"He's losing quite a lot of weight."

"Minho ah, are you eating correctly?" 

"Neh, umma." 

"Keep an eye on his weight and temperature. I will schedule your follow ups. Do everything this book says." 

"Yes, tending to the wound, showering, eating, walking, everything. You have to monitor him." 

"When can I go back to school?" 

"Minho ah, you have to wait for at least a month so we know you can be on your own." 

"But...my friends..."

"They'll come over, of course!" 

Minho's exit from his hospital room was a blur and he felt only numbness and fatigue, not much else. He didn't feel liberated and he didn't know why. Did ten year olds ever feel liberated? Was that a feeling that a ten year old should have? He didn't feel happy and he didn't know why. He wasn't smiling and he didn't know why. Should he be smiling? Should he bow at the feet of the doctors and nurses because he couldn't express his gratitude in words? One thing he knew, was that he missed Taemin. He felt very lonely without him. Minho's limbs shook and shivered and the wheeled journey to the car was long. He probably looked sick and he didn't want pity, but he felt also ashamed that he wasn't being more thankful for people's affection and care.

Minseok had run out in the cold to pull the car to the entrance, however sat in the back seat, holding his younger brother as he slept during the long awaited drive home. While the car was pulling away, Minho saw a glimpse of sandy hair and a wave. This small moment in time made Minho happy for the first time that day. 

Back in the neighborhood...

"Wake up! Hyung! Stop strangling me!" Kibum complained as he tried to pry off his baby of an older brother. Jonghyun was scared of the dark so he often climbed into bed with Kibum, who didn't appreciate it one bit, especially since Jonghyun was a snuggler. It was a gray morning, a cold December day. But it wasn't just another day. It was the day they could finally visit Minho. 

"Hyung! You're too old for this!" Kibum complained, louder, right into Jonghyun's ear, startling him awake. Jonghyun sat up and opened one eye at a time. He looked around the room to gather information about his surroundings. The room was a loud pink color with stick on stars covering the ceiling. There were candles lined up side by side on the windowsill. In the corner was a floor lamp that had multiple bendy pieces of metal coming out from it that were adorned with green, pink, and blue lampshades. To wake Jonghyun up further, Kibum had switched the floor lamp on, which illuminated the still-dark curtain drawn room with soft colored light. Jonghyun blinked, registering that he was not in his room, but his little brother's, again. 

"Sorry, Kibum. Must've fallen asleep here again." Jonghyun said sheepishly. Jonghyun lazily got up from the bed and began to stretch. Kibum felt the need to laugh at his feeble attempt to touch his toes before lecturing him. 

"Nuh-uh. You baby. You came in at 1 am, cried a bit and begged me to let you sleep next to me. Not only do you sing in your sleep, but also, your body radiates the heat of a thousand suns. In addition, because of some crazy unknown heat distribution thing you must have and should get checked out, your feet are ice cubes while the rest of your body is the same temperature of the devil's tropical island that he vacations on in the middle of July." Kibum went on and on. 

"You're too wound up. Maybe you shouldn't go see Minho. You're gonna freak him out." Jonghyun said. 

"Hey! He's my best friend too okay? Plus we're closer in age, so I win." Kibum said while sticking his toungue out at Jonghyun. 

"What exactly do you win?" Jonghyun asked, enjoying bickering with his brother. 

"Everything." Kibum said casually shrugging. This action made it very difficult for Jonghyun not to punch Kibum's face off. Instead he took the high road and changed the subject. 

"Whatever. So what time is Jinki hyung coming over? And is Taemin coming?" Jonghyun asked, noticing how Kibum blushed at every mention of Jinki's name. 

"He's...he's coming over at eleven. Minho eats lunch then, so he's free to have visitors. Taemin's mom has to work and couldn't let Taemin be home alone since his brother is gone for the weekend." Kibum said looking at his shoes, trying not to let his older brother see his blushing face. 

"When are you going to tell him?" Jonghyun asked, out of the blue. 

"What? Ask who what?" Kibum demanded, already knowing, but dreading the answer. 

"Prince Jinki. You've liked him for years." Jonghyun said, crossing his arms over his chest in a manner that could only be described as triumphant, as if he had discovered something completely new and groundbreaking. 

"This shouldn't be news to anyone, well except Jinki hyung. Don't make a big deal about it ok?" Kibum urged. 

"Fine, I won't. I'll help you confess to him!" Jonghyun said happily, however found his excitement go out the window when he saw Kibum shaking his head. 

"Minho ah is gonna help me. You're gonna be too into it." Kibum said, making Jonghyun less than pleased. 

After the conversation was over, Kibum, the domestic eleven year old he was, baked cookies with their mother as Jonghyun and their appa tried to wrap small gifts for Minho. In the end, neither could do it, so Kibum stepped in. 

It was 10:45 when they were finished and the doorbell rang. Jonghyun, who had been roughousing with his dad in the living room ran to the door, nearly slipping on the way to the door. 

Jonghyun opened the door to reveal a newly spectacled Jinki. He was all bundled up in a coat and a hat and was wearing black horn-rimmed glasses.

"Hi!" Onew chimed. Kibum, from the kitchen heard the voice and nearly dropped the tray of cookies.

"Hey! When did you get glasses?" Jonghyun asked, admiring how smart Jinki looked. Jonghyun idolized Jinki. In reality, Jinki wasn't in any way a "cool kid" at school, nor was he good at sports. However, Jinki was super smart, especially in math, and to top it all off, Jinki was a singing prodigy. Jonghyun loved to sing and wanted Jinki to take him under his wing. Jonghyun also got a lot of pleasure in making Kibum jealous when they would talk about things Kibum didn't understand. 

"Yesterday. Do I look ok?" the shy, now fourteen year old asked. 

"You look great! Kibum is gonna love them!" Jonghyun chirped, not realizing what he said until he saw Jinki's face turn a rosy red color. 

"Uhm. Thanks. Where is Kibum?" Jinki asked, shyly. 

"Where else? He's standing there in front of the oven watching cookies bake. It's his favorite sport." Jonghyun laughed. Jinki chuckled as well. 

"Well if it's a sport, then Kibum coaches those cookies well cause they're the best." Jinki said smiling. Right at that moment, Kibum emerged, face and arms covered in flour. Kibum had longish hair and had it tied a bit at the back. In addition to that, he, also as vision impaired as Jinki, was sporting his glasses. Jinki thought he looked extremely cute. 

"Hi hyung." Kibum smiled at Jinki. "I like your glasses." 

"Thank you." Jinki said back, making Jonghyun roll his eyes. "Are we ready to go?" 

After waiting for Kibum to change, the boys walked over to Minho's house. The door was a red wooden door, unlike the others on the street which seemed unimportant and boring in comparison. They knocked on the door. Two teenagers answered the door. 

"Hi Minseok hyung! Who's this?" Jonghyun asked the Minho look-alike, referring to the pretty girl next to him. 

"Oh. This is Sooyoung, she's our cousin. She's visiting so she can see Minho." Minseok said. 

"So these are Minho ah's friends? Hi!" Sooyoung said, smiling. "Omo! I love your shoes!" Sooyoung said to Kibum, pointing at his wingtips. 

"I like her! Thank you!" Kibum said, beaming. 

"Minho is in the guest room on this floor." Minseok said, ruffling each of their heads as they filed into the house. "Oh! And Sooyoung's little sister Jinri is around so if you run into her, tell her lunch is ready." 

The boys walked past the kitchen, past the home office, past the guest bathroom and to the end of the hallway to reach the room. Kibum creaked it open and entered on his own, anxious to see his friend. 

Kibum let out a silent gasp when he saw Minho. A skinny, hollowed cheek, pale, dark circled boy was sitting up in bed watching a show, not touching the lunch he was given. Minho was wearing blue button up night clothes and the top of his scar, dyed orange from the disinfectant could be seen. He looked tired and ghostly, and it made Kibum worried even more. 

"Minho?" Kibum asked, gaining the attention of Minho immediately. 

"Kibum? You came." Minho said, trying to sound happy. Honestly, he was very glad to see Kibum

"Of course I did. Jonghyun hyung and Jinki hyung are too." Kibum said, looking down, feeling terrible that they didn't visit Minho when he was in the hospital. 

"And...Taemin?" Minho asked. 

"Uh. He couldn't, not today. But he will." Kibum said, smiling. 

Minho sensed Kibum's hesitation to come into the room more. 

"Hyung. It's okay. You can come closer." Minho said. Kibum came and sat on the bed, getting an even closer look. Minho looked like he lost some hair due to the surgical process and he just looked scared and sad. 

"Can I, um, give you a hug?" Kibum asked quietly, wanting to show his best friend how much he cared for him. 

"Neh." Minho said, without warning him to be careful. He just wanted some comfort from a friend. 

Kibum carefully wrapped his arms around Minho's shoulders, avoiding his chest all together. Kibum was very delicate with Minho, as if he was made of glass. It mad Minho frusturated that he wasn't even in condition to hug a friend. 

"So what's your plan for the month? What are you gonna do?" Kibum asked, patting Minho's head. 

"Just sit here. I can't play soccer. I can't go to school. I can't go outside yes because I can't catch a cold. I'm not sure." Minho said, looking at Kibum for ideas. Kibum was about to speak, when Jonghyun and Jinki came in to say hi. 

"My friend! I missed you!" Jonghyun said, while he sat on the bed. He was all smiles until he saw the top of Minho's scar. He immediately looked back up at Minho's face and smiled wider. Minho knew that his scar was disturbing, but he didn't want to scare away his friends. 

"I missed you guys too! Jinki hyung, how was you last bit of middle school?" Minho asked, Jinki's presence making him relax a bit. 

"It was good. But I'll miss it." Jinki answered, looking in Kibum's direction. This was the first time it dawned on Minho that Jinki could like Kibum back. Of course they would miss each other once Jinki went to the high school building. 

The afternoon was speant talking, playing board games, watching TV, and missing Taemin. Minho, in the end, although he developed a fever, he enjoyed having his friends there and wasn't as nervous that they would look at him differently. The only thing that would truly make him feel at ease, was Taemin coming and Minho wasn't sure why.

A/N: Sorry for the wait! I've been SO BUSY because I'm still in high school :( hope you enjoy this chapter tho! <33