Recap

After his last words, his hands dropped to his side and Hailey was left stiff and motionless. 

I remember. The words repeated inside her head.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Red and blue lights circulated the area, causing the night to be brightened with two intertwining colours. A dark cloud hovered above the victims, the injured… the dead. As men and women dressed in white desperately moved to save lives and haul them into their vehicle, Hailey sat still. Daehyun laying on her lap and the cold ground making her shiver. A female lifted the body away from her and gave her a concerned look. Hailey was still frozen and seeing as she wasn’t preventing the paramedic from doing their job, they lifted Daehyun onto a portable bed and wheeled him away.

Hailey watched the bed drift away from her, she wasn’t even sure if the images she was seeing made sense anymore. Reality, for her, was temporarily a haze. A drop of water dripped onto her nose. She looked up towards the sky with empty eyes. She held her gaze there, a smile suddenly formed across her face. She laughed. However, it wasn’t because of joy or happiness. She laughed louder, as if she wanted whoever was above the clouds to hear her. The single drop became a few, and then many more, until thousands of tiny water droplets made their way on Hailey’s skin.

She continued her forceful laugh and soon, that laughter turned into sounds of pain. She was crying, letting her tears camouflage within the rain.

An arm from behind wrapped around her shoulder.

“Don’t cry…” Sungyeol whispered. “Everything’s alright now.”

His plead was not obeyed as Hailey only cried harder. Her body slumped into the support of the male behind her and turned to conceal her face in his chest. Sungyeol hugged her. Held her tighter when he heard her cries were getting louder. He the back of her head, combing her hair with his fingers. Sungyeol saw people being arrested, he saw police carrying his former gang leader’s body into their car. He closed his eyes, it was over. Everything was over.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Just three days ago, two rival gangs A and B were reported to be fighting in front of a bakery in the eastern suburbs. It seems it was an attempt of ambush from gang A. Their leader was knocked unconscious during their feud. Police have found that not only has gang A been planning this attack for quite some time now, their leader has also been charged with the illegal possession of drugs. Police also state that gang B was acting in self-defence and did not intend to purposely start a fight. As reported from the hospital, a total of thirty-seven members were injured and twelve killed. Police are still investigatin…”

“I can’t watch anymore,” Sungyeol said and turned the T.V. off as he sat waiting for his turn top be interrogated. Due to his past involvement with Fire, it seems he was suspected to be ‘not just a former member’.

Some members of Phoenix were at the police station, each giving their alibis. Sungyeol wanted to just get this over and done with so he could go to comfort Hailey.

Jongup had finished his session and came to sit beside Sungyeol. “You don’t look too good?”

“Should I be?” He questioned, “This is not a situation where I should be looking good,”

Jongup stopped questioning and stayed beside him. At this moment, he knew this guy needed someone next to him, even if he doesn’t want to admit that.

“Hailey’s starting to eat now. She’s also getting some sleep as well.” Jongup said. He knew Sungyeol wanted to know her condition.

Sungyeol’s face softened. “Is she still blaming herself?”

Jongup gave a light chuckle, “It’s better now.”

“I want to see her but I’m stuck here until further evidence comes up to prove that I was not aiding Fire in this attack.”

“I went in as a witness for you.” Jongup said surprising Sungyeol a little.

“You did?”

“Yeah, I told them that I would never defend you unless you were innocent. I mean we are from two rival gangs after all. Well not anymore, but you get my point.” Jongup said as he gave a friendly smile.

Sungyeol let out a small laugh, “only because I help you bake bread.”

The two exchanged laughs and patiently sat there next to each other. It wasn’t the awkwardness that kept them silent afterwards, but the company of that silence that made it enjoyable.

“Alright, Sungyeol you can come in now.” Chunhei announced and tapped a pen onto her clipboard.

Sungyeol stood up and prepared to walk in when a hand firmly patted his back.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got your back,” Jongup assured, “I know we have our moments but this time, I’m going to let it go, just for today.”

Sungyeol smirked and returned his pat. “Just for today.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*

“...In addition to previous news, about three months ago, police finally call the case of the fight between two gangs closed. It seems that one of the gang leaders has been sentenced to spend forty years prison time. Police have also confirmed that the other gang press no charges and are now free to go. It seems that the attacking gang have disbanded, some jailed for murder and others being kept in close eye…”

The screen turned black and dozens of glasses rose in the air.

“Cheers!” The crowd cried.

“I’m so glad that’s over!” Minho replied.

“You should not be drinking alcohol! The doctor said so! Otherwise your arm won’t heal.” Hailey protested and took the glass from Minho’s lips.

“Just give him a little bit, I mean everything’s cleared up. It’s worth celebrating.” Sungyeol persuaded.

“That’s my boy.” Minho said with a smile and clinked glasses with Sungyeol before taking a long gulp.

Hailey sighed and shook her head.

It’s been three months. Three months of peace, three months of time spent with the people that meant the world to her. Things could never be better now that the worry of Fire was gone. During these three months, Hailey changed too.

She no longer blamed herself for Daehyun’s death, she no longer cried over why it wasn’t her instead because now she knows. Daehyun did it for a reason. He wanted her to be alive, to see what a normal life with family and friends could be. She had thought it through and this is what Daehyun would’ve wanted to see. Jongup had told her everything, about Daehyun's secret crush on her, him being her neighbour when she never realised and his courage to finally confess to her but just never got the oppotunity to. Hailey just regretted the fact they never spent much time together. He has saved her countless times and she would never be able to pay back her gratitude. That boy with the luscious blonde hair. Maybe we’ll meet in the next life. I’ll be sure to pay you back then…

Hailey has three men that she considers important in her life. Daehyun – her saviour; Jongup – her brother (not biologically but their relationship is close enough) and finally, the male standing in front of her smiling like an idiot, Sungyeol – her lover.

The door bell suddenly rang. Someone was outside.

“I’ll get it!” Jongup called and rushed to open the door for their visitor.

Behind the door stood a girl with a bright smile. 

“Jongup!” Chunhei cried and stretched her arms in front to hand over a box in her hands, “We came to celebrate,”

"We?" Jongup asked when it was clearly only Chunhei who was standing there. 

"Oh Yongguk is just... right here..." Chunhei pointed behind her but was disappointed when no one was there. "Ok he was there." 

A figure suddenly appeared out of no where panting. 

"Sorry... saw a stray cat getting stuck in a bush." Yongguk said in between breaths. 

The other two laughed. 

Jongup smiled and gestured for his guests to enter. “You really didn’t have to…” he answered when the gift was placed in his hands.

“Oh, I did. Trust me.” Chunhei replied and winked. “Oh, that gift is for you only… so, don’t you go sharing it with the others ok?”

Jongup furrowed his eyebrows and then smiled. “Alright.”

Chunhei’s lips curved into a wide smile and then she skipped inside to the others who were celebrating. Jongup closed the door and paused to look at the gift. His brought it close to his ears and gave it a gentle shook. The box wasn’t that big and wasn’t very heavy either.

Jongup laughed to himself and placed the gift in his room. I’ll open it tonight.

Author's Notes

The story is almost coming to an end.... TT^TT

Thank you for reading everyone! Thank you to my readers who've stayed with me from day one and those who've joined in along the journey! This is going to be the first chaptered fic I'm going to finish so... yay? haha well I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it ^^ 

It was a wonderful experience with you all! Take care and anticipate the final chapter! 

*Hint: someone's getting married!! ^^