I’m sorry it took me forever to update. I hope you still like this one :)

***

There were only two options: Run fast, or run faster.

Minho chose the first. He couldn’t keep himself calm as soon as Taemin’s voice were shaking on the phone. Then it turned into loud sobbing as he tried to tell what’s going on. When Minho managed to put the confusing words into a fine sentence, it struck him like a lightning bolt. Something about Key, blood, and hospital made him dashed into his car, only to stopped halfway and panting as he turned back and reached Jonghyun’s office.

Minho only managed to utter a name, and Jonghyun’s face went rigid.

Words weren’t even needed when the two best friends got in the car and sped up to the said hospital.

Jonghyun chose the second. His heart wouldn’t stop from beating so fast and his bad feeling somehow was becoming true. He hated feeling like this, not when he had no idea what was happening to Key, the person he loved the most.

They got yelled by a nurse and changed the running pace into fast walking.

Minho saw his Taemin sat on the floor with Key’s parents sitting on the waiting chair. His boyfriend was hugging his knees with his face buried on it. His shoulders were shaking, and Minho hastily grabbed and pulled him into a tight embrace. Taemin looked up, and damn, he looked like a mess. His eyes were close to swollen, too much crying, and he looked tired. Minho quickly whispered soothing words to him.

Jonghyun stared blankly at the sight of Key’s parents, his mother was also crying, and his father looked upset. As much as he wanted to scream and ask them what the hell is going on, the situation just didn’t seem to fit at the moment. So he decided to stay silent and waited (not so) patiently, hands fished in to pockets and lip biting.

He waited, waited and waited...

...then suddenly, Jinki appeared with his parents.

Jinki’s expression was full of concern, as he approached Taemin and Minho first, then to his parents in law to be soon.

Jonghyun felt slightly irritated. It turned into a mushy situation for a while, as both families looked very worried and exchanged comforting words to each other.

It was then Taemin realized Jonghyun was around.

“Hyung,” he softly said, cheeks full of dry tears.

Jonghyun didn’t say anything and nodded. Somehow he felt being so left out in the current situation. “What happened, Taemin-ah?”

Taemin looked hesitant for a while. “Key-hyung tried to kill himself...”

A soft gasp escaped his mouth and his eyes widened. “Wh-what?”

“I didn’t know what exactly happened... I just knew that he suddenly stormed out of my house, then I quickly followed him home, and when he was in the bathroom...”

Jonghyun cursed under his breath.

He tried to kill himself?

Taemin only received a blank stare as a reply.

Why is he doing this to me?

 “Hyung?”

Jonghyun gritted his teeth, ignoring Taemin and snapped to Jinki. “Did you guys fight?”

His sudden question made all pairs of eyes turned to him, and Minho sighed inwardly.

Jinki gave him a stern look. “...no.”

“Did you do something bad to him then?”

Jinki frowned and was about to argue when suddenly the emergency unit door was opened, revealing a middle aged doctor. He took off his masker and wiped his forehead with the back of his arm. They forgot about the question right away and walked closer to the doctor, dying to ask him.

“He’s gonna be okay, the cut wasn’t so deep.”

Taemin’s relief breath was the most audible to hear.

“But it’s the mental I’m not so sure about.”

“What are you talking about, Doctor?”, Key’s mother asked.

“When we tried to stitch the wound, he kept tugging his hand, saying he’d better be dead and don’t even bother to save him. Because everything was too late, he kept saying that sentence. Like he really wanted to die and didn’t care at all.”

Jonghyun felt a pang and clutched his chest.

Why, Key? Why?

“Can we see him now?”, Jinki asked.

“Of course. Just make sure you won’t be noisy, he still needs his rest.”

“I’ll stay,” Jinki said and his mother nodded. She then turned to his youngest son. “Taemin, you can go home. You should rest too.”

“But I also wanna stay,” Taemin stubbornly said.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do right now, you heard the doctor, he needs his rest. Maybe it won’t be such a good idea if we’re all here and startling him. We’ll take turns, alright?”

“But...”

“I agree with Umma, Taeminnie, let’s go home,” Minho his boyfriend’s hair affectionately. “We’ll come back tonight.”

Taemin’s mother shot Minho a grateful look and headed to Key’s room with the others, leaving the three of them behind.

Minho carefully glanced at his best friend, who looked like hell. Jonghyun looked stressed. He couldn’t blame him though. Hearing your loved one tried to kill himself wasn’t something you’d take gleefully. But right now, his concern goes for Taemin. His boyfriend also looked like hell, judging by the appearance. He dislike the tense situation between both families right now, but he despised Taemin’s tears even more.

Realizing that there was nothing he can do at the moment, Jonghyun followed Minho to the car.

***

Key slowly gained conciousness and groaned softly. His body was aching, his head was throbbing, and his mouth was dry. He was thirsty. But the first thing that came to his mind was,

Jonghyun.

Key blinked his eyes, adjusting to the light. He found himself in an unfamiliar room.

I’m...still alive?

His eyes glanced to his left hand. It was bandaged, and Key could feel the sharp pain coming from his wrist. A needle was injected to his vein.

How long has it been...

“Key?”

Key closed his eyes in pain. Just the last voice he wished to hear right now.

“Key, you’re awake!!”

“Appa, he’s awake!”

“Kibum, thank God!”

It was kinda noisy when his parents and Jinki made way to his bed. His mother touched his arm, and she was b with tears. Key smiled weakly, unable to say anything. He ignored his mother’s sobbing, feeling really tired with everything and with his left wrist hurting, Key wished they’d just leave him alone. It was when Jinki’s parents came into sight, that his heart started to feel heavy, and guilt was all over his face.

He felt like the worst human being.

Jinki’s mother was smiling encouragingly at him. Her stare was soft, and there was no accusation in her eyes. She didn’t look angry, instead she looked really worried. Key felt like crying for hurting such a kind person.

I’m sorry, Umma.

“Thank God you’re okay,” she said softly and squeezed Key’s arm gently.

“You’ve been sleeping all day,” Jinki sighed in relief. “The cut wasn’t so deep but you’ve lost pretty much blood.”

They started to talk at the same time, and Key winced. His wrist was in pain. The drug was starting to wear off.

“I think we should go,” Mrs. Lee nodded at her husband and Jinki. “At least now we know Key is okay.”

Key was thankful.

Mrs. Kim was only murmuring softly to herself, something about whether Key could make it or not before the wedding day, but Mrs. Lee heard it, and she put a hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s not talk about the wedding right now. What matters is now that your son is safe.”

Key was so grateful. Normally he would hate himself for making his mother worry so much, moreover about the wedding, but after everything that happened, he just felt tired. Right now he’s fed up.

After the Lee family bid their goodbye, Jinki kissed his forehead (and he tried his best not to flinch) walked out, closed the door and it was only the three of them, as much as his mother wanted to ask him why and other questions, Key just avoided the gaze and stared outside the window. Mrs. Kim stood beside the bed for a moment, but he stayed silent, and his mother just sighed and decided to leave him alone. His father just patted his head and told him it was such a dangerous thing to do.

When you feel disgusted with your own self, there was no time to think whether it was dangerous or not, Appa. I wasn’t even thinking about how Jonghyun would feel...

It was around dinner time when Key felt his stomach was grumbling softly, and the 2Min couple arrived just in time, bringing him warm foods.

Taemin said it’s okay for his parents to go home, because they’ll stay for the night and now it’s their turns to take a rest.

After bidding the 2Min goodbye and Mrs. Kim kissed his son in the forehead, they went home.

Taemin stared at Key for a moment. He looked so weak, both physical and emotional. It’s like all the barriers that he had built before were blown away to pieces. The first time Taemin saw Key, his first impression was the male kept so much inside, that he’s afraid one day he’d snap. He was beautiful. Too beautiful in fact, but the sadness clearly dominated his face.

How could someone thought of sacrificing for the sake of others’ happiness?

The youngest one felt his chest tightened.

You deserve to be happy, Hyung.

Taemin smiled and caressed Key’s hair. “Hyung, I brought you mushroom soup. Do you want to eat now?”

Key nodded weakly and Minho helped him into a sitting position.

“If you want to eat something else, just let me know, okay? Jonghyun-hyung will be here soon, he stopped halfway to buy cakes for you. Said you’re gonna crawl for them when you wake up.”

Minho noticed something in Key’s eyes as the name was mentioned.

It was Key’s first word for the day.

“Jonghyun?”

And it’s his name instead of his fiance’s.

It was barely audible, but since the room was quiet, both of Taemin and Minho could hear it.

“He’s coming?”

There was hope in his voice.

“Yeah, he’s coming, Hyung. So don’t worry, okay? He’s gonna be here soon.”

Key’s eyes were beaming, and a smile bloomed on his face.

Taemin was more than happy to see it. He knew exactly the happy feeling of hearing a certain name.

***

Jonghyun arrived late than he was supposed to. Taemin kept calling him, Minho kept texted him, and it made Jonghyun feeling slightly stressed. He couldn’t wait to see his boyfriend, he’d kill just to see Key right now, but God wanted him to be patient.

When he grabbed the cakes that Key liked and queued in line to pay, the cashier’s machine suddenly got broken and they spent the next half an hour more, waiting for it to be fixed. He finally made it back to his car, after receiving another box of cakes as apology gift and hurriedly drove to the hospital.

He suppressed the urge of running in the hall like before, because the nurse that was yelling at him and Minho, was still on duty, head snapping as Jonghyun passed by. Finally arriving at Key’s room, Jonghyun opened the door as quiet as possible. Minho looked up from the magazine he’s been reading, with Taemin sleeping peacefully on his lap. Jonghyun stared at the sleeping figure on the bed, put the plastic of foods on the table and sat on the edge of the bed.

Jonghyun felt his heart breaking.

Key looked so pale. It’s as if his milky skin was drained out of blood. He looked so thin, so vulnerable, so...hurt. His gaze trailed down to the wrist and Jonghyun instinctively touched it.

What were you thinking, Key?

Jonghyun caressed Key’s bangs to the other side and he felt the other flinced at his touch.

Key slowly opened his eyes and blinked several times before his eyes widened.

“Jjong—“

Jonghyun was pulled closer with the unwounded arm and Key buried his head on his chest. Soft sobs could be heard and then Minho stood up, carrying a sleeping Taemin in his arms bridal style to the door, decided to  give the couple some privacy. Jonghyun nodded in gratitude at his best friend. He sighed. Key should really stop crying. He hated to hear sad sobs coming out from the lips he’d love to kiss. Jonghyun wrapped his arms around Key’s body

“Are you trying to leave me?”

Key’s eyes widened in shock. “What? No!!!”

“Then why?”

The diva looked down. “I just...”

“It’s okay...you can tell me.”

Key looked hesitant.

“Baby, tell me.”

“J-Jinki kissed me.”

Jonghyun blinked and pulled away slowly. His hands were on Key’s shoulders, and he was frowning as their gazes locked. “He kissed you?”

“Yes...”

“God, Key,” Jonghyun heaved and face palmed. “You almost killed yourself just because of a kiss???”

Key’s eyes were watering again. He clutched Jonghyun’s shirt tightly.

“I’m still gonna love you even if you marry him, don’t you remember?”

“But that’s not it! I-I feel so dirty...I felt so sick at the thought of having someone other than you, kissing me...”

To think it’s just one kiss.

“You have to bear with it, Key, you don’t want to disappoint your parents, right?”

What if we’re married and he touches me?

“B-but...”

I might end up mutilating myself.

“Nothing’s gonna change between us, I swear to you,” Jonghyun cupped Key’s cheeks and kissed him softly on the lips. “But you have to swear you’re not gonna do such foolish thing ever, ever again. I don’t want to lose you. It’s okay for me to be your number two.”

“But I don’t want you to,” Key shook his head. “I want you to be my number one, you always come first in everything. I don’t want you to be my cheating partner, because I want you to be my partner. I want...to live with you, Jonghyun... I want to spend the rest of my live with you... I want to be able to touch you, to kiss you without having to hide it, without being labeled as someone else’s husband...because I...”

Key pressed his lips on Jonghyun’s, and the latter could feel the taste of tears.

“...I love you, Jjong...”

After all this time, not even once Key had replied his love confession. It was always Jonghyun who kept saying he loves Key, and he wasn’t even sure Key felt the same. It was always Jonghyun who showed the affection, because he thought Key needed it. He just thought Key needed someone by his side, someone who should protect and take care of him because of true feelings, not because some sort of damn arranged marriage. He thought Key needed someone who’s willing to listen to him and understanding his feelings.

“I love you...”

That’s why Jonghyun was okay with the marriage, though as much as he wanted to sabotage it, he couldn’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t. Because Key was willing to get married in the first place. That’s why even though their kisses were unforgettable, no matter how Jonghyun wanted to be possessive and own him, even though it was painful, it was okay. Because at least this way, he’s still able to love Key. Because he couldn’t let go. Because he couldn’t love anyone else anymore. Because...damn, there are too many because.

Their lips met endlessly. Jonghyun didn’t give Key the chance to pull away, as the kiss deepened and Key let out a small whimper.

Kim Jonghyun’s heart was beating rapidly. It was closed and chained before, no matter how hard those males and females tried to seduce him, flirting with him. They all failed successfully. But Kim Kibum, without even doing anything, all he did was just breathe, but he successfully melted Jonghyun’s frigidness. He was able to unlock the chain without even trying.

The untouched, is now touched.

***

Taemin lazily opened his eyes and found himself staring at Minho’s sleeping face. His lips curved into a smile and he brushed several strands of hair from Minho’s forehead lovingly. His boyfriend had his arms wrapped on his waist protectively. It was then Taemin realized that he had been sleeping on Minho’s lap on the couch, with arms around his neck. He didn’t remember how they got into the position, but it’s not that Taemin mind.

He loved it whenever Minho hugged him. It made him feel loved. So loved.

Taemin stretched out his arms and tried to get off Minho, he’s sure his weight was killing him, but the hands on his waist were firm.

“Possessive aren’t you,” Taemin mumbled and smiled as Minho continued to breathe steadily, obviously still asleep.

A sound was heard and his eyes drifted to the bed. He saw Jonghyun on the chair next to the bed, and was handing Key a glass of water. Key obediently downed the water in two seconds. He must’ve fallen asleep when Jonghyun arrived last night.

“Good morning,” Jonghyun smiled and wiped the sweats off Key’s face. “How are you feeling?”

“With you? Perfect,” Key smiled back.

Taemin found himself also smiling at the scene. Last time he found them staring at each other affectionately like this, he was hurt. But not anymore.

He’s never seen Key smiled lovingly like that before. They talked some more, not realizing that Taemin was awake, and the latter noticed that the fingers were laced. They were holding hands. And the way Jonghyun Key’s hands with his thumb...

God.

And that was when Taemin was determined.

He was determined that if Jinki’s not gonna cancel the marriage, then he will.

To Be Continued.

*head bangs*