13 Dances (A Seventeen Fanfiction)

-11-

I was back in the dark room. But it was silent. I listened intently. This was even worse. Could I just not hear anyone or was no one there? I wanted to get out, wake up, no matter in which world I'd wake up in, but this was making me go crazy, rapidly erasing all of my happy feelings from the dance just now.

A door opened and right away I finally did hear a cheerful voice: "Sorry, we were running late. Traffic jam, you know?" It was Jun. Hearing him was wonderful. If I could, I would have smiled at him. Or hugged him. But there was somebody else with him. At least I heard another pair of footsteps. Alessia?

"Mind if I take the chair today? I still have sore muscles." Soonyoung! Hey guys! "Sure, sit down, I'll stand", Jun said casually. There was some kind of silence, then Jun spoke up again: "I'm sorry that it's only us again. This time though, we insisted that your boyfriend should go out for a bit. He can't just sit here all day, slowly going crazy in his grief."

Oh Jun, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thanks for taking care of him. I owe you.

"Well, it wasn't us who could convince him though. His brother made him go out."

In that case I owe him too, of course.

"However, how are you doing?"

Uhm... How do you answer this question when you're in coma?

"We all miss you here so much", Jun continued and for a second I could hear the heartfelt sadness in his voice. Don't cry, my dear Jun, I'll be back. I promise.

"Right, Soonyoung?", he then added, sounding cheerful again. My brave best friend. I wanted to hug him so bad.

"Yeah, we do", my cousin now spoke up for the first time after sitting down, "We definitely do."

He didn't sound cheerful at all which took me by surprise. I have seen him go through a lot, but he barely had lost his smile. Now I wanted to hug both of them.

Jun seemed to realize it too. "Uh, well, I'll get us something to drink, okay? Be right back", he announced and soon after I heard the door close behind him. It went silent again for some time.

"I'm sorry I can't cheer you up this time", Soonyoung suddenly said, "To be honest, I don't even know if you can really hear me. They say there's a chance, but you don't look like it at all."

I can, sweetheart, I can. Don't give up hope.

"It's been twenty days. Can you imagine that?"

Pretty well actually.

"I don't want to lose my little cousin. You're too young to go."

He sounded so sad it tore my heart apart. I couldn't see or feel it, but I suddenly knew that he was holding my hand, tears in his eyes.

"We need you. And honestly... I need you. I really need you. You are the one who supports me the most after mum died. You're the only family I have left here in this town. I will come visit you more often, I promise, just come back, okay? Please."

I cried along with him, internally. I'm okay, I wanted to scream, I will come back, just have patience. Even if you don't visit me more often, I will come back, I promise!

The door opened again and I knew it was Jun coming in. He probably handed Soonyoung a drink and put his hand on the other one's shoulder. He was more of a quiet supporter but a good one at that. "She'll wake up", Jun now said, "She always was strong. She will be again. I am sure of it."

I felt sleep taking over me. No, not now! I haven't told them yet. They needed to know I was going to survive! That was unfair, not now, not... now...

"You moved quite a lot this time", Sabrina greeted me after I had jolted up from my bed. "I need to go back, I need to let them know!", I exclaimed. "You can't yet", she said indifferently, but then looked at me thoughtful. "Them?", she asked. "My cousin and my best friend. I need to comfort them somehow", I explained rushed. Sabrina shook her head. "I'm sorry, you can't", she sighed. "I want to go back so bad, why I am still here?", I went on. "You may want to return to your cousin and your best friend with every fibre of your body. But you have to make another decision", she told me. I took a deep breath. "But I know I love him", I confessed. "Loving someone and not being scared of life changing decision are two different things. They can come together but they don't necessarily do", she gave back and got up, "I'll see you once you are ready for the next memory." I watched her leave. I didn't have the energy to hold her back even though a thousand questions ran through my head, in a race with so many worries I couldn't grasp either of them clearly. I sighed and lay back down. This sucked.