Tokyo 1989

"Onii-chan," the boy on the hospital bed addressed him in Japanese, "have you been eating well?"

Kai was in a daze. He could almost still feel Luhan's hands in his.

"Are you ignoring me? Onii-chan!"

He snapped out of it and met a pair of big hazel eyes. He sighed, it was time to let go. He'd done his best for Luhan.

"No I'm not," he answered, straightening up in his seat.

The petite boy folded his arms, giving him a knowing look.

"Then can you answer my question?"

"What did you ask again?"

"See! I knew you weren't listening," he made a face, "you've been really out of it these few days... please don't overwork yourself."

Kai paused to let his gaze linger on the piece of paper tied round his wrists.

Byun Baekhyun.

And under it wrote:

Long term stay

"You're ignoring me again," Baekhyun whined.

"Alright, alright I'll listen to you... I'll take it easy," he pacified.

But that didn't wipe off the frown Baekhyun had on. Kai sniggered and reached forward to squish his cheeks.

"Come on don't sulk! You look cuter..." he brought the ends of his mouth up, "...like this."

Baekhyun deadpanned, thoroughly unamused. He swiped his hands away and poked a tongue out at him.

"You're the one who always has that ugly frown on and you're telling me to smile?"

"Mine's a different case."

"How different can it be from mine?"

"Very different."

"Tsk, I can never outtalk you."

Kai smiled and responded, "Of course. I am your older brother afterall."

Baekhyun lit up upon seeing the ghost of a smile appearing on his older brother's usual brooding face.

"Could you do that again?"

"Do what?"

"Smile."

"I did?" Kai gasped, feigning ignorance.

"Don't lie I saw you do it a few seconds ago."

Baekhyun stuck a frail finger out at him accusingly.

"Oi it's rude to point," Kai swept his finger away.

"It's even ruder to lie."

Kai rolled his eyes and feigned a smile that seemed just a little too big for his mouth.

"There, you happy?"

"You didn't do it properly!" Baekhyun protested.

"How do you want me to do it then?"

Baekhyun reached forward slowly, careful not to tug at the many tubes connected to him, and encased Kai's face in his palms.

"You smile like..." he brought the ends of Kai's mouth up, "this."

"That was really original."

"Well that was how you taugh me to smile didn't you?"

Kai rolled his eyes.

"I can never outtalk you," he sighed.

"So much for being original."

"Why you-"

Baekhyun giggled and hid under his blanket to avoid Kai's hit.

"Oh and one more thing," he said, peeking out of his blanket.

Kai's ear perked up.

"You need to shave, onii-chan."

-x-

19 hours 19 minutes 57s

"Mr Byun?"

Kai didn't stop, he had assumed the doctor was talking to someone else.

"Wait Mr Byun I have something to discuss with you!"

The doctor ran up to his side in a flash which startled him.

"Yes?" Kai asked, hands in his pockets.

"It's about your brother's condition."

"Mhm... continue..."

"The medication Baekhyun has been on for the past two years has stopped working, we discussed the possibility of this back then," he spoke, and looked as if it pained him to continue, "Baekhyun's body is rejecting the medicine."

"What can we do now then?"

The doctor exhaled deeply and flipped through his documents.

"There's nothing more we can do. I'll write a letter of immediate discharge, your brother would be happy... he's finally going home."

"Is there really nothing else? Can't we save him?"

"The medication was only able to slow down the effects of his illness, and now that his body can't take it anymore, we're left with no options."

Kai leaned against the wall, eyes void of all emotions. The doctor patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"I'm glad that you took the news well and I'm sorry. Sorry that I can't save your brother who had been under my care for so long."

The doctor bowed deeply.

"No...its not your fault. Thank you for taking care of him all this time" Kai replied, bowing back.

"Take good care of your brother alright? Bring him wherever he wants to go and let him do whatever he wants to do. A precious young boy like him deserves at least that."

"I will."

The doctor nodded and tried to conceal the tear that had formed in his eye.

"Hurry along now. I'm sure Baekhyun would be itching to get out of here."

"Alright, I'll get going."

Kai thanked him once more and traced his footsteps back to Baekhyun's ward.

Pushing open the door, he found the boy looking out of the window wistfully.

"Baekhyun guess what?"

Said boy turned to look at him curiously.

"What?"

Kai broke out into a huge grin.

"We're going home."

"We're... we're going... home?"

"Right now!"

Baekhyun's face was momentarily blank but it wasn't long before he broke down into tears.

"Don't cry Baekhyun," Kai comforted, as he enveloped him in a hug. "You're supposed to be happy, you're finally free from this place!"

"I-I am happy..." he sniffed and dug harder into Kai's chest, "I'm very happy."

Kai laughed and pried the boy off him.

"You're such a crybaby," he teased, wiping Baekhyun's tears away.

Baekhyun was too caught up with his relief and overflowing happiness to retaliate. He only hugged his older brother harder.

"Come on let's get you unhooked from all these things and then we'll head home."

The younger boy nodded enthusiastically and pressed the assistance button repeatedly.

A nurse came in shortly to help disconnect Baehyun from the many needles in him and Kai winced as they were pulled out one by one.

Baekhyun didn't even flinch, he had that big smile on throughout the whole ordeal. And when he was finally good to go, he got down from the bed and raced down the hallways as fast as his still weak legs could allow.

Kai followed closely behind him, smiling as he watched the boy grinning from ear to ear like a little kid, delighted with just the fact that he could walk again.

Despite his ragged breathing, Baekhyun didn't slow his pace. His legs only stopped moving when they reached the outside of the hospital, at the grass field Baekhyun's ward overlooked.

He kicked off his shoes and placed a foot forward. Baekhyun felt the grass crunching under his feet and a wave of euphoria shot through him. All those times where he could only wish to be here, he was finally standing here.

He closed his eyes and felt the afternoon breeze fly past his hair. He never felt this happy.

Kai came up behind him and placed an arm on his shoulder.

"Do you like this?"

Baekhyun nodded; eyes still shut.

"I like this," he murmured, "I like this a lot."

-x-

17 hours 03 minutes 27s

Kai had decided to head back home with the address he had gotten from Baekhyun's particulars. It was better for the boy to get some rest first.

Their house -turned out to be just a tiny, one-room apartment.

"Onii-chan you haven't been very tidy, have you?" Baekhyun said as he stepped into the messy apartment.

Half eaten cup noodles were strewn all over the table and comic books of every type littered the floor.

"My bad."

Baekhyun chuckled and plopped himself down onto the lone couch. He stretched his arms out and stifled a yawn.

"Go get some sleep Baek... we'll go out once you wake up."

The boy had no objections and proceeded to lay on his side before slipping away into a distant dream.

Kai looked around him -the place really was filthy.

He sighed as he rolled his sleeves up and grabbed the nearest broom. This was going to be a long life.

-x-

6 hours 17 minutes 03s

Baekhyun woke up thinking that he was in a completely different room.

"Onii-chan? Where are you?" he whispered feebly.

Despite the softness of his voice, Kai came bounding down from the kitchen.

"The sleepyhead's finally awake."

Baekhyun tried getting up and Kai noticed how his hands shook as he tried to push himself up into a sitting position.

He placed a hand on the boy's waist and gently helped him sit straight.

"Are you feeling tired Baekhyun? Maybe you should get somemore rest-"

"No," Baekhyun cut off, "I want to see the cherry blossoms."

"Huh?"

"The cherry blossoms at Ueno Park... I want to see them."

"Baekhyun..."

"Please... the blooming season ends tomorrow and the next time the flowers bloom will be next year. I can't wait that long onii-chan," Baekhyun pleaded.

And in that moment Kai knew that the boy was aware of his borrowed time.

"Can you walk?" he finally gave in.

Baekhyun nodded and got up shakily before taking a few steps forward and back to reassure him.

"Let's go see the cherry blossoms then."

-x-

0 hours 59 minutes 06s

The two of them walked hand in hand down the pinkish path. Cherry blossoms were scattered everywhere. Kai finally understood why Baekhyun wanted to see them so badly.

He admired the pink clouds hovering over their heads and tried to balance the cherry blossoms on his hand when it landed.

It was a pretty sight.

Kai turned to look beside him but Baekhyun wasn't there, instead, he found him lagging a good distance behind.

He jogged up to his side and patted his shoulder in concern.

"Are you sure you can continue?"

"Ye... yes..."

"Please don't push yourself Baekhyun."

"I... I won't onii-chan..." Baekhyun spoke between labored breaths.

He staggered his way past Kai, not wanting to worry his older brother. His face pale from all the effort.

Kai couldn't bear to watch. Did the boy really want to see the cherry blossoms this much?

He ran up beside him and got down on one knee.

"Come on I'll carry you."

"It's okay... I c-can walk..."

Baekhyun only took a few wobbly steps forward before crashing onto the floor.

Kai rushed to help him up.

"Hey let's go home okay Baek? We'll come back another time," Kai persuaded as he held onto the boy.

"N-No... it has to be now onii-chan...  it has to be now..."

Baekhyun grabbed tightly onto his sleeves, tears welled up in his eyes.

"Please."

He looked into Baekhyun's pleading eyes -it was impossible to say no.

"I'll carry you."

Kai went back to his previous position and felt Baekhyun crawl onto his back.

"Hold on tight."

Baekhyun nodded and his hands tightened around Kai's shoulders.

"Let's go then," Kai whispered.

And the pair then made their way up the uphill climb, where the cherry blossom trees waved its long, beautiful pink hands to welcome them.

Kai made endless small talk with the boy, despite it mostly being comprised of him murmuring back. He didn't blame Baekhyun.

"Baekhyun look at that one, it's huge and its flowers are so much brighter than all the others!"

"Mm," Baekhyun grunted in agreement, Kai felt his voice vibrating at the back of his neck.

"Oh and that one looks like a puff of clouds!"

Kai chattered excitedly, trying to raise his spirits.

"Baekhyun are you looking? You were right, the cherry blossoms really are pretty-"

"Onii-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Will you smile for me?"

Kai sighed in agreement and turned his head to give him a big, genuine grin.

Baekhyun's eyes disappeared into half-moons.

"Thank you Onii-chan...let's come here again..."

He felt Baekhyun's grip on him weaken.

"D-Don't need to thank me Baek. I'm your older brother, I'll do anything for you and we'll definitely come back here, maybe once you're fully recovered."

Baekhyun didn't reply. Kai tried to steer the subject back to the cherry blossoms hanging over their heads.

People walking past them all stared at Kai who was chatting boisterously and commentating avidly on their surroundings.

Soon he found himself talking to nobody.

"Baekhyun you there?"

The boy leaned on his back limply.

"Baekhyun?" Kai prodded, shaking him awake.

His nimble hands fell limply to his side. Kai scrambled to keep him from falling off.

And it was then Kai finally realised that the familiar breathing at the back of his neck had disappeared.

"Bae...Baekhyun..."

Kai paused in his footsteps. Tears stained the concrete below him.

Why did it have to end like this?

Why was it that everywhere he went sadness followed?

He didn't know if it was his fault or Baekhyun's horrible luck to blame.

But then... he thought.

The smile he had on his face when Kai had carried him up the hill, through the canopy of cherry blossoms. Could that count as happiness?

0 hours 10 minutes 34s

Kai carried Baekhyun to a nearby spot under a cherry blossom tree. He lay his body against its trunk, making it seem like he was only taking a nap.

He took of his coat and draped it over Baekhyun's already cold body.

0 hours 0 minutes 27s

Kai ruffled Baekhyun's auburn locks, heart tugging at the smile the boy still had plastered on his face.

"See you later little brother."

He then walked off, disappearing into the pink blur of cherry blossoms.

It wasn't to say Kai didn't feel a twinge of sadness for Baekhyun's untimely fate. He didn't know why but he felt like he'd meet him again... he'd meet all of them again.

a/n: In case you hadn't figured it out 'onii-chan' means older brother in japanese^^ Comments are always appreciated and sorry if this chapter seems a bit lacking, I kinda rushed it a bit.