Youngjae blinked a few times before he recognised his surroundings. He was in a hosppital. Beside his bed, Junhong was sitting on a man's lap and there was a guy holding his hand. The guy seemed so familiar, but Youngjae couldn't put his finger on it.

Then it hit him like a tonne of bricks.

It was the guy he'd been dreaming about! It was him! Youngjae couldn't believe it, he's real! Daehyun was here!

“Youngjae?” Daehyun's soft voice brought Youngjae's attention back to the real world.

“H-Hi D-Dae,” his voice was croaky from lack of use, but that didn't stop the smile that crossed Daehyun's face before he tackled Youngjae in a bear hug.

A doctor suddenly came into the room with a security guard.

“What's going on? I heard shouting,” the doctor said. His eyes widened when they landed on the boys embracing each other. He cleared his throat, making them jump apart. “Mr Yoo, I see you're awake,” he shook his head towards the security guard, signalling that everything was alright and he could leave.

“Yeah,” Youngjae nodded slightly, stopping when he got a head-spin.

“Well that's excellent, but I still need to do a few tests to make sure there's no other damage,”

“That's fine,”

The doctor walked up to Youngjae and began to shine a bright light into each eye.

“Well, you don't seem to have a concussion. What's the last thing you remember?”

“...Cutting,” he said quietly. The doctor nodded.

“Well, you seem to be fine, given the situation,” the doctor informed him. “I'll need you to stay here for a few more nights, but then you're free to go,”

“Thank you, doctor,” Youngjae smiled weakly at the doctor before he left.

Daehyun pulled Youngjae back into his arms.

“Oh my god, you're okay!” he sobbed into Youngjae's shoulder. “I can't believe it, baby, you're really here!”

Youngjae stiffened in Daehyun's arms and Daehyun noticed. Slowly he pulled back, his brow furrowed in confusion. Did he do something wrong?

“What is it, Jae?”

“D-Daehyun, I n-need you t-to l-l-leave,”

Daehyun's heart stopped in his chest as one sentence crushed the perfect future he'd already built in his mind.

“What?”

“Please,” Youngjae looked away, not wanting to see the hurt look in Daehyun's eyes.

“O-Okay,” Daehyun nodded and let go of Youngjae.

He left the room without so much as a backwards glance.

Zelo was staring at Youngjae, a mixture of shock and elation on his face.

“I'm going to go talk to Dae,” Yongguk said, thinking it would be best to let Youngjae and Zelo talk. He kissed Junhong on the cheek and smiled kindly at Youngjae before leaving to find his best friend.

“Youngjae hyung I can't believe you're awake!”Junhong threw his arms around his friend.

“I'm sorry Zelo! I'm so, so sorry! Please forgive me,”

Junhong laughed through his tears.

“I already have, babo,” he slapped Youngjae on the arm playfully. “But, please, never do that again,”

“I won't. I promise,” Youngjae nodded. “Anyway, how've you been?”

“Will it make me a terrible friend if I say – apart from you being in a coma – I’ve been amazing?”

“Of course not! I didn't want you to be sad because of me anyway,” Youngjae smiled, “Now, tell me about this amazingness,”

“Well, as you probably noticed, I have a boyfriend,” Zelo blushed and bit his lip.

“Yeah, Yongguk right? Daehyun told me about him,” Youngjae's felt a pain in his chest as he mentioned Daehyun.

“Wait, so you do remember Daehyun hyung?” Zelo asked happily.

“Y-Yeah, I do,”

“So, why'd you send him away?”

“That doesn't matter. Right now, we're talking about you,”

That's all it took for Zelo to get back into talking about Yongguk.

At first, he was afraid Youngjae wouldn't approve because of the , but he did. He told him about all their cafe meetings before their confessions, all their late-night talks, the I-love-you's, he even told Youngjae that Yongguk had asked him to move in with him.

Youngjae missed Junhong so much; more than anything else in the world. Now that things were looking up for Youngjae, at least a little bit, he couldn't even remember why he felt so low he'd leave his best friend in the first place. Thinking back on his suicide attempt, he feels stupid. Things are never so bad they can't get better.

“Now that I’ve filled you in on me, are you going to tell me about you and Daehyun hyung?” Zelo smiled knowingly.

“What do you wanna know?” Youngjae asked. He didn't really want to talk about it, but Junhong was his best friend.

“Everything,” Zelo shrugged. “From the start,”

So Youngjae told him. He told him about how he was scared and lost and (for some reason) all alone in a forest. Then, out of nowhere, Daehyun showed up. And he continued to just show up at random times until eventually, he took up a special place in Youngjae's heart. Youngjae fell so deeply in love with him, even though he knew they couldn't be together. Youngjae was dead – at least, he thought he was. He told Zelo about their first time and how Daehyun was so careful and treated him with so much care, like he was made out of fine china and would break if Daehyun pressed too hard. He told him about the weeks he spent alone, in stormy weather, hoping and wishing for Daehyun to come and save him. And finally, he told him about when Daehyun did come and save him. How Daehyun asked Youngjae to go back with him. Back to the real world, back to Daehyun.

“So... You do love him?”

“More than anything,” he was smiling, but it wasn't a happy smile.

“So why'd you ask him to leave?”

Youngjae sighed, thinking about how to explain what he was feeling.

“The Daehyun I fell in love with... How do I know he's the same in real life? I'm broken, Zelo. He may be happy I'm here for now, but what happens when he realises I'm not perfect. When he finally wakes up from this dream he's in and he sees that I'm damaged beyond repair,”

“That's the thing, Youngjae,” Zelo squeezed his friend's shoulder comfortingly, “he's awake now. Both of you are! And he loves you, Jae. He really does. He's been here ever since he found out. He's been a mess without you,”

“I'm just scared,” he whispered, looking down at his hands. “I thought he was a dream. Hell, I thought I was dead. I didn't expect to wake up from a coma with him here, holding my hand and acting like everything is fine,”

“He thought you were a dream too. You don't even know how happy he was when he found out you were a real person,” Zelo told him. He wanted his hyungs together. He wanted them happy.

His next sentence was so small. So insecure and uncertain.

“I don't want to get hurt,”

“Daehyun hyung won't hurt you, Youngjae,”

Zelo sounded so sure and Youngjae hoped more than anything he was right.

Youngjae knew that if he chose to be with Daehyun it would be a risk, he just wasn’t sure it was a risk that – especially in his current condition – he could afford to take.

And you get another chapter!! Just so you know, the poll is open for voting until the end of the story, which sadly, is only two or three chapters away :( Also, if you guys like my writing I would love it if you could check out my new daejae story! It's called 'No Boys Allowed!' and the first chapter will be posted when this story ends. Enjoy this chapter my lovelies and, as always, please comment! And upvote if you're feeling super nice.