Luhan is shocked as he looks at the raven haired boy sitting on the hospital bed. No words leave his mouth and he seems tongue tied. Zitao looks up at him with wide eyes, wondering why Luhan is so shocked. He slips a bookmark into his storybook, which is in English and places it on the table.

"Come on," Sehun whispers to Luhan, beckoning him to come closer. Zitao just looks at Luhan with a cute stare, as if Luhan is a live specimen on display. Luhan steps closer until he is by the side of Zitao's bed.

"You're alive..." Luhan chokes out, taking Zitao's slim fingers in his. Zitao frowns slightly.

"I always have been. What are you talking about?" Zitao counters.

"That Yifan guy told me that you were dead," Luhan looks at Zitao seriously, their eye contact only creating tension.

"I don't know any Yifan," Zitao frowns further.

"You sure do. You were his boyfriend. I'm not sure about now," Luhan insists.

Zitao rolls his eyes. "I don't know any guy named Yifan and I never dated any guy named Yifan."

Luhan frowns but doesn't question Zitao any further. At that moment, Sehun bends forward and whispers to Luhan. "He's here." Luhan looks up at Sehun and then turns back to the door. There is a tall, shadowy figure outside and he pushes the door open. Oh. His saviour. Yifan.

"This is... this is... Yifan," Luhan mumbles, pointing to the exceptionally tall brown haired male. He turns to face Zitao, but the latter has his head in his hands and is frowning. The memories. They're coming back too fast, all at once. Zitao remembers the way Yifan held his hand, how Yifan patiently taught him to write prose, how Yifan made meals for him, how Yifan never failed to celebrate their anniversaries with a genetically modified red rose and rainbow cake.

"Zitao, what-what's wrong?" Luhan asks worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Yifan... Wu Yifan...," Zitao mumbles under his breath and starts to cough. Sehun gets him to sit upright and then checks his heartbeat with a stethoscope. He gives the latter some water and tells Yifan to exit the room for a while.

"My head, it hurts," Zitao says softly. "He."

"He?" Sehun questions.

"He's inside. I can't think anymore, I only see him," Zitao says.

"Who?" Sehun asks, just to confirm. He knows Zitao is talking about Yifan.

"Yifan."

Later in the day after Zitao has fallen asleep due to the morphine given to him by Sehun, Luhan gets ready in Yifan's house. He wears a casual tee, jeans and a black cap that Yifan let him borrow and heads out of the apartment. Luhan is planning to meet Jongin in the Seoul District Prison. Earlier in the week, Luhan had met up with Kyungsoo and had chatted with him. Kyungsoo had given him a letter and had asked him to read it to Jongin if he ever planned on visiting him. Kyungsoo had said that he was not ready to meet Jongin and Luhan wonders why.

At the main building of the prison, Luhan goes to the counter and registers for a Visitor's Pass. The allowed time is no more than twenty minutes. Only lawyers who are there to talk to their clients can have the time they need. Luhan sits in the chair and waits for the officer to bring him to the room where he will be visiting Jongin. Meanwhile in the cell, Jongin peers out and sees a prison warden approaching his cell.

"You have a visitor," the warden says. He unlocks the cell and takes Jongin by his arm and escorts him to the room. Jongin is made to sit in the chair, after which, his right hand is cuffed to the railing beside the chair.

"Who is it?" Jongin asks, out of sheer curiosity. The warden keeps silent and Jongin shrugs. He gets a shock when he sees Luhan walk into the room wearing a black V-neck and ripped jeans.

"Luhan... you...," Jongin is out of words. He feels lucky that Luhan didn't show up on the trial day and send him to prison for life. But even now, he has no words to say to the latter. He doesn't know how to apologize to Luhan. Heck, he doesn't even know what to talk about with Luhan.

"Yes, I actually came. Looking at you, I kinda miss your harsh treatment, you know," Jongin can sense the sarcasm in Luhan's voice. "How's life? Fun?"

If Luhan had spoken like this while he was still Jongin's slave, Jongin would have slapped him real hard. Too bad, there's a bulletproof glass wall in between them both.

"What are you... doing here?" Jongin mumbles. Luhan looks at him in the eye.

"I came to see you of course. Why else would I come here? And, I'm not here to talk about me. I'm here to talk about Kyungsoo, the beautiful, innocent boy you cheated on and lost, because you chose me," Luhan sneers. He feels good, torturing Jongin with his words. It's a pleasant feeling he gets in his chest when he sees Jongin's face contort.

"Shut up," Jongin growls. "SHUT THE UP! I don't need you or anyone talking about Kyungsoo. If he wants to talk to me, he will come here himself."

"Well, aren't you a little self centered by only thinking about yourself? Have you ever thought about his feelings too? Maybe he doesn't want to see you just yet. Even it took me days to decide whether I should bother visiting a scumbag like you. I did this for Kyungsoo's sake, mind you," Luhan replies, his tone calm but piercing. "Time's running, young man. Listen to what Kyungsoo has to say or don't listen at all."

Luhan takes out a folded paper and unfolds it, straightening the creases indented into it. He skims the neat Hangul and begins to narrate the letter. "Dear Jongin, I know that we made up already but, on my part, I feel a little awkward to come see you in jail. It's bad enough what you did to me, and I suppose you feel really lucky that I gave you a chance. And if you realized, I chose the worst person ever to read this letter to you, but no one else would read it to you other than him. I know, what I am saying now is pointless, but I want you to know that I am not ready to see you in the orange prison clothes, to face you with the glass in between. Please remember that even though 365 days is a long time, you will be free once again. I hope that by sitting in that boring cell, you will learn from your mistake because chances like this don't come by easily. Remember that I love you and that it's just ten more months you will be in that cell. Every day is a bore to you, but just remember that once that ten months is over, you can come running into my arms. I promise. I won't break this promise, I won't be with anyone but you. Only you. I love you, Jongin, I really truly do. I don't know about you. Love, Kyungsoo."

Jongin looks down, hot tears in his eyes. He sniffs and wipes them away and faces Luhan. "Tell him I love him too."

"I will. And Jongin," Jongin looks up at Luhan after wiping the unstoppable tears. "I hope you're sorry because in my heart, you're forgiven. I don't hold a grudge against you for what you've done to me and I hope that in all the time you're going to spend here, you will learn from your mistake. You don't have to worry about anything, really. Consider us friends while I go back to China to start my life anew."

"I will," Jongin replies and Luhan exits the room with no regrets.

Myungsoo paces in the private room and Yifan sits by Zitao with his hand on the younger's leg. Zitao just stares at his clasped hands, waiting for Myungsoo to answer Yifan's question.

"Why did you tell me Zitao was dead, when he is just rotting in here?" Yifan had asked.

Myungsoo sighs. "You know what, I'll tell you that at the funeral, there was no body. It was just the coffin that they cremated."

"That's not what I am looking for. I want to know the reason why you lied to me," Yifan says.

Myungsoo looks at him, his hands on his waist. "Did you read the things in his Pandora's box?"

"I did."

"You didn't read it carefully. It's either this o