I was fidgeting anxiously in the taxi all the way, my stomach twisting itself in knots, spinning circles around my head.

Would he be okay? Would he be injured? He could take care of himself, couldn’t he?

It was the first entry in his diary that had stated that he wanted to get completely wasted. I couldn’t help but worry if he would be safe. I’d heard countless horror stories about people getting robbed, beaten up, or injured, when they were drunk...I just wished with all my heart he was an exception.

The taxi pulled up beside the club, and I shoved some money into the driver’s hand before scrambling out. It occurred to me that I had no idea whatsoever how to get into the club- I wasn’t old enough, and I certainly didn’t look it.

That didn’t stay a problem for long, though, because I spotted a tousled splash of white-blond hair amongst the drunkards at the aluminium tables outside the pub.

Baro was chatting up a couple of scantily dressed brunettes, and somehow this sent daggers of jealousy slicing through my heart. He was drunk, though it wasn’t too obvious. I knew he was a sober drunk. He just tended to lose all awareness of his surroundings.

“Sun Woo!”

He lifted his gaze at my voice, not without some difficulty, and scowled heavily at the sight of my entrance. I started running towards him, and he stood up unsteadily, gripping the side of the table for support.

“Wait, please stop!” I made a grab for his arm, but he tugged it out of my reach.

“Go away,” he slurred, glaring. Before I could move again, he had turned away, tottering across the road.

 “Sun Woo!” I shouted desperately after him. But my words were drowned by the roar of an engine.

Shielding my eyes from the sudden glaring light, I gasped as a white sports car came into view, its headlights on full. About six people were in the car, singing and dancing, clearly drunk as well.

“SUN WOO MOVE!” I was screaming my lungs out at the boy, who was moving painfully slowly across the road. I could barely breathe, fear was suffocating me. “GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

I stood through the screech of tyres, through the sickening thud as metal collided with human flesh, through the screams of the people around and in the car.

No. No, this can’t be. This can’t be happening.

Tears broke through for the hundredth time that night. I ran across the rough granite road, trying to pull his limp body out from under the car.

This is all my fault.

My shaking fingers could barely dial the hospital number. My voice was punctured with sobs through the call. When the ambulance arrived, I refused to let him out of my sight. I couldn’t lose him.

Don’t leave me. Please, whatever you do, please don’t leave me again.

*

The clattering of footsteps awoke me from my uneasy sleep. I lifted my head blearily from where I lay on the hospital bench, looking for the source of the noise. Was Sun Woo awake yet?

“Hwannie-hyung!” a familiar voice exclaimed, and I found myself being strangled in a hug.

“Channie?” I croaked, as I peered into a tangle of brown curls.

“You okay?” The worried voice belonged to Jin Young, as he came up to the bench. “What happened? Where’d you run off to? What happened to Baro?”

“We just heard that he got into an accident,” Shin Woo frowned. “What happened between you two?”

“Sun Woo...he was at the Mystic Ice Club across town,” I was comforted enough by our maknae’s embrace to speak properly. “I caught a cab to try and get him back, but he walked across the road...and there was this car...he got hit pretty badly...”

My voice wobbled dangerously over the last few words, and Gong Chan hugged me tighter.

“Don’t worry, Hwannie-hyung,” he said, smiling. “He’ll be safe, now that he’s in the hospital. You did a good job.”

“Thanks Channie,” I tried to smile back. There was a piece of gauze covering his left eye, and the side of his face, where Baro had hit him. “You okay, too?”

Gong Chan nodded in confirmation, just as the doctor came out.

“Lee Jung Hwan?” I untangled myself from Channie to receive the news.

“Your friend’s conscious now, but he made a request not to see you yet,” The doctor checked his clipboard. “So, according to regulations-...”

“It would be best if we saw him now, please,” Shin Woo cut in crisply. “We need to clarify a vital matter with him. We won’t take long.”

The doctor looked up hesitantly, but quailed at the look in the eldest hyung’s eyes.

“O-okay then, fair enough,” he cleared his throat. “But only one visitor for tonight.”

I looked pleadingly at the others, and Jin Young nodded.

“Jung Hwan will be visiting tonight,” he said, and the doctor opened the door for me to enter.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up, before walking into the room.

“Sun Woo?” I said hesitantly as I entered the room, the cold steel door sliding shut behind me. The two of us were alone.

Baro was seated across me on the sterilised hospital bed, a glare on his face.

“Go away.”

“No,” I said, some of the strength returning to my voice. I walked up to him, the anger beginning to kick in now that the worry was gone. “Look at me, Sun Woo.”

He stared up at me, his expression arrogant. “What do you want-...”

He was cut off as I grabbed a fistful of his blond hair, pulling his face closer to mine, our lips locking in a kiss.

It was like heaven just waltzed right into my mouth. The kiss was passionate, but lasted only a few seconds, way too short for my liking, as I pulled away.

I took a moment to enjoy the stunned look on his face, before drawing my hand back and thwacking him across the arm which I was sure wasn’t injured.

“You idiot,” I hissed. “Do you have any idea how worried you made me?”

An open-mouthed expression was the only response I got.

“You spent an entire four months ignoring the fact that I liked you, disappearing at night to go to clubs, acting like a jerk to the rest of us,” It felt so good to finally get it all out in front of him. “What were you thinking?! And you go get yourself in an accident tonight! You’re lucky to be alive! If you weren’t already injured I would kill you right now!

“I wasn’t involved with that girl in any way, for the thousandth time I’m saying it! We’re friends! And is it my fault you kept passing off my actions towards you with excuses?! I was trying to show you that I liked you, and you kept acting like you weren’t interested!”

“You...you...” Baro was struggling to get the words off his tongue, and I was beginning to find it pretty funny, despite myself. I think the overdrive of emotion tonight was pushing me off the edge.

“I like you, okay, so you can stop being an emotional jerk and start liking me back!” I said. Man, what a relief to finally get it off my chest. “You stupid pabo, why didn’t you just tell me what you felt?!”

I was kind of being a hypocrite here, because I’d kept my crush on him a secret for four months. But that was beside the point.

“You drove me crazy, you know that?” I said, annoyed, but it didn’t stay for long because he kissed me again.

This one lasted a lot longer.

“You’re obnoxious and irritating,” I tried to say, but Baro silenced me again.

“Just shut up and kiss me,” he murmured, as he wrapped me up in a hug.

*

By the time morning had come, I was waiting in the room for the rest of the guys to come. Baro was looking sullen again, because I had threatened to burn all his caps if he didn’t do what I had come up with during the night. But he knew it was important that it came personally from him.

My phone rang, and I jumped up, knowing the rest of them were outside. Hurrying over to the door, I opened it and poked my head out.

“Guys,” I called, and Jin Young looked up. Dark circles rested under his eyes- he probably hadn’t slept the whole night. It was the same with the rest of them. “You can come in now.”

The three of them trooped in silently, their footsteps cautious, not a word escaping their lips. Gong Chan was a few steps behind Jin Young, still wary of Baro because of what had happened the previous night. Leader-hyung was suspicious, while Shin Woo’s expression was unreadable.

They stood a metre away from his bed, facing him, as the door slid close. Sun Woo’s eyes were downcast, he couldn’t look them in the eye after everything he’d done.

“Are you okay?” Jin Young was first to break the silence, doing his job as the leader. Baro nodded numbly, while I watched by his side. He needed to know someone was with him through this.

“I-...” Baro started, shaking his head slightly, still refusing to look them in the eye. “I’m sorry.”

Gong Chan started to look hopeful, while Jin Young’s frown only deepened. He was old enough to know that people often said things they didn’t mean.

“I’m sorry for being a jerk for the past few months...I’m sorry I missed practice and acted like I didn’t care. I’m sorry I didn’t respect you like I should’ve,” Tears had begun to pool in his dark eyes as he said this. He finally looked up, directly into Chanshik’s eyes. “Channie, I’m so sorry for what I did,” he said hoarsely. “I didn’t mean to hit you. I’ll do anything to make it up to-...”

He didn’t get to finish whatever he wanted to say, because Gong Chan had dashed forward and hugged him. I could see tears glistening in his eyes.

“It’s okay, I forgive you, hyung.”

“Thanks Chanshik,” Baro choked, a tearful smile on his face, before turning to the eldest hyung.

“Shin Woo hyung, I’m sorry I tried to hit you. I won’t do it again, and I promise I’ll never ruin our chances of stardom through my actions for as long as we all are together.”

Shin Woo remained silent for a moment, before cracking a small grin. “I was about to say that you hit like a girl anyway, but I figured it would ruin the moment. So long as you keep your promise,” he shrugged slightly. “I forgive you too.”

Finally, Baro looked at Jin Young, whose eyes were still as hard as stone.

“Jin Young-hyung, I’m sorry about what I’ve been saying to you. I know I’ve made a dent in the group image, but I’ll do whatever it takes to redeem ourselves. You’re a great leader, and I wouldn’t want anyone other than you to bring us through our career...I’m sorry for what I put you through.”

Nobody spoke for a moment. Out of all of us, other than me, I knew Jin Young had probably been the worst affected through this, as our leader. It must have torn him up inside all those months, to know that this was happening, and that nothing he did made it better.

Jin Young hesitated and sighed, before his gaze softened. “Just...don’t do it again.”

Baro’s face split into a genuine grin, one that I missed so badly, I couldn’t help but smile as well.

“Thanks, hyung.”

We broke into conversation about Baro’s injuries. He was blessed- the car crash had left him with only a hairline fracture on his left arm, and several bruises and cuts. Jin Young also told us that we would probably have to hold a press conference to explain what had happened last night. The accident had drawn a lot of attention from the media.

But as we continued to speak, our words somehow flowed back into the way we used to speak. Like the old conversations we had alone in our dorm, when we believed that so long as we all stood as one and protected each others' backs, everything would be alright. We were back to talking comfortably within minutes.

Baro said something that had us all laughing away, and for a moment, I caught his gaze. I couldn’t help but keep staring into his dark eyes, while the others joked around us. It was just so perfect...

The world around us seemed to disappear, and the sounds of our friends’ laughter faded into a background of peaceful colours. Sun Woo’s smile changed slightly, now it was contented and happy. His eyes held a sparkle I hadn’t seen in almost a year.

The most precious person in the world loved me, and I loved him back.

“About time,” Shin Woo suddenly muttered audibly, leaning back against the cool plaster wall of the hospital room. Baro and I immediately snapped out of it, and Jin Young and Gong Chan looked at him questioningly as well.

“About time for what, hyung?” Gong Chan asked curiously.

“Oh, you know,” Shin Woo said nonchalantly, examining his nails. “I just thought Baro ought to have come to his senses earlier. It’s a good thing Jung Hwan was there to help you through it, now wasn’t it?”

I was gaping in shock for a good ten seconds or so. How...did he know?

“Yes, it was a very good thing, hyung!” Gong Chan said excitedly, completely missing the hidden point as he gave me another hug. Our poor leader was still very much clueless, and went along with whatever the maknae said.

Baro and I exchanged glances. We knew we would have to tell the rest of them about us on Saturday, and that gave us a good seven days or so to enjoy each other, before it would be decided whether we could stay this way or not.

But that gave me seven days of heaven, and that was enough.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note:

A lot happened in one chapter :3 Are you confused yet? Good. Because I've still got one more chapter to go ;) I liked writing the next one the most.

Yay so Baro is safely back in Sandeul's arms, and the rest of them have forgiven Baro :) Which forgiving scene did you like the best...?
I found that I liked writing Gong Chan's one the most :) Ehehe.

A BIG thank you from me to all the subscribers so far! You don't know how much this means to me :) A round of applause to all the lovely commentors too :D You all are the best ^^ *Hands out virtual candy bars*

Would you guys like to guess which other pairing the last chapter holds? :D Muahahahaha.

Sincerely,
WhiteWings19