“So far, there have been no developments on the case against Jung Yunho. Although our sources confirm that Shim Changmin is now awake, we are not sure if and when he will address the accusations against Yunho.”

“Such a shame,” the middle-aged man said, shaking his head. “What could have caused him to snap like that?” He sat at a table in the middle of the bar, he and his employees gathered together as they hung on the news anchor’s every word.

Park Dongchul glanced at the TV before continuing to wipe down the tables. His boss’ eyes were glued to the TV, his coworkers’ mouths hanging open as speculations about Yunho’s accusations continued to come about.

Dongchul had nothing to see. The same thing had been playing on every channel for over a week.

They had a business to run, after all. It seemed the other men here forgot that.

“Maybe we don’t know the full story yet,” Daesuk guessed. “This whole idol life, it’s all smoke and mirrors. I’m sure they like to create drama just to get a rise out of the public.”

Dongchul placed the napkin dispenser on the table, a little too forcefully for his colleagues’ liking. The guys jumped at the sound, their full attention now on him. Dongchul didn’t notice their reaction. “Or maybe Yunho was never a good guy in the first place,” he retorted. “Maybe he’s just getting everything he deserves.”

“Ooh,” another one of his coworkers teased. “What did Yunho do to piss you off?” He got up from his chair and rushed to Dongchul, elbowing him in the arm. “Hey, don’t worry. You can tell us.”

“Sit back down, Ilsung,” their boss commanded. “You know Dongchul hates everyone richer than him. If it had been any other idol right now, he’d say the same thing.”

Dongchul rolled his eyes at the comment before everyone started looking to the TV once more.

More clips of Yunho on stage flashed on the screen as the anchor talked about his past achievements. Dongchul glanced at the TV and scoffed, because those achievements meant nothing now. There was no way Yunho’s career could bounce back after this.

“Dongchul almost looks like Yunho,” the valet, Jinwoo, mentioned. “In another life, maybe Dongchul could have been a member of DBSK.”

Dongchul curled his fingers into a tight fist.

“Girls only come to this bar because of Dongchul’s handsome face,” his boss said. “That’s why I can’t fire him. He’s bringing me a lot of business.”

“A trial date has not been set,” the anchor continued. “We have been informed that they will not proceed until a statement is received from Changmin. We are unaware as to why Changmin has not been able to provide his statement to the police yet.”

Dongchul tilted his head in confusion. Ever since it was confirmed that Changmin had woken up, Dongchul wondered why Changmin hadn’t attempted to clear Yunho’s name. Granted, the media didn’t know everything - Changmin had security monitoring the wing he was residing in, just in case any bold fans came to visit him. The crowd of paparazzi surrounding the perimeter of the hospital got very minimal information, so the public knew next to nothing about Changmin’s condition.

While the rest of the world had heaved a sigh of relief at finding out that Changmin had woken up, Dongchul’s body couldn’t help but go rigid.

“That is kind of weird though,” Daesuk pointed out. “Changmin has been awake for a while now. Shouldn’t he have spoken to the police already?”

“You’re talking about our police,” Jinwoo pointed out. “They probably don’t even know that Changmin’s awake.”

“They probably don’t even know Changmin was assaulted,” Ilsung added with a shrug.

“Maybe Changmin’s afraid to speak up,” their boss guessed. “This whole incident is just one giant mystery. Who really knows what happened that night?”

Another possibility crossed Dongchul’s mind.

Maybe Changmin didn’t even remember the attack.

Dongchul bit his lip as the possibility ran through his head. If Changmin didn’t remember that night right now, how long would it take before the memories came back?

“Either way, I actually feel sorry for Changmin,” Ilsung admitted. “Imagine being attacked in your own home.” He shivered, not wanting to ever face that possibility. “Nowhere in this world is safe anymore."

Their boss stood up, grabbing the remote and turning off the TV, earning groans of frustration from his workers. “Okay, fun time’s over,” he said. “We open in thirty minutes, so get to work. And where’s Hongki and Jisung? They’re late again.”

Dongchul paused as he watched his coworkers reluctantly stand up. “Gotta check on my mom first,” he announced suddenly as he pulled out his phone. He quickly made his way to the breakroom, his phone clasped tightly in hand as he closed the door behind him.

Kyuhyun sighed in relief as he noticed that Changmin had finally fallen asleep. It didn’t look peaceful - Changmin’s face was a bright shade of red, there were still tear stains on his cheeks, as well as a distinct frown on Changmin’s face.

But it was something, so Kyuhyun decided to be content with that.

Kyuhyun ran his finger through Changmin’s hair as he tried to figure out an exact cause of Changmin’s breakdown. His mind was coming empty no matter how hard he tried. One minute he was just talking, the next minute he was cradling a bawling Changmin.

Dr. Han had explained that a traumatic brain injury could cause depression, anxiety, mood swings, and irritability, all of which Changmin had been displaying.

Changmin’s current state shouldn’t have been a surprise to any of them, but it still hurt. They missed seeing his smile.

They hated seeing him look so defeated.

Changmin only had a few days left before he would be finally discharged from the hospital. Kyuhyun only hoped Changmin would be okay by then. He hoped that once Changmin left this hospital, he’d find joy in something while this whole thing was sorted out. It didn’t help that Changmin somehow found a way to blame himself for not only getting attacked, but also for Yunho being sent to prison.

It wasn’t fair.

Changmin and Yunho were suffering for no reason, and Kyuhyun was even beginning to lose hope that it would ever get better.

Kyuhyun couldn’t let his pessimism show around Changmin, of course. So he completed another long day of schedules, Kyuhyun arrived at the hospital and greeted Changmin and his family with a big smile.

He hated that he could only come at night, but the bright side was he was allowed to have some alone time with Changmin while the Shim family had gone home to get some rest.

Kyuhyun brought some of Changmin’s favorite snacks, as well as some soup he had picked up from one of Changmin’s favorite restaurants. The Shim family was having a difficult time getting Changmin to eat, and the worse Changmin’s mood got, the worse his eating habits became.

It took a tremendous amount of coaxing, but with time, Kyuhyun was able to get Changmin to eat half of the bowl of soup.

Once Changmin made it absolutely clear that he was finished eating and couldn’t stomach another bite, Kyuhyun threw the bowl away, climbed onto the bed and pulled Changmin close to him.

Kyuhyun was just talking; Changmin liked it when Kyuhyun talked about stupid things whenever he was feeling down.

It was when Kyuhyun started talking about t