“NA YEON AH!! JAEBAL!”

Kai lunged for you and immediately pulled you back to the walkway before the car ran into you. Your fragile body went limp the second both of you fell on the wet concreted sidewalk. Heavy bullet rain pierced your bodies, pounding down like there’ll be no tomorrow. Kai enfolded his arms around you protectively; heart still racing significantly and panting breathlessly.

“Na Yeon ah, answer me! Please…” He cupped your face, searching for a reply, but you’re already out cold. He anxiously pressed his cheek onto your burning forehead as tears brim his eyes when you didn’t answer.

 Swiftly, he kneeled onto the puddles of mud and supported your neck with his hand, not allowing your head to touch the ground. He cradled you ever so gently, slipping one arm under your knees, and the other around your shoulders while he lifted you up.

God, he was scared out his mind. Everything happened all too quickly and if he hadn’t reacted soon enough, you’d be….gone. *What in the world is going on Na Yeon? That lady…she’s your mom? Why is she running away from you like this?*

Kai ran back as fast as he could with you securely in his arms, hoping that Baekhyun would catch up soon so he could call for help. His entire being was drenched from top to bottom; his hair soaked from the rain and stuck to his forehead. Compare to him, you were in the worst of state.

He looked down at you worriedly; begging you silently to open your eyes. Just any bit of movement to tell him you were ok was more than enough to ensure him, but you were so lifeless right now. Your eyes remained closed, like you purposely didn’t want to wake up. You were torturing his heart in every way possible and he was terrified you were giving up on yourself.

*Na Yeon ah, you pabo. Open your eyes and look at me.*

“KAI!” Baekhyun yelled and Kai stopped in his tracks. He dashed to the two of you, also saturated by the horrible nighttime rain. His eyes landed on you and instantly felt his knees buckling at the horrendous condition that you were in.

“Baekhyun! Hurry, call Hyung-nim to come get us now!”

“He’s on his way. B-but...Na Yeon, what happened to her?”

“She fainted. We have to take her to the hospital.” Kai sped walked down the pavement with Baekyun right by his side.

“N-no…” You croaked and slowly open your eyes. “Not the hospital. I want to go—go home. Take me home.”

“You’re going to the hospital.” Kai looked down at you and said firmly. He was utterly relieved that you were now conscious. Baekhyun picked up his phone and directed the driver to pull up by the curb of the street. He began regretting that if only he hadn’t ignored his suspicions that you weren’t well, you probably wouldn’t have ended up like this.

Once the three of you got into the van, Baekhyun told the driver to go straight to the hospital. Kai took you to the back seat and laid you down; your head on his lap.

“Kai..Baekhyun. Let’s just go home.”

“No.”

“I’m fine. Really, I am.” You insisted. “Please?”

Kai looked down at you and he sees your eyes began to water. It made him weak and he didn’t want to give in, but those tears of yours sent a hundred blades through his body. Those tears that you never once allowed to drop were on the verge escaping, and he wasn’t ready to see them fall yet.

Swallowing back what seemed like his heart, Kai looked up at Baekhyun for a solution.  If they took you home now, who knows what could happen, but the helpless plea in your voice tugged at the pit of his stomach and he couldn’t ignore it.

 Baekhyun bit the bottom of his lip and sighed. He knew they had to do whatever was best for you.

~~~

Kai carried you towards the apartment no matter how many times you objected. You wanted to walk; you could walk…there was NOTHING wrong with you. Moreover, you didn’t want Exo to panic.

“Either you listen to me, or we go to hospital.” He said sternly and you had no other choice. Anywhere, but there.

Baekhyun opened the front door and Kai brought you in. He went straight to your room and put you on the bed. Like you had guessed, Exo came rushing to your side, endless worrying and questions flew from every direction and you didn’t know where to respond first.

You smiled…a small smile and apologized to Chanyeol, Luhan, and D.O for leaving them at the supermarket. They snickered when you told Sehun you weren’t able to get his ice cream for him

“That’s not important right now!” They groaned and you let out a soft chuckle.

You began to sit up on the bed, but Kai held you down. The seriousness in his face didn’t change and he was warning you with his eyes. Your shoulders slump and when you reluctantly obeyed, he turned around to leave; to talk to the two leaders and Baekhyun. The rest lingered behind to shoot questions your way.

 “WHAT HAPPENED?”

 “Why is she soaking wet?!”

“Why did you run off?”

“Na Yeon…tell us.”

“We were worried sick about you.”

“Noona…” Sehun slowly walked up to you and went down on his knees as he took your cold hands into his warm ones. Tears formed into his child-like eyes when you barely had the strength to squeeze it to show him you were ok. Tao sat on the edge of the bed, head hung low and you knew his was already crying.

“Pabo.” You chuckled. “You guys are overreacting. I…I’m not hurt. See?” You moved your arms and legs to assure them. “Don’t cry.”

“Are you hiding something from us?” Chen read your mind.

“We…we heard about the person you were running after.” A sincere Lay spoke up and the others stared at you, waiting for the truth because they knew you too well.

You shook your head slowly, feeling bad all together. *I should tell them. But how?* “It’s no one.”

“Stop lying.” Chanyeol’s concern came out angrier than he had expected.

“Yeol I’m not. I—”

“Everyone out.” Kai came back into the room pointing out the door. “Na Yeon needs to change.”

So when everyone filed out, Kai walked up to your dresser and grabbed some clothes for you like he knew where everything was. He went up to you and put them on your lap.

“Change and get back into bed if you don’t want to go to the hospital because Kris and Suho are about to barge back in here to take you.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me.” You argued.

“Then you can try persuading them.” With that, Kai shut your door.

 You sighed and got up, but your head felt light and you suddenly swayed. Quickly, you held onto the footboard of the bed to steady yourself. *GET A GRIP Na Yeon.* You gulped and headed to the bathroom, ignoring the throbbing pain that shot through your entire body.

You hated this feeling. Being sick, being weak, you had no time for this. You didn’t want to deal with it right now.

~~~

“I took care of Minji when I was 15. She was just a baby then, but I had my grandmother too, so we managed. Then I found out Minji had cancer the same time my grandmother got really ill. When she passed away, I knew…I didn’t want to lose Minji either. She’s all I had left.”

There stood Exo listening to every detail about the reason why Minji became your daughter and the women who abandoned the two most beautiful people they have ever met. Every single word you spoke struck them hard. They were hurt for you; sorry for everything you’ve gone through to playing both roles of being a mother and father in her life.

And even more was that you were left with all these responsibilities, throwing away your youth and carrying the weight on your shoulders. If only they haven’t been so blind to see that you were forever praying, holding onto strings of hope for Minji’s well being. It was more visible to them now that your exterior of being strong was all a mask; a show to avoid pities from people because that was the LAST thing you needed in your life right now.

As mad as they wanted to be, they were all the while thankful that it was because of your parents that time has brought you to them. You were their source of motivation and they were your other half; your family.

You sat on your bed, surrounded by love and care as you concealed behind smiles. Exo of course wasn’t angry that you hid this from them, but they blamed themselves for not paying better attention to you. It pained them just as much that you wouldn’t even breakdown in front of them; to lean on them for support.

 Baekhyun sensed your restlessness and informed the others to let you relax for the night. Chanyeol unwillingly obliged; he wanted to be there with you. He wanted to stay by your side and comfort you in any way possible.

“It’s ok Yeol.” You grinned half heartedly. “I’ll be better tomorrow. I’m probably just tired.” You assured them.

They nodded gloomily and each kissed you good night. If you weren’t sick or weak like you were now, you’d probably rejected it and made a huge fuss, but you didn’t have the strength to do so. Besides, they were just worried and you understood. Kris made them leave your room and with a small smile, he left too. Suho walked up to you and wrapped his arms around you for a hug.

“Sleep well,” He whispered, smoothing out your hair. He held onto your shoulders and leaned back to look at you. “You look awful.”

“Gee, thanks.” You said sarcastically.

He chuckled and pinched your cheek. “It was a joke. You’re always beautiful.” He grinned, got up, and left so you could sleep.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSMSWfTGbpI&feature=related

But you couldn’t sleep. Your body was dying for some rest, but your mind wouldn’t stop thinking.  There was a battle inside of you and you couldn’t fight it off. Your mother’s face kept replaying over and over in your head and she was all you saw whenever you close your eyes.

And when you finally fell asleep, loud voices speaking incoherent words wouldn’t leave you alone. All the unnecessary yelling and screaming was all that had occupied your dreams that night. You felt yourself falling deeper into a pit hole and the little strength you had left was engulfed by nightmares.

..

……..

 “No…no…don’t leave us!”

“I don’t need you!”

“Minji needs you!”

“You ruined my life…”

“I’m sorry!”

“I’m so sorry!”

“Leave me alone!”

“Minji’s dying..umma! Save her!”

“No.”

“She’s not my daughter.”

“She has 1 year left…”

“Your blood isn’t helping her…”

“She’s dying…”

“She’s dying...”

“She’s dying…”

…

……..

You shot up from bed screaming, panting and heart pounding severely against your chest. You took immense gasps for air as your nails dug deep into your bed sheets. Shaking your head continuously trying to pry the nightmare out of your memory, you immediately crawled out of bed and collapsed onto the floor. Darkness borders around you, not allowing you to see much of anything.

As you held onto your chest for dear life, you trembled in fear. Seeing visions of your mother, her harsh words, and Minji leaving your side, you’re beginning to lose yourself. The weather outside wasn’t helping either seeing that heavy rainfall pounded against your window pain, adding onto your distress; making your inside coil.

You had no idea you were holding back so much and now you couldn’t prevent yourself from breaking into pieces.  *I’m stronger than this…I’m not losing. I can’t.* You brought your knees up to your chest and hid your face into it as you curled up in a ball on the floor.

A warm presence stooped to your side and a strong pair of arms scooped you into his embrace. He held you closely there on the floor, allowing himself to be your shadow of comfort. You don’t move away or deject, but only held him tighter. Your hands clung onto his shirt firmly and your unsteady breathing scares him a little.

Kai felt cold sweat all over your body while you shuddered in his arms. He swept his hand down the side of your face, wiping away beads of agitation. He ran his fingers through your damp hair and brushed your bangs out of your eyes. The temperature of your body told him you were having an extremely high fever.

“You’re sick…” He whispered. You shook your head, but he clearly knows you’re lying. “Don’t say you’re not.”

 “Kai…” You called out his name so quietly, barely audible. “Minji…I—I...can’t save her. I can’t. They told me it won’t work even if they tried. My blood…”

“Shh.” Kai’s mouth turned dry and his voice shuts off. Not a single word of comfort would come out to console you because there wasn’t anything he could say that will make you feel better. He shuts his eyes and pressed his cheek against your flaming forehead.

“It’s not in your will to save her, Na Yeon. Stop being so hard on yourself because you’re physically and emotionally killing your body.” He bites the bottom of his lip and his brows creased. “You’re hurting, you’re hurting me…don’t do this. Let it out and stop holding back…cry on me. Just cry.”

Your tensed body falls freely in his embrace and your parched lips quiver. You let go of your pride and suddenly you want to give him all you’ve got. A soft cry escaped your mouth and you let go. Everything you locked inside your heart came flowing out shamelessly and endless tears raced down your cheeks in floods.

You cried so hard, sobbing with all your heart into Kai’s chest as if you’ve never cried in your life before. It was true, you’ve never cried this hard in front of anyone. Yet, here you were drowning both you and Kai in your pitiful agony, but it’s too late to stop. Loud weeping echoed your room and you didn’t care how blatant you appeared.

“Everything will be fine. I already told you Minji’s not going anywhere. Trust me wont you?”

It is now that Kai see’s the true you; the real Na Yeon. Seeing you breaking down, shattering in shards of glass pierced straight into his soul and he can only be there to hold you. Honestly speaking, he feared your tears the most. It was his vulnerability. When you’re crying immensely into his chest, he felt your tears digging deep into his heart and that’s where he made room to steal your pain from you. That is where he decided that all your tears and suffering should live because you don’t deserve it. You don’t deserve any of this and it was about time for you to break down.

 “Na Yeon ah, I love you so much…” He whispered tenderly into your ears.

~~~

OTL. Sorry please forgive me for horrible chapter! But yay for update right? Thank you all so much for commenting and reading! I just want to let you know that i appreciate every comment and i read them all! <3

I havent edit this chapter yet. I'm dying for some sleep so ill do it when i have time. 

Btw, I love the song so much. I hope u listened to it while u read :)