“Welcome~” A cheerful voice called from behind the mesh drape that lead into the kitchen of the café. “Please sit anywhere you would like, I’ll be out to take your order in just one moment.” Kyungsoo nodded, making his way to one of the booths near the back; he and Jongin always tried to be away from the crowded areas, even in a peaceful café like this one that they visited almost enough to be considered regulars. The waitress made her way over, setting down a glass of ice water before him and offering a menu.

“Eating alone today?” she asked, Kyungsoo shaking his head before looking at the empty seat across from him.

“He’s meeting me here, he should be in soon,” he replied, the waitress setting a menu in place for him, returning soon with another glass of ice water.

“I take it you’ll be waiting for him before you order?” She offered, and he nodded, eyes trailing down the menu to see if there was anything new as she left to tend to her other tables. Kyungsoo rested his elbow on the table, chin in the palm of his hand as he watched cars and people pass by the window, occasionally checking his message line to see if the other had sent him anything.

Nini {14:09} On my way!

Kyungsoo’s eyes flickered to the time in the corner of his mobile screen, which read 14:32, then turned back to people watching, tapping his fingers against the table and taking an occasional sip of his water; one sit he had choked on when he felt a sudden pain in his stomach, almost spilling the glass of water over the table when he reached for a napkin to cough into. I swear, if Baekhyun’s being an again, I will find a way to make him shut up for good, he thought bitterly. When he noticed that the ice in Jongin’s water had almost completely melted he checked the time again, frowning. 14:57. Jongin’s work wasn’t that far away, and he had taken his bike rather than choosing to walk… even if he had walked, he should have arrived ten minutes ago. He opened their message line, his smile easing as he hit send.

Me{14:58} Did you get distracted by a dog on the way?

Ten minutes of checking his social media, another fifteen of watching random videos, and a few check-ins from the waitress had an uneasy feeling settling in his chest. What if the feeling from earlier hadn’t been from Chanyeol, but from Jongin? The dark haired male nearly jumped out of his skin when his mobile started to ring and he stared at the caller ID for a long moment before he selected answer and held the device to his ear, blind to how badly his hand was shaking.

“Sehun? Why are you calling me?”

“H-Hyung, I… It’s…” Kyungsoo’s mouth went dry; was Sehun crying?

“Sehun, what’s going on? What happened, are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine, J… Jongin, he…” Kyungsoo’s stomach dropped as Sehun’s voice faded out.

“Kyugsoo?” Said male stood so fast that he almost knocked over the table in the process, the harsh squeak of the chair being forced back catching the attention of the others in the café.

“LuHan?” He gripped the table until his knuckles turned white, trying to gain control over his voice again. “What’s going on?” He demanded, hearing a sigh from the other line.

“Jongin was in an accident. We’re at the hospital right now, but they won’t tell us much, so Sehun’s really freaked out.”

Hospital? Accident?

“You might want to hurry here. Sehun’s family, so at least with him here you’ll be told more than they would just tell you.”

“I’ll be there in ten,” Kyungsoo said in a rush, ending the call before the older could reply, hurrying towards the door, calling a quick ‘sorry’ over his shoulder before grabbing the first taxi he could catch.

“Hyung,” came a sniffle that was what Sehun’s voice had been reduced to, leaning out of LuHan’s hold enough to wrap his arms around Kyungsoo’s waist in a hug of sorts.

“Do we know anything? Like what happened? How bad was the accident?” Kyungsoo rattled off, looking to LuHan for answers since Sehun didn’t seem in the best state to direct them to.

“From what the nurse said, he was riding his bike when he was hit by a car. But that’s all that they’ve come to inform us about so far,” he added, pulling Sehun off of Kyungsoo so that the dark haired male could take a seat, his knees starting to shake with the panicked adrenaline that was pricking his veins. 

“But he’s okay, right?”

“Kyungsoo, I just told you he was hit by a car. I don’t think ‘okay’ is the word I would use.”

“But he’s alive, right? He’s going to be fine, right?” LuHan took a slow breath, looking down at Sehun, who was curled up and halfway laying on his lap, swallowing back small hiccups of sobs.

“For both of your sakes, I pray he will be.”

Sehun seemed to be falling in and out of consciousness throughout the time that they were sitting in the waiting room, which Kyungsoo decided was probably best for the younger, considering how excruciating the wait was. None of the staff that passed by offered them a second glance, let alone showed intent to make their way over and explain what was going on, offer an insight to how much longer they were going to have to wait, anything. Over an hour passed before a male with a clip board made his way to the couches they were sitting on.

“Oh Sehun?” he called, looking up from the clip board in time to see Sehun jolt upright.

“T-that’s me,” the blond said, one of LuHan’s hands finding his.

“Your cousin is going to be alright, which is a miracle considering the circumstances. It seemed that his bike was bent around him during the impact, which caused a break in his leg but also kept one of the tires from crushing his torso,” the male explained, Sehun nodding and tightening his hold of LuHan’s hand.

“Can… can we see him?” he asked, the other making a few notes on the clip board.

“He’s asleep right now, so until he wakes up we can only allow family members in.”

“But-” Sehun cut himself off, biting at his lower lip before he looked over at Kyungsoo, who had his gaze set on his lap.

“Go.” Sehun cringed a little at the word, swallowing hard.

“But Hyung-”

“Go. Go see him and tell me that he’s alright.” Kyungsoo said shortly, Sehun staring at him for a long moment before slowly releasing LuHan’s hand, standing to follow the doctor to Jongin’s room. There was a hesitant hand on his shoulder, pulling a sigh from the dark haired male before he leaned forward, placing his head in his hands. He ignored his mobile when it went off a few minutes later, sure that Chanyeol could feel the distress he was in, and it went off three more times before the caller seemed to finally give up. LuHan’s went off a few moments later, his hand slipping from the younger’s shoulder as he went to answer it.

“Kyungsoo, it’s for you.”

“If Chanyeol got your number from Baekhyun just to bother-” Kyungsoo cut out when he looked up, eyes widening at the screen. The image swayed a little and it took him a moment to realize that it was a video call, his hand slowly reaching out to take LuHan’s mobile.

“Sehun?” He asked, the blond laughing.

“Youw wouldn’t answer your mobile,” Sehun replied, before turning the screen a little, causing the dark haired male’s heart to jump, one hand coming up to cover his mouth as a very tired looking Jongin came into view. There were a few bandages on his face, nasal prongs in place instead of an oxygen mask which made it easier for him to hear Jongin’s voice.

“Hey hyung,” Jongin said softly, Kyungsoo feeling his throat tighten. “Sehun said they wouldn’t let you come in.” His voice was scratchy, Kyungsoo watching him mostly disappear from the screen as Sehun leaned the other way to grab the glass of water on his side table; Kyungsoo then noticed that he was laying next to Jongin on the bed. Sehun held the glass close enough that Jongin could slip the straw between his lips, pulling it back a few drinks later and setting it back on the table.

“You told me to tell you he was alright, but I thought that it was something that you should see for yourself instead,” Sehun explained, Kyungsoo nodding as he felt his nose start to sting, warning that tears were on their way. They threatened to fill his eyes when he heard a far off voice that he couldn’t quite make out and Sehun frowned.

“Fine, I’ll get off the bed,” he grumbled.

“This is a hospital, not a place for playing around. If you’re just planning on taking pictures, refrain from doing so until he can breathe on his own.”

“Yes ma’am,” Sehun replied, eyes flickering to the mobile screen again. “Sorry Hyung.”

“You don’t need to apologize, you… thank you for showing me he’s alright. I’ll see you soon, Jongin,” Kyungsoo replied, the duo nodding before the call ended.

Visiting hours ended before Jongin woke back up after seeing Sehun, and it was with a tight feeling in his chest that he made his way back to their apartment. He made way too much food for just himself out of habit, and laid awake in their bed until nearly 4am before a fitful sleep finally took him.

“What were you thinking?” Kyungsoo exclaimed, Jongin’s eyes widening at the sudden change in the other’s tone. When he had arrived, it was with a bouquet of flowers and a kiss on the forehead and every sweet tone that he loved from the older. “Were you not looking where you were going? You… you could have died, Jongin!” Tears pricked the older’s eyes, his throat trying to tighten around his words. “What would I have done if I lost you? What about Sehun? You’re my soulmate, I…” the dark haired male sniffled, forcefully wiping at the tears that continued to streak down his cheeks before he smacked the younger’s arm. “I… I wouldn’t be able to function in this world without you, and you do and do something stupid that almost got you killed! Why didn’t you wait for the stupid crossing sign, why did you have to risk getting across the street, what was so important that it couldn’t wait a few minutes?”

“Hyung, can you get my jacket?”

The question stunned the older, who stared at Jongin for a long moment, his eyes shifting to the coat hanger in the far corner of the room before moving back to Jongin.

“Excuse me?”

“My jacket, can you get it for me please?”

“No! I’m here being mad at you and you’re worried about your jacket?”

“Hyung, please? You can continue to be mad at me after.” Jongin pleaded, Kyungsoo staring hard at him before huffing a sigh and making his way across the room to retrieve the other’s jacket, resisting the urge to throw it at him since he was still hooked up to a couple of things. At least he didn’t have the nasal plugs in his nose anymore. He held the jacket close, Kyungsoo turning a sharp look to it as if that would explain to him what was so important about Jongin getting the jacket back; it wasn’t one of his favorites, it wasn’t brand new, it wasn’t even one of his more expensive ones, so what was the big deal?

“Are you going to start giving me answers?” Kyungsoo demanded, Jongin jumping a little as he looked up from the jacket, taking a deep breath before letting it out slowly; Kyungsoo was vaguely aware of the increase in beeps from the heart monitor.

“I was in a hurry to the café…”

“Yeah, I know that much, we were meeting there, but that doesn’t-”

“Hyung, will you give me a minute to explain?” Jongin asked, voice laced with a laugh, and Kyungsoo closed his mouth, sitting back in the chair. “I was sort of zoned out, waiting for the walk sign to come on so I could cross the street… I saw a white sign out of the corner of my eye and didn’t look up, assuming it was the one for the direction I was going. Next thing I knew there was the squeal of tires, and then pain sparked through my entire body.” Jongin looked down at his casted leg, taking a slow deep breath.

“What had you so zoned out? Did something happen at work?” Kyungsoo asked, surprised by the laugh that Jongin let out, watching him turn his jacket until he found one of the pockets, digging around in it.

“No, I… I was trying to convince myself not to chicken out.”

“What?” Kyungsoo asked, Jongin’s eyes flickering to his before back to his jacket, tongue coming out to swipe over his lips. He took a slow, deep breath before pulling something out of his pocket, looking to Kyungsoo once more before he held out a small box. Kyungsoo was slow and careful to take it, noticing the way Jongin was watching his every movement before he reached over and opened it for the older. When he did, Kyungsoo almost dropped the box, free hand coming up to cover his mouth, eyes widen as he stared at the deep silver ring inside.

“I hope you’ll forgive me for not being able to get down on one knee,” Jongin said, Kyungsoo tearing his gaze away from the ring as tears pricked his eyes again. “Will you marry me, Kyungsoo-Hyung?” One tear slid down the older’s cheek before he stood long enough to all but drop himself on the other, hugging him tightly.

“As long as you promise to never scare me like this again.”