We waited anxiously with curiosity and confusion running through our minds. Yuri had tried to call Junsu again, but he never answered. When it all seemed hopeless, we decided to just patiently wait even though that was the last thing we wanted to do. We needed to be out there on what was going on. It was nerve-wracking to be here with no answers.

            Yoochun was leaning against the wall near the door, tapping his foot impatiently. Yuri was pacing back and forth, occasionally making sounds of frustration. I sat quietly on the counter. Usually, I would make a cup of something. Working with my hands tends to calm me down, but I wasn’t in the mood to be calm. I felt like I had to be angry. So instead, I wrung a towel in my hands.

            A shrill sound broke the atmosphere and everyone froze for a minute. My phone was ringing, and on the third ring I finally scrambled down to pick it up.

            “Hello,” I said, my voice was shaking.

            “Soo Yun,” Junsu puffed out of breath. “You need to come to the hospital.”

            I nodded my head as if he could see me and hung up. We all stare at each for a bit before running out of the door and speeding away in Yoochun’s car. There was no time to fear for the worst.

            When we reached the hospital, we spotted Junsu and Jaejoong in a quarrel in front of the emergency room.

            “Why didn’t you save her?” Jaejoong screamed at Junsu. His hands were full of Junsu’s shirt as he pulled him forward to yell at his face. Jaejoong’s knuckles were white and he was shaking in anger. “Why couldn’t you do anything?” he spat once more at Junsu.

            “Because I was busy protecting your .” Junsu said back. He wasn’t screaming, but he was equally furious. “If you had gone after her, who knows how many people would be inside there,” he pointed to the emergency door.

            Jaejoong’s teeth gritted together and he would have done something so much worse than screaming if Yoochun hadn’t intervene and shove Jaejoong away. Yoochun had to stay in the middle for Jaejoong wouldn’t stop in the pursuit of wanting to murder Junsu.

            “Both of you sit down right now!” Yoochun directed them, but Jaejoong refused to listen. He only advanced some more. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Yoochun said as Jaejoong stalked towards him like he would rip anyone’s head who was in his way. Yuri stepped forward this time and quickly pushed Jaejoong back. He stumbled, but continued on.

            For the safety of my friends, and especially Yuri’s small figure, I moved in front of Jaejoong. He stopped when I laid my hands on his chest. He would never dare to hurt me.

            “Sit. Down,” I commanded. His eyes soften and mine did too when I saw that tears began to well up inside them. “Please,” I said quietly.

            Jaejoong finally obeyed. He stepped back and dropped down to a chair. His hands covered his face before it ran up to his hair. He gripped his messy hair in pain and gave out a loud cry of agony that broke all our hearts. We all knew who was on the other side of the emergency room. And without knowing much, we knew how little of a chance she might survive.

            Junsu had tiredly sat on a waiting chair too on the opposite side of Jaejoong. One by one, the rest of us also carefully sat down. Yoochun and Yuri on Junsu’s side, and me with Jaejoong. I couldn’t technically wrap my arms around him and comfort him. By the aura he was giving off, it seemed like he didn’t want anyone to touch him. He wanted to be alone in his misery.

            “Chief Kim,” the nurse said when she peaked from behind the door.

            “Yes?” Junsu replied and stood up, approaching her.

            When he passed by Yuri, she mouthed to me, “Chief?”

            “I’m so sorry,” she said. And that’s all we really needed to hear. We didn’t need to know how fatal her burns were. We didn’t need to know how much she tried to fight back and almost won. Almost. Sorry was enough to bring tears to Yuri’s eyes, to make Yoochun sigh in exasperation, to make Junsu sigh too but in hopelessness, to make Jaejoong drop his hands to his side and stare blankly at the ceiling, to make me numb.

            “Come on,” Junsu said to us when the nurse left. “I’ll tell you everything.”

We all made it back to the café in two cars, which was fine because Jaejoong needed to stay away from Junsu anyway. So he rode with Yoochun and I, while Yuri kept Junsu company. I unlocked the doors to the shop and everyone piled in with sorrowful looking faces.

            “I’ll go make us something hot to drink,” I said. I know that none of us have the appetite right now, but our cold insides needed to be warmed up.

            I went to the back of the counter, getting hit once again that I had just lost a friend and an employee who will no longer walk these floors. I quickly wiped the escaped tears and hurried the drinks. I made sure to put extra sugar in the coffees, because I knew that despite its sweetness, we’ll all still taste bitter