Work Text:
“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay on your own baby?” Sunoo asked as he wrapped his arms around Riki’s waist and rested his chin on the maknae’s shoulder.
“Yeah Ki, you can still come with one of us if you want,” Jungwon offered their youngest boyfriend as he sat down on the other side of him and wrapped his arm around Riki’s shoulder and kissed the boy’s cheek.
Riki melted into the holds of his two partners and nodded slightly in understanding, “I know hyung, but I’ll stay here.”
It’s not that Riki didn’t want to go with any of his hyungs to visit their home ; it’s just that he still couldn’t help but feel out of place despite his hyungs always caring so incredibly much and including him constantly. It all just wasn’t the same as Riki getting to go home to see his own family.
Riki adored his hyungs and their families as he’s gotten to meet and stay with his hyungs’ families more than once but after the years of doing so and being away from his own family, nothing could quite remedy it the same way.
His hyungs were undoubtedly his second family but he would undoubtedly he alright on his own for a little while. Besides, he had made a few plans with his Japanese friends to hang out while his hyungs were out of town ; it’s not like he would be completely on his own for the next two days.
“Okay, if you’re sure,” Jungwon told him hesitantly before giving Riki a few kisses along his jaw.
“I’ll be okay hyungs,” Riki assured his boyfriends as he gave both Jungwon and Sunoo a kiss on the cheek.
“You better be and you know we’ll be texting and calling you everyday so you better answer us if you won’t answer the rest of the hyungs,” Sunoo said as he gave Riki a knowing look.
“Hmm, I’ll think about it.” Riki said with a mischievous glint in his eye.
“Yah, you brat!” Jungwon and Sunoo playfully scolded the youngest in sync as they tackled him down onto the bed and began tickling him.
“Hyungs, hyungs! Please!” Riki begged as they ran their fingers along his sides and wriggled around to get out of his hyungs’ holds.
Even though Riki was the tallest in the group and had a fair bit of physical strength to himself, Sunoo and Jungwon absolutely had enough muscle to keep him pinned down despite their height differences.
“Do you promise you’ll reply to us when we check in on you?” Jungwon asked him with a cheeky grin as he continued running his fingers along Riki’s sides.
“Y-yes!” Riki cried out, “J-just p-please let me b-b-breathe.”
“Alright, alright we concede,” Sunoo told him gently as they stopped and he and Jungwon laid down over Riki.
Riki wrapped both his arms around his boyfriends’ waists as the three of them finally relaxed and they smiled down at him.
“We’re going to miss you Ki,” Sunoo told him sincerely.
“I know Sunnie-hyung, I’ll miss you too,” Riki said as he leaned his head up a bit and rubbed his nose with Sunoo’s which became a bit of a signature for the two of them.
“And what am I, chopped liver?” Jungwon asked.
Riki shook his head, “Not at all Wonie-hyung, I’ll miss you too of course.”
“I know, darling. I’ll miss you as well,” Jungwon told him before he leaned up and kissed Riki’s forehead.
Riki relaxed under both his boyfriends a little more as the three of them laid there cuddling for a while before the sound of the door opening made them look up a bit.
“Aww, you guys are so cute.” Jake cooed at the maknaes as he snapped a picture of them.
“Ooh, make sure to send that in the group chat,” Sunghoon piped up from the Aussie’s side.
“Stalkers, the both of you.” Heeseung told the youngest 02z.
“The maknaes are cute though, I understand fully.” Jay said sagely.
“Well we hate to ruin the moment for you three but all of our cars are here,” Jake informed them a bit reluctantly.
Riki let out a whine as he clung to his boyfriends a bit tighter as he wasn’t quite ready for them to leave.
“We know baby, we know. We can always stay here with you if you want,” Jungwon offered the youngest.
Riki however, quickly shook his head in refusal, “No hyungs, you guys haven’t seen your families in so long. You guys deserve to go.”
Sunoo and Jungwon both shared a look before they reluctantly gave in.
“Fine, but like I said : respond to our messages and the managers will be checking in on you too. So you can ignore the hyungs but answer us and the managers,” Sunoo said, saying the last part in a stage whisper.
“Yah, so rude Sunoo-yah!” Jay cried out indignantly.
“Shush Jay-hyung, this isn’t about you.” Sunoo told him sassily.
“But you better listen to us,” Sunoo said seriously as he turned back to the maknae.
“I will hyung. Now go. Tell your families I said : hi,” Riki smiled up at his two partners.
“You got it baby,” Jungwon said before he pressed a long kiss to Riki’s plump lips, “I love you.” Jungwon told him before giving Riki one last peck and getting up off the bed.
“I love you Riki-yah,” Sunoo whispered to him before giving him a gentle kiss and finally getting up as well.
“I love you too, my babies,” Riki smiled at them as he slowly sat up.
“Yah! You’re the baby in this relationship, don’t get it twisted Riki-yah,” Jungwon playfully scolded before pecking Riki’s forehead.
Riki gave Jungwon a small smile as he looked up at him, “I know hyung, I know.”
Despite always being fiercely protective of his hyungs and being so much taller than them, as well as always looking out for them ; in private Riki really was the baby and Jungwon and Sunoo especially treated him as such. Riki was the small spoon when they cuddled more often than not, Sunoo and Jungwon would always let him sleep on their chests and they would also let Riki sit on their laps during movie nights.
Riki was their giant baby and they wouldn’t have him any other way.
“Do we get our goodbye kisses too Riki-yah?” Jay asked in a teasing tone as he gave the youngest puppy-dog eyes.
“Yah! Leave our boyfriend alone,” Sunoo said a bit protectively as he and Jungwon herded the hyungs out of the bedroom.
“Bye baby, we’ll text you when you get there!” Jungwon called to Riki.
“Bye hyungs!” Riki waved after them.
Riki was now alone in the quiet of the dorm ; it was certainly far too quiet considering he was so used to the noise of living with six other guys. The sun had set and darkness took over the sky and the maknae felt his phone buzz beside him from where he’s sitting on the couch.
Riki glanced down at his phone to see that no one other than Sunoo and Jungwon had messaged in the group chat exclusively with the three of them.
maknaez ❤️
yang leader-nim 🐈
I’m home! And Riki my parents
and sister said hi and that they
miss you.
Sunshine ☀️
i got here a few minutes ago,
my sister is already asking about
you both. her and my parents said
they hope to see both of you soon.
little michael jackson 🕺
i’m glad you guys are home safe,
i miss you guys already and i miss
both your families as well <3
Sunshine ☀️
have i entered a parallel universe?
riki’s actually replying fast???!!!
little michael jackson 🕺
hyungs, i always reply to you guys
fast, i can’t say the same for the
other hyungs tho :)
yang leader-nim 🐈
that’s true you do, but it’s because
you know we’ll call your phone
multiple times if you don’t respond
to us
little michael jackson 🕺
and i answer every time :)
Sunshine ☀️
because you’re our good boy
and you always listen to your
precious boyfies ;)
yang leader-nim 🐈
I don’t know about him always
listening to us, but Riki is our
good baby boy most of the time
Riki felt his cheeks flushing a bright red from the pet names his boyfriends used ; they always knew how to get him so flustered and he was glad no one was here to see how much he was blushing at the moment.
Sunshine ☀️
he’s taking a while to reply
yang leader-nim 🐈
He’s just flustered and gay
panicking about us rn, give him
a min.
little michael jackson 🕺
stop exposing me like that!
Sunshine ☀️
love you baby <3
yang leader-nim 🐈
Anyways, my mom’s calling me
for dinner rn so I have to go. I love
you both!
Sunshine ☀️
i’ve gotta head out myself. I love
you both my two babies <3
little michael jackson 🕺
i’ll talk to you guys later, i love you
guys too :)
Riki’s smile slowly faded as he put his phone back down, he missed his hyungs, a lot. It was always a bit too quiet when they weren’t around. Riki sighed as he got up off the couch and headed into the kitchen.
He took the container of food Jay had left for him out of the fridge and moved to heat it up, he placed the food in the microwave and let the beeping echo through the dorm to try and fill it with some type of noise. Riki really did miss his hyungs, they always brought life to the dorm and made it feel far less lonely.
The microwave finally went off and he grabbed the container and a fork and placed a kitchen towel under it so he wouldn't burn his hands. Riki took his food and headed out to the living room. Riki switched on the TV and just turned on a drama as some background noise as he ate his food.
Jay’s cooking always just felt so homemade and gave Riki those feelings of being home. It filled him with warmth and comfort as he had a few bites and barely focused on the show that was playing in front of him.
The food was eventually finished and a few hours passed as the night became later and Riki decided to head to bed. He went and washed his bowl in the kitchen before going to the bathroom and brushing his teeth.
Riki left the hallway light on in case he wanted to get up during the night before he headed to his bedroom. It felt weirdly quiet without his roommates around but Riki picked up his favorite hoodie which actually belonged to Jungwon and slipped it over his head before climbing into Sunoo’s bed.
Riki placed his phone on the dresser and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.
Riki woke up to heat, not at all an environmental one like when the dorm gets too stuffy because of the temperature changes earlier in the morning, but one that was searing and made him feel like he was going to melt. Then he heard the blaring noise in his ears that his brain soon registered as the building’s fire alarm.
Riki’s eyes shot open to see a room that was dense with smoke and he almost immediately began coughing as he felt it enter his lungs.
“Shit, shit!” Riki muttered as he kicked the blanket off of himself and headed for the door.
Riki coughed as he headed for the door to his room, hoping for a means of escape. He grabbed a rag from the kitchen and placed it over the door knob to not repeat his escape from earlier but was immediately hit with a ridiculous amount of heat to himself. The fire had already consumed the hallway and Riki could faintly hear screams and the voices of other tenants of the building.
He touched the knob which was already hot and he retracted his hand and looked down at the redness of his palm. Riki winced in pain before he grabbed the blanket from the floor and used it to pull the door open.
His eyes widened when he realized that the fire was already in their dorm as it consumed the entire hallway and was crawling up to the walls and ceiling all around. It seemed to have come down from Heeseung’s room which had a wall attached to the neighboring apartment, almost all the way down to the living room from what Riki could see, even though his eyes burned from the smoke and flames.
The fire whipped up at him and Riki tried to cover his face with his arm but the sleeve of his hoodie caught aflame and Riki quickly retracted as he tried to pat the flames out of his jacket, but he could feel the flames on his skin.
Riki let out a scream of pain and shut the door before patting at the flames that had already taken over most of his sleeve.
Riki coughed as he tugged the unburned sleeve of his hoodie over his palm and covered his mouth and nose.
Riki coughed and wheezed into the rag as he could feel his lungs fighting against the inhalation of the smoke. His arm was in complete agony and all he could hear was the crackling of the flames and wood as the fire started burning through the wooden door to the bedroom. The sleeve of his hoodie was almost burned into his skin and seemed to have almost melted into the flesh and Riki almost wanted to gag at the sight.
Riki’s head was spinning from the smoke inhalation as he desperately looked around and tried to figure out something to do but his mind came up blank.
It finally fully dawned on Riki that he was completely trapped and had no way to get out of the dorm.
His head spun and Riki tried to grab for something but his vision was blurry and the room around him was hard to see from all the smoke. Riki collapsed to the floor, but unfortunately right as he did he heard the creaking and crackling of the wood of the door behind him and it came crashing to the floor.
Despite trying to move out of the way, the door fell down on Riki’s leg as it gave way for the fire to enter the bedroom.
“Aghhh!” Riki screamed as he tried his best to pull his leg out from under the frame.
The door was heavy and extremely hot to the touch and Riki could feel the searing of his skin as the flames licked at his leg and Riki could smell the sickening scent of burning flesh as the leg of his pants also burned and melded into his skin. It all hurt so much as Riki tried to push the wood off of his leg before strangely enough, it all stopped.
Riki finally, weakly pried his leg out with a lot of effort and used the blanket near him in an attempt to smother the remaining flames. His arm was in agony and he felt like his lungs were fighting for every breath that he tried to take in.
Riki coughed and wheezed as his head began to spin even more and he felt more and more disoriented. He couldn’t keep his body up and felt himself collapse to the ground as his eyes opened and closed slowly.
Was this going to be the end for him? Was he not going to ever see his family again? Was he really not going to see his hyungs again? Was he not going to see his boyfriends again?
Riki felt tears well in his eyes at the thought of not ever getting to see his loved ones after this. The thought of there being nothing after this made his heart sink in his chest. No more days out with Jay, Jake and Sunghoon, no more playing games with Heeseung, no more of him teasing Sunoo and Jungwon all before smothering them in cuddles 'to make up for it' even though they never minded because they adored him.
Just as his eyes began slipping shut and the world began falling away as Riki slowly began losing hope, he heard something.
“Fire department, call out!” he heard a voice over the flames.
“Fire department, call out!” It repeated.
“I’m here,” Riki croaked out, although it was barely audible.
He felt a little light of hope inside and thus used the last of his energy to take advantage of that light.
“I’m here!” Riki yelled before his head fell back onto the once cool wooden floors, that he barely felt underneath him. Riki wanted to fight, but he couldn’t really do that any longer.
Every inch of his skin burned and smoke clung to his lungs and he couldn’t stay awake anymore.
So he just let everything fall away.
The last thing Jungwon was expecting to wake him up at two in the morning on his break, was a call from their manager.
Jungwon groggily sat up in his bed and blindly reached for his phone until he finally felt it under his hand and answered it before bringing it to his ear.
“Hello?” he said, sleep still tinting his voice.
“Jungwon, there’s been a fire at the dorm. Riki’s in the hospital,” the manager immediately said.
Jungwon has never felt his world stop before, but at those words, everything froze and he swore his heart stopped beating as his knuckles turned white from how hard he was gripping the phone.
“What?” Jungwon asked in shock.
Despite almost being in disbelief, he was already kicking off his blanket and switching on the light for the room.
“I’ll explain when you guys get here but you need to be here. He’s in critical condition and he’s in surgery right now,” the manager told him.
Jungwon nearly wanted to throw up upon hearing those words but he just slowly nodded even though he knew the man couldn’t see him, “Yeah, okay. We’ll be there soon.”
Jungwon quickly grabbed his shoes and jacket and pocketed his wallet before dashing out of the room, all while calling the group chat so everyone could hear him all at once.
“Jungwon, what’s wrong?” his mother asked sleepily as she stepped out of her bedroom with his father.
Jungwon didn’t offer them any other explanation than, “It’s Riki.” before he sped down the stairs and to the front door of the house.
He put the phone on speaker as it rang far too many times all while he ordered an uber, until the line finally picked up and he heard Sunoo’s familiar voice.
“Wonie, baby? Is everything okay?” Sunoo asked him concernedly.
“Yeah, Won it’s hella early for you to be calling us, what’s up?” Heeseung’s voice questioned.
“Is everyone here?” Jungwon asked frantically
“Everyone’s on the call except Riki, what's going on Jungwonie?” Jay asked worriedly as
he heard the franticness in the leader’s voice.
“Riki’s at the hospital. We all need to get there now. The manager said he’d explain more when we get there,” Jungwon said, sounding far calmer than he felt.
“Hospital? Jungwon, what the fuck happened?” Sunghoon questioned him worriedly.
Jungwon could already hear shuffling on the other lines although everyone was clearly confused about the situation and he tried to relay all he knew, “Manager-hyung called and he said there was a fire and Riki’s in critical condition and in surgery. That’s all I know.”
“Okay Won, okay. We’ll be there soon, i’ll see you guys there,” Jake told the group before hanging up.
“I’ll see you all soon,” Sunghoon said, his voice sounding shaky before his line also cut off.
“What they said,” Jay piped up before also leaving the call.
“See you guys soon.” Heeseung said before also leaving the call.
“Wonie, how are you feeling?” Sunoo asked him and Jungwon could clearly hear the tears in his voice.
“Terrified.” Jungwon replied honestly as he felt a tear roll down his cheek.
“Me too.” Sunoo sniffled, “But Riki’s strong, he’s a fighter and he’s going to pull through.”
“We’re gonna go be there for our baby, alright Won?” Sunoo asked him.
“Yeah, yeah we are.” Jungwon nodded as he sniffled.
“I love you.” Sunoo said.
“I love you too.” Jungwon replied before hanging up the phone.
His uber finally arrived at the front of the house and Jungwon sped to the vehicle before it even came to a full stop and told the driver to get to the hospital that Riki was in. He also absolutely bribed the driver to break the speed limit but Jungwon couldn’t be bothered to think about that now, Riki was his priority and always will be.
Jungwon had to get to him.
Jungwon jumped out of the car once he got to the hospital and spotted Sunoo already heading for the entrance.
“Sunoo!” he called as he ran towards the older boy.
“Wonie!” Sunoo exclaimed as he wrapped the leader in his arms in a tight hug and clung to him as if Jungwon would disappear if he let go.
Jungwon could understand why ; Riki, their youngest boyfriend and their group’s maknae was in that hospital fighting for his life and they had to go in and face that terrifying truth. They felt sick to their stomachs as they gripped each other impossibly tighter and walked through the accident and emergency doors.
The hospital was full of people who clearly were also victims of the fire, there were several people who appeared to be loved-ones who were either in hysteric states or in some sort of relief. Jungwon remembered the manager telling him Riki was in operating room 5 and quickly pulled Sunoo along to find it.
As they approached the elevator, the pair heard familiar voices behind them.
“Jungwon! Sunoo!” Jake’s familiar accented voice called to them, making them turn around to see their hyungs dashing towards them.
They all quickly engulfed each other in a tight embrace and the sniffles within the group hug were audible. They didn’t want to think about how wrong the hug felt without Riki.
Heeseung was the first to pull away and gave the group a small but sad smile.
“Let’s go see our maknae.”
They got out of the elevator on the surgery floor and followed the signage and hurried down the hall to the operating theater Riki was in. The group spotted their manager sitting anxiously in the waiting area outside and they sped towards him.
“Sejin-hyung! How is he, is he okay?” Sunoo rushed out once they got close.
Sejin rose from his seat and sighed heavily which only made the boys’ hearts sink further into their chests.
“It’s bad boys, it’s really bad,” the man sniffled as he tried to fight back the tears in his eyes.
Jake and Heeseung noticed how shaky Jungwon and Sunoo looked and quickly went on either side of them to hold them up, regardless of how their own limbs were shaking.
“He was the closest to the fire, it started from the neighboring apartment and spread so fast. The entire building was aflame in only minutes and he got trapped in the bedroom. He inhaled a lot of smoke and he was burned severely on his arm and leg. They’re doing surgery to repair his leg now and also stabilise his lungs.” Sejin informed them.
“But he’s going to be okay right?” Jay asked hesitantly, “It’s Riki… he’s going to be okay?”
“I don’t- I don’t know boys,” their manager said reluctantly.
It was only then that both Jungwon and Sunoo let out heart-wrenching sobs and they would’ve collapsed to the floor if it wasn’t for their two hyungs holding them up. Jake and Heeseung quickly pulled both of them onto a nearby couch and held the two maknae liners tight as they cried because they didn’t know what would happen to their boyfriend.
They didn’t know if Riki was going to make it out of that operating room and they felt sick to their stomachs.
“We got you,” Sunghoon said through his own tears as he gently patted Jungwon and Sunoo.
“We got you guys.”
Time ticked by so horribly slow, and every second without news about Riki was a second that their hearts shattered in their chests even more. More than two hours had passed since they got there, two and a half since Riki had been sent into surgery and they still had nothing.
But then a nurse with a few blood stains on her scrubs- Riki’s blood their brains unhelpfully supplied, exited the operating room.
“Family of Nishimura Riki?” she asked.
“That’s us.” Sejin told her quickly.
“How is he?” Jungwon asked as he sniffled.
The nurse sighed slightly and that was never a good sign.
“He’s got a second degree on his right arm which we have mostly treated but that’s not the problem. Riki suffered a large third degree burn on his left leg and we’re trying to save it but it’s proving very difficult. There’s a lot of nerve damage and he’s bleeding very heavily. The heavy bleeding as well as his extremely weakened respiratory system from heavy smoke inhalation have caused him to flatline twice but he’s a fighter. We’re still operating but we thought we should let you know something at least.” She said.
Hearing her talk about Riki’s injuries just made all of them feel sick to their stomachs and hearing that Riki flatlined just made their worlds turn upside down. Riki died, their maknae died if only briefly twice and the doctors are still struggling to save him.
“Please, please save him,” Jake all but begged the woman through the tears in his eyes.
The woman looked at him sadly, “We are trying our best.”
“You have to save him, please. He’s our baby, we can’t lose him,” Jungwon pleaded with the nurse.
“We are working really hard and Riki is still fighting, we’re doing everything we can, I promise all of you,” she said with sympathy lacing her tone at how devastated the boys in front of her looked.
“Do you think he’s going to make it?” Sunoo asked her, sounding desperate for some type of answer.
“I- I can’t say. I’m sorry,” she said sadly before turning away from the group and going back into the operating room.
Sunghoon let out a sob once she was gone and Jay instantly wrapped his arms around his best friend as he cried into the taller boy’s shoulder. Sunoo and Jungwon started crying all over again as they clung onto one another and Heeseung and Jake both tried to fight back their own tears but to no avail as they leaned their heads onto the maknae liner’s shoulders.
“Riki has to make it hyung…” Jungwon sniffled into Sunoo’s neck.
“He has to.”
Sunoo squeezed Jungwon’s hand tightly as he pulled the younger boy closer to himself, “He does Wonie, because a world without Riki isn’t one that’s right… it’s not. He’s going to make it.”
“We’re going to see that bright, boxy smile again and he’s going to ask Jay to cook his favorite meals again and he’s going to beg Sunghoon and Jake to go bowling with him and ask Heeseung to play games with him. And he’s going to dance and sing and perform and tell us how much he loves all of us. Riki’s going to do all of that again ; he is and we’re all going to tell him how much we love him again.” Sunoo said even though he sounds like he’s trying to convince himself as well.
The sun came up and cast an orange glow on the white tiled floor of the hospital. Jay and Sunghoon were in some state of half-consciousness while the other four members were in the same position as earlier, cuddled up with one another on the couch.
“Everyone?” the familiar voice of the nurse called out to them.
Enhypen’s heads all shot up at the sound of her voice and they looked at the woman who had a changed aura than earlier ; it was still somewhat on edge and very serious but she now carried a sense of relief? And a slight bit more positivity to her. That alone gave them some feelings of hope.
“Riki’s out of surgery. He’s not completely out of the woods yet as he’s still in serious condition but his vitals are a little more stable. However he is in the private ICU and on a ventilator but he’s a fighter, you can come with me to see him,” she invited the group.
The boys all sprung out of their seats at those words and followed the woman down the hall into the private ICU as she guided them towards Riki’s room.
“You all can go ahead,” she told them kindly as they stopped in front of the door.
“Thank you ma’am,” Sunoo told her gratefully.
“I’m just doing my job. Take care boys,” she smiled at them before leaving.
Sunoo reached for the handle a bit hesitantly and glanced at Jungwon before pushing down on it. His boyfriend gave him a small and reassuring nod which gave the older boy the go ahead to open the door. So Sunoo took a deep breath and he let them all in.
The sight of Riki looking pale in a hospital bed with a tube down his throat as a machine helped him breathe and his right leg being covered with mesh and still red skin from a skin grafting that spanned from just below his knee down to his ankle. The injury wasn’t at all pleasant to look at but that didn’t matter because Riki was alive. The scars and injuries would heal but if they were to lose Riki ; those scars on their hearts would never go away.
“Oh baby,” Jungwon sniffled as he cried what were now tears of relief as he pulled a chair to Riki’s bedside.
The leader took Riki’s unburned hand which only had a few small cuts and bruises in his own and pressed several kisses to his boyfriend’s hand as he intertwined their fingers. Sunoo brought his own chair next to Jungwon and placed his hand on Riki’s forearm as he followed suit and cried in relief with the second youngest.
Riki wasn’t fully okay, but he was alive. He was alive and that’s what mattered.
Riki woke up to voices, ones that he didn’t recognize.
“We’re going to take the ventilator off now since he’s breathing on his own. His vitals have improved a lot so we expect him to wake up soon.” The first voice said.
“It’s been three days already, how soon is soon?” Riki recognized that voice, it was Jungwon and he sounded stressed and upset.
Riki tried to wrack his brain as to why since his eyes felt like lead in his skull and he was struggling to open them. What had happened exactly? Where was he?
The feeling in his body slowly came back next and Riki registered that his right arm and left leg felt pretty numb even though there was a dull ache. There was something in his mouth too, it seemed to be down his throat and it was weirdly uncomfortable, all Riki could taste was plastic.
He wracked his brain trying to remember and it all came back at once ; waking up to this horrible heat, him trying to escape the dorm, his arm getting burned. The door had come down on his leg and he inhaled so much smoke and he couldn’t breathe. His head got hazy and his body felt heavy and he fell to the ground. He remembers the calls of the fire department and how he called back and then nothing.
Riki thought he was going to die. He thought he died, but he didn’t. He was here, well here in this case was a hospital but he was alive and his hyungs were here too.
Suddenly he felt the plastic being slowly pulled out from his throat and it felt terribly uncomfortable. It hit the back of his throat and Riki couldn’t help but gag as his body shot up and he puked out some saliva and a bit of stomach acid which he expected to hit his lap or something but instead ended up in a bowl.
Riki gagged for a few more seconds before he finally looked up to see Jungwon and Sunoo sitting on his left and staring at him with nothing but relief on their faces as the rest of his hyungs also mirrored that expression.
“Riki!” both his boyfriends exclaimed.
“Hi hyungs,” Riki croaked out in reply.
The nurse to his right quickly handed him some water and Riki took a few sips from the straw and nodded to her gratefully. The woman bowed her head before she put the cup to the side and gave the boys a smile.
“I’ll give you boys some time,” she said kindly.
Once she was out of the room, his hyungs were all on him in an instant, they were very careful to avoid his injuries but they all smothered Riki in a big group hug and Riki couldn’t help but melt into their holds.
It felt so nice, so relieving after the last thing he remembered was being so afraid of not seeing them again. But they were here and so was he, Riki wasn’t going anywhere.
The oldest four members pulled away and Jungwon and Sunoo instantly began peppering Riki’s faces in kisses.
Jungwon cupped the maknae’s cheeks and gave Riki a long kiss on the lips and the youngest savored the feeling and the taste of Jungwon’s typical watermelon flavored lip balm before he pulled away and gave room for Sunoo to give Riki a long and gentle kiss of his own, this time with a nice coconut flavor and Riki smiled against Sunoo’s lips.
“I’m here hyung. I’m right here,” he whispered loud enough for both of his boyfriends to hear.
“You scared us Riki-san,” Jake piped up from his other side as he ruffled the maknae’s hair.
“I know hyung, I didn’t mean to,” Riki said apologetically.
“We know you didn’t Riki-yah, but you’re never staying alone at the dorm again,” Jay told him seriously.
“You’re gonna stay at Jungwonie’s place with him and I once you’re discharged so you can recover while the company finds us a new dorm,” Sunoo informed the maknae.
“Well if you think about what Jay said, it’s impossible to leave Riki alone at the dorm right now since we don’t even have one,” Sunghoon piped up with a teasing smirk on his face.
“Oh my god Hoon,” Heeseung groaned trying to keep an annoyed face as he looked at the former ice-skater but he failed as he broke off into laughter.
The other members quickly followed suit as they began laughing loudly at Sunghoon’s silly little dad-joke.
As the room was lit up with their smiles and the genuine joy they felt and as Jungwon and Sunoo cuddled carefully into his side, Riki couldn’t help but look around at his hyungs and feel a strong sense of relief.
Riki was glad he was still here, he would never want to stop fighting for this.