A/n: Semi-ual content?

Baekhyun was released from the hospital four days before their new year started. High school. They were going into high school.

They had made it.

Chanyeol was there the day they told Baekhyun he was free to go, and he helped his hyung out of the terrible place they had both been trapped in for the past few months, relieved to be seeing the doors for the last time.

“I never wanna step foot in this hospital again,” Baekhyun sighed as he breathed in the fresh air.

“I never wanna see you in this hospital again,” Chanyeol agreed.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun nodded. “Next time it’ll be the morgue, okay?”

Chanyeol punched him playfully, laughing.

“

“I’m going shopping today, ‘Yeollie, wanna come with me?”

“Can’t, hyung, I have to go home.”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol were sitting on a bench outside the school, waiting for Baekhyun’s parents to pick him up. Usually, they would drive Chanyeol home after school, too, but because they had to buy Baekhyun’s hyung a birthday present, they wouldn’t be able to.

When the silver car pulled up, Baekhyun’s arm wound around the younger boy’s neck, pulling him in to kiss him for a while longer than usual. “Sorry I can’t drive you home today,” he sighed when he pulled away.

“Now I have to walk home,” Chanyeol pouted jokingly. “You better make it up to me.”

Baekhyun pecked his cheek. “I will. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Chanyeol watched Baekhyun slide into the back seat of the car, waving and blowing kisses as they drove off. Chanyeol smiled and waved back, catching his hyung’s kisses. Then he stood, preparing to walk home.

It wasn’t a terribly long walk, really. Less than half an hour, and Chanyeol didn’t mind the extra exercise. But it was chilly and slippery, the end of March. He would’ve liked it more if he’d had his little ball of sunshine with him. He trudged slowly through the slush, alone, and then pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contact list to Baekhyun’s name.

“I miss you already hyung ㅠㅠ,” Chanyeol texted him.

A moment later, there was a response. “ㅋ You’re such a baby.”

“ㅠㅠㅠ Laughing at my pain?”

“:D”

“I wish I wasn’t busy tonight..”

“What are you doing?”

Chanyeol had forgotten to tell his hyung. “My aunt is visiting.”

“Yikes.”

“ㅠㅠ”

“Baby ㅎㅎ”

Chanyeol stopped texting him after that, hoping Baekhyun would get that he was fake-mad at him. But Baekhyun didn’t text him back, and Chanyeol supposed he was too busy shopping now to answer him. A few minutes later, though, a text came in from his hyung.

“Love u”

It was odd, not usual for Baekhyun to write in short forms. Maybe he was playing with him.

“Such a mean hyung. Love you too.” He wasn’t sure why he tacked the last bit onto the end. Some part of him just couldn’t ever not tell Baekhyun he loved him when his hyung told him so. Maybe it was years of living with Baekhyun’s cancer that made him scared – that one day he wouldn’t be able to tell him he loved him anymore.

Chanyeol felt a lump in his throat, and he shook his head. It’s okay. Baek’s fine. Sometimes he just worried himself too much over his hyung.

He was five minutes away from home when his phone started buzzing, and he pulled it out of his pocket. Who was calling him?

“Jongin?”

“Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol felt his heart drop into his stomach at the tone of his friend’s voice. “Yah, Jongin, don’t talk like that. You sound like a deliverer of bad news.”

“Chanyeol,” Jongin repeated in that deadly, fearful, apologetic tone. “It’s Baekhyun. He…”

Chanyeol’s heart started racing. “Hey, what are you trying to do? Stop scaring me!”

“You need to go to the hospital, hyung,” Jongin told him. “Baekhyun’s there – it’s not good… I’m sorry, hyung…”

Chanyeol almost threw his phone.

“

Chanyeol sprinted to the hospital. It was a ten-minute drive from his house. On foot, he made it in nine. There was an ambulance at the emergency entrance, but the doors were swung open and no one was inside. He pressed on, rushing inside and trying not to scream at everyone he saw. Where is he?!

I never wanna see you in this hospital again.

He spotted a police officer talking to a man whom he identified as Baekhyun’s father, and ran up to him. They saw him when he was a few feet away, recognition flashing in Mr. Byun’s eyes.

“Chanyeol, how did you-”

“Where is he?” Chanyeol asked immediately, not having time for any questions. He needed to see Baekhyun. “Where is Baekhyun?!”

They had to explain that Chanyeol couldn’t see the boy right now, that he was in critical condition and they were checking him out; it wasn’t a time for visitors. Chanyeol made a scene, but he didn’t care. Eventually they got him to sit down, having a nurse come talk to him, claiming he was in shock. He yelled at her, saying they should be paying attention to Baekhyun, not him.

“Why is he even here?” No one had explained that to him yet. What the hell was wrong with his hyung?

A car crash. They didn’t know if he would make it overnight. It was like a bomb had been dropped. A car crash, after everything. After the past three years, all it took to bring the boy back was some stupid guy who had been too busy on his phone. Baekhyun might die. No. Not from this.

After three hours of panic attacks, break downs, shouting matches, calling his mom to try and explain why he couldn’t come home, the secretary told Chanyeol that Baekhyun was able to take visitors now; the numerous scans, tests, x-rays, etc, were over, and they would have to wait for the results. But Baekhyun was resting now, and if Chanyeol wanted to see him-

“Where?”

“Third floor, room 365.” Chanyeol was running before he processed the number, and he forgot it by the time he reached the third floor.

It wasn’t the same wing Baekhyun had been in last time.

I never wanna step foot in this hospital again.

He wanted to call out to Baekhyun, but it was pointless. The hospital was drowning him – all the sounds, things rushing everywhere, everything so sterile and crisp and bright, and this was his nightmare, the one that had haunted him for years, come back to real life. Why was he back here? Was he going to wake up? Or would he have to see Baekhyun’s frail body, feel him falling apart in his arms, the way he always did whenever he slept alone?

He eventually found the right room, poking his head in and seeing his sleeping angel. This nightmare had Baekhyun covered in cuts, bandages, stitches, an IV sticking out of his arm. As always, that horrible pale blue attire covered him, and he was tucked too neatly into the spotlessly clean sheets.

Baekhyun. The word got lost on his lips as he stared, trying to take it in. There were so many stitches lining his face, casts on his left arm and leg, and a tube feeding oxygen into his nose. Despite all this, he looked so peaceful, like he had no idea that anything had ever happened to him. He was safely hidden away from reality.

Chanyeol shuffled in beside the bed, gently the less-damaged side of Baekhyun’s face before kissing his hair. “I’m here now, hyung,” he murmured. The boy didn’t stir and Chanyeol sat in the empty chair beside the bed. He’d always hated those chairs. Before, Baekhyun had always ended up making him snuggle in beside him, and they would end up falling asleep together, until someone would wake them up and tell them Chanyeol couldn’t sleep on the bed too. Tonight, he sat in the chair, just waiting for Baekhyun’s eyes to open.

When a nurse came by a few hours later, he asked why his hyung wasn’t waking up, and she told him it might just be a concussion, it might be a coma. There were a lot of untied ends. If he woke up within the next several hours, it was almost a guarantee he would make a full recovery within the year. If not… things might get complicated.

“Please wake up, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol whispered to him, squeezing his hand. “Wake up now, okay? You need to wake up now…”

But an hour passed, then two, then several more, and night had gone by, the sky beginning to lighten again; Chanyeol was fighting himself so hard to stay awake, because Baekhyun would wake up any minute now, any time…

“’Yeollie?”

Chanyeol’s eyes snapped open, and he could’ve sworn just a minute ago it had been four-thirty, but now it was ten after five. It didn’t matter though. He caught Baekhyun’s eyes – open – staring at him in confusion.

“I’m in the hospital?” Chanyeol felt his eyes water at the sound of Baekhyun’s voice. He’s okay. He’s okay! “’Yeol? I’m sorry… What happened?”

“Car accident,” Chanyeol croaked, voice full of sleep and joy. “Your parents are fine. Your mom had to have some checks done, but I think they let her out a while ago. How do you feel?”

“Like I went a few rounds with a bull,” Baekhyun admitted. “Come here.” He tugged on Chanyeol’s hand, and the younger immediately was at his side. Baekhyun’s hand pressed against Chanyeol’s cheek. “You look exhausted, ‘Yeol – what time is it?”

“Too early to be awake. For me, that is,” he added. “You could’ve gotten up long ago.”

Baekhyun scooted over, pulling Chanyeol down beside him, just like before. “I’m sorry. It’s your turn to sleep then, ‘Yeol. I’ll be okay now, you just sleep.”

Chanyeol buried his face in Baekhyun’s soft hair. “You said you wouldn’t come back here, Baek.”

He fell asleep a few minutes later, and didn’t see Baekhyun’s tears.

“

Kyungsoo sat in the coffee shop, shivering, sipping on a tea to try and warm him up, his hands shaking. But the cold had nothing to do with temperature, and everything to do with terror.

Baekhyun’s dead. Baekhyun’s dead…

He didn’t like Baekhyun, not in the least. He would probably be okay if he wasn’t with Chanyeol – in fact, Kyungsoo imagined they would likely be friends; but he followed his terrible boyfriend and the rest of his friends in their tormenting pack, and so that made him just as bad as the rest of them.

That didn’t mean Kyungsoo wanted him to die. Sure, he was a jerk. Sure, he had a huge slap in the face coming to him when he got into the real world and realized clinging to the s wasn’t an effective method for success. He deserved that, no doubt. But he didn’t deserve to die. He was supposed to make it through high school, and then suffer in reality, not die while he still had it good…

The bell above the door chimed, and wind gusted through the door for a moment as a figure slipped inside the place. It was Jongin, and his eyes quickly scanned the room, looking for Kyungsoo. There was only one other person beside Kyungsoo in there, and so he was easily spotted.

“Kyungsoo!” They had spoken just half an hour earlier, when Kyungsoo explained what had happened, what he’d seen. Then Jongin had said he would call Chanyeol and then come meet Kyungsoo. Now Jongin hurried over to him, sitting beside him on the soft couch that was giving Kyungsoo no comfort. He took the tea out of Kyungsoo’s hands and placed it on the table beside them, before cupping Kyungsoo’s face in his cold hands. “What happened to you?” he murmured, kissing Kyungsoo’s forehead.

“Kris,” Kyungsoo muttered. He noticed Jongin’s jaw clench. “It’s okay – I’m fine.” At least I’m alive.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know…”

“It’s okay,” Kyungsoo repeated numbly. He wasn’t at all worried about himself right now, and Jongin seemed to catch on.

“Hyung, Baekhyun will be alright,” he said, trying to sound sure. “He’s strong, he’ll be alright.”

“He didn’t even look alive…” Kyungsoo whispered. Jongin’s thumb traced a cut on the side of Kyungsoo’s nose, and then his lips brushed against it. Kyungsoo’s eyes closed, and he felt tears clinging to his lashes. He leaned into Jongin, seeking safety – a sanctuary from reality – in his arms. Throwing his legs over Jongin’s, he pressed his puffy cheek against Jongin’s chest, and let the boy cradle him soothingly. They didn’t speak. Kyungsoo was over-thinking everything about Baekhyun’s situation – what if he did die? What would happen then? What would Chanyeol do, and Kris, and everyone? – and he didn’t want to cry, because crying didn’t change anything ever, and it was weak and useless and it wasn’t even like Baekhyun was his friend. And maybe it had to do with some head trauma he’d suffered from Kris beating him up, but he just wanted to stay there with Jongin rocking him ever-so-slightly for the next thousand years or so, or at least until all the problems of the world faded away.

Of course, that was entirely unrealistic; eventually he would have to move, life would have to go on. But for now he didn’t want to think about it.

“

Baekhyun wasn’t at school the next day. Neither was Chanyeol. Kris didn’t even say anything to Kyungsoo about the marks on his face. Their whole group was solemn at lunch. Kyungsoo saw Minseok go over to Jongdae, and they spoke – did Minseok know, or could he just sense that something was off? Was it Baekhyun’s absence that gave it away? – before Minseok hugged Jongdae lightly and said something to the rest of the guys. Then he returned to the soccer table.

“What’s up with them today?” Sehun wondered as he watched the somber group.

Kyungsoo’s words got caught in his throat as he stared at Baekhyun’s empty seat. He still didn’t know what the boy’s condition was – alive or dead, stable or barely hanging on. During next period, he asked Jongin, and was reassured that Baekhyun was doing okay, according to Chanyeol’s text he’d gotten at lunch. He would live and, if all went well, could return to school the following week.

“Your hair’s gonna turn gray if you worry so much,” Jongin noted, staying Kyungsoo’s fidgeting hand.

“I just keep thinking about all of it,” Kyungsoo said, shaking off Jongin’s hand.

“Well, try not to,” Jongin told him. “Will you come to my house tonight? I can try and take your mind off it.”

“How?”

Jongin gave a mischievous smirk. “I can think of a few ways…”

Kyungsoo couldn’t deny that his curiosity got the best of him.

“

“Last time I was in this pool, I nearly drowned.”

Kyungsoo was staring down at the still, clear water of Jongin’s pool somewhat anxiously. He could swim well – he loved the water; being underwater was like being in another world, and he loved swimming to the bottom of pools or lakes and just laying on the sand or tiles, with nothing but the heavy silence of the waves around him – but this particular pool didn’t hold the fondest memories with him.

“I won’t let you drown, hyung.”

Kyungsoo grumbled. “This is silly.” He looked down at the swim trunks he was wearing – ones that Jongin had lent him. They were tied tightly, but still were too big, reaching past his knees.

“Would you rather wear my noona’s bikini?” Jongin teased.

“I bet you wouldn’t mind that,” Kyungsoo scowled. Jongin gave him a grin, pulling off his t-shirt to reveal his tanned and toned upper body. Then he approached Kyungsoo, hands going to his waist. His fingers toyed with the bottom of Kyungsoo’s shirt. “Won’t it be cold?” Kyungsoo argued. “It’s the end of March.” But Jongin was shaking his head.

“Heated pool,” he explained simply. “Now come on.” His hands began to lift Kyungsoo’s shirt, and Kyungsoo reluctantly pulled it off before crossing his arms over his bare chest. He looked like a child compared to Jongin, with his pale skin and lack of fine muscles. Jongin laughed at the sight of the shy boy, grabbing hold of Kyungsoo’s wrists and pulling his arms away to pin them to his sides. Then the boy took his body in, and Kyungsoo felt like he was mocking him.

“Don’t laugh at me,” Kyungsoo said coldly, feeling self-conscious. “We aren’t all gods.”

“I’m not laughing because you’re not a god,” Jongin chuckled. “Although thank you for that, I’m glad you think so highly of me.” It was good he was holding Kyungsoo’s arms, or Kyungsoo would’ve punched him. “I’m laughing because you’re cute, and you seem to think I don’t like your body. Which I do.”

“Okay…” Kyungsoo said, not believing him at all. He shivered – they were standing there, mostly , in late winter’s slushy snow. The pool – which was heated – was becoming more and more appealing with every second. So Kyungsoo pulled Jongin by the hand to the edge of the deep end of the pool.

It didn’t look very warm.

“It’s really heated?”

“Yes, hyung. Don’t you trust me?”

“You go in first then.”

“Let’s go together,” Jongin suggested. Kyungsoo agreed, and then Jongin counted, “3, 2, 1!” It was mostly just Jongin who jumped, but their hands were connected so Kyungsoo fell in anyways. After the initial shock, Kyungsoo realized that Jongin hadn’t been wrong – the pool was warm, only a few degrees lower than their body temperature. He lost his grip on Jongin’s hand, and opened his eyes underwater, feeling the sting of chemicals, but there were too many bubbles to allow him to see where the other had went. He reached out a hand, making contact with the wall, and pushed himself up to the surface. He was leaning against the side of the pool, shaking his hair out of his eyes, when Jongin popped up – right in front of him.

“See? It’s nice, hyung,” he said, pushing his hair off his forehead. Then his hands fell to the side of the pool behind Kyungsoo’s shoulders, sandwiching him between Jongin and the wall. He pressed his bare chest against Kyungsoo’s, leaning in to speak softly in Kyungsoo’s ear.

“Lean your head back.” It was almost a command, and Kyungsoo obeyed. “And close your eyes.” He did, feeling nervous as he wondered what Jongin’s plan was. “Now, don’t think of anything but me.” And then he felt Jongin’s mouth on his neck, gently. His tongue slipped past his teeth and flitted across Kyungsoo’s skin, and Kyungsoo trembled at the waves of pleasure it sent through him, wrapping his arms around Jongin’s neck. Jongin’s lips trailed down Kyungsoo’s neck, his shoulder, tracing along his collarbone, teeth occasionally grazing his skin teasingly. Kyungsoo’s fingers dug into Jongin’s back, head spinning. When Jongin reached Kyungsoo’s submerged chest, he inhaled deeply before continuing underneath the lapping water. After a moment, he gasped as he felt Jongin on his , biting the sensitive spot gently and then swirling his tongue around it. Goosebumps smattered across his arms, his toes crinkling.

“Jongin-ah!”

Jongin soon came up for a breath, and Kyungsoo’s breathing had become shallow. Jongin tilted his head forward, and Kyungsoo assumed it was so he could kiss him, but instead when Jongin leaned in, he took Kyungsoo’s lower lip between his teeth gently and . Then Kyungsoo pressed his mouth against the younger’s madly, needing something more than to just be touched. He allowed his tongue to slip into Jongin’s cavern and explore, drawing the tip of his tongue along Jongin’s, digging in the hot spot under Jongin’s tongue, tracing along the edges of his sharp teeth.

The kiss ended before their passion did, both of them out of breath and panting, capturing more kisses between gasps. Kyungsoo’s heart pounded, sending blood south and filling him with the greatest urgency of ual desire. He grabbed Jongin’s hips and yanked him closer shamelessly, not caring what Jongin thought of his as he tried to find some friction. But Jongin was all for it, ramming forward and grinding Kyungsoo into the wall, and their kisses were messy and fervent and reckless, but neither cared. Kyungsoo moaned out Jongin’s name again, and he was starting to get light-headed, and he felt like there was a fire burning beneath his skin, and he wanted this to last forever but he also wanted to be pushed over the edge now and –

“Yah, no in the pool!” Kyungsoo’s heart stuttered, and Jongin gasped, pulling away to look over Kyungsoo’s head. Kyungsoo looked back too, to see Jongin’s noona leaning out her bedroom window, frowning. “No exceptions because he’s a guy, either. You know the rules, Jongin!” She closed her window again, and Jongin pushed himself away from Kyungsoo with a sigh.

Kyungsoo was dizzy, and confused, and ually neglected after Jongin had pushed him to a point where he couldn’t stop, he wasn’t allowed to stop, not when Kyungsoo was in such dire need of attention now.

“Damn it, Jongin!” he groaned. Jongin laughed quietly.

“Sorry, hyung,” he sighed, swimming around slowly. “She’s right. It’s a rule.”

In the back of Kyungsoo’s mind, he was wondering who had established this rule, and what the circumstances had been to bring said rule about. Had Jongin’s mother, when his noona reached a certain age, set the boundary – or had someone been caught, and it had since been enforced? Had it been Jongin? No exceptions because he’s a guy… Had Jongin had with girls in his pool before?

He knew Jongin wasn’t a . He’d slept with more than one person, maybe he couldn’t even remember the number. Teenagers were like that, -craved. Maybe Kyungsoo wasn’t any better – if they hadn’t been stopped, would it gone far enough that Kyungsoo would have just then allowed Jongin to screw him? He banished that thought before it could burrow into his mind and torment him, because it didn’t matter – they weren’t going to have , not in this pool, not tonight. Maybe not ever. Jongin would probably bang someone at the next party he went to, and it wouldn’t be Kyungsoo.

Though he tried not to let it, that thought – Jongin with someone else – stayed with him.

A/n: I reached 250 subscribers! I would hug you all, but I can't, so I thought I would just update instead. This chapter was short - it almost seems like a filler -but there was no way for me to continue it without it becoming like 8,000 words so I just decided to end it there. Did you guys really think I would kill of my bias? ㅋㅋㅋ Baekhyun lives, no worries guys! Honestly, the kid is far too determined to die ㅎ If I don't write for the rest of this week, don't be surprised - I updated 3 times in the past 2 days instead of focusing on school, and I have a lot of due, so I might be gone until like next weekend. Sorry!