(E) Chapter 16   If this is what death felt like, it wasn’t bad. If this was death, he was happy that he had let go. If this was death, he wished he could stay here forever staring at the people he loved and cared about.   His body felt light and all Baekyoung could feel was how peaceful he felt. His eyelids fluttered open and he was blinded by a light that made him squint, his hand automatically going up to cover his eyes. He did not know where he was, but he knew that the pain that he was feeling as gone. His injuries were healed and he could finally breathe. Baekyoung sat up, looking around in surprise. Was this heaven? Or was this where all deceased people went? He was in a garden, the chirping of birds echoed in his ears and he stood up. His clothes were not blood stained anymore, his body seemed to glow under the sunlight and he felt… happy. “Baekyoung!” someone called out and he closed his eyes, scared to turn around. He knew whose voice that was and he knew that if he did turn, he would lose it. “Baekyoung!” The voice called out again and he mustered his courage, taking a step backwards and facing the person who was behind him.   His best friend was there.   “C-Clyde?” He stuttered. Clyde seemed to be well, the smile on his face was bright and he seemed… human. This was his best friend. The best friend he had seen die before him. The best friend who came back to pick him up but was bitten instead. The best friend he had missed so much. “Man, you look like you’re seeing a ghost. It’s me.” Clyde had stepped closer, his hand going to Baekyoung’s face giving him a playful slap. “Welcome to heaven.” “I….” Baekyoung was still looking at Clyde, unable to digest the fact that the person he was seeing was indeed him. “I’ve missed you.” “You okay? Just because you’re dead does not mean you can be all lovey-dovey.” Clyde turned to Baekyoung looking concerned before breaking into a smile. “It’s my fault you died.” Baekyoung started and Clyde shook his head, a hand going to pat Baekyoung on the shoulder. “I would have died anyway. I wanted to die as a hero, at least going back to save my best friend can be counted as that.” Clyde chuckled. “You stayed longer than I expected, I was waiting for you.” Clyde had said it jokingly but Baekyoung could not help feel a pang of guilt. “My brother is still alive.”   They were walking down the garden now and Baekyoung was surprised to see the amount of people before him. Kids of different ages were playing ball, yells could be heard from teenagers and barks made Baekyoung turn left to right. There were so many dogs, a dog padding over to him. Baekyoung petted it on the head and Clyde spoke up. “Dogs were the first to be targeted; they died within the first wave.” “I see.” Baekyoung wondered if he could fit in in a place like this. The people here were happy and the people here seemed to carefree but he himself, the Baekyoung that loved the adrenaline rush of danger, could he stay here? As if Clyde could read his mind, his best friend took Baekyoung’s hand and started leading him somewhere. “You know how much of a partier I was right?” “You partied every weekend.” Baekyoung responded with a smile. “I should have done something better for a living.” Clyde admitted, and Baekyoung saw him hang his head. “You meet all types of people here, the homeless that had starved to death, the kid that was hit by a car… And while I was alive I did nothing but drink and get laid.” “At least you got laid.” Clyde exploded in laughter and Baekyoung felt his heart soar, the feeling he felt while seeing Clyde throw his head back was amazing. It was something he hadn’t seen in a long time. Their footsteps brought them to a bench that was facing away from Baekyoung and he saw two people sitting on it. “We’re here. They kept asking for you.” Clyde told Baekyoung, stepping away. Baekyoung tilted his head in confusion but his best friend kept nudging him towards the bench, Baekyoung finally approaching the two people sitting. It was when they turned, his eyes watered. “D-dad? M-mum?” His voice shook and two people turned to him, their eyes brightening. “Baekyoung!” His mother gushed. She looked much younger than usual, her eyes were no longer tired and she was not anymore sad depressed. His mother embraced Baekyoung, her hands gripping his body against hers. His father did not say anything, merely joining the circle of hugs. His father had rubbed Baekyoung’s neck repeatedly, mumbling under his breath. “I-I’m s-sorry… I tried m-my hardest.” Baekyoung sobbed, his tears dropping onto his mothers shoulder. “I really really did. For Baekhyun’s sake, I did. I-I’m so s-sorry.” “Great job, son. Great job.” His father kept saying. His father was not a person of compliments but for him to say that made Baekyoung feel bad about himself. He wanted to survive but here he was.   But he had to admit one thing.   If this is what death felt like, it wasn’t bad. If this was death, he was happy that he had let go. If this was death, he wished he could stay here forever staring at the people he loved and cared about. “I fought so hard to live.” Baekyoung said softly, burying his face in his mother’s embrace. “I fought so hard.” “We can never cheat death, son. We can’t cheat life and death.” His father said, brushing Baekyoung’s tears away from his face. “We all felt this way, but it’s over now. It doesn’t get better than this.” Baekyoung raised his head, taking in the images of his parents that were before him. When he looked behind him, Clyde stood there smiling. He extended his hand and Clyde took it in comfort. So this is what it felt like to have the people he cherished so deeply beside him. He closed his eyes for awhile and when he opened them again- they were disappearing.   The hands he were holding was starting to slip and he panicked.   “Clyde?! Mom? Dad?” Baekyoung yelled out, feeling his body start to move. He saw his father’s face and his father kept waving. What did that mean? Goodbye? He did not want to say goodbye…. He gripped Clyde’s hand and his best friend’s voice rang out. “Let go, it isn’t your time yet.” “You had always done good, son. You did your best, we’re so proud of you.” His mother said and Baekyoung struggled to get back down on the ground. “We’ll see you again someday. We’ll see each other someday. All four of us.” His father told him and before he knew it, Baekyoung was plunged into darkness.   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     “Hyung! Hyung! He’s alive, Hyung!”   That was the first thing Baekyoung heard when his eyes opened, except he wasn’t in heaven- he was in a room filled that was all silver with familiar faces looking down at him. Baekhyun was there and Baekyoung tried to move before someone stopped him. Luhan put a hand on his chest, shaking his head. “Lie down, hyung. Don’t move yet.” “Are you thirsty?” Kyungsoo asked and Baekyoung closed his eyes at the splitting headache. “Are you hungry? Should we get something for you to eat?” Minseok said over Kyungsoo. “You need to rest, Hyung. I’ll go get you a pillow-“ “Boys, let’s leave Baekyoung alone for now.” An unfamiliar face said, Baekyoung looking at his face. “He’s the one who saved you, his name is Suho-hyung.” Tao popped up and Baekyoung gripped his head as another wave of pain overcame him. Kris was sitting next to him with a bandage around his stomach. The Chinese man pushed Baekyoung’s head down while Kyungsoo ran to get an aspirin. “You’ll feel a little bit off. Close your eyes and try to rest for now.” The person Baekhyun introduced earlier had said and Baekyoung looked at his arms seeing the scratches that ran down his skin. A few drops of blood had seeped out and Suho quickly grabbed a cloth, wiping down Baekyoung’s arm. Everyone had went away except Baekhyun who stayed by his brothers side and Kris who was silently watching.   “What happened?” Baekyoung asked, Suho pressing down a heated cloth onto the person’s forehead. “I was just in-“… heaven. He was in heaven. Or was it just a dream? “Your heart stopped and Suho injected Sehun’s blood straight into your heart and it began beating again.” Kris summarized everything in one go. “You changed into one of them for a second and we had to all hold you down until Suho put you out.” “I turned into one of them?” Baekyoung asked in surprise. That explained the scratches on his arms. “Sehun’s blood? Doesn’t that mean that I’ll turn into a zombie? The virus-“ “The virus had merged with Sehun’s blood. I explained this to the others earlier-“ Suho began explaining gently about how the virus was alive and it kept the heart beating, not the heart that circulated the blood. “We were worried your body won’t react the same way and you might turn permanently, but the virus was weak. It infected you temporarily but it also kept your heart beating.”  Baekyoung shook his head at the information overload, Suho nodding understandingly.”What matters is that you’re safe. Here’s an aspirin, Kyungsoo prepared it a moment ago. Take it and go to sleep.” Baekyoung followed Suho’s orders and he took the pill closing his eyes his parent’s images suddenly flashing right in front of his eyes.   “You had always done good, son. You did your best, we’re so proud of you.” “We’ll see