“Did you get her?!” Tao asked as he pulled the door open. His eyes were red as he stared anxiously past Wu Fan and met Min Ah’s eyes.

“I’ve made a few calls, I know where we can take him. We have to move Jong In” She said as she walked in and looked around. The house they were in was old and Min Ah never bothered to pay attention to which way they had come. Instead she looked around for Jong In.

“We can’t move him. He’s not… he’s not doing well” Tao whispered fingers curled tightly into fists.

“Where is he?”

Tao motioned for her to follow him as he led her deeper into the house. They turned into one of the first rooms and even before they stepped in she could hear Jong In. His groans echoed through the room. He was curled up on his side, hands on his chest as he fought for air. Min Ah ran to him and nervously brushed strands of hair away from his face. His body burned and he was shaking. He mumbled incoherent words as she tried to snap him back to reality.

“Jong In… It’s Min Ah… we have to go to the doctor alright?” She said as Wu Fan and Tao both came over and gently took a hold of him, beginning to lift him up, “You’re gonna be ok” She whispered shakily as he made a faint choking sound. He jerked forward and she noticed the stains of dried blood all over his shirt and skin.

“You never changed him?” She asked, her tone full of disapproval as she kept her eyes on Jong In.

“There was no time. We got back and he seemed alright aside from the obvious pain from the beating he got from that guy, next thing we know Luhan found him on the ground like this” Tao said nervously.

Min Ah glanced at Wu Fan who said nothing and kept his face completely blank and she wondered how he couldn’t be a nervous wreck when Jong In was like this. As they neared the car he suddenly looked at her, his eyes softened just a fraction before she looked away and climbed in besides Jong In. With clear instructions, she led them to the small hospital on the edge of the city. It was dark and located in such an old building that if she had any say in it she would have preferred Jong In to be at an actual hospital, but with the amount of security and alerts there were out on them, he would have been caught almost instantly.

They got him out and carried him inside where a man was waiting.

“Agent Han” He said blandly, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he looked at Jong In with a raised brow, “He looks ill. About to die honestly. It’s funny, why you’d bring him here?”

“You said—“ Min Ah began taking an angry step forward.

“I did didn’t I? Then again you taught me that deals aren't meant to be honored unless they were put into writing right?” He asked bitterly, aware that the power was in his hands at the moment and that they could see the severe state that their friend was in.

“Don’t mess with me right now. We declined to report you that second time when we found you were running this little hole for criminals because we had a deal that you would help us with whatever information we needed. Well now you need to save him!” She yelled.

“I do?”

“Goddamn it! He’s sick! Help him or I’ll throw your in jail!” She screamed and moved forward only to be held back by a hand on her shoulder.

“We’ve got money” Wu Fan spoke coldly and the man stared at him curiously as an idea sparked in his head.

“You’re here on your own” He said, looking at Min Ah, “With two criminals or otherwise you’d be at a hospital. Why isn’t your team with you?”

Min Ah opened , a lie on the tip of her tongue when Tao yelled. She turned to find Jong In slumped forward.

“I-I don’t think he’s breathing!” He yelled and Min Ah felt her mind go blank with panic.

All of the sudden there was a rush of muffled sound besides her, but she couldn’t move. She was frozen in place as things morphed into a blur. Song Jong Min had run forward with a few other men. There was the shouting of orders as they brought over a rickety stretcher, put Jong In on there and wheeled him to the back. Tao ran behind them, not caring that he probably wasn’t allowed and he wasn’t the focus on any of them as one stood beside Jong In and firmly pressed on his chest performing CPR. With a burst of clarity it suddenly registered in her brain that his heart wasn’t beating. She blinked and images of the bratty little boy she loved flashed past. Her head pounded with a sudden pain as she recalled the dried blood on him and that it was all Myungsoo’s fault.

“… Min Ah!” Wu Fan’s voice suddenly pierced through the cloud on her thoughts. She took a shaky gasp as she turned to him, tight and eyes glistening with unshed tears.

He paused unsure of how to proceed. He knew what she needed, a warm shoulder to cry on, someone to comfort... and yet, he couldn't bring himself to move closer.

“Jong In…. Jong In can’t die” She whispered with another shaky breath, interrupting his thoughts, “He can’t die. You can’t let him die” She whispered.

“He’s not breathing! They won’t let me in! Why won’t they let me in?!” Tao screamed as he burst back out and Min Ah whimpered as she stumbled backwards. Wu Fan reached out for her and gripped her arm tightly, keeping her upright as he stared at Tao.

“Why didn’t you protect him? Why didn’t you stop that guy?! If it hadn’t been for him Jong In would be fine!” Tao said, suddenly turning to stare at Min Ah. His frustration at being able to do nothing breaking through with misplaced blame.

“I just couldn’t… I don’t know. I’m sorry” Min Ah cried a million stabs of guilt piercing her before a tight pain in her arm made her look up at Wu Fan.

“It’s not her fault and you know that Tao” He said sharply and Tao glared at him before kicking a chair over and bursting out to get some air.

“Myungsoo… he’s not… he’s not bad… but oh god… Wu Fan I’m so mad. I’m furious and I’m scared” She whispered taking a step towards him. It wasn’t anything intentional, but the way he automatically let her go almost seemed to break the small hold on calmness that she had clung onto. In that moment everything came back to her and she wondered why it seemed that Wu Fan seemed so adverse to her and she was scared that Jong In… no, she couldn’t even think about it.

The doors creaked as Tao walked back in a few minutes later. His eyes were empty and his face was wet with tears as he nursed a bloody hand. Wu Fan watched him carefully, his own worry building up to the point where it was about to drive him insane, but he didn’t say a word. They were his feelings to consider and deal with. Those two had no business in them. He watched as Tao paced back and forth and Min Ah simply stared at the ground, he ignored the tears rolling down her face.

“Sit down. Both of you. He’s going to be fine” He said firmly, unwilling to believe anything else. They both looked up at him and reluctantly followed his instructions.

He stayed standing as they sat beside each other. Tao glanced at her hesitantly, before reaching for her hand tightly and Wu Fan felt a pang of unimportant envy. It came and went since there was a much bigger problem to deal with, but for a second he was envious at the fact that Tao could grab her so naturally and he couldn’t. She let out a small sob as she clutched onto Tao’s arm and he held her tightly, crying into her hair. He watched them, supporting each other, and he felt a pang of something in his chest. He dug his nails into his palms instead as he stood off to the margin and watched and wondered in Jong In was really going to be ok. It suddenly occurred to him that his last words to Jong In were yells. He kept himself stoic as he seemed to replay all the fights that they had. It was ironic though, as much as Jong In had been the cause of the way their lives had gone, Wu Fan couldn’t accept that he might die. He absolutely would not let him die.

~~~~~~

“Saying that he’s sick is an understatement. He needs a surgery, treatment, medication. He needs things past the scope of what I can do here” Jong Min said as he stepped out from the back an hour later.

“What’s wrong with him?” Wu Fan was the first one to speak.

“That kid is so young, but his heart is weak. What happened before this? Has he had health troubles before?” He asked firmly.

“He was in a fight and was hurt badly. He had a few ribs broken a few months ago, he was hospitalized for a beating back then too. Lots of fights, he uh… he was a heavy drug addict. He overdosed two years ago. He was dead for a full minute before doctors brought him back. He’s been clean ever since though” Tao said, speaking quickly as he stood up and Min Ah stared at all the new information. She glanced at Wu Fan and he clenched his teeth as he ignored the accusation in her eyes.

“It must’ve been the fight then. I’m guessing he was a heavy drinker too? The combination of the drugs and alcohol have weakened his heart. It’s no longer a chunk of muscle, but rather a thin and flimsy piece of paper. It has no force, no real way to pump any blood. With this kicking he got, his body gave out. He can’t do this. He should’ve been on bed rest awaiting a full set of reconstructive surgeries. Not out fighting” The doctor said coldly.

“What do you need? To fix him, what do you need?” Min Ah asked quietly.

“Money. But I won’t be fixing him. I’ve got him set up to survive at week at most, but all the money in the world couldn’t make me save him. I can’t. But you pay and I can buy him an extra week. You pay more and I’ll use some connections I have and get him in with one of my old colleagues in China. It happens that some of them were good friends and one was a very talented heart surgeon”

“We’ll pay. Keep him alive and get the surgeon. I’ll make sure he gets there” Min Ah said instantly, no hesitation in her words.

“I won’t be cheap I want—“

“Whatever it is you want. You’ll have it in full when Jong In gets to that surgeon” She snapped, as he shrugged.

“Sounds good. You guys can go see him if you want. He's completely out of it though. Oh, and don’t forget to use the hospital gowns, he’s going to be very prone to infections” He said, yawning as if his day had been like any other and he left the three just standing there.

“Tao go home” Wu Fan said firmly.

“What?!”

“Go and start moving our… assets… we’re going to need a lot of money”

“I want to see him” He said stubbornly.

“He’s prone to infections. You can see him when he stabilizes, but right now the money is the most important thing. We need that to keep him alive. Move what you need to, free up as much as you can right now” He ordered.

“….. Alright, but you’ll call if something… happens right?” Tao asked, nervously glancing at the doors.

“Of course” Wu Fan replied calmly.

“Fine. Min Ah… you’re staying here right?” Tao asked, turning to her with wide eyes and she nodded managing a faint smile.

Tao sighed and tried to force himself to not feel like he was abandoning his friend as he ran out.

“I’ve got money too” She said belatedly after Tao had left.

“There’s no need. You should probably go before he starts missing you” He said, his voice nothing, but ice.

“Let me help” She insisted quietly.

“No”

“This isn’t about you. This isn’t even about me. This is about Jong In and him being alright. It’s not a lot of money, but I want to help. I can get him out of the country with someone else to accompany him of course, as long as we move fast…. he’ll be ok” She added, more to herself as she thought about how early she could get to a bank.

“Does it even matter if I say no?” He asked, rolling his eyes, “I’m going to see him”

Min Ah stared after him and followed behind. She gowned up, complete with a respirator mask as she stepped in. It was a heartbreaking sight. Jong In was lying on the bed, skin pale and eyes closed as he was hooked up to various machines. The loud beep of the heart monitor echoed around them as a constant reminder that what they saw could disappear in a second. He had an oxygen mask on, bandages on his cuts, and needles in his arm. She sniffled and hesitated before going to take a seat beside Wu Fan who merely stared at Jong In.

“Aren’t you worried? Or nervous? Or… I don’t know. Don’t you feel anything?” She whispered, keeping her eyes on Jong In, afraid that is she looked away he would fade away.

“I don’t need to cry about to you if that’s what you’re implying. Some people don’t show things” He said simply.

“…. What happened to him?” She asked Wu Fan, “Overdosing? Being dead for a minute? You never should have let him fight after all of that. You should have... you should have taken care of him” She said in a hushed voice, aware that she was probably the last person in the universe he wanted to hear that from.

He didn’t reply. Instead he merely closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair and she knew he was done talking. She leaned forward and gently touched the surface of Jong In’s hand. A heart rate monitor was attached to his index finger and she hated the way his hands were so cold. She held his hand in between hers and closed her eyes as she silently prayed for him to be alright. In her life where nothing seemed to really go right, the only thing she wanted right now was for Jong In to live.

“Jong In disappeared a while after he turned eighteen” He said suddenly, his voice startling her. She almost looked back, but instead she stayed in place and continued to hold Jong In’s hand, “I was kicked out of the orphanage first, you know they don’t keep you once you turn old enough. I picked up a few dead end jobs and even started studying to get into a university. I don’t think I realized how pointless it all was yet. I wasn’t thinking about how much it would cost or how impossible of a dream it would be. Tao came a few years later, he stayed with me and started working too. Jong In… Jong In was a different story”

He went quiet and Min Ah didn’t say a word.

“He wanted to be rich. It made us laugh before, but we didn't know how serious he was. He stayed with us for one month before leaving us with nothing but a letter. He said he was going to make some ‘serious money’. I don’t think even he understood the sacrifices it would come with. We didn’t see him for another year and then when we did the ing idiot was a mess” Wu Fan said, his voice morphing with disgust and pity, “His hair was long and knotted. Dirty. He was dirty too. His clothes were stained and he was trembling. He knocked one day and Tao let him in. I came home that night, I had started taking some classes, and when I saw him I knew instantly he was on drugs. I didn’t need to see the track marks on his arms or the tremors running through his body”

“He needed help” She said silently.

“That’s what Tao said too. So we let him stay” Wu Fan said quietly, his voice growing colder, “It took him 5 days to find out where we kept our savings and empty our bank accounts completely. He took all of the money we had saved and disappeared. We started from zero, I dropped the few classes I was taking. Those first few months were hell”

Min Ah stayed quiet. Her hands were frozen in place as she stared at the sleeping Jong In. It didn’t make sense. He wasn't like that. He wouldn't do something like that...

“It must’ve made him shameless though because a few months later he came back with some lame sob story about how he didn’t mean it and he wanted to get clean. I beat the crap out of him then” Wu Fan said and she could hear the satisfaction in his voice, “Tao fought for him though and when I wanted to call the police he said it wasn’t worth it because the money was gone anyways. So we kept him and you know what? I regret that decision the most” He said quietly.

“We got him into a free program to get help, we thought he was doing better, but he hadn't changed at all. I was so close to convincing Tao to kick him out when we got the call. Jong In was in the hospital. We found out that the idiot had gotten into dealing. Ha, there went another bit of our new savings, into paying the hospital bill and then… oh then came the big thing. One night I got a call from Tao…. It was a lot like tonight actually. He had found Jong In, overdosed. We rushed him to the hospital, he died for a full minute before coming back. Then a few men found us, Jong In was still out of it, they beat me pretty bad demanding some type of money. Turns out Jong In was supposed to be moving some sort of merchandise for them and he had kept the money for himself. I swear I wished he had died in the moment. With all of my heart” He whispered.

Min Ah let go of Jong In’s hand and let her hands go slack at her side.

“Long story short, I sold the stuff in his place and boy you should have seen the look on my face at finally having money so when we paid off the man and the hospital bills we forced Jong In into a rehab clinic and I kept selling. It was so easy. Such easy money. And suddenly we were living in a nice place, driving nice cars and Tao got in on it. Jong In was clean and what the hell as long as he stayed clean he got in on it too. It seemed perfect. We met a few more guys and went off on our own and the money really rolled in. It’s not bad living to be honest. If you don’t count the life threats of course” He said with a smirk as Min Ah looked at him.

“How could he do that?”

“Don’t blame him. That’s not the point. You wanted to know so now you do. He's changed and while I have every right to hold it against him, you don't. If he knew that you knew about all this and that you abandoned him it would hurt him so don't blame him. That's my job”

“...What did you want to study?" She asked, the questions sounding unimportant even to her as he stood up from his chair.

He glanced at Jong In and then back at her.

"I don't even remember" He said with a single bitter laugh.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

.________. Hi guys.... I'm sorry about not updating for like the past two months :/ My laptop died and killed my recent chapters that I didn't have backed up so with school and stuff I just couldn't get to rewriting them because they never seemed as good as the original ones I had written and even now I'm not really happy with it so I kept putting off updating but anyways it's a little background on them so I thought it worked and ahhh I'm really sorry for the super late update!!!

Thanks for reading (and I really am very sorry!)