They had to call an ambulance. Minhyun and JR and even Aron were hospitalized. The vodka that Minhyun had bought was strong, too strong for both of them and their bodies had to be neutralized from its effects. Minhyun and Aron recovered overnight, but JR suffered a serious concussion and was unconscious for a very, very long time. After some tests, the doctors diagnosed JR with aneurysm rupture. He was in a coma.

Nu’est had to cancel all their shows, and of course the media blew up with yet another scandal.

Aron did not even try to look and see what the media was saying about them. He didn’t want to feel as bothered as he felt now. Guilt ate him up for what he did to JR, and he was afraid of how long the coma would last. The doctors said this type of coma usually lasts a few days, but the possibility of it lasting forever was there and it scared Aron to think that he might have killed JR.

He was tormented with that thought for days and days.

After the second day, JR was still in a coma. His parents, his big sister, Lime and the CEO had flown in. Aron watched as Lime broke down crying, holding her lover’s hand and refusing to leave his side. He watched as his mother and father talked to him, begging him to wake up. He watched as his big sister his face and cried silently.

None of them blamed Aron for it. None of them openly condemned him. None of them said anything to him. That was probably due to the fact that Aron looked just as ill, if not more ill than JR. The guilt took its toll on Aron’s face. He was pale, quaking, bags under his eyes from lack of sleep and excessive crying. He wouldn’t eat, he wouldn’t move, he wouldn’t talk. He was going through psychological trauma.

Aron was aware of the fact he was acting deranged, refusing to eat, refusing to sleep, refusing to talk. He was perfectly capable of thinking like he always had, but just physically incapable to do all of those worldly things when JR wasn’t.

The CEO had decided to send the other three back to Korea, but they refused to go back and stood in stark defiance to his words. He didn’t try to force them.

The fifth day, finally, JR did wake.

“Hyung!” Ren beamed with elation when he saw JR opening his eyes.

“Rennie, what happened?” JR asked tiredly.

Ren hugged JR awkwardly. “I’m so happy right now.”

“Why am I in the hospital? Why am I paralyzed?”

“You were in a coma for five days, hyung.”

“How… oh. I remember,” JR said as he recalled the last thing he experienced. “Where are the rest of them?”

“Minhyun, Baekho, Lime, your parents, your noona are all in the hotel…”

“They’re here? Lime and mom and dad and noona?”

“Yes.”

“And.. and Aron?”

“Aron is psychologically disturbed now. He’s a patient too. He refuses to eat and so they have to feed him through tubing…”

JR’s heart sank. “I’m such a terrible leader.”

“Stop blaming yourself, JR. None of this is your fault. All four of us are guilty, but you’re not.”

“What do you mean?”

“Aron is guilty for attacking you. Minhyun is guilty for drinking. I am guilty for lying to Aron, and Baekho is guilty for everything else.”

“I don’t understand.”

“This is too much for you take in while you just got up from a coma. Just relax for now. I’ll go call the others to tell them the good news.”

When Aron heard the news that JR had woken up, a huge burden was taken off his shoulder. He was taken out of his room in the psychological ward of the hospital to see JR.

He saw JR and he talked for the first time in days and the first thing that came out of his mouth was an apology. “JR-ah, I am so, so, so, sorry.”

“Stop apologizing hyung. It’s forgiven,” JR responded with a smile.

Aron recovered from his temporary lapse; JR recovered from effects of the coma on his body. Within a few more days, Nu’est was as healthy as ever.

The five of them were lectured by the CEO about the effects of the incident on Nu’est’s reputation. The fact that Minhyun had illegally consumed alcohol did not leak; apparently the media assumed that Minhyun, like JR, was attacked by an intoxicated Aron.

It was better that way, and Aron agreed to take the blame away from Minhyun; at least what Aron was doing wasn’t illegal. Minhyun had been involved with enough scandals, and another one, especially when Minhyun was clearly the one at fault. Minhyun was still responsible for paying a large fine, in which drained him of all his money. Baekho had paid the rest for Minhyun, saying he didn’t need to be paid back.

The media also exploded with accusations against the management. Manager-hyung was blamed for not managing them well enough, and for that, manager-hyung was discharged from their management. He went back to Korea to manage Hello Venus.

“I need to find you boys a new manager,” the CEO told them.

“Rehire manager-noona!” Baekho beamed suddenly and Minhyun nodded vigorously in response.

“No.”

“Please, please, please rehire manager-noona!” Baekho begged and he dropped to his knees. “It would make everything so much better.”

“You boys really like her,” Pledisboss frowned as he looked down at Baekho.

“She’s not what everyone accuses her of being, sir,” Minhyun spoke up. “She isn’t a e. It’s all my fault. If you rehire her, I’ll make sure it never happens again.”

“Look. I never believed for a second that she was a e. If it were up to me, I’d rehire her in a second. The world though actually thinks of her as a manager that takes advantage of you. Rehiring her will only cause a stir with the media again, and that’s the last thing you boys need at the moment.”

“She’ll cut her hair. She’ll get plastic surgery. Her name hasn’t leaked yet; it’s only the video of her with me. She can change the way she looks, and no one will notice, sir. Please consider it,” Baekho begged, bowing his head.

If one good thing came out of this whole thing, it was rehiring manager-noona. The CEO did not have the time to search for another manager and train them for the job. He took Baekho’s suggestion and rehired her on the condition she’d cut her hair and get laser surgery to remove her glasses. She happily accepted the offer, and was to return to managing them as soon as they return to Korea.

Suddenly, everything was brighter for Minhyun, and for Baekho too. Baekho did not have to live with the guilt of having taken away Minhyun’s love, or of the guilt of ruining manager-noona’s career.

When news reached Minhyun that she had been rehired, he charged at Baekho and hugged him tightly, talking to him for the first time since Baekho confessed. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Baekho hugged him back, “the last thing you should do is thank me, Min.”

“I forgive you, Baekho. What you did was terrible, but I forgive you.” Minhyun smiled brightly at Baekho. For the first time in a very, very long time, Baekho felt happy.

Ren and Minhyun were the only two that knew what Baekho had done. He still had to confess to Aron and JR. Once JR’s family and Lime had returned to Korea, and once all the press conferences and Aron’s public apologies and displays of utter regret for what he had done were through, Baekho decided it was time to come clean.

The five of them were having lunch in the hotel restaurant when Baekho put down his fork and cleared his throat.

“I have something to confess.”

Oo Cliffhanger. Man, you know the feeling when you sort of lose inspiration you had for a story? I think I’m going through it now for this story, unfortunately >.< Hopefully inspiration slaps me in the face so hard. I need it. INSPIRATION, WHERE ARE YOU?

Anyways, what do you guys think? Is the lack of inspiration apparent? You think the story is going downhill right? Right?

Thank you for sticking through with me LO/\Es <3