“So… what they said is true?” Minhyuk asks, desperation making his raspy voice sound whinier than usual. Hyunwoo nods once, regret shining in his eyes as he avoids the younger’s gaze. He takes a sip of his coffee, his plump lips at the straw until the bitter liquid floods into his mouth. It’s taken him a few months, but now he doesn’t even wince at black coffee anymore.

Working late nights in the emergency room tend to have that effect on you.

“The chances of Hoseok making a full recovery after all this are… very slim,” Hyunwoo finally says. “He could still possibly wake up with full memory and mental capacity, but—”

“But it’s more likely he won’t wake up at all,” Minhyuk interrupts, resting his forehead in his hand tiredly, “and if he does he won’t be him.” Hyunwoo doesn’t bother confirming this, already feeling like utter for having said as much as he has. But, he won’t lie to Minhyuk about this. Kihyun, maybe, but not Minhyuk.

Minhyuk could handle it.

“So… how long do we wait?” the younger says, his eyes shut. Hyunwoo lifts a single shoulder, his own gaze falling to the table.

“It really just depends,” is all he can say. “Kihyun has to make the final call, so, no matter what we say or believe, we wait for as long as he says to.” He takes another sip of his coffee, shooting a glance out the window of the café. He looks up to the sky, Hoseok’s words from seemingly forever ago echoing in his mind.

The sentimental man had always complained that no one looked up at the sky enough. So, for him, Hyunwoo’s been making a conscious effort to look up more every once in a while.

 

Hyungwon will say one thing about all this: When Hoseok wakes up, he’s going to kill him.

After all this stress Hoseok has put them all through, Kihyun most of all, Hyungwon is gonna rip the older a new one.

He’ll also hold all this help he’s giving to the couple over Hoseok’s head for the rest of the older’s life, but that’s for later. After all, he’s the reason why they haven’t lost their house yet… not that Kihyun knows that. Hyungwon’s sure the last thing on the man’s mind is financial stability, but it had been the first thing on the model’s when Kihyun began missing work to remain by Hoseok’s side.

Not that he blames Kihyun at all, nor that he really minds using his clout when he can. In fact, it’s kind of fun. Watching Kihyun’s boss melt into a puddle of nervous chuckles with sweat pouring off his fatty brow when Hyungwon threatened to throw the entire company into a downwards spiral with the gossip he has on the CEO was pretty priceless.

He’d managed to snag Kihyun a stay-at-home assignment for a while. But, of course, as afore mentioned, financial stability is the last thing on Kihyun’s mind. So, in his free time, Hyungwon performs all of Kihyun’s tasks under the guise of the older, dealing with reports and sending out memos and handling schedules and appointments.

It’s all been kind of fun so far. He’s never had to have an actual job before, as he’d been scouted when he was only in middle school, but it’s been… refreshing. Nice, even.

Of course, this is probably the only silver lining in this entirely ty situation, but Hyungwon will take what he can get.

 

So, here he sits, typing away furiously on his laptop as he performs all of Kihyun’s professional duties as Kihyun carefully bathes Hoseok’s limp body. Hyungwon keeps his eyes glued to the screen, having seen Hoseok’s form one too many times for his liking.

The nurses had kept up with bathing Hoseok at first, but, of course, it hadn’t been up to Kihyun’s standards. So, he’d willingly taken over the duty of keeping the comatose patient clean throughout the duration of his stay.

“Wonnie,” Kihyun says suddenly, pulling Hyungwon’s focus off the email he’s been working on for a moment, “could you get the other cloth from the sink? I forgot it in the bathroom.” Hyungwon nods, avoiding Hoseok’s motionless body as Kihyun somewhat-caresses his skin with the damp cloth. He retrieves the item in question, handing it over to his short hyung with his eyes stuck on a spot on the wall behind Kihyun.

The older takes it with a word of gratitude, and Hyungwon relievedly takes a seat.

“What’re you typing so much for?” Kihyun asks, his gaze still on Hoseok as he speaks. Hyungwon shifts in his seat, his fingers hovering over the keys as he thinks of an answer in a split second.

“I’m writing a book,” Hyungwon replies, inwardly wincing at the answer. Great. Now he’s going to have to pay someone to ghost-write a book for him so Kihyun will believe him.

Kihyun’s gaze breaks from Hoseok’s body for a moment, and he looks over to Hyungwon in obvious surprise. The younger puffs out his cheeks as he meets the older’s gaze, pouting defensively.

“I can write a book if I want,” he tells the older. “Don’t look so surprised… I’m a man of many talents and abilities.” Kihyun hums, returning his attention to Hoseok. Hyungwon goes back to work, thinking the older will mercifully drop it.

“I’m sure Hoseok would love to hear it sometime,” Kihyun finally says, and Hyungwon swallows thickly.

“S-Sure, hyung,” Hyungwon tells him, not having the heart to tell him no. He goes to open a new tab on his web browser, googling affordable ghost writers as he tries to think of a concept for him or her to write for him…

This couple is so much trouble than they’re worth, but God knows Hyungwon will never tell anyone all the trouble he goes through for them.

 

“I bet hyung will love this new flavor of ice cream I found,” Jooheon says as he stuffs a spoonful into his mouth. He winces at the harsh, cold feeling, ignoring the threat of a brain freeze as the sweet cream melts on his tongue. “We need to be sure to get him some once he wakes up,” he says around the ball of frozen goodness in his mouth. Kihyun nods slowly, glancing at his dongsaeng with a smirk.

“That’s a good idea, Heonney,” he tells the younger. “We’ll all go. We can get some and take it on a picnic… Wonnie could even read us some of that book he’s working on.”

“Hyungwon’s working on a book?” Jooheon asks confusedly, his brows pinching together. Kihyun nods, rubbing Hoseok’s knuckles with his thumb absentmindedly as he takes in Jooheon’s reaction. Jooheon hums, pouting at having not been told this. He looks over to Hoseok, a more somber light overtaking his gaze as he takes in his utter stillness.

“Hyung’s gonna be pretty busy when he wakes up,” the younger says jokingly, looking back at Kihyun suddenly. “We all keep making plans for him… He won’t be able to get a night’s rest for weeks. I hope he enjoys this downtime while he can.”

Kihyun lets a single chuckle slip passed his lips as he looks back to his husband.

Jooheon allows a silence overtake the room, sitting back in his chair as he continues eating his ice cream. Kihyun drifts into a light nap a few minutes later, practically passing out as he holds onto Hoseok’s hand. Jooheon doesn’t dare make a noise, as it could awaken Kihyun and interrupt the sleep he so desperately needs.

He doesn’t even dare move his head, only scooting down in his chair to nap, as well.

 

Kihyun awakens later that night, quite surprised with himself for having slept so long. It’d been early afternoon when he’d drifted off, after all, and he hasn’t managed to sleep this long since the accident. Jooheon snores away in his own chair, his mouth hanging open and his head tipped back against the back of the cracked vinyl.

The man blinks distractedly, pulling Hoseok’s hand up to his lips to plant a kiss atop each of his fingers.

“Sorry to sleep so long, yaja,” he whispers, careful to not disturb Jooheon. “I’m surprised I managed it, what with Heonney snoring like that…” He manages a soft smirk, though it’s halfhearted. He holds Hoseok’s cold hand up to his cheek, pressing it against his skin as he closes his eyes. He can almost trick himself into thinking Hoseok’s actually touching him, but it doesn’t quite work.

“We all miss you, hyung,” Kihyun mutters. He can barely hear himself over Jooheon’s thunderous snores as he opens his eyes to carefully watch Hoseok’s face. “So much is changing while you’re here… We need you to wake up, so we can take you out to do all these things we’ve planned.” A ball of grief begins clawing its way up his throat as he continues.

“I need you to wake up, Hoseok. I… I don’t know what I’d do without you. We’ve got so many plans of our own, remember? We were going to adopt that little girl… Of course, we can’t adopt her anymore, but there’s always kids out there needing a home. We were going to get a dog, too. Or a cat. Honestly, I’d be okay with a cat now, if it meant you’d wake up right now.”

Hot, fat tears suddenly begin falling from Kihyun’s eyes, and he gasps out a small breath as that damn ball in his throat just grows and makes it hard to think, much less breathe. His grip on the older’s hand tightens as snot drips from his nose.

“I’ll let you get a cat if you just wake up, aga. You can eat all the ramyeon you want, I’ll start going to the gym with you… We can move into that apartment you were bugging me about, so we can be closer to your mom. I know how important that is to you. Jutht… pleathe don’t leave me.”

His voice breaks on the last word, the tears coming stronger than before. He squeezes his eyes shut, dropping his head against the sheet as he tries to stifle his own cries as his heart shatters within him.