Kyuhyun blinked furiously, scrunching his eyes from the discomfort that resulted from the light. Slowly, the blurness cleared and he found himself staring at the spinning fan on the ceiling.

The ceiling was white, the walls were white, the room was white and the comforter was white too.

He was sure that he wasn’t sleeping in his blue bedroom. It looked like… hospital.

What am I doing here?

He shut his eyes at a sudden shot of pain through his head, instinctively the blanket under his hands.

“Kyuhyun!”

He recognized it as Siwon’s voice. However, when he opened his eyes again, everything was back to a blur. He could feel Siwon’s warm hands sliding down from his shoulders and clutching over his own, while the muffled calling of his name continued.

Kyuhyun opened his mouth to speak, but all he managed was a squeak. His throat felt too dry, but he found it necessary to reassure Siwon he was fine. His friend was anxious, something Kyuhyun hardly saw from the confident Siwon.  

“…Won…” Kyuhyun struggled, blinking repeatedly in an attempt to regain his eyesight. He gathered strength in his hands, lightly squeezing Siwon’s hands to acknowledge that he was conscious, despite the headache.

The shuffling of footsteps came thereafter, along with other voices. The sounds were clearer than before and he could distinctively pick out Siwon’s voice, but he could make nothing out of the strings of words in his state of delirium. The drawing of the curtains brought some solace to him with the sunlight blocked out, but Kyuhyun lost the battle against lethargy. The voices and images faded away.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When Kyuhyun woke up again, he was careful not to overpush himself. He was weak, although he had no idea how he ended up this way. Slowly opening his eyes, Kyuhyun recognized the same spinning fan, along with warm orange light falling on his face. The bright, offensive sunlight was no longer present, but his throat was still dry.

Without observing his surroundings, the name that he had wanted to call earlier on slipped out of his mouth first.

“Siwon…” Kyuhyun whispered, finding greater command over his voice than the previous time. “Siwon,” he called louder.

A hand found his fingers, prompting Kyuhyun to tilt his head towards the incoming direction. It was the same kind of warmness, but it was different from Siwon’s hands.

“Kyu, it’s me.”

The recognition of the voice came faster than the forming of the image before his eyes.

“Ch-wang…” Kyuhyun murmured as his best friend came into view. “Wa…w-water.”

“Water, water! One second.” Changmin’s hand slipped away.

Kyuhyun turned his head towards the other direction, realizing that the biege curtains were drawn around his bed.

“Kyuhyun. You can only have just a few sips. The doctor gave orders that you can’t eat or drink yet.” Changmin said as he adjusted the bed for Kyuhyun to sit up.

Kyuhyun lifted his right hand, but found no strength to hold up the cup. Changmin wrapped his hand around Kyuhyun’s, the other directing the straw towards Kyuhyun’s mouth. Once Kyuhyun tasted the first sip, he found himself increasingly thirsty. He gulped down the water, but by the fifth mouth, the cup was already empty.

Letting go of the straw, Kyuhyun looked at Changmin, silently begging with his eyes for more water.

“No, Kyu. Your stomach won’t be able to take it.”

“More, please.”

“Let me—” The drawing of the curtains interrupted their conversation.

A male doctor in a long, white coat walked in, followed by another female nurse.

“Doctor! Just in time. Can we let him drink more?” Changmin asked.

“Later. Let me check up on him first. Please wait outside, Changmin-ssi.” The doctor replied, pulling the patient records board from the foot of the bed.

“I’ll be right outside, Kyu.”

Kyuhyun nodded at his friend, although he wanted him to stay. He was feeling apprehensive, despite not knowing the reason behind it.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I’m Dr. Kim Jaewon and this is Nurse Baek Heesun.” The nurse smiled at him while handling the IV bag hung on a pole beside the bed. “How are you feeling?”

Kyuhyun turned back to the doctor, who was giving him a warm smile. “A little… groggy? But I’m fine, I guess.” His voice was still raw, but it felt much better with that few mouths of water.

“Any headaches? Or are you feeling any discomfort anywhere?”

Kyuhyun shook his head slowly. “There was when I woke up earlier, but I’m feeling fine now.”

“That’s good.” T