*Ring!* *Ring!*

*Ring!* *Ring!*

“Hello, this is SM Police Department, Police Chief Suho speaking.”

...

“Ah yes, Chief Kris. What can I help you?”

...

“Oh? You’re not going to send Qian over?”

...

“Someone else volunteered? How nice of him. So, who is this person?”

...

“Let me check our record here...” Junmyeon flipped through the employee records until he stopped at one page. His eyes widened a bit.

“This... This man. He is one of your best men, isn’t he? Are you sure he volunteered to replace Han?”

...

“Uh, it’s nothing. It’s just... it’s too sudden. I’m not sure he’ll prepare for this.”

Everything was bright. Kyungsoo was surrounded by endless white, he couldn’t tell if there’s a wall. He felt strangely calm and collected. The warmth was comfortable, as he wished he could stay here much longer. Is this the paradise? If it is, then he shouldn’t have to be worry about anything he faced in the world. He just wanted to rest, as long as he could take.

Kyungsoo did not wish for eternal sleep. He did not wish to die. Because he promised to certain someone that he would live on independently. His goal is far from over. He might fall down, but he will rise again someday. After for a quite some time, he started to feel his left hand were warmer than it supposed to be. He heard voices but they were faint, but eventually they’re getting louder. He could hear a sobbing noise too.

Maybe he couldn’t make these people wait. Kyungsoo had enough rest. It’s time to wake up.

Kyungsoo first heard a beeping sound from the health monitor. His vision was blurry when he tried to open his eyes. Everything was white and he could feel his hand was squeezed in care.

“Kyungsoo! Oh my goodness, you’re finally awake.” Kyungsoo recognized immediately that cracking voice belongs to Baekhyun.

“Baby Soo, we’re here for you.” Chanyeol spoke with soft words.

Kyungsoo squinted and blinked several times until he could see his surrounding clearly. He was lying on the hospital bed and his friends were on his side. His eyes stopped at his worried looking friends before he brought himself to smile weakly.

“B--Baekhyun... Chanyeol...” That was the first word coming from Kyungsoo’s dry voice and Chanyeol couldn’t take it anymore as he gently wrapped his arms around his poor friend like a loving parent. Baekhyun smiled in relief as he watched them.

“We thought we lost you, really. Don’t scare us like that!” Chanyeol joked while hugging, trying too hard not to cry.

Kyungsoo gulped the saliva, trying to find his voice back. “I didn’t mean to... I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. We’re glad you came back to us.” Baekhyun responded.

Chanyeol broke the hug and helped Kyungsoo to sit up, so he could check on his own condition. His head was wrapped with bandages, while his right arm was covered in a sling. He guessed that he had terrible injury on the head and broke an arm during that accident. He also got few scratches and bruises but they were minor injuries.

“How long I’ve been out?” Kyungsoo looked up to his friends, seeking for an answer.

They seemed to hesitate until Chanyeol spoke. “Five days. You’ve been unconscious for five days.”

Kyungsoo didn’t look surprised at all. He did need to rest but still, he didn’t expect it to be that long. He looked up at them again, feeling slightly guilty.

“I made you wait me that long. If you guys ever lose focus on your work because of me, then I’m sorry. I admit how stupid I am that I was caught on that incident.”

“It’s not your fault, Kyungsoo. You tried to save people and you shouldn’t deserve to be on this current condition.” Baekhyun protested.

“Baekhyun is right. You don’t have to worry about the past. Right now, you have to rest as long as you need, and don’t push yourself. We want you to get all better.” Chanyeol said and Kyungsoo could only nod.

Slightly after half an hour, someone entered the room without knocking. By that time, Kyungsoo was fully awake. He turned to see who rushed in the hospital room. It was Junmyeon. By the second Junmyeon looked at Kyungsoo’s surprised face he started to tear up. He walked past Baekhyun and Chanyeol and gently embraced the younger.

“Junmyeon-hyung...” Kyungsoo returned the hug with his good arm.

“I’m so sorry, Kyungsoo. It is entirely my fault what happened to you.” Junmyeon responded with shaky voice.

“What are you saying, hyung?”

Junmyeon released the hug and took Kyungsoo’s uninjured hand. He squeezed a little to show that he cared for him.

“I heard Han putting you a lot of hard work and that you often skipped meals. Baekhyun also told me you didn’t get a good rest for days. I thought... I thought you would work well with him. But I didn’t know it'd end up like this, and I almost lost you when I heard you’re involved in the accident. I really, really don’t want to lose another person I care the most. I’m really sorry, Kyungsoo.” Junmyeon seemed broke, biting his lower lips.

“Hyung, none of this was your fault. Please don’t take the blame. It happened in the past. Han didn’t do anything wrong either. Maybe he was acting like that because... I might not be good enough for him.” Kyungsoo thought so. Han was a strict person and he wanted to be perfect. Kyungsoo said to himself he wanted to be strong and at least he learned from Han’s torture that he was catching up.

Junmyeon smiled faintly as he gently pat the younger’s head. “Aren’t you the gullible one? Always keep yourself in low profile, well mannered and being nice to everyone. This is why I like about you.”

“Um... I’m going to say no to this because sometimes his glare can shut everyone up.” Chanyeol interrupted and both Baekhyun and Junmyeon giggled. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and stared blankly at Chanyeol.

“See?! What did I tell you?” Chanyeol pointed at Kyungsoo frantically and then he earned an elbow from Baekhyun.

They spent almost an hour to accompany Kyungsoo and they were reluctant to leave him to continue their work, while Kyungsoo could get some rest. The doctor said Kyungsoo had to stay in the hospital at least for a week before he could continue working. However his right arm would take the most of the time to recover, so the doctor advised him not do to field work for three weeks.

He waved goodbye to his friends before settling on the bed comfortably. He didn’t feel he wanted to sleep yet since he already rested for five days long. He actually wanted to talk with someone again because he’s tired to be lonely. His wish granted when a familiar doctor entered the room.

“Mister D.O. How are you?”

“Doctor Zhang.” Kyungsoo said brightly as he tried to sit up. Yixing went quickly by his side and helped him.

“You should be resting. You’re still weak.”

“I don’t feel like resting like now. It feels good to be alive.” Kyungsoo smiled lightly.

Yixing took a seat next to him. “That’s a rare respond from someone who is just awake. But that’s good. You’re thinking positive.”

“Yeah, it feels strange. I feel calm all of sudden, and think nothing but happiness. Is this normal?” Kyungsoo asked.

“It’s normal when someone is relieved after avoiding death. Usually, a person will become stronger and more careful in the future, not letting themselves to be harmed again. But you... I remembered you’ve escaped from death for the second time. Am I right?”

“That’s right. It was like bad luck was upon me for weeks.” Kyungsoo sighed. Yixing thought of something before he asked.

“Mister D.O. Mind if I ask you something?”

“Sure. By the way, you can call me by my real name. I got grounded from work anyway.” Kyungsoo chuckled.

“Alright then, Kyungsoo-sshi. Did you wear your amulet before the accident happened?” Kyungsoo looked down when he heard the question.

“...No. I broke it after my partner’s death. I thought I didn’t need it anymore.” He felt slightly sad about it.

“It’s understandable. But let me tell you the fact about that amulet. The good charm in it will never wear off, as long you keep believe on luck.”

“But your sister said the effect worn off on Christmas?”

Yixing gave a genuine smile. “That was the special pray made from my sister on the amulets. The effect may have worn off, but the origin themselves are still the luck charms. I should have told you to keep wearing it all time...” Then Yixing looked into his eyes. He seemed like he noticed something.

“I guess you don’t need it anymore.” Yixing’s answer made Kyungsoo curious.

Yixing gave a final pat on Kyungsoo’s back before he got up.

“I’ll leave you here for awhile and you really should get some sleep. The nurse will come check you up on the next two hours. I’ll see you again when I have a chance, Kyungsoo-sshi. Rest well.”

Kyungsoo waved lightly as Yixing exited from the room. Then silent in the room took him again. Maybe he should indeed get some sleep. Kyungsoo turned to the window and watched the scene of the bright sky. Several birds passed by and he realized that winter was gone. Outside was still breezy but the warmth from the sun had finally arrived. He can finally forget about the winter, and he didn’t want to remember his worst memory. Every time when he thought about winter, he kept thinking about ‘him’.

Kyungsoo shook his head to snap away from his day dreaming. He looked around to look at the time but oddly the room didn’t have a clock. He remembered his Snowy watch on his possession but it probably already broke into pieces during that accident. He gave a long sigh. He liked that watch so much. What if it was no longer