“Maestro,” Ryeowook says right after Heechul leaves.

He might have felt serious killing intent earlier when he suggested they call Kyuhyun but he also knows Youngwoon. He knows something serious might have happened if Youngwoon didn’t come like he said he would and he’s only thinking of what they are preparing for the entire year until now. He doesn’t want it all to be lost.

Maestro Jang turns to look at Ryeowook as if he already knows what his soloist is going to say. He casts one careful glance to Jongwoon when the older is replying to Sooyoung after he told them what’s happening and Heechul is coming to find out what happened to Youngwoon.

“Isn’t it better if we still call Kyuhyun? Just as backup,” Ryeowook still continues despite feeling extremely bad about it when he knows Jongwoon is listening even though he pretends he isn’t. “If something did happen to Youngwoon. Who’s going to sing with Jongwoon-hyung?”

Ryeowook isn’t really the only one thinking about it. In denial or clinging to hope, they are all just hoping that nothing bad happened to Youngwoon and he just got lost or caught in traffic that’s why he still isn’t there. But if something did happen to Youngwoon, what’s going to happen to their duet competition? Who is going to sing with Jongwoon?

“There’s no need to call Kyuhyun, Ryeowook,” Maestro Jang answers strictly. “Jongwoon’s friend is going to look for Youngwoon and find out what happens to him. If, as you say, something did happen to Youngwoon, we’re going to figure it together as a team without calling Kyuhyun. Let’s just pray nothing bad happened to Youngwoon and trust him. Understand?”

Ryeowook doesn’t say anything anymore as he nods.

“Kyuhyun respectfully withdrew. Even if that may be only a few weeks from the competition, he still did with respect to me and to everybody. He didn’t just suddenly disappear and leave us. Let’s respect his choice,” the maestro continues as he nods again at Ryeowook and Jongwoon.

It is important to note that Heechul didn’t die as he drives almost twice the driving limit from SNU to the fruit stall three blocks away from the university. It’s harder not to die than not get caught for overly exceeding the driving limit when he doesn’t even have driving license yet. But it is also important to note that Heechul is not doing this because he is Jongwoon’s badass hyung but just because he is Jongwoon’s hyung.

He knows Ryeowook is only trying to help but he still doesn’t understand why it has to be Kyuhyun again after all this time. Kyuhyun badly ed up with Jongwoon, didn’t he?

There are several stalls that are three blocks away from the university and for someone like Heechul who went to Europe and just got back, it’s pretty hard to distinguish which stall is from which. He asks from several people if they know some Kim Youngwoon studying at the nearby university three blocks away from the area and working at a fruit stall there but no one knows him.

Heechul is not popular for being patient and he is close to tearing the place down in order to find Youngwoon, if he really is there because he is beginning to doubt. There has to be someone who knows him! He is really close to calling Jongwoon and telling him it’s over when he sees a ruckus of people surrounding a stall several meters away from him, at the far east side of the market area.

He doesn’t even know where he parked his motorcycle or if he did park somewhere. He just sort of left it somewhere as he wades his way to the commotion.

The people there are all talking at the same time and it’s impossible to catch their every word but when he sees who’s inside the ambulance, restless, trying to stand up with a bandaged, bleeding head, yelling, “I need to get to SNU, sir! We have a competition! I have to be there! I have to be there no matter what!”

Heechul slightly feels guilty for doubting Youngwoon when here he is, with a still bleeding head, fighting medics that he needs to be there for the competition no matter what. He doesn’t even know what happened with Youngwoon but with the amount of blood dripping from the left side of his head to his temple down to his cheeks, it’s obviously not small.

“Youngwoon! Youngwoon, what the , man? Are you alright?” Heechul’s way of concern is unconventional. He jumps inside of the ambulance and is almost questioned by the medics until Youngwoon acknowledges him.

“Heechul!” Youngwoon exclaims, trying to sit up again with another gush of blood coming from his wound.

This time, it’s not a medic but Heechul who pushes him back down to lie. “Lie down, man, lie down,” he tells him even though the blood the medic is desperately trying to control because of Youngwoon’s restlessness is making him a bit dizzy.

“Did the competition start already? How’s the order? Is it solo first or duet? When are me and Jongwoon up?”

Youngwoon is under false belief that he can still come to the competition despite his condition, even Heechul unfortunately thinks so. It’s really admirable how he is almost bleeding his head to death and he is still trying to make it to the competition like he said he would, like he promised Jongwoon and Maestro Jang and probably himself.

“Your head is bleeding, man,” Heechul informs Youngwoon, like the latter isn’t aware of the fact. He doesn’t even say that it’s bleeding like it won’t be given another chance to bleed in Youngwoon’s life.

“I know, I know,” Youngwoon is already catching his breath, the blood drain is making it harder for him to breathe or to think. His eyes are becoming hazy and Heechul’s face is turning blurry. “But I can still sing. I have to, Heechul. I have to be there. I promised Jongwoon and Maestro Jang.”

“Your head is bleeding, Youngwoon,” Heechul repeats as if the other isn’t still able to catch that fact.

Heechul respects the strength Youngwoon is showing even though the latter might not be aware of it but as much as he loves Jongwoon and he doesn’t want him to be left hanging again, even though Youngwoon didn’t do it on purpose and he even wants to go there even if his very life is on the line, he knows it’s impossible. His freaking head is almost losing blood!

The medics attending to Youngwoon inside the ambulance are shouting numbers and weird, alien-like words Heechul’s mind is incapable of grasping as they stick a needle on Youngwoon’s wrist and Youngwoon finally loses fight.

He just met Youngwoon because of Jongwoon. They’re not even friends especially when Youngwoon occasionally gives Jongwoon a punch or two because he doesn’t know his partner’s heart condition but because he respects Youngwoon, Youngwoon gives him a reason to much respect, Heechul finds himself inside the ambulance with Youngwoon’s boss and several medics.

Youngwoon’s boss tells Heechul that they did have big orders that day and he couldn’t afford to give Youngwoon an off because of that. He tells Heechul that Youngwoon is a great kid, known as Kangin among the people in the market area because even though he’s like a bear because of his large body built, his heart is really kind. Youngwoon works hard that day like usual because he wants to leave as soon as his shift ends to be at the competition on time.

“Fifteen boxes of watermelon, fifteen boxes of apples and ten boxes of lime,” Youngwoon’s boss tells Heechul. “Those were the last of the big orders this afternoon. He was just getting ready to leave because his shift was finished but I asked him to help because that was the last anyway. He didn’t complain and did what I asked him, even joking that I should give him additional pay.”

They turn the corner of the university and Heechul looks at unconscious Youngwoon.

“We were getting fruits from the storage room when the platform where the boxes are piled suddenly collapses. He wasn’t even supposed to get hurt but several boxes were about to fall on Jungsoo. It happened so fast and before we all knew it, he was able to push Jungsoo into safety but his head was bleeding so badly. The box hit him instead. He was trying to stop the bleeding with his shirt, telling us over and over again that he was fine and he needed to be on your university competition,” Heechul isn’t even able to correct Youngwoon’s boss that it’s their university competition because he is shaking, remembering the details of what happened.

“But the bleeding won’t stop and I had already called an ambulance. Even when the ambulance arrived and the medics were trying to hold him down to bring him to the hospital, he won’t budge and insisted that he needs to go,” his hands covers his face as one of the medic tries to calm him down. He’s not young himself and might even go through a mild because of this.

Heechul nods sympathetically and stares at Youngwoon again, boring holes at the hole that’s already on Youngwoon’s head that doesn’t even have to be there had not Youngwoon been selfless. Why, Heechul complains, does he always have to be surrounded by selfless people? What is he even supposed to do now?

He doesn’t call Jongwoon until Youngwoon is admitted to the nearest hospital and safe. Jongwoon’s condition isn’t so stable himself and he doesn’t want something bad happening to him.

Meanwhile, Kyuhyun isn’t counting days off the calendar to competition. He doesn’t even think of the competition and how the others are preparing their butts off to represent their university excellently. He just knows that that day is the competition and it’s almost starting now.

He is also not holding his phone for the entire day, typing and deleting, typing and deleting, typing and deleting messages he thought he should send to the members of the choir he became friends with.

He is also definitely not including Jongwoon on the one-day-in-making-good-luck message’s recipient list because that’s just unfair, right? He can’t push Jongwoon out of his life and crawl his way back in. He can’t always push Jongwoon away and expect him to accept him again.

So, no, Kyuhyun is not texting Jongwoon but is only thinking of how they are doing in the competition. He wonders who became Jongwoon’s new partner. He figures it can’t be Ryeowook since Ryeowook is joining the solo competition after all but other than Ryeowook, he can’t think of anyone else.

He is still staring at his phone like it would type itself the perfect message when his phone rings to life. He almost falls down from his bed where he is lying on his back and throws his phone on the wall but fortunately, he only falls from his bed and his phone falls with him. He isn’t able to throw it on the wall and breaks it into pieces for ringing so loudly like that and startling him.

His body still aches from the fall when he quickly picks up the angry, loud thing and looks who might be bothering him this time when he is concentrating. His phone flashes a very familiar name though.

Kim Ryeowook

A/N: I really don't have anything to say except I know, my updates are coming really slow and I am not promising they won't be anymore because last I checked, life and all its subunits are still as demanding as ever, but I'm trying, guys. Okay, that being said, I hope everyone is doing great online and not online. - Elle