Jonghyun laid stiff in the hospital bed, unable to move his head more than a couple of inches. He blinked thrice before he could see clearly enough to tell where he was. The moment he tried lifting his arm to steady himself as he stood, he shouted in pain. He had hardly moved at all, he noticed, as a shorter woman in pure white hospital attire stepped into the room.. She calmly spoke, not touching him as she approached the bed.

            “Mister Kim, I need you to try and stay still. I know you want to get up.” The woman poured a glass of water, carefully bringing it to his lips. When the plastic touched them, he quivered in pain again. “You need to stay still and rest."

            “Ren,” was all he could say, though it was hard to. The bandages that masked his lower face had made it so. “Where’s Ren and Baekho?” He twitched through the bandages again. He tried his hardest to sit up again, hissing.

            “Jonghyun, I need you to lie still. You can’t move, you’ve been badly burned.” The nurse did not leave the room, but stepped back only a bit. “You have friends out there. Would you like me to invite them in?”

            Almost giving up on standing on his own, Jonghyun nodded. He closed his eyes, knowing that Minki would not be the one rushing in at that moment. He felt pressure on his exposed hand as well as a voice along with it.

            “Thank God you’re alive.” Minhyun’s voice could be heard rejoicing, almost. Jonghyun heard a sniffle as he felt the IVs move as the taller boy’s thumb the top of his hand.
            “What about Baekho? And Ren?” he asked urgently. All be could do was move his eyes, lips and single hand. His eyes could still hardly see and his heart and mind could hardly care for anything else other than Minki.
            “I haven’t seen them. Thank God we found you.” Minhyun said again, more grateful for Jonghyun’s life than where the other two had been.
            “Where’s Aron?” he asked slowly, his teeth clenched.

            Jonghyun sensed a smile from his other side. The bandages would not let him see past them, not matter how far he’d moved his eyes. “I’m right here, JR.”

            If Jonghyun could have moved from that very bed and wrapped his hands around the eldest’s throat and killed him, he gladly would have. As Aaron’s figure came into view, he saw nothing but a genuine smile upon his face. He was happy for him. Happy that his leader had lived through the accident. But if he was there with him, where were the others? He asked the same question again, hard. “Tell me. Is Baekho okay? And for Christ’s sake, where is Ren!?”

           Minhyun shook his head. The morning sunlight shone behind him, and Jonghyun worried more. He shook Minhyun’s hand from his and smacked it down on the mattress next to him. Minhyun backed up this time.

            “Where are they!?” he shouted as loudly as his charred throat would allow him.
            “I,” Minhyun paused, looking him directly into his reddened eyes. “I’ll call them. Again.”

            Minhyun stepped into the hall, bringing up the recently called list on his nearly dead cell phone and tapped the screen where he saw Minki’s name.

---

            Minki didn’t move for what seemed like hours. He refused to open his eyes while he was awake, causing him to fall asleep quickly and stay like that until the phone vibrated in his pocket. He still didn’t open his eyes, even as he stirred. He’d hoped that all that had happened the day previous was only a dream. He’d hoped that he hadn’t actually asked Dongho to sleep with him, that Jonghyun hadn’t gotten angry, that they hadn’t fought, and that most of all, Dongho hadn’t done what Minki had so vividly remembered.

           His shirt stuck to his chest, and that was a sure sign that he hadn’t drempt it all. It took all of his will for him to open his eyes. When he did, he’d seen only the largest puddle of blood he’d ever seen at his feet, where he had remembered that Dongho had fallen. Where his body had gone, he hadn’t known. But as he struggled to reach for the still ringing phone in his pocket, he realized that he was no longer tied. He flailed from the chair, standing. He moved directly to the door and smacked a hand against it several times before he tried the knob. It was unlocked. He turned it quickly, stepping into the next dark room. Again, he moved straight to the door, leading himself to the third and final room that he’d find himself in. He pushed himself out of the third door and into the sunlight. He ran as fast and as far as he could before reaching into his pocket.

           The screen of his phone read that he had received 7 calls, all of them missed, and all of them from Minhyun. He listened to half of each of the messages he had left. The first two were incomprehensible. The only words he could decipher were Jonghyun’s name and hints of a tragic accident. The more words he heard, the more he worried. From what he’d made out from the messages, Jonghyun was badly burned and Minhyun was not sure whether or not he would make it through the next hour. He pressed the green button next to his friend’s name and bounced frantically before realizing that he hadn’t called him, but Minhyun had instead.

           “Ren,” he said quickly. “Ren, thank God you’re okay. Where are you?”

           Minki looked down at his bloodied shirt and removed it from his chest before answering. He tucked it into a pocket of the jeans that he had meant to wear to the party the night before.

           “I don’t know where I am.” he told him. He remembered Dongho, the loud sound of the shot that flew through his temple, and the fact that Minhyun hadn’t known any of that.
“Get to the hospital. JR’s asking for you.”

           Minki’s heart instantly picked up speed at the mention of Jonghyun in a hospital. Something had to have happened to him while he was locked in that room he’d just left. He cursed himself for ever walking out of that house. He glanced around quickly, scanning the streets for signs.

           “What happened to him?” Minki asked as he started quickly down the street again. He next found himself at a very familiar convenience store.
           “Get here, please.”

           Jonghyun’s boisterous pleads could be heard on Minki’s end of the call, and he shuddered as he continued to move. “What happened to him!?” he asked again, his lips puckered and his mind a mess.

           “Where are you? Joonkin will come for you.”
           “I’m at that store not far from the house.” he explained in a strangely calm tone. “What happened to JR? Minhyun, please tell me!”

           The line went dead. Minki took a heavy seat on the curb in front of the store, his face in his knees as he drew his legs against his chest. What could Jonghyun have done that would have landed him in the hospital for the second time in those last two weeks? Surely it couldn’t have been something that life threatening. Minhyun would have told him, but he worried nonetheless. He brought his hand to his face at least ten times to clear the tears from his face before Joonkin had pulled up in front of him. He stepped out of the car, pulling him to his feet at once. He almost immediately took his stained hair in his hand, inspecting it.

           “What’s this? Ren, are you all right?” Joonkin took him by the shoulders. Minki’s chin fell to his chest and he didn’t respond. He held his eyes closed tightly, trying his hardest not to allow a single tear to escape. He didn’t look up, but Joonkin took him in his arms and placed him in the passenger's seat. They drove only a few blocks before the manager spoke again.

           “Where’s Baekho?”
           “I don’t know.” Minki answered quickly. He rested an elbow on the armrest, and his forehead in his palm. Those were the only words he spoke before they pulled up to the hospital. The older male had hardly stopped the vehicle before Minki’s feet were on the ground. He raced through the Emergency Room doors towards Minhyun who peered from behind a corner. He didn’t stop until he reached him. Minhyun said nothing, quickly leading him to the room.

           Before he stepped inside, he heard a nurse cross the room and tell him,

           “Jonghyun, we’ve decided to move you to the Intensive Care Unit. Your parents have not been contacted; where did you say they were again?"

           Jonghyun’s voice was more raspy than normal as he spoke. Two more nurses passed by Minki to enter the room. They each took one side of the bed, pushing it closer to the door. Minki listened as his boyfriend spoke, not knowing that he was here.

           “They’re on business. They’re always on business. Hell if I knew where they went this time.” He said, obviously angry at his parents, as well as the woman’s questions.
           “No matter; your manager has signed for you.” She took the IV hanger in one hand and pushed it through the door. “You should be thankful for having such a kind gentleman as a guardian.

           Minki stepped away from the door as  the bed came into view. He turned his head. He hadn’t wanted to see the damage, even though he had no idea what had happened. Intensive care meant that he was more injured than Minki could imagine, and it brought tears to his eyes. The nurses gazed at him for a moment, his upper body still exposed, the brown tint of the dry blood still painted his torso and hair. It was easy to tell that they’d wanted to ask if he needed any help, but they soon turned through the door, and Jonghyun’s eyes had set upon him. More tears, if anymore could have existed at this point, fell from his eyes as he studied his boyfriend. He was bandaged from chin to toe, and the sight could have killed Minki in an instant if he wasn’t already standing in a hospital.

           “Ren!” Jonghyun exclaimed. He lifted his uninjured arm towards him, as and much as he wanted to turn around and leave, still angry with him for the days before, he couldn’t. He moved to his side, the nurses annoyed, but they didn’t care. Minki took his hand and smiled through his tears. He was happy that he was alive, yet full of emotion because he was barely hanging where he was. He cursed himself then and there for allowing him to ever walk through the door.

           “I’m right here, JR.” Minki let more tears run. The nurses began pushing the bed, though he hadn’t moved yet. He walked with them as they did so. The Intensive Care ward was not far from where they were. The five of them stepped onto the elevator, traveling up four floors. When the nurses had finished replacing the needles in his IV, and connecting him to all sorts of monitors (neither of them knew what any of them did), they’d left, leaving the door open only slightly. Minki took a light seat on the edge of the bed and looked the other in the eye. Blood ran from Jonghyun’s horribly split and burnt lip, and he cleaned it with a finger. His eyes didn’t leave the other boy’s. He felt Jonghyun’s grip tighten around his hand. He didn’t move.

           Neither of them moved. They only watched each other. The true love that lingered in their eyes spoke for itself. Nothing had to be said for either of them to know what the other was thinking. In that moment, they forgave. It no longer mattered to Jonghyun what Minki had done, and nothing that Jonghyun could ever say or do would convince Minki that he did not love him as  deeply as he knew he did. The heat between them was unmistakable.

           “I’d rather die than lose you.” Minki finally said honestly.
           “Don’t say that, Ren.” Jonghyun objected.
           “I would.” the blonde placed his face in the hand of his love. Jonghyun could feel nothing on any part of his limp and lifeless body other than the wetness from Minki’s face on his hand. Not one or the other of them had another word to say. They could have stayed still for hours without parting their lips, and every emotion would have been conveyed perfectly.

           Minki's look begged Jonghyun to stay with him, and Jonghyun’s openly took his wish into an embrace. It was as if they’d locked a promise between their two hearts that neither of them had ever intended to break. They hadn’t needed to say it aloud. They’d keep their promise until their final days, and even after.