“What on Earth happened to you?” Sehee exclaims when she sees him. Chanyeol smiles and shrugs. She glares at him and points at the exit. “You go to the ER and gets seen before you go to see your boyfriend.”

Chanyeol tries to sneak around her, but she sticks out an arm and prevents him from going around. He whines and Sehee raises an eyebrow.

“The ER,” she repeats, glancing down at his hand that is turning blue and black. Chanyeol gives up and heads back out of the ICU, vial still snug in his pockets. The wait time in the ER is longer than expected. It doesn’t help that he’s waiting in Radiology either and after 4 and half hours, he has his arm in a cast, two stitches on his cheek and an ice pack for his black eye.

Sehee is getting off of work when he returns but she shakes her head at him.

Chanyeol sits by Minseok’s bed when someone knocks on the door. Sookyung sighs deeply when she sees him. Baekhyun widens his eyes in surprise.

“What the hell Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asks when he shuts the door behind him. Chanyeol waves him away with his casted arm.

“Doesn’t matter,” he says. Sookyung sits down beside him and reaches out to touch Minseok’s hand gently.

“Any news on him?” she asks silently. Chanyeol sniffs a little.

“They removed his one kidney earlier; couldn’t handle the ECMO. I haven’t heard anything new.”

He doesn’t know how to tell them about the cure in his pocket. He doesn’t know if he wants to tell them about the cure in his pocket. He doesn’t want to make more people accomplices to the crimes Jongdae is intending on carrying out. It’s enough that he knows someone with the intent of murder and doesn’t report them to the government. Chanyeol is risking everything but nothing is more important than Minseok. Sookyung sighs again and Baekhyun rests his hand on her shoulder.

“He’ll wake up,” he promises. They all know it’s an empty promise because Baekhyun knows nothing of medicine and certainly not enough to make promises like that.

“But seriously, what happened to you?” he asks Chanyeol again and he sighs, lifts his arm to show his cast.

“Punched a wall and fractured my hand,” he says and Baekhyun laughs in surprise.

“The wall punched back?” he asks and points towards the black eye. Chanyeol doesn’t give him the satisfaction of an answer.

They go back to lighthearted talking when Sookyung suddenly stands up and rushes towards the toilet. Chanyeol sends Baekhyun a look and when he interprets it, his eyes widen in surprise and disbelief. Chanyeol smiles softly and watches as Baekhyun joins his wife in the bathroom to help her clean up. Chanyeol turns back to his boyfriend and feels a burden lift from his heart.

When his best friends leave them alone and the evening shift nurse leaves after taking Minseok’s vitals once again, Chanyeol fumbles with his pockets and picks up the little vial. He walks to the sink, steals a syringe and a needle. It’s difficult to open the sterile needle with a hand in a cast but he somehow manages. Struggling he finally succeeds in drawing the anti-virus into the syringe and checking the window in the door, he injects the solution into Minseok’s IV-bag and hopes for the best.

---

It’s dark outside. The alarm clock on his nightstand shows 3.24 AM in red and he’s still awake. Wind is howling outside, uncharacteristic of spring. It feels like it’s foreshadowing disaster. He has been checking his phone every five minutes and has been reading half a book before he had to give up and succumb to his thoughts. Chanyeol doesn’t want to admit it to himself, but he’s terrified that he hasn’t heard anything from the hospital.

He keeps repeating Jongdae’s words when he handed the anti-virus over and keeps wondering if it was actually an anti-virus. Maybe he was too naïve when he injected it without confirmation. Maybe Jongdae had given him the lethal virus, killing Minseok instead to prove his intentions to Chanyeol. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Chanyeol rolls around in bed, kicks at the satin sheets and curses as sleep fails him and rain starts slamming against the window.

He’s exhausted when the sun rises at 5.45 AM, having only slept 30 minutes the entire night. The wind is still howling, but the rain seems to have stopped. Instead of lying in bed, Chanyeol gets up. He brews himself a strong cup of coffee and sits at the counter, staring at his phone. The sun slowly rises behind clouds and he keeps staring at his phone, fumbling with dumb games and social media he doesn’t care about. The only thing he cares about is someone calling from the ICU, telling him that Minseok is waking up.

Chanyeol falls into a light slumber, hanging over the kitchen table, cup of cold coffee forgotten. It’s around 9 AM when his phone rings, vibrating to the edge of the table. He groggily opens his eyes, fumbles with his body as he does his best to pick up. He doesn’t register the number calling, only mumbles out a half-asleep greeting.

“It’s Oh Sehee from SNUH.”

Chanyeol sits straighter in his chair but manages to almost tumble the coffee cup over in the process.

“What is it?” he whispers. The hope, the prayer, is obvious in his voice. Chanyeol can’t wait to hear the words he has been awake to hear. He prays Sehee delivers the news he wants and not the ones he dreads.

“Minseok is responding to treatment,” she says and Chanyeol sighs deeply in relief. “We don’t know what happened overnight but we’re treating aggressively, and his temperature is slowly rising. If all goes well, I think they’re going to slowly take him off of the ECMO and see how he responds. You should come down”.

He agrees, tears streaming down his face in disbelief. It worked, he tells himself over and over again. It actually ing worked.

Driving to the hospital with little sleep and teary eyes is not a good idea, but Chanyeol does it anyway, hoping he won’t get caught by police. He also manages to get there without getting into an accident. His long legs carry him to the ICU in what feels like a heartbeat, running to get to his boyfriend.

He’s met with nurses walking briskly to and from Minseok’s room, doctors talking in the doorway and he doesn’t get to take a step towards his room before he’s embraced by a woman smaller than him. She’s sobbing into his chest, clutching him closer. Chanyeol recognizes the short black hair and the man behind her and wraps his arms around Minseok’s mother to reciprocate the hug.

“It’s a miracle,” she whispers. Minseok’s father is removing the tear that’s falling down his cheeks and sniffs a little to pretend he’s stoic. Chanyeol doesn’t care about displays of masculinity and lets tears flow freely again. It’s all in relief and happiness.

“It’s a miracle,” Minseok’s mother says again and lets go of Chanyeol to hold him at arm’s length. “He’s waking up.”

Chanyeol nods but can’t say anything. His parents-in-law are beaming, happiness unrivaled and relief emanating from every part of the ICU. Dr. Cho meets them near the reception and brings them all to the small conference room. This time it doesn’t look like bad news. He sits down with a big smile on his face, looking at the way Minseok’s parents hold each other and Chanyeol smiles widely.

“I’ll let you in to see him soon, I promise.” Dr. Cho chuckles and watches them all with a smile. “I don’t know what happened overnight, but it seems Minseok started responding to treatment sometime around 2 AM. We’ve been treating rather aggressively, and his temperature has now risen to 33°C so we’re slowing down the aggressive treatment and doing passive rewarming as we’re slowly taking him off of the ECMO. We don’t know if he has suffered any brain damage from the hypothermia or the ECMO so don’t get your hopes up too high.”

Chanyeol looks towards his parents-in-law, who soaks up dr. Cho’s words like sponges. He’s still smiling, not caring too much about hopes up too high. His hopes and dreams are already through the roof at the idea of Minseok being alive, being here, being awake.

They’re allowed in the room a little later, no gowns, gloves or masks needed as Minseok is no longer under isolation. A nurse is recording his vital signs as a resident slowly takes Minseok off of the ECMO. The ECG prints records of Minseok’s heart beating steadily as his lungs inhale and exhale air. Minseok’s mother sinks into the chair beside the bed and grabs his hands. Minseok’s fingers twitch and Chanyeol holds his breath.

When his boyfriend slowly turns his head and opens his eyes, Chanyeol feels his heart skip a beat and a tear trail down his cheek. Minseok’s voice is hoarse from no use and his body is stiff. His muscles have shrunk, and he’s lost weight but he’s alive and smiling, albeit a little confused. He’s shivering under the heated blankets and soaking in the hospital setting.

His parents have cried over him, held him and kissed him and left again to get something to eat. Chanyeol sits down beside him and smiles. That’s all he can do, smile in relief.

“Hey,” Minseok croaks and reciprocates the smile. Chanyeol’s heart soars and he leans down to kiss Minseok’s forehead.

“I love you,” he says and lets a finger trace Minseok’s forehead. Minseok’s smile turns into a frown and he narrows his eyes as he continues looking at his boyfriend.

“What happened to your face?” he asks and Chanyeol removes his finger from Minseok to touch his own face and winces when he touches a particularly sore spot around his black eye.

“Oh.” He flushes a little, embarrassed to admit to fighting. “I got in a fight, but it’s nothing. I’ll be fine soon enough.”

Minseok just looks at him. Chanyeol sighs and promises once again that he is okay, he will be fine, Minseok doesn’t have to worry. Minseok’s worry doesn’t seem to lessen, but he shakes his head at Chanyeol’s obvious stupidity to get into a fight to begin with.

A nurse interrupts them when she arrives to take his vital signs and his temperature. She informs them that Minseok is scheduled for an MRI the next day and replaces cold blankets with new heated ones. Minseok snuggles closer under his covers and nods. Dr. Cho has tried to explain what has happened in the past almost three months but Minseok isn’t able to process it all at once, so they have agreed to take it slowly.

Chanyeol gently sneaks his hand under the covers to find Minseok’s and link their fingers. The squeeze he gets in return has his heart soaring and he leans down to press another kiss onto Minseok’s forehead.

The MRI miraculously doesn’t show any brain damage and the physiotherapist comes to work with Minseok as soon as his temperature stabilizes in the normal range. His first steps to the door and back to the bed is on unstable legs, but he is determined to make a full recovery and Chanyeol is by his side every awake minute of the day. He has taken a week of vacation and dr. Cho has once again arranged for a room at the patient’s hospital, so he doesn’t have to leave the hospital.

Baekhyun and Sookyung visit a couple of days later, Minseok sitting in his bed.

“It’s so good to see you!” Sookyung exclaims when she sees Minseok awake, eating a cup of soup. He almost spills when she lunges to throw her arms around him in a very unusual display of affection. Baekhyun and Chanyeol share a look of wonder and surprise and Minseok laughs, hoarse and beautifully. When she lets go, she sits down on the chair and Baekhyun echoes her words with a greeting of his own.

Chanyeol just watches his best friends and his boyfriend talk about everything and nothing. Sookyung tells him about her promotion even though it’s starting to get old and Baekhyun tells fascinating stories about university life. Minseok soaks it all up, the normalcy of it all even though he’s in the hospital. He teases them back like they and Chanyeol sputters out an unexpected laugh when Minseok tells an old joke, a bad one but a joke, nonetheless. Sookyung just shakes her head fondly and Baekhyun groans annoyed.

When they leave, Chanyeol sits next to his boyfriend again, reaching out to link their fingers again. He has found that he doesn’t want to be without Minseok for more than he has to, and physical contact is a great way of reminding him what he still has, what he could have lost. Minseok looks at him fondly before he leans in and rests his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“I want to go home,” he whispers. His breath fans over Chanyeol’s neck, tickles his skin and has goosebumps rise on his forearms. “I miss the apartment and I want my life back. I want to go back to work and see the lab and everybody again.”

Chanyeol tenses up and tries to mask it with a smile but Minseok has felt the movement and he looks up in question.

“What is it? Is something wrong with me? Is there anything the doctors didn’t tell me?”

He’s worried. He doesn’t want to be, but Chanyeol can hear the thinly veiled worry so he shakes his head and reassures his boyfriend with a squeeze of his hand.

“No, it’s not you. It’s … everybody,” he says. Minseok removes his head from Chanyeol’s shoulder to look at him better, fingers slipping from Chanyeol’s hold.

“What happened?” Chanyeol reaches out towards Minseok again, but his boyfriend withdraws a little. His eyes are determined to get the information out of Chanyeol. Chanyeol sighs.

“Junghwa has passed away and Kris was ill the same way you were. I don’t know what happened to him and I … I’m sorry, I didn’t know any of your other coworkers, so I don’t know…”

Minseok just stares at him with wide eyes. Chanyeol reaches out to link their fingers again and Minseok lets him. There is silent in the hospital room for a few seconds before Minseok speaks.

“Junghwa is …” he whispers and Chanyeol nods. The unspoken word hangs in the air.

“Because of …?” he asks and Chanyeol knows he wants to ask if the same illness that had him comatose for almost three months also killed his coworker. He doesn’t have an answer, though.

“I don’t know,” Chanyeol whispers his answer and Minseok blinks.

“You ... don’t know?”

He doesn’t believe Chanyeol, but it’s the truth. Chanyeol nods.

“I truly don’t know.”

---

Minseok gets discharged a couple of days later. The sun is shining from a blue sky, the temperature is pleasant and there’s a breeze flowing through the streets. It’s a beautiful day in early May. The streets are full of children and teenagers getting off school, hurrying towards extra-curricular activities and academies.

Minseok had insisted on walking the short distance home, proving to himself that the hard work he put in with the physiotherapist is working. Chanyeol had been skeptical but he’s watching his boyfriend slowly make his way home and Chanyeol can barely contain how proud he is. They stop to rest often, but that doesn’t stop Minseok’s determination or Chanyeol’s love.

Sitting on a bench in front of a fenced off playground, Chanyeol laces his fingers with Minseok’s and sends him a smile. Minseok just scoffs a little.

“You’re smiling so much,” he says and Chanyeol chuckles.

“Is a man not allowed to smile when he is proud of his boyfriend?” he asks and Minseok flushes even though he shushes his boyfriend. Chanyeol doesn’t care, though. Ever since Minseok woke up, homophobia has been the last thing on his mind. The doctors and nurses in the ICU had long gotten used to his presence and their relationship and Chanyeol can’t imagine hiding anymore. The world may not be fully warmed up to the idea of two men in a romantic relationship but Chanyeol has been too close to losing Minseok to care about the world. There is more to life than hiding away his relationship with another man. Minseok shakes his head fondly.

“Sure, be happy.”

He gets up and is about to continue, but Chanyeol stays seated and their linked fingers stop Minseok from moving forward. Minseok laughs when he turns around with a raised eyebrow and a question sparkling in his eyes, watching Chanyeol still on the bench, hand outstretched to keep his fingers linked with Minseok’s.

“Marry me,” Chanyeol says. He widens his eyes at his own words, doesn’t dare believe what he has just said out loud, but he doesn’t regret the words. Minseok bursts out in laughter.

“What?” he asks, dumbfounded and confused, soundless laughter still crinkling the corner of his eyes.

“Kim Minseok, will you marry me?”

Minseok softens into a smile, finger removing the tear that’s threatening to spill from laughter and tugs on Chanyeol’s hand.

“Come on, you lovesick fool.”

Chanyeol lets Minseok pull him forward but his mind is racing.

---

The dewy grass turns his sneakers wet as he follows his boyfriend towards the new grave. Minseok is carrying a small bouquet of yellow tulips. They weave between graves silently until they reach the one, they’re looking for. The gravestone is grey marble and the name is written in beautiful black cursive.

Minseok sinks to his knees and gently places the flowers. Chanyeol stands a few feet behind. He doesn’t want to intrude. When Minseok gets up again, he goes to embrace Chanyeol. They stand there, both of them staring at the yellow flowers on the grave, mourning a loss. Minseok feels a little guilty for surviving when his coworkers had to suffer the consequences.

He asked Sookyung for Yixing’s home address so he could pay him a visit and offer his condolences and now they’re standing in front of Junghwa’s grave. The wind is blowing gently around them, rustling the leaves on the trees. They stand there for a few minutes before Minseok looks up and nods.

Baekhyun and Sookyung meet them in a small restaurant, famous for their barbecue. Minseok is still a little affected by his visit to Junghwa’s grave, but Chanyeol holds his hand and squeezes it once in a while to reassure him. It’s okay, they’re okay. Neither of them could have done anything to save Junghwa.

Conversation slowly flows around the table and the more time they spend with their friends, the lighter the mood becomes. Minseok laughs at a stupid story Baekhyun tells about a student of his, details changed for privacy reasons, and Sookyung smiles knowingly at her husband. Chanyeol notices and gently prods her forearm with his chopsticks. She looks towards him with a glare but he’s unperturbed. Instead he wiggles his eyebrows. Sookyung rolls her eyes, but she pokes Baekhyun’s side nonetheless to get him to stop talking.

“So, uhm, we have something to tell you,” she says. She doesn’t sound nervous at all, oddly enough. Baekhyun looks towards her with twinkling eyes.

“Will you guys do us the honors of being godfathers to Baby Byun?” he asks. Minseok drops his chopsticks into kimchi. His eyes are as wide as saucers and his mouth hangs open. Chanyeol laughs.

“What?” Minseok asks and looks towards Sookyung for confirmation. Chanyeol understands, because Baekhyun is not a stranger to pranks, but he can tell from the smiles and the happiness radiating off of his best friend that this is the real deal.

“He’s right,” Sookyung says and gently grabs his hand in hers. “I’m pregnant.”

It takes a few seconds to register but when it does, Minseok rises from his seat so he can hurry around the table to hug his friend. Sookyung chuckles as she pats his hair and Baekhyun sends Chanyeol another blinding smile. The family addition is the conversation topic of the evening.

They’re sitting on the couch, heads tilted to look at the large painting. Minseok is resting against Chanyeol’s chest, the soft thump of his heart calming Minseok. There is silent around them, but it’s a comfortable silence, reminiscent of everything beautiful in the world. Chanyeol holds Minseok close, fingers absentmindedly toying with the hem of his shirt to keep him occupied.

“I love you,” whispers Chanyeol into Minseok’s hair. Minseok smiles and turns around in his hold, removing himself slightly, so he can lean closer and rest his forehead against Chanyeol’s.

“I love you too,” he answers, just as quiet. Chanyeol doesn’t let the moment pass and he leans in, capturing Minseok’s lips sweetly. There is barely any pressure in the kiss, no passionate making out. Just the two of them in the present, realizing how much life is worth and trying to convey just how much they love each other. Chanyeol is hellbent on telling Minseok how proud he is, how much he loves him, how much he can’t be without him. When they let go, there are smiles on their faces. Words unsaid are delivered between them as they look at each other.

Minseok slowly turns around and rests back against Chanyeol’s chest, hand grabbing Chanyeol’s to play with his fingers while he looks back towards the painting on the wall.

“Remember when we bought that painting?” he asks and Chanyeol grunts his reply. He leans down to hide his face in Minseok’s hair, smell the familiar scent underneath the hospital shampoo and Minseok giggles when Chanyeol’s breath tickles.

“You know,” he continues when he’s done giggling. “When we bought that painting, I couldn’t really imagine just how well it would us as a couple. I thought you were silly for saying it reminded you of us, that it resembled us. Maybe thought you were a little crazy too, I mean - it's just a painting. But looking at it now, I get it.”

Chanyeol lifts his head from Minseok’s hair and looks towards the painting.

“It has always represented us, no matter how silly or crazy you think I am,” he says. “I’m glad you stuck with me.”

Minseok chuckles.

“Me too. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank you for sticking with me as well.”

BREAKING: Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neunghu and Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyunmee steps back after controversies surrounding a case resulting in the death of a 24-year old woman and her 3-year old daughter. Police investigations uncovers the real cause of death and how corruption covered it up.

A/N:

The finale, the ending, finito~ I did it. I wrote another 30k story even though I've been dumb and haven't been able to write for a long time. I hope you liked it! I sure do... uwu 
I would really appreciate a comment if you like this story! Questions are welcome and so is gushing and just - idk. I feel silly but, a comment really would make my day. 
Thank you for reading! Take care. 

With love
Kim Minji