The alarm tittered, shattering the fog of dreams in her head. Suzy punched the device until it clanged on the floor. With haste, she dressed into a pair of jeans and a yellow blouse. It was not yet dawn. She brushed her teeth so vigorously that she almost burst a blood vessel. Then, she tiptoed around the corner and knocked on Jongin’s door. She heard a clamorous snore from the other side. So she knocked louder. But as she tapped her foot, there was still no response.

    Suzy huffed into her cheeks. She pushed the door open, surprised to find that it was not locked. Jongin was sprawled across the bed in only his undergarments. He held his pillow to his chest while one of his legs fell to the side. The other leg was pointing at the ceiling. His mouth was wide open, drool sliding down his chin. The unruly sight made her wince with discomfort.

    “Jongin,” she whispered, prodding a finger into his shoulder.

A rumbling snore exhaled in her face. She pushed back, biting her lower lip to prevent any curses from slipping past her tongue.

    She slapped his face, and his eyes shot open. His legs kicked in the air, like a baby, as he scrambled onto his bottom. “The zombies are coming!” When he took in her presence, and the lack of light from the window, he frowned. “What are you doing in my room?”

    Suzy placed her hands on her hips. “Hakyeon will come at dawn. Let’s corner him and find out what’s going on with Hongbin’s doctor appointments.”

    Jongin slouched back against the headstand. He still blinked, weary with sleep. Rubbing a hand through his messy hair, he swallowed a few times. “You’re mad. Why’d you want to corner that poor guy?”

    “There’s no other way. We need to know, as Hongbin’s friends.”

His eyes were wide open now. “Come now, don’t use that excuse. Besides, it’s not even dawn yet.”

    “Jongin!”

He waved at her dismissively, grabbing his pillow and hiding his head beneath it. “Okay, okay. Wake me up when he gets here.” Turning to his side, he resumed snoring again.

It was not long before his pillow was snatched, and he tumbled to the floor.

    While Jongin muttered at how annoying and bossy she was, Suzy prepared some tea in the kitchen. She busied herself with all the fridge magnets while the kettle spewed behind her. There were so many, she lost count. It seemed that Hongbin had travelled to nearly all the continents, except Australia. She tipped the smooth material, the one with the Tour Eiffel of France, and then the Rising Sun of Japan. There was no fridge magnet of Korea.

    In a few moments, she heard the shower . That Jongin! She warned him not to take a shower until after they confronted the nurse! However, the shower was turned off within five minutes, and Suzy was amazed. She would spend an hour at least. As soon as Jongin ambled into the kitchen, running his hand through his wet hair, the front door opened. They gave each other a determined look and walked into the main hallway, past the antiques and the beautiful pictures on the walls.

    Hakyeon was dressed in a thick coat, with a black hat and woollen gloves. Consternation flitted his face as he regarded the two of them.

    “Morning there. The two of you are up early.”

Suzy and Jongin crossed their arms over their chest simultaneously. “We need to talk.”

The way Hakyeon whimpered, Suzy was reminded of the time when Baekhyun tried to escape the trio back at the anime convention. She repressed a laugh at the silly memory. No sooner, Hakyeon was sitting on the black lounges in the sitting room, with a mug of warm coffee in his hand.

    “They aren’t going great,” he said. “Hongbin’s seemed to have lost all hope that he’ll get better. I mean, I help him with his exercises, but he just wouldn’t push himself to do it.”

    Suzy could not drink her tea. was dry but she could not bring herself to take a sip . “I suspected something like that.”

    “Why’s he doing this?” Jongin shook his head. “People can recover if they make the effort. That’s what Myungsoo said. He’s seen loads of patients who have.”

    “We just need to encourage