He’s okay.
 

He’s okay.
 

The phrase repeated a few more times in my head before it actually sank in. I stared at Baekhyun’s father in awe. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t even think I could say anything if I even knew what to say. I was definitely prepared for the worst, but now that I had the best news, I couldn’t react.
 

A nurse running up to his father snapped me out of my trance.
 

“He’s coding,” she said.
 

I stared at her in confusion, wishing I understood what that could have meant, but I assumed it was bad. A nurse would not be running up to him for a reason that was nothing other than bad news.
 

“,” he muttered under his breath as he took off to what I assumed was Baekhyun’s room.
 

All of the weight that I felt fall off my shoulders was back within a millisecond. Doctors were supposed to be well composed and they definitely weren’t supposed to panic, but the look on Baekhyun’s father’s spoke otherwise.
 

I followed closely behind the nurse, desperate to escape the waiting room I had been in for the past 9 hours. I needed to see him. These could possibly be his last seconds on this earth. And with that thought my pace quickened.
 

I could only hope that Baekhyun would be okay.
 

Baekhyun’s father slammed the door open and all I could hear were beeping machines and frantic attendings trying to figure out what was wrong. All the other madness seemed to fade away when Baekhyun came into my view.
 

His face was swollen and there were stitches all across his face. He was having multiple spasms in his bed and he couldn’t seem to stay still. My heart ached. He must’ve been in so much pain.
 

“He’s maxed out on pain meds, but obviously they’re not enough,” One of the attendings said.
 

Baekhyun’s father walked up to Baekhyun and grabbed him by the shoulders trying to keep him still. “Baekhyun, I know it hurts. I know it hurts a lot. But you did it, son. You’re alive. You won the battle.” Baekhyun stared back into his father’s eyes while breathing heavily and seemed to calm down as he laid back in his bed. The beeping of the machines began to steady and everyone in the room sighed in relief.
 

“He’s conscious?” I asked as suddenly everyone in the room turned to me. Baekhyun’s father nodded and everyone in the room started splitting like the Red Sea as I walked towards my frail looking boy-… whatever he was to me.
 

I gently sat down on his bed, desperately wanting to his fake, but I knew that it must’ve been in a lot of pain, so I restrained myself. He tried to sit up, but I shook my head.
 

“Don’t move. You need rest.” I assumed that Baekhyun probably couldn’t talk considering how much pain he had to go through just to move his mouth. He let out a huff as his hand went searching for mine. I let out a small chuckle as I grabbed his hand and cupped it to my face.
 

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Baekhyun’s father said. I mouthed a ‘thank you’ to him and all he did was nod in reply as he left. I had never felt more grateful to a person in my life. The last thing I truly cared about was still alive and it was all because of him.
 

I brought Baekhyun’s hand into my lap as I interlaced it with my own.
 

“Does it hurt a lot?” I asked. He gently nodded and I couldn’t help but frown. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. Things could have been a lot worse. His body could have responded to the surgery terribly or even worse, he could have died. I took a deep breath as I realized that he was alive and that he’d eventually be fine.
 

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I looked over at the door and there stood a very familiar looking, well dressed man. I heaved a sigh. I completely forgot. Baekhyun finished fighting his battle and I still had to fight my own.
 

“Long time, no see, Onew,” I said, immediately recognizing the lawyer.
 

He flashed a closed grin. “Sorry to interrupt you, but I need to speak to you about your grandmother.” Another squeeze was given to my hand.
 

“I figured as much… How did you even find me here?” I asked, standing up from Baekhyun’s bed.
 

“Lawyers have their ways.” I narrowed my eyes at the man and rolled my eyes.
 

“I’ll be back, Baek.”
 

After closing the door behind me, I recognized a rather whiny voice coming from the waiting room. As we approached closer, I saw Jiyeon harassing the secretary at the desk asking if she could visit Baekhyun. How did she even know he was here?
 

My eyes widened and I clung to a wall trying not to be seen by her.
 

“What the heck are you doing?” Onew asked as his eyebrows scrunched upwards.
 

“That girl can’t see that I’m here,” I said, nodding to Jiyeon with my head.
 

He shook his head while rolling his eyes. “You are an adult now; you shouldn’t have to be worrying about trivial teenager problems anymore.”
 

I scoffed. “I believe eighteen is still considered a teenager, Onew. Now come on, there’s another waiting room on the other side of the building,” I said, hastily getting away from Jiyeon’s view.
 

Onew shook his head as he followed me down the hall.
 

“Who is she anyway? I saw her at your school earlier today.”
 

I stopped in my tracks and spun around to face him. “So it’s your fault she’s here?”
 

“Why would it be my fault?”
 

“So you went to my school, figuring that I’d be in there, but I wasn’t and you were directed here…” I thought for a bit and continued. “Well, absolutely no one knew about this surgery except Mrs. Kim in the attendance office because I had called her earlier this morning. And you probably shook her down for my whereabouts? And Jiyeon must have obviously been in the office as well and overheard…” I sighed. “And knowing her blabber mouth the entire school will now about this by the end of the day…” I trailed off.
 

“With an intuition like yours, you should be an investigator or something. Or maybe even a, dare I say, a lawyer?” he suggested, continuing to walk down the hall.
 

“I really wouldn’t want to use my intuition as a career. It seems kind of unfair to those who study so hard while it just kind of comes naturally to me.”
 

“A lot of things in life are unfair.”
 

“I think I, of all people, would understand the unfairness of life. I think I’d like to try and avoid it at all costs.”
 

Onew grew silent and I knew he knew what had been brought up. “You know, I thought you’d never need me again after the whole ordeal with your parents…”
 

“Me neither…” I said with a sigh.
 

Onew was still in law school when my family first met him. My father had unlawfully been issued a parking ticket and he hired Onew to help resolve it, figuring it would be cheaper to get a lawyer that was still in school.
 

I was only 12 when I first met him. His name is actually Jinki, but for some reason, he introduced himself to me as Onew. I figured it was just a way for him to get along with a shy kid that didn’t easily become acquainted with people.
 

After the whole parking ticket issue was solved, we never really needed his services. His office was stationed right in the heart of our town, so we’d see him quite often.
 

It was four years later when we, or I, needed his service again. He was a fully established lawyer by that time, and he made the transition of my parents’ belongings rather simple for my grandmother and me.
 

Now that I am touching on the subject, I do remember there being quite a large amount of charges on the second party that crashed into my parents…
 

“Oh, hello Jinki, what brings you here?” Baekhyun’s father asked as we passed him in the halls.
 

My eyes widened in realization. Onew was the lawyer that helped us sue the Byun family.
 

“Just needed to speak to your son’s girlfriend about a few things,” Onew replied curtly. I inwardly squealed about the my newly found label even if it wasn’t even official because official or not it still made me feel tingly on the inside.
 

“Ah, well, carry on,” Baekhyun’s father said, walking into another patient’s room.
 

“What a small world…” Onew muttered under his breath.
 

After getting lost in the endless hallways of the hospital, we finally arrived in the other waiting room and we took a seat.
 

“How do you know that my, uh, boyfriend’s father is that guy?” I asked, stumbling over the ‘b’ word.
 

“I had to deal with them quite, um, back then. I had a case involving them.” I already knew what he was talking about. Obviously he wasn’t legally allowed to bring that up, but now that I already knew there was no point in hiding it anymore.
 

“So it is true, isn’t it?” I asked, slumping in my seat.


“What’s true?”
 

“Baekhyun’s sister killed my parents.” Onew was surprised and ran a hand messily through his hair. I probably shouldn’t have been so blatant about the topic, but I needed to get it off my chest.
 

With a heavy sigh, he reluctantly replied, “Yes, his sister did indeed kill your parents.”