“Have you been here since we left?”
Hakyeon turns around, hand grasping Sanghyuks much, much colder ones in fear, as if the person speaking to him was death himself, coming to take the boy away from him. Wonshik looks tired, his eyes are red and puffy, probably from crying.

“Hyung…,” He sighs and walks inside the private room. “You look like you’re the one who’s been in a coma for two weeks.”

“Make sure you lock the door.”
Hakyeon turns back to the boy in the bed and softly squeezes his hand.

“Look, Sanghyuk… Wonshik Hyung came to visit…,” He mumbles. Sanghyuk, of course, lays completely still. In the back, Wonshik locks the door and walks up to the bed. He sits on the other side and looks down at his friends lifeless body. He’s so pale, Wonshik thinks and his cheek with his fingertips. So cold.

“He’s beautiful,” He mumbles. “I wish I would have told him that more often…”

Hakyeon smiles and brings one of Sanghyuks hands up to his lips. He kisses the cold skin and presses it tightly to his cheek, as if the warmth radiating from his almond skin could bring life back into those long, sleek fingers.

“You can tell him when he wakes up,” He says. Wonshik looks at him, has to force the tears not to fall as he meets his Hyungs hopeful eyes.

“Hyung…” He whispers. “He’s not waking up… It’s been two weeks. He’s gone.”

The air around them freezes for a second, and Hakyeon feels the need to gasp for air grow stronger. His heart starts pounding faster. He’ll drown, suffocate on his own tongue. He can’t breath.

Wonshik looks at him with so much pity, so much sadness. Stupid hyung, Hakyeon reads in his eyes. Stupid, stupid, idiot. He’s not coming back. This isn’t a fairytale.
He closes his eyes, tries to make the brunette disappear. How can he say that, how dare he? Hakyeon chokes, and he coughs, tries to get oxygen into his lungs, but he can’t stop the fear from clogging his throat. What if… What if Sanghyuk really never woke up…

He groans, tries to speak, tries to say it will be okay, but he can’t get anything out. His eyes itch to cry, but there’s no tears, so he just buries his head into the covers of Sanghyuk’s bed, tries to hide from Wonshik, from the world. It wasn’t supposed to be like this! He was the one that was supposed to die. Sanghyuk was supposed to live! Sanghyuk was young and beautiful and he was smart and funny and people loved Sanghyuk! He was supposed to live!
Hakyeon gasps for air as he feels someone grab onto him and pull him up.

“NO!” He cries. “GET AWAY FROM ME!”

He tries to find Sanghyuks hand, has to hold on to him. He has to protect him, can’t let them hurt him.

“Hakyeon! , Hakyeon stop screaming!”

He hasn’t eaten anything but mars bars and soda for over a week, and he has barely slept. His arms are heavy and can’t fight against the person pulling him away, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. He kicks, bites and scratches, but most of all he screams. Let me go, let me go, let me go, he screams. Don’t hurt him. Please, don’t hurt him.

It feels like forever before he finally relaxes, face forced into a broad chest that smells like detergent and airplane and something sweet and musky, like old cherry tree furniture. It smells like Taekwoon.
Hakyeon looks up, but all he can see is a sharp jawline and some pitch black hair. He’s pulled tighter into the embrace, and he feels lips against his hair and whispers that sound like memories of another life.

“Hakyeon-ah…” Taekwoon mumbles into his hair, and it’s just like they are 19 again, young and dumb, and best friends. “It’s okay. No one’s going to hurt him. It’s okay.”

And then, finally, the tears come. They come like a river that’s been dammed for too long and that’s finally breaking free. They run down Hakyeon’s cheeks and bring with them loud sobs that rip through his chest as he presses closer to Taekwoon and breaths in his scent and hides in his warm embrace. For the first time in almost three years, he really feels safe.

Taekwoon hugs him back and his hair. He doesn’t say anything more to Hakyeon, but tells Wonshik to go buy a sandwich and something to drink for the crying leader. Wonshik looks at Hakyeon, and then at Sanghyuk. He with his fingertips over his forehead and holds his face in his hand for a second. Then he smiles a sad smile and leaves. Taekwoon stays, holds onto Hakyeon with a firm grip and leads him to the couch. They sit down, and Taekwoon takes his hands in his. They’re shaking.

“Hey… It’s okay, Hakyeon… You don’t have to cry…,” He says. Hakyeon sniffles.

“I’m sorry,” He sobs and turns his face away from the raven. “I’m just really tired. I’m sorry.”

He tries to wipe his tears away, but Taekwoon stops him. He holds onto his wrists with one hand and grabs his chin with the other, forcing him to look at him. Their eyes meet, and Hakyeon swallows soundly. Taekwoons eyes are even darker than he remembers. It’s been so long since he last was able to just look at his former best friends eyes without anyone judging him.

“I know you feel guilty…,” Taekwoon says and with his thumb over Hakyeons chin. “But it’s not your fault. And there’s nothing you can do now… You need to let him go…”
His voice dies out as a last tear slowly trickle down Hakyeons cheek. It gets caught in the crease by his nose, and drips down to his lips when he sniffles,

Taekwoon leans in, and his warm breath hits Hakyeons skin, painting a warm blush on his cheeks. He closes his eyes as Taekwoon leans in the final way and kisses away his tears. His lips fall open just the slightest, and a low sigh slips past them, like a plea for something, anything, ca