“Wake up Kyungsoo~!”Kyungsoo opened his eyes to see his two juniors leaning over him.

“Sehun? Kai? What are you doing here?” Kyungsoo blinked sleepily. He sat up, resting his back against the wall as he took in his surroundings.

Sehun and Kai were both sitting on his bed. They seemed like they were waiting for him. Suho, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol were standing back but they seemed like they were waiting too.

“What's up guys?” Kyungsoo asked, blinking his wide eyes.

“We were waiting for you to wake up. You're such a cute sleeper~!” Chanyeol sang.

“Stop that, hyung!” Kyungsoo protested, feeling bashful. He opened his mouth to say more, but someone came into his bedroom.

“Do Kyungsoo, I am Doctor Jungsik. We have spoken before,” the man said as he sat in the chair Suho had been sitting in a few seconds ago. He didn't seem to pay any attention to anyone other than Kyungsoo.

“I have met you before?” Kyungsoo murmured. “I don't remember.”

“Don't listen to him hyung!” Kai whispered as Suho dragged him out of the room.

Kyungsoo shot the doctor a look of utter bewilderment. “Why did Kai tell me not to listen to you?”

“Who?” It was the doctor's turn to be confused.

“Kai,” Kyungsoo told him matter-of-factly. “Kim Jongin, the one who was dragged out by Suho hyung just now.”

“What are you talking about, Kyungsoo? No one is here.”

“He's lying, hyung!” I heard Kai yell from the outside. He burst into the room, followed by the others.

The doctor, seeming to notice that his attention wasn't on him asked, “Are your friends here now?”

Kyungsoo nodded, wondering what was going on.

“Kyungsoo, you are not metnally stable. Your friends aren't real.”

He couldn't believe his ears. How could someone say that Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Suho, Sehun, and Kai weren't real. He was mentally unstable? This doctor was!

Kai, with Chanyeol right behind him, began waving his hands frantically in front of the man. “He can see us!” Kai insisted.

“Kyungsoo, your friends do not exist. They are all in your mind. They are not real. If they are bothering you, tell them to stop.” The doctor told him calmly. He didn't seem to notice Kai and Chanyeol, but if he did he was good at pretending not to.

“I swear I'm going to hit him!” Kai hissed between clenched teeth. He made a movement as if to lunge at the older man, but Suho grabbed and held him back with the help of Baekhyun.

“Knock it off, Jongin!” Suho scolded his junior.

They dragged the struggling boy out of the room again. Chanyeol and Sehun followed, leaving Kyungsoo alone with Doctor Jungsik.

“Were they here when you woke up?” The man asked.

He nodded.

“Why do you think that is?”

“I don't know. They said they were here for me,” he answered.

“Kyungsoo, do you remember anything from your past or even from yesterday?”

He though hard, his face was scrunching up as he concentrated. He couldn't come up with anything. He just remembered when he woke up.

“Kyungsoo, your friends aren't real. The reason why you have memory problems is because of a fire-”

Kyungsoo cut him off. “A fire?”

“Yes, a fire. You were with your friends when the fire started. You had bad burns but you managed to survive. The others...” He trailed off, looking sad. “Why do you think you can't remember? The trauma would be too much for anyone. It would only make sense that you choose to forget everything everyday. They will tell you that they are real, but remember they are not. Your mind is telling you they are real because you feel bad to be the only survivor.”

Kyungsoo was silent as he took everything in.

“I'm going to give you something to help you relax. It's just a small needle, it won't hurt. It's to help you understand.” He spoke to the younger man as if he were trying to reassure a small child.

Kyungsoo didn't protest as the doctor held  out a normal-looking needle. He gently grabbed his arm and pricked his skin. With his thumb he pushed the liquid into his arm and gently pulled the needle out.

“See? That wasn't bad at all, right?”

Kyungsoo nodded, feeling like a zombie.

“Now, I'm going to leave you be,” the doctor continued in his gentle tone. “If your friends come back, remember- they do not exist. Do not listen to them. It is just your grief.”

“It is just my grief,” Kyungsoo repeated as if he were in a trance.

Seeming to be pleased, Jungsik stood up and smiled at him. He then his heel and left the room.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes, sleep seeming to creep up quickly on him. His eyes shot open as he remember his friends.

He jolted backwards as his face came inches away from Kai, his gaze was anxious. “You're awake hyung!”

“Yes,” Kyungsoo's voice was wavering from his sudden start.

“I didn't mean to scare you, hyung. I thought you were sleeping.” Kai had been on his knees as he peered over Kyungsoo, but now he sat back, resting on his bed. The others stood off to the side.

He was surprised. He hadn't even heard them come in. Then he had a sudden thought.

“Are you real?” He blurted out.

Kai sighed, seeming as if he heard the question a lot.

“Well,” Kyungsoo prompted. “Are you?”

“Of course!” Chanyeol yelled out before Kai could say anything.

Everyone was silent for some time before Kai spoke up. “The doctor told you we weren't real again, didn't he?”

Kyungsoo nodded.

“How do we prove we are really here with you?” Suho asked.

“I don't know,” Kyungsoo admitted, feeling embarrassed. As much as he wanted to believe his friends, the doctor made sense and he was beginning to believe him.

“I know,” Kai stood up. “Stand up, hyung.”

“Kyungsoo did as he was told, standing between Sehun and Baekhyun. Kai began to pull the sheets off of his bed. He then tied them, creating a loop at the end.

“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo questioned as Kai swung the sheet-lasso towards the roof rafters. He held one end while the looped end hung on the other side of the rafter. He pulled a chair under the loop.

“Hyung, this might sound dark and stupid, but I want you to hang yourself.” Kai's tone was completely serious.

Kyungsoo was taken aback by his sudden proposal.

“Do it, Kyungsoo,” Suho insisted.

Chanyeol nodded. “It's to prove we really do exist.”

“We won't let you die. If we are real, as soon as he can, we will cut you loose. If we aren't, well, you can join us on the Other Side,” Kai told him with a sheepish smile.

All of it seemed absurd, but he thought about it carefully. Whatever the doctor injected into him, it wasn't to relax him. He didn't feel relaxed at all. He suddenly began to wonder if the doctor was actually a doctor.

But that wasn't what mattered. He didn't fear death and if his friends were actually dead, he didn't want to go through life without them. If everything was all, in fact, real, he his friends would save him and everything would be fine.

Finally, he nodded his consent. With Sehun holding the chair to make it stable, Kyungsoo climbed onto the chair and slid the noose around his neck.

“We won't let you die, hyung.”

Kai was holding the other end of the sheet rope with Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Suho.

Kyungsoo finally took one final breath as he nodded to Sehun who pulled the chair out from under him. The air was suddenly choked out of him as the rope tightened around his throat. He began to have second thoughts about this.

His legs flailed wildly as he struggled for air. He felt as if the rope would cut through his neck and decapitate him. He struggled for some time before he couldn't fight any longer. Darkness washed over him like a wave and everything went black.