A/N: Okay, guys, here’s the next chapter! :D Heads up: some mentions of violence, but nothing graphic.

As you might have noticed, I’m updating this story fast. Like, every other day. It’s because I want to get as much of this story as possible written before August ends. I’m trying to post many updates now, because I don’t know what my work schedule will be like in September. Worse, as you guys might know, Changmin’s getting married at the start of September. So, I’m not sure if won’t be too heartbroken to function around that time ;-; T___T

Yesung was no stranger to being at death’s door. Having had a defective heart for most of his life had meant so many near-brushes with death in the past.

However, dying from poor health was quite different from being murdered.

And looking up at Siwon’s angry expression, Yesung knew which way he would have rather die. Dying due to a defective heart would have been better—would have been less painful and less violent—than being murdered by the obsessive boyfriend of his new, functional heart’s previous owner.

Siwon, now seemingly overcome by his anger and insanity, repeatedly slapped Yesung’s face and punched his torso. Yesung, of course, tried to struggled and get Siwon off him, but Siwon was too strong and too heavy. Worse, struggling and trying to fight Siwon only angered Siwon even more. Siwon stopped the slaps and punches, only to put his hands around Yesung’s neck instead.

Yesung was now being strangled by his psychopathic and murderous ex-boyfriend. He panicked even more, of course, but struggling only made Siwon’s hands tighten more and more around his neck.

His vision started to fade as his oxygen supply was cut off.

Yesung’s eyes burned with tears, not only out of fear and pain, but also out of regret. Regret that he didn’t even get to see his family and friends one last time and properly say goodbye to them. Regret that he got in a relationship with Siwon in the first place, only to end up getting murdered by him. His second chance at life just ended up as a life full of regrets and mistakes.

‘At least this will end soon’, Yesung hopelessly thought as he was on the verge by being overwhelmed by the pain and the lack of air. Dying would mean that the pain would be gone. That he would be away from Siwon. Just as Ryeowook finally escaped from Siwon through death.

Yesung now surrendered, his arms and body stopping their vain and hopeless struggle against their stronger adversary, and Yesung prepared to welcome death. 

His vision turned completely black then, and he heard a weird rushing noise like from a train speeding past. This was his end.

However—

“YESUNG!”

Siwon’s weight was suddenly off him, and Yesung gasped as his oxygen supply returned, air suddenly flooding back into his lungs. From somewhere nearby, he could hear angry shouts and scuffles and thuds, but in that moment, Yesung could only pant for air, trying to soothe the burn and strain that his lungs had experienced.

After a few moments, he was able to regain enough air, strength, and consciousness to lift and turn his head toward the direction of the noise. Yesung’s eyes widened, and he thought that he must be hallucinating from his recent lack of air supply.

On the floor just a few meters away from him was Kyuhyun grappling and fighting against Siwon.

Kyuhyun had, of course, already finished his shift at the hospital in time for Yesung’s checkup with Sa-eun. However, given Yesung’s strong expression of his desire for Kyuhyun to stay away when they had been at the park, Kyuhyun hadn’t shown up outside Sa-eun’s office after Yesung’s checkup.

However, while he hadn’t outright met with Yesung, that hadn’t meant that Kyuhyun had completely stayed away from him. Kyuhyun had kept his distance, but he had still followed Yesung. The month following their “conversation” at the park, Kyuhyun had still kept a lookout and had still watched the academy and Yesung’s apartment building—had still watched Yesung. He, of course, had felt guilty while doing so, for he had known that Yesung had wanted Kyuhyun to stop following him. But Kyuhyun had strong suspicions about the danger that Siwon posed, and Kyuhyun had not been able to bear leaving Yesung exposed to such a danger all alone.

That afternoon, despite knowing that Yesung was having an appointment with Sa-eun, Kyuhyun had instead stayed and hung out with other doctors and staff at the hospital. Then, a few hours after Yesung’s checkup, when Kyuhyun had known that Yesung should have been back at his apartment by then, Kyuhyun had also left the hospital and had driven to Yesung’s apartment building.

Not wanting Yesung to know that he was still following him, Kyuhyun had parked some distance away from Yesung’s apartment building.

It had seemed to be yet another night of fruitless, unproductive watching for him; not for the first time, Kyuhyun had wondered if his time would have been better spent at home, resting after another tiring day at the hospital. But Kyuhyun had never been able to just simply leave Yesung, so he had stepped out of his car, wondering where would be a good spot to stand (or sit, preferably sit, instead of just standing for hours) guard this time. 

He had been so consumed by his thoughts that it had taken a few moments for him to notice the car that was parked a few cars away from him, almost at the end of the street already and even farther from Yesung’s apartment than Kyuhyun’s car. 

Kyuhyun’s eyes had widened at the sight of the luxurious car.

‘Siwon is nearby’, Kyuhyun had thought, fear and worry starting to grip him.

Of course, he had known that Siwon had often been around Yesung even after their breakup. Kyuhyun hadn’t expected Siwon to back off even after Yesung had already called it quits between them. However, to Kyuhyun, Siwon had merely been like a phantom since Yesung and Siwon’s breakup—a phantom lurking unseen in the background. 

To really see Siwon’s luxury car then had quite rattled Kyuhyun.

He had a bad feeling about this.

All thoughts of keeping some distance pushed aside, Kyuhyun had instinctively run to Yesung’s apartment building. He had dashed straight into the building’s lobby, stopping only to tell the elderly landlord, who had been startled by him suddenly rushing in, to call the police. When the landlord had asked what’s going on, Kyuhyun had only replied that Yesung’s stalker ex was nearby and that help from the police might be needed. Then, not pausing much longer to watch the landlord make the call, Kyuhyun had run up the apartment building’s stairway.

Kyuhyun’s own heart had seemed to have stopped as he had neared Yesung’s apartment and had seen the damages that had been done to the door, clearly showing that someone had broken in. Worse, Kyuhyun had heard noises coming from the apartment.

He had burst into Yesung’s apartment, only to find Siwon and Yesung on the floor, Siwon on top of Yesung and strangling the life out of him. In just a moment, Kyuhyun had noticed that Yesung’s color was already slightly bluish from the lack of air.

Kyuhyun then had instinctively lunged forward and pulled Siwon away, freeing Yesung from Siwon’s stranglehold.

Yesung now tried to lift himself up from the floor, but his body felt so heavy like it was made out of lead. As he tried to lift his upper body, his arms shook and wobbled, and before he could get some balance, he was flat against the floor again.

Meanwhile, Kyuhyun was having a hard time fighting off Siwon. Siwon was much bigger and toned than him. Kyuhyun knew that he had to hold Siwon down until the police arrived, but soon, Kyuhyun was the one who was pinned to the floor instead. Kyuhyun tried to kick Siwon off, but Siwon just grabbed his leg and twisted it to an odd angle, making Kyuhyun shout in pain.

“Kyuhyun!” Yesung cried out. No, no, NO! This couldn’t be! Kyuhyun couldn’t get hurt just because of him! 

However, just as Yesung was starting to fear that he had led Kyuhyun to his death, the three of them all froze.

They could hear sirens blaring from a distance.

Siwon was off Kyuhyun in a flash. He bolted out of the apartment, knowing that the police were coming. 

Kyuhyun wanted nothing more than to go after Siwon. He couldn’t let that bastard just get away. But his throbbing leg, due to being twisted, clearly told him that there was no way that he could run and catch up with Siwon. Also, one look at Yesung made Kyuhyun unable to leave him. Yesung was still on the floor, his face grimacing in pain. Some bruises were already starting to form on his skin, and he had scrapes and cuts here and there, some of them bleeding.

Kyuhyun hurriedly went over to Yesung, ignoring his own twinging leg, and helped the older man sit up.

“Yesung, are you alright? Can you hear me?” Kyuhyun asked frantically as his arms supporting the weight of Yesung’s upper body, the only things keeping Yesung from collapsing back onto the floor again.

“I’m alive,” was all that Yesung could mutter in response. 

And hey, at the end of the day, that was what really mattered. He was still alive. He thought that he was a goner back then, but he was, somehow, still alive right now.

Just then, they heard people running and talking loudly in the hallway outside. After what they had just undergone, both of them instinctively froze, but Kyuhyun relaxed after a few seconds.

“It’s probably the police,” he told Yesung soothingly. “I asked your landlord to call the police on my way up here.”

Yesung frowned. (That action made his face sting and ache move, but he ignored the pain for the moment.) Even until now, Yesung had been hoping to avoid police involvement. Sirens blaring and police running into the apartment building. Great. More drama. But then, he realized that he couldn’t avoid police involvement anymore. Not now when he knew that Siwon was a murderer. Yesung might not like it, but he had to let the police get involved now. So that some justice could hopefully be gained for Ryeowook’s murder.

A moment later, several police officers came bursting into his apartment, accompanied by Yesung’s landlord. 

Then, it became a flurry of activity in Yesung’s apartment.

Kyuhyun and another police officer, who briefly introduced himself as Officer Shindong, helped Yesung up to his couch. The landlord inspected the damages to the door and said that he would go and call for the building maintenance team to fix it. Kyuhyun also gave the keys to his car to the landlord, asking the landlord to fetch his doctor’s bag from his car so that he could give Yesung some first aid.

Then, Yesung had to give his statement to the police.

And Yesung finally told the authorities about how Siwon had been stalking and basically harassing him since their breakup over a month ago. He also informed the cops about Siwon stalking him before their relationship had even started. He told the cops about Siwon illegally finding information on his deceased boyfriend’s heart and tracking the heart to Yesung. He explained about Siwon breaking into this apartment tonight and narrated how Siwon physically assaulted him, with Kyuhyun arriving just in time to save him and fight Siwon. He described Siwon’s attacks tonight, the punches and the slaps and the way that his head had hit the floor and even the earlier stomping on his wrist.

At that moment, Kyuhyun’s eyes fell on Yesung’s wrist, which Yesung was, sure enough, cradling against his chest.

“An obsessive stalker,” one of the police officers shook his head in dismay and disgust as he and the other officers took notes and recorded Yesung’s statement.

“And—” Yesung started to say, but his voice got stuck in his throat.

“Yes, sir? What else is there?” Officer Shindong prompted. The more evidence that they had against the man, the stronger the case against him would be.

“He’s… he’s also a murderer.”

Kyuhyun looked sharply at him, but Officer Shindong and the other two officers frowned.

“We could have him charged for attempted murder since he tried to kill you, as well as Mr. Cho here. But it wouldn’t get counted as actual murder. Since, thankfully, no one had died,” Officer Shindong told Yesung sympathetically.

Yesung shook his head, though.

“No, it’s not that. Siwon… Siwon told me a while ago that… he killed his previous boyfriend. He killed Kim Ryeowook.”

The police officers froze and stared at him.

Kyuhyun, in contrast, clenched his hands into tight fists on top of his lap. He snarled, “Siwon said what?!”

“He made a murder confession, Mr. Kim?” Officer Shindong now urgently asked Yesung.

Yesung nodded. “Based on what Siwon said earlier, Ryeowook tried to break up with him, and Siwon had gotten so angry and pounded his head to the floor. Ryeowook eventually died from brain damage. And Siwon had apparently already been beating Ryeowook up during their relationship.”

Kyuhyun suddenly stood up and started pacing around Yesung’s living room. “I knew it! I knew it! That ing bastard!”

Everyone stared at Kyuhyun.

“Knew what, sir?” Officer Shindong questioned.

Kyuhyun stopped his pacing and looked at the cop. “I was best friends with Kim Ryeowook. I know for a fact that after his death, his family filed charges against a man named Choi Siwon. However, any evidence seemed to have ‘mysteriously vanished’ during the processing of the case, and Choi Siwon was cleared and pronounced innocent of all charges.”

Yesung gawked at Kyuhyun. He had known all along that Siwon had possibly been involved in Ryeowook’s death?!

However, Yesung didn’t get a chance to question Kyuhyun then, because the police officers started questioning Kyuhyun instead. After getting more information about Ryeowook’s death and the charges against Siwon, Officer Shindong muttered, “So, he was also suspected for that death but was cleared of all charges? But he admitted to the murder tonight?”

“Can this be used to reopen Ryeowook’s case?” Kyuhyun asked.

“Possibly,” Officer Shindong answered. “We will have to check and study that case first. I’ll keep you informed.” Then, he looked at Yesung, who had noticeable injuries from the assault. “For now, I think that you should go to the hospital, sir.”

Yesung, however, quickly rejected the idea. “No hospitals.”

“Yesung, you’re hurt,” Kyuhyun frowned. The police officers were also frowning.

“No hospitals,” Yesung just reiterated firmly. “I’m not dying from these minor injuries. I’ve had more than enough of hospitals to last ten lifetimes.”

Kyuhyun was disapproving, but he could understand Yesung’s reluctance to go to the hospital unless absolutely necessary. And he also knew by now how stubborn Yesung could be. Short of bodily dragging Yesung, Kyuhyun and the police officers had no chance of persuading Yesung to go to the hospital.

Just as Officer Shindong was about to argue with Yesung, Kyuhyun interrupted and said, “It’s alright, Officer Shindong. I’m a doctor. I can give him the basic treatments here.”

So, Officer Shindong had no choice but to acquiesce to that compromise. After saying that they’ll call again in a few days to update Yesung on the case, the police officers left just as the landlord returned with the maintenance team and Kyuhyun’s bag.

The maintenance team set to work on fixing the door, and the landlord went off to check the fire exit after Yesung informed him that it was what Siwon had been using to access the building. Meanwhile, Kyuhyun busied himself with Yesung’s injuries. Kyuhyun disinfected Yesung’s cuts and put ointment on them. He also examined Yesung’s wrist. Thankfully, it wasn’t broken, just badly sprained and bruised. A soft cast would be enough, and he luckily had the necessary materials in his bag.

After casting Yesung’s wrist, Kyuhyun then addressed Yesung’s head injury, which was what worried the doctor the most. Kyuhyun gently touched and massaged Yesung’s head, feeling a small bump forming where the back of his head hit the floor. After asking Yesung yet again if he really didn’t want to go the hospital, to which Yesung glared at him as a silent but clear response, Kyuhyun sighed and took out a small flashlight. He held up his finger in fro