“Are you ready to try this again?” The five boys were in the too-familiar chemotherapy room, knowing it already when it was only Taemin’s second visit. “After your reaction last time, we switched the medicine. This one is called Pemetrexed.”

Taemin only stared the bag down and Kibum could help snapping a few pictures then. “It looks like the second one I had.”

“But it’s not. Ready?” He finally nodded and watched as the tubes were connected and the third thing of the day dripped into him slowly. “I’ll be back in around an hour to check on you then. You remember to press the button if anything happens.” With a smile that could put one of Taemin’s to shame, she looked at all of them before walking out.

“Second session… How are you feeling Taemin?” It was actually Minho that sat there with the camera, filming. “And after being in the hospital for two days… If this goes well, you’re going to get released later today.”

“I want this to go well.” His smile showed off most of his teeth and his eyes crinkled up. Here, he wasn’t wearing a hat and it was one of the first times all of them had seen him with absolutely no hair left. Between that and being in the hospital bed, he actually seemed sick now. “I feel fine. Pumped full of saline and anti-nausea medicine, but fine.”

“Anything you want to say to the video log for today?”

“Um…” He looked around at all of them, at their smiling faces, and his eyes became a little shinier. “Only if you guys plug your ears.” And they all did, Minho even handing the camera off to Taemin so he could do it properly. “Well then… I want to thanks to all of you for being here. Without you here, I know I would be a lot more upset about this than I am, so thank you for being here. Not just here in the hospital with me, but here standing by my side.” With one last smile at the camera, he turned it off and handed it back to Minho, telling them they could all listen again.

“What do you want to do Minnie?” Jonghyun sat down and motioned to the bag by his feet. “We can watch a movie.”

“Or play a game! I remembered to bring some after last time.” Kibum seemed really excited about that and Taemin couldn’t break down his spirits.

“Why don’t we play a game for now and watch a movie later? Then I can sleep during that if I want…” And the chaos began…

The ride back was silent as Taemin slept, clutching the bucket they had brought along that time even in his sleep. It had seemed all was going well when they got halfway through the ride and he was still asleep, but that changed in seconds as his eyes snapped open and he emptied what they had figured was an already-empty stomach into it. Half asleep, he didn’t even have the mind to say more than a sorry before going back to sleep, leaving everyone shocked at how calmly he just seemed to handle it.

But a few minutes later, the same thing happened and he was more awake now, apologizing completely before going back to choking on nothingness as his body heaved for non-existent food to come up. Four hands rubbed his back soothingly to try and help, but it did nothing. “Can we pull over? The car isn’t helping…”

It wasn’t a problem as they pulled to the side of a silent road and he got out with the bucket on shaky feet. After putting his lifeline down, he simply sat on the ground, too tired to even stand. Jinki climbed out after him and sat next to him, rubbing his back as the boy’s pale skin became a little more life-like. Knowing it was going to be a while, music began playing in the van and they began talking, but Taemin and Jinki only sat in the still not-warm-not-cold night looking at the sky. Only once a little head fell onto his shoulder and didn’t move in a while did he move to check if the maknae was asleep.

Seeing he was, Jinki lifted him easily and placed the boy back in his seat before grabbing the bucket and emptying it in the brush, trying not to think of what was in there as he put it back in the car, inside a garbage bag now. Only after strapping Taemin in the silent-again car did he climb in himself, sitting with the others in the silence and dark. “We should all spend a day with him alone, one person a month.”

His whisper was heard around the car and he saw the nods and heard the almost silent agreements. “Since I’m free all day Tuesday, I’ll start it then.” There were no arguments and Jinki smiled as he looked back at the sleeping boy. “Kibum, give me your camera.”

“It doesn’t work in the dark hyung…” But he still handed it over and Jinki didn’t answer, waiting for the perfect moment.

And just as the car drove past a streetlight, he snapped a picture of the sleeping angel with them, handing it back wordlessly when he was done.

“Taemin… Taemin-ah, it’s time to get up.” There was no response from the sleeping boy and his rouser turned to shaking his shoulders a little. “Minnie, you have to get up now.”

“Why…?” He groaned and rolled over, pulling a pillow over his head as he did.

“Get up Minnie.” Nothing happened and Taemin stayed still. Then the pillow was torn from his head at the same time the blanket was ripped off his body and Taemin curled into a ball, still trying to protect himself from the outside world. “Taemin-ah.”

Finally, he sat up. “I’m up, I’m up.” A yawn escaped his mouth and once he finished, he blinked a few times and looked around the room. Then the person waking him clicked in his mind. “Taesun-hyung!”

“It’s about time you realized.” He sat down on his little brother’s bed, wrapping his arms around the boy. “You look so sick…”

“Because that’s always wonderful to hear.” Taemin smirked at his older brother, who only gave a sheepish smile back. “Are we going to see umma and appa?” The immediate falling of the elder’s face had Taemin’s smile disappearing as well for a second and he looked down at the pattern on his quilt, suddenly finding it interesting. “That was a stupid question. They wouldn’t come even when I asked for them to.”

“I’m sorry, Tae.” The arms tightened around him again. “But I’m going to be here for you in place of them.”

“You don’t have to do that. You should be studying for college. I’m fine now.” The look his brother sent him at the last sentence had him rephrasing quickly. “As fine as I can be at the moment.”

“Well I’m going to be sticking around to make sure.”

“What?” Taemin’s eyes widened so they were bigger than Minho’s. “What to you mean, ‘sticking around’?”

“I have an apartment near here so that I can go to college classes more often and also be here if you need me.” Taesun ruffled his brother’s hair. “You’re going to be sick of me pretty soon.”

“All of you knew?” Taemin looked around the kitchen at the other four members once his brother left for the day. He didn’t sound angry, but not pleased at the same time.

“I didn’t know until I opened the door for him. Leave me out of this.” Jonghyun raised his hand in surrender before turning to the fridge, looking through it for a few seconds before coming out with a cup of Jello in his hand. “Why do we have Jello? None of us eat it…”

“I read somewhere that it’s good for upset stomachs.” Kibum tried to defend himself in buying it and Taemin only glanced between the two before shaking his head in mild amusement.

“Fight later. Whose idea was it to have Taesun come?” He looked at the three remained culprits, all of them looking to the ground as his gaze reached them. “The three of you?”

“It was Jinki-hyung’s plan!” Minho and Kibum both pointed the leader out immediately and Jinki just stood there, nodding along.

And when they expected some sort of anger from the maknae to be released on the eldest, Taemin jumped forward. Jinki closed his eyes, expecting some sort of hit or something, but all that happened was arms wrapping around him and a head snuggling into his chest. “Thank you hyung!”

“What?” It was Jonghyun that looked the most confused, dropping the Jello cup he was studying to look between the four. With every second that passed, his smile got a little bigger as he tried to hold in his laughter. Eventually though, it came out and he was practically choking on it as he fell to his knees. “That backfired on you two!”

“Yah! Kim Jonghyun!” A chopstick flew across the room from where Kibum was sitting, hitting the laughing dino in the center of his head. Immediately, he quieted and looked at the younger with sad puppy eyes, meeting the glare full on and not wavering. Kibum pointed his lone chopstick at daring him to continue his laughing. “Don’t you dare laugh at me.”

“But Bummie…”

“Don’t call me Bummie either.”

“Kibummie…”

“Kim Jonghyun, you listen up-”

“Just kiss and make up already!” Taemin’s outburst quieted the whole room and four pairs of eyes him. “We can all see you two want to.”

“Who has done this to you? What happened to our innocent maknae?!” The chopstick wasn’t pointed at Jonghyun anymore, but at a smirking Taemin.

“He hasn’t been here for a while. But really, stop your lovers’ quarrels. They get annoying.” With that, he turned heel and started out of the room. Only once he was closer to his bedroom did he yell back. “And thanks to whoever invited my brother here!”

“Take that hyung!” He would never know how Minho and Kibum were so in-sync. Never.