Work Text:
Sunoo was starting to get real pissed at his members. Since when were they suddenly so serious about the rules of rock paper scissors?
One mistake and suddenly they’re all against him. It wasn’t even really a mistake on Sunoo’s part! They were choosing who got to get their lunch while the rest of them cleaned up their dirty practice room (as requested by their managing staff with way too much work to clean up after the seven boys). He just mentally clocked out for a minute and didn’t realize they were playing rock paper scissors until it was too late. [He shot out a rock to beat Niki’s scissors 2 seconds after Niki did and the maknae immediately started loudly complaining saying Sunoo-hyung cheated! We have to go again! Sue him for not wanting to play again, he was frankly just tired and wanted to eat.]
“Come on Sunoo, let’s just get this over with so at least one of us can eat.” Heeseung sighed as he closed his eyes, crossing his arms.
“Why are we even hung up about this? If anything, we should just all clean up quickly so we can go get lunch together.” Sunoo reasoned with them as he shook his head, his method clearly made the most sense.
“The managing team said they only need four of us to clean up at most, why subject three other people to cleaning up when they don’t have to?” Sunghoon admonished next, annoyed expression conveyed in his tone of voice.
“I’m just saying, it’d be a lot faster if we all worked together and ate together.” Sunoo shook his head as he held his hands up in an innocent pose. His members’ stubbornness sometimes really knows no bounds.
They all scoffed slightly in response to Sunoo’s innocent response. Then, Jungwon spoke up.
“Okay, I hate to do this, but I’m pulling the leader card. Sunghoon-hyung, Jay-hyung, Heeseung-hyung, and Sunoo-hyung will clean up since most of this mess is their responsibility.
And since Sunoo-hyung seems so keen on helping everyone out. The rest of us will go get lunch, please and thank you.” Jungwon smiled widely with a cute expression on his face, grabbing their bags and waving as they left their practice room.
Jungwon’s statement struck a chord in Sunoo’s heart, but he quickly let it go. Sunoo sighed as he started cleaning up one corner of the room, deciding to get it over with so he could eat quickly. The others dispersed to clean different parts of the room as well, feeling unfair they had to clean with Sunoo [who dared to suggest they all do it together, thus making Jungwon pull his leader card, and purposefully choose these four to clean up––even though most of the mess was their fault]. He noticed their glares and grumbles of annoyance behind his back as he was cleaning up, causing him to scoff sassily. They really were so stubborn.
💙
Once they all finished cleaning up the practice room, Heeseung, Jay, and Sunghoon quickly grabbed their bags and walked out of the room, leaving Sunoo in the dust. He huffed as he pouted his lips, what were they, children? He grabbed his bags and went to leave, doing one last sweep over the room as his perfectionist attitude came through. He nodded to himself and walked closer to the door, going to open it only for someone to beat him to the punch. Their manager entered the room with a light expression on his face, making Sunoo smile. At least someone wasn’t pissed and sulking at him.
“Hey, Sunoo. Where are the others?” Their manager looked around the room surprisedly, somewhat confused expression.
“Oh, they just went to the cafeteria. I was just wrapping up here.” Sunoo smiled easily at the older man, slinging his bag over his shoulder once more.
“Oh, well that’s not important anyway. Turns out there was a big error in your scheduling; someone mixed it up with another group’s. I talked with Bang PD about it and we ultimately decided to give you guys the next two weeks off since we know how hard you’ve been working! I was gonna take you guys back to the dorm, but since it’s just you we can drive back by ourselves. Another manager is picking the others up from the cafeteria, so they’ll drive back in a different van. Come on, let’s get going!” Their manager grabbed Sunoo’s hand excitedly, a wide smile on his face as he pulled the younger towards the door.
When they went down to the first floor of the company building, the rest of the group was also walking towards the entrance, causing Sunoo and their manager to catch up with them quickly. Sunoo smiled as he started walking next to Niki, the boy looking at his phone.
“What do you think you’re going to do for the break, Niki?”
Niki continued to look at his phone and walked faster, blending into the group walking toward the entrance. Sunoo stood in place with wide eyes.
Did that really just happen?
Sunoo huffed loudly. Fine. If they wanted to play that game, Sunoo would play it. He’d play it well. He couldn’t help but think how truly childish this whole situation was. He walked through the group with a slight huff in his walk, their manager quickly trailing behind him with a surprised expression on his face.
“Unbelievable, really,” Sunoo heard Heeseung huff as he left the building, causing his fists to clench tighter in themselves.
💙
When Sunoo and their manager got to the car, Sunoo sat in the passenger’s side and crossed his arms as he pouted his lips sassily.
“Can you believe them, manager-hyung? Just because I suggested everyone clean up after themselves so we could all get lunch together! They’re being so childish about this! Plus, I didn’t even get lunch in the end!”
Sunoo vented his frustration to the older man, their manager smiling in response and nodding silently. He wanted to treat these boys as well as they deserved, but even that was uncalled for. Their childishness could sometimes be their biggest flaw–– plus, he knew the boys well enough now to know Sunoo and Jungwon had to be the most mature ones in their group. He sighed as he pulled out of the parking lot of Hybe, soon driving on the road to the boys’ dorm.
“I’m sure they’re tired, Sunoo-yah. Try to be understanding, I’m sure they don’t mean any harm from it. You know how they are, this stuff happens. Don’t hold it against them.”
Their manager still defended the boys well, no matter what he said, he would still always cherish them for their strengths. Sunoo looked into his lap, his lips still jutted out in a pout as he fiddled with his fingers.
“I know. It just…it gets me so frustrated sometimes.” He sighed, tilting his head on the window.
“Yeah, I get that. Listen, I’m sure they’ll forget about it over the break. And, if they don’t, I promise to knock some sense into them then. Sound good?”
Sunoo looked at their manager silently, the man quickly glancing over to him with a reassuring smile before paying attention to the road once more. Sunoo smiled silently.
“Thanks hyung.”
“Of course.” Their manager ruffled Sunoo’s hair, making the younger boy laugh.
They continued to drive for a little bit, Sunoo deciding to talk on Weverse with some Engenes for a little bit before taking a nap; their dorm was pretty far from the company, about a forty-five minute drive for privacy reasons.
Once Sunoo decided to take a nap, he heard their manager gasp before slamming on the brakes. He looked to his manager, who was staring at the road with wide eyes before looking. Sunoo’s eyes instantly watered, the boy flinching back in his seat as he held onto his seatbelt. A large truck was heading right in front of them, the driver appearing unconscious at the wheel. Their manager threw his right arm over Sunoo’s chest, making him look at the man silently before swinging his left arm over his chest.
Then, boom.
The truck crashed right into their manager’s car, causing Sunoo and their manager to become heavily injured and for both of them to fall unconscious upon impact. The airbags of the car deployed, probably serving to worsen their injuries altogether.
Instantly, the car behind them, holding the rest of the boys, stopped and the sliding doors opened as another manager ran to the driver’s side of the car while he called 911. The boys instantly ran to Sunoo’s side, most of them with tears in their eyes and all with shaken expressions on their faces.
“Sunoo-hyung! Sunoo-hyung, can you hear me? Sunoo-hyung, say something, please. ” Niki shakily called out, tears in his eyes as he banged on the window on Sunoo’s side.
The boy continued to lay unconscious in the car seat.
The other manager noticed a dark-colored liquid pouring out from the truck, eyes going wide as he realized it was gasoline. He heard a high pitched whirring come from the truck as well, quickly connecting the dots.
“Get back to the van!” He yelled as he ran towards the other boys now in the middle of the road, pushing them to make sure they wouldn’t get injured at all. He pulled Niki away from the window, the boy crying heavily as he didn’t, no, couldn’t leave Sunoo’s side.
“He needs me! No, Sunoo-hyung! Hyung!” He yelled as their manager ran back to the van, pushing Niki back with him as he reached both of his hands towards their manager’s car.
Then, a loud explosion is heard. Niki falls to his knees on the ground with wide eyes as more tears slip out of them.
Their manager’s car is now on fire, still with their manager and Sunoo inside. The whole group felt despair envelop them all at once.
Niki starts to heavily sob, loud and radiating through the air around all of them.
“Sunoo-hyung…Sunoo-hyung…”
They don’t remember how long it takes for the paramedics and fire department to get there.
💙
When they arrived at the hospital, they received word that both their manager and Sunoo were in emergency surgery and had yet to come out. They didn’t know if they should rejoice at the fact or break down from it.
Instead, they sat in a private waiting area in a closed wing of the hospital––reserved for special cases consisting of idols. They all sat in silence. How could something like this ever happen to one of them? Especially when they were being petty because they were tired from practice and fought with one of their members? Gosh did they feel like shit. They all faintly heard the news program on the TV speak in the background.
Our most recent story involves a truck traveling in Myeongdong today. It was involved in a serious accident with another car as the driver had a heart attack while driving and died instantly, colliding with another car on the opposite side of the street. The car held superstar of Enhypen, Kim Sunoo and his manager as they were driving from the company. They are currently undergoing emergency surgery at Seoul General Hospital, we will report again when we hear more information.
Niki was still crying. He felt horrible when he turned away from Sunoo as they were leaving the building. All because he was throwing a fit and didn’t want to talk to Sunoo. And now his hyung was in surgery fighting for his life while he just stood there and cried. What else could he do? No matter how badly he wanted to deny it, his heart had been connected to Sunoo’s ever since they met. He didn’t know what he’d do if Sunoo wasn’t okay; even now he felt like collapsing on the ground and sobbing his heart out until no more tears were left in his body.
“Um, excuse me, are one of you the guardian’s for Lee Eunhyeok?”
A nurse came into the closed unit with a clipboard in hand. The other manager with them stepped forward silently.
“Yes, that would be me.”
“Okay, I’ll just need you to sign these forms so he can be admitted here. Luckily his surgery went very well. His right arm is broken and his knee is fractured, but apart from that he only suffered from mild internal bleeding, a few cracked ribs and a few second-degree burns. He’s in Room 19 if you’d like to see him.”
She smiled gracefully at them, showing a hopeful expression. They all sighed relievedly at that fact.
“And Sunoo-hyung? What about Sunoo-hyung, is he okay?”
Niki spoke emotionally, eyes already teary. The nurse slightly sighed, her smile fading.
“I’m sorry, but he’s not out of surgery yet. I’ll let you know as soon as he comes out.”
She slightly bowed before taking her leave, the others bowing to her silently. Jungwon wrapped his arm around Niki’s shoulder as he cupped his hands together and bent in his chair.
The air in the room was stiff. No one dared to speak. If they did, it felt like something catastrophic would happen. The only sounds that filled the room were Niki’s intermittent sobs, flooding their ears as they all held back tears. After a while, the door opened once again.
“Guardians of Kim Sunoo? He’s out of surgery now.”
The same nurse from earlier came by, a somewhat somber expression on her face as she held her clipboard. The room silently tensed, each boy waiting to hear that Sunoo, that their Sunoo would be okay.
“His left wrist is strained and the ligaments in his legs were heavily damaged upon impact. The impact from the airbag also broke a few of his ribs and caused a lot of blood loss. The doctor ordered a blood transfusion for him, but he lost too much blood when he arrived. He…fell into a coma because of it. Other than that, he suffered a lot more second-degree burns than Lee Eunhyeok-ssi and sustained a minor concussion. Generally, we’re not sure how long comas from blood loss last, but I’d say a couple of days at least. He’s in Room 20. I’ll…let you process this alone.”
She bowed silently, the other manager bowing back to her. Everyone stood around silently. No one dared to utter a single word. What could they say? That Sunoo never deserved any of this? That they wished everything would just magically be okay again? That they all simultaneously felt like having a mental breakdown and sobbing on the floor? This world was so cruel. So disgustingly, achingly cruel to all of them.
“It’s so unfair.”
The silence is finally broken by Jungwon, voice wet and eyes even wetter.
“Sunoo-hyung never did anything to deserve something like this. Why did this happen to him? What did he ever do wrong? If anything, it should be us…”
Jungwon’s voice cracked as he spoke, fists clenching and angry tears spilling from his eyes.
They all looked down at the ground silently. Jungwon was right. If anything, it should be one of them in that hospital bed instead of Sunoo. They were the selfish, childish ones who gave him the cold shoulder. He didn’t do anything wrong–– hell, he wanted to help clean up willingly!
“How about this? When Sunoo wakes up, we do whatever it takes to make this right.”
Jay suggested to the group, a thoughtful expression on his face. They all silently nodded.
💙
A couple of days passed. Then a week passed. The boys were starting to lose all hope.
They each coped as best as they could. Niki almost never left Sunoo's side in the hospital. The only way he would leave was if a nurse dragged him away to eat or at least take a shower, since Sunoo would probably hate to smell his stench as soon as he woke up. He did all sorts of things with the boy in the bed, read comments to him left by Engenes online, talked to him like they were having a regular conversation, shared every little detail of his day with the sleeping boy.
It was hard for all of them to process. Some occasionally visited, others never.
Sunghoon skated his heart away, replacing the overflowing emotions flowing on his face with numbness. If he cried each time he laced up his skates thinking of how Sunoo would always ask him to teach the younger, no one would know but him.
Jay laid in his bed most days, rotting away as he stared at his framed picture with Sunoo. The boy had given it to him for his birthday two years ago, Jay always treasured it more than anything. Tears would always fall from his eyes when he closed them those days.
Heeseung went through the pictures and videos he had of Sunoo in his phone. And on the days where the memories were too painful to bear, he would go into Sunoo’s room and take in Sunoo’s scent as he laid on his bed with the blanket wrapped around him.
Jungwon visited Sunoo in his hospital room every other day. He would always bring meals for Niki and talk with Sunoo for a little bit while Niki caught up on sleep in their manager’s hospital room.
Their manager woke up a couple of hours after the accident had occurred, relieving all of the boys greatly. Once they all told him of Sunoo’s condition after the accident, he looked at all of them with an expression filled with grief. That was the first time they saw their manager cry. He was always so strong and emotionally stable in front of them, nothing more, nothing less. He was set to be discharged from the hospital after a week or so of staying there.
Jake's condition was probably the worst. Jake didn’t even know if he was processing this situation correctly. All he knew was that he couldn’t seem to leave his bed whenever he tried. He tried getting up and going back to the hospital to visit the younger boy, but something in his chest weighed him down. He didn’t even realize he was crying most of the time until someone came into the room to check on him and hugged him. He was stuck in a sort of limbo of his own creation. He couldn’t move anymore.
Then, something happened.
Niki returned home. After a week of the others not seeing him, he came back with Jungwon one night with red-rimmed eyes. Jake was in the living room, but if you asked him how he got there he wouldn’t be able to tell you. Niki locked eyes with him as he walked next to Jungwon.
“Um…I’ll go get the others.” Jungwon softly spoke, Jake not recognizing the dark tone in his voice. When was the last time any of them talked to each other?
Niki stood in front of Jake with a serious expression, taking in the dark bags under his eyes; Jake noticed the same trait under Niki’s. None of them got much sleep anymore. He silently walked closer to the older boy, tears welling up in his eyes. Jake opened his arms, Niki falling into them silently as tears pressed out of his eyes.
“You okay?” Jake was surprised at the hoarseness of his voice; when was the last time he talked to someone?
Niki shook his head as a high-pitched groan came from his mouth. Jake unintentionally wrapped his arms tighter around Niki’s, patting his hair as well. They stayed there for a minute, before the others came in tow with Jungwon, serious and downtrodden expressions on their faces. Niki stayed against his Jake-hyung’s chest, arms wrapping tighter around him.
Everyone sat down on the couch, Jungwon standing in front of them as he folded his hands together. It wasn’t unlike their team meetings––except this time the atmosphere was much darker and everyone was too tired to say anything.
“Um, so. Niki and I were at the hospital today. And, well. As I was leaving, one of the nurses stopped me. She said…he’s not showing any signs of waking up, so we should…start preparing ourselves for…”
Jungwon teared up as he spoke, libs trembling and voice becoming emotional. By now, all of them held tears in their eyes and there was not one smile in the vicinity. He didn’t need to finish his sentence, they all knew what he was going to say anyway.
No one spoke. Everything stopped. Time froze for all of them. The only sounds that filled the air were cries that night.
Niki returned to his room for the first time in a week. His shared room with Sunoo. Soon to be his former shared room with Sunoo. If the others heard him softly sob into Sunoo’s blankets that night on his bed, no one would know but them.
💙
Niki didn’t want the next day to come. Yet, it did, just like it always does. How can the world still spin when his whole world was collapsing right in front of him? He wasn’t ready. He knew yet he couldn’t help but feel a sort of peace wash over him when he woke up. At least he could know his Sunoo-hyung wouldn’t suffer anymore.
He doesn’t remember driving to the hospital with the others. He was too focused on the fact that this was the last time he would see his Sunoo-hyung again. In that disgusting white bed that he blended in with too well.
Finally, the moment came. He stood in front of the door silently, nerves tensing his body and hesitant expression on his face. He sighed, closing his eyes as he turned the door handle, heart clambering in his chest. The others stayed in the waiting room, letting Niki have his moment alone with the older boy.
Tears immediately welled up in his eyes as no one else was in the room. He put on a brave face, pushing his tears back as far as they could go, as he walked closer to the bed.
The older one of the pair looked so peaceful there, simply like he was sleeping without another care in the world. If only that was the case. He stood there for a moment.
“Hello, Sunoo-hyung,” eyes filled with tears as he whispered.
The boy in the bed stayed silent, the heart monitor being the only sound radiating throughout the room. It only clenched Niki’s heart more.
“I…I don’t know what to say, hyung. I don’t know what to say to you. I know I’ve been talking to you every day this week like we have in our regular conversations, but…in truth I was just distracting myself from reality.”
Silence fills the room once more. Niki sighs heavily.
“I’m…really mad at you, hyung. Mad that you won’t be by my side for the rest of my life. Our lives really. You’re going to miss out on so many things. Isn’t that so unfair, Sunoo-hyung? No, it’s unfair how you were taken away from all of us so quickly. So unexpectedly. I never knew I could cry this much in one week, hyung. I…I can’t help but resent myself. If…maybe if I was in that car instead of you…none of this would have happened. Maybe–– I could’ve protected you, maybe we wouldn’t be here like this.”
Niki sighs as he closes his eyes, tears falling on his cheeks.
“Yet…here we are. And there’s nothing I can do to help except cry for you. Isn’t it cruel how I can’t even say goodbye, hyung?”
His lips quiver as more tears fall on his cheek, eyes closed as he hesitates to reach his hand out to Sunoo’s. He eventually did, the boy’s cold hand fueling the crushing of his heart. He imagined Sunoo’s hand cupping his cheek warmly, smiling as he always did. More tears instantly fell from his eyes, the young boy thinking of their lifetime of memories they held together.
“Except, I lied. I could never be mad at you for something like this, hyung. The most painful part of this is how it’s no one's fault really. You know how much I love you, right? Even though I never got to say it properly. You could always feel it, right?”
He tilted his head as he spoke with the tiniest smile on his face, translating into the hopeful tone of his voice. Tears flowed heavily out of his eyes, chest stuffy and heart heavy. This heart was no good anymore. Niki couldn’t use it any more than he already had.
Then, a doctor came in with a syringe and Niki felt his already broken heart shatter even more.
“This is morphine. It will make his death painless and quick. He will stay asleep during the whole process.”
Niki nodded as he stepped back from the bed, covering his eyes with his hand as his hand slipped out of Sunoo’s. This was it. The moment his bestest friend in the world would leave.
The doctor nodded silently, moving to insert the syringe into Sunoo’s IV. Then, he heard the heart monitor go flat. He sunk to the ground silently, loudly sobbing as he clutched his shirt.
🩵
At least, that’s what he thought the day would be like. Not only was he wrong, he was completely wrong. Here’s how the day actually went.
Niki wasn’t ready for the day to come. He only had an hour until his group went to the hospital. He wasn’t able to get more than three hours of sleep through the night consecutively.
He doesn’t remember driving to the hospital with the others. He was too focused on the fact that this was the last time he would see his Sunoo-hyung again. In that disgusting white bed that confined him too well.
Finally, the moment came. He stood in front of the door silently, nerves tensing his body and hesitant expression on his face. He sighed, closing his eyes as he turned the door handle, heart clambering in his chest. The others entered behind him, silent as they settled around the room.
No one else was in his room, just like Niki imagined [obviously not including the others]. He hesitantly walked closer to the bed, sitting down in a chair and silently looking at Sunoo’s hand connected to the IV, deciding whether or not he should grab it or not. He ultimately did, feeling like he’d regret it if he didn’t. Jay came up from behind him, a downtrodden expression on his face. He looked to Jake on the other side of the bed, tears dripping from his eyes.
“Sunoo-yah…it’s me, your Jake-hyung. You can hear me, right? Hm…do you know how much love I hold for you in my heart? I truly do, even if you couldn’t feel it. But…I hate you. For one reason only. I hate how you’re leaving all of us so suddenly like this. It’s cruel really. But, I can’t ask you to keep suffering for my own comfort. That’s even more cruel. So, I’ll let you go. But just know nothing will ever change my love for you. Plus, I know I love how you’ll be watching over us with everything we’ll do. And know I’ll feel peace knowing you’re somewhere nice. I really wish you weren’t leaving, but I’ll always love you so much Sunoo-yah.”
He grasped the boy’s hand as he spoke, tears falling on the bed. The others walked up individually to the other side and proceeded to share their speeches with the boy in the hospital bed. Finally, the last person left was Niki. He hadn’t let go of Sunoo’s hand as the others talked.
He silently looked at the boy on the bed, the rising and falling of his chest serving to ground Niki. He felt unintentional tears well up in his eyes as he stared at the sleeping boy, mind diving into the depths of despair. He continued to stare at the boy silently before his hand started to shake, hesitantly releasing it from the sleeping boy’s light grasp. His lips quivered as he laid his hands in his lap, clenching them into fists as he closed his eyes, body tensing up. He sat there for a moment crying, his eyes becoming puffy in the process.
“This is so unfair, Sunoo-hyung. Why do you have to leave us? You…you don’t deserve something like this, Sunoo-hyung.”
He started to sob as he clenched his fists tighter in his lap, eyes still closed as he shook his head.
“Please…don’t leave me, Sunoo-hyung. What…what am I supposed to do without you? I–– I don’t think I can go on without you. We were in this together. What happened to that?”
Niki held his hands up to his eyes as more tears fell from them, more sobs wracking his body by the minute. He curled into his lap as he continued to sob, eyes still covered by his hands. Jake brought Niki’s face to his stomach as he stood next to him, tears in his eyes as he let the younger sob into his shirt. Niki shook his head as he latched his arms around Jake, heart not bearing to accept their cruel reality.
Then, a small ruffle of bedsheets could be heard. Niki wasn’t sure if it was a grief-filled hallucination or real, so he continued to cry into his Jake-hyung’s hold.
Then, another ruffle could be heard, causing Niki to sharply gasp as he opened his eyes. He immediately turned away from his Jake-hyung, serious expression on his face being accentuated by the drying tear streaks. He stared at Sunoo silently for a moment, breath catching in his throat as he stared at the older boy’s hand.
Then, his hand twitched on the hospital bed sheets once more. Niki gasped, grabbing Sunoo’s hand tightly.
“Sunoo-hyung, can you hear me? Sunoo-hyung, please…don’t leave me…”
He spoke emotionally once again, the tight grip on Sunoo’s hand lessening ever so slightly as he closed his eyes tightly. The group stood around the room in silent hopefulness, praying their Sunoo would come back to them.
Sunoo’s hand slips out from Niki’s hold silently, causing the maknae to open his eyes as he gasps. Sunoo’s hand lands on his left cheek instead, causing Niki to immediately grab it as he stares at the older boy’s face. His eyes crease open and he smiles as strongly as he could.
“Why would I leave when I’m right here, Niki?”
His voice is rough, as to be expected, hoarse and quiet as it sounds as though has not been used in years.
The group stands around in awed silence. Their silence is broken by Niki’s wet huff, a wide smile on his face as he stares at Sunoo with tears glistening in his eyes.
He really came back to them.
🩵
The next day
“So, so get this! Jay-hyung wanted to get some pajeon for you so you’d recover quickly, but Jake-hyung suggested we should make it since it’d be more heartfelt, so they got all of the ingredients and burned it!! How do you even burn pajeon, even I can make it!”
Niki laughed loudly as he clapped loudly, an amused expression making Sunoo laugh softly as well.
“Yeah. Burning pajeon has to be one of the silliest things I’ve ever heard.” Sunoo softly spoke, voice still sore from underuse.
“Mm. I figured you’d want it though, so I ordered some on my way here.” Niki grabbed a bag of five pajeon from his backpack, he brought it since Sunoo requested some items of his from the dorm.
Sunoo smiled widely, gladly taking the bag from the maknae and thanking him. Niki smiled silently, staring at the older boy eating them. Sunoo tilted the bag towards Niki, the maknae shaking his head in response to the silent question he asked: want some? He stared at the boy happily eating it for a minute before thinking about yesterday.
Niki immediately stood up from his chair next to Sunoo’s bedside, wrapping his arms around the newly awakened boy.
“It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere, Niki.”
He patted the maknae’s hair softly as he smiled, eyes closed once again.
Once they finished hugging, the others took their turns hugging and crying and taking Sunoo in all at once. Once that was over, they all looked at each other and silently nodded, deciding to apologize to him before it was too late.
“Sunoo-hyung? We’re…sorry. For how we acted that day. It wasn’t even really a big deal, we were just being childish. I’m really sorry, hyung.” Jungwon spoke for all of them, fiddling with his fingers.
They all silently stood around the room with regretful looks on their faces, some fiddling with their fingers as well. Sunoo looked at all of them silently, none of them could tell what he was thinking.
“What…are you talking about? Did we fight? All I remember is going through practice with you all. I thought practice was going well too. The rest…is a blur.”
Sunoo looked at them all with confused expressions on his face, morphing into a somewhat nervous expression. They all looked around at each other silently, somewhat astonished expressions on their faces.
“Oh. Well…in that case, there’s no point bringing up the past. We’re just happy you’re back with us, Sunoo-hyung.” Jungwon continued, an easy smile on his face.
Jungwon was right. There was no point in bringing up the past if Sunoo didn’t remember. They’d be with each other for the rest of their lives now, that’s what mattered the most. Niki smiled silently, there was no doubt in his mind they would be there for each other no matter what now.
Fin