Baek..." a breathless pause filled with anxious worry filled the silence before the voice over the phone laid the filial blow. "it's Minki".

The phone slipped through his limp fingers, hitting the floor with a soft thud. 

He remembered the day he got that phone, how excited he was. How he cradled it in his hands like it was his own child. 

How useless those actions, these possessions seemed now.

He was faced with reality. A reality that nothing possessed by humans could change. A reality that had come swiftly, brutally. 

Finally he came to his senses, grabbing his keys in a frenzied hurry to get to Minki.

The door opened at his knock. The face of Ren's once beautiful mother looked up at him in worry. She didn't say anything as she moved back to allow space for Baekhyun to enter. 

He pushed his way past, flying down the hall to Minki's room. 

The door stood ajar, voices speaking softly from just beyond the threshold.  He moved to stand under the ...... His hand gripping the ...... so tightly that his knuckles had gone white and the wood began to dig into his skin creating deep red marks on his fingers.

The sight that met his eyes made him go weak at the knees. 

If it was possible Minki looked worse than the last time Baekho saw him. His eyes were closed, and even from here he could tell that his breathing was labored, his chest rising violently, deep shaky gasps the most obvious sound in the room.

Baekho was scared to pass through the open door way. It was safe out here. On this side, he could almost pretend that this wasn't real. On this side, he could pass it off as a dream.

If he entered the room, he knew there would be no going back to pretending even for a moment. He knew that the harsh reality that they were facing would stay a reality that he wouldn't be able to escape. 

How was he supposed to face possibly losing the love of his life?

He felt a gentle touch on his lower back. He turned his head back to find Minki's mother standing behind him. She gave him a small smile. Baekho knew he would remember that smile for the rest of his life. That smile was a sentence, a poem, a full story. It said everything without saying a word. The wrinkles around were the words, the curve of her lips the book binding. 

She patted him on the back and he could feel the encouragement. He knew he should take the step through the door now. He knew that he COULD take that first step and that he could handle what would come. He could because he knew Minki needed him to. 

He nodded towards her, blinking back tears,  turned to face their reality and moved forward.

_____________

Author's note: Please excuse any misrskes. This is the unedited version. I hope you enjoy.

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