Authors Note: So I'm super sorry this is a year overdue? I wasn't planning on finishing this at all tbh . But, here you go haha. I'll also be going over the other chapters to rewrite them so this a bit more most likely, and maybe compile it into a one shot, haha. So stay tuned! I'm back around now so yeah.
Again, I'm super sorry! Please enjoy, comment and vote and all that goodness!

Also I uploaded this on wattpad a few weeks ago and forgot to add it here O.O oops, I'm so sorry guys. Better late then never.
-- worst author-nim ever Channie

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Once again, Kai and Chanyeol became a unit. Attached at the hip, never seen without one another. Stuck by a bond even stronger than glue. Sometimes as the nurses wandered by they'd stop just to glimpse them; curled up against each other, Chanyeol usually petting Kai's hair and sometimes, soft murmurs conversing between them. They didn't cause mischief anymore, not apart from Chanyeol occasionally sneaking donuts into the ward, or tripping over all the cords and tubes that littered the space surrounding Kai's bed. It all became painful, well behaved routine, and Chanyeol didn't know how he was still coping.

Everyday school would end at 3:00pm. The bus would get him into town by 3:20 and he'd walk to the hospital, guitar case swung over his shoulder and messenger bag smacking against his thigh. At 3:27 he walked into Kai's room. Unless, of course, it was a Friday on which he would stop to collect donuts, and would not arrive until five minutes later.

He'd shuffle in with and smile and gently peek to see if the other was awake before dumping his stuff by the bed, in favour of clambering on it next to the cancer patient. Then, he'd proceed to ramble about his day, every tiny detail from the maths assignment he hadn't started yet to the weird looks his science professor always gave him. Sometimes he'd talk about all the strange new words they'd learnt in English or about the short, squishy boy who sat next to Chanyeol in Music who had the most beautiful voice... and was most definitely not his type...

He talked and he talked, cause he knew that Kai liked it. He liked to hear stories of what happened outside the white walls he had for so long now resided in, he liked to hear that Chanyeol was living. Sometimes, if he felt up to it, Kai would talk too. His voice would be quiet and weak, and sometimes his words slurred, but Chanyeol didn't care. He'd wrap his arms around the other and play with his fingers whilst he listened to stories of curtain calls and practice halls. Of tours, and trips and performances and scholarships.

Shortly after dinner was served at 6pm, Chanyeol would talk again until Kai fell asleep, exhausted from a day's worth of slowly dying. Lulled by Chanyeol's voice he'd drift off with a small smile, at peace for at least awhile. He had sweet dreams whilst Chanyeol was here, he didn't notice the pain. Whilst the other spoke, he could lose himself in deep voices and stories and dreams. He was alive whilst the taller was present, and Kai held on for those moments.

When Kai fell asleep, Chanyeol would sigh lightly, distractedly playing with the other's hair before reaching down to take out his homework, studying and completing assignments until his foster Father finished work and came to collect him at around 10pm. Sometimes by that time, Chanyeol was asleep too... paper and pens sprayed across the bed and the floor whilst fiery scars lay hidden in Kai's pale neck. Thankfully Chanyeol was scrawny and his Dad was rather strong, so he always got home, unwoken in the end.

It was a grueling cycle, and more than once had Chanyeol found himself breaking down, beating his fists against the walls and screaming out tears down the hall instead of entering Kai's room, broken, shattered and desperate. Kai wasn't going to get better... but he had to believe right? He had to.. But it was written as plain as ink, he could see it stained on the other's eyelids every time he fell asleep. Everyone time they fell closed terrified Chanyeol, cause he knew the possibility that they could possibly never open again, as plain as that. He never said goodbye when he left for that reason. He was scared of finality, so instead he'd just kiss the other's eyelids, tears often slipping as he prayed they'd open again to smile at him tomorrow.

A few minutes after a breakdown, with swollen eyes and flushed cheeks, he'd enter the room. Somehow always forgetting that Kai probably would have been able to hear him.

Said male would then look over at him then, hidden under a red beanie like always and with eyes that seemed to read through Chanyeol. He'd watch the irises shatter with emotions, fresh and raw and rippling. The hurt look he would give Chanyeol when he saw him in such a state did nothing more than crush Chanyeol's heart further. But, puffing up his chest he'd grin. Eyes crinkling and lips pulled wide before he'd stride over and sit on the other's bed. Ready to burst into a story. But, somehow, on days like these the words would catch in his throat and he'd stutter his way to almost bawling once more. These days were the ones where Kai was the rock, reaching out to gently pet Chanyeol's cheek whilst simultaneously tilting his head towards the guitar.

"Just.... Play me a song today? Please."

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One day, when Chanyeol entered Kai's room on time as usual he caught the other sighing, his fingers splayed across a plastic sunflower. Chanyeol had always seen Kai practically drowning in them, but he'd never quite understood why they were sent. Kai hated them with a passion, always wrinkling his nose when they arrived at his room. But this time a thought shook him.

How long had it been since Kai had seen a real flower? Dirt even? With a growl Chanyeol dumped his stuff on the floor, startling Kai who blinked widely at him. "Chanyeol what are you--." Watching as the redhead stormed across the room, Kai was perhaps a little intimidated. Chanyeol merely fetched the abandoned wheel chair, long left alone by the warmth of the window. 

"Chanyeol I can't--"
The look that Chanyeol posed as he began toying with the others tubes and wires was enough to hush Kai, the younger male instead wrapping his arms around himself and letting the other maneuver him. Chanyeol had been here with him long enough now that he knew what was necessities and what was precaution, and when he had the wheel chair set up, as careful as he could be he lifted Kai up and into the chair, internally cringing at how light the other was. Next came the thick blanket off the bed which he bunched around the other, making sure to cover his feet and his chest before then, Chanyeol wheeled them out of there.

It was a slow, and risky trip but Chanyeol was a man on a mission, 100% determined to succeed through with his plan. He slowed them to a stop behind the pot plant, both boys getting lost in waves of nostalgia as they eyed the nurses coffee cup.

Eventually, as they both knew she would, the nurse rose to go and fill her cup and Chanyeol pushed them forward with a rush, Kai releasing a yelp and gripping on his chair thanks to the sudden speed. Chanyeol didn't stop running until they were out the hospital's front doors and a short way down the street.

Somewhere along the way, thanks to the heightened speed Kai had screwed his eyes shut and clenched his fists in an iron grip on the arm rests of the chair. But when Chanyeol released a sigh of relief and slowed down, Kai slowly opened his eyes to the tickle of sunshine on his cheeks. His ears were being assaulted with the sounds of people and the crunching noise of tires on tarmac. It was loud, and strange and it filled Kai with nostalgia as he