It was the middle of the night when the ringing phone woke Minho up. Still half asleep, he stumbled out of the sheets and out of bed entirely, to the place where he had set his phone. "Taeyeon" it said.

He really needed to change that already.

Wiping the tiredness from his eyes, he answered it, wondering what on earth the boy could be calling him about at that hour. "Hello?" he said groggily.

"Minho?" Taemin asked. Immediately, he could tell something was wrong.

"Yeah, I'm here. What is it?" he asked, his tiredness suddenly forgotten.

"I'm at the hospital. It’s my mom. She's...she's…” He couldn’t even get the words out. Minho felt an awful fear twist his gut.

“Can you come here?” he croaked out in the end, “I have no one else to call.”

"Of course," he answered immediately. He the light half way through the boy's explanation, and was pulling out some clothes to change into. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Minho hurriedly made his way through the emergency room, trying to ignore all the other horrible situations people were going through at the same moment.

Being in the hospital brought back many painful memories, but he tried to ignore them. His only concern was Taemin.

He passed by all the rooms until he found the number the nurse had given him. Taemin was inside, just as she said he would be, sitting beside the bed his mother was laid on.

He had guessed it already, but it was still hard see. His mother wasn’t hooked up to any machines. There was no sound to indicate her heartbeat. There was no need.

She was already gone.

He never would have guessed she was that ill. Minho knew her diminishing health was a problem, but Taemin never talked about her condition like it was fatal. Then again, he didn’t talk about it much at all.

He bore that weight all by himself.

"Taemin," he said, catching the boy's attention.

He turned to face him. He looked tired and completely distraught. Quiet tears stained his face as he sat there, looking for words to say but unable to speak.

Minho felt at a loss. He didn’t know what he could say to him, or what he could do. He remembered being that hurt angry boy who had lost his mother. He remembered all the feelings, and all the sympathetic words people would say to him. Words that never seemed to help.

At the time, he just wanted to know that he wasn’t alone. Maybe that was all Taemin needed too.

He could be that comfort for him, in a way that no one had done for him.

Taemin stood from his chair. Minho didn’t give him time to say anything, before he pulled him into a hug. "I'm so sorry," he told him quietly, as Taemin inevitably broke down crying. "I'm so sorry."

A/N: Well this story couldn't be all happy and fluffy all the time. :(

On another note, this story now has over 100 subscribers! Kamsahabnida! *pulls all 100+ of you into a giant group hug*

Next chapter will be up soon, as this one was very short (again).

:)