Heechul swore under his breath as he walked out of the meeting room.  The man beside him chuckled.

    “Boss is really coming down on us hard to increase sales, huh?” Leeteuk began as he followed his friend back to the sales floor.

    “I don’t know where he gets off to talking to me like I’m five,” Heechul bristled and entered the elevator with Leeteuk in tow.

    “It’s not like I’m some, wet-behind-the-ears intern.  I’ve been with this company for three years already,” Leeteuk pressed a button and nodded as his friend continued to fume.  He was already far too used to Kim Heechul and his emotional tendencies.  The elevator quickly made its way down to the 5th floor and then opened its doors to let off the two males.  Heechul exited first, still in the midst of his rant.  He breezed past the receptionist even as she tried frantically to flag him down.  Leeteuk took pity on the woman and stopped her.

    “Do you need something from Mr. Kim?” Leeteuk smiled charmingly at the panicked girl.

    “A call came for him from the hospital, it was something about his brother and it seemed urgent,” She blabbered.  Leeteuk’s expression quickly turned serious,

    “How long ago was this?”

    “It was during your meeting, about an hour ago,” He nodded his understanding and quickly followed the path that Heechul had taken to his office; without bothering to knock he quickly entered.

    “What!?” Heechul looked up from his desk where he had been angrily shuffling his papers, still trying to work off his frustration.  However, the shuffling quickly ceased as he looked up to see his usually smiling friend’s grave expression.

    “What?  What’s wrong?” Heechul asked.  Leeteuk hesitated before speaking,

    “Your brother-“ Heechul stood abruptly in a panic.

    “Kyuhyun?  What’s happened!?”

    “He’s in the hospital,” in a second Heechul was out the door with Leeteuk jogging to catch up.  The elder had enough sense to stop and confirm the hospital with the receptionist before the two took off with no destination in mind.

    Leeteuk had insisted they take his car, not willing to let his friend drive in his anxious state.  Luckily, Heechul had made sure his workplace wasn’t too far from his younger brother’s school and a top-level hospital was easy to get to from both locations.  The prominent hospital was a 10 minute drive away from the company and 5 minutes away from the school.  Despite the relatively short distance, Heechul felt pain in every slow and agonizing second that passed.  Images of his dead step-mother’s cloth covered corpse lying on the hospital bed kept flashing in his mind.

    “He’ll be fine,” Leeteuk tried to assure the man.  A humorless laugh escaped Heechul’s mouth,

    “He’ll never be fine.”  The car lapsed into a heavy silence.  Leeteuk cringed at the truthfulness of his friend’s words.  He had known Heechul since his college days, Leeteuk had interned at their current company in his third year and had been surprised to find a regular employee the same age as him working there; the two quickly became friends.  When Leeteuk asked why Heechul was working at such a young age, he had answered hesitantly that he had got in with his father’s connections so he could earn money to take care of his sickly younger brother.  Leeteuk couldn't help but feel pity and admiration for Heechul’s maturity and willingness to sacrifice for his family.  Leeteuk’s relationship with his own being strained at best.  And meeting the infamous Kyuhyun had completely shattered the image of a sweet, mild-mannered, sickly child he had pictured while talking with Heechul.  Instead he was faced with a tall and lanky rebellious teenager with enough snark to match his older brother’s.  However, over they years he had been witness to more than a handful of the younger’s hospital visits and fully understood the seriousness of the situation.

    Leeteuk pulled up to the hospital and quickly parked the car.  Heechul was out and swiftly making his way to the entrance.  The reception area was quiet and empty, it was after all noon on a week day.  The receptionist, probably a senior-staff member, immediately recognized Heechul and told him Kyuhyun’s usual room.  Heechul walked down the familiar halls to a familiar room, Leeteuk hot on his heels.  Standing outside leaning casually against the wall was a huge male clad in a rumpled school uniform.  Leeteuk recognized the uniform from Kyuhyun’s school, but not the towering male.

    “Changmin, what happened?” Heechul addressed his younger brother’s friend.  Changmin quickly explained the situation to the older male and Heechul swore under his breath,

    “He hasn’t had a bad one in a while, I thought he was getting better,” Heechul began muttering to himself ignoring Leeteuk and Changmin getting acquainted with each other in the background.

    “He’s sleeping now Hyung, but you can go in,” Changmin reassured Heechul, the other two males allowing Heechul his privacy with his younger brother.  He nodded, but hesitated before grasping the door knob.  He really hated seeing the usually sassy and humorous Kyuhyun in pain and so unlike himself.  He steeled himself before finally opening the door and stepping inside.

    Kyuhyun lay on a hospital bed in the middle of the room, his usually pale complexion nearly the color of the sheets he lay upon.  Heechul in a sharp breath and then continued into the room towards the familiar chair beside his little brother’s bed, plopping down.  There were wires running underneath the hospital pajamas that connected to a high-tech heart monitor taking careful readings.  An IV filled with clear liquid stuck out of the boy’s left arm and Heechul just stared at it, frustrated thoughts running through his mind.  He peered at his beloved brother’s face and counted each soft breath that escaped through slightly parted lips.  After a while, he spoke,

    “You idiot.” He reached up and began Kyuhyun’s wavy auburn locks.

    “Told you to take your pills.  Your going to be a big grumpy handful when you wake up, for sure?” He murmured softly.

    “Don't you know I hate to get those surprise phone calls from the hospital.  Probably did this on purpose to annoy me, brat,” Heechul swallowed the tight feeling in his throat.  He paused for a minute and composed himself.

    “I’ll find a way to make you better, I promise.”

    “Don’t make dumb promises,” a slightly husky voice responded.

    “Kyu?” Heechul stopped his petting of Kyuhyun’s head and leaned in.  The younger’s face scrunched up and he groaned.  Slowly, his eyes blinked open and he squinted to adjust to the lighting.

    “Anyone get the number of that truck?” Kyuhyun tried to lighten his brother’s mood.  The familiar deep ache of his chest told him he had suffered another attack, a big one at that.

    “Are you okay?  How do you feel?” Heechul gripped Kyuhyun’s left hand tightly.

    “I think I’m pretty okay, nothing feels out of the ordinary.”

    “Your chest?” Heechul raised a single eyebrow at his brother, Kyuhyun had a tendency to under express himself in these situations.

    “It hurts,” Kyuhyun knew better than to lie to Heechul at the moment.  The elder released an exasperated sigh and reached over and pressed the nurse-call button with his free hand.  Kyuhyun cataloged his body’s condition.  Yup, chest was definitely very sore, indication of a large attack.  On top of that, he was exhausted, it felt like it took ten times the energy it normally would to move his arms and legs.  Judging by Heechul’s worried stare, he looked as bad as he felt as well.

    “Come on Hyung, don’t worry.  With a little bit of rest I’ll be right as rain,” He tried to reassure Heechul.  He hated when his brother was like this, it made him detest his poor condition even more.  Soon after the doctor entered accompanied by a nurse.

    “Hey Kyuhyun, how are you feeling?”

    “Tired, and my chest hurts,” Kyuhyun responded to the kindly old man.

    “Well that’s to be expected, you had a pretty major attack,” The doctor glanced over the chart he was holding.

    “We did some scans and tests.  Luckily the attack doesn't seem to have deteriorated Kyuhyun’s heart condition to any worse than normal,” The old man spoke mostly to Heechul who listened with rapt attention.

    “Why did he have this attack?” Heechul asked,

    “Is it because he hasn’t been taking his medicine regularly?” Kyuhyun sputtered in protest.  The doctor sighed and removed his glasses massaging the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.

    “The medicine is only a preventive method.  It doesn’t cure his condition it just helps to reduce the symptoms so Kyuhyun can live a mostly normal life.  Attacks will inevitably happen,” the doctor replied regretfully.  Heechul’s grip on Kyuhyun’s hand tightened slightly.

    “But I do highly recommend taking your medicine regularly, it’s not as effective if you just take it whenever you so please,” The old man fixed a pointed stare onto the sickly patient.  Kyuhyun nodded mutely, the situation had aptly reprimanded him for his stubbornness.

    “You’ll be staying overnight for observation and can leave in the morning,” the doctor gave a comforting smile before leaving with the nurse hot on his heels.  Heechul let out a very large sigh, visibly deflating.

    “At least you’re okay for now,” Heechul smiled unsteadily down at his little brother.

    “Yeah Hyung, don’t worry, I’m invincible,” Kyuhyun blinked sluggishly and then yawned.

    “Pft, yeah sure, but actually far from it,”

    “Shut-up,” Kyuhyun’s retort lacked any real strength behind it.  In fact he felt completely sapped of any energy.

    “Get some rest,” He heard Heechul’s voice whisper, his eyelids had closed sometime without his knowing.

    “Tell that idiot Changmin to go home, knowing him he’s hovering around here somewhere being useless,” Kyuhyun said finally.  He heard his brother chuckle his consent before drifting off to sleep.