It was late. So late the halls of the hospital were only dimply lit and only a few nurses walked in and out of occupied rooms. Even more so since this was the long-term ward, the hallway Taehyun’s room was at being of the more expensive kind. Trust the Nams to get nothing but the best for their son, even till the bitter end.  Seeing the familiar name on the door made Minho hesitate in his step. Donghyun had assured him there would be no one visiting Taehyun that night, had assured him he could stay. Even Seungyoon had pressed a visitor’s card into his hand in passing earlier, muttering something about how the nurses would know when they saw. That helped.

However, knowing he had all night with Taehyun was far from enough. One night, what was that? If all they had were a few weeks, they should see each other every hour of every day. Minho knew he didn’t need to talk either; he just wanted to be there by his side for as long as he could. Dying was already such a lonely affair.

But how to go into the room? Minho’s fingers curled around the doorknob, but he hesitated, focusing on breathing slow and steady, hoping, begging he would not just break down and cry. Crying wouldn’t help. He might as well jump into it.

The sound of the door opening made the person there stir, a thin, familiar voice announcing that “Donghyun? Didn’t I tell you to go home? Hyung will be alright…” Where had all the life in that voice disappeared to? Even sick, Taehyun had always sounded so warm and full of life, and now… now he just sounded empty. It cut at Minho’s heart and made him falter, hesitate before closing the door behind him.

“Donghyun went home.”

“Hyung!”

A sudden urgency in the weak voice from before caused Minho’s heart to skip a beat. He knew that voice. Even if the pale, thin face that looked up at him was almost beyond recognition.

“T-taehyun!”

He choked, stumbled further into the room and sat down in the chair by the bed. Almost in a daze his hands reached out, cupped the unfamiliar, slender and pale face in his hands, held it with the utmost care as if he might break it. Minho felt like he couldn’t breathe at the sight, tears welling up in his eyes after all and a few trickled down his cheeks. How had it come to this? His precious boy so faint now, just a shadow of himself. Where was the boy who’d thrown the world’s biggest tantrum when he had to do laundry?

“Yah! Hyung, why are you crying? You idiot, don’t cry! I’m… I’m not dead yet!”

There he was. Minho smiled through his tears and leaned in to leave a kiss on Taehyun’s forehead. Trust this silly boy to make such stupid jokes even at a time like this. To have a snarky comment up his sleeve even if he was connected to a variety of machines and other medical equipment. “I’m not crying,” he grunted, quickly wiping his eyes before moving the chair even closer. “It smells like hospital in here.”

“If you didn’t notice, you’re in one!” Taehyun’s voice was snarky still, but his smile was warm and happy.

“I know I am!” Minho ignored the tremble in his voice and reached out a still trembling hand to hold tightly onto Taehyun’s smaller, now so bony and skinny hand. “I know I am, but I keep wishing I wasn’t, that you weren’t in a hospital. I wish-…”

“Hyung please stop.” Taehyun’s voice was small now and he turned his head away. “I wish I wasn’t here either. This isn’t… isn’t the way I wanted to die.”

“Please don’t say that. Taehyun, please don’t ever say such a thing.” Minho let his head drop and stared at the floor. Tears were burning in his eyes again and if he hadn’t wanted so badly to show a bit of a stronger front to Taehyun, he would have been a complete mess. How could he have let his parents decide that they had to be apart? When they had so little time left, how could he just have turned away, defeated? Why was it that when they finally had time together again, they had to talk about something as sad as this? Shouldn’t this rather be when he distracted Taehyun and made him smile like he had in the past?

“But I mean it! I never wanted to just wither away in a hospital room like this!”

Minho cringed and brought Taehyun’s hand closer to his face so he could touch it against his cheek. “Please don’t-….” Don’t rip up these wounds that can never heal again. Please don’t step on my heart more than you must.

“Hyung, can you take me away from here?” The words hung in the air and at first Minho couldn’t even make sense of them. Take him away? Why would he take him away? This was the hospital, this was where all the doctors that could heal him was.

Only they wouldn’t. Minho had seen the medical papers, even Seungyoon had seen them and said the same thing; there was no getting out of it. Taehyun was dying, and no wishing or crying would ever undo that truth. It was just that actually coming to terms with it hurt so much Minho would rather not. “Taehyun…,” he sighed, running a hand down his face. Taking him away from the hospital? After being paid to stay away, after being warned… Could he really do that? “What about your family?” A poor, desperate attempt to distract. Just the look on Taehyun’s pale face told him it had made no difference.

“Donghyun…. Donghyun would understand. As for mom… I know what she told you. So do you really think I care? I just… the idea of dying in this dreary place makes me go crazy! I need to get out! I need to live, even just a little, before it all ends!”

Minho’s head was far from convinced, but his heart was telling him he should just give up and give in. Wasn’t his job just this though? Taking care of someone as they lived out their last days in the most comfortable way possible?

“Please, Minho? Please just take me home?”

There it was; that heart-breaking, strangely determined expression that only Nam Taehyun could put up. It made Minho squirm in his chair, and with the deepest sigh he stood halfway up and leaned in to place a soft kiss on Taehyun’s pale brow. “Fine. Fine! Are you happy now? I’ll… I’ll look into it and try to arrange something, okay? But I think going to your place would be hard, so… would you mind going to my place?”

For the longest time Taehyun’s expression said he didn’t believe a word that came out of Minho’s mouth. Not that he could really be blamed, because he’d been denied his wishes for the longest of times. “Mind? Of course I wouldn’t mind!”

To Minho’s surprise, the boy struggled to sit up and pulled him into a tight hug. How weak his embrace had become now… Minho felt his eyes burn again as he returned the hug, one hand burying into Taehyun’s soft hair. “I’ll make the preparations as soon as possible. I’ll… If this is what you want, I swear I’ll make it happen. So just… don’t you die on me yet?” The last words made Minho choke up and he bent his head down not to show his tears.

Taehyun had been quiet till then, but as he realized what was happening he pulled back just a little and cupped Minho’s face in his slender hands. ”Thank you so much, hyung. Thank you…” he mumbled softly before pressing his lips against Minho’s cheek, kissing away a tear. ”I’m sorry I can’t stay with you forever. I’m sorry we had to meet like this.”

”Don’t… don’t say that,” Minho sobs and looks up to meet Taehyun’s worried eyes. ”I’d rather meet you like this than not meeting you at all. Okay? So don’t talk to me about regret. I don’t regret anything. One way or another we’ll get our second chance, okay?”

--

And so it was decided. After a couple of days of planning and preparing, of Seungyoon complaining up a storm about all the trouble he would be in if he was caught, the two men waited till night fell and started their little operation. A simple wheelchair prepared, lots of thick clothing, Seungyoon’s car. It had been a simple plan, but clearly simple had been just what would work. Not even after two hours after they started the plan Taehyun sat, wrapped in thick blanket in Minho’s apartment, expression more alive than he had seemed for weeks. In the hallway Minho pushed Seungyoon the thick envelope Mrs Nam had given him originally, ignoring all sorts of protests from his friend.

The deed was done now, and he had what he needed right there in his living room. Money would never make up for the impending loss bound to happen.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So... this took a lot longer than it should have, but I've been very busy and writing this takes a lot out of me. Hope you enjoy the second to final chapter of this fic! And Happy New Year everyone!