Please take some time to read the note at the end of the chapter. It’s just a short one I promise. Enjoy reading!

“Love couldn’t be moved by circumstance, poor choices, or even blatant lies; skewed and damaged, yes, but the heart couldn’t deny what it wanted most once the desire was planted. Whether in bliss or affection, love owned you all the same.”

Rachael Wade

“No! What the are you talking about, kid?! Donghae and the others would come home next week. They are scheduled to arrive, so I can’t understand what you were talking about. Please make me understand. Donghae’s okay. He’s not involved in that car accident. Hit-and-run? Are you ing kidding me? He’s not—”

Hyukjae was furious—no! He was beyond mad and infuriated to the point of becoming violent. All he wanted to do was to punch the living daylights out of this Oh Sehun who seemed to be currently out of it. If it was not for Kyuhyun and Henry who were both holding him back with all of their might, then his fists already did the talking for him.

One month and three weeks immediately went by and Hyukjae was thrilled, excited, and restless because Donghae alongside their friends would be arriving in less than a week. Both he and Donghae managed to overcome all possible and probable issues there were in relations to their brief long distance relationship, and the two could not be any more eager to finally see each other again.

So the question is why? And what? And how? Hyukjae’s mind was boggled and more than perplexed. He initially thought today would just be any other day in the office. He would get to work on the sequel of his book. Henry and Kyuhyun would bother him nonstop. Their temporary supervisor, Oh Sehun, would just be his klutzy self as usual. He would go home, feed his Choco, and finally, he would video call his boyfriend. Just like what he had been doing for one month and three weeks.

So, why? Why did this klutzy Oh Sehun tell him that Donghae was involved in a car accident and is currently admitted in a hospital in New York, probably fighting for his damn life who the knows? Why was he telling them that only Sungmin and Zhoumi would be arriving next week? Why will they leave Donghae behind? Why on earth is this happening to them?

What? What the hell’s going on? What on earth happened to his boyfriend? What’s his current condition? Did he suffer major injuries or just mild scratches and bruises? What’s going to happen to Donghae? What’s going to happen now?

And how? How was he supposed to take in the sudden news that his lovely and genuine Lee Donghae is currently fighting for his life? What’s worse? He’s not even in Korea right now. He’s on the other side of the globe and Hyukjae felt helpless. How about Donghae? How about Hyukjae?

Two months without Donghae was already a torture for Hyukjae, and now this news? Hyukjae felt like someone took away his heart and forced him to live.

“Hyukjae hyung, please let go of the kid. Sehun is not the one who had caused this. Henry is already trying to reach Zhoumi and Minnie. Please calm down. I’m begging you.”

Hyukjae felt Kyuhyun’s hands trying to pry away his tight grip on the young temporary supervisor. He knew Sehun had nothing to do with it but his mind had long stopped functioning. He felt like his whole system had short-circuited and shut down. He was no longer on his right mind since the moment Sehun told them about the unfortunate news.

“HYUNG, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!”

Just like a wake-up call, Hyukjae returned back to his senses when he heard that loud shout from Kyuhyun. It was the type of shout that would obviously resonated throughout the whole floor. He suddenly felt a wave of dizziness but he tried to fight it back. When his eyes focused on what was happening in front of him, he suddenly felt guilty as he witnessed their young temporary advisor fighting back his tears. Sehun was straightening the creases and wrinkles on his shirt which were products of the struggle from earlier while looking remorsefully at him.

"Hyung...Hyukjae hyung, I'm sorry..."

“No, I’m—I’m sorry, Sehun-ah...”

Hyukjae was about to reach out to the younger man but was abruptly interrupted by Henry who loudly called for his name.

“Hyukjae hyung, my call got connected. Sungmin hyung wants to talk to you first.”

Red. Blood. Black. Spots. Doctors. Screams. Everything around him screamed chaos and disarray. Two of the things he hated the most in the world. Shouts of commands could easily be heard but the voices for him felt muffled and blurry. Donghae tried to stay awake since he knew it was the right thing to do at the moment but it was hard. It was almost impossible but the faint grip on his right arm made it less impossible. Ah! I can still feel something.

He felt like his whole body was on fire. The pain was immeasurable and truly agonizing but at the same time, he also felt lighter than the usual, like a feather that was suddenly detached from a wing. He felt like he’s