Yixing went to the school as usual and was allowed retaking the paper that he missed out. Afraid that Xiumin would ask him the same question, he distanced himself from him. It took him about two weeks.  Yixing talked to him when he completely believed that Xiumin already forgot about it. In the process, he spent time more with Kyungsoo. Yixing almost forgot about Kyungsoo. He knew everything about him. Yixing remembered that he was not alone when he had the MRI taken last year.

“I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”

Kyungsoo called to inform him. Yixing found himself a seat and placed his racket beside him. The hall was large and green floor looked dirty. He had opened one or two doors and switched on the fans. Let’s not use the air conditioner for today.

The fans made loud sounds. The engines must be old already, he thought.

“I remembered I fell once while playing.” He murmured to himself. The unfortunate event happened last year but he felt like it was just yesterday.

**

Last September, 2009.

“Xingxing! Hurry up!” Kyungsoo shouted. He let the door opened.

There was no one in the hall and they were going to play badminton as usual. Their small game was held only on Thursday and Friday. Kyungsoo checked the scheduled before hand and Yixing was in charge to ask permission from the school guard.

“How was it?” Yixing spoke as he began to warm up his body. Kyungsoo took his time to set up the net, “You mean the game?”

“You're one of the player right?” Yixing stretched both of his arms.

“Nope. I was sick for a week.” Kyungsoo turned to look at him. He scratched his temple innocently as he explained why he didn’t participate in the last badminton match.

“Man.” Yixing sighed. He stopped briefly.

“I know right.” Kyungsoo chuckled. “But, I’m listed again in the next game.” His face brightened.

“That’s cool! Is it next month?”

“Next two months.” Kyungsoo corrected. Yixing was in the basketball club, but recently his name was not listed so there was no need for him to practice basketball. He decided to help Kyungsoo to improve his skills. Everything was smooth until he could not balance himself. Yixing stumbled backward as he failed to catch the shuttlecock. His racket hit nothing but the air. His head hit the green floor and his body was paralyzed for a second. A loud thud echoed in the hall as his back met the hard floor. 

“Argh!” Yixing groaned harshly.

“Yixing!” Kyungsoo was stunned.

He briskly squatted a little under the net and ran to the latter. He made Yixing sat on the floor and supported his back with his left arm. His head rest on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Xing ah, are you okay?” Kyungsoo frowned. The latter kept groaning in pain, and Kyungsoo was panic. He checked if there was any blood oozing from the back of his head, but there was nothing.

“Kyungsoo.” Yixing called weakly. Yixing could feel that his body became weaker and weaker. The sudden headache killed him inside. The pain was unbearable.

“I’m so sorry, this is my fault!” Kyungsoo blamed himself. “Let’s call it a day. I’ll take you to the hospital.”

It was petrifying when Kyungsoo had to wait almost two hours. He thought the worst. “No! No! It can’t be that bad. He isn’t bleeding.” He shook his head vigorously. Kyungsoo tried to calm down but his could not hide his shaking hands. His breathing was shaky and he could not think straight. A nurse came out from the room and he rose to talk to her.

“How is Lu Yixing?” Kyungsoo’s voice was quivery as he asked with tearful eyes.

“He’s stable now and he had his brain scanned. We will inform the result later.”

“B-brain?” His heart skipped a bit. The nurse nodded and walked away. He was dumbfounded and speechless.

“Kyungsoo!” Someone summoned his name from afar. He turned to the direction and found the owner. There were big tears rolling down Kyungsoo’s cheeks. Yixing was standing in front of the counter and he was smiling. Kyungsoo ran to get him.

“Yixing! Are you okay? Your head?” Kyungsoo held Yixing’s cold hands. Yixing could feel that his attention was sincere and Kyungsoo was crying. Honestly, Yixing could not even hold himself stood up straight, but he tried to fight the pain. He hugged the latter instead of explaining all of things he had been through. Yixing slowly bent down to hug Kyungsoo. The back of his head hurt a bit.

“I’m fine, buddy. The doctor and the nurse were very kind and they already gave me medicine. Don’t worry!” Yixing slightly hit Kyungsoo’s back. As he broke the hug, Kyungsoo already wept badly. Kyungsoo could feel that Yixing was depending on his body. Yixing wobbled a bit as he tried to break the hug.

 “Xingxing…” Kyungsoo’s eyes were red and his cheeks were hot with the tears streaming on them. Yixing chuckled a bit. He never thought that Kyungsoo would be a cry baby like that. Kyungsoo also had claimed that he hardly shed a tear. However, Kyungsoo knew how serious this situation was.

Kyungsoo kept looking at Yixing. He knew Yixing was holding back his pain. His face was pale and the colour of his lips were far from pink.

“Seriously, I’m fine, Kyungsoo ya.” He buried Kyungsoo in his hug again. “Such a cry baby…”

Kyungsoo carefully hugged him back. Yixing was fragile. Like a cracked glass, if Kyungsoo applied a strong force in his hug, Yixing’s bone might be broken or his head might be exploded from the invisible pain.

**

“Yixing!”

Yixing jolted for the sudden exclamation from nowhere. He turned to find the owner. He found Kyungsoo was walking towards him. He closed the main door behind him, “Sorry, I’m late!”Yixing welcomed him by flashing his dimple as he smiled brightly.

“Hey!” he greeted.

**

A week after the incident.

Yixing went again to the hospital with Kyungsoo. He never had done this before so he needed Kyungsoo to accompany him. The structure in the X-ray was complicated and Kyungsoo was clueless. He kept asking about this and that to Yixing. Meanwhile, Yixing smiled and he calmly waited for the explanation. “I’m Dr.Yunho. It’s nice to meet you.” Kyungsoo muted as the doctor introduced himself. They both slightly bowed.

“As you can see, this is your MRI result. Yours is on your left and this one is the diagram of normal brain…” His explanation was not that difficult to understand. However, Yixing was a little bit clueless and somehow this thing drove him crazy. He could not consume the information. Every face in the room was serious and Yixing could not stand the thickness of the cold air. Kyungsoo could not bring himself to speak and his eyes were damp with commiseration. Yixing was very pale and his face wore a dazed expression.

“Is it my fault?” Kyungsoo asked as the doctor ended his words. It was not his fault. The doctor mentioned the symptoms and he had them all before this. He thought that it was only migraine.

“It’s not… migraine?” Yixing hesitantly asked.

“No, it’s not. However, you are still in the early stage. Through the operation, we can remove the tumor.”

Yixing was not paying any attention. He suddenly grabbed Kyungsoo arm. He felt invisible lump in his throat. He tried hard to speak. Kyungsoo patiently waited for any word from him.

“Don’t tell my mom.” He begged. ”Don’t tell anyone.” Yixing closed his eyes, he fought with his emotion. Deep inside, Yixing did not know how to face this event alone. He held Kyungsoo's arm tightly. He felt very afraid. He scolded himself for thinking about death. No! Please! Not yet!

“Yixing…” Kyungsoo called. He disagreed. “You should tell your mother.” Yixing refused without thinking. He kept begging and all Kyungsoo could do was granting his wish. Yixing did not know why he refused to tell his family. But he needed to keep this as a secret.

The doctor could only sigh as Yixing refused to follow his suggestion.  "I hope you will think about it." He smiled weakly, hoping for a better conclusion from the latter.