Somewhere in the back of his mind, Xiumin could hear a consistent beeping. It was like it was far away—in some remote and irrelevant place. He felt a soft breeze blow over his skin. The air was warm and felt soft and comforting. He breathed deeply, relishing what he could feel, smell, and hear. Whatever sweet escape he was in, he didn’t want to leave it. He opened his eyes to take in his surroundings. All he could see was blue. He was laying on his back, facing up to the clear, blue, cloudless sky above him. Sitting up, he saw that he was in a meadow. Soft yellow light filled the area as the sun began its descent. There was tall grass and white daisies around him, as well as small moths and bugs flitting about in the weakening light. He stood, looking around him in awe at the beautiful clearing. Where am I? This doesn’t look anywhere close to home… Xiumin thought. He began to walk forward, when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned and saw a man, dressed in a white, collared button-up and gray slacks. The man appeared to be in his mid-fifties to early sixties even, with wrinkles in the corners of his eyes and around his mouth and forehead. Xiumin looked at his face more closely. He felt like he should recognize him, but no names popped into his head, which utterly baffled the boy.

    “What are you doing here?” Xiumin asked.

    “I should be asking you that, Min Seok. What are you doing here?”

    “I… I don’t know. I woke up here. How do you know my name?”

The man furrowed his eyebrows.

    “You don’t remember me, Min Seok?”

Xiumin paused, looking even more closely at the man. His face was so similar, yet so different from the people he knew. What is it? Why can’t I remember him?

    “Don’t beat yourself up over it… It’s alright. I understand. How are you doing then?”

The man seemed as though he were purposefully veering away from the subject of who he was, but Xiumin let it slide.

    “I’m doing well… This area is really pretty, but—” Xiumin trailed off.

    “But what, Min Seok?”

    “Can you hear that sound? The beeping?”

    “Ah yes, the beeping… I used to hear it, but it’s long gone to my old ears,” the man said with a chuckle.

    “Ne… Ahjussi? Do you know where we are?” Xiumin asked.

    “Well, you see, we’re wherever our hearts want to be.”

    “So I wanted to be in a meadow with a person I don’t know?” Xiumin asked.

    “Aniyo. I suppose it’s more than that, but I’m not too sure myself.”

Xiumin sighed. The beeping was beginning to grow annoying and tiring. As he thought this, the pace picked up. Xiumin looked around as it grew louder.

    “Can you hear that?!” Xiumin asked panicking now.

    “No, I’m sorry,” the man responds.

The beeping grew more insistent and louder and louder as its pace increased.

    “Please! Stop this! Help me!” Xiumin cried out, yelling to the man.

The man just stood watching him, not making any move to help him. Xiumin fell to the ground, holding his ears and trying to block out the noise. He looked to the man, eyes pleading for an end to the ear-piercing beeps coming at a continually faster pace. The man looked back at him with sadness in his eyes, as his vision blurred and the sound grew to be too much. But then everything stopped.

—————

    Xiumin opened his eyes. The last beep he’d heard before being plunged into darkness was still ringing in his ears like an echo. He was surrounded by nothingness. He felt as though he were floating in the blackness. There was nothing for as far as he could see except for darkness and the steady beep in the back of his mind. He blinked. Looking down at himself and saw that he was not completely blind. His hands emanated an unearthly glow, as did the rest of his body. He looked around, trying to find something—anything—other than black. Somewhere to his right, Xiumin could see the blackness giving way to a light gray. He squinted at the spot and began walking toward it. As he did, the sound in his ears grew louder and the spot grew lighter and lighter. The light enveloped him, and he found himself growing heavy and weak. He collapsed where he stood, unable to move any farther, and lay on his back. He stared up at the whiteness now surrounding him. As he did so, he felt like the world was coming into focus. Lines formed on the white, and it grew darker until it all came into focus. The ringing in his ears cleared up into a steady beep again, and Xiumin realized he was looking at ceiling tiles. He felt as though he’d been running a marathon, trying to catch up to the world as it tried to leave him behind. He then saw a nurse to his right adjusting a drip bag and opened his mouth to speak, but his voice got caught in his throat. He tried to clear it and speak again. The nurse turned to him and gasped when she heard him clear his throat.

    “You’re awake!”

    “Where am I?” Xiumin croaked.

    “You’re at the hospital, Min Seok-ssi,” the nurse said.

    “The hospital?”

The woman gave him a concerned look.

    “Do you remember what happened?”

Xiumin thought for a moment. Flashes of him and Chen getting into the van flew through his mind. He saw himself talking to Baekhyun and Chanyeol and himself turning back forward. And then he saw the windshield come flying at him and then blackness.

    “I—I think so,” he said, shocked at what he’d just remembered.

We were in a car crash. Is everyone else okay? Is Chen?! Xiumin thought.

    “Is everyone else okay?” Xiumin asked worriedly.

    “They made it out alive. Don’t worry though,” the nurse said.

The nurse smiled which eased Xiumin’s nerves, but he was still worried about Chen.

    “When do you think I’ll be able to see them?”

    “In good time. You’re parents are here. They’re speaking with your doctor right now though. They’ll be glad to know you’ve woken up. We were worried about you for a little while there. Would you like to sit up a little?”

Xiumin nodded, and the nurse hit the button on his bed to lift the upper half, which allowed Xiumin to see his body. He had cuts covering his arms and although his legs were concealed by the blankets, he could only imagine that they were as well. The nurse left and brought back his parents. His mom and dad had had him at a young age, which made them look very good for having a son in his mid-twenties. His mom was a thin woman with eyes like his and a broad, round face. His father was a kind man who was just beginning to get wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. When they entered the room though, his mom’s eyes welled up with tears at the sight of her son.

    “Min Seok-ah…”

    “Umma… Appa...” Xiumin said with a smile.

They came up to his bed and sat beside it. His mother grabbed his hand and held onto it tightly.

    “How are you feeling, honey?”

    “I’m alright, Umma,” Xiumin said.

    “We were so scared we lost you,” she said, laying her head down on the sheets beside him.

    “I’m okay though, Umma. Really.”

    “We were very worried about you, son,” his father said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

    “I’m sorry I made you worry,” Xiumin said sheepishly.

His mother hugged him tightly, and he lifted a hand to lay on her back.

    “Do you know if everyone else is okay?” Xiumin asked, still thinking of Chen.

His mother pulled away and looked at him oddly.

    “Everyone else is fine, honey. They had their seat belts on and only had minor injuries. You were the only one that got hurt badly.”

    “What exactly happened? I feel like I ran a marathon,” Xiumin said.

    “You flew through the windshield of your car and landed on the hood. You’re lucky you weren’t going any faster or you could have broken your neck!”

    “They said you had a bad concussion in addition to the injuries on the outside of your body,” his dad finished.

Xiumin pondered this for a moment. He was very lucky indeed. He’d not been wearing his seat belt and could have died because of it.

    “How long was I asleep for?” Xiumin asked.

    “You’ve been out since the crash and through today. It’s evening now,” his father said.

Xiumin nodded. He’d missed practice with Hyun Jae for the upcoming performance.

    “A couple of your friends were here a bit ago, but all but one left for the night,” his mom said.

    “Really?” Xiumin asked, thinking that Chen should be home resting.

    “Would you like to see him? We need to speak to your doctor about your recovery anyways.”

    “Ne… And I’m sorry for making you worry, Umma, Appa,” Xiumin said.

    “We’re just happy you’re okay, honey. Rest up tonight and they might let you come home tomorrow,” his mom said.

Xiumin nodded. His parents hugged him and left the room. Xiumin waited a few moments before he heard the door open again. Xiumin smiled, happy to see his boyfriend, despite the fact that they both should’ve been resting. However, the smile was shocked off his face when he saw that it wasn’t Chen who entered his room. It was Hyun Jae, holding a bouquet of daisies as white as the ones he'd seen in the meadow.

A/N: Hello again! Quick update to make up for the cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter~ I hope you all are well :) I have been a little off lately :P My wisdom teeth are coming in and they are very painful right now, so I will most likely have to get them out at some point. Hopefully, it won't stop me from updating though--maybe I'll even find extra time to update whenever they do get taken out. On a side note, I am performing Henry's Trap as a piano solo this friday at my school's annual talent show/benefit concert thing :D I'm super nervous though because the song can be pretty easy to mess up at some parts T-T Please send good vibes my way this friday though <3 And don't forget to comment, subscribe, upvote, etc.! Saranghaeyo!