*Chapter 27;

"Your honor, I would like to request a ten minute leave," Taeyeon said, her gaze trained on the opposite door.

The judge was reluctant to grant her the time off, but when she insisted that it was important, he decided to give her five minutes. Taeyeon nearly raced out of the court room so fast that her high heels almost sent her toppling face-first into the rough carpet. The hallway was empty and just about every room she passed was also empty. However, she saw somebody in a wheelchair looking out a window, surrounded by nothing but heavy silence.

She approached Baekhyun quietly even though her heels made soft click-clacking sounds against the marble tiles when the carpet receded. She must have caught his attention because he glanced back and looked peeved that he wasn't alone.

"Wait," she said just when he was about to wheel himself away, "I just wanted to talk to you."

"I don't want to talk about anything." he said bitterly.

Taeyeon tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear and placed a hand on one of his wheelchair handles, prompting him to stay. He needed to. After what she had heard from Chanyeol, she wasn't sure how this was going to work, how Chanyeol was supposed to reunite with his family, when the one person he cared about had his back turned to him.

"I know you're upset. I know it must be hard going through what you're going through, Baekhyun." she said, hoping that he wouldn't mind her using his name informally. "But right now, Chanyeol needs you."

"He doesn't need me."

Taeyeon pursed her lips, not knowing how to respond when she saw Baekhyun's reflection in the window across from him, his cheeks damp with tears that he was desperately trying to hide. She wasn't sure why he was behaving this way or what prompted him to think he wasn't needed, that Chanyeol of all people didn't need him, but she knew it wasn't a fight she could win. "Chanyeol's been fighting all his life with something he couldn't help. Isn't it about time someone stood by his side to help him win the battles he can't? Especially you. He loves you."

"How can he?" he asked, hiccuping, "He'd be better off without me. I was the one who..."

He stopped himself when he heard a man calling for Taeyeon down the hallway, then he figured somebody must have sent her or she wouldn't have come all the way here to pep talk him about something she had no idea of. She was just a stranger, how could she know?

Baekhyun chewed on his lower lip and squeezed his eyes shut, feeling embarrassed and stuffy as if he had something weighing down on his shoulders that he wanted to set on fire or throw all at once. The more he stayed silent, the heavier it felt until he felt like he was sinking lower into a pit of self-pity.

"Baekhyun, Chanyeol can't win this without you." Taeyeon said quietly and squeezed his shoulder before leaving his side.

When Taeyeon left, Baekhyun felt an anchor wrapping around his heart and dragging it into the pit of his stomach. He exhaled slowly and tried to clear his mind, but even the tears clinging to his lashes felt so heavy.

Taeyeon probably thought he was upset because he had lost his legs, that he was upset at Chanyeol for ruining his future. He had been upset about it, of course, but never had Baekhyun blamed Chanyeol for the series of misfortunes. If anything, Chanyeol had saved him. They could have suffocated and burned alive in that building but through miraculous means, Chanyeol had carried him out of the falling house with one motive.

Baekhyun had to choose, then, what his motive was. He had ruined Chanyeol's life from the very beginning and if Chanyeol hadn't met him, he probably wouldn't be in this situation. Nothing would have happened if they hadn't met.

Nothing would have happened.

Baekhyun wouldn't have met Chanyeol. He wouldn't have known there was a life beyond soccer. He wouldn't have known the names of those stupid flowers and he definitely wouldn't have felt bad about calling them stupid in his head just now. So maybe he really was selfish and Baekhyun had gotten the better end of the deal out of meeting Chanyeol, maybe, but he then thought Chanyeol appreciated him being there.

Chanyeol needed him.

It took a while for Baekhyun to turn the wheelchair around because he still wasn't sure how to work the damned thing, but when he got it turned, he pushed it towards the room and hoped to God he wasn't too late. Just when he had gotten himself halfway across the hall, the wheelchair got stuck on the dividing line between the tiles and carpet, throwing him off the seat. He fell to the ground with a loud crash.

The pain in his knees was unbearable at that point that no sound came out to express the heat that coiled in his joints. Baekhyun writhed on the ground and grabbed his knee, tears coiling in his eyes because it hurt so much and there was nobody around to help him up. It seemed like a futile effort to call for help so he tried pushing himself up, the strength in his legs diminishing every time he pushed. It was no use.

"Without Byun Baekhyun to testify, we cannot put Park Chanyeol in the Mrs. Byun's custody. This case is very much alike to perpetrator and victim," the judge said.

"Your honor, we cannot ignore what the hospital has done to Park Chanyeol. They have damaged him beyond repair, this is ethically wrong and cannot be forgiven!" Taeyeon declared, but the judge didn't waver because the specific case was not about whether the practices the institution executed were ethical or not.

Baekhyun staggered onto his elbows when he heard the voices in the court room talk over one another. He wasn't sure what they were saying due to the pain throbbing in his entire body; the more he moved, the more it hurt. Crying out softly, Baekhyun then gritted his teeth and grabbed hold of the wheelchair, trying to slide onto it. His legs felt like lead or like they were disconnected from his body and he could no longer move them.

But, it wasn't like they were amputated. They were still a part of his body and if he had a will, there had to be a way. Baekhyun's conscience kept drawing near and fading out, the voices in his head getting louder then softer, too.

At first, he heard his dad calling his name a few times, telling him to run with his new soccer cleats. Then, there was Jongin saying "Hey... but you never know, if you'll be able to run again, you can set the bar and be the miracle case all the doctors talk about, right?" and finally Chanyeol who told him he was the best, that he would be a great soccer player. When he closed his eyes, Baekhyun saw the car carrying Chanyeol driving further away and he felt utterly useless just watching it disappear a second time.

His heartbeat thrummed in his ears and he started sweating bullets.

Chanyeol needed him.

Gathering strength again, Baekhyun grabbed the wall for support and held himself up like a newborn fawn just learning how to walk on wobbly knees. He felt like the metal rods in his legs would snap at any point, but he kept walking. It wasn't a matter of being incapable. It was a matter of trying no matter what.

He was a few steps from the wheelchair when he took a deep breath and challenged his disability again. One, two, three steps. One foot after another. The pain grew tenfold with each step but Baekhyun managed to lean forward and turn the knob to the court room, coming almost face-to-face with a few of the staff that were guarding the door.

Baekhyun would have been shoved back if not for his mother who rushed to support him against her.

"Sorry," he grinned tiredly, "I had to go to the restroom." It was almost ironic when he remembered how he used to excuse himself the same way to his teachers whenever they asked why he had been late. This time, he wasn't really covering up Chanyeol but covering himself up. "Give a handicap a break, yeah?" he grinned, naturally taking a seat and covering up the fact he had been dying in the hallway.

The court room went silent after his return and there was an uncomfortable pause before the judge spoke again, trying to organize what had happened prior to Baekhyun's unexpected appearance.

When it was Baekhyun's turn to testify for his stepbrother, Jongin helped him to the podium and the room fell silent.

Baekhyun tried not to look at Chanyeol as he spoke, not wanting to see his dejected expression and the gruesome way the institution had changed him, imprisoned him so he no longer looked like his Chanyeol with the brown, curly hair and large, doe eyes. Before he could stall too much time, he cleared his voice and strained his voice to say, "My name is Byun Baekhyun... I'm Park Chanyeol's brother, well... stepbrother... A few weeks ago, Chanyeol saved me from that burning building. By the time I woke up, there were flames everywhere." He paused, the memory so vivid in his head. "I know... Chanyeol wouldn't have set that fire and risked his life to save me, even after I told him to leave."

He swallowed, suddenly feeling very hot as if the flames were still at his skin. "He saved me. He saved a lot of people." he said, catching the lawyer's gesture to finish his testimony quickly, "I know if were to be born again, I would still be Park Chanyeol's brother."

It wasn't much of a testimony, it wasn't professionally thought-of and recited perfectly, but what mattered the most was that Baekhyun had said everything from the heart and now that weight was gone from his chest.

When he sat at his seat again, Chanyeol was looking at him.

One or two hours might have passed until the case finally came to a close.

"Park Chanyeol will be dismissed from the hospital and all patients and staff within the institution will undergo a close investigation. Park Chanyeol will be placed here, in Mrs. Byun's custody with all charges cleared."

The wooden hammer beat down on the block of wood and the meeting was adjourned.

"Jongin!" Baekhyun smiled a bit when he came up to his friend in the wheelchair with his mother close by, nodding in Taeyeon's direction and thanking her for all she had done.

She smiled and waved at the two of them, with Jongin nudging Baekhyun's shoulder with a bright grin. "Buddy, I think she's the one. I got her number!" he grinned from ear to ear.

"You what?" Baekhyun laughed, "What about Soojung?"

"You were totally right about her being a , I don't think I'm attracted to immature little girls anymore," he smirked, biting his lower lip as he saw Taeyeon walking off in her pencil skirt and blouse. "I'm attracted to women, rawr."

"Someone's finally got their head screwed on right," Baekhyun sighed.

"I'm gonna marry her."

"Nevermind."

Minutes after the case had been adjourned, Baekhyun saw the police department weaving between the crowd of people assembled in the lounge, each officer dragging a handcuffed staff member by their side. Baekhyun had the pleasure of seeing the man in spectacles for the last time before the man was loaded into the back of the police car. He should have felt a little sorry for the guy, but he wasn't; instead, he wondered how Kris was doing.

"Baekhyun!"

Baekhyun's heart thrummed at the voice he knew so well and turned his head down the hallway, seeing Chanyeol being released from his cuffs. There was a moment's pause before the giant doofus was running at him at full speed, and Baekhyun almost got scared that he'd end up knocking them both over if not for the fact Chanyeol skidded onto his knees and hugged him so Baekhyun wouldn't have to get out of his wheelchair.

"Ow." Chanyeol winced when he felt the carpet burning against his bare knees, but his arms were wrapped around Baekhyun and he grinned as if he hadn't seen him in years.

"Hey..." Baekhyun smiled, pulling away and holding Chanyeol's face to study how he looked with short hair. He tugged at the short strands and chuckled. "I missed you."

"I missed Baekhyun. Chanyeol missed Baekhyun." Chanyeol cried, hugging his brother close and burying his face into the crook of his neck. He hugged him even tighter when people passed by, thinking they would separate them again or he'd have to go with the people from the institution. "Chanyeol wants to go home with Baekhyun."

"Let's go home, then." Baekhyun sighed, his voice trembling, "Let's go home."

Author's Note: Look guys, I kept my promise!