Piling into Yunho’s car was a surprisingly peaceful experience. By default, Jaejoong jumped in the front seat while Junsu and Yoochun were content with the back seat. Yunho guessed it was because there wasn’t a middle seat to claim like when the group were still five. Nobody liked the middle seat.

The drive was quiet. Yunho didn’t engage a conversation, nor did he want to. It was better this way, he thought to himself. If he spoke, he felt as though his heart would leap from his chest. He was far too wired to speak.

“Whoa,” Yoochun said, speaking up for the rest of them as the hospital came into view.

“Whoa is right,” Jaejoong mumbled. “I’ve only seen this many people at concerts and fan signs,”

The outside of Seoul Memorial Hospital was surrounded by crowds of people. Officers were putting up barricades to keep them away from the doors and out of the parking lots. Either way, Yunho knew they wouldn’t get inside easily.

“I say we park nearby and make a run for it,” Yoochun said. “What do you think?”

“Everyone will see us,” Junsu said. “I forgot to bring a hoodie and a mask,”

“People will know we’re here soon enough anyway,” Yoochun shrugged. “Besides, these are the real fans. They’ll let us through easily,”

“And they’ll throw a fit at the sight of you three,” Yunho pointed out.

“Indeed,” Jaejoong scratched his nose, staring through the tinted windows at the fans they were passing. Some of them turned to watch Yunho’s car pass, though they couldn’t see the occupants inside.

“We’ll squeeze into the parking lot and go through the front,” Yunho decided.

“Sounds awesome, let’s just walk right through the screaming fans,” Junsu said sarcastically.

“Hey, at this point, it’s the only way in, and going through the emergency room entrance will only get us sent through the front anyway,”

“Okay, but get the police to us in,”

“Are you scared of the fans, Junsu?” Jaejoong laughed.

“Only when they’re in swarms like this,” Junsu mumbled, “especially after what happened to Changmin. You never know who could be in there,” staring out the window as Yunho pulled into the parking lot. He made sure to drive by an officer and roll down the window. The officer waved and immediately began following the car. Yunho parked and climbed out of the car, the distant sounds of the fans a dull roar in the distance. He’d parked as far away from them as he could.

“Okay,” Jaejoong adjusted his shirt and fixing his hair in the side mirror. “Let’s do this,”

“Mr. Vanity all of a sudden,” Yoochun laughed,

“Hey, we’re going to have news cameras taking our pictures. I at least want to look half decent,”

“I don’t think it’s possible for you to take a bad picture,” Junsu said, starting to fix his hair in the mirror beside Jaejoong.

“That’s because I take care to make sure I don’t,”

Junsu laughed.

Yunho only took a moment to make sure his part was straight. People tended to like his messy hair more than his neat comb anyway.

The officer escorted them up to the front doors calmly. The moment the fans caught sight of Yunho, they broke into screams. A moment later, someone shouted Jaejoong’s name and the scream turned into the loudest roar Yunho had ever heard. Yoochun clapped his hands over his ears, flashing a grin at the screaming crowd. They’d known the support would be good, but they had no idea it would be this good.

By the time they got to the front doors, a chant had started. Yunho paused a moment, trying to make it out. He felt a shiver go down his spine when he realized what it was.

TVXQ5.

“Uh oh,”

Yunho turned towards the inside of the hospital, freezing at the sight of SM’s CEO standing by the counter. Jaejoong threw himself behind Yunho while Yoochun proceeded to grab a magazine off the table nearby and hid his face behind hit. Yunho didn’t have the heart to tell him he was hiding behind Women’s Weekly.

Junsu, however, didn’t hide. He walked boldly up to the front desk with Yunho. Jaejoong dodged behind Yoochun instead, taking a leaf out of his book and hiding behind a cooking magazine.

“We’re here to see Changmin,” Yunho told the clerk when she looked up.

Her eyes darted towards Junsu for the briefest of moments before returning to Yunho. The CEO turned his head, immediately spotting and recognizing Jusnu.

“What are you doing here?” He growled.

Junsu merely turned his head, replying with a coolly neutral tone. “I’m here to see my friend. What about you?”

Yunho heard Yoochun’s distinct snort in the background.

The CEO turned, seeing the two other members of JYJ still hiding behind the magazines. He turned an accusing stare towards Yunho, opening his mouth to say something, but he’d already received Changmin’s room number.

“Come on,” Yunho said, beckoning to JYJ.

Jaejoong and Yoochun promptly abandoned their magazines and trotted after Yunho. The CEO shouted after them, but Yunho ignored him, not wanting to speak with him at this particular moment. He knew he would probably pay for it later, but he chose not to care. In the end, Changmin was more important.

“Oh man, my heart is racing,” Yoochun breathed, pinching the front of his shirt and tugging on it.

“Focus on Changmin,” Junsu said. “Worry later,”

“Thinking about Changmin only makes me feel more nervous,”

Jaejoong snorted. “Listen to yourself, you have no idea what you just said and what it could mean, do you?”

“Get your mind out of the gutter!”

Jaejoong laughed.

“Shut up,” Yunho growled, finding the VIP hallway of the hospital. The guards only had to take one look at them before letting them through without complaint.

The VIP ward was the same as every other ward in the hospital with only a few major differences. Yunho had spent enough time in both wards to know them. While the normal one had plain white walls, the VIP ward was painted like a home, though it was still white. Paintings covered the walls, and leafed plants stood in every corner. It was quiet too, as there were barely ten rooms in the area, all of them private. The ward was reserved for the rich and famous. Every hospital had one, though they usually only had security stationed when someone important was in.

Yunho quickly found the room Changmin was in, as it was the only closed door in the ward. He knocked on the door, reaching for the handle to go inside. He turned it, taking a breath, and stepped into the room.

Changmin was lying on the bed, his hands folded over his hospital gown. He’d been staring at the ceiling until Yunho stepped in, then he looked up, immediately breaking into a brilliant smile and sitting up.

“Hyung!” He said.

Yunho suddenly found it hard to control his emotions. He was by Changmin’s side in half a second, pulling him into a hug and receiving one equally as tight in return.

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Yunho breathed.

“Yeah,” Changmin just mumbled.

Yunho broke the hug, immediately noticing the bruises on his face and neck and grimaced, reaching out to touch the finger marks on his throat.

“I know,” Changmin said, running his hand over them. “They’re really bad,”

“What did she do to you?”

Changmin just shook his head, looking back towards the door. He lit up yet again at the sight of JYJ.

“What, no ‘hyung’ for us?” Jaejoong asked, smiling as he stepped over to Changmin and wrapped him into a hug.

Changmin returned the hug, smiling slightly. “I’m just surprised. I knew you were coming, but I guess I kind of didn’t believe it,”

“Well believe it,” Jaejoong said, standing up straight again and messing up his hair.

Changmin squirmed away from his hand, fixing it with his fingers as Yoochun and Junsu approached as well, smiling nervously. They eyed the bruises on Changmin’s wrists, but said nothing. He looked up at Junsu and Yoochun and held his arms open, inviting them in for a hug. They took the invitation immediately, pulling the maknae into their own tight embrace.

“I’m glad you’re here too,” Changmin said, smiling. “I’ve missed you three,”

“We’ve missed you too,” Junsu replied, backing out of the hug with Yoochun.

Changmin folded his hands in his lap, perching quietly on the gurney. He stared at his thumbs for a few seconds before looking back up at the others. The smile that appeared on his face was forced. It made Yunho’s heart clench in his chest.

“I know you probably don’t want to talk about it,” Yunho managed to say, “but we’re all here for you whenever you’re ready,”

Changmin just nodded, turning his eyes back down to his hands.

Jaejoong glanced over at Yunho, a dark expression on his face. Yunho merely raised the corner of his mouth slightly in a half smile. Changmin wasn’t okay. Though JYJ hadn’t seen him for a few years, they knew him well enough to know that. Whatever smile had been on the maknae’s face when they’d walked in was gone now. What was left was the broken shell of what Changmin had once been. Yunho wasn’t even sure if he’d ever recover from the mental trauma.

“Are you hungry?” Yoochun asked suddenly, talking to Changmin.

The maknae shrugged. “I had some lunch when I got here,”

“Hospital food is terrible,” Yoochun said. “I’ll go grab you something from the cafeteria if you want. There’s a noodle place, and I was tempted to go grab something myself,”

“No, don’t worry about it, I’m not hungry,”

It was Yoochun’s turn to frown. He looked towards Jaejoong and exchanged dark glances with him before turning to Junsu. Yunho glanced at the floor. Offering Changmin food might’ve been Yoochun’s way of trying to figure out just how sick he was. He only ever refused food when he was feeling particularly bad.

Yoochun stepped over to the bed and sat beside Changmin, pulling him into another hug without asking. The maknae jumped, startled for a second, before leaning into it. Yunho sat on his other side a moment later, adding to the hug. He was unsurprised when Junsu and Jaejoong joined barely a second later.

Changmin was still for a few moments, smothered by the hugs of his four closest friends. His hands reached up, gripping the shirt of whoever happened to be closest to him, clenching it in his fists. His shoulders trembled before soft sobs slid from between his lips. Nobody said anything. There was nothing to say. All they could do was hug him and hope that though it was very little, it was enough to make a difference.

...

Changmin was released from the hospital the next day. The doctors could find no signs of life threatening injury, but recommended him to go see a psychologist if need be. Changmin said little and left quickly, disappearing into Yunho’s car.

“I don’t want to go home,” Changmin confessed, sitting in the front seat beside Yunho.

“You don’t have to,” Yunho told him. “You can stay with me for as long as you need to,”

Jaejoong had lost the game of rock paper scissors for the two back window seats and ended up stuffed in the middle. His long legs were bunched up in front of him, just as badly as Junsu and Yoochun beside him. “If you need to, you can stay with us as well,” he offered.

“Thanks, hyung,”

Jaejoong nodded, a small smile on his face.

The car drove down the roads, the occupants silent. Changmin had rolled down the window and had the top of his head sticking out, the wind ruffling his hair rather violently. Yunho wanted to tell him that rolling down the window wasn’t the best idea, but he kept silent, knowing that the maknae probably hadn’t felt the wind for a long time. He let it be, instead making sure his hood was up so nobody could see his face through the open window.

“Go to our house, Yunho,” Jaejoong said, looking up from his phone. “My agent just texted me. They’re perfectly okay with you and Changmin being over,”

“Seriously?” Junsu turned towards Jaejoong, an odd sort of grin on his face.

“Yeah,” Jaejoong stuffed his phone back into his pocket. “They saw us on TV with Yunho and sent me a thousand texts while we were inside. I just got them now. They don’t mind at all,”

“Awesome,” Junsu picked at a speck of dirt on his knee.

“Are you good with that, Changmin?” Yunho asked, glancing over at the maknae.

Changmin didn’t respond, lying perfectly still, his hair still being ruffled by the wind.

“Is he sleeping?” Yoochun asked. He reached over and gently touched Changmin on the shoulder. He got no response, making him pull his hand back.

“Let him sleep,” Yunho said. “He needs it,”

“Yeah,” Yoochun mumbled, watching Changmin silently from the back seat.

The car fell silent once more. Nobody spoke. Jaejoong kept his eyes on the front windshield, occasionally glancing over at Changmin’s sleeping form.

Yunho was just pulling into the parking lot to JYJ’s condominium when Changmin woke with a start, his head darting around before he relaxed.

“You okay?” Yunho asked.

Changmin just nodded, rolling up the window and laying his head on it again. He didn’t close his eyes again. He climbed out of the car when Yunho parked, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he stared at the ground. Yoochun put his arm around the maknae, trying to offer sympathy. Changmin shrugged the arm off, walking towards the doors in silence. Yoochun followed him, glancing at Yunho, his brow creased.

Yunho watched Changmin silently as they ascended the elevator. His hair had fallen over his eyes and he made no move to brush it aside. Yunho wanted to reach over and fix it himself, but the thought of Changmin’s reaction to Yoochun simply comforting him told him that probably wasn’t the best of ideas.

“Get some rest, Changmin,” Yunho encouraged when they stepped into JYJ’s apartment.

Changmin merely nodded and lied down on the couch, his hood still pulled up over his head, hiding the bruises on his neck from sight. Yunho grabbed a blanket and draped it over him. Changmin barely responded, simply blinking, his expression blank. Haunted, Yunho couldn’t help but think.

That damned sasaeng destroyed him, Yunho thought, feeling tears burning in his eyes.

“Let us know if you need anything, okay Changmin?” Jaejoong said.

Changmin’s only response was to curl into a ball, tugging the blanket closer, hiding his face from view.

...

Changmin was having nightmares. He didn’t want to tell anyone that. Just before he woke up, if he heard the sound of a door opening, a cold chill went down his spine and he leapt awake, finding out it was just Junsu closing the bathroom door. If he heard footsteps, he cringed into the couch, opening his eyes slowly and finding out it was Jaejoong picking up last night’s trash off the floor. The worst was when he felt someone touching him. The first time that happened, he’d lashed out, accidently hitting Yunho in the side of the face. He apologized profusely, but Yunho simply told him it was okay, pulling him into a hug.

It got to the point where he wasn’t sure if having his friends around was a good idea. He snuck out alone at one point, returning to his house in an attempt to maybe relax a little, but the panic attacks he had alone were far worse than waking up to his friends wandering around. He’d practically knocked Yunho down when he’d finally made his way back to the JYJ dorm.

Changmin returned to work far earlier than he would’ve liked. Yunho tried to protest to SM, but they barely listened. The maknae’s performance in the training room was half hearted. When he tried to sing, his voice cracked more times than usual. He broke down in the small practice room, pressing his hands into his face, broken sobs tearing from his throat. It was how Yunho found him. He put his arm around Changmin and led him out of the room, taking him home. When their agents tried to stop them, Yunho refused to listen.

Eventually, a month after his rescue, Changmin recovered enough to start defending himself. Yunho had grinned, watching the maknae shout himself nearly hoarse at the CEO of SM. Changmin was threatening contract termination as well. Yunho didn’t blame him.

“Was I too harsh...?” Changmin asked as Yunho drove them back towards the JYJ dorms.

“No,” Yunho replied. “You were fine. They haven’t been very sympathetic,”

“I really should keep trying to get back to singing,” Changmin said softly, his hands clenching against his jeans. “But they’re expecting me to just...forget everything and pretend it never happened. They want me to perform like I did before...”

“I know,” Yunho sighed heavily. “You can’t do that though,”

“I want to, but it’s just hard,”

“I’d rather you take some time to recover,”

“I am,” Changmin mumbled. “I’m fine, really I am,”

“I’m the only one who notices you jumping awake in the middle of the night,” Yunho said.

Changmin bowed his head, twiddling his thumbs.

“You’ll need a lot longer than a few weeks to recover from what happened. I still haven’t recovered from the poisoned drink,”

“I forgot about that,” Changmin mumbled. “I don’t even notice,”

“That’s because you’ve long since stopped trying to bring me drinks and so has everyone else. I can’t eat out because I think my drink is going to be poisoned. How pathetic is that, Changmin?”

“I don’t blame you, you were really sick,”

“And I don’t even know what that sasaeng did to you, and I don’t know if I want to know,” Yunho said. “Can you even look at your fans now without flinching?”

Changmin grimaced, then shook his head. “No...I can’t even look at a girl without feeling sick...”

“There you go,” Yunho drummed his thumbs on the wheel, staring at the red light, waiting for it to change. “Recovering will take time. Hiding it won’t make it better either,”

“Should I file, Yunho?”

“What?” Yunho looked over at the maknae.

“Should I file? Like JYJ did? Do you think it would be better?”

“That’s for you to decide,” Yunho replied. “But if you do, know I’ll be right behind you,”

“I don’t want you to give up everything for me,”

“Maybe you are everything,”

Changmin stared at him, his mouth open slightly. He never thought he’d hear such words from Yunho. His hyung turned, glancing over at him for the briefest of moments.

“What?” He asked.

“I just...” Changmin swallowed. “Never mind...” he turned his gaze back out the front window.

Yunho cracked a smile, turning towards the front again. Changmin’s recovery would be slow, but he knew that someday the maknae would bounce back, stronger than ever. He wasn’t the group’s baby anymore. He’d been through far worse than most idols, and because of that, Yunho knew that nothing would ever stand in his way again.

.

.

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A/N: I just want to thank all of you for reading this story! I'm so glad you made it this far, and I really hope you enjoyed every word!

Also note, I am considering writing a sequel to this story as well in which TVXQ5 becomes a reality (because I think I teased about that enough during this story) though I don't know how long that's going to be. In the end, I'm probably not going to be posting that story for a little while. I'm trying to write some VIXX stories ^^/

Thanks again for reading!

TVXQ fighting!!