T h e   I n s t i t u t e

Chapter Twenty

To some bewilderment, only Yesung and Kibum were to be found at the meeting place but as soon as Hankyung and Heechul got nearer and the other two noticed them, they were told hurriedly that they needed to get their asses to the aircraft hangar. Master Chen had already assigned the four of them to take care of the situation which he’d apparently explained little about before dashing off somewhere else. All they knew so far was that the Dark Elves had released a wraith in the Netherworldian populated region of the Seoraksan National Park.

Wraiths were nasty. Nasty and almost impossible to contain which meant it was win or lose. When Hankyung and the others got to the hangar, they were ushered onto the jet where there was subsequently a good dosage of confusion at the interior. Either they had a new plane or the jet that had taken them to Borneo had gone through an extreme makeover. It turned out to be the former. One of the regular agents that showed them where to sit explained that it was one of five new aircrafts that the Institute had invested in for obvious reasons.

The team were strapped into comfy, very race-car-esque seats with an excessive amount of belts and clips to keep them secure. Around them, the cabin was designed for function rather than style; in every compartment there were weapons. The jet was absolutely loaded to the brim with weapons of every kind. The regular agent pointed them in the direction of the silver-made selection and then disappeared into the cockpit.

They armed themselves after the jet had taken off, roaring up into the twilight. Heechul went straight for the curved blade with the intricate reptilian hilt. Yesung and Kibum loaded up on knives, tucking them away into wrist straps, belts, boots and back pockets; one mysteriously vanished below Yesung’s waistband. As he picked up a heavy Taurus PT99 and a magazine of silver bullets, Hankyung had the briefest flicker of reservation. Wraiths burned like es when they came into contact with silver but how would any of them fair if the wraith came into contact with them? Hankyung wasn’t a fan of mind tricks.

Which, coincidentally, was making him glare at Kibum as the plane sliced through the clouds. The younger boy had a ghost of a smirk on his face, but enough that Hankyung could tell that he knew. He knew about the kissing. Hankyung scowled at everything, especially Kibum because dammit he wasn’t going red. And it wasn’t like he was particularly embarrassed to be caught doing anything with Heechul, quite the opposite, he just… he was more happy than he’d been in a long time and Kibum could tell and was poking fun at him albeit good naturedly. However, it wouldn’t be long before-

‘What are you smiling about?’ Yesung smirked at Kibum’s smirk. Heechul looked up from the blade he was enraptured with.

‘Nothing. I just remembered something funny.’ Kibum replied. Hankyung narrowed his eyes. Why should the psychic lie about what he’d discovered? What kind of game was he trying to play? He flicked his attention back to Yesung and Yesung shrugged. He seemed a little off.

‘Are you alright?’ He decided to question and effectively steered the conversation in a different direction. Yesung looked over at him, face oddly resigned.

‘I’m ok. I’m just worried about Wookie, he erm…’ Yesung scratched his ear and chewed over a thought. ‘Well you know they started going around checking everyone to make sure they’re not a revenant?’

Hankyung nodded. ‘Yeah?’

‘Ah its nothing, he just got a bit upset. He was rambling on about Jay and what happened to him at the warehouse.’ Heechul stiffened. ‘I tried to cheer him up but he locked himself in his room and told me to bugger off.’ Yesung sighed and concentrated on the floor of the cabin.

‘He’ll be alright later.’ Kibum assured. Yesung gave him a weak smile and they lapsed into silence but the teleporter was clearly still deliberating over something. Hankyung waited, knowing that he didn't need to prompt Yesung. He loaded his gun with the magazine and felt the weight of it in his hand, judging how he'd have to use it later on. He was surprised with how nice it was to hold, it was clearly not one of the generic handguns that they kept in the arsenal which made sense as they had all been cleared out by the troops of regular agents before they were sent across the country.

‘I hate this, I ing hate this. The elves are everywhere and the whole team’s falling to .’ Yesung abruptly snarled.  

Heechul frowned at him. ‘What do you mean?’  

‘Almost all the regular agents have gone and I know that’s important for maintaining national security or whatever it is but then there’s Leeteuk and Kangin who still aren’t speaking for whatever reason.’

‘Everyone’s acting like they’re going through a divorce.’ The shifter sniggered though he seemed forlorn. ‘Donghae spent all day yesterday in the river.’

‘Well yeah, exactly, that’s my point!’ Yesung went on. ‘Donghae’s underwater 90% of the time, Siwon’s been in the gym nonstop-’

‘Eunhyuk got sent to his padded cell.’ Kibum interrupted.

‘He did?!’ Heechul exclaimed.

‘He pushed someone down a flight of stairs.’

‘…’ After a pause, Yesung cleared his throat and sniffed. The others looked over at him.

‘Kyuhyun’s dying for ’s sake.’ Nobody missed the fleeting crack in his voice. They all went very quiet after that.

Gradually, their physical and psychological states had been battered and bruised. Kangin and Leeteuk’s relationship looked to be hanging on by a very thin tether and every single one of them was indulging in escapism whilst they tried to stay in good form for any possible, unprecedented attacks. The cruel anticipation was excruciating. Sungmin was the most fragile he’d ever been and some of the others were getting to that level as well with their anxieties being pummelled from all angles. This agonising culmination of fear and frustration was seeping every last drop of strength they had left when, now, that was what they needed more than anything.

Hankyung looked over to his right. At wavy, rosy auburn hair, dark chocolate eyes and perfectly pouted lips… Hankyung looked at Heechul and wondered how they’d managed to come together in all of this.

Now that was a sobering thought.

Hankyung hadn’t yet considered the factors at play that were almost certainly involved in their involvement. They’d kissed and it had been nice – more than nice – but during said kissing they’d both forgotten the conversations leading up to it. Heechul had been extremely upset and Hankyung wasn’t a fool to think that in an emotionally weak state such as that, a person could do a lot of things they’d weren’t supposed to or didn’t really mean. He didn’t like the idea that Heechul had only kissed him because he felt vulnerable but he was obligated to acknowledge that it could be true. 

He heard a ripple of thunder in the distance and aimlessly tightened and loosened his hold on the Taurus. He made up his mind that instead of shying away from potentially awkward conversations, this time he was going to be a man and talk to Heechul about it. He needed to put his feelings into words and just lay it all out on the table. If he got shot down, so be it. There could be no bigger regret than not having at least tried. Yes he was going to do it …later. They were on a mission after all.

‘Special agents.’ Hankyung looked up, as did the others. The regular agent from earlier had come out of the cockpit. ‘When we land in a few minutes we’ll be dropping you in a secure location. The wraith will be close but we’re tracking it so we can guide you to it. This is a search and destroy. You get in and get out. Copy?’

‘Copy.’ They chorused.

Sure enough, the jet began its descent not long afterwards and in stealth mode, gradually lowered itself to the ground. Once they were close enough, the hatch in the floor dropped open and the special agents trooped out, jumping down onto sandy stone. They took cover behind a large rock and watched the jet rise up into the growing darkness. It was beginning to rain and the feathery fine shower coated their bodysuits in a thin layer of damp. The smell of it lingered pleasantly in the late evening air, floating around the mountainous area in a misty haze.

‘Come in, special agents.’ The regular agent’s voice crackled in their ears through the comlink.

‘We can hear you.’ Yesung replied a little tersely. He was clearly still agitated by the things plaguing his mind. Another deep rumble of thunder sounded from the sky and Heechul flinched.

‘At the moment you have an advantage. Once you come around from the rock in front of you, there will be a slope straight ahead. The wraith is at the bottom of that slope.’

‘Got it.’ Kibum confirmed.

‘Good luck.’

The four of them began adjusting their weapons. Hankyung checked that the magazine in his gun was still in place, not that it was likely to have fallen out. He restlessly twisted his fingers this way and that with a sliver of flame dipping in and out of them. He unexpectedly caught the sight of Heechul tossing his hair back out of his eyes and choked on a breath. They definitely needed to have a discussion later that night or Hankyung would have to come up with an excuse as to why he was staring with his mouth open all the time.

‘Time to get this over with.’ Yesung declared, spinning a knife around his hand.

Hankyung led the way back around the rock and boldly marched towards the slope without hesitation. The others spread out on either side of him and they soon caught sight of the wraith. At the bottom of the incline was a thick grey smog and weaving through it was a hooded entity. Its robes of smoke billowed in an unidentifiable breeze. They took note that the dip in the land formation rose up again on the other side of the wraith which meant they could surround it from a height; it was at a complete tactical disadvantage. Yesung teleported himself and Kibum over to the other side who then nodded at Heechul. The shapeshifter took aim and flung a palm sized dagger at the monster. Hankyung heard it whip through the air and then the wraith let out a bloodcurdling screech.

It snapped its attention to where Heechul was stood and its soulless eye sockets could be seen from beneath its ragged cloak. The team didn’t allow it any opportunity to retaliate. Hankyung rapidly distracted it with large cascades of fire that circled it in a blazing vortex whilst Kibum used the time to levitate boulders down into the hollow of the mountain to trap the wraith in place. It was getting angrier by the second and continued to screech like a tortured alley cat. Once it was trapped, they pummelled it with knives and bullets from all angles until it was nothing but a writhing, shrieking mess. Then Hankyung reached for another magazine and lost his footing at the edge of the hill. Heechul yelped as the pyro tumbled forwards into the smog.

‘Hankyung!!’

‘I’m alright!’ He called up from where he’d landed. The dense smoke around him was murder on his lungs but at least the fall hadn’t broken him. He coughed and heaved himself up to his feet.

‘Are you hurt?’ Heechul asked when he could see him again.

‘Just bruised.’ Hankyung replied, carefully dusting off his grazed palms.

‘Can you see anything down there?’ Kibum inquired. Hankyung peered through the smog, identifying nothing recognisable except a slightly more dense area of blackness which must have been the monster.

‘Think we might have defeated the bastar-’

He spoke too soon. The brief lapse in their onslaught had provided the wraith enough time to gather its strength. A scaly, bony arm shot out of the darkness and flew upwards to grab Yesung’s ankle and drag him down into the dip. They heard something snap and then Yesung screamed in pain. Kibum yanked the Colt out of his back pocket and cocked the trigger but as he squinted through the smoke, he realised there was no clear shot of the wraith and there was no way he was going to risk shooting Yesung. The rain had developed from the dusting it had been before into a hammering shower and with all the black mist floating around it was near impossible to get a lock on anything.

‘Yesung?!!’ Heechul yelled over the sound of the rain. There was no answer.

‘I’m going in!’ Hankyung cried.

‘Wait! No!’

He ignored Heechul’s pleas for him to stop and ploughed forwards into the dark haze. Gathering a ball of flame in his hand made it somewhat easier to see and he charged on with renewed energy when he finally caught sight of Yesung. Despite the latter’s now undoubtedly broken ankle, the stubborn brunette was still putting up a fight and combatting the wraiths attempts to rip out his soul with his silver blade. Hankyung quickly joined in the fray and knocked aside the creature with the first thing that came to hand – a shuriken.

‘Get out of here!’ He shouted to Yesung.

‘I can’t just leave you with it!’ The other boy tossed back but he grunted in discomfort when he lunged to strike away a creeping leathery limb.

‘You’re injured! Get back up the hill!’ Hankyung snapped, leaving no room for argument in his tone. With practised ease he reloaded his gun at a swift pace and put the thing to use in blasting the wraith backwards until it was ambushed against the rock. Yesung reluctantly did as he asked and dematerialised.

The journey back seemed longer than it had before. Yesung and Kibum threw each other nervous looks every so often, both thinking the same things – what was Heechul going to be like when he woke up? What would Master Chen do when he found out? But mostly, where was Hankyung and was he alright? They’d already checked with the regular agents and unsurprisingly, the wraith was now out of their radar and they couldn’t track it any longer. When the jet landed safely in the Institute’s hangar, they both took a second to compose themselves before they faced the long night ahead of them.

The regular agents vacated the aircraft and Yesung and Kibum were left alone to deal with Heechul. They’d dismissed the idea of just teleporting him straight to his bedroom because all three of them needed to report back to Master Chen and it was only fair that Heechul be awake when they constructed a rescue plan for Hankyung. So, Kibum tricked the shifter’s mind into thinking that it was falling and Heechul woke up with a jolt. He stared around in surprise, catching his breath and scrabbling around to find his equilibrium.

‘Heechul! We’re back. We’re back at the Institute.’ Yesung hurriedly explained.

‘What?! Why? We need to-’

‘Chul-ah, listen.’ Kibum interrupted, grabbing onto one of Heechul’s wrists to keep him seated. ‘That vapour the wraith breathed onto Hankyung only knocked him out, he’s not dead.’ He said firmly. He’d been trying to tell Heechul that since the incident but it had been hard to make himself heard over the shrieking.

‘He’s not dead?’ The redhead repeated.

‘Well…’

‘Kibum!’

‘Look we have to go and tell Master Chen what’s happened. We can’t sit here all night.’ Yesung intercepted before anyone resorted to violence. He was starting to feel weary from his injury and although one of the agents had strapped up his ankle for him, the throbbing pain was overpowering.

‘Yes let’s go!’ Heechul suddenly exclaimed, shooting up off his seat and out of the jet before anyone could stop him. His eyes were determined, his demeanour feverish. He had already gone past the point of being broken and what was left was a Heechul desperately clinging onto anything and everything that he could to stop himself from giving up. Kibum knew if they didn’t find Hankyung and bring him back in one piece, the last star would be burnt out and Heechul was done for. He quickened his pace across the aircraft hangar.

They found Master Chen on the corridor near the library after they’d bumped into Ailee and she’d pointed them in the right direction. He was speaking with one of the other masters but when he sensed the three agents hurrying towards him, he quickly wrapped up whatever business he had with the man and sent him on his way. It was, of course, Heechul who tried to tell him what had happened first of all but the account came out in a hectic rush, giving way in the end to a sentence choked on by emotion.

‘Heechul, why don’t you go and rest in the common room? The rest of the team are all in there I believe.’ Master Chen cut in. ‘You two go as well and collect Shindong. That invention of yours is proving more and more useful, Kibum.’

‘What should we do once we find Hankyung?’ Yesung asked while Kibum suppressed a grin at being praised.

‘Let me know and I’ll deploy a rescue party.’

‘I’m going.’ Heechul automatically stated. Master Chen sighed.

‘I really don’t think that’s a wise decision.’ He held up a hand when the shifter tried to protest. ‘I want you to stay here while we deal with this situation as quickly and calmly as possible. That’s an order Heechul.’ His voice went stern.

Heechul really didn’t have a choice other than to cooperate unless he wanted to land himself in solitary confinement. The Institute tended to lock the special agents in padded rooms when they were severely disobedient or erratic; Eunhyuk being the being the most frequent occupant of such a room. It made them feel like animals, yes, but they had dangerous supernatural powers. Heechul didn’t fancy a night in one of those cages so he quietly followed Yesung and Kibum to the common room where, sure enough, the rest of the group were all situated apart from the noticeable absence of Kyuhyun.

The three of them were barely noticed as they moved further into the room; minds were preoccupied with consuming thoughts. Heechul hugged his arms around himself and shuffled over to the sofa that Sungmin was curled up on. He sat down and when the demon registered that he was there, they clung onto one another, comforting each other without words. The rest of the room made barely a murmur of noise culminating from the crackling fire, the constant buzz of the Institute and a few quiet words exchanged between Shindong, Yesung and Kibum. It was a while before anyone remembered to ask about the wraith.

‘What have you done with Hankyung?’ Heechul winced at Kangin’s question. Sungmin gave him a look in askance.

‘Um…’ Yesung hedged, his eyes flickering to the shifter. He had been about to leave with Kibum and Shindong, hoping to slip away before the inquisition started.

Kibum sighed. ‘The wraith took him.’

‘What?!!’ Leeteuk shrieked.

‘We’re going to find him.’ Shindong put in reassuringly.

‘What happened?’ Donghae asked with rounded eyes. Heechul’s chest tightened but he decided to take over the explanation, allowing the search party to go off and do their business.

‘He… the wraith got Yesung but… Hankyung fought him off.’ Heechul became uncomfortably aware of everyone’s eyes fixed upon him. ‘But the wraith knocked him out and dragged him off somewhere.’ He felt numb to the memory already but he wondered if that was just his defense mechanisms kicking in to keep his face a neutral mask. Sungmin gasped beside him and he felt the other boy tighten his hold.

‘.’ Leeteuk breathed. He had a hand over his mouth in disbelief, staring into space as he mulled over this new development.

‘First Kyuhyun and now Hankyung.’ Ryeowook muttered dejectedly and shook his head.

‘They’re not dead.’ Sungmin snapped.

‘For all we know they could be. Neither of them were checked to see if they were a revenant.’ Ryeowook bitterly argued back.

‘And how the are they supposed to check Kyuhyun?!’

‘Alright enough!!’ Kangin barked. Sungmin and Ryeowook looked away from one another and glared. The outburst had shocked Heechul. He knew that everyone was feeling a little testy lately but he’d never been caught in the midst of a tiff. He looked over at Donghae, his heart hurting again to see the forlorn expression on the boy’s face.

‘Haebaby..’ He called gently, stretching out a hand, expecting Donghae to take it and come sit on the sofa with him. But he didn’t expect to get a venomous stare.

‘Don’t baby me.’ The younger boy said sharply.

‘I wasn-’ Heechul stammered, taken aback. His eyes went to Kangin who was giving him a pitying look.

‘Listen, I think everyone just needs to breathe and calm down. What’s the use in taking out our feelings on each other?’ Leeteuk interjected in a motherly way.

‘Oh like you’ve been doing since the full moon?’ Kangin fixed the older boy with a challenging look.

‘Don’t start Kangin.’

‘I haven’t started anything. Y-’

‘Kangin! Now is not the time or place!’

‘’s sake.’ Kangin muttered and purposefully shifted to wolf form so that he didn’t have to talk to anybody. Heechul watched the exchange in horror but his eyes were soon drawn back to Donghae who was pushing a sleepy-looking Eunhyuk off him.

‘Get off!’

‘I’m comfy though.’

‘Go lie on someone else.’ Donghae kept shoving Eunhyuk away but the other boy was none-the-wiser to his presence being unwelcome. ‘Get off!!’

‘Donghae, he’s sedated, don’t get angry.’ Siwon chastised, however looking equally as stressed as everyone else. Heechul quickly realised that Master Lee must have allowed Eunhyuk out of his cell on the condition that he be sedated lest he become a liability.

She helped him limp to an examination room and settle on the bed with his ankle propped up. A doctor was fetched who remarked that a broken ankle was as common as a cold within the Institute and took a look at Yesung’s joint with knowledgeable eyes. He removed the bandaging that the regular agents had provided and gave Yesung a couple of injections for the pain before wrapping the offending body part back up in a proper splint, complete with awkward blue straps. It was apparently a good break that would heal quickly enough especially if it had time to rest. Yesung even got a lollipop.

He trudged down the corridors of the medical bay with no particular inclination of where to go, trying to keep his weight off his ankle. The staff were hurrying about like usual with clipboards and stethoscopes flying about. Yesung began to notice that a few of them were going in one direction a lot quicker and more harried than the others so, as curiosity got the better of him, he followed them. Along a bright hallway that stunk of cleaning products, Yesung was surprised to catch sight of Henry.

‘Henry!’ He called out, taking the lolly out of his mouth. The younger boy turned around.

‘Yesung? What are you doing down here?’ He asked as Yesung reached him.

‘Could ask you the same question.’

‘Ah, well, before Master Lee sedated him, Eunhyuk decided to break my nose.’ Henry pointed to the bandages across his nose. There was a big purple bruise but it didn’t look beyond repair.

‘The wraith broke my ankle.’ Yesung showed off his blue splint. He knew that Henry was going to ask about the mission but he didn’t feel like explaining what had happened to Hankyung when they were more than likely going to find him soon, so he stopped the other boy before he could open his mouth. ‘What’s all the commotion?’ He gestured at two frantic doctors running past them.

‘I was wondering that as well.’ Henry frowned.

‘Come on.’ Yesung went after the doctors and Henry followed suit. It soon became clear that they were in the intensive care unit but after the second of acknowledging that information in his brain, Yesung felt a cold sweat break out across his back and his hobbling footsteps quickened. They got to a very familiar corridor and gasped at the chaos.

Henry only just managed to dodge out of the way of a stretcher being rapidly carried away from the scene with a heavily wounded nurse atop it. More stretchers were being taken down to collect other injured staff that must have been caught in the explosion. The glass wall that had looked into Kyuhyun’s room was completely shattered and shards of that glass were puncturing the opposite wall that now had a gaping hole through it. Rubble cascaded down from the point of impact and there was dense black smoke wafting up from it. They couldn’t see through the hole in the wall but they could smell burning.

‘What happened?’ Yesung grabbed the nearest person that wasn’t on the move but the man was agitated.

‘God save us! That demon has unleashed hell upon us!’

‘That demon is my friend.’ Yesung snarled and shoved the man away from him, causing him to stumble over his own feet.

‘Let’s go closer.’ Henry insisted and they tried to find their way through the throng to get a better look at the damage. Unfortunately, any chance of a glimpse at Kyuhyun seemed impossible with all the emergency doctors surrounding him.

‘You two need to head upstairs. The situation is being dealt with.’ A regular agent was standing guard and attempted to move them off.

‘Tell us what happened at least.’ Henry pleaded. ‘That’s our friend in there.’

The agent sighed. ‘All I know is, one minute he’s lying there almost dead and the next, some huge ball of energy starts coming out of him and blasts straight through the window.’

‘But is he ok?’ Yesung demanded.

‘Not sure but they’re tending to him. He’s still unconscious. Now, please, it’s best if you go back upstairs.’ Another gesture towards the exit and they finally conceded. However, no more than five paces away did Henry disappear from view and Yesung smiled. He carried on walking and went around the corner where there were less people milling about. He received some odd looks for just leaning against a wall looking calm while so much was happening around him but he waited patiently for Henry to return.

A couple of minutes came and went then, all of a sudden, Henry’s hand seized Yesung’s arm and dragged him away with purpose while the rest of his body materialised. Despite several questions from the teleporter, Henry didn’t say anything until they were leaving the medical wing. His face looked more determined than Yesung had ever seen it but there was definitely raw emotion playing about in his features as well. His arm was let go off once Henry finally spoke.

‘The demonic energy made that explosion because it thought it was being attacked. It tried to protect itself from the life-support machines but now Kyuhyun’s body has gone into shock and there’s n-nothing they can do unless they want him to explode a-again and we have to get Sungmin because there’s no way I’m letting them allow K-Kyuhyun to die without him being there.’ He’d said it as quickly as he was walking. Yesung felt the lump in his throat tighten around his airways.

‘Yeah… let’s get Sungmin.’ He murmured.

The medical bay was several floors below the common room but they managed to get there in no time at all. Yesung teleported them as much of the way as he could until the grief his ankle gave him made it too difficult. For the remaining journey they travelled at a fast pace with no words passed between them. There was nothing they could say to each other and they were both struggling desperately to think of a way to tell Sungmin what they knew. When they reached the common room, they went with grave expressions into a cacophony of angry voices and barking.

‘I can’t believe you did that you bastard!!’

‘Kangin, for the love of god, SHUT UP!!!’

‘Siwon let go of me!!’

‘Stop it!! STOP IT!!! You’re making it worse you ing idiots!!’ Yesung was surprised enough to gasp when ZhouMi swore and somehow, with just that small sound, all eyes found him and Henry by the door. It went silent.

‘Have you foun…’ Heechul began hopefully but trailed off as he properly registered the solemn faces.

‘What’s wrong?’ Leeteuk questioned. Henry and Yesung exchanged a look before moving towards the other special agents and the latter specifically went to Sungmin.

‘What is it?’ His voice was already trembling. Yesung opened his mouth to speak and choked on his words. A tear slipped down his face. ‘No… no.’ Sungmin’s hand flew up across his face and he shook his head violently as if trying to will away the truth.

‘Henry?’ Siwon asked softly, hoping that the other boy might explain.

‘He’s… gone into shock. They’re um... they’re…’ But Henry couldn’t finish and no one expected him to.

‘No, please. Yesung. No.’ Sungmin stammered, clinging on desperately to Yesung’s chest.

‘You n-need to go to him. He might… he might not h-have a lot of time.’ Tears gushed down Sungmin’s cheeks. The others were stunned and shaking with fear. It didn’t seem real.

As sombrely as a funeral procession they descended the chasm of the Institute. Sungmin led the way as best he could, pausing every now and then to steady his breathing. Where mere minutes ago they had all been ready to tear each other’s throats out, the group of special agents moved together as one. Kangin, returned to human form, put his arm around Leeteuk and brushed away his tears. Heechul took hold of Donghae’s hand and squeezed it tightly. Ryeowook helped Yesung along with his ankle.

The regular agent from earlier was a lot more lenient when he saw them all coming down the corridor. He told them that the place was being cleared up and that Kyuhyun had been moved to a different room nearby which he pointed them in the direction of. They followed his instruction and met with a doctor standing outside of the unit. He saw their faces and immediately offered a sympathetic smile.

‘If it’s alright with you all, I should only really allow one person inside but you can still see him through the glass round there.’ He gestured down another hallway. The group nodded in acknowledgement.

‘Sungmin.’ Heechul whispered as he and the rest of them walked past. He gave the younger boy a very strong hug and held on for long enough that Sungmin thought he might not let go until he did and went to join the others. Sungmin then looked back at the doctor who led him into Kyuhyun’s room.

Any strength he had left in him vanished at the sight of his best friend lying helplessly on the bed before him. Sungmin rushed to it and fiercely took one of Kyuhyun’s hands. There were no machines this time. No beeps and whirring noises. No cables across the floor or needles in his arms. It was just the broken form of Kyuhyun with scars across his face and his burnt and bruised body vulnerably resting beneath a thin white sheet. Yet, despite his damaged appearance, there still came a shallow intake and exhalation of breath.

‘Please don’t die.’ Sungmin cried out, his eyes glassy. He furiously wiped at them so that the haze of his tears wouldn’t distort his view. ‘You c-can’t leave me.’ He cursed his stuttering voice. ‘You can’t… b-because I… I never got to tell y-you.’ The sobs were obstructing his ability to speak coherently and he knelt down, resting his head on the mattress and trying to calm down. It wasn’t working quickly enough which prolonged his state of panic. ‘I… I-I never…’ He mumbled.

‘Ne-ever got t-to tell me what?’

‘That I love you.’ 

unplanned hiatuses are the worst aren't they

I have a lot of reasons for disappearing but the important thing is that I have returned with a heart-tugging chapter

at least I hope so

I actually experienced emotions whilst writing this, I almost didn't want to include things because they were painful

blimey

anyway, please please comment and reassure me that you don't hate me for vanishing without a trace

unless of course you do hate me for doing so in which case hate mail is still appreciated... I guess....

there's no such thing as bad criticism!

thank you for enduring me and my infrequent updates 

~JC