Xiumin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Hyun Jae stood near the entrance to his hospital room, still holding the bouquet, with a small smile on his face.

          “Not who you were expecting?” Hyun Jae asked.

          “Ani… It’s just that I thought that it would be one of the other members… You didn’t have to come see me, you know,” Xiumin said.

          “I know, but I wanted to. I got you some daisies,” he said, laying the flowers on the table next to his bed.

Hyun Jae smiled again and grabbed the vase that was sitting on the table. He walked to the sink and filled it before bring it back and putting the flowers in it. Xiumin watched with careful eyes as he did all of this. After finishing, Hyun Jae looked at Xiumin and returned his stare.

          “What? Is there something on my face?”

          “Ani…” Xiumin trailed off.

          “What is it then?”

Xiumin shook his head.

          “It’s nothing… I’m sorry for missing our practice today.”

          “That’s alright. Really,” Hyun Jae said when Xiumin made a face, “I was able to get some planning done and get the basic steps of the dance. However… Xiumin-hyung… Will you be able to dance by the end of the week?”

Xiumin paused to think. All he knew was that he had a concussion and external injuries. As long as they weren’t too bad, he’d be alright, right? Xiumin chewed his bottom lip as he thought.

          “Well… Even if you can’t, hyung, I’ll perform for the both of us,” Hyun Jae said.

          “I’ll try my best though,” Xiumin said, smiling.

Hyun Jae held up a fist in a “fighting” gesture, making Xiumin laugh, which he tried stopping because of the pain it caused in his abdomen.

          “Are you okay?” Hyun Jae asked, noticing Xiumin wince.

Xiumin gritted his teeth and nodded as he let his muscles relax again.

          “Sorry… Just hurts a little to laugh,” Xiumin said with a small smile.

          “I should probably let you rest. I’ll get going then… Rest well, Xiumin-hyung,” Hyun Jae said, standing.

Xiumin nodded and yawned, as if his body had suddenly remembered to feel tired when Hyun Jae had mentioned resting. Hyun Jae patted him on the shoulder and walked. He shot one last glance over his shoulder before exiting. Soon after he left, Xiumin’s mother entered again.

          “Where’s Appa?” Xiumin asked sleepily.

          “He’s just speaking to your doctor for a few more moments. The good news is that you can go home tomorrow. They want to keep you tonight though; just to be sure you’re alright.”

Xiumin nodded and pulled the covers up a bit.

          “Tired? I’m surprised you aren’t out cold right now. I think I’ll let you sleep and wait for your father. We’ll talk to you tomorrow, right?”

          “Ne, Umma…” Xiumin mumbled.

          “Before you fall asleep completely, make sure one of your friends can help you get back to your dorm. Your father and I are both back at work tomorrow, so call someone, arasseo?”

          “Arasseo… Umma…”

His mother smiled at him and ruffled his hair.

          “You scared us, my sweet boy. Don’t do that again. But for now, rest well.”

Xiumin stopped fighting the growing weight of his eyelids and let them slip closed.

          In the morning, the nurses came in and checked him over once again before allowing him to be discharged. Xiumin called Kris to see if someone could come pick him up. By the time he had taken care of all the papers to get discharged, he could see a familiar head of hair rushing down the hall to meet him.

          “Xiuminnie!” Luhan practically screeched.

          “Hannie!” Xiumin said; glad to see his room mate.

Behind Luhan, Xiumin could see Sehun trailing closely after as per usual and a little farther off, Suho was hurrying to catch up to the couple. Xiumin smiled at the familiar sight, before Luhan began inspecting him all over.

          “Luhan, I’m okay. I got really lucky and didn’t get hurt too badly,” Xiumin reassured.

          “Sure… But I just want to make sure. And you should stay in bed for the next day or two… And I want to know what I can do to help you.”

Sehun and Suho finally caught up and greeted him.

          “Are you ready to go?” Suho asked.

          “Everything’s all set,” Xiumin said nodding.

          “Then let’s head out.”

Getting into the car, flashes of the accident flickered in his mind, specifically the feeling of flying forward and watching as everything passed by him. He froze and then shuddered. Shaking the feeling away, he got into the car, which was quite difficult. He was on crutches and had to maneuver them into the car. With Luhan’s help, he managed to get in. He made sure to buckle his seatbelt; he didn’t want to repeat what happened last time. Luhan and Sehun squeezed into the back with him, leaving Suho to drive up front. Xiumin turned to the pair next to him. Sehun was holding Luhan’s hand on his leg, and the smaller of the two was angled toward the other, listening attentively to every word he said.

          “Anyways… I think we should stop for bubble tea,” Sehun said, finishing his story.

          “We need to get Minnie-hyung home, Sehunnie. We can go later if you still want to,” Luhan said.

Sehun turned to Luhan and tried his aegyo, pouting slightly and tilting his chin downward.

          “Lu-hyung…”

          “Ani; wait until later,” Luhan said, shooting him down.

Sehun snapped out of his aegyo and frowned, but relented. Xiumin chuckled softly at the couple. Hearing him, Luhan turned to face him.

          “How are you feeling, Minnie? Are you hurting anywhere?” Luhan asked out of the blue.

          “I’m fine, thanks, pretty tired, but fine… Do you know how Chen is doing?”

          “He’s okay. He would’ve come to pick you up, but well… I don’t know really. He’s been a little off since what happened,” Luhan said.

Xiumin furrowed his eyebrows.

          “What do you mean?” Xiumin asked worriedly, “Is he hurt?”
          “Not really. He only has a bit of whiplash—nothing serious… I don’t know what’s going on with him really. He hasn’t wanted to talk to any of us.”

Xiumin could only imagine what was going on with his boyfriend. He wanted to get home as soon as possible to check on him. They were still a while away from the dorm, but Xiumin prayed that time would pass quickly.

          Suho unlocked the door and held it open for Xiumin, Sehun and Luhan. Xiumin would’ve run inside if not for the crutches and his injuries. Luhan helped him walk, holding his elbow as he headed straight to Chen’s room. He knocked softly. Waiting for a response, he nodded to Luhan, letting him know he’d be okay. Luhan nodded, understanding that Xiumin wanted to be alone with Chen, and left him leaning against the wall to wait. Xiumin knocked again when no one came. But still no one answered. Xiumin cracked open the door and peered in, the light from the hallway shooting through the darkness of the room. He could see figures in both beds. He watched as Lay turned and looked, squinting at the brightness of the light. He stood and walked to the doorway. Xiumin leaned away from the door as Lay came out into the hall.

          “Wait, I just want to talk to Chen,” Xiumin started.

          “I think you should get cleaned up first, hyung. Chen is resting right now anyways,” Lay replied.

          “But I want to see him. I need to make sure he’s okay. And I’m sure he’s wondering how I’m doing too.”

          “He is… He’s been a little too concerned… We were worried about him for a while.”

          “Wait, what? Why?”

          “Why don’t you clean up and change first? I’ll talk to you after, okay?”

Xiumin furrowed his eyebrows and frowned. First, Luhan was worried about Chen, but didn’t know what was going on, and now, Lay was acting weird as well and not telling him what was wrong. Xiumin nodded reluctantly and went to the bathroom. He caught a glimpse of his appearance for the first time since the accident. And he looked like he’d been through a war zone. He was pale, and he had dark circles and eye-bags beneath his eyes, but that was only the beginning: he had bandages wrapped all around his head, but bruises were leaking out from the edges and down his forehead and temples. He had a neck brace on to help carry the weight of his head. He had cuts on his face with small band-aids over them. He could see more bruises around his neck and shoulders, peaking out from under the collar of his shirt. Taking his shirt off, blue, purple, black and all shades of yellow and brown bloomed across his skin. Cuts covered his arms and torso. His legs were in the same state. One of his feet was in a cast, because his ankle had been banged pretty hard when Xiumin landed, which was the reason he had to use the crutches. Xiumin gulped, seeing his reflection. He regarded himself carefully, taking in each detail and injury. He didn’t really want to know what was under the bandage on his head. He’d have to wear his neck brace for a while too. Xiumin sighed at the sight of his banged-up self. Determined to make himself a little more presentable, he washed his face and reapplied band-aids to the cuts. Not much of an improvement, but he felt better with a clean face. He didn’t want to bathe just yet—not until he’d figured out how to with all of his injuries. He exited the bathroom, determined to find out what was with Chen. He went to the living room and saw Lay, Suho, Luhan and Kris all sitting around the coffee table.

          “Xiumin, come on in… We need to talk,” Suho said.

Xiumin nodded and hobbled over, sitting beside Kris on the couch.

          “First things first, we’re glad you’re okay. We were seriously worried for you, but thank god, nothing worse happened,” Suho said, “Next, from now on, all of the members will wear their seatbelts when in the car.”

          “Even if they’re in the backseat, everyone will wear one. I don’t know why the law isn’t enforced, but it’s a requirement now of for our group,” Kris said firmly.

Xiumin nodded, understanding perfectly what could happen when people in the backseat didn’t wear one.

          “Okay… Lay, do you want to talk to him now?”

Lay nodded, sitting up from the recliner he was seated on.

          “So, Chen is a little messed up right now… He doesn’t have any injuries, really, from the crash, but he’s been acting depressed and hasn’t talked to any of us, so we aren’t really sure what’s wrong. He came home from the hospital after the accident and went straight to bed. He hasn’t moved or eaten, and all I’ve managed to get him to do is drink a bit of water. We were hoping he’d want to come pick you up, but he didn’t say anything when we asked him to come. Maybe he’ll brighten up now that he knows you’re back, but we’re worried for him,” Lay said.

Xiumin swallowed. What is going through Chen’s head?

          “Can I see him?” Xiumin asked.

          “Of course,” Suho said.

          “We just wanted to make sure you knew what’s been going on. We don’t want you to worry if he acts strangely, but maybe you’ll be able to get him to talk,” Kris said.

Xiumin nodded and stood carefully.

          “I’ll help you get there,” Luhan offered.

Xiumin nodded again in thanks and let Luhan lead him again to Chen’s door. Luhan smiled reassuringly and squeezed Xiumin’s elbow lightly before walking to their room. Taking a breath, Xiumin opened the door and entered. The room was still dark and was silent aside from the clicking of his crutches as he moved to Chen’s bedside. He flicked the small lamp next to the bed on and turned to sit on the edge of the bed. He laid his crutches down on the floor and looked down at the pile of blankets in front of him. He laid his hand on what he assumed was Chen’s shoulder. The figure under the blankets flinched at the touch, causing Xiumin to pull back slightly before laying his hand down once again. Chen didn’t move, only continued to lie on his side, facing the wall. Xiumin pulled his shoulder slightly, trying to get him to turn towards him.

          “Chen…?” Xiumin whispered.

Chen didn’t move an inch.

          “Jong Dae?” Xiumin called again.

Chen stiffened beneath the blankets. Xiumin pulled them down so that his head was exposed.

          “Can you turn towards me? I want to see your face…” Xiumin said softly.

After a moment, he began shifting slowly. He turned to Xiumin, but didn’t meet his gaze, opting to look at the blankets he was wrapped in. Xiumin tilted his head slightly, trying to get a better look at Chen.

          “Are you okay?” Xiumin asked.

Chen nodded slightly, almost imperceptibly, but Xiumin still caught it.

          “What’s wrong then? You’re acting strange, and it’s worrying everyone, including me.”

Chen eyes flitted around for a moment.

          “Look at me,” Xiumin said, “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Chen’s eyes stopped moving and slowly traveled to gaze at Xiumin’s face. He looked at his boyfriend, seeing the cuts, bruises, and bandages all around. His eyes began to well up with tears. He let out a choked breath.

          “Hey… It’s okay,” Xiumin said, running his hand up and down Chen’s arm comfortingly.

Chen couldn’t contain his tears any longer. They ran down his face with no sign of stopping. His breathing was shaking from crying as he tried to calm himself with no avail.

          “Shhhh… I’m right here. It’s okay,” Xiumin comforted.

          “Mianhae,” Chen choked out, “Mianhanda!”

          “What? What do you mean? You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Xiumin said.

          “B-but I d-do… I’m so s-sorry, Min Seok. It’s all… all my fault that you got hurt!”

A/N: So it's been a while again.... This chapter's kind of long though to make up for it! I'm thinking about using a different layout for this story... I don't really know much about layouts though >.< If any of you can give me pointers, it'd be great! My birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks :D I managed to convince my parents to let me go to the Eric Nam concert in Atlanta with my best friend to celebrate <3 I'm super excited~ We'll be going on a road trip, since we don't live there, and then staying the weekend! This is my first concert too, since I'm kind of a recluse and never go out... But I suppose it's time I experience it and when I heard Eric Nam was coming, I kind of jumped on it.... Enough of my blabbing though... I hope you all are well! Please subscribe, upvote, and comment! <3