Niel's POV

I picked up the mobile that has been ringing for hours beside my bed. What is it... I didn't set out an alarm.
"Hello?", I straightened my body as I felt something weird. Why is it so light?
"Daniel? Where have you been? I couldn't reach you since yesterday!", said the voice on the other side. It was Mrs. Lee.
"Huh?! I was already here in Seoul since yesterday", I looked around. It was so empty. I lifted my hand. Didn't he link his pinkie yesterday?

"Byunghun-hyung!", I yelled out loud and walked out the bedroom.
"Daniel...", Mrs. Lee called me sounded bit puzzled.
"Where is he?! Where's Byunghun-hyung?!. YAH, LEE BYUNGHUN!!", I looked around the living room. I felt coldness creeping down my spine. It wasn't a good thing.
"Honey-ya...", I whispered as I opened the unlocked bathroom door. There was no one.
"Daniel, what are you doing?", asked Mrs. Lee with her trembling voice.
"Honey-ya...", I continued calling his name. My throat became dry and my body became numb. I walked back to the living room. The wind blew out the thin curtain and brought a familiar scent of mint. I sat on the couch. Mrs. Lee was talking about something that I couldn't understand. It was all like mumble in my ears.

"Daniel... are you there?", her question brought me back to reality. I didn't know which one is reality though, was I just dreaming yesterday? but I was here. I was here in this our very room. If I wasn't here, I couldn't be wake up here, could I?
"Honey-ya... where is he?", I still looked around, disoriented about everything.
"He passed away this morning, Niel... yah, are you joking?! it's not funny, okay~!", Mrs. Lee exclaimed in tears.
I don't want to hear that. I really don't want to hear that. I closed my eyes tightly. God, please, if this was just a bad nightmare, wake me up! I opened my eyes and I was still there sitting in the couch. Looking at the empty room.

Honey-ya... what are you doing to me?

I felt tears came down from my eyes. All yesterday meeting played in my head like a movie. I looked to the couch's side. His violin case was there... I started to snivel and curled myself. I still could feel his body heat when he snuggled to me right on this couch. Now everything was so cold. So cold, Honey-ya...

"He was here yesterday", I muttered to the mobile that was now wet by my tears.
"Daniel, get yourself together! He fell into coma...", Mrs. Lee took a deep breath.
"He was here yesterday", I kept mumbling the same thing.
"He fell into coma even when you were still in Paris~!", she gasped to continue. What was that... the Skype call that I received when I was drunk after Soojoo's party... was that? no. It can't be.
"HE WAS HERE YESTERDAY!", I insisted and threw my mobile away to the floor. It broke down into pieces.

I couldn't take this. Hyung... what are you doing to me?. You just left me like this? like I was just a stopover?. I grabbed the couch arm rest and squeezed it hard.
"Hyung... you're so stupid...", I whispered as I saw the empty bowl near the kitchen sink. "You should do your own dishes yourself. I won't do the chores by myself anymore!". I sunk my face to the pillow and cried like baby for hours. Next thing I knew, Jonghyun pulled me out of the couch and it was already evening.
"Mrs. Lee told me to check you here", he sighed as he handed me a glass of water.
"Did you see him?", I asked as I drank the water.
He nodded and looked at me concerned; "Byunghun-hyung... it's just like sleeping, he looked so peaceful", said Jonghyun as he squeezed my shoulder. And tears came flooding my eyes once again.
"Come on, you have to be by his side", said Jonghyun. He then half-dragged me to the parking lot, stuffed me into his car and drove me to the hospital.

We didn't talk anything during our journey. Everything just reminded me of Byunghun-hyung. The first time I drove him to hospital after Soojoo left... that time when we fought and that moment when I stole his first kiss.... Hyung, honestly, I just wanted to know how kissing a guy feels like since I had a gay role with Chanhee-hyung. I didn't know that I'd fall this deep, didn't I?. Or did I fall for you long long before that? I just didn't realize it. I somehow always knew that you're the one who sent me those hydrangeas. I also noticed that you always acted weird around me. That's why I liked to approach you back in highschool, just to see your awkward reaction. You were so cute that way. I like it, I like that shy smile, stuttered words, your hesitation to look me right in the eye. You don't know how hard it is to not be able to see it anymore, hyung...

I finally arrived at the hospital. Mrs. Lee took me to his room. VIP room no. 501. And Byunghun-hyung was there, lying on a white bed that was now so clean from medical equipment. I approached him with heavy steps. I couldn't think about anything other than Jonghyun's words that I have to be by his side. "Hyung...", I unknowingly called him and I saw that face. That peaceful face. Jonghyun was right, he was like sleeping. He often slept with that frowning face, but not this time, he was smiling so sincerely. Just like when he slept beside me last night. He's free now... he's free from his demanding body, he's free from his harsh life. He's in a better place now. I kept looking at his face, it seemed like he could open his eyes any time and played my hair; "Nielie", he would call me so gently... I held his hand and linked his pinkie to mine. It was stiff and cold... he wasn't here anymore. I released it and turned my back. Mrs. Lee took me into her embrace.

"You can have the violin", Mrs. Lee held back the violin offering from me.
"I think if it was there in your apartment, it means Byunghun wants you to have it", she smiled as she slurped her orange juice. She took me to the hospital cafeteria to calm me down. I could see her eyes were swollen. She must have cried so much.
"This was his 7th birthday present, right?", I smiled.
"Yeah. Byunghun really told you that...", she chuckled to the ground. She couldn't really believe what I have just told her. That I spent one night with his son; alive and well. She told me everything, that in Christmas morning there was a snow storm hitting the town. They did everything they could to kept Byunghun-hyung warm. But his condition was really bad that time and he fell into coma. He lied about his working medication. The stem cells never work in the first place, his body kept rejecting it.
"He told me many things. It was all strange you know... That Skype call after he fell into coma, that dreamy mint scent, the way I knocked to the door though I had my keys..."
"I guess he really wants to see you for the last time... Byunghun likes mint tea. I used to make him one every time he caught a cold", said Mrs. Lee while gazing to the far. I noticed how she was reluctant to use past tense for Byunghun-hyung.
"Maybe he missed your mint tea, Mrs. Lee", I held her hand so she won't cry.
She smiled and snorted; "Maybe... I told him to come back to his family home once in awhile. But he really likes you"

"You know me and him were...", I looked into her eyes hesitant