"Wake up, Dongwoo, just wake up!" his tone rose with each word, but he didn't register that it was his own voice yelling. His hands gripped the guard rails to the bed and shook them violently, as if the action could wake the comatose boy lying there from his sleep.

"Just say something, damn it!" he yelled, paying no attention to the hot tears streaming thick and fast down his cheeks.

He was angry, beyond angry; he was furious, enraged at his childhood friend who refused to stir.

How could he be so selfish as to lay there so godforsakenly peaceful while Hoya drove himself mad waiting for him to wake up? He'd excused it for the first two weeks - after all, he'd been grateful that Dongwoo had even survived the accident. The doctors had deemed it a miracle that anyone could be hit by a car going that speed and survive, let alone not face more severe injuries than he did, but after over a month of nothing but shallow breaths, monitored heartbeats, and the steady beep of life support, Hoya was impatient.

He knew, perhaps, somewhere inside of him, that being mad at the older boy was illogical; it just didn't make sense to be angry at someone who couldn't control their circumstances, but he couldn't help it. He was so filled with emotions - anger, sorrow, rage, pain - that he needed something to direct it at, and as Dongwoo was lying there, safely tucked away in the confines of his own mind, away from all the hurt, it was almost natural that Hoya targeted him.

Four days. The doctors were giving Dongwoo four more days until they pulled the plug.

Maybe Hoya should be mad at them instead. After all, they were the ones who couldn't save him, but they had tried their best. In the end, it was Dongwoo who wasn't waking up. It was him who had less than 100 hours to show that he could make it on his own, or be lost forever.

In the beginning, Hoya was certain that Dongwoo would wake up. After all, how could he not? He was Jang Dongwoo, untouchable simply due to the fact that he was far too loveable to have anyone or anything hurt him. Days passed though, and then days turned into weeks, and Hoya began to fear that he'd never see another smile grace the lips of his best friend. He'd pushed that fear away initially, refusing to think that it might even be a possibility that Dongwoo wouldn't make it.

As the weeks passed though, and Hoya stood where he did now, he was staring down a reality that made him wish he was the one fast asleep.

As much as it made him feel sick, as much as it almost physically pained him, time was running out and Hoya was giving up on him.

He didn't feel like he had a choice; Dongwoo hadn't taken a breath on his own since the accident, let alone given any signs of waking up. What hope had he given Hoya to cling to?

He hadn't given him anything.

"Howon? Visiting hours are over," came the familiar voice of Dongwoo's nurse from the hallway. "Say goodnight - he'll be here tomorrow," she said gently, and he hated that she was right.

Of course he'd be here tomorrow. He'd be here the next day too. And the next day. And the next day. And the next damn day when they'd pull a sheet over his head because he couldn't ing wake up.

Hoya clenched his jaw as angry tears pooled in his eyes, but he nodded and got up just the same, sending one last glance towards his friend.

The next days passed uneventfully, and Hoya found himself nothing but angry. Everything about the situation was unfair, and Dongwoo was going to die. There was nothing anyone could do anymore - even the boy's parents had said their goodbyes.

It was over.

The younger looked down at the sleeping figure of Dongwoo as the doctors filed into the room, prepared to bring the beeping of the machines to a halt, and he found himself suddenly filled with an insurmountable rage. He hated the lifeless boy laying in front of him. He hated him. He hated him for not waking up. He hated him for leaving him behind, and for getting into that accident, and for meeting him, and for befriending him, and for being such a huge part of his life, and for making him fall in love with him.

Hoya froze, and suddenly, very suddenly, everything clicked into place. He loved him. He didn't just love him as a friend, or as a brother, but as something much more that he'd never considered before. He'd been mistaken. Hatred and love straddle such a thin line that he'd mistaken one passion for the other. He felt the realization settle inside of his heart just in time to feel it shatter completely, and just like that, his composure fell to pieces.

Hoya had never really been the type to lose himself, and that's why he didn't recognize the shaky sob that was ripped from his chest.

The room before him blurred as tears welled up and spilled over, and before he could even register that he was moving, he had pulled Dongwoo, or, at least, the empty shell of what used to be Dongwoo, into his arms. Violent sobs choked him as they tore their way out of his throat and into the air between them.

Pain wove its way through his ribcage and settled on his bones before wrapping around them and pulling tight, threatening to splinter them under its intensity.

"Please - damn it Dongwoo, please wake up. You idiot, I can't lose you-" Hoya choked out, clinging to him even tighter.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, but he didn't want to hear the nurses words.

"Howon, it's time to let go. It's going to be alright - you've got to let him go."

It went against every fibre of his being, but gently Hoya lowered Dongwoo back down onto the bed, and that was all his mind registered before he took off.

Suddenly he was running, and running, and running until his knees gave and he collapsed on the sidewalk near the hospital.

Hoya wasn't religious, he was far from it, but if there was a God, he'd have to hear Hoya's cries now.

God, don't you dare let him die. You can't give me an angel and take him away again- don't let him die..

He didn't want to leave Dongwoo, but he couldn't bear to see the boy, knowing his heart wasn't beating.

He didn't leave him behind though, not really.

Dongwoo wasn't in the hospital. He was in the roads he travelled, and the places he visited. He was in the dance studio where he spent his free time, and in the park where he and Hoya first hung out. He was in the songs he sang, and he was in the sunset which he loved to watch going down – just like the one Hoya was now looking at.

Hoya could see him now more clearly than he ever could where he lay unconscious in that damned hospital room. He could see his smile in the bright colours of the sky, and hear his laughter in the faded sound of cars passing by on the road behind him. He could see the playful twinkle in his eyes reflected in the sun sinking below the horizon, and he could feel his kindness in the way the last rays of it gently kissed his skin.

Like the sun, Dongwoo had faded fast, leaving Hoya in darkness once he had gone, and though he wasn't certain, he'd bet it was a good twenty minutes before he decided that he could still move, and he found his voice again.

Still staring at the spot the sun disappeared, Hoya felt the remains of his heart crumble into dust as his voice cracked with his next words.

"Goodbye, Dongwoo..."

Hoya jumped in surprise when a voice sounded behind him, "Howon, you're going to want to come back inside."

He turned around bitterly; what did the nurse want now? Hoya didn't want to say goodbye to a lifeless corpse. He wanted his friend back.

"Why?" he demanded flatly, wiping angrily at the tears in his eyes.

"Just trust me.." she replied softly.

Begrudgingly, Hoya followed her down the maze of hallways to the room he had just fled from.

He felt sick; every instinct he had told him to run again.

The nurse pushed the door open and ushered him inside, and it took Hoya a few seconds to realize what he was supposed to be seeing.

His jaw physically dropped when he did.

Even with paled skin and dark shadows under his eyes, Dongwoo was unmistakably looking back at him, propped up in his bed.

"Impossible..." he murmured, unable to take this all in.

"I'd've said the same thing," the nurse said, her tone very clearly shocked. "We pulled the plug and declared time of death, but a few seconds later the heart monitor showed activity, and a few minutes after that he woke up - looking for you, I might add. We can't explain it. He just...woke up."

Dongwoo grinned, and though it was weak, it was still his signature smile.

Hoya had to grip the chair next to him to remain upright.

"I heard you," he simply said. "I just remember hearing you crying...and I couldn't leave you sad. I don't remember much, but then I was looking up at a bunch of very perplexed doctors and I couldn't see you."

Lost, Hoya turned to the nurse, "Is he gonna be okay?" he asked, weak with relief.

"We still have to check his vitals...but he's unplugged. His heart is beating and he's breathing all on his own. Other than the cracked ribs, which we knew about, it seems like he's gonna be okay," she smiled, before turning to the man at question. "Dongwoo, you're certainly a miracle. We'll leave you to rest for a bit but we'll have to check everything up later. Take it easy - no getting up," she warned with a smile before leaving the room.

All Hoya could do was stare blankly at Dongwoo, unable to believe it. He'd been dead twenty minutes ago, there was no debating that, but yet here he was, smiling back at Hoya.

"Don't cry anymore, Howon-ah," Dongwoo said gently, and Hoya felt a thousand things at once - but none of that mattered.

He blinked, and suddenly he was across the room, sitting on the side of Dongwoo's bed and pulling him into a tight hug. He heard Dongwoo gasp, and he recalled the state of his ribs, but he couldn't think clearly.

"You idiot," he growled, crushing his lips to Dongwoo's and wrapping his arms around him.

He felt the smaller boy tense in surprise, but he didn't care. He lay him gently back down against the pillows before lifting his hands, cradling his face as if he were made of glass.

"Don't you ever," he hissed, though his voice was too soft to sound harsh, "scare me like that again."

Gently, he leaned in and pressed his lips to Dongwoo's again, once, twice, three times before letting them linger, and something clicked inside of him when he felt Dongwoo kiss him back.

He loved him. He really loved him, and it only then hit Hoya - that, and how close he came to losing him.

He couldn't stop himself; tears sprang to his eyes and instantly ran down his cheeks, and it was then that Dongwoo pulled away. He lifted his hand gently and Howon had never openly cried as hard as he did when Dongwoo reached up with trembling fingers and tenderly wiped his cheeks.

"Hey, no more crying," he said gently, offering a soft smile.

He never thought that today Dongwoo would be comforting him, but here he was, allowing himself to be pulled into the older boy's arms.

"I'm here - I'm not going anywhere," Dongwoo promised, and Hoya clung to the voice that he hadn't heard in over a month.

"You better not," Hoya grumbled weakly, and Dongwoo chuckled softly and ran frail fingers through his hair.

"I won't," Dongwoo vowed, leaning in to kiss the top of Hoya's head, and Hoya truly believed that things would be alright.