Minho woke to the sound of singing birds.  It was early, about 6:00AM.  He’d started to get used to it by now. 

He sat up with a start when he remembered that today was his first soccer practice of the season.  A couple of his friends had texted him yesterday saying they wanted to meet up early to warm up together.  He had agreed without thinking about it; it had been around the same time he was getting home from the hospital.

Now he cringed at his decision.

Then he sighed and began to dress.  He couldn’t change it now.  Maybe it’d be good for him to get out of the hospital a bit.

His mood improved in the ride over, and he greeted the nurses and doctors as he went to her room.  He entered quietly and addressed the attendant busily cleaning the equipment.  “Has she woken up yet?” he asked out of habit. 

“Nope, not yet,” the nurse replied, “She didn’t fall asleep until about midnight, so hopefully she sleeps a little longer.” 

Minho thanked her and settled in to his chair.  For a long while, he simply sat and watched her sleep.  Her chest rose and fell evenly with each breath, and there was a slight smile on her face.  Maybe she was having a good dream.   Maybe she was dreaming about him.   A while later, Minho checked the clock and was surprised to see that two hours had passed.  It was about 9:30 now. 

He knew he’d have to leave at 10:30 to meet his friends on time, but he was hoping to be able to talk to her before he left.  As the clock ticked on, her eyes still didn’t open, and Minho accepted that he wasn’t going to see her awake this morning. 

At 10:20, he rose from the chair and made his way to the door.  He stopped a nurse in the hallway outside her room and asked her to tell his girlfriend that he had stopped by and he’d be back later.  He swallowed his disappointment and trudged bravely to his car.

As he drove over to the soccer fields, her favorite song began to play over the radio, and he felt tears come to his eyes.  But he refused to cry, even as the memories surfaced.  The only times he had ever cried was when his mother died and when his favorite toy had broken when he was two.  It was a good streak; no sense in breaking it now. 

He was glad when he pulled into the parking lot and turned off the car.  Someone knocked on the window, making him jerk up, almost hitting his head on the roof. 

“Dude, come on!” His friend Taemin called, gesturing for him to get out. 

“Coming, coming,” Minho muttered, even though he knew Taemin couldn’t hear him anyways.  He took a deep breath to gather his composure before opening the door.  He almost hit Taemin, who jumped back. 

“Watch where you’re swinging that thing!”

Minho just chuckled.  “You deserved it!”

“Hey!  I haven’t done anything to you…today!” he protested.

“Yeah…today,” Minho allowed and walked around to the back of his car, popping the trunk and unloading his soccer stuff.  He slung the bag over his shoulder and followed his chipper friend to the field.  Another friend, Jonghyun, was already there, dribbling between his feet skillfully.  Taemin ran out to join him while Minho took a seat on the bleachers to put on his cleats.   He took a quick swig from his water bottle before jogging out on the field to warm up. 

Practice passed in a blur, and Minho found himself enjoying the exercise. 

Two and a half hours later, he collapsed in a sweaty heap next to Jonghyun and Taemin.  “Dang, coach worked us hard today,” Jonghyun complained.

“So.  Much.  Running!” Taemin agreed, totally out of breath. 

“I don’t know.  I kind of liked it,” Minho put in casually as he untied his cleats. 

“Yeah, but that’s ‘cause you actually like running,” Taemin followed, elbowing his friend in the side teasingly.  Minho just shrugged and smiled.

After a couple minutes of comfortable silence, another of their teammates, Luhan, ran up to the group.  “Hey do you guys want to go grab some ice cream with me and Kai?” he asked a little breathlessly. 

The three shared a glance, and Jonghyun spoke for all of them.  “Yeah sure!” he replied, “Where are we going?  ‘Cause I know I want to get some lunch too.”

“We were thinking Cold Stone.  Over on 3^rd Street.  That’s right near a burger place,” Luhan answered.

“Sounds great!” Taemin jumped in with a grin. 

“Cool!  Let’s meet  at Cold Stone first though.  We’ll see you there then!” Luhan finished and began to walk back to Kai at the end of the field. 

Taemin waved to his retreating back, and then turned to Minho.  “Hey Minho…” he started with wide eyes.

“Let me guess,” Minho cut him off, “You need a ride because you rode the bus here again.”

Taemin nodded bashfully, a blush coloring his cheeks red.  “I couldn’t find my keys,” he admitted. 

Jonghyun broke into raucous laughter, rolling on the grass.  Minho followed, and even taemin cracked an embarrassed smile.  Minho shook his head at his friend’s forgetfulness and agreed to help him out.  “Come on then,” he told Taemin, ruffling his hair as he stood. 

“Ahh!  Hyung, my hair!” he grumbled, smoothing it down as he followed Minho to his car. 

They drove quickly to the ice cream shop, Minho secretly glad to have some company on the car ride over.  Taemin chattered on about random things, making Minho almost temporarily forget the person who usually occupied the passenger seat.  Almost. 

As they entered the shop, Taemin saw Kai and dashed to his side, no doubt to tell him one of the stories he’d told Minho in the car.  Minho, on the other hand, paused in the doorway, staring at his phone.  It told him that he had three missed calls.  All from the hospital.  Doctor Lee’s number.

His stomach dropped to the floor, and with shaking dingers he pressed redial.  The doctor picked up on the first ring.  “Minho,” he began. 

Minho felt his heart stop as the man continued.  He hung up without saying goodbye and crashed back through the door, sprinting to his car.  From his seat, Taemin watched his friend leave with a puzzled expression.  “I wonder what’s up with him…”

Author's Note:  Sorry this took so long to post! I had it written on my iPod, it was just a matter of typing it on the computer! Uh-oh!  What's happened with Minho?  :O  This story probably has like 5 or 6 more chapters left, so it's not going to be very long at all.  Also, to my readers: Can you please, please, please check out my one-shot named A Little Bit of Wonderful?? It's my contest entry, and a part of the judging is how many subscribers/comments you have. I would be so thankful!! :) Thank you in advance!! To help, here's the link: 

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/257221/a-little-bit-of-wonderful-one-shot-bigbang-romance-seungri-originalcharacter