Taemin fought to pay attention in class, once again grateful that English was his easiest class. He kept losing his place and was grateful that the teacher appeared to be taking it easy on him that day. Considering the fact that she didn’t bat an eye when Key and Jonghyun skipped right in front of her, Taemin figured that the school was informed of what was happening with Jinki. The teachers were likely told to look the other way for any less than satisfactory behaviour from the wealthy and powerful three that day. 

Taemin was counting down the minutes until the double period class was over and school was finished when a tall, shaggy haired senior ran into the classroom with a stupid grin on his face. He looked as though he was excited to be a part of some secret knowledge that he was about to impart. 

Recognition of the older student as a friend of Yunho’s, Taemin ducked lower into his seat to try and draw less attention to himself. The maniacal look on the senior’s face was a look that generally meant pain or humiliation for Taemin. 

“Kim Heechul!” The teacher yelled, throwing her pen at the student. “You had better have a good reason for running in here and disrupting my class!” Her tone was authoritative but the slight smile in her eyes said that this was probably not an uncommon occurrence and she actually enjoyed the things that Heechul came up with. 

Heechul had slid to a stop just inside the door and now swaggered to the middle of the room. The cat that ate the canary grin on his face made Taemin sit up. There was something more in Heechul’s eyes than he was letting out with his smile. 

“They pulled the plug on Lee Jinki today.” 

The teacher flinched and there were audible gasps and small shrieks at the announcement. 

“Kim Heechul! That is an entirely inappropriate thing to say, Lee Jinki was taken off life support.” The teacher audibly cleared , her face pale and her Burgundy lipstick making her look washed out. opened and closed as though she wanted to say something else but the words were caught in an emotional tangle in .

Taemin stared straight at Heechul, shock leaving him feel cold. He refused to blink, knowing that it would likely cause the wetness in his eyes to flow over and turn into tears. Unlike the female population that weren’t trying to hide their own emotional outburst at the teacher’s words, Taemin didn't have the luxury.

“No Teach, they pulled the plug. Like turned off the machines, took off the wires and unplugged the they thought was keeping him alive.” Heechul bounced on the balls of his feet, either ignoring the whimpers and the two kids that leaped up and bolted from the room clutching their mouths. 

Heechul's choice of the word thought sent a jolt though Taemin, it had to be a poor word choice. 

“Get out of my class before I recommend you that you are sent home to process the correct way of breaking devastating news.” The teacher glared at the senior, her eyes red with tears and her jaw tight now with anger. 

“But that’s not all!” Heechul grinned and started to laugh. 

Taemin was beginning to feel nauseous himself and he took shallow breaths to try and calm his stomach. Heechul’s gleeful tone and unencumbered emotional state were distressing. 

“Get out.” Another boy stood up from the back and spoke in a low, dangerous tone. 

“They pulled the plug on Jinki.” Heechul repeated again but this time he finished it up with, “but he didn’t die.”

It was like a shock wave flashed through the class, bowing everyone over with the words and stunning the crying students into silence. 

“What?” Taemin couldn’t hold the word back, it surprised him with how fast it shot from his mouth and how loud it echoed in the room.

Heechul turned to look at Taemin, giving him a smirk. “He didn’t die, New Kid.” The look on his face was smug and it was obvious that he was enjoying imparting this knowledge on everyone. A glint in his eye said unspeakable things that were dying to be said as he stared down the younger. 

Taemin’s heart raced, thumping hard in his chest and feeling like it was jumping into his throat. 

“Lee Jinki is alive.” Heechul whooped in clear joy, pumping his fist in the air.

Taemin’s breathing became rapid and shallow. Blackness began closing in on him, his vision was cloudy and he began to move on autopilot. Packing his things, he heard the fabric of his bag begin to rip but he just shoved things in hard. He could hear Heechul saying more through the sound of the blood rushing through his ears but nothing was registering then.

His chair was loud as it scrapped against the floor when he stood up, loud even against the growing noise of the shocked class and Heechul’s laughter. The sound made everyone look at him and when he opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. 

Gathering his bag and the loose items he didn’t get shoved in, Taemin clutched his stuff to his chest. He couldn’t stay in that room, he had to get out of there.

He ran from the room, ignoring the sound of the teacher’s voice calling his name. His foot steps echoed through the empty hallways as he ran towards the dorms. Pens and papers scattered as Taemin dug into his pocket for the keys to the dorm. He fumbled it twice before finally being able to slot it into the lock. 

The key snapped off and dropped in pieces with a metallic tinkle as he wrenched it out. A brief flash of worry was gone before it could really take hold and Taemin continued to run. He had to find out if Heechul was telling the truth even though he didn’t think he could bear it if he found out the senior was lying. 

It seemed like the hallway was five times as long as it should be and by the time Taemin reached his dorm room, he was actually out of breath. He twisted the handle, praying that it was unlocked and that Minho was inside. 

The door slammed open and without the doorstopper on the base, it would have left a hole in the wall behind it. The sound of Jonghyun’s tears and Key’s whispers slowed as they turned to look at Taemin from their spot on the small couch. Minho was lying on his bed, face buried in his pillow. 

“Taemin?” Jonghyun croaked, his voice wrecked from crying. "Class isn't over yet?" Even with his grief of losing his friend,  Jonghyun couldn't help but look confused and concerned that Taemin was out of class too early.

Taking a gasping breath Taemin yet again opened his mouth to speak with no success. Instead, he burst into tears. 

Minho nearly flipped himself off the bed and onto the floor before he stumble ran over to Taemin, who launched himself into his friend’s arms. “Heechul…” Taemin began, talking into Minho’s chest. He took a gasping breath, feeling the ball of nerves in his stomach roll and he pushed it back, not wanting to be sick all over Minho. 

“ing Heechul.” Key muttered, Jonghyun’s hair with one hand and wiping at his own eyes with the other. “What did he do to you?”

Minho startled and held Taemin out at arm’s length to examine the younger, trying to see if he could see some physical mark lingering on Taemin.

“He…he…” Taemin swallowed and tried to gather his thoughts. He pulled himself out of Minho’s grasp, unwilling to feel Minho’s comfort as he tried to speak. “He came into class and…” Tears trickled down Taemin’s cheeks. He tried to catch his breath, tried to clear the lump in his throat that all the emotions had brought. 

“He said that Jinki is alive.”

The room was silent in a stunned way, and then Jonghyun stood up, anger evident in every fissure of his body. “That bastard.” He began to storm towards the door but Taemin reached out and touched his arm.

“I don’t think he was lying.” Taemin said with a sniffle. “He said that Jinki’s fingers started twitching. The doctor said it was a reaction of the body dying, but according to Heechul’s aunt who is a nurse on the same floor, it’s not the same kind of reaction. Tests were ordered and the floor was shut down, all other patients were moved except for Jinki.” Apparently more information had filtered through his haze than he knew and it poured out of him without stopping.

The room went silent as they all began to process that information. Minutes passed as they stood facing each other and not moving. 

The sound of a phone ringing caused Key to curse, Jonghyun to cry out and Minho to flinch. No one moved, so Taemin took the initiative and moved to answer Minho’s phone from where it had been placed on his nightstand. 

“Hello?” He answered timidly, the unlisted number unhelpful in giving Taemin a heads up on who was calling. 

The caller on the other end hesitated before asking to speak to Minho. 

Handing the phone to his friend, Taemin sank down onto his bed. He picked at a loose thread on his green comforter and listened to Minho’s side of the conversation. 

“That was my new room mate Taemin, auntie. Yes the one who we brought to see Jinki.”

Minho moved to sit beside Taemin on the bed and Taemin rested his head on Minho’s arm. He could hear the woman’s voice but not the words she was saying. 

“I see.” Minho’s voice was quiet and Taemin had to strain to hear it even from so close. “Thank you for calling me, I can’t imagine that it was easy to do. I’ll let Jonghyun and Key know shall I?”  Pulling the phone away from his ear, Minho watched as Jinki’s mother ended the call on her end. 

“Minho?” Jonghyun asked, moving him and Key towards the younger two.

“Heechul was right.” Minho stared at the black screen of his phone. “Jinki is still alive.” 

----------

He lives!!! 

Thank you all for reading as always, I love reading your reactions so please keep telling me your thoughts!

Love to you all

Kat