A/N- Warning: Language 

Kyuhyun. Two weeks earlier. Cho family residence. 2:00 pm.

There’s an old proverb my father used to tell my sister and I whenever he felt the time was appropriate for such life lessons to be dropped onto our laps. My father has always been an intelligent man, one seemingly coarse in appearance, and certainly in other aspects of his personality, but overall he was fair. He taught us many things over the course of life. Some, admittedly, I have long since cast aside with the regards that I wouldn’t ever really need such knowledge again. For the most part, sure, I didn’t; however, one particular proverb always stuck in my mind.

‘Don’t try to cover the whole sky with the palm of your hand.’

Or, in other words, you can cover the sky with your hand over your eyes, but even though you can no longer see the sky, it doesn’t mean that the sky has disappeared.

“Kyuhyun, is everything alright?”

Joohyun.

“I’ve been hearing some strange rumors….about you.”

The silence stretches. For one heartbeat, and another, but I cannot muster enough energy to pick up the phone before she finishes leaving her message.

“I’m calling because I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. I mean, I’m sure that it’s all just talk, but sometimes the rumors can really get to you. Maybe I’m just worrying too much, as usual. Well, anyway, call me back, okay?”

Ah, Joohyun. What could I do with the girl I almost professed my love for? I suppose, maybe, it was best that Ji eun got to me before I had the chance to confess- God knows I didn’t want her any more involved than she already was. But still. She was still in danger should I make the wrong move. But, communicating with her was not a very wise move. If only I could go back in time, back before Hyukjae even started dating this girl, and warned him of what she would become. He probably wouldn’t have believed me, but it the ‘what if’s just wouldn’t stop berating my mind.

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had died that night so many years ago. Would my band mates still be suffering as they are now? Or would my passing have brought only a moment of pain and saved them from the trouble that I’m putting them through now. I’m not saying that I wish I would’ve died that day, but had I known that this is where my path was going to end, that the people I cherish would be suffering so greatly now because of me, well, yeah, maybe I do wish that I had died that day. Not that it matters now, anyway.

Somehow, somewhere along the way I ended up ing up big time, and as a result Hyukjae is suffering and I am potentially generating a big enough scandal to destroy our group all together.

Though, dawdling on idle hypotheses and ignoring phone calls was going to get me nowhere. As was sulking in the confines of the my parent’s home- the place that I have currently taken residence in after every member of my band except one turned his back on me.

Just as I was about to get up and seek out Donghae, my phone rang again and I figured I should probably answer instead of pretending that I didn’t exist.

“Kyuhyun,” Leeteuk murmured over the phone, “Donghae is in the hospital. I thought I should let you know. Don’t bother coming, though, you don’t have very many friends who will welcome you.”

“What? How- when? Why?” I stuttered, “Oh, God. Oh my God.”

Leeteuk took a shaky breath, “Kyuhyun…I really don’t know what to do anymore. Donghae is in the hospital and I’ve heard about your…situation with Hyukjae.”

“Hyung, hyung, is Donghae hyung going to die? Please, please, tell me he’s going to be alright.”

“I don’t know. I wish I had the answers; I wish I could have led this team better,” Leeteuk sobbed, “I’m not going to lecture you right now, Kyuhyun, but I just need to know…why? Why did you do that? Why?”

“Hyung,” I cried, “hyung, I’m so sorry; so, so, sorry. I can’t explain now, but hopefully, someday, you will be able to understand what I did and what I’m going to do now.”

“Kyuhyun, what are you talking about? Please, don’t do anything crazy; hasn’t this group been through enough?” Leeteuk said quietly before clearing his throat and continuing, “Kyuhyun, I don’t want to lose any more brothers. Please, tell me so I can understand, please.”

“I’m sorry, hyung. I’m sorry.”

 “Kyuhyun…just don’t do anything stupid, okay?” Leeteuk’s voice sounded tired, as if had given up trying, “We’ll take this one thing at a time, okay?”

“…I’ve got to go, hyung.”

“Kyuhyun, promise me, please.”

“I can’t.”

Before I even knew what I was doing, I left my house, headed for my car and began driving to the hospital. How could this be possible? I was just talking to Donghae yesterday. There’s just no way he could be dy-

No. No. It’s not going to happen. Donghae is strong. He will be able to survive this.

But I had to go to confirm for myself. I can’t trust anyone at this point.

“What the are you doing here?” Hyukjae spat, scrunching his nose, “Haven’t you done enough? Just leave.”

Hyukjae. I really should just turn around and get back in my car. After everything I’ve done to him. After everything he’s been through. I will never forget the look of pure hatred that has replaced the bit of light in his eyes that used to shine whenever he saw me.

There was nothing I could say that would quell his anger, so I ignored him and went straight for Donghae’s room only to be roughly pulled back.

“Leave,” Heechul growled, his hand still clutching my shoulder.

“Hyung I-”

“I don’t care.” Heechul hissed, “Get out before you cause even more problems.”

“But-”

“Stop,” Siwon murmured from the door, “Just stop.”

Heechul twirled on his heels to face Siwon, his expression darkening, “Siwon, you know what he did. How can you just-”

“I don’t approve of anything that has been going on recently, but that doesn’t give us the right to stop him from visiting Donghae, the only one who seems to know all the details of the situation, and has forgiven Kyuhyun for his sins.”

Heechul blanched, “What more is there to understand about the situation? It’s pretty clear what happened and there are no words anyone can say to make it okay. I don’t know what Donghae was thinking, or if he even understood what exactly happened, but I cannot stand by and let Kyuhyun waltz into that room like nothing happened. I cannot and will not tolerate it.”

“Five minutes,” I interrupted, “Please. I swear I will not ever step foot into this room again if you give me five minutes now. Please.”

“I don’t know what makes you think that you even deserve-“

“Fine.” Hyukjae growled, drawing the attention of Heechul and Siwon,“One second more and I’ll break your ing neck.”

“How can you just-“

“I don’t want to,” Hyukjae cut Heechul off, “but it seems he won’t leave unless he sees Donghae.”

Judging by the rigid stance and scowl on his face, it was apparent that Heechul was unhappy with the decision Hyukjae had made. However, he made no move to stop me from entering Donghae’s room.

“Hyung…”

It was gut wrenching, seeing Donghae in the same position I had been only a few years ago. The memories threatened to flood my mind, but I resolutely fought them back as I took the seat closest to Donghae’s bedside. There were various tubes connected to his thin arm, which, thankfully, didn’t seem too bad, save for a few cuts and bruises. His lower half, however, appeared to be in a much worse state, though I couldn't bear to examine it any further to discover just how badly he was injured.

There were so many things that I wanted to say to him, to apologize for, but where could I start? The clock was ticking and Donghae couldn’t hear me.

“I’m sorry, hyung. I never wanted to drag you into this.” I grabbed Donghae’s hand gingerly, “I know apologies won’t solve anything, but I just-” I just what? Wanted him to know? Wanted to ease my own God damn conscious?

“I guess there’s not much else I can say to you. But I swear, I’ll fix this. Everything will be better. I promise.” I gave Donghae one last look before I got up and exited the room.

If only I had never tried to confess to Joohyun, maybe Ji eun wouldn’t have snapped and started this disgusting web of lies and pain. If only Hyukjae had never gotten involved with Ji eun. Maybe then Donghae would be here, in full health, instead of rotting away in the hospital.

Ji eun had to be stopped. And I had to be the one to do it. After I got in my car, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed her number. No answer. Figures. I started the engine and dialed again. Still no answer. Clearly, she wanted me to go to her. I banged the steering wheel for good measure before shifting lanes. On my way to her apartment, I continued to dial her number, if only to annoy her, as my irritation steadily grew hotter.

By the time my anger had almost reached its max, I was face to face with her door and knocking on it roughly.

“Ji eun, I know that you are there. Open the door.”

“Kyuhyun, what are you doing here?” She opened the door, her eyes shining. As if she didn’t just attempt to murder someone. God, just looking at her made me sick, I couldn’t stand her disgusting smirk.

“You know why I’m here,” I shut the door, “and you probably know what I’m going to say.”

“I am not a mind reader, my dear, sorry.”

“You ,” I cursed, “you did it, didn’t you? You tried to kill Donghae!”

She laughed, her face contorting into an almost inhuman grin, “What of it, dear? He became a liability.”

“Are you ing kidding me right now? Donghae didn’t do anything wrong; he wasn’t going to tell anyone! Now Donghae is in the hospital and he may never wake up! You are sick; you are ing psychotic.”

“Me? You are the one who drove me to this Kyuhyun! If you had just kept your mouth shut instead of involving Donghae, this would never have happened! And you have some nerve to pull that high and mighty crap with me. You aren’t exactly innocent in this whole affair either, are you?”

I choked up, “I can’t believe you. Oh God. Oh God.”

As much as I hated showing weakness, she disgusted me to the point of tears. She was a monster. This was all my fault

 She wrapped my arms around my waist, her touch practically oozing poison, “Don’t worry. Now that he’s taken care of, we can be together forever. I promise.”

I tried to distance myself from her, “Oh God,”

“We are going to get out of here, okay? It will just be you and me from now on and forever. I won’t let anything happen to you again, Jung Woo.”

“What?” Jung Woo? Who is that?

“Jung Woo, I’ve finally done it. Now we will be together not just in my dreams. You don’t have to say anything more, my love.”

The door to banged open and suddenly, I was thrown to the floor. My head hit the wall. I was too stunned to do anything other than gape at the man who had charged at me.

Yang Yoseob. One of Ji eun’s good friends, I assumed based off of rumors as well as information Hyukjae provided me with when we were still on speaking terms. I never would have suspected that he’d be here- as what? Her bodyguard? I wonder just how much of this situation he knows. Probably what she wanted him to know, which in this case, would surmount to the same lies that she had pumped into Hyukjae.

“What the are you doing here?” Yoseob hissed as he backed up closer to Ji eun, his eyes never leaving my face. “Haven't you put Ji eun through enough already? Haven’t you hurt enough people yet? Or what, did you come back here to finish what you started?”

“Started? I didn’t start anything.” I said, rubbing the back of my head, “And I have no idea what job you are referring to.”

Yoseob scoffed, “You are disgusting. How dare you even show your ing face around here, never mind invade the home of the woman you attacked, you defiled.”

I shot a glare at Ji eun, “Is that what she told you? And to think, you probably consider yourself one of her closest friends. All the while never knowing her true nature.”

“True nature? What are you babbling about? You are insane.”

“I’m insane?” I mumbled as I slowly stood up, “She’s the one who’s psychotic!”

“Shut up. I'm going to call the cops if you don’t get out of here within three seconds.” Yoseob said as he reached into his pocket.

“You don’t know anything.”

“One.”

I shot another glance at Ji eun’s impassive face. If this went on, I would be sent to jail and there’s no telling what Ji eun would do next. But clearly Yoseob wouldn’t sit around and listen to what I had to say so long as he still believed in Ji eun’s lies.

“Two.”

God. This was just getting more out of hand by the second. Why did Ji eun have to drag Yoseob into this anyway? Oh right, she’s ing insane.

“Thre-”

“I’ll tell you why I did it. The truth; all of it.”

Yoseob hesitated. It seems that curiosity was winning out over his morals. Or maybe he just thought he had the upper hand in the situation, which, admittedly, he did.

“You want to know, don’t you? Why on earth would an idol with everything in the world do something so dangerous, so stupid, with the chance of having everything ripped away from him?”

Yoseob remained silent.

“The answer is that he wouldn’t. Unless something forced him to.” I paused, “Or someone.”

“What are you talking about?” Yoseob eyed me warily.

“Ask Ji eun about it, if you really want to know, after all she-”

“Be quiet. Shut up.” Ji eun snapped, her face an alarming shade of red.

“Ji eun? What is he-” Yoseob began.

“I didn’t her.”

“Kyuhyun, why are you-”Ji eun protested.

“No, Ji eun, why are you lying? Why don’t you just tell Yoseob the truth? If not, he’s going to call the police and I’m pretty sure you don't want me in jail.”

“What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t she want to throw your in jail?” Yoseob asked impatiently.

“Kyuhyun…” Ji eun warned, her tone darkening slightly.

“Because she’s in love with me, and I don’t love her back so she concocted this ridiculous scheme to trap me. Although, I still don’t love her and I never will. In fact, I hate you, Ji eun. I’ve never hated someone as much as I hate you.”

“Bullsh-”

“Don’t say that, Kyuhyun.” Ji eun stepped closer to me, “Don’t say that.”

“Don’t say what? That I hate you? It’s the truth. I'm so sick of seeing your face. You repulse me.”

“Don’t ing say that. Do you want your pretty little Joohyun’s head to be ripped from her body?”

Yoseob stopped glaring at me and turned his gaze to Ji eun, his face pale. Ji eun didn’t notice. “I hate you, Ji eun. You are sickening.”

“Shut the up.” Ji eun hissed.

“I wish you were dead. That’s how much I ing hate you.”

Yoseob opened his mouth to say something but whatever he was about to say was drowned out by the sound of a bullet firing off.

Ji eun lowered her pistol, “I said shut up.”

It was the beginning of the end. 

A/N: Sorry for the extremely long wait, guys. Life has been strange and tough, but I didn't want to abandon this fic. I thank all of you for your patience, support, and kind comments! I swear that the next chapter will not take anywhere near as long as this chapter took to write. I hope you enjoyed it~