As the week passed, Yongguk and Junhong were growing increasingly worried for Daehyun. He was losing his mind. He wouldn't eat, he could barely sleep, and when he did, he would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, screaming out for Youngjae. He had finally won his war with the nurses to let him sleep at the hospital with Youngjae.

A knock came to the door, disturbing Daehyun's peace as he Youngjae's hair, whispering sweet nothings to him and urging him to open his eyes. Daehyun ignored the knock, focusing all his attention on Youngjae. A short, child-looking nurse entered the room but Daehyun paid her no mind. He didn't want his Jae to wake up when he wasn't looking.

“Sir, visiting hours are over, you have to leave now,” she informed him softly.

“I can't leave him,” he didn't look up from Youngjae as he spoke to the nurse.

“Please, sir. It's against hospital policy to let visitors stay overnight,” she said, just as she had told him the past two nights.

“I don't care about your hospital's stupid policy. I care about Youngjae and I'm not leaving him,” he growled.

The last few nights he refused to leave, they had to resort to calling hospital security to carry him out kicking and screaming.

“I'm sorry, but I can't let you stay,”

“What if he wakes up and no one's here? Huh? I promised him I wouldn't leave him and I'm not going to!”

“Sir-”

“No! You don't understand! He has no one else! If he wakes up in a hospital, surrounded by nurses and doctors and people he's never met before inspecting him like he's some science-fair project, he's going to get so scared and he'll recoil into himself! He needs someone familiar here when he wakes up! He needs me! Now, I'm not just going to abandon him because of some stupid rules!”

“Why won't you let this go?!” she shouted back, finally losing her temper with the stubborn man. “Why won't you just accept that you might not be here when he wakes up?”

“Because he's the love of my life you ignorant !”

The room fell silent, apart from Daehyun's heaving breaths. The nurse looked stunned, if not a little offended. Daehyun himself was shocked. He rarely swore, let alone insulted people, and whenever he did, he'd feel bad about it and instantly apologise. Yet somehow, he didn't feel bad about it this time.

The nurse sighed and left, behind her closing the door to the room.

“He's refusing to leave. Again,” she muttered to a doctor just outside the room.

The door opened again and the doctor looked inside. He expected to get his head ripped off by the aggressive man inside, but what he got was the opposite.

“I'm sorry I got so angry, Jae,” Daehyun was whispering to the comatose boy, holding his hands lovingly. “I hope I didn't scare you. I know you hate violence and shouting, but she wouldn't let me stay and I can't leave you. I’m sorry I let my anger get the best of me, baby. I’m so sorry. It won't happen again; I’ll be good, I promise. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry...”

The doctor watched on as Daehyun repeatedly apologised to someone who, most likely, couldn't hear him. He pursed his lips and closed the door, giving the two some privacy.

“Let him stay,” he told the nurse. “But when you go in to tend to Mr Yoo, give me a report on Mr Jung as well. He's become unhinged and I'd like to keep him under observation,”

The nurse nodded and re-entered the room.

“Well, the doc says you can stay,” she told the man.

Daehyun's eyes lit up with happiness and he turned to Youngjae.

“Did you hear that Jae Jae? She's letting me stay with you!”

The nurse looked sadly at the couple before she left the room.

Junhong was a little annoyed when the nurse informed he and Yongguk that Daehyun was being allowed to stay. Why could Daehyun stay when he couldn't? He knew Youngjae hyung longest. When the nurse told him it was just so they could keep an eye on him in case he did something stupid, his annoyance turned to concern.

“You mean like, suicide watch?” Junhong whispered. He couldn't bear another person close to him trying to commit suicide.

“Something like that, yes,” she nodded solemnly.

And with that, Junhong broke down in Yongguk's arms.

“Well, Daehyun, it's time for Junhong and I to leave,” Yongguk said as visiting hours were coming to an end.

“Okay hyung,” Daehyun muttered, not taking his eyes off of Youngjae.

“Bye Daehyun hyung, bye Youngjae hyung,” Zelo muttered dejectedly as Yongguk pulled him out of the room. They could only hope Youngjae woke up soon, for everyone's sake.

“Do you want me to sing to you Jae Jae?” Daehyun asked. “I know you like it when I do,”

Daehyun thought back to the time he and Youngjae were cuddling in the bed in the cabin and Daehyun started humming a tune. Youngjae asked Dae to sing for him and so he did; he couldn't say no to his Jae. Youngjae loved it and started to ask him to sing for him more frequently.

Quietly, Daehyun started to sing.

“You don't have to have money, to make it in this world. You don't have to be skinny baby, if you wanna be my guy. Oh you just gotta be happy, but sometimes that's hard. Just remember to smile, smile, smile and that's a good enough start,”

It's an English song he once sag to Youngjae, claiming it reminded him of the younger boy. Daehyun sang it to Youngjae quite often, and soon enough, they came to know it as their song.

“So if you ain’t good looking, don't you let it get you down. And if you're love life ain't cooking baby, there'll be more fish around. Oh you just gotta stay happy, so put away that frown. So just remember to smile, smile, smile, and turn the world around,”

It turns out both boys were at least nearly fluent in English. Daehyun loved learning new things about Youngjae.

“So just remember to smile, smile, smile. Smile, smile, smile. Smile, smile, smile. C'mon show us your teeth and what you got underneath,”

Daehyun loves Youngjae's smile. It can brighten his day just by thinking about it.

“Cause everyone's got troubles, that’s the way the story goes. You don't have to use Hubble baby to see what's underneath your nose. Oh cause if you're feeling happy, that's the way to let it show. So just remember to smile, smile, smile, so everybody knows,”

He hates it when his Jae is sad. Whenever Youngjae isn't smiling, Daehyun will do whatever it takes to change that.

“And it will make things so much better, when you're feeling low.”

His smile makes Daehyun feel better, at least.

“Just remember to smile, smile, smile. Smile, smile, smile. Smile, smile, smile. C'mon show us your teeth and what you got underneath. Smile, smile, smile. Smile, smile, smile. Smile, smile, smile. C'mon show us your teeth. Just remember to smile, smile, smile. Smile, smile, smile. Smile, smile, smile. C'mon show us you teeth and what you got underneath. Smile, smile, smile. You gotta smile, smile, smile. Just remember to smile, smile, smile, and turn the world around,”

When he finished, he expected Youngjae to hug him like he always did when he sang that song, but of course, he didn't.

“Look, Jae,” Daehyun said pulling a book out of the bag he had taken to the hospital. “I brought you a book too. It's Sleeping Beauty, I thought it fit, you know, because you're my sleeping beauty. At the end of the book she wakes up though – sorry about the spoiler – and I know that you're going to wake up too. You'll wake up and we'll be together,”

He opened the book and began to read.

“There once lived a king and queen who had no children, which made them very sad. Then one clay, to the queen’s delight, she found she was going to have a baby. She and the king looked forward with great excitement to the day of the baby’s birth. When the time came, a lovely daughter was born and they arranged a large party for her Christening. As well as lots of other guests, they invited twelve fairies, knowing they would make wishes for their little daughter, the princess...”

As he read, he thought about the day when he and Youngjae read this book to their own children – because he knew Youngjae would wake up and they'd live happily ever after, just like in the stories. They had to.

The princess in the story reminded Daehyun of Jae. She was gifted by the fairies with things like beauty, a beautiful voice, kindness. Youngjae had all of those things. Dae thought it was so unfair that Youngjae lived the life he had. Daehyun was going to change that. He would take Youngjae home with him and never let his parents near him again. He'd treat him like a princess, the way he deserved to be treated. He'd never hurt Youngjae, but he'd kill anyone who tried to.

“...And then, the prince kissed Sleeping Beauty and she awoke. The kingdom sprung back to life and cheered for the prince and princess. In just a few weeks, the two were wed and proved to the world that true love truly can conquer all. The end,”

Daehyun set the book aside and carefully crawled into bed beside Youngjae. Taking the younger boy's hand in his and holding it close to his chest, he laid his head on Youngjae's shoulder.

“That'll be us one day, Jae. Riding off into the sunset and living happily ever after,” he mumbled into Youngjae's shoulder, sleep finally catching up to him, “Our fairytale will have a happy ending. I just know it,”

His eyes drooped shut, his lids heavy.

“I love you, Jae Jae,” he whispered into the silence of the room.

But Daehyun was already asleep by the time Youngjae's hand tightened ever so slightly around his own.

Please leave me a comment! I told you comments = love, love = chapters, chapters = daejae!! Was it satisfactory daejae? The song in this chapter is 'Smile' by McFly.