Wonho sat hunched over on the edge of his bed, his elbows resting on his knees and his head cradled between his hands. The dorm was empty and quiet. There was a strange heavy feeling in the air.

“You know…” Wonho mumbled out in a low voice, his eyes staring straight into nothing in particular.

Hyungwon cocked his head, pausing mid-action when he heard Wonho’s unfinished sentence.

“I still can’t get over it… we could have had lost him...” He sniffed, eyes welling up with tears as events from the night flooded his mind. “We could still… lose him…” As tough as Wonho seemed to appear on the outside physically, he really was a soft-hearted sensitive guy on the inside. Tears come easily for him, Wonho does not have walls put up to hold back his emotions.

Hyungwon felt the exact same way, but he was able to keep his emotions somewhat together. Inching closer, he placed a firm hand on his friend’s shoulder, “He’ll be okay… this is Kihyun we’re talking about here. He has a lot of strength in that tiny body of his. We all know that. If we learned anything about him throughout these years, is not to underestimate him. He’s not going to let an appendix bring him down.” It was his lame attempt at lightening the sullen mood, but he truly believed that Kihyun was going to be alright and they shouldn’t be thinking so negatively of the situation.

Wonho spluttered a small laugh and sniffed, wiping away the silent tear that rolled down with the back of his hand. “Yeah… you’re right… his stubborn won’t let something like that bring him down. He’s too prideful for that.” The older of the two took comfort in that statement. Kihyun is one of the strongest people he knew.

Seeing a little light seeping back into the older boy’s eyes, Hyungwon smiled at his successful attempt to somewhat comfort the other. In a way, he had comforted himself in the process as well.

“You’re done getting ready though?” The tall boy fished his phone out of his pocket and looked at the time. “Hongsik-hyung is going to get here anytime soon… “

Wonho sniffed and let out a heavy sigh, “yeah… physically, I’m ready… not sure if I am emotionally ready, though.” He admitted, letting out a half-suppressed laugh.

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The boys regrouped for a late lunch at the company’s headquarters. A hearty delicious feast was ordered and delivered but none of them were really in the mood to enjoy their food. Their usual upbeat and bright personalities were dampened by concern caused by the current situation. As they ate in silence, their manager had advised them on how to manage the situation on a professional level and the CEO of their company briefed them with instructions and decisions regarding the matter at hand.

After the impromptu meeting, the boys were let off to resume their day. Shownu and I.M decided to join Wonho and Hyungwon to visit Kihyun at the hospital. As much as Minhyuk wanted to tag along, he wasn’t able to bail out on the plan that he had originally made with his parents. Jooheon too, had somewhere else he needed to be, but he had tentatively promised that he would come later on if time permits.

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Kihyun woke up to the hushed movements made by the nurse as she checked on his vitals. When the nurse noticed that he was awake, she kindly greeted him and apologized if her presence had woken him up from his slumber. Kihyun gave a small smile in return and mouthed “it’s okay” to the nurse. With bleary eyes, he watched her continue her tasks; adjusting his IVs, checking on the surgical incision and jotting down notes on the clipboard as she observed the patterns on the heart monitor. Setting the clipboard aside, she turned to him and offered a soft smile. “Your fever’s still quite high, dear… hopefully, we can get that down soon, yeah?”

The nurse was probably in her mid-forties, with kind motherly features and a soothing voice. Her demeanor somehow offered Kihyun some sense of comfort. “Now, let’s see how your blood pressure is doing.” She pulled the blood pressure cuff over and wrapped it securely around his upper arm and listened with the stethoscope after releasing the pump. When she saw the reading, a slight frown briefly creased her features. “Your blood pressure is still quite low… that needs to be looked at too.” She commented casually, noting down the rest of her findings on the clipboard.

The whole time she was moving around him, Kihyun watched her inquisitively.

“How are you feeling?” She asked, breaking the silence.

“Uh… I feel fine… just want to be out of here as soon as possible…” He half lied. He did want to leave the hospital as soon as possible, but in no way, he was even remotely feeling fine. Sleep hadn’t helped at all apparently, he felt even more lethargic than before. The constant dull throbbing in his head hadn’t let up, either.

The experienced nurse knew that her patient was not being upfront with how he was feeling, but she decided to let it be at that. She smiled and gave a small pat on his arm and continued to do what she was supposed to.

A few moments had passed when the door eased open, pulling both Kihyun’s and the nurse’s attention towards it. A head peeked through the opening of the door, looking inside.

“Oh, look like you have visitors!” She announced delightedly from where she was standing. “Come in, come in, I’m almost done with my round. You can have him all for yourselves in a bit.”

The door opened wider and Shownu stepped in, followed closely by Wonho, I.M, and Hyungwon. They greeted the nurse with a bow and gingerly moved closer to the side of Kihyun’s bed.

“Hey! How you’re feeling? Wonho reached over and placed a hand on Kihyun's upper arm and gave it a gentle pat. He inwardly frowned at how warm his friend’s skin felt even from the brief contact.

“Yeah, how are you feeling?” Hyungwon chimed in before Kihyun could even open his mouth to answer Wonho. Even though Kihyun looked uncharacteristically weak and pale, the level of concern that Hyungwon had earlier lessen considerably after seeing that his friend was conscious and alert. “You gave us quite a scare last night!” He admitted, patting his friend lightly on the knee.

To be completely honest, Kihyun was tired of the same question over and over again. He had lost count on how many times he was asked that very same question since he woke up that morning.

“I feel fine, just a little headache…” The vocalist wasn’t planning to share with everyone what he was actually feeling.

“If your fever goes down a little, you’ll feel a lot better…” The nurse interjected as she inched closer towards her patient’s bed. All five heads turned to the nurse who was working in the background. “I’m going to need some blood sample…” She said, sounding almost apologetic. Pushing up and securing the sleeve out of the way, she eyed for a visible and clear vein. While doing so, she couldn’t help but notice how thin and frail looking Kihyun’s arm looked. Jeez, kids these days, working themselves to the bone. She mused to herself. Satisfied with the selected venepuncture site, the nurse skilfully placed an elastic band around Kihyun’s arm. Making sure that the tourniquet wasn’t tied too tightly, she pulled on a pair of gloves and felt for a vein. “I will need you to clench your hand into a fist for me, sweetie.” She instructed as she cleanses the area with antiseptic, and Kihyun did as he was told.

“If you’re squeamish, please turn away for a moment.” She advised, looking up at the four young men standing on the other side of the bed. All four boys were transfixed with what was going right in front of them. Their eyes followed the nurse’s each and every moves.

Kihyun’s face contorted into a g