You wake up to complete silence. You think it might be the middle of the night, but it looks too bright. You feel someone your hair, which is really comforting. You cuddle closer to the warmth seeping from the body next to yours, the source of the arm your hair.

“You awake Kass? …” A solemn voice asks. You yawn and try to stretch a bit, which is decidedly a bad choice when you feel a sharp pain rip through your stomach and shoulder. You yelp and cringe, causing the body next to yours to move away and lay you back so you’re flat against your bed, which is still sitting up. You open your eyes a bit and see Chanyeol’s worried eyes peering back at you.

“You okay?” He asks. You nod adjusting to the light. “Hey Suho Hyung, go get the doctor and tell him that Kassy is awake.” Suho walks out of the room to try and find the doctor.

“Where’s my step-dad? …” You ask sleepily.

“Uhm…Kassy…We…we need to tell you something.” Your birth parents say.

“What is it? …” You ask.

“Uhm…Your adoptive mom…She…there was a wreck this morning while she was on her way to work…she…she didn’t…” Your birth dad says. Your eyes widen, knowing where this is going.

“She didn’t make it…” Your birth mom says.

“No…you’re…you’re joking right? She’s still alive right? She’s going to walk through those doors any moment…and you guys are going to laugh right? …” You say.

“I’m sorry Kass…” Kai says. “It’s not a joke. Your…your mom is really gone…”

You feel something in your chest shatter. Even if she wasn’t your birth mom, she was still your mom. She took care of you, and loved you unconditionally. Now she was gone, and you didn’t even get to say goodbye or say I love you. You don’t know when you started crying. You only become aware that you are when Chanyeol pulls your face into his shoulder gently, so he doesn’t hurt you, and rubs small circles on your back. You sob. You can’t help it. You cry and sob while clinging to Chanyeol, willing all of this to be a dream. Yeah that’s it. This is all one giant dream. You’re going to wake up in the morning and this would just be a good idea to write for a fanfiction. Chanyeol isn’t holding you, Kai isn’t your brother, your mom is still alive, you aren’t in a hospital, none of this has happened. But it wasn’t a dream, and all of this has happened. You sob again as you feel Chanyeol’s grip loosen a bit.

“Please…Don’t leave me…” You sob. Chanyeol’s arms loosen a bit more as he shifts positions.

“I’m not Kassy.  I’m not going anywhere okay?” He says tightening his grip on you again. Everyone in the room looks at you and wait patiently for you to calm down. Finally you stop crying, but you don’t loosen your grip on Chanyeol. You feel him kiss your head, and you feel the familiar butterflies and flutter in your heart.

“Kassy…?” You hear your birth mom say. You move your face away from Chanyeol’s shoulder, still clinging to him though.

“Yes? …” You ask in a hoarse voice from crying so much.

“Your…your step dad says he still loves you very much…um…he is giving us back “custody”…since you are 19, there isn’t much authority we have over you…but you can come live with us or if EXO wants, I guess you could live with them…pretty much what I’m saying is that very soon, you will legally be our daughter again.” Your birth mom says. You nod and hide your face in Chanyeol’s shoulder again. Suho had come back with the doctor a while ago, but it wasn’t until now that the doctor took a step towards you.

“Uhm…” The doctor clears his throat. “Can…Can I take your vitals Kassy?”

You look at him and nod slightly. The doctor gives Chanyeol the “please move” look. Chanyeol starts to move which makes you whimper.

“Don’t leave me…”  You whisper. Chanyeol’s presence made the pain of losing your mom better for some reason. It was still there, but definitely not as bad.

“Listen, Kassy, the doctor has to check your vitals, okay? I’ll be in the chair right next to your bed. I’m not going anywhere okay? But I have to move.” Chanyeol says pulling away just slightly. You finally loosen your grip and let go of him. You feel the rush of sadness hit you as he moves away, but you keep a straight face. Your doctor steps over to you and starts checking your vitals. Once he’s done he steps out into the hall and talks with your birth parents. Chanyeol sits next to you on the bed again and you lean against him again.

“Are you doing okay, little sis?” Kai asks while tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. You nod slightly, shaking the strand loose again by accident. Kai chuckles as he tucks it behind your ear again. You look around, and all the faces staring back at you makes your eyes start watering.

“Hey hey hey. What’s wrong?” Kai asks. You smile and shake your head.

“Nothing. I just…I never thought I’d end up in the hospital with you guys surrounding my bed. I feel unworthy to have twelve world famous idols worry so much about me.” You say.

“It’s more than just twelve world famous idols. You have the entire K-Pop community behind you. You have our parents, you have your friends, and you have the entire K-Pop fan base behind you. When people found out what happened they flipped out. Someone started a fundraiser by the way. It has raised so much money, that it covers your entire hospital bill with left overs. And it’s still gaining more money. They still haven’t found the person who shot you, but they are looking really hard.” Kai says.  You smile, trying really hard not to cry. You can’t believe what you’re hearing. Your doctor comes back in.

“Kassy, you have to stay in the hospital for a few more days, but you’re going to be released soon. We just have to let your stomach heal a bit more.” He says. You smile and nod, before yawning. You look at the clock and get surprised when it shows it’s nearly 9:00 o’clock.

“Guys, let’s go home and let Kass sleep. She needs it.”  Chanyeol says. Everyone nods and comes over to give you and awkward hug. Kai hugs you and kisses your temple.

“Night little sis. I’ll try to come visit again as soon as possible.” He says. “I’ll drag Chanyeol along too. Love you little sis.”

You chuckle and nod. “Okay Jongin. Love you too.”

Chanyeol smiles at you and hugs you. He kisses your temple. “He won’t have to drag me. I’ll visit you as soon as I can.” You smile and nod. Everyone leaves after that. You lay your bed all the way back slowly. You settle in and smile to yourself. You think about the day and frown again. You are really confused because you don’t understand how Chanyeol has such an effect on you. You fall asleep with a small smile on your face.

The next few days are spent lying in bed with your two best friends, Alexis and Zachery, stopping by after classes. EXO has gotten busy again, so they can’t come visit you, but you text all of them, and they always text you back as soon as possible. You even get a text from Taemin, asking if you had forgotten about SHINee, which gave you reason to text all of the SHINee members, which made them all happy. You are supposed to be released today, so your birth parents are stopping by to check up on you. You are planning on living with them for a while because you don’t live on campus of your college. You never saw a point in it, because your mom and stepdad had only lived a few miles from the school. You frown remembering them, but smile as your phone lights up with another message from Chanyeol. The rest of EXO always responded to your messages, but Chanyeol was definitely the one who texted you the most.

From: Chanyeol

Jongin’s parents are picking you up soon. We still have schedules today, but they are gonna drop you off with us for a while so you can hang out with us. We’ll see you soon. And don’t try asking where they are dropping you off at, and what for. It’s a secret~ SHHHH~~ See you soon Kassy~ ;P :)

You smile and chuckle at Chanyeol’s weirdness, and start to wonder what this secret place could be. There is a knock on your door. Your doctor peeks his head in and smiles.

“So Ms. Kassy, after the emotional rollercoaster that has been this hospital, are you ready to go home?” He asks.

“So ready…” You say while holding in a yawn. You look down at your appearance and cringe a bit. You are wearing a hospital gown and a pair of shorts your mom had brought you the first night you were here.

“By the way, EXO’s manager stopped by a few minutes ago. He dropped some clothes off and old me to give these to you.” Your doctor says handing you a plastic bag. I’ll leave so you can get changed, but first, do you need any help standing up?”

“I think I can handle it, thank you though.” You say. Your doctor walks out the door and you sit yourself up. You groan a bit in pain, your wounds still a bit tender. You scoot to the edge of your bed, draping your legs over the edge. You place your feet flat against the floor. You push yourself up onto your feet, wobbling a bit. You slowly pull your shorts and off down your hips and sit back down to pull them the rest of the way off. You open the plastic bag and see a note sitting on top. It read:

Hey Kass. We knew you were going to need clothes, so we did the best we could. We asked your birth parents (who have gotten your stuff from your stepdad and have set it up in a room at their house), what size clothes you need and bought you some things. The shorts are brand new, and we hope you like them, and we let your birth mom take care of the personal stuff…uhm yeah…anyways, the shirt is mine.  In case you don’t want to wear it we bought you a new shirt. See you soon ;*

~Yeollie

You chuckle at Chanyeol’s weirdness and grab the pair of on top. You quickly pull them on and shortly after pull the shorts on too. You sigh taking a few breathes, because changing clothes with one hand is hard. You sigh and remove your hospital gown. You grab the two shirts out of the bag. You can tell which one is Chanyeol’s. You’ve seen him wear it on lazy days, in the pictures fans have taken. You look at the new one they bought for you and smile. It did look like something you would wear, but you end up putting it back in the bag. You bring Chanyeol’s shirt up to your nose for a moment and sniff. You smile at how much it smells like Chanyeol. With one arm you slip it over your bad arm and over your head. It’s a bit difficult to maneuver your other arm in, but you get it. You run your fingers through your hair and smile. Thankfully, the staff was more than willing to give you a bath the night before, so you didn’t stink, and your hair was clean. There is a knock on your door.

“Come in!” You say.

The door opens as your birth parents step in, shortly followed by your doctor. You smile at them.

“You’ve officially been released from the hospital. You are free to go whenever you are ready.” Your doctor says. “Just be careful with your wounds. No strenuous activity, no running, no activity much at all. Walking is fine, but if you get tired, sit down. Don’t do anything to open up your wounds, and be careful with that shoulder. Keep it by your side and try not to move it much until we can bring you in to check up on it. And with your stomach, you still have to sleep on your back, but that’s about it. If there are any complications, come see us immediately.”

“Yes sir.” You say.

“Are you ready to go now hun?” Your birth mom says. You nod smiling.

“In that case, I’ll go get a wheel chair.” Your doctor says. He laughs as you give him a strange look. “All patients have to leave in a wheel chair.”

“Oh okay.” You say. He walks out of the room and comes back a few minutes later with a wheel chair.

“Do you need help getting in it?” He asks.

“No. I think I’ve got this. Plus it might be good to stand for a minute and walk a few steps.” You say. Everyone nods in agreement. You push yourself to your feet and steady yourself. You take a few steps to get used to walking and smile, happy that you can actually move. You walk to the wheelchair and sit down, groaning a bit at the pain in your stomach, but it passes quickly.

“Let’s gone then.” Your birth dad says. They wheel you out of the hospital.  Once you reach the front doors they let you out of the chair. You walk the rest of the way to your birth parents car and carefully get in.

“So where are we going?” You ask, hoping they might spill the secret.

“We aren’t allowed to say. Chanyeol told us to keep it a secret. Also we have to do this.” Your birth dad chuckles, while handing something to your birth mom.

“We have to blind fold you and put ear plugs in your ears. Otherwise it would be obvious.” She chuckles. You sigh and let her blind fold you. She makes sure you can’t see anything before placing the ear plugs in your hands, and watches as you carefully place them in your ear. You sit like that the entire way to the “secret place”. When the car stops, your birth parents get you out and help guide you as you walk somewhere. Finally, someone pulls the ear plugs out of your ears and chuckles.

“You’re here Kass~ and you actually wore my shirt, that makes me happy.” A familiar voice says. The person who the voice belongs to takes off your blind fold, revealing a dressing room, filled with seventeen guys, stylist noonas, EXO’s and SHINee’s managers, film crew, bodyguards/security, and your birth parents. You hear the screaming of fans somewhere in the background, and you see everyone smiling at you.

“Where…where am I?” You ask.

“You are backstage of one of the SMTown concerts.” Kai chuckles. “You’re also being filmed, say hi to the fans, they can see you out there.”

You look at a camera which is focused on you and you can feel the tears rise in your eyes. You look back at the seventeen boys smiling at you gently.

“We have something for you too.” Onew says. Everyone steps aside to reveal a cake and a present in the middle of the room. Chanyeol grabs your hand and pulls you towards the cake. You look at the cake, which reads: “WELCOME TO THE SM FAMILY”. You look at Chanyeol confused, tears still threatening to spill over.

“Open the present.” He smiles sweetly at you. You as told and open the present. On top lies an envelope with your full name written on it. You open it and start to read it. It says:

Dear Kassandra Ray Lee,

You saved the life of a member of my company, and for that I thank you. You have shown that being a fan isn’t only about drooling over hot boys and obsessing about getting them to notice you. I talked briefly with your mom and step-dad before that tragedy happened, (I am so sorry you had to go through that by the way…) and they said that you had always been a huge fan of EXO and SHINee. They said that you always supported them and had all your albums, but you had never gone as far as to approach them on the streets. They said you had seen them a few times before the incident at the café and had “fan-girled” with your friends, but had always given them their space, not even walking up to them asking for an autograph, because you knew they are still humans and deserve privacy. The fact that you put your life on the line to save a member of my company, shocked me at first. I thank you now though. I’m sorry you had to suffer like you did. You deserve something more than my apologies and my “thank you’s”. So now, I would like to say, if you will accept, I would like to invite you to be an official member of the SM family. You deserve it, and it’s the most I can offer. You will get paid as an official member and your will be looked at as an honorary member of EXO. We all thank you Kassandra.

Sincerely,

Lee Sooman

SM Entertainment

You look at the letter for a few seconds after reading it, officially crying now. You look up and Chanyeol who smiles down at you.

“So what do you say? Do you accept?” An unfamiliar voice asks from behind you.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Please subscribe, and comments and upvotes are very much apppreciated. Feel free to check out my other stories too please~

~Katiebooh98