The next morning, the Jung brothers’ daily routine was carried out as always. All of them except Daehyun, were having their breakfast in silence because of the fight last night.

                “Does Daehyun wake up yet?” Hyunjoong asked Baekhyun. The latter just nodded at him.

                “Is he coming down for breakfast?”

                “Yeah. I told him to have his breakfast ‘cause he didn’t eat anything since yesterday,” Baekhyun glanced at Kyuhyun who rolled his eyes hearing his statement.

                After a while, they heard shuffling sounds from upstairs and they knew it was Daehyun making his way down. But when the boy was finally in their view, he didn’t stop by the dining table. Instead, he just walked straight to the door without sparing a look at his hyungs.

                “Yah! Jung Daehyun!” Kyuhyun yelled. “Have your breakfast first!”

                Daehyun ignored him before walking faster to get out of the house. The other hyungs who gave their full attention to Daehyun turned back to look at each other, speechless by their dongsaeng’s act.

                Kyuhyun sighed in frustration. Oh, how much he hated the silent treatment, especially from the youngest.

                “I’ll go with him…” Baekhyun stood up and shouldered his bag.

                Kyuhyun went to the cabinet to take a food container and filled it with Daehyun’s breakfast. “Here,” He shoved it to Baekhyun. “Make sure he eats it before he goes to school.”

                Baekhyun nodded and grabbed the container before he made a run to catch his dongsaeng.

(〜￣▽￣)〜

                 Yongguk hurried out of his class when it’s lunch time. He had promised to meet Hyunseung at a café to have the talk. He walked out to the pavements until he was stopped by someone.

                “Woohyun..?”

                “Sorry, Yongguk. But I need to talk to you,” Woohyun stated.

                Yongguk sighed. “Is it about Daehyun?” His guess was correct when Woohyun nodded his head. “Actually, I’m on my way to see Rancho. Same reason as you.”

                “Really? He wants to see you?” Woohyun asked.

                “Yeah. Let’s just go together,” Yongguk fixed his bag’s strap while cocking his head to the side as a signal for Woohyun to follow him.

                Both of them walked in silence to the said café. Of course, Hyunseung was a little surprised to see them arrived there together.

                “You’re here too,” He said to his dongsaeng in surprise.

                “Yeah. I'm concerned about Daehyun too,” Woohyun sat down next to him and called the waiter to make an order.

                After all of their drinks were served, Hyunseung spoke up. “So, I’ll give you time to explain it yourself.”

                Yongguk gave a sheepish smile as he scratched the back of his neck. “Geez, I don’t really know how I should start this…” He looked up at the brothers who were just staring expectantly at him. He cleared his throat to begin. “Remember when you said that I should stop playing with people’s feelings? That maybe I’ll found the right one for myself?” He asked Hyunseung. The latter took a moment to remember it before nodding his head as a reply.

                “I think Daehyun’s the one. Daehyun’s the one who I truly love from the bottom of my heart. This is the first time that I’m totally sure of my own feelings. I want him so bad, I’m willing to wait for his answer forever. And I couldn’t imagine if he said no. But then we can’t even be together when we love each other so much…”

                “It’s not easy, you know…” Woohyun chimed in. “Daehyun’s very important to us. We love him. We can’t stand seeing him being hurt again.”

                Hyunseung scoffed at that. “Actually, we’re the one who’re hurting him right now…”

                “But…that’s for his own good…right?” Woohyun frowned at the elder. He’s so confused right now.

                Hyunseung shook his head. “We’ll never know about it. We don’t know what’ll happen in the future,” He looked up at Yongguk. “It’s all depending on you, Jepp. Should we trust you?”

                Yongguk was looking down at his cup of coffee. He seemed to be deep in thoughts until a smile formed on his lips. “I love Daehyun,” He said sternly as he looked up at both of them. “I love Daehyun with all my heart. How can I ever hurt the person I love? If I have the chance to hold him in my arms, I promise to protect him and make him happy every single day of his life.”

〜(￣▽￣〜)

                “Hey, guys,” Baekhyun called as soon as he saw both Jongup and Zelo walking out of their school.

                “Oh! Hey, Baekhyun hyung,” Zelo said in return.

                “Where’s Daehyun?”

                “Still in the class, I guess,” Jongup replied, shrugging his shoulders at the same time.

                “Did he have his lunch?”

                “We have persuaded him to join us but he said he’s not hungry,” Zelo answered. He and Jongup knew there’s something wrong with Daehyun but they didn’t want to force him to tell them everything. Maybe it was a family problem that they shouldn’t interfere.

                Baekhyun thanked them and exchanged goodbyes. He was actually concerned with Daehyun because the boy also said that he’s not hungry when he gave him the breakfast this morning. After all the forcing and persuading, Daehyun said he would eat it during lunch. But based on Zelo’s report just now, he was sure the food was dump somewhere, leaving only an empty container. Nevertheless, he kept waiting at the school gate until his dongsaeng finally showed himself in front of him.

                “Hyung, can we go see Yongguk hyung?” Daehyun pleaded with sad eyes.

                “Dae, you know Kyuhyun hyung didn’t let you to. He’ll be mad if he found out,” Baekhyun put his hand on Daehyun’s shoulder, hoping that he would comply with it.

                “Just don’t tell him about it,” Daehyun’s sentence reminded himself about Yongguk, during their second meeting. He was thinking about Yongguk all day anyway. And he was amazed when he could remember the simplest things related to the older guy.

                Baekhyun let out a heavy breath before taking Daehyun’s face between his hands. “Dae, you can’t be like this. I know you’re mad at Kyu hyung but he’s still your hyung. You have to listen to him,” He said looking straight to Daehyun’s eyes that began to well up with tears.

                “B-But…” Daehyun tried to speak but his tears beat him to it.

                Baekhyun quickly pulled the boy into a tight hug. “Just be patient, okay?” His hand was rubbing circles at Daehyun’s small back. “Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll buy it for you.”

                Daehyun shook his head against Baekhyun’s chest. “I’m not hungry…”

                Baekhyun pulled back to see the other’s face. “Seriously? You’re lying to me now?” He pretended to be angry just in case Daehyun would listen to him and eat something to fill his empty stomach.

                “No. I really am not hungry,” Daehyun pouted while wiping his tears. “Let’s just go home.”

                Baekhyun sighed in defeat seeing his dongsaeng walked away from him.

(〜￣▽￣)〜

                Hyunseung slowly made his way to the kitchen. Kyuhyun was busy preparing the dinner while Hyunjoong was playing with his phone as he sat by the countertop. The atmosphere sure was different compared to usual when Daehyun would sit and watch his hyung do all the cooking. But the boy was rarely to be seen around the house since he just locked himself in his room all day long.

                Hyunseung took a bottle of water from the refrigerator before filling it into a glass. He didn’t know if his hyungs realized his presence there. After taking a sip of the water, his voice captured their attention.

                “I’ve talk to him.”

                Both of Hyunjoong and Kyuhyun looked up quizzically at him.

                “Who?” Kyuhyun asked.

                “Bang Yongguk…” Hyunseung said, leaning against the countertop.

                Kyuhyun clicked his tongue before continued to chop the vegetables. “That bastard…”

                “Look, hyung,” Hyunseung put his glass down. He looked more serious than before. “I know it’s hard for you to let Daehyun be with someone else. It’s hard for me too. But please, at least let them see each other. Maybe your heart will open up with time.”

                Hyunjoong straightened on his seat to look intensely at him. “You think that’s the right thing to do?”

                Hyunseung turned to the elder who usually preferred to stay silent at times like this. “I can’t guarantee it. But they really do love each other.”

                Kyuhyun let out a shaky breath while shaking his head as he stopped the cooking chores. “Don’t you think it’s too early for him? I mean… it just feels like yesterday when he woke up from coma. He looked so fragile and scared. He would rely on us about everything. He would cry in his sleep because of nightmares and I would stay beside him all night. He wouldn’t want to eat if I didn’t cook for him. And he would apologize if I’m mad at him… How do you expect me to let him go to another guy that easy?”

                “Hyung, that’s just the beginning,” Hyunseung protested. “Did it ever crossed your mind that one day, we’ll all go to our separate ways? We can’t stay like this forever. Hyunjoong hyung will have a family, I will have a family, you will have a family. Then what about Daehyun? Do you want him to live alone without someone caring for him? C’mon hyung… you know this will happen…sooner or later…”

                Kyuhyun rubbed his face, feeling upset. He then turned to Hyunjoong for an answer.

                “Hyunseung’s true,” Hyunjoong simply said it, but Kyuhyun couldn’t deny it either.

                Hyunjoong huffed before leaning back on his chair with his head looking up. “How I wish mom and dad were here…” He mumbled because he believed their parents were watching them right now from above.

〜(￣▽￣〜)

                Woohyun knocked on Daehyun’s door before letting himself in. His eyes were quick to find a figure sitting on the wide windowsill while hugging his knees. He strode to him bringing along a tray of food he was holding.

                “Daehyun, I brought your dinner. Come here and eat it before it gets cold,” Woohyun said, placing the tray on a low table.

                “I’m not hungry,” Daehyun replied with his eyes still glued to the sky outside of the window.

                “But Dae, you haven’t eaten for two days. I’m worried for you,” Woohyun moved to sit on the windowsill and faced the sad boy.

                “You don’t have to. I’m fine.”

                Woohyun sighed heavily. He knew Daehyun was missing Yongguk and the rejection to eat was a normal thing when he was stressed.

                “Yongguk misses you too,” Woohyun managed to grab Daehyun’s attention as fast as the sentence was spoken up.

                “H-How’d you know?” Daehyun stuttered out his question.

                Woohyun smiled at the younger. “I met him. He said that he loves you so much. He’s missing you like crazy. He’s waiting for the chance to meet our hyungs to settle this problem. He needs to be prepared. He wants you to be a little bit more patient and wait for him, wait until the other hyungs gave their permission because he'll wait for you forever.”

                Daehyun clasped his mouth to suppress his whimper. He had been trying to hold his tears the whole time but he failed to do so.

                “I understand how you feel, Daehyun. But ignoring your hyung and also your health won’t solve the problem. You need to make up with Kyu hyung and talk face to face,” Woohyun advised. His hand was caressing Daehyun’s head in a soothing manner.

                “I know…” Daehyun nodded. “I’m just not ready…”

                “It’s okay… Take your time. And remember that we all love you. We just want you to be happy.”

                “Thanks, hyung,” Daehyun placed his hand on top of Woohyun’s which was busy wiping his dongsaeng’s tears away.

                “Now, will you eat your food? Kyuhyun hyung cooked your favorites today,” Woohyun raised his brows.

                “I’ll eat it later,” Daehyun’s voice sounded promising and so, Woohyun left him to be alone again. But when Baekhyun went to his bedroom at midnight, only the glass of water was empty. The food was untouched.

(〜￣▽￣)〜

                Kyuhyun climbed the stairs to go to his room. When he reached the end of the stairs, he glanced at the rightmost bedroom door which was Daehyun’s. It had been two days since he talked with Hyunseung and he barely saw the youngest dongsaeng even though they’re living in the same house. He was so worried about him because he didn’t know if Daehyun was doing fine, if he had eaten well, if he had trouble with studies… Daehyun had never been this way before. Maybe Yongguk was indeed meant a lot for the boy. Maybe it’s time for Kyuhyun to face the reality.

                Kyuhyun inhaled deeply. He was about to go to Daehyun’s room when he heard sniffs and hiccups coming from the leftmost room. He slowly walked towards the source of the crying sounds. It turned out to be coming from their late parents’ room. He opened the door with curiosity and found a figure lying on the bed under the blanket.

                Hearing the door creaked, the boy immediately stopped his crying. And when he felt the bed dipped because of someone sitting on it, his body tensed, quickly pulling the blanket to cover his face.

                “Daehyun..?” Kyuhyun called softly. The boy didn’t respond.

                “Daehyunie, please… don’t do this to me…” Kyuhyun tried again but he just felt like talking to the air.

                Kyuhyun sighed when all his efforts were in vain. He brought up his legs onto the bed and sat facing Daehyun. His eyes wandered around the bedroom. It had been a long time since he came here. Just because he would cry every time he saw all the pictures of his parents hanging on the walls and on the tables. And now tears slowly formed in his eyes. Moreover when he was having this kind of problem with his dongsaeng.

                “You know, you’re mom’s favourite son,” Kyuhyun spoke suddenly, looking at the unmoved body underneath the blanket. “Dad said you resemble her a lot. Your big eyes, your puffy lips and your button nose…even your smile looked the same. They pampered you since you’re their youngest son. But none of us was jealous of you. ‘Cause your presence has brightened up our family… That’s why…the last thing mom said…was to take care of you… She knew it must be hard for you to continue your life after that horrible accident. She loved you so much…and so do I…”

                Kyuhyun gently Daehyun’s covered leg. This time, Daehyun finally revealed his face which was already bloated from the crying. Kyuhyun smiled at his dongsaeng, relieved to know he had opened up to him.

                Seeing the tears rolling down his hyung’s cheeks, Daehyun quickly sat up to wipe them with his thumbs. “H-Hyung, don’t cry…”

                Kyuhyun laughed a little because the person who told him to stop crying was also beginning to shed tears. “I love you, Daehyun… I promised her to take care of you… And I’m afraid if I’ll make a wrong decision…”

                “Hyung, I-I’m sorry… I just think of myself…” Daehyun’s hands fell from Kyuhyun’s face before gripping to the elder’s shirt with tears streaming down his cheeks.

                Kyuhyun shook his head while cupping Daehyun’s small face. “I’m the one who should be sorry… I’m the one who’s selfish. But I just don’t want to lose you…”

                “You won’t hyung,” Daehyun threw his arms around Kyuhyun’s neck to hug him. “I love you…”

                “I love you too…” Kyuhyun squeezed Daehyun in a bone crushing hug as if he would lose the boy if he didn’t do that. He managed to give the other a peck on the cheek in between the sobs.

                Both of them stayed like that for quite a while, releasing their longing for each other. But then, Kyuhyun could sense that something was off, like Daehyun’s sniffing had come to a halt almost suddenly. He broke the hug to check on Daehyun who lay limp in his arms.

                “Daehyun..?” Kyuhyun shook the small body to make sure he didn’t fall asleep just like that. Daehyun was completely unconscious with his head tilted back.

                Kyuhyun lifted Daehyun’s head to lean it against his arm. “Daehyun?!” He patted the boy’s wet cheek but he got no response. And now, he started to panic. In a flash, he scooped up his dongsaeng and made a run downstairs, shouting at the top of his lungs.

                “Yah! Somebody! Start the car! Quick!”

〜(￣▽￣)〜

/bows 95 degree/ omg i'm really sorry for the late update >_<

i dont know if this chap is good enough. i'm stealing my time here and there to make it possible to update it today coz if it's not today, i dont know when can i update it

thanks for being patient! thanks for upvoting, subscribing, reading and commenting! i love you all omg! <3 <3 <3