Kim Hyeri’s / Your POV

Stepping into your house, you headed straight for the bathroom. Your tensed muscles relaxed under the warm water that poured down your body. You let your thoughts wander as you stood in the shower. After what seems to be a long time, you finally stepped out of the bathroom in your pyjamas before snuggling comfortably in your bed with the comforter wrapped tightly around your body. Closing your eyes, you tried to get some sleep but your mind kept drifting off to the images of Halmoni lying in the hospital. Pushing the images away was to no avail and you ended up staining your checks with a batch of fresh tears. You found yourself crying to sleep once again after a long while.

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The following day…

Getting out of bed, you made your way to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. You had to admit that you looked horrible. Your hair was messy from tossing and turning in bed and you had visible eye bags under your puffy eyes from a sleepless night of crying. Groaning in frustration, you headed down to the kitchen where you rummaged through the cabinets until you found what you were looking for hidden away at the back of one of the many shelves. Opening the sealed container, your nose caught the whiff of coffee. Plugging in the coffee maker, you brewed a jug of black coffee just the way you like it.

*How long has it been since I drank coffee?* You thought to yourself.

As the coffee was being brewed, you went back up to your bathroom to freshen up. Even after taking a quick shower, you still looked awful, especially your eyes. You didn’t want anyone to see you in that state and opted to use make-up to cover up. Once done, you grabbed your school bag and went to check on your coffee.

The nice aroma of coffee filled your nostrils and you eagerly poured it into a mug before bringing it to your lips. You sighed in content when the warm liquid slid down your throat. It was refreshing to say the least. As you downed the last drop, your phone rang. You froze, thinking it was from the hospital. After a few hesitant seconds, you placed your mug down and fished your phone out from your school blazer pocket and checked for the caller ID. It was Yunho.

“Hyeri?” Yunho’s voice was heard from the other line. It was laced with worry and you knew what it was about.

“You know, don’t you?” You inquired.

“Yeah. Are you feeling better? I’m really sorry I couldn’t be there for you.” He apologised.

“It’s ok.” You replied softly.

“It’s not ok. I fail as a samchon.” You could hear him sigh on the other line and you knew he was feeling guilty.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m completely fine.” You lied. Another sigh came from Yunho before a silence ensued.

“You know you can always come to me for anything, right?” He asked, breaking the silence.

You nodded your head but stopped midway when you realised that he couldn’t see you. “Yeah, I know.”

Another silence ensued.

“I have something to do. I’ll call you up again later. Stay strong, princess. Everything will be all right.” He assured you before ending the call.

You leaned against the kitchen counter and closed your eyes. *Will everything really be all right?*

After a few minutes, you pushed yourself off the counter and grabbed the mug to place it in the sink. You then grabbed your school bag and headed off with heavy footsteps.

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You reached your class 5 minutes before the first bell rang and slid onto your seat. Even with the caffeine in your body, you still felt tired and drained – physically, mentally and emotionally. You could feel the heated stares coming from the few EXO boys that were in your class but refused to look at them.

When the teacher entered, he looked expectantly at you for an explanation after yesterday’s event only to get silence and a hard glare in return. He looked away promptly and continued his lesson as per usual.

As the lesson continued, you could feel the occasional glances thrown your way from a certain group of boys. At one point, a letter was thrown onto your table. You opened the crumpled letter and read its contents.

‘What happened yesterday? –Chanyeol’

*Kai didn’t tell them, huh.* You sighed in relief. They didn’t need to know – for now.

You crumpled up the letter back again before tossing it aside, not bothering to reply. You saw the hurt expression on Chanyeol’s face through your peripheral vision and felt awful for doing so. Focusing your attention on something else, you zoned out all throughout the first half of school.

Once the bell for lunch rang, you made a quick escape from the classroom before any of the EXO boys could approach you and start bombarding you with questions. Instead of going to the school garden where they can easily find you, you made your way to the rooftop. Seeing as how the sun wasn’t shining directly at you, you laid down on the concrete floor and stared up at the sky. Looking at the drifting clouds, you yourself slowly drifted off to sleep.

When you woke up, it was already the middle of the last period so you decided to just skip it and head straight to the hospital. Halmoni was in the same condition as the day before. You sighed, raking your hand in your hair while sitting down on the vacant chair beside her bed. Taking her hand in yours, you muttered a silent prayer. Not letting go of her hand, you proceeded to tell her all about the happenings in your life and also reminisce about the past even though you knew that you wouldn’t receive any response. Seeing as how she wasn’t going to wake up any time soon, you got up from your seat and promised to visit again the next day before you could break down again.

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The night before, you had made up your mind to resign from all your afternoon jobs and to just concentrate on your errands for 2PM since the pay was higher. So now, the pay that you will get combined with EXO’s contributions made it possible to pay for most of Halmoni’s hospital fees. You were pretty sure DBSK pitched in secretly for the rest of the fees so it can be paid fully. Instead of getting angry at them, you were thankful.

You were currently on another errand for 2PM. A difficult one. The objective was to lead a group to steal the drugs that were going to be exchanged. Looking through a pair of binoculars, you laid flat on your stomach on the rooftop of a building. You were silently watching an on-going illegal exchange between two mafias at a port. Taking note of what the suitcases contained, the number of people present and the weapons that were tucked away and ready to be used, you eased yourself from your lying position. Stealthily, you moved in closer to the meeting point of the exchange.

You watched as the suitcases containing the drugs were carefully loaded into a truck from a secluded elevated platform near the meeting point. There were two drivers and both were unarmed. You smirked. The truck was the first to leave the area just like how you predicted. You glued your eyes on it as it slowly approached a wider road that was directly below you. Smirking, you took out your walkie-talkie.

“Unarmed target approaching. Get ready. 3… 2… 1…” You informed.

Right after you finished counting down, two back vans appeared and blocked the truck from the front and back. Men in black hopped out of the vans and knocked out the two drivers from the truck before moving on to forcefully open the back of the truck to receive the suitcases. By this time, you were already down to assist them. Once every single suitcase was transferred to the two vans, the group went back into their respective vans with you going into the van at the front. Without a moment to lose, both vans made their escape.

However, when you thought that you were safe, gunshots reverberated through the air. You ducked your head in reflex and the bullet barely passed above your head, breaking the windows of the vans.

“.” You cursed under your breath.

“Step on it!” You yelled at the driver who complied and sped up, hoping to lose the cars that were chasing them.

You looked over at the other van through the broken windows and saw that they were in the same state. Taking out some throwing knives, you aimed for the two front tires of the car right at the front. Steadying your hands, you threw them with precision right at your targets. The car lost control and swerved erratically before finally braking. The other unsuspecting cars crashed against it, seizing all gun fires effectively. Taking this opportunity, the two vans slipped away into the darkness of the night.

*That was a close call. I wonder why I even do this kind of things.* You slumped against the wall of the van with your heart still beating wildly after the adrenaline rush.

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That same night as you were getting ready for bed, the doorbell rang. You wanted to ignore it but it kept on ringing incessantly. Groaning, you opened the door ready to scream at whoever it was only to come face to face with the worried faces of DBSK. Your frown dissipated and you let them into your house. The 5 of you settled in the living room.

“Do you want any drinks?” You offered. They shook their heads and politely refused.

“So what are you guys doing here?” You asked.

“We just wanted to check up on you. That’s all.” Changmin explained.

“I’m fine. Really.” You tried persuading them but your voice sounded broken and tears were threatening to spill. Seeing them made your emotions rile up again and you couldn’t stop it.

“I smell coffee. I visited Halmoni a few times and she told me you only drink it when you’re depressed or stressed out. And not in little amounts either.” Yunho stared at you accusingly. You visibly gulped and tried to swallow the lump forming in your throat.

“Just let it all out.” Yoochun comforted you as he gently placed your head on his shoulder and rubbed circled onto your back. Hearing that, you let your tears flow freely.

After a good half an hour, you finally calmed down and were able to converse with your samchons. You told them about yesterday and they gave you words of comfort and assured you that Halmoni was going to be okay but you weren’t sure if you could believe them and only nodded in response.

“There was a shooting yesterday at a party that EXO and the Jang sisters had attended. Apparently, it was targeted at the two sisters but the bullets missed them. Everyone was fine and got away free of injuries.” Junsu informed you. You silently listened and acknowledged it with a nod, relief that they weren’t injured.

“Why were they targeted? Who’s the perpetrator?” You questioned.

“No idea.” Junsu shrugged and the topic was dropped.

“I think it’s time for us to go and for you to go to sleep.” Yunho announced after looking at the time. To prove his point, you were stifling a yawn.

Without any warning, he lifted you up in his arms and carried you to bed. You smiled appreciatively as he tucked you into bed.

“Night, princess.” Yunho kissed your forehead gently. The other three followed suit.

A smile tugged at the corners of your lips. It felt like you were back when you were a kid again.

“Night, samchons.” You mumbled before falling into a dreamless sleep.

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Finally, an update after a month. Can't promise you guys when the next update will be. Sorry. Thanks for putting up with me and for reading this fic. Love ya lots~ ^^