“Appa!”

          Hangeng grinned as he watched his son run towards him, practically leaping into his open arms for the biggest hug the boy could manage, Sunhee doing the same to Heechul on the opposite side of the foyer.

          The eldest felt complete at last, his daughter in his arms and his lover back by his side. His family was back as one and he couldn’t stop the uncharacteristically goofy smile that crossed his lips when Hangeng left a light kiss against his cheek, eyes promising more once the kids were out of sight.

          They made their way upstairs, leaving Hangeng’s things, including the cat that he felt had barely survived the trip, for the servants, and headed towards the playroom. They set the twins down within, and almost immediately Aemi and Minkyung hurried over to greet their uncle and cousin who had been missing the entire month. Even Jaehyun seemed to understand what was going on and toddled over, wide smile on his face.

          When they were all more or less reacquainted, the pair snuck away momentarily to their room leaving the kids to play amongst themselves, one of the palaces maids keeping an eye on all of them while their parents were off handling the mess Kyuhyun and Sungmin had created.

          Heechul closed the door behind them as they stepped within the privacy of their room, and immediately rounded on the younger.

          Instead of the kiss Hangeng had been expecting, pain exploded in his ribs as his lover’s fist connected painfully with his chest. “W-why?” he spluttered, doubling over in agony.

          “What the hell were you thinking!?” Heechul exclaimed, face twisted slightly in anger “How could you just choose to take my daughter and leave me here without you? Do you realize how devastated I was?! How upset Kyungil was!? He was worried you weren’t going to come back! Hell, I was worried you weren’t going to come back!”

          “Chul…” Hangeng regained his stature, and his breath, a hand clutched over his still acing chest “I could never leave you, well…not permanently.” He corrected sheepishly. “I love you, and I love Kyungil. I missed you both every day, Sunhee did too, but Kyuhyun needed our help, and I couldn’t just ignore that.”

          “Tch, so you ignore us instead.” Heechul mumbled.   

          “No….of course not.” Hangeng defended, worried the older might actually be mad at him. “You know you did say to bring him back ‘no matter what’” he pouted.

          “Whatever.” Heechul rolled his eyes. “Come one we should get back to the kids and take care of them until all of this Kyuhyun stuff is sorted out.”

          Hangeng nodded in agreement, but as he reached back for the doorknob, a hand on his wrist stopped him, and this time it was the older’s lips that stole his breath away and not his fist.

          He followed Heechul when his lover pulled away, lips searching for one final taste of what he’d been missing for so long, and the older allowed it, smiling against Hangeng’s mouth until he pulled away and opened the door.

          “I love you…so much.” Heechul sighed, eyes raising to meet the younger’s, who chuckled.

          “I love you too, and I really missed you.”

          “Of course you did.” The eldest scoffed with a haughty flip of his hair as he waltzed past his lover and into the hallway “How could you not?”

          Hangeng rolled his eyes, inwardly glad the older’s attitude hadn’t changed much while he had been gone, and they nearly raced each other back to the playroom, both eager to bond with the children they had missed over the entirety of the past month.

          ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

          When Kyuhyun awoke, his head throbbed, and he was freezing.

          It was dark, his surroundings completely undistinguishable in the low lighting, and while the blanket atop him was warm, perhaps heated, his skin remained cool to the touch, or it at least seemed that way, his limbs too tired and shaky to move and find out.

          He sighed to himself as his memories came flooding back to him. He had been spinning, rolling down the cliff side until he’d reached the bottom and passed out.

          Where were the others? More importantly, where was he? Was he dead? Dreaming perhaps? He wish he knew.

          A small sniffle to his right snapped him from his thoughts, followed by a choked, familiar sob, the large bed nearly shaking beneath him as the other occupant tried his hardest not to breakdown.

          “…M-Min..?” Kyuhyun called cautiously, voice hoarse and almost unrecognizable.

          “K-Kyuhyun…” Sungmin began, and then lost it, his next words spoken between sobs “I thought you were going to die!” He nearly wailed, tears streaming from his eyes and dripping down to his chest.

          Kyuhyun was now positive; he had to have been dead. There was no other explanation for why he would be in their old bed, as he now recognized it, with Sungmin crying over him, because Sungmin hated him, why the hell would he cry for him?

          Sungmin had nearly passed out when Zhoumi and Leeteuk had returned with Kyuhyun, the younger nearly stained blue, and dying.

          The doctor hadn’t spoken a word to him as he, and a few of his nurses moved the lifeless body of his lover onto a stretcher and moved inside and down to the infirmary.

          Leeteuk had attempted to explain the situation to him as they followed the medical team down into a separate wing of the hospital neither of them had been to before, but most of his words were disregarded, his mind too filled with worry for the younger to fully understand what was being said.

          He had only been able to watch hopelessly as Zhoumi and his team worked to save Kyuhyun, pumping him full of warm liquids, and setting him in a bath they had to gradually introduce warmer water into so they could reheat his body.

          It had taken a total of seven hours to get his core temp safely back to ninety six degrees, still a bit too cool, but nothing his body couldn’t fix on its own with the little added help of some heated blankets.

          Zhoumi was supposed to stay and help monitor Kyuhyun’s condition, but another emergency had swept the doctor away, and the Maknae had been moved back to his old room with Sungmin, who had volunteered to watch him, and was given instruction to alert a nurse when the younger awoke.

          “Kyu, I’m sorry.” Sungmin sobbed, wiping furiously at his eyes to make to tears stop. “I should have never said any of the things I did, this wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t.”

          “It’s not your fault.” Entirely, he added in his mind “You did hurt me…but I shouldn’t have handled it the way I did, and I’m sorry. I should have never left you.”

          “I was being a huge …I would have left me too…” Sungmin sniffled, finally calming enough to speak coherently, and Kyuhyun laughed, a real, humorous laugh that had a smile tugging up the corners of Sungmin’s lips as well.

          A long silence settled over them, each trying to think of something to say, and in the end, the eldest spoke first.

          “This doesn’t mean that everything is fixed…does it?” he asked sullenly, and the younger had to think for a moment.

          “I don’t know Min…I think that’s up to you.” He informed “I still love you…I don’t think I could live without you…but if you don’t…”

          “I know I can’t live without you.” Sungmin immediately responded “I was a mess without you…it was like everything was dark, and nothing mattered to me anymore…I wasn’t even able to take care of Jinsang without the other’s helping me. It was awful…”

          “Jinsang… where is he?” Kyuhyun asked suddenly, eyes scanning their dim room and landing on the crib on the opposite wall. “Is he here?”

          Sungmin seemed a bit surprised by the younger’s eagerness to see their son, but nodded and smiled nonetheless. He was probably asleep, but waking him would be worth it, for him, and Kyuhyun. “I’ll go get him.”

          He reluctantly left the warmth of their bed and stalked across the room to where the toddler lay sprawled on his back, so deep asleep he was nearly snoring. He gently lifted Jinsang from his crib, jostling him unintentionally awake, and the baby whined as his mother carried him to their bed.

          Kyuhyun struggled to sit as his son was placed carefully beside him, and Sungmin debated whether he should help him or not, wondering if the gesture may be too much too soon.

          In the end the younger was able to sit on his own, and he smiled brightly as his son crawled to him, an identical smile on the toddlers face as he collapsed in his father’s lap, babbling to him.

          He wondered, as he hugged his son close, if Jinsang truly understood his absence, where he’d gone and why, though he doubted anyone would’ve really attempted to explain it to him. He’d spent the entire month worrying that his son would forget him, or worse, hate him, but with the happy expression currently plastered on the baby’s face he realized that to be anything but the case.

          “Appa!” Jinsang exclaimed, bouncing happily on the bed between the couple once the younger of the two had set him down, his arms already tiring from the effort.

          Kyuhyun’s face fell, his heart sinking a bit as he raised his gaze to meet the sad smile on Sungmin’s face. He had left, but Sungmin had stayed, yet their son had said his name first, unless he was overreacting and he knew Eomma as well. Just how much had he missed while he had been away.

          “It’s his first word…” Sungmin informed “He hasn’t stopped saying it for two weeks.”

          “Sungmin…I’m so sorry. I should’ve been here… I shouldn’t have left.”

          The older merely waved him off, internally agreeing with the younger’s words. “It’s fine. You’re back now and that’s what matters.”

          “I still think we should talk about i-”

          “I know. But not now. I promise we can talk about anything you want when you’re better, I mean it. I haven’t been the best person to you lately and I’m ready to own up to that. I’m sorry, too.” Sungmin responded sincerely, and Kyuhyun was satisfied with that.

          They spent the next few minutes playing quietly with Jinsang, not a word spoken between the two except to their son who they passed playfully between them until both he, and his father were exhausted, Sungmin a bit fatigued as well.

          Kyuhyun kissed his son before Sungmin dragged him away, moving across the room to once again place Jinsang back in his crib to sleep. The toddler didn’t protest much, even lying down without provocation and allowing his mother to walk away without a fuss.

          Kyuhyun watched as his lover returned to their bed, and frowned when he noted how the older hesitated at the edge, fingers trailing along the comforter.

          Sungmin wasn’t sure what to do…he wanted to be near the younger after being unable to for so long, but was it too soon? Would Kyuhyun be uncomfortable, or did he want him there? He was too afraid to ask.

          “You know…” Kyuhyun began, breaking the awkward silence and causing Sungmin’s troubled gaze to raise and meet his own. “I’ve heard skin on skin contact can help patients with hypothermia recover faster.”

          Sungmin couldn’t help the grin that split over his face when he realized what the younger was trying to do, his heart warming at the gesture. He nodded “I think Zhoumi said something about that, too.”

          Kyuhyun smiled back and motioned the older closer.

          Sungmin was quick to oblige, slipping silently beneath the covers and scooting towards the younger, not stopping until he reached the edge of the heated blanket and slid beneath that as well.

          Feeling the older against him had been nothing but a dream over the past few months, and he was glad it had finally come true. “I missed you.” He sighed, a hand coming up to rest on Sungmin’s back as said man snuggled against his chest.

          “I missed you too…and Kyu I…I um...”

          “Shh…” the younger hushed, smiling softly “Its fine, that’s all I need to know.” He assured as he closed his eyes adding ‘we can talk later’ silently to himself.

          ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

          “Hyuk…Eunhyuk?” Donghae mumbled, unable to open his eyes just yet, the exhaustion too great. Still, his next thoughts gave him strength as he remembered where he was.

          “I’m right here, Hae.” Eunhyuk smiled leaning over the bed to take his hand. He had wanted to sleep with his lover as well, having been up since three that morning, but knew Donghae needed it a lot more than he did, and he was fine with that. He had something to keep him busy anyways.

          “Hyuk…” Donghae sighed, forcing his eyes open. Pain throbbed in his stomach as his lover helped him sit, and made a mental note to ask one of the nurses for some more painkillers. Unfortunately, the thought was ultimately forgotten the moment a small whine emitted from the blanket in Eunhyuk’s arms.

          They both smiled down at the baby boy wiggling lightly in his arms, mouth opening and closing in a sign they’d come to understand as ‘feed me’.

          “Let me feed him.” Donghae smiled, reaching out for his son.

          “Are you sure you’re up to that?” Eunhyuk asked worriedly.

          “Of course. Don’t hog him.” Donghae pouted, glaring at his lover as said man chuckled and placed the baby in his arms, before standing to retrieve another bottle from the warmer.

          “What time is it?” the younger asked as his lover returned with the bottle.

          “Almost two.” Eunhyuk replied.

          “Two!?” He hissed “I slept for ten hours?”

          Eunhyuk chuckled as he nodded, watching the way their son’s eyes crossed as the bottle was finally moved within his reach.

          The younger cooed down at the newborn as he ate greedily, the sounds of his slurping filling the silent room until the door opened and Zhoumi poked his head inside, and then entered, shutting it behind him.

          “How are you feeling?” he asked his protégé, snagging his chart from the end of the bed.

          “Good.” Donghae smiled, his eyes not once leaving the baby in his arms.

          “Any pain?”

          “A little.”

          “And that would be understandable since it’s been about five hours since your last dose of morphine.” Zhoumi informed, as he retreated to the back of the room. “And Gijeok?” he asked as he filled a syringe with medication.

          “Perfect.” Eunhyuk smiled, and Donghae nodded in agreement. He’d been up with him for the past ten hours and while he didn’t know much about newborns, other than what the others had told himm, he was pretty sure the baby was acting normally.

          “Good. I just came to inform you that his screens came back perfectly normal and healthy, and that I am discharging you both first thing tomorrow morning after you get some more rest, alright?”

          “Great.” Donghae smiled, looking forward to being able to bring their baby back to the family wing with the others. Speaking of the others…

          “Heechul and Leeteuk have been coming down every now and again to ask about seeing you. I think the nurses are starting to feel bad about turning them away, if you’re willing to accept some visitors now.” Zhoumi informed, as though reading the younger’s mind

          “Of course!” Donghae smiled, excited to show off their little miracle.

          “Alright I’ll send someone to retrieve them.” Zhoumi smiled, and then his gaze travelled to Eunhyuk. “Oh, and one more thing; Kyuhyun is doing better. Sungmin came to us this morning to tell us he had woken up sometime last night and seemed to be doing alright. He can’t quite walk yet, but he’s sitting and talking, so I estimate he’ll be making a full recovery within the next couple of days.”

          The pair thanked him, and then with his signature smile, he was gone, the door closing softly behind him.

          “See, things are looking up now.” Donghae smiled. “We have our son…our friend’s not dying…” He listed off with a soft smile.

          Eunhyuk chuckled as he scooted back in his chair and rested his head on the edge of the bed before him, sighing in exhaustion.

          Donghae smiled down at the older and ran a hand through his black locks, remembering a time long before when they were a striking blue. He almost missed the odd color. “You’re tired, aren’t you?”

          “Of course.” Eunhyuk chuckled, turning his head to smile softly at the younger.

          “Don’t worry, I’ll make the visits go fast so you can sleep.” Donghae sighed.

          “But you need to rest too.” Eunhyuk worried, sitting up “Don’t worry I’m fine.”

          “I just slept like the dead for ten hours. I think I can handle staying conscious long enough for you to take a nap.” Donghae chuckled, and Eunhyuk, while reluctant, nodded, taking the empty bottle offered to him and placing it on the bedside table.

          Donghae laced the fingers of his free hand with the older’s, playing absently with them as they admired their son, who gurgled up at them, and waited for their family to join them, and meet him.

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A/N: Oh my gosh guys, guess what!? There's only one chapter left... I was thinking about it and realized that theres not much more to write about so i'm gonna kinda wrap it up in the next chapter...this was a bit shorter than i had meant for it to be haha. Thank you for reading, subscribing, especially commenting, and putting up with my slow updates!! Love you !!!

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