“Excuse m—I’m sorry! Excuse me!”

Taemin was running late to the hospital, and he was also literally running there after parking his car in the farthest parking spot ever. There must be a lot of visitors this time around, because he has never seen so many people in this area yet. Or maybe it’s his first time – or he never noticed because he is never this late? Who knows, really.

He was trying to go as fast as he could but the several bags he had in his arms, potentially cutting off his circulation, didn’t allow him to. He could, but he didn’t want to damage the hard work he put into these things.

He got into the building with no accidents and the kids all received him enthusiastically, specially Seoah upon seeing that Taemin had kept his promise of making butterflies to decorate her room. The little girl was playing with some toys with the others and once her eyes caught a glimpse of Taemin and the bags, she dropped the dolls and ran to him with bouncy steps.

“Seoah!” He knelt down, lightly placing his stuff on the ground as the toddler hugged him really tightly. Taemin’s heart grew two sizes, and while the little girl showered him with love and the other children impatiently but patiently waited for their turn (they spoil Seoah so they do not complain if she’s taking too long hugging their favorite hyung) and Taemin did too, he looked around, counting the kids because something felt different – one little head, two little heads, three little heads, four little heads fiv… where’s Hyuk?

“Hyuk didn’t come today!” Jongup said in a tone that was a mixture of cheerful and sad. Taemin didn’t have much time to ask about the absent boy or ask about Jongup’s tone because the four of them had given up waiting for Seoah to be done and decided to trap him in a massive group hug, forcing him to sit down and just accept it all. The love, the giggles, the little kisses – who thought children would make him feel so loved? Why did he think otherwise in the first place?

“Okay, okay! There’s enough Mint hyung for everyone!”

The children were in a very cuddly mood. After reading the same book three times (in one occasion Hongki wanted to be the storyteller, and Taemin let him) they all sat on the floor with Taemin, sitting real close save for Seoah who was in between his legs – all talking animatedly.

“Did you make all of these?” Hongki asked, looking at the floor that was full of handcrafted butterflies’ decorations. It was all over the floor and they had different sizes and colors. Seoah looked very happy as she tightly held one in her hand.

“Yeah, it took me a looooong time” Taemin said, dragging the word for emphasis. He wasn’t lying, he did struggle with them and all the things he had for university. But it all worked out in the end. Thank goodness little kids don’t notice the eyebags under his eyes and if they did – they do not care. “Do you want to help me decorate Seoah’s room? We still have time!”

The chorus of ‘YEAH!’ was his answer.

They had been decorating for a few minutes when hurried steps approached Taemin, followed by a wail.

“MINT HYUNG.” Hyuk cried, running over to Taemin and pulling at the hem of his sweater with an insistence that worried him. The other kids looked at Hyuk with curiosity, it was uncharacteristic of him to cry like that.

“H-hey, what’s wrong?” Taemin tried asking, but the boy just keep crying, breathing really hard as fat tears fell from his eyes. Taemin started to panic and got him out of the room. He got on Hyuk’s level and held his shaking hands. “Hyuk, calm down buddy. What’s wrong?”

Hyuk tried very hard to calm down and breathe, but he was extremely sad. He could only get out a “M-my hyn-hyung!” before he started bawling again. He gave up trying to stop and crashed onto Taemin’s body, hugging his neck very hard as his tears stained his clothes. Taemin noticed the other children kept watching with worried eyes, so he asked a nurse to stay with them for a few moments. Taemin stood up with Hyuk in his arms – he was a very light child – and walked to their reading area.

Finally, in a quieter place, Taemin tried to make Hyuk talk a little. The boy was already a little bit calmer, but he looked terrified and sad. It was so much unlike him. What he was able to understand from Hyuk’s sad blabbers was that his hyung was sick, or hurt? The last part he didn’t understand very well with how Hyuk didn’t separate himself from his shoulder.

“Come, come!” In a sudden rush of energy, Hyuk got off of him and held his wrist with force, urging Taemin to follow him somewhere. They got into the elevator and went two floors up, Hyuk never let go of Taemin’s hand. They got off and Hyuk rushed past the lobby; the nurses looked at Taemin alarmed, but once they say the boy dragging him, they kind of let him off. Taemin guesses they know him by now.

This must be where his hyung is.

Truth be told, they stopped in front of a door. “My hyung is here. Grandma is with my hyung too.” Before Taemin could even process what was happening, Hyuk strained to open the door and rushed in, dragging Taemin along with him.

“N-no, wait!” Taemin tried to stop him but in no seconds, they were already in. The old lady was there and once she saw them her face contorted into a panicked one, next to her was a doctor and Taemin equally panicked because there was an unconscious man on the bed and they were probably checking him and Hyuk was probably not supposed to see that holy holy !

Taemin carried Hyuk in one swift motion, quickly bowed and apologized for coming in in such an inappropriate time and got out of the room.

Hyuk’s tears and wails were to be expected, and Taemin did his very best to try and soothe his sorrows, but not a lot worked. Hyuk refused to leave the hallway and abandon his hyung, too, so there was not much he could do either. Taemin has never had to calm down a panicking child, he has never had to appease anyone when he’s a little nervous himself by what he saw in the room. That man, with a bloody bandage on his torso. That man.

It’s him.

The day before, around 3 o’ clock.

Taemin was feeling refreshed after taking a power nap at Ravi’s dorm room. He slept for about two hours and even though his body is still feeling slightly stiff, he has now recharged to go back to university.

He had been having a rough week, what with the pile of workload his professors have been throwing at him, and his job. The