Flashback

Sungmin’s POV

I sighed as I put my cell phone down on my coffee table and slouched down even further on the couch. I’d been trying to call my mother all day ever since I got home from work and she hadn’t answered once yet. I tried calling 27 times but no one answered. I would’ve at least expected her caretaker to answer, but there was no luck. I was really starting to get worried. I haven’t talked with her in weeks. I’m such a terrible son.

Just then, I heard the doorbell ring. I got up from the couch and approached the door. When I opened it, I saw Kyuhyun standing in front of me with a wine bottle in his hand.

“Kyuhyun? What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I was at the store earlier buying some wine for myself, but I thought you also might want to have some too.” I nodded my head and let him inside before closing the door and heading over to my kitchen to grab two wine glasses.

I took the bottle from him and poured the drink into the two glasses. I gave him his as I took mine and sat on the couch again.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he made his way over to me.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s just that, you actually let my inside without arguing. That, and you seem kind of down. What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. It’s just that…I’ve been trying to call my mother all day and she hasn’t answered me. I want to know if she’s okay, so I guess I’m just really worried about her.”

“Oh, that’s right. You said your mother wasn’t feeling well right now, right?” I nodded my head and took a sip of wine.

“I think I’m terrible son. I haven’t talked with her in weeks. She must’ve been so worried about me.” Suddenly, I looked at Kyuhyun, who was sipping on his own wine. “Kyuhyun, what if she got so worried about me that she started getting stressed? What if she’s not getting better because of me? What if she got worse because of me? What if-”

“Whoa, Sungmin, calm down. That can’t be the reason. You’re not terrible. You’ve been pretty busy, so of course you won’t have time to call her. I’m pretty sure she’d understand. Your mother is going to be okay. I promise.” As I continued to look at Kyuhyun, he gave me a reassuring smile that said everything was going to be okay.

“You really promise?”

“I swear.” Just then, my phone started to ring. I took another sip of wine before reaching out for my phone.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Is this Lee Sungmin?”

“Yes.”

“Mr. Lee, we have your mother here at the hospital. She’s having heart failure. She’s been at the hospital for weeks now. We’ve asked her if we could call any family members that she had, but she said not to call anyone. Her situation has gotten worse, so we asked her one more time. She informed is that her only family was her only son. I’ve called you tonight to ask if you could come down and see her, if that is okay with you/” At that moment, I dropped the wine glass onto the floor, making the glass shatter into pieces, and dropped my phone as well. I didn’t have enough strength to hold onto anything anymore.

“Hello? Who is this?” Kyuhyun asked as he picked up my phone. I couldn’t even concentrate. Tears started to form at the corner of my eyes. Once Kyuhyun hung up, I looked at him as my tears rolled down the sides of my cheeks.

“K-Kyuhyun…” I managed to say. He gave me a sympathetic look before pulling me in for a hug.

“It’s okay, Sungmin. We’re gonna go there right now. I’ll take you. I just have to call Yesung and-”

Instantly, I grabbed my phone again and dialed Yesung’s number. He picked up in a matter of seconds.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Y-Y-Yesung!” I cried. “I-I-I-”

“Wait, calm down, I can’t understand you.” Kyuhyun took the phone from me and talked to Yesung as he let me cry on his shoulder.

I have to go see her. I need to see my mother. I can’t lose her. She’s all I got in this world.

End of Flashback

Yesung’s POV

Sungmin’s cries never died down when they entered the car. I had to secretly steal one of my father’s cars so Ryeowook and I could take Sungmin to the hospital where his mother was staying at. Kyuhyun was trying his best to calm him down, but nothing worked. As I pulled over at a stoplight, I looked at Ryeowook, who was sitting next to me. He looked just as worried as I was.

Moments later, the four of us finally arrived at the hospital. Once I parked the car, Sungmin immediately ran out, having Kyuhyun run after him. Ryeowook and I got out and watched them run inside.

“Ryeowook, are you okay?” I asked him. He turned to look at me before sighing.

“To be honest, I’m more worried about Sungmin than his mother. I know she wasn’t feeling to well and I’m sure she was probably scared being at this hospital, not being able to get better. But Sungmin is weaker than she is. What if these are his mother’s last hours? I’ve done nothing to help her or Sungmin. How can I ever face Sungmin now?” I heard him sniffle a little and saw a couple tears roll down his face. He clenched his fist and closed his eyes before he started to cry silently.

I just stood there and watched him cry. I didn’t know what to do at that moment. Should I go comfort him? The last time I comforted someone was when Kyuhyun was a little kid. I don’t like seeing anyone cry; especially Ryeowook right now, but why can’t I move? It’s like I’m stuck to the ground. Let me move! I have to make him stop crying. I want him to know that everything will be okay.

I feel my heart beating faster.

It’s this feeling again. What is this?

“C’mon hyung, we better go inside,” Ryeowook said softly as he wiped his own tears away. I should’ve been the one to do that.

Kyuhyun’s POV

“Sungmin, wait!” I yelled as we ran into the hospital. I stopped to catch my breath once he stopped at the front desk asking for his mother. I grunted when I saw him run again. I started running again when I saw him run down a hall. Once I almost caught up to him, he had already entered a room. As I walked in, I found Sungmin kneeling on the ground, holding a patient’s hand. A doctor was also present.

“Are you her son?” he asked. Sungmin only nodded head. The doctor stepped out of the room as I walked closer to him and looked at the patient lying down. So this is his mother. She looks…helpless.

“H-Hi mother…” Sungmin squeaked. Tears were still rolling down his face. His mother turned her head slowly to look at him with half open eyes.

“S-Sungmin…” she spoke out with a hoarse voice. “My son, you’re really here.” Sungmin managed to smile a little.  

“Yeah, I’m here now.” Suddenly, she looked at me.

“Who is this?”

“This is Kyuhyun. He and his brother helped me get over here just to see you. Ryeowook is also here.” She just smiled at him before closing her eyes.

“Sungmin, would you come with me?” I turned around and saw the doctor standing at the doorway with a clipboard in his hand. Sungmin stood up, letting go of his mother’s hand, and followed the doctor out. I was about to follow when I heard my name being called out.

“Kyuhyun…” his mother called out to me. I grabbed a chair that was in the corner of the room and placed it next to the bed. I sat down and stared at her as she stared at me with those half opened eyes.

“Y-yes, Mrs. Lee?” I stuttered. What could she want to talk to me about?

“What do you think of Sungmin?” I was silent for a moment, thinking of possible things I could say to her.

“W-well, I think he’s an amazing person. He’s someone I can always talk to whenever I’m bored and I never get tired of it. He yells at me a lot, but he still smiles. He tells me a lot about himself, but only because I asked him to. I think he’s very talented and caring.” I was blushing the entire time I told her all of this because it felt so awkward.

“He’s also very, isn’t he?” she smiled and I smiled with her.

“Yeah, he’s very cute.”

“You must really like him, don’t you?”

“W-what!?” I stuttered. “O-of course not! He doesn’t even like me at all. He doesn’t even consider me as a friend.” She chuckled before closing her eyes again. It was silent for a moment until she looked at me again.

“It sounds like he’s having so much fun nowadays. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him truly smile,” she sighed. I saw tears forming in the corner of her eyes. “Kyuhyun, would you promise me something?”

“Sure, anything.”

“I’m not going to make it through the night. My time has finally come to an end. I can’t do anything for Sungmin anymore. I can’t protect my only son. Promise me that you’ll take care of him for me.”

“What? Mrs. Lee, you can’t be serious! You can’t lea-!”

“I’m serious, Kyuhyun. I’m done here. It’s time for me to go meet up with my husband. I’m sure he’s waiting for me. So please, just promise me you’ll look after my son for me. Take care of him, protect him, and never leave him. I know you care about Sungmin just as much as I do. I can see it in your eyes. So please, will you?” I couldn’t believe she was telling me all this. I felt the tears forming in my eyes as she just smiled sadly at me.

“I-I promise.”

“Oh, and one more thing. Months or even a year from now, Sungmin will still have that smile on his face as long as he’s with you. So when that time comes, take a picture of him with that smile and leave it at my grave. Will you do that for me?”

“I-I will.” A tear finally rolled down my cheek.

“No!” I could hear Sungmin’s voice from in the hall. Suddenly he ran in with the doctor behind him. Sungmin kneeled down again to grab his mother’s hands.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I stood up.

“There is nothing left we can do for her. All of this equipment that is hooked up is hurting her. She’s in too much pain right now. The only solution is to shut everything down and let her go,” the doctor answered.

“No! You can’t! I won’t let you!” Sungmin cried.

“We have to! Do you want her to be in even more pain!?”

“But-!”

“Sungmin,” I called out, “she’s suffering enough in here.”

“No! I’m not going to l her die!”

“Sungmin, it’s time,” his mother spoke out.

“But, mother, I don’t want you to go! Please don’t leave me, I still need you!”

“Sungmin, you don’t need me anymore. I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished in your life. I’m glad to see you grow up to be such a wonderful young man. I’m happy to have been your mother and I don’t want leave my only son but I have to go. I need to be free from all of this. I need to go see your father. Won’t you please let me go?”

“…I-I’m gonna miss you so much.”

“I’ll miss you too, Sungmin. Just remember that I’ll always love you.”

“I love you too.” Sungmin got up from his knees to hug her before standing up and looked at the doctor. The doctor nodded his head as he walked in a little closer. Sungmin came closer to me and cried on my shoulder. I hugged him as I started to cry as well. His mother turned her head to look at me and smiled. She mouthed the words “thank you” to me before closing her eyes. The doctor shut everything off and I knew right then and there that she wasn’t breathing anymore.

“I’m sorry for this,” the doctor apologized before heading out. Sungmin continued to cry on my shoulder and I hugged him tighter.

“Kyuhyun!” I heard Yesung come in with Ryeowook. He took a look at us before looking at the bed. I saw Ryeowook beginning to cry. “Kyuhyun is she really…” He couldn’t even finish what he wanted to say because tears were already forming in his eyes.

“She’s gone,” I whispered. I could barely talk. I still couldn’t believe what just happened.

Don’t worry, Mrs. Lee.

I promise to take care of Sungmin.

To protect him.

And never leave him.

Never. 

A/N: And not a single happy moment was spotted in this chapter ;____; I'll admit, I was about to cry when I was writing this chapter. How can I not when Minnie's mother just left, everybody is crying, and I have Kyuhyun singing in the background while writing? It feels weird not having any fluff in a chapter >.> HAPPY CHAPTERS SHALL COME SOON. Also, I'm going to focus more on Kyumin and Yewook for a few more chapters, so no Eunhae for a while. I promise that they'll come back though~ Yes, I'm going to put more Yewook you desparate Yewook shippers :) I didn't say this yet, but I really love it when you guys comment. Your comments make my day <3 *cookies for everyone* I love you all :) Even silent readers~ Until next time!! Please comment and subscribe!!! <3333333333