"Chanyeol... Chanyeol! He did! Yes, he did! Come quick! Come right now!"

Chanyeol blinked lazily, trying to survey the room as best as he could. A sudden blurriness obstructed his eyesight. When he could focus after a few seconds, it landed on a lady, close to sobbing, who was squeezing his hand. 

"Chanyeol, can you hear me? Can you hear me? Do you understand?"

Chanyeol softly nodded.

"Oh, gosh, thank goodness. Oh, he's here. He's here. Yeah. He opened his eyes. He can hear me. He can understand."

A distant voice said something about calming down and leaving the room. His head would send a shooting pain if he concentrated too much, so he dropped his head on the cosy pillow. 

"Park Chanyeol... is that right? Do you remember your name?"

Chanyeol squinted in confusion. He expected a deep voice to respond but instead was greeted by his own whisper. "Yes, I do." He cleared his throat and repeated, "Yes, I do. But why are you asking me this? Why did you send out Mom? What happened?"

The doctor looked a little relieved as he began explaining. "You... had an accident. I believe you were out buying groceries from your supermarket and a truck hit you before you could react. One of your friends saw the crowd surrounding you, phoned your parents and an ambulance. You've been asleep for 21 days now. You were dangerously close to the comatose stage, which a state of almost permanent sleep. Your body has reacted notably well to this, and you'll need treatment for a few years, depending on how your body reacts, so I've sorted regular appointments with your mom-"

"But what about Baekhyun?"

"Baekhyun? Is he a close friend of yours?" Chanyeol swallowed and nodded as the doctor called his mother inside the room. He was enveloped by warmth which he immediately responded to. His mother was worried sick, and he could feel it through the tight hug. 

"Mom... Where are the EXO members? Where's Baekhyun?"

His mom furrowed her eyebrows. "EX-O? Sweetie, what are you talking about? Baekhyun... I don't think I recall..."

"It is common for patients to have vivid dreams during a coma," interrupted the doctor. "But usually, they don't remember names and faces that their mind themselves conjured, unless you force yourself to. Your son is a unique patient, Mrs Park. I think we'll have to run a few more check-ups-"

"But Baekhyun, I want Baekhyun. Where is he? He'd be here. He cares about me. He'd know. He'd be here. Are you not letting me see him because of the stress it would inflict upon me? Mom, I want to see him. Mom, I want Baekhyun. Baekhyun. Baekhyun, I need him right now. Mom, please. Mom, where-"

"Chanyeol, calm down. You need to take a deep breath and backtrack. There's no Baekhyun. It was a dream. It happens. Doctor Kang will get you treatment and medicines, alright? You don't have to-"

"But where's Baekhyun?! I WANT BAEKHYUN! Mom, please! Please, mom, just let me see him once. He came to Yoora's wedding and his brother married her and we used to live in a dorm with the EXO members- with Jongin and, and Joonmyeon and Kyungsoo and Sehun and- and- Minseok and Yixing who was Chinese and Jongdae and we all lived together-"

"Honey, you need to calm down now. Calm down. It didn't happen. Just take a deep breath."

"How does that help me? How does it help me? He-he ran away because of the stress and he wrote me letters which he always tore up and I found him after months and we loved each other. He even said he'd never leave me. He said he'd tape together whatever pieces of the letters we had left. I asked him if he loved me, and he said yes."

"Here, drink some water. Relax. Breathe, Chanyeol. Breathe."

"He was going to feed me his pasta and we were going to watch some French movie together. We were going to go to a movie together, mom. We were going to complete each other."

All Chanyeol could do was cry, again and again and again, his racking sobs causing people outside to cautiously ask if everything was okay. Everything was not okay. Was it ever going to be? He smiled sadly, his useless tears sliding down his smooth face.

"After Yoora's ceremony, we were eating red velvet ice cream cake and kids were playing tag with us. Little three-year-olds, bouncing and smiling at us, circling our chairs. I looked at him and asked him if he would marry me. He looked stunned for a minute, and then dropped his head and sighed."

His mom could only rub his arm in an attempt to console him.

"He said yes, you know. He didn't speak a word after I asked him that but when we were going home, while everyone was chatting and he was running his hands through my hair as I laid on his lap, asleep in the car, he whispered yes against my ear and kissed my forhead."

"I'm so sorry."

His eyes became blurry again, but this time it wasn't because of the newness of waking up from the coma. He distinctly remembered Baekhyun, how beautifully, how simply he stood there as the moonlight painted him, and how pain didn't, after all, hurt so bad. 

"But he said yes..."