The next few hours, the members were all in a state of limbo. They didn’t know what to do. They were either pacing or checking on the unresponsive Dong Woon, or they were pacing and checking on Dong Woon. Except for Doo Jun. He had stayed by the maknae’s bed side, not moving. Just staring at the comatose man. There weren’t any tears, any emotions. Just empty eyes fixed on the face of the unconscious man. If Dong Woon were to see his leader being in that state, he would’ve thought someone abducted the leader and replaced him with some emotionless alien. As it is, the members were thinking about how to get the leader away from the hospital. They needed their rest, and especially Doo Jun. They tried coaxing, cajoling, yelling, bribing, whacking, pulling and even begging. Not only they didn’t make any headway, the leader didn’t even respond! It was as if Doo Jun had also entered a state of coma along with the maknae. Not only they had to deal with the news of Dong Woon, they also had to deal with the leader in that state. Jun Hyung finally had enough and he just dragged the others back with him, leaving the leader in the hospital alone. It might seem cruel, but he had others to think about as well. And he was just not in the mood to give a damn about the leader’s behaviour when he still had to digest and accept the crushing fact that the baby of their group might not be coming back to them. The car ride home was as bad as he had thought it would be, dark and oppressing as Doo Jun was being.

The manager had left to do damage control and prevent any news from leaking. It was working. Nothing had been mentioned in the news, so it looked safe. They were careful coming and going, keeping a low profile. The staff know not to say anything to the press, and the members certainly wasn’t gonna advertise they might be short of one member potentially. For the next couple of days, there was not much going on. The maknae was the same, meaning the leader was the same. The rest of them were already very sick and tired of Doo Jun ignoring them. Even the hospital staffs were getting worried. There hadn’t been a word out from the leader’s mouth since the first day. Well, at least, the members did not hear anything from him.

The members, sans Doo Jun, went back to the hospital after going back to the dorm to sleep. They found Doo Jun in the same position as where they had left him. The leader had moved, but only for toilet breaks. He returned and took up his position beside the bed again for the next few hours. They knew he drank and think he ate something, but they had never seen the evidence and finally Hyun Seung snapped. He couldn’t bear to see the leader wasting away slowly, and it was seriously getting unhealthy.

‘Come on.’ Hyun Seung grabbed the leader’s wrists and pulled, intent on dragging him back to the dorm.

Doo Jun only snatched back his hands and didn’t move otherwise, still sitting and staring at the maknae’s face.

‘I mean it. Now move.’ Hyun Seung tried again.

Nothing.

'You know Dong Woon wouldn't want you to do this, don't you? He would've been blaming himself for your own lack of rest if he saw you like this!' Hyun Seung coaxed.

Still no repsonse.

Hyun Seung breathed out an exasperated sigh, resorting to the one thing they hadn't tried yet.

‘Junnie, come on.’ Hyun Seung got the rapper to help.

Soon they had him outside. It had taken all four of them to manhandle the reluctant leader outside. Doo Jun had finally showed some emotions when they got him past the doors.

‘Let me go! I need to stay!’ Doo Jun yelled.

‘No, you don’t. We will stay. You will go back, wash up and sleep.’ Hyun Seung told him.

‘No! What if he wakes up and I’m gone? I’m not gonna let him down again!’ Doo Jun was straining so hard, his veins popped out from his neck.

They didn’t know what to say to that. They knew the leader was blaming himself, but they can’t break him out of his funk. They didn’t let up though; they continued to drag him away, feet by feet if they had to. Doo Jun was yelling loudly, but the staff didn’t interfere. They had enough sense to stay away from the struggle. They couldn’t bear to see the man so forlorn, and was glad the members finally do something about him. The leader was struggling all the way down the hallway, and the members were either pushing or pulling at him, determined to get him home. They were making such a big ruckus! Doo Jun yelling, growling and threatening, the others straining and pushing him toward the car. They couldn’t carry him. Though not for the lack of trying. He was struggling too hard for them to even get a good grip. It was fortunate they had four members to handle him.

Unbeknownst to the struggling men outside, there were whispers of movements in the hospital room. Dong Woon had heard all the struggles to get Doo Jun back to the dorm despite his comatose state. It was as if he was in a dark place. He can’t see anything, but he can still hear. He knows when the other four had came back to see him from their voices, and know when the doctor had checked in on him. They had all talked to him, asked him questions and all, but no matter what, he just couldn’t move to open his mouth to answer them. Nor can he open his eyelids to see them. It was surreal, and confusing as heck. He knew he was in a coma from the member’s talk, but he didn’t feel like he was in one. He was perfectly fine, if not for the immobility. The headaches were gone, and he still had his memories. So, he heard the fierce struggle outside quite clearly. He was worried about the leader. He knew he was there from the start, when he discovered he was thinking and hearing things but unable to pull away from the darkness completely. He could feel the man near him, could hear his breathing, the soft sound reassuring him that he wasn’t alone.

He disliked hospitals, and was glad there was someone with him always, even though he can’t see him. He had guessed it was Doo Jun since the members always seemed to have problems making him leave. He knew he was alone in the room because he can’t feel the leader anywhere in the room anymore. For some reason, he panicked at that thought. He couldn’t stand being alone in this cold and sterile place. He couldn’t! Beneath the closed lids, there were some movements, and the heart rate monitor registered a spike in the readings. For comatose patients, any change in heart rates will bring the doctors running because it might mean the patient had made a turn for the worse.

Dong Woon was having difficulty breathing. He was trying hard to open his eyes, to move, to get out of the place, to run far far away and into the arms of the members. He gasped, clawing his way towards full consciousness when the nurses and doctors rushed into the room. They injected him with a sedative to calm him down, but before he fell into the drug induced sleep, he managed to croak out a word from his dry lips.

‘Hyung!’