“Hey Kibum.”

The addressed man blinked several times before taking long strides toward the bed and slamming his hands down on either sides of Onew. Key’s face was only few inches away when he hissed with a dangerous tone, “You’ve been knocked out for two days and the first thing you say is ‘Hey?’ I’ve been worried sick and all you say ‘Hey?!’”

Onew chuckled lightly and ruffled Key’s hair before answering nonchalantly, “I did say ‘Kibum,’ you know.”

Key looked at his hyung with an appalled expression before groaning and leaning back. With one hand on his hip, the younger sighed with a pout while fixing his messy hair with his free hand. “Stupid smart aleck.”

The older chuckled again, but this time, ended with a series of coughing. Key quickly rushed closer to Onew, whom had tried waving the younger singer away to prevent any closeness, and looked at the sickly man with a worried face.

“Hyung, a-are you okay? Sh-should I get the doctor?” Key looked hastily around the room and noticed the cup of water on the side table. He grabbed the white plastic cup and handed it to Onew. “Drink some water while I get someone.”

The older took the cup, but instead of drinking the liquid, he shook his head. After the coughing fit had died down, Onew looked up at Key and smiled. “Even the almighty Key stutters, huh?”

At this, Key exploded in frustration at his elder. “Can you stop joking around? I’m – we’re really worried about you and you – you just keep—ugh! Hyung, do you know what kind of situation you’re in? You’ve been sick for months and you’re not getting better! I don’t get it, Jinki hyung. Do you really have the time to joke around? Unbelievable!” Key panted, letting off the anger in short breaths.

Onew fidgeted; he had never been the type to take scolding well. He hated criticism, and although criticism was a given factor in this type of career, Onew never got used to it. He disliked receiving scolding from his own member, but what can he do? Onew always messed up. Knowing this, he looked down in shame and mumbled a shy apology.

Now, Key wasn’t a total cold-hearted male. He immediately felt guilty, all too aware of Lee Jinki’s sensitive persona. Still, Key wasn’t a pushover; he wanted his hyung to know that the rest of the SHINee members were worried sick for their leader. Seeing Onew take this situation so lightly, quite frankly, hurt Key.

The atmosphere was awkward and tense, leaving the two singers at loss. Few minutes passed by without any conversation when Key, being the more straight-forward person he was, decided to break it. (It was, after all, slightly his fault… Slightly.) “Hyung, scoot over.”

Onew looked up with confusion and even more surprise when the younger unexpectedly climbed into the hospital bed. “K-Kibum-ah! I’m sick! You shouldn’t – !”

“Well, you shouldn’t joke around, but you did, didn’t you? You have no right to say anything to me, Jinki hyung.”

Speechless, Onew obediently moved a bit toward the edge to make space for Key. Once comfortable, the two stared at the ceiling, silence hovering over the room. This time, however, the silence was peaceful.

“Hyung, sorry I – that was disrespectful of me,” Key spoke up, shifting around in the bed. He laid on his side and faced Onew. Meanwhile, Onew faced away (although his body was in a supine position), his cheeks tainted pink with embarrassment. Key was way too close for comfort – not that he hated it or anything.

“I-It’s alright, Bum-ah. I know you’re just worried,” Onew replied. “Thanks.” A sudden boost of confidence from the short word ran through Onew, allowing him to look toward Key. Their eyes met, but instead of looking away like he normally would, Onew smiled brightly. Key replied with a smile of his own. Unlike many smiles from the past few months, their smiles were genuine and actually filled with happiness. The air around them was serene, as if Onew really wasn’t sick or as if Key didn’t have a busy schedule to attend to.

In fact, after few quiet minutes, the two SHINee members were quick to fall asleep; into a sleep that actually, for the first time in a long while, was well-rested.

Author's Note:  GUUUUYYS. It's so late and I don't know. I really don't like this update -- actually, I'm just not confident about writing anymore. I don't even know why I started feeling this toward my work/s. Writer's block is getting to me (again!) and I feel like this was too forced. This whole story is just a jumble of incoherent words and timeline. NOTHING MAKES SENSE. NOTHING.

But don't worry, I'm not going to discontinue this story. I'm just really sorry it's taking me so long to update each chapter. They're so short and I don't know... ;_____;

Well, the next person was already given out during Key's segment (OBVIOUS HINT IS OBVIOUS) so wait for that ! c:

Thanks to everyone that has patiently waited for my snail-paced updates. Sorry again D:

/last thing.
I noticed that I update LATE at night and I think it is because I get more creative and into writing later at night. But, at the same time, my brain is kind of hazy so things that make sense right now might not when I'm more awake... Yeah. Whenever I make edits to already published chapters, I'll be sure to (somehow) notify you guys.

Thanks and sorry, again!