Yunho wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he got a random visit from the attorney prosecuting his case, along with Officer Choi, the man who arrested him.

As they sat in front of him, somber looks on their faces, he at least knew not to expect good news.

“Shouldn’t Jaehyun be here?” Yunho asked. He knew his lawyer had specifically said not to talk to these men without her presence. After all, these men seemed to have it out for Yunho. Anything he said could be misinterpreted to further their case. The last thing Yunho wanted to do was further his accusations by saying anything that could be taken out of context.

Officer Choi shook his head. “We have some news to deliver,” he announced.

Prosecutor Kim cleared his throat.

For some reason, the action made Yunho shiver.

“We don’t know how to tell you this,” the prosecutor said with a sigh.

“Tell...tell me what?” Yunho asked. He braced himself as he waited for an answer.

“Changmin passed away this morning,” Officer Choi announced, getting straight to the point. “I’m sorry.”

No matter how much Yunho had tried to prepare himself, it wouldn't be enough. Not for this news. It didn’t take long for Yunho to react. In just a few seconds, tears were falling from his eyes as he frantically shook his head. “No,” he shakily replied. “No. Not Changmin. Changmin couldn’t...he wouldn’t..he-”

“Yunho,” Prosecutor Kim said. “Have you heard of deep vein thrombosis?”

Yunho shook his head, placing a hand over his mouth to muffle his pathetic sobs.

“It’s a type of blood clot,” he answered. “But this one is especially dangerous, because the clot can travel to the lungs and damage them. Unfortunately, that’s what happened to Changmin. The clot wasn’t discovered on time and-”

The attorney’s words were cut off by Yunho’s cries. He buried his palms into his eyes, hoping and praying to wake up from this terrible nightmare. Changmin couldn’t have died. He wouldn’t abandon Yunho like this.

“Yunho,” Officer Choi began, his voice was surprisingly gentle. “We’re telling you this because the blood clot was a complication of his head injury.”

Yunho couldn’t think straight, so he had no idea where the officer was going with that statement. He was too busy trying to get air into his own lungs.

“Your charges have been changed from aggravated assault to manslaughter.”

The words registered in Yunho’s mind, but he was too focused on the fact that Changmin, someone he loved and needed so much, was now dead. He was gone, and never coming back.

Yunho wondered when the room would stop spinning.

“We know this would be a difficult time for you,” Prosecutor Kim cut in. “So we’ve decided to cut you a deal. We know this whole thing was unintended. And if you sign your confession of you admitting to hurting Changmin, we’ll only make you serve two years. It’s a good deal, Yunho.”

Something snapped inside Yunho at that very moment. He shook his head in refusal. “I didn’t hurt Changmin,” he said, his voice surprisingly strong for someone who was in the middle of a breakdown.

“You can’t pass up a deal like this,” Prosecutor Kim argued. “Once you’re found guilty, you’ll be in prison for 25 years. Your entire youth will be gone.”

Changmin’s gone. What’s the point anymore?

“Changmin,” Yunho sobbed, his hand clutching his chest as his heart beat faster and faster. “Changmin’s dead.”

“It’s not too late to do right by him,” Officer Choi reassured. “No one intended for this to happen, we know that. But Changmin needs to rest in peace now. And you can help.”

“I don’t feel well,” Yunho muttered, his breath noticeably getting faster with each second.

Officer Choi guessed that Yunho wasn’t hearing him anymore. But he continued to try anyway, hoping some part of his message would get across. “Two years is a very short time, Yunho,” he said gently. “After those two years, you spend the rest of your time making it up to Changmin. But you can’t do that spending 25 years here. For Changmin’s sake, just take the deal.”

Yunho looked at the two older men, not even trying to stop his tears.

“So what do you say?” Prosecutor Kim asked. “Do we have a deal?”

His head was hurting.

Why did it hurt so much?

‘Worst headache of his life’ wouldn’t be a good enough description to describe the pain he was in. It felt as if something was hammering from the inside of his skull, and he would do anything to get it to stop.

That beeping wasn’t helping either.

He also was getting a strange feeling of deja vu. That didn’t make any sense.

“Changmin?” he heard a voice say.

Through the fog in his brain, Changmin tried to identify the source. The voice was so familiar; it made Changmin feel safe.

That was weird. Why would he be craving safety of all things?

“Changmin? Can you hear me?”

It sounded as if the person talking had been crying only seconds before.

What was wrong?

“Changmin,” a deeper voice said. “Come on, son. You woke up for Kyuhyun. Now it’s our turn.”

It took a few seconds, but Changmin was able to realize that it was his parents speaking to him. Images of their faces flashed through Changmin’s mind as he heard them continue to try to wake him up.

Changmin tried to speak, he tried to tell them that he would wake up soon. He wanted to tell his mother to stop crying for whatever reason because everything was alright and she had nothing to worry about.

He also wanted to ask when Kyuhyun was even here.

He struggled to open his mouth and speak. “Mm...mah...mmmom.” What came out of his mouth almost sounded like a drunken slur.

“It’s okay, Changmin,” his mother said softly. He could feel her gently playing with his hair, something she used to do whenever she wanted to make him feel better.

This felt so wrong. Why was she comforting him when it should be the other way around?

He struggled to open his eyes, this time being a little more successful than before. He took a shaky breath before he finally managed to open his eyes.

He shut them instantly at the blinding light, letting a whine escape.

“Easy, Changmin,” his father said.

Changmin tried again, blinking several times as his eyes adjusted to the light.

The two blurry figures in front of him sharpened to reveal his parents hovering over him.

His mother continued playing with his hair. Through her red, swollen cheeks, her wet eyes, and the exhausted look painted on her face, she smiled. “Changmin,” she whispered, right before tears started to fall from her eyes once more.

Changmin looked to his dad, his eyes wide as he tried to figure out what was wrong before he noticed the distressed look on the older man’s face as well.

It only took a few seconds for his mind to register that was in the hospital, and the reason his parents were so upset is because their own son was a patient.

His mother was crying because he was in here.

Changmin slowly raised his hand off the bed, surprised that such an action took so much effort. He brought his hand to his mother’s face, despite how shaky his hand was.

His mother smiled again as she held his hand tightly against her cheek.

“It’s good to see you awake, Changmin,” his father said with a smile. “I’m disappointed that the first time you woke up, you decided to do that after we weren’t here to see it.”

Changmin scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. “Wuh...wwwhat...” he attempted, slight panicked at that fact that he couldn’t speak.

Even in his drowsy state, he didn’t fail to notice the looks of concern flash on his parents’ faces.

“Oh, Changmin,” his mom said, her grip on his hand becoming even tighter. “You don’t remember waking up last night, do you?”

Changmin slowly shook his head. He had a lot more questions now, and something told him they would just keep piling up at this point.

Changmin noticed his father moving closer to his bedside, grabbing a foreign device and pressing a button.

“I’m calling your doctor, okay?” he told Changmin, noticing that he was under his son’s watchful eye. “There’s nothing to be worried about. We were supposed to call him in the second you woke up.”

His mother placed Changmin’s hand back on the bed when she noticed his grip slacking.

Changmin concentrated on his mother, noticing that her tears finally stopped falling.

“Mah...mah…”

This was so frustrating.

“Ah, Changmin,” a new voice said, causing all three people in the room to look towards the doorway. “I’m sure you don’t remember me. I’m Doctor Han. How are you feeling this afternoon?” he asked as he approached Changmin’s bedside.

His father quickly cut in. “He’s still having trouble speaking,” he explained.

Dr. Han nodded, noticing the fearful look on Changmin’s face. “Don’t worry, Changmin,” he reassured. “With the extent of your injuries, your condition was expected. Your speech will return. But for now, we want to focus on your physical healing.”

My speech will come back? When?

“You just woke up, but I know you have a lot of questions,” Dr. Han continued. “You seem much more lucid than when you last woke up, so I’m just going to give you a brief overview, okay?”

Changmin nodded. “Oh….kay,” he managed.

“You were brought in due to a head injury, causing a fracture in your skull, and swelling in your brain.”

Changmin grimaced. That probably explained the headache.

“The swelling in your brain has caused what’s known as ‘aphasia’,” he further explained. “The region of the brain involved with speech was affected by your injury. As I said earlier, we expect that your speech will return, but we will also have our speech therapist come and see you too. Do you understand everything I’ve told you so far?”

Changmin nodded. Fractured skull. Swelling. Aphasia. Got it.

“Don’t be discouraged. Your rate of recovery has been extraordinary. A lot of us were surprised that you even woke up already.”

Changmin knew the doctor said those words as a reassurance. Changmin wasn’t sure how he should react to it, though. By the looks of everything, he was grateful to be alive. But there were so many unknowns at the moment, and it terrified him.

Dr. Han sighed, knowing that he was about to venture into a potentially sensitive topic. “I need to ask you a question,” he told Changmin. “Do you remember the events leading up to your injury?”

Changmin had to think hard about that question. Random images flashed through his head as he tried to piece together whatever made sense.

Waiting for Kyuhyun and Yunho, a green hoodie, a knife, someone holding him down and leaning closer to whisper something in-

Changmin’s eyes widened.

He barely noticed the beeping in the room getting faster and faster.

“It’s alright, Changmin,” his mother said as she grabbed his hand once more. “You’re safe now.”

Changmin sighed, slightly relieved at his mother’s words. He was safe.

It dawned on Changmin that it was a miracle that he was even still alive. He was supposed to die that night. He remembered bracing himself for what might have been his last minutes aliv