dong. But what happened before that? He racks his brain for a few minutes, and then the image of the old man appears in his mind. Arson. Fire. Murdered. 

Hani. 

He shakes his head and tries to eliminate the encounter last night. Chanyeol bites the inside of his cheek; a habit he does when he's deep in thought. "I went...visiting. A friend." Chanyeol simply says. He hates lying to Soo Yun, but it isn't entirely a lie, right?

Soo Yun can sense he's lying straight through his teeth, but she doesn't push it any further. It isn't her place to do that. She bites her lip and tries to form the right sentence in her mind. She takes a deep breath and swallows hardly. "I know I'm not supposed to bring this up... but...I'm sorry. For what you had to go through in the past. I know it's ridiculous for me to apologize but I really feel the need to." 

"What are you talking about?" Chanyeol frowns. 

"Yoora told me about your childhood. The awful things you had to go through. And...Haneul." She looks down at the cracks in floorboards, preparing for Chanyeol's burst of anger for digging through his past, but she is greeted with silence. Instead, Chanyeol lets out a small sigh, and stares at the wall in front of him. 

The moment pass painstakingly before he answers her: "It was a long time ago. I'm fine now," He lifts his face and gives her one of those fake smiles that he had been abusing for the last few weeks.

Soo Yun's eyes appear dark to him; like wet earth, and search his for a long time. Her expression is unreadable, but Chanyeol can sense she feels pitiful towards him. He finally averts his gaze from her when the lump in his throat emerges whenever someone reminds him of his past. The past that forces him to walk down that cold and dark lane by himself. He gazes at the window with the curtains pulled to its side. Some of the flakes gather at the windowsill outside, piling a huge amount at the corners; just like his addled thoughts.

"Do you miss her?" Soo Yun asks softly.

Chanyeol becomes rigid all of a sudden. His jaw becomes hard and all his muscles are evidently tense. When he turns back to look at her, it's clear in his eyes, that such words to actually come out of surprised him.

He had no choice but to answer truthfully. "Yes. Every day."

Soo Yun can feel her heart drop to her stomach but she tries to keep her face composed. "What was she like? Well, apart from beautiful, I'm sure," she jokes casually. Soo Yun pushes away the tightness that's beginning to form in her chest.

Chanyeol doesn't answer immediately, since it was such a long time since he remembered Haneul distinctly. "Funny. Kind. Smart. And beautiful. Full of life." He looks down and smiles at his hands rested on his lap. "She was my first love." Chanyeol is not quite sure why he's telling Soo Yun this but he feels like she would understand, would actually listen, instead of making quick judgments.

"She's a lucky girl," Soo Yun mumbles softly, admitting it more to herself than to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol doesn't seem to notice, because he continues to speak; the words coming out naturally now instead of feeling forced by it. "No, the lucky one is me. Well, was." His eyelids starts to feel heavy, drooping, and he tries to blink the drowsiness away.

"I promised her...before she left that day---that I would always smile no matter how hard the situation is. It's hard, to always smile, you know. But whenever I feel like giving up, I think of her and I felt like I would never want to let her down. Haneul taught me to be happy again. She....taught me happiness...when I thought I lost it forever."

He feels heavy now; but not from the sleepiness trying to pull him into a doze, but rather with grief and sadness; replacing his blood with lead and weighs him down. His eyes start to feel the burning sensation right before he cries, and Chanyeol drops his face into his hand as violent sobs start to rack his lean frame and he feels so exposed, so vulnerable at the time.

"Why am I such an idiot? I failed her, I failed myself, I failed everyone. I wasn't there when she needed me the most. And I couldn't even save myself. I was such a coward. A ing coward. I deserved all of this. I deserved the pain. And I failed you, Yun-ah. I'm sorry, for hurting you. I'm sorry if you got hurt because of me. I just--I don't know who I am anymore. I'm not worth it. And God, it hurts so much," 

At that moment, Soo Yun wraps her arms around him tightly, securing him in an embrace as his sobs becomes louder and his body shakes mercilessly. He didn't push her away, and lets himself be engulfed in her scent that smells like lavender and warm comfort. His forehead leans on her small shoulder, and Soo Yun rests her chin on the top of Chanyeol's head while his hair softly, the tears starting to form in her eyes. 

This is the first time she'd seen Chanyeol cry, and it breaks her to see him like this. Chanyeol has always been so lively; filled with positivity, always beaming with that goofy smile he never erases from his facade. But right now he's falling apart, and she can't help but feel the same pain.

"No, you're worth it. You worth more than anything in this world. You're worth loving, and you're the best person I've ever known." She murmurs. Chanyeol pulls away from her arms and looks up at her, his eyes glassy with tears and nose red from crying. 

"Am I really worth loving?" he asks. 

"Yes. Every little part of you." 

Just as the last word leaves , Chanyeol moves in and kisses her; planting his lips on hers in a gentle kiss. His hand brushes her face gently, and she can feel his cold tears touching her cheek. 

He pulls away before she can even react, and Soo Yun's breath hitch on when their gazes meet. 

Everything between them is twisted together; friendship and love and hurt and pain. And when Chanyeol kissed her; all of that combines together into a single symphony. 

His gaze steadies her, as he murmurs a soft "Thank you," before closing his eyes and fell into a slumber. 

{ A/N }

OMG A KISS YAY ^^ sorry it took me ten chapters to finally have a little romance between them hehe. I know it's not much but it'll build up in the subsequent chapters ^^

Thank you to all my subscibers for staying with this story until now, to the kind upvoters and to you guys who took the time to leave a comment, I'm really grateful for each and every one of you. And to the silent readers as well! :) Thank you so much! 

Stay tune for the next chapter (for more Chanyun) & leave comments & tell me what you think! It'd make me really happy jinjja ^^

Take care!

-Z