Junsu was left almost frozen in his state as he held the business card in his hand. The doctor had left and Jaera had gone to send him off, calling a taxi to pick him up. Junsu was alone in the waiting room, left to his own devices, his own thoughts.

What the doctor said impacted him pretty deeply. He was right; Changmin could’ve very easily died. And he knew the threat the doctor had given moments before was very, very real. Junsu could easily predict that TVXQ would be way beyond over if word leaked out on what happened to Changmin; heck even SM Entertainment in itself would be over. Can anyone imagine the impact a scandal of this scale would have?

Having TVXQ, a group that was once deemed the Gods of the Asian K-pop Wave, break up was already a big enough issue, but to have the remaining members of TVXQ in conflict that involved injury was akin to digging your own grave.

Junsu moved almost mechanically to the leather couch, where he unceremoniously collapsed himself upon it. He was suddenly tired, very, very tired. Running his hands through his hair in frustration, he couldn’t help but re-think of the day’s events. Was this his fault? Was Changmin being here, at the hospital, having a fever and recovering from a seizure, his fault? He had known that Changmin was sick, so why did he bring the younger boy out?

Why did he do that?

He knew perfectly well that Changmin was in no condition to go out, but he still insisted on doing so. Why would he do such a thing? What kind of a sick person was he, forcing people to do things that they were obviously in no condition to do?

 As everything came back to him and overwhelmed him, as well as the fact that it was just Junsu, the young but understandably old male felt tears gathering in his eyes. He blinked repeatedly, trying to shy them away, but only resulted in them trickling down his face, like raindrops. Aish, what a bother these things were. Never did he see the point of tears, only to express anguish and frustrations one was unable to hide.

Junsu felt a tight, uncomfortable feeling in his chest and he keeled over, hugging himself tightly around himself as the anguish and frustrations he had tried to hide seep through. Sobs racked his body, tears falling consistently to the floor. Things were spiraling way beyond his control, and it literally pained Junsu to see everyone he cared for, everything he held close, fall apart bit by bit.

As everyone knew, Junsu was gifted with emotions so strong that it was an instant ability for him to read those of others. He could easily see through things people tried to hide from themselves, tried to hide from him, because they always thought that they had to protect the fragile, fragile Junsu. But they were wrong; Junsu could easily see what they tried to keep away from him. Living on his own, away from the security of five, away from the security of having a concrete leader, Junsu was quick to pick up from minute changes around him.

He could see how Yunho tried to be better, tried to atone for his sins, how he was burning inside from the guilt he harbored ever since that incident with Changmin a few days back. He knew how much he was hurting. And he could see how confused Changmin was, how he never understood the scale of what was happening around him, but at the same time was so frightened that he was assuming that everything and everyone was at the possibility of being lost, of being taken away from him. And Junsu just had to admit, that it was not an illogical fear. Yoochun, he knew, was trying his best to keep himself in check, but coming from someone as stubborn as him, Junsu could see how much he was struggling. And lastly was Jaejoong, who was trying his best to keep everything in control, attempting to pull the strings of fate in his direction, but always losing.

And Junsu could do nothing but watch.

He felt the painful, constricting pain in his chest grow nearly tenfold, nearly leaving him gasping. For a while, Junsu was winded. He could feel the starting of a headache somewhere at the back of his head and he was momentarily gasping for air.

Damn, whoever said physical pain was nothing as compared to mental pain, wasn’t kidding around. Right now, Junsu felt like as if he could take a stab to his chest just to avoid what he was feeling. Straightening up slightly, Junsu started thumping at is chest, fully aware that what he was doing wasn’t really helping the pain, but doing it anyway because he’d rather do something than sit here and do nothing at all, letting the pain consume him.

He heard footsteps coming towards him and instinctively looked up, forgetting the tear stains that were pretty evident on his face, a dead giveaway. Jaera stopped to meet his eyes, tilting her head slightly at the tears before she gave him a small smile and came to sit beside him. By then Junsu had realized this, and hurriedly came to wipe his tears away with his sleeves. Man, this was embarrassing.

Junsu looked dead ahead of him, refusing to meet her eyes as she leaned forward and rested her hands on her knees.

“You know… Changmin is going to be fine. His injuries must’ve had an adverse effect on his system and caused the fever, but he is fine. I hope you know, Junsu-sshi, that what happened wasn’t your fault. Some things happen for a reason so don’t think too much about it.”

Junsu turned his head to see Jaera looking at him with a soft smile and he couldn’t help but to smile back. She lifted her hand to his face, and like a mother, wiped his tears away with a brush of her thumb.

“Yah, stop crying. I told you, it’s going to be alright, didn’t I? And I don’t lie. Changmin will be fine. And you will be fine. And Yunho, as well as my Jaejoonie and Yoochun. Things will be alright. I promise.”

And like a child to another child, Jaera held out her pinky finger to Junsu. Junsu couldn’t help but break out in a laugh, but held out his pinky all the same, twisting it along with hers.

“How is Changmin?” he asked.

Jaera shrugged her shoulders lightly, her lips twisting into a queer smile.

“As I told you, he’s perfectly fine. His fever was high, so I gave him a few shots. He’s currently asleep, resting from the fever. You wanna go see him?”

At Junsu’s nod, Jaera got up and started leading the way to a room near her private office. As she opened the door, Junsu was greeted to the very relieving sight of an evidently slumbering Changmin, shown by his curled up position and his deep, even breathing. As they made their way closer, Changmin shifted, making Junsu freeze quite comically, but the younger male showed no signs of waking up.

“The shots I gave might’ve packed a punch, but he should be awake by the end of the day. He’s a bit high on morphine, so he might be a bit dizzy when he wakes up, but like I said, Junsu-sshi, he will be fine.”

Junsu nodded as he took in the sight of Min. Thank God the kid was alright. If anything had happened to him, there would be no doubt that Junsu would never ever have forgiven himself.

“Can I…. stay with him?”

Jaera nodded after a moment’s deliberation.

“Sure, but don’t fiddle with the machines, alright? The IV drip is important in keeping the blood to medicine ratio consistent in his body.”

Junsu nodded his understanding before Jaera shot him a question.

“Oh, by the way, Junsu-sshi, have you informed my brother on Changmin?”

At the reluctant shake of his head. Jaera couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

“Alright, I’ll make the call for you. Knowing how my brother is, best that I do it. You just stay here, Junsu-sshi. I’ll be back soon.”

And with that, she left, leaving to make the phone call. Alone with Changmin, Junsu came forward and rested his hand lightly on his forehead. Jaera was right; he had a pretty high fever.  Junsu took a nearby chair and sat down, as he held Changmin’s hand in his.

“Changminnie… I’m so sorry about what happened today. I should’ve been more careful. Now, because of me, you’re in so much pain. And I can’t do anything to make it stop. I’m sorry, Min. I’m so, so sorry.”

Gently, he brought Changmin’s hand to his lips, where he gave a feather soft kiss on the younger boy’s knuckles. And slowly, Changmin shifted. Junsu froze, afraid of what he had just done. Changmin’s legs were brought closer to his body as his free hand ran through his own hair. He opened his eyes very slightly, before turning to look at Junsu with a small, confused frown.

“Hyung,” he drawled, voice heavily laced with sleep.

Junsu only kept quiet as the younger boy shifted once more, scrunching his eyes shut, before he fractionally opened them.

“Hyung,” he repeated, the IV tube stretched frighteningly as his other hand moved to try reaching Junsu. He was unsuccessful, and Changmin dropped his hand to his side. “Stay,” the boy mumbled, his eyes closing once more, “Stay.”

And that was it. Junsu was pretty sure that Changmin had moved on to his Slumberland, and proceeded to wait for him to leave it once more.

The boy had asked him to stay, and he would, because that was what a hyung would do. Stay, and always be there for him.

==========

Jaejoong did not stop trying to reach Junsu. He had called and texted the younger numerous times, but each time, there was no reply, no answer. Damn it! What trouble were they in now?! Jaejoong’s mind started spiraling out of control as he thought of the worst possible things that could happen to the two youngest members right then.

What if they had gotten in an accident? What if Changmin had collapsed? What if they had been spotted by sasaeng fans? And if they had been kidnapped? What in the world was he supposed to do? Heck, what if Changmin was DEAD?!

Jaejoong was driving himself insane and he knew it. Calm down, he told himself, it’s probably nothing. Maybe just a routine checkup? Yeah, that was it.

Junsu’s message loomed ominously in Jaejoong’s mind.

Don’t worry, hyung. I got this!

WHAT IN THE WORLD DID HE ‘GET’?! Jaejoong tried not to hyperventilate. Man, did he try, but this was Junsu he was talking about. Oblivious, innocent Junsu. He smacked himself on the forehead to snap himself out of his reverie. Stop thinking such bad thoughts about Junsu!

He was jilted out of his thoughts, when he heard Yunho’s voice.

“Jaejoong? Is everything alright?”

Jaejoong turned around in surprise, to see Yunho peering at him through the doorway, a nervous yet concerned look on his face. Jaejoong forcefully broke out in a smile as he ran a hand through his own hair.

“Y-Yeah. I’m fine. I was just thinking about some stuff. Never realized that I was daydreaming.”

Yunho’s frown deepened as he slowly came forward to stand beside Jaejoong, the both of them leaning against the marble counter top.

“What were you thinking about?”

“Nothing. It’s not important.”

Yunho tilted his head slightly, unconvinced by the explanation, but kept quiet nonetheless.

“How’s your head?” Jaejoong asked to break the silence, as well as turn the topic around, “You still having a headache?”

Yunho’s hand moved to instinctively touch at his temple, where the wound was.

“It doesn’t hurt much anymore.”

“And….” Jaejoong bit his lip, almost afraid to continue his sentence, “The voices? Are they still there?”

“Now?” Yunho shook his head, “No. Not now.”

“When was the last time you heard the voices?”

“Honestly? A few hours back.”

“What did they say?”

“They told me… that the three of you were conspiring to take Changmin away from me.”

Jaejoong’s eyes widened almost comically.

“Yunho, you know –“

Yunho held up his hand to silence him.

“No need to explain, Jae. What they said were just words. I know that…”

“You don’t believe them, right?”

Yunho’s eyes turned downcast as he looked down at the floor, tracing the floor patterns with his eyes.

“No,” he whispered, “Of course not.”

Though he tried to hide it, the uncertainty was pretty evident in his voice as he forced a smile to look up at Jae. Jaejoong was about to say something when his phone suddenly rang, making the two of them jump a mile. Fumbling for his phone and checking the caller ID for a nanosecond, he put the phone to his ear.

“H-Hello?”

“Jaejoong,” said the voice.

Immediately, Jaejoong’s instincts were on high alert. The feeling in his gut told him to brace himself for something he had somehow already expected.

“Changmin,” he breathed into the phone.

“Yeah,” was all Jaera answered, enough to make Jaejoong’s heart race.

“Is he alright?” Beside him, Yunho’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and question, not expecting to hear that from him.

“He’s fine, Jaejoong. He’s sleeping here at the clinic. He’s recovering.”

 “What’s he recovering from?” Jaejoong asked.

There was silence on the other line, until…

“A seizure.”

“A WHAT?!” Jaejoong practically screamed into the phone, making Yunho jump in shock beside him. Jaejoong immediately began stalking away, finding some privacy, only to have Yunho follow him from behind. He signaled Yunho to go to the living room, but Yunho shook his head. He wanted to stay.

“Calm down, Jaejoong,” soothed his sister on the phone.

“CALM DOWN?! You expect me to calm down after what happened to him?” Jaejoong had given up on trying to shoo Yunho away, knowing how stubborn the leader could get, but started to pace almost maniacally around the room.

“I told you, Changmin is fine now. He’s recovering. In fact, he should be waking up by the end of today, or early tomorrow.”

Jaejoong let out a hiss of air through his gritted teeth as he attempted to calm down.

“What happened to him? How did that happen?”

“I’m not sure, but Junsu’s explanation gives me the impression that Changmin had a Reflex Anoxic Seizure. This happens when there is too little oxygen sent to the brain and it’s forced to temporarily shut down. Don’t worry, I doubt Changmin will have any brain damage, but he just needs a few days of recovery, which is standard for people who’ve suffered a seizure.”

“How did that happen?” Jaejoong asked once again, but Jaera understood where his question was going.

“RAS usually occurs in children, but attacks on adults aren’t rare either. Remember when I said the MRI scan showed that Changmin suffered a small concussion from a kick to the head?”

Jaejoong’s face went pale, and he unconsciously held his breathe. He had frozen in his steps, his back towards Yunho.

“It seems the concussion isn’t that small. It shifted the brain just enough to slightly block a vein in the brain, forcing a decrease in oxygen supply in the brain… which caused the seizure.”

A small tear made its way down Jaejoong’s face. He was mute from shock.

“Jaejoong,” Jaera breathed into the phone, “As I told you, Changmin is fine. I’m going to run some tests when he wakes up, but he will be fine, you hear me? He will be alright. The damage is not permanent. It’s not something that I can’t fix.”

Fix.

There was that crude word again. Honestly, it made Jaejoong’s heart burn with anger. How can you use such a word on a person? A person is not a broken toy, or a faulty car. You do not fix a person; you fix a robot, or maybe a vehicle, but not a person. Stop using such a word on Changmin!

“I see,” Jaejoong answered, holding his anger perfectly in place.

“Junsu’s here. He’s feeling pretty scared, so I would appreciate it if you don’t yell at him if you can. It’s not his fault.”

Jaejoong let out another sigh, as he came to collapse on the couch, face smothered with the pillows.

“I won’t,” he answered, “I wouldn’t yell at Junsu. I can’t even stay mad at him.”

A soft chuckle on the other line, as Jaera agreed.

“Yeah. I suppose that is one of the best things about Junsu. Listen, the clinic is open for you if you want to come by, alright? Don’t leave Junsu alone with his thoughts. I sense they’re not really the best right now.”

“I understand. I’ll come by with Yoochun and Yunho. Yoochun’s away for filming. He’ll be back around ten or something.”

“Really? That’s quite fast, for a day of filming.”

Jaejoong nodded even though he knew his sister couldn’t really see it.

“Regulations for filming are getting a lot stricter. You’re no longer allowed to film with the same actor for more than six hours a day. Which is a good thing. You won’t believe how tiring it is to film for a movie with a deadline.”

He heard his sister chuckle on the other line, and Jaejoong smiled at the mere sound.

“That’s awesome. I’m glad they don’t wipe you out anymore.”

“Yeah. It’s not so tiring.”

“I’ve got to go, Jaejoong. I need to check up on your Maknae.”

“I got it,” Jaejoong answered, before he hung up. He looked up to see Yunho stare at him with a concerned gaze, his mouth pulled down into a frown.

“What happened? Is everything okay?”

Jaejoong nodded.

“Yeah. It’s just that…” His mind thought fast to think of a legitimate explanation. “Changmin’s fever is pretty bad… And so… Junsu brought him to my sister, Jaera. I was just shocked that she had called because Changmin seemed fine a few hours ago. But she told me that he’s okay, though. She gave him a few shots, and he’s recovering at the clinic as we speak.”

If there was such a thing as an award for Quickest-Thinking White Liar, Jaejoong would’ve been pretty sure he would have it in the bag.

“So Changmin is okay?”

Jaejoong nodded, and Yunho responded to it with a smile.

“Thank God. I’m glad.”

Forcing smile, Jaejoong reached for Yunho’s hands, holding them in between his. He didn’t want to lie to Yunho, but he knew it was for the best. Yunho was unstable right now. Who knew if he would actually kill himself from hearing what he had just done to Min?

“Hey, Yunho,” he began, looking up at the standing man through his thick bangs, “I want you to know that things will be alright, okay? You don’t have to worry about anything. I’m right here, along with Yoochun and Junsu. Even Changmin is right by your side. So everything will be okay, you got that?”

As he tightly held Yunho’s hands in his, the younger man looked down at him with a tilt of his head, before he gave him a smile.

“Yeah. Everything will be okay.”

Jaejoong got up, and suddenly pulled Yunho into his embrace, surprising him.

“Everything will be okay.” He heard the elder whisper into his ear once more.

==================

I. AM. BACK.

Huahuahuahuahua!!! Well then. Let me tell you of a genius moment that struck me today. I originally made a FIFTEEN page update, and I was gonna split it into two chapters as a Halloween Treat for all of you guys.

BUT. I decided not to.

WHY?

Because the next chapter is PURE ACTION!!

Well it's actually not PURE action, just has some.... action-y scenes.

So yeah! I kinda-sorta made this chapter a bit boring for you guys to STEEL YOURSELVES for CHAPTER THIRTY!

AM I A GENIUS OR WHAT??

Heheh! I will update the next chapter by this Sunday. I promise! 

And if I don't, feel free to send me as much hatemail as you want! And it would be kinda nice if you drop reminders on my wall because... you know... it MIGHT be possible that I actualy DID forget to update.

IF I DON'T UPDATE BY MONDAY, BE ASSURED THAT I AM DEAD.

I'm having exams. Off to study A.Maths. Bye.

Ps; If this Chapter is just waaaaaaaayyyy too boring for you, I apologize. Don't hate me D;