It had been a couple of days since Eeteuk decided to give Siwon a chance and he had not once regretted it. The younger was sweet and attentive and never did anything that was crossing the line of what Eeteuk could handle. Eeteuk found himself thinking less about Heechul for every second spent in Siwon’s company and he soon had to admit to himself that he might be falling for the younger. However, he was not ready to admin that to Siwon yet.

Heechul seemed to be getting better and better. He seemed more composed and more like his old self. He was still quiet and withdrawn at times but you could see him join in the conversation and joke around with the other members, which made the members very relieved. None of them knew that he still had nightmares and would wake up in the middle of the night, panting and sweating and on the verge of panic. After the first night like that, he had asked Zhoumi to sleep in his room with him and it had become custom that he would find Zhoumi at his side in a matter of seconds when he woke up from a nightmare, after which the younger Chinese male would lie down beside him and hold him tightly, gently singing Chinese lullabies and other soft songs that would lull Heechul back to sleep. He didn’t know why Zhoumi had the power to keep him sane when he felt nothing else could, perhaps it was the broken accent that was so familiar, but he was thankful for it. He was doing so well during the day but everything seemed to wash over him when nightfall came and he was getting so frustrated. He didn’t understand how he could feel so good during the day and so bad during the night.

“Mimi, why is it like this?” he asked the younger in a broken voice, tears streaming down his cheeks after having waken from yet another nightmare. He was so exhausted. Zhoumi gently his hair while holding him closer.

“I don’t know, hyung. I really don’t know. You seem so fine in the day and you have really made great progress with the therapist. I don’t know why it is like this,” he said in a hushed voice.

“I am sorry I disturb your sleep every night,” Heechul then sobbed. He felt so bad for disturbing the Chinaman every night, for relying on him like he was a safety blanket.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you let me be there for you,” Zhoumi said with a gentle smile. He really didn’t mind helping Heechul even though it cost some sleep. He loved his hyung so much and thought that sleep was a small price to pay to do something in return for all the elder’s kind actions towards him. After Heechul had openly showed his support towards Zhoumi and Henry on stage, the hate the two of them had received had died down a lot, though not completely. Zhoumi understood why the antis had quietened down; after all, who would like to fight an angry Heechul? He was thankful nonetheless. He didn’t care that there were still some people out there hating him, as long as they could do it in relative silence it was fine. Heechul was still sobbing however and didn’t seem to take Zhoumi seriously.

“It hurts, Mimi! It hurts so much! I don’t want this anymore!” Heechul half sobbed, half screamed. He started trashing around, clawing at Zhoumi’s t-shirt. The pain in his chest was getting more intense by the minute and he had no idea why. Zhoumi immediately tightened his grip on Heechul until he was unable to move anymore and tried to calm him down, while rocking him as much as he could while lying down. When Heechul realised he couldn’t move anymore, he started sobbing even more and screaming his heart out in between. The light in the hallway was lit and Eeteuk came storming into the room with Siwon a few steps behind him. All the members came in after them as they had all heard the terrible screams and had gotten scared that someone was getting killed or something like that. However all they could do when the situation dawned on them was looking at the sobbing and screaming Heechul in Zhoumi’s arms. Eeteuk tried desperately to reach out to Heechul but Heechul saw nothing of what was going on in the room, too immersed in the pain inside of him that had become unbearable for some reason unknown. Siwon came up behind him and put his arms around his waist as the leader’s eyes filled with tears for his dongsaeng. They were all on the verge of crying; not only was it the middle of the night so they were all rather tired but they had all been sure that Heechul was better. It hurt them to see him like this, to think that he had just been using a façade again and shut them all out, even though that was not the case. Zhoumi looked at them and tried to give a reassuring smile.

“Go back to sleep, guys. I got him and I am not letting him go anywhere,” he said and the members slowly disappeared out of the room again. Siwon had to almost drag Eeteuk as the leader didn’t want to leave the younger’s side. When the door was closed again and the only sound in the room was Heechul’s constant sobbing, Zhoumi took a deep bre