“Where is he? Tell me where he is! Baekhyun? Baekhyun!! Byun Baekhyun!” 

His screams could be heard throughout the entire hospital, and it finally came to Baekhyun’s attention when nurses began to file towards Chanyeol’s entrance. His head shot up, and then he was pushing through a small crowd of doctors and nurses mixed, saying “I need him” over and over again. Finally, he broke through, and without any hesitation, he threw himself into Chanyeol’s arms, burying his face into his chest and breaking into bone-rattling sobs.

Chanyeol said nothing, simply held him, smoothing over his hair with one hand and keeping him held tightly to him. Chanyeol began shushing Baekhyun like a mother would her frightened child after a nightmare, gently rocking him in a soothing gesture. After a few moments, Chanyeol brought Baekhyun to a chair in the room and pulled him into his lap. Baekhyun kept his grip on Chanyeol tight, sobbing gently into his chest, sniffling and trembling. Chanyeol soon began to gently kiss Baekhyun’s forehead, wiping the tears from his cheeks, tilting his chin up so they were looking at each other.

“I-It’s my b-brother, h-he had a-an accident...” Baekhyun fought to speak through his tears, hiccuping and burying his face back in Chanyeol’s chest.

Chanyeol continued to rock Baekhyun, smoothing over his hair gently. “I’m so sorry, Baekhyun... How bad is it?”

“Th-They wa-want me t-to donate a-an organ...”

Chanyeol froze, his arms tensing around Baekhyun’s trembling body. “What’s the chances of you coming back out alive, Baek?” He whispered, his eyes locked on the white tiled floor.

“Sixty-five percent chance I’ll live, thirty-five percent chance I don’t...” Baekhyun sniffled and wiped at his tears, looking up at Chanyeol with red, puffy eyes. “I-I have to d-do this, Y-Yeol.. H-He’s my br-brother...”

Though it was forced, Chanyeol offered a weak nod and smile. “I know.. So.. Y-You do this, B-Baek... D-Don’t let what anyone e-else thinks change yo-your mind. I’ll stay right here u-until it’s over, and then I’ll be by your bedside while y-you r-recover, okay? I won’t leave. I’ll be right here...”

Baekhyun could see Chanyeol hurting, could see the pain in his eyes, so he leaned up and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Chanyeol kissed back lightly, tears finding a way down his cheeks, and when he pulled away, he took in a shaky breath of air. Baekhyun pulled away form Chanyeol reluctantly, hiccuping and wiping at his eyes, giving Chanyeol the best smile he could muster. But before Baekhyun could be lead away by the doctors, Chanyeol was there once again with his arms wrapped tightly around Baekhyun.

“I love you... I want you to know before you go in there that I love you.”

With a solemn nod, Baekhyun accepted this. Before he could give Chanyeol his answer, though, the nurses peeled Chanyeol away from him and the doctor escorted Baekhyun to the operating room, his last sight being of his best friend struggling to follow him despite the nurses’ pleas for him to cooperate.

⎛ a few hours later... ⎠

Chanyeol was curled up in a chair, having cried himself to exhaustion and then soon to sleep. He didn’t hear the doctors come out and address Baekhyun’s family, he didn’t hear the nurses prepare to barricade the operation room for when Chanyeol awoke. He heard none of this, but he felt someone’s hand on his shoulder and was instant shocked from his sleep, jumping as if he was already awake.

“What? How is he? Is he okay? Is he stable?” Questions poured from Chanyeol’s lips as he heard the doctors explain Baekhyun’s situation, how he was having convulsions and difficulty breathing. “Let me see him! Let me make sure he’s okay! He needs me! D-Don’t let him die!!”

The nurses prepared for this. A band of them were standing in front of the door, and they actually looked so menacing that Chanyeol didn’t even bother trying to get into the room. Instead, he broke down, finding an unfamiliar pair of arms around his body as his knees gave out underneath him. Baekhyun’s mother was holding him, soothing him gently, trying to calm him down.

After a while, Chanyeol heard the doctors come back out of the room, this time bringing good news. He was the first one in the room, no one else daring to interfere with the overwrought determination of the patient’s best friend. No one else came with him. He was alone in a room with his best friend who was unconscious, a tube down his throat to help him breathe.

“B-Baek... H-Hey, look at that... You’re alive... That sixty-five precent chance was on our side, wasn’t it?” Chanyeol chuckled weakly and took Baekhyun’s hand, it limply resting in his own as he pulled a chair to his bedside. He reached up and held his hand in both of his own, sniffling as tears suddenly came into his eyes. “You said it would be okay, that I’d see, and look, you’re alive. The doctors said you’ll live... Can you even hear me? You have a tube down your throat so you can breathe, because not enough oxygen was getting to your lungs before. So they have that in you until you can breathe on your own again...”

Chanyeol let tears slide down his cheeks before he noticed that Baekhyun was coming to, groaning slightly from being under for so long. He began mumbling, and Chanyeol leaned closer to try and hear what he was saying.

“Ye-Ye...”

“What was that, Baekhyun? What’d you say?” Chanyeol reached up and wiped the tears that began siding down Baekhyun’s cheeks, pushing the other’s bangs from his forehead so he could see better. Then he began choking on the tube, finally able to breathe on his own. A doctor came in and took the tube away, telling Chanyeol to be patient with Baekhyun as it might take some time. Though he understood that, Chanyeol simply went right back to finding out what Baekhyun was trying to say before.

“What was it, Baek?”

“Y-Yeol...”

Chanyeol froze. Of all things, it was his name.

;End❞