Jaehee didn't go to school for the next 2 days nor did she talk to anyone. The boys had thankfully decided to give her some space- she assumed it was because they still felt guilty about what happened on Monday. Luhan hadn't popped up to visit her either but she knew he was busy so she didn't really question it.

 

In all honesty Jaehee couldn't justify her absence either. She wasn't mad at Baekhyun and Sehun nor was she feeling depressed. She just had an odd feeling in her chest.

 

The nightmares hadn't come for a while so she knew something was going to happen soon and if so, she wanted to be here to witness it. She had always said she wanted to be here when Chanyeol woke up. He'd probably be disappointed and throw a fit if she wasn't.

 

She knew her attendance for school was dangerously low but that was one of the last things on her mind. She'd spoken to the principal, who was oddly fond of her, and the woman had assured her they'd be more than accommodating for her needs through the year.

 

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard footsteps at the door. Whipping her head away from the window, she spotted a man dressed in complete navy. He wore what looked like an extremely expensive suit. His hair was slicked back and he looked no older than 30 but Jaehee knew better. Those large eyes were unmistakeably those shared with her boyfriend. It was Chanyeol's father.

 

She stood immediately, offering a bow to the elder man. He shook his head and swept Jaehee into a hug, "Stop being so formal you brat." He chuckled making her roll her eyes in amusement. Since Mr Park was always abroad on business, he'd adopted so many western habits. If Chanyeol had been here he would have definitely ripped his father away from her and scolded his mannerisms. She missed that.

 

"Look at you. You've dropped another 5 pounds haven't you? God Jae soon you're just going to be skin and bones." He lightly nagged but Jaehee didn't mind. He'd always knit pick at her eating habits.

 

His gaze wandered over to the bed and he slowly approached the bed where his son laid. He always said he couldn't visit often because of business but Jaehee knew better. Chanyeol had told her about his mother's death. His father had been in the hospital, watching her like a hawk but he'd always said that was the most foolish mistake his father had made. Watching his wife slowly wither away had done more damage that good on the man so Jaehee had a strong feeling that was why he couldn't stand seeing his son in the same position.

 

She still remembered when his father had heard about the accident. He didn't appear at the hospital for a few days and when he had, his face was so expressionless that it scared her. She'd never seen him like that. His visit hadn't even been a few minutes before he declared he needed to leave. She was so sure it was too painful to see his own flesh and blood in such a state- she knew the feeling of pain well.

 

"I heard you spoke to Baek and Sehun." Jaehee finally said, addressing her biting concern. "Why did you say yes?"

 

Mr Park froze as if he were scared to answer. She gave him the time to gather his thoughts but his voice replied as a whisper, "I don't know."

 

She knew he wasn't just referring to why he said yes. He was talking about being a parent. He was alone with Chanyeol ever since he was young and she knew he struggled in fatherhood. It wasn't long before he handed Chanyeol to the maids. He had been young at the time and he wasn't ready to tackle the responsibilities of a father.

 

Jaehee left the room for him to have some private time with his son and headed downstairs to the food court. She was surprised to see Nam by himself and took the seat beside him.

 

"Oh! Hi Noona!" He smiled brightly and Jaehee couldn't help but tousle his hair. He reminded her so much of him.

 

"Hey, why are you here by yourself?"

 

He looked up, pointing his fork towards a woman who was walking towards them with a tray in her hand. Jaehee stood immediately and bowed.

 

The woman hastily put the tray down, spilling the soup slightly, to return to gesture. Jaehee couldn't help but giggle. It was obvious she was a rather clumsy woman. It was cute. She was a rather petite woman and had short dark hair that stopped just short of her shoulders. From the appearance it was obvious that the woman was Nam's mother.

 

"And who might this be, Nam?" The woman smiled.

 

"This is Jaehee Noona. Her boyfriend is neighbours with Noona." Nam explained, stealing some of the food from his mother's tray.

 

"Well I'm sorry for intruding. I just came to say hi to Nam."
 

The woman waved her aside. "Why don't you join us?"

 

Jaehee was about to politely decline when another voice did it for, "Jaehee doesn't like hospital food Ommonim. I was just going to give these flowers to Lavender, why don't I walk you back to Chanyeol."

 

There was something different about the way Luhan stressed her boyfriend's name. It made her furrow her brows but nevertheless she nodded and bowed to the woman, giving Nam a final ruffle of his hair before following Luhan to the elevator.

 

"What was that about?" She asked curiously.

 

Luhan gave her a sideward glance and bit his lip, debating whether or not to tell her the truth. He groaned before turning to her, "I don't want to sound rude but is it alright if you don't talk to Lav's mother? It's just I don't want her to...misunderstand anything."

 

A wave of comprehension suddenly swept over her. He didn't want her to think he was being unfaithful to her daughter. It was understandable that she'd be suspicious when her daughter had been comatose for over a year. It still kind of made her feel bad though and she couldn't tell why. Regardless Jaehee nodded, oblivious to Luhan's guilty expression. He felt bad for lying to her but he knew it was the best for both of them.

 

When she returned to Chanyeol's ward she wasn't surprised that Chanyeol's father was already gone. There was a letter left on his bed side table and she'd been through the drill long enough to know that she was supposed to read it to Chanyeol. She had a whole box of letters to him she had stored under his bed. She wanted to hand it to him when he woke up. Chanyeol's father wrote one every time he visited. It was a sweet gesture.

 

After reading him the letter, she stored it in the box before moving to the window sill. The view was pretty amazing but that was to be expected in such an expensive ward.

 

She took a deep breath. In a week it would be August 1st. That would make it exactly 7 months from the accident.

 

It also happened to be her birthday.

 

Jaehee hugged her knees. She couldn't believe she'd survived so long without Chanyeol. The only difference was that the year hadn't felt like it'd gone so fast like on normal years. This time she'd felt the time pass. Like a day was the length of a year and she had to struggle to make it through each one. In less than 3 months she'd graduate and in less than 6 she'd be in university.

 

Her eyes wandered over to Chanyeol and as if it had finally hit home she suddenly ran to his side, "Chanyeol. Life's moving forward! You need to wake up or you're going to miss it! How will you catch up on school? How will you graduate with me? You need to wake up now! You don't have time." She hadn't even realised she'd been shaking his body until someone pulled her away from him. Her eyes were wet and suddenly everything came back into focus. She could feel her breathing, shallow and choppy, her heart racing with her eyes on Chanyeol. He looked so peaceful and calm and it was irritating her. How could he be so calm when the world was falling in around him?

 

Before she could have another outburst, the same hands led her out of the room for a breather.

 

"I was starting to question when you'd lose it." Luhan chuckled, handing her a carbonated drink. She had never been a fan of soda but now she wanted anything to take her mind off of things.

 

Jaehee was still breathing rather fast and he could tell she was trying to stop herself from having another emotional supernova. He led her outside of the hospital, sitting her down on a bench near the building.  She sat down, her gaze directed at the stars.

 

"I just wanted to shake him till he wakes up."

 

Luhan looked at her and laughed. "Why do you do that?" When she looked back at him he furthered his question, "Even when no one is blaming you, you still find the need to explain yourself."

 

She bit her lip, looking back at the stars.

 

"How do you know when it's time to move on?"

 

Luhan followed her gaze, "I think that's not our call to make. They'll move on when they're ready and until then...we just need to be patient."

 

Jaehee found herself smiling. At least someone agreed with her. She spent the rest of the night gazing at the stars with Luhan, knowing she wasn't ready to face Chanyeol tonight. Luhan seemed to understand too because he didn't question her and just stayed beside her until they saw the sun rising.

 

 

 

The rest of the week seemed a lot easier to get through and Jaehee even returned to school. Mina and Mihye were kind enough not to ask about her absence and the rest of the school seemed to have got used to her random disappearances.  They did, however, bombard her with a  million questions of how she wanted to spend her birthday. She was turning 18 so she knew they wouldn't let her slip past it quietly. Truthfully, Jaehee had never been keen on birthdays. The only reason she celebrated them was because otherwise her mother would throw a fit but since her parents and her weren't exactly on the best terms, she was sure that wouldn't be an issue this year.

 

Jaehee had to laugh at how much effort went into her birthday. Mihye and Mina had taken her for the first half of the day. They took her to an amusement park where she had to admit she had a lot of fun. Then they took her to a dog café where they were interrupted by a helicopter that was calling her name from above. When she'd curiously gone outside, she'd spotted the sky writing that spelled 'Happy birthday Jae' and a small box suddenly parachuted down from the helicopter and into her arms. She didn't have to open it to know this had all been from Chanyeol's father. He was the only one that would be so lavish with his money.

 

She waved to the helicopter and plane, unsure if they had seen her, before  opening the box which had a lovely dress and a kind letter from Chanyeol's father, wishing her the best with his apology for not being able to deliver it in person. She sent him a text to thank him and wore the dress to the hospital where Baekhyun had been adamant she arrive at 3 for a party with the boys.  She had insisted that the twins come so they flanked her sides. Jaehee couldn't help but giggle at how shy they got in front of Sehun.

 

The party was rather fun. They'd been so loud and rowdy but it would be a lie for Jaehee to say she didn't miss how wild they got. It had been a while with Chanyeol's absence but it was good to see everyone so lively.

 

Sneaking away from the fun, she moved over to where Chanyeol laid. God she'd missed him and she'd only been away from him for a matter of hours. She sat beside him, cupping his cheek, "Wow I can't believe I'm another year older. Can you? Do you remember my last birthday?" She chuckled at the memory, "You insisted on throwing me a dumb surprise party and when I found out because you were being too loud, you sulked for so long...but I still feel like that was one of my best birthdays. You gave me this that day too." She lifted a hand over her neck, undoing the clasp of the necklace so she could open the locket and admire their picture. "God we look so perfect here. I wish you could be here...but I guess birthday wishes don't always come true."

 

She felt a lone tear follow the contours of her cheek, falling onto Chanyeol's hand before she could catch it. Almost instantly, his heart monitor felt flat and she could have sworn hers did as well. Jaehee gaped in shock, the loud beeps of the monitor, sending her brain into turmoil. It must have caught the attention of the others too because Baekhyun raced over and slammed his palm against the red emergency button.

 

"Chanyeol? Chanyeol?" Jaehee's voice was clouded with horror. She felt someone pull her away from the bed as the nurses raced in, exchanging terms she couldn't comprehend. Jaehee screamed in shock, shaking off all the hands on her before running after the bed as they pushed it towards the operating rooms.

 

She stopped as they closed the doors on her, making her eyes widen in shock. She turned around just as Baekhyun had caught up with her. His eyes were wide, in a frenzy but suddenly Jaehee couldn't hear him anymore. It wasn't long before she couldn't see him either.

 

When she woke up she couldn't see anyone and immediately sat up in shock. She spotted a male figure and couldn't stop the rush of déjà vu. Only this time the boy wasn't brunette. It wasn't Baekhyun. Baekhyun didn't have red hair.

 

"Luhan."

 

The boy whipped his head up, relief washing over his face. "You're up."

 

"Where is everyone? Chanyeol? Baekhyun?" She needed some sort of confirmation.  "Oh my god. Chanyeol!" Once again, she was up and racing towards the ICU only this time she wasn't wearing a hospital gown.

 

She stopped at the waiting room but no one was there. No Baekhyun. No Sehun. No twins. She turned around to Luhan who was observing her carefully.

 

"Where?"

 

He shook his head, "You need to eat something before you get answers."

 

"Where?" She demanded, this time more persistent.

 

"They're upstairs, cleaning up Chanyeol's ward." Luckily he added, "Just the stuff from the party."

 

Jaehee exhaled her relief. For a moment she had concluded the worst.

 

"He went into cardiac arrest but he's stable again. They said it shouldn't be long now...either he'll wake up or…" Luhan frowned and clearly he wasn't going to finish so Jaehee followed him to the elevator.

 

She couldn't help but feel like this had been her fault. She had been selfish wishing for him to wake up so quickly. Perhaps it was god's way of telling her not to be greedy. She should have been grateful he was still with her. That fear that spiked through her when the green light had become a straight line could not be compared to any other fear she had ever experienced.

 

As if reading her thoughts, Luhan pulled her into a hug. He squeezed her tightly, passing on some sort of comfort that couldn't be expressed with words. When they arrived at the room, there was so many people asking her questions but she managed to her teeth and assure them she was alright. Now that she could see Chanyeol, calmly resting on the bed with his heart monitor stable, she was alright.

 

 

 

"That was scary huh?"

 

Jaehee looked up at Baekhyun momentarily before training her eyes on Chanyeol.

 

"I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here."

 

Baekhyun took a seat beside her, "Well then it's a good thing I was here."

 

"What if it-"

 

Baekhyun shook his head, silencing her before the thoughts could be put in words. He didn't want to think about 'what ifs' because in truth, they scared him too.

 

They sat in silence until she felt something against her hand. It was a small box. "Chanyeol bought it before he ever asked you out." Baekhyun chuckled as if it were a funny memory, "He wanted to confess to you with it but we convinced him that it was going overboard and it would scare you off." He stared at the box before looking over at Chanyeol, lightly patting his stomach. "You wanted to give it to her on her 18th birthday right?"

 

He didn't say anything else and headed out the door, leaving Jaehee to figure out the rest on her own.

 

She opened the box quietly, gasping as she spotted two beautiful rings. They were silver and she had to grin. It was as if he'd already known she wasn't a gold-person.  Taking out the smaller one, she spotted the engraving that had their names with the date he had asked her out on. She couldn't help but laugh. He was so cocky. He'd already been so sure she'd accept.

 

She lifted his hand, manoeuvring it so that he put the ring on for her. Jaehee wasn't surprised that it fit perfectly. Chanyeol was creepy like that. She put the other ring on his finger, smiling softly to herself.

 

"Thank you Chanyeol."

 

When Jaehee came out of the bathroom, dressed in her pyjamas she was spotted a small present on Chanyeol's side table. She picked it up and analysed the card.

 

"The minute you think about letting go just remember why you've been holding on so long. Who knows? Maybe you'll be able to hold on to the end. Happy birthday."

 

She tasted the words in for a moment before swallowing them with a light heart. It was obvious who the gift had been from so she eagerly opened it.

 

As she unwrapped it, a Cheshire grin had decorated her face. She was felt a rush of determination spur through her.

 

A rubix cube.