TaeMin’s mother was waiting patiently in the driver’s seat of the car when the Kim’s stepped in. There was a definite tension between the two family members. On top of the previous strife they’d had they now had this situation hanging between them that neither of them knew how to handle very well. For the sake of TaeMin’s mother, though, JongHyun’s own mother tried to keep the conversation flowing. She avoided talk about what she saw which JongHyun was thoroughly thankful for. He wasn’t ready to tell anyone about his relationship just yet. He would like to tell TaeMin first… You know, get his feedback about the whole thing. Although he wasn’t quite sure just how awake TaeMin was at the moment.

            “The doctor called this morning to tell me that they wanted to run some tests on TaeMin as soon as possible. He also wants to start some physiotherapy to get the strength back into his muscles since he hasn’t used them for so long,” TaeMin’s mother rambled.

            JongHyun half listened to their conversation. He only ticked in when he found some important mention regarding TaeMin. Otherwise he stayed in his own little world where every one of his thoughts was conflicting with the other. Coincidentally enough, the majority of his thoughts were orbiting around TaeMin. How would he look? Or act? Would he remember him? Would he remember his coma? It was these types of questions that battered at his poor abused mind.

            There was a colony of ants taking home in his briefs, too, it seemed. Legit. His squirming was getting to the point where he was annoying himself.

            He had the image of the hospital in his head. The exact route he would take to get to TaeMin’s room. Unless they’d moved him… Then he would need a backup plan. But he had to factor in the two women with him… It was a complicated system he had to work out.

            The chatter continued while the van JongHyun was in brought him closer and closer to his destination. Trees passed by in a blur, mingling with the darker scenery behind its dead branches. Buildings and cars, the occasional face and a hibernating shrub or two. Everything slipped under his nose since he was too focused on his goal to stop and smell the roses.

            TaeMin was awake. Awake!

            His mother had caught him making out with a guy… But TaeMin was awake!

            “He’ll be so happy to see you,” TaeMin’s mother said, pulling up into the hospital parking lot (finally).

            JongHyun didn’t feel like making polite chit-chat. All of his plans were discarded as soon as the van pulled up between those two yellow lines. He flew out the door like a preying eagle ready to dash off to the finish line. The pavement was slick with melting ice and laden with puddles strewn about at uneven intervals. He dodged them skilfully and like Batman on a mission he ran. It felt like he was retrieving his sidekick Robin from his captor after trying for weeks to destroy the evil coma that held him.

            This was the final battle. JongHyun was the warrior battling through the hoards of cars and bad weather. Soon he would receive his prize.

            Nurses looked at him with odd expressions but steered clear of his path. The hall containing TaeMin’s room was deserted save for a male nurse pushing along a cart laden with supplies. A crack of space was left between the door and the frame. Excitement fluttered in JongHyun’s stomach.

            His hand reached out to push the door open all the way. TaeMin was propped up in his bed with MinHo helping him to stay up. The other boy’s presence would have usually bothered him but the euphoria that came with seeing his plump lips stretched into that all too precious smile made him forget about the history of MinHo.

            “It’s about time you wake up!” he exclaimed. He watched with high amusement as the young boy raised his head. The petite smile that had been previously humming daintily on his lips grew into one that made his narrow eyes sparkle. God, he’d missed that.

            “JongHyun hyung!’ TaeMin yelled. That voice was music to JongHyun’s ears. He found himself thinking that he could go a whole life without his own voice if it only meant that he could hear TaeMin’s. One foot after the other he advanced on his best friend.

            “How you doing?” he asked, ruffling the younger’s hair.

            “Yah…” TaeMin swatted his hand away weakly. “I’m fine, a bit tired, but apparently better than last week.”

            “You bet you’re better than last week. You still look like a vegetable, though.”

            “Were you waiting for met o wake up just so you could crack really lame jokes?”

            “Yup!” It was a total lie but the content look on TaeMin’s face was enough to keep him silent about the worries he’d fought with during his little “nap”.

            “Do you want to sit?” MinHo offered, finally announcing his presence.

            JongHyun gave him a stiff look and rejected his offer. The odd exchange spiked TaeMin’s curiosity, but he had too many questions to ask to care.

            “Were you the one who got me the Michael Jackson DVD?” he asked. As he waited for an answer he tried to help out MinHo by shifting slightly so his back was against the head board of his bed instead of resting on his arm.

            “Yeah, it was my Christmas present to you,” JongHyun answered.

            “If I could dance right now I would… How did you know I wanted it?”

            “You only dragged me to the store every other day to show me the DVD that you ‘really, really wanted’.”

            Before their conversation could precede any further their mothers stepped into the room.

            “Kim JongHyun, that was so rude!” JongHyun’s mother reprimanded. She wasted no more time in scolding him for his impolite behaviours, though. Instead she shuffled off to TaeMin’s side in her high heeled boots.

            “How are you feeling today dear?” she asked.

            “Much better, thanks,” TaeMin mumbled.

            “Has MinHo been taking good care of you?” his mother asked, patting the tall boy lovingly on the shoulder. It was a bit odd for JongHyun considering his knowledge of the boy’s history.

            Just remember Key, he told himself. If he could forgive MinHo than he could, too... If not for Key than for TaeMin. Judging by the way he was looking at MinHo – with that loving gaze of his – it was enough to keep him calm.

            “So I was talking to the doctor and he said that if you do good on your physiotherapy this week and your tests are all good you could move to the second floor. And they also said that they’re going to start you on a medication and if it works like they say it will you’ll be more able to control your body temperature and you could even for home!” TaeMin’s mother explained as she fussed over her son.

            “A new medication?” TaeMin inquired, battering his mother’s hands away half heartedly.

            “Stay still; your hair’s a mess!” she scolded.

            There was a ripple of laughter that tore around the people loitering in the small room. The silence that he been glazing the small band of people dissipated. It was just like the old times where there had been no riffs between JongHyun and his family and when TaeMin had not been on the brink of death. Everything was inching closer and closer to peaceful perfection that they all lusted for.

            Until she spoke quietly into JongHyun’s ear.

            “I want to talk with you - over dinner. Please don’t run away again…” she begged.

            What she didn’t know, though, was that every bone in his body was itching to bolt now.