“Chanyeol?”

At the mention of his name, Chanyeol wakes up with a gasp. His throat feels awfully raw, his hands numb and his eyes bloodshot; surprising the woman standing in front of him. His left hand roses up to cover the glaring lights as he squints, confusion and fear hitting him at once. Chanyeol hears his fiancée gasping over the murmurs coming from the TV show on the television, her fingers cradling his face as she stares at him in worry.

“What happened?” She asks, “Honey, you’re sweating.”

Chanyeol swallows, turning mute as he registers his surroundings. It didn’t make sense; he was—where was—“J-Jaehyun…”

“Huh?” His fiancée leans in closer to hear his incoherent whisper. “What?”

“Jaehyun!” He shouts, eyes widening when he realizes where he is. The clock keeps on ticking, clock hands landing straight on 12. “Where is he? Why—why am I here? Where is he…?”

“Who…? Honey, are you okay?” Chaeyoung questions him, almost panicking at her fiancée’s reaction. “I just came home and I saw you sleeping—but you were crying…”

He grabs his phone from the couch, expecting unread messages—missed calls, something, but Chanyeol only sees the small 12:04A.M stated on the screen. No. Baekhyun had called him at 10. He was staring at the wall clock in the hospital at 11. “No—no, no, no…”

Throwing all the cushions that has blocked his way; he walks over to the kitchen table, grabbing his coat and car keys. Chaeyoung is fast to stop him, running to the door, frantically trying to grasp at his shaking hands. “Chanyeol! Calm down!”

“I-I have to go—” His voice trembles, “I could be too late, Chaeyoung, I could be too late and I’d regret it forever—I need to go!”

“You’re not going anywhere! Not until you explain to me what’s going on!” She pulls him by his long coat, trembling as tears fall from her eyes. “Why don’t you tell me anything? You always leave me all alone without any explanations, leaving me in the dark!”

“I can’t—I-I can’t tell you…” Chanyeol murmurs, “Not yet. I have to go. I’m…sorry.”

Once again, Chaeyoung is left in the dark right after Chanyeol steps out of the house with only his car keys in his hand. Her freshly manicured nails are now blunt from scraping it against her fiancé’s coat, her mascara running down her cheeks alongside her tears. The take-out food she bought for him has gone cold on the dining table and Chaeyoung wonders if what’s currently happening is a snippet of her future marriage with Chanyeol.

—

“How is he? Did he cry?”

Baekhyun frets, unconsciously chewing on his thumb. He hears Jongin laughing from the other line, making fun of his anxious tone and threatens to end the call if he would not stop worrying over his son. The wedding planner huffs, annoyed, leaning against the stiff cushions. “It’s not funny.”

“For the last time, Mr Byun, Junhyun is fine!” Jongin coaxes, “We had a fun night. I made some spaghetti, we watched Finding Dory and he fell asleep right away. You can say that I’m a pretty good babysitter.”

He chuckles softly as relief washes over him. Baekhyun knows that he probably looks like a mess—he did not get any sleep since last night, staying up just in case Jaehyun wakes up in the middle of the night, crying silently. Staring at the bed where his son slept, wrapped in his baby blue blanket, Baekhyun smiles. “Thank you, Jongin.”

“It’s no problem. I like hanging out with Jun anyway. How’s Jae doing, though?” He senses Jongin’s playful tone changing into a serious one. “Is he okay now? I was pretty scared when you told me that he had a seizure.”

Baekhyun walks over to the bed, caressing his son’s peachy cheeks with his fingers. “He’s okay. His body temperature is average now…but the doctor is yet to give me the green light to take him home.”

“It’s for the better. Little Jae’s health is your main priority for now. You don’t have to worry about anything else.” Jongin says. “I’m gonna call it a night now. Please get some sleep, Mr Byun.”

“I will! Thanks again for everything,” Baekhyun cheerily replies, feeling a little better. “Oh—don’t forget to—”

“Send Jun to daycare tomorrow morning and not feed him greasy food, I get it,” Jongin snorts. Baekhyun only rolls his eyes. “Goodnight, Mr Byun.”

Before the wedding planner could even reply a simple “Goodnight” back, the door to his son’s ward slams. Baekhyun flinches, startling himself even more when he loses his grip on his phone and accidentally lets it fall to the ground. He looks at the man standing by the door in shock, perplexed as to why he was here in the first place. His ex-boyfriend roams his eyes across the room, panting harshly, looking ridiculous and even a bit terrifying in his long coat, pajama pants and flip-flops.

“Chanyeol—M-Mr Park, what are you doing h—” Baekhyun doesn’t even get to form a proper question before Chanyeol runs to him and pulls him into his embrace, arms wrapped around him tightly as the taller man rests his forehead on Baekhyun’s shoulder. He stiffens, eyes widening as he listens to the sound of Chanyeol’s frantic breathing and the sound of his own frantic heartbeat. “Mr Park—”

“I just need to know if Jaehyun is okay,” Chanyeol whispers, mouth moving against Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Tell me he’s okay…”

Baekhyun’s hand roses up to Chanyeol’s chest, gently pushing him away but the latter wouldn’t allow it—to say that Baekhyun is surprised is an understatement when he hears Chanyeol’s sudden sob, shaking Baekhyun’s shoulders. “Damn it, tell me that he’s okay!”

“He’s fine! Jaehyun is okay!” Baekhyun says with his voice muffled as he speaks, trapped in Chanyeol’s coat. “What the hell is going on?”

He pulls away to take a closer look at Chanyeol’s disheveled state. The man has dried tear tracks on his cheeks, his jaw slacken as his head hangs low—Baekhyun has to hold onto his face to look at him in the eyes. Chanyeol’s