Sleeping Beauty Syndrome

35

I was torn, on the one hand I didn't want to miss Wooyoung waking up, but on the other hand, I desperately wanted to hug Yunho. Seonghwa saw that I was struggling and pushed me towards the door.

"Now go on, I'll stay with him and call you if anything happens." he promised me gently and I nodded gratefully before running to Yunho.

He was sitting in his bed with a cup of tea in his hand, while San and Mingi were clinging to him like burrs. Lee had already removed all his medical equipment and was taking his pulse and temperature.

"Hey, you sleepyhead..." I said, beaming with joy, and sat down with him, clearing his throat several times and taking a sip before answering.

"Noona... with Juhee, I don't even know what to say... I'm so sorry, I would have loved to give you a hug." His voice still sounded slightly raspy and I could see the sadness in his eyes. He let go of the other two and then pulled me into his teddy bear hug, where I rested my head on his shoulder and let my tears flow freely.

"I'm so glad you're awake again... we've all missed you so much." I murmured and he hugged me tightly, just like he always did when he comforted one of us.

"Everything will be fine, the others will wake up too, I'm sure of it." he said as he patted my back reassuringly.

"So San... where's your little Picasso and Mingi, I want to see the pictures." he said with a grin after he had let go of me again.

"You know about this?" San asked ashamedly, scratching the back of his head.

"Most of the time I heard everything that was going on around me, except when I was actually asleep. And not being able to laugh while you're being painted is bloody nasty.... oh yes San... I also know you deliberately let that girl loose on us with a pencil three times..." he complained and San giggled caught.

"Do you know how hard it is to keep a child like that occupied?" he defended, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yes, I know." Yunho replied, looking at Jongho, who was still lying there quietly, which made us all smile. San got up to see if Sunny was awake yet, while Mingi held his cell phone in front of Yunho and they both giggled.

"Could you be a bit quieter, there are people who would like to sleep." we suddenly heard mumbling and stared at Jongho in disbelief.

"Omg, our baby is awake too..." Mingi exclaimed and Jongho's eyes widened in surprise.

"You... you heard me?" he asked with tears in his eyes.

"Almost no one understood your mumbling, but yes, we heard you." Yunho said with a smile. This time it was me who took Jongho, who was crying with joy, into my arms and comforted him. He was completely distraught and couldn't believe that he could finally talk to us again. While I kept stroking his upper arm reassuringly, Lee freed him from the infusion needle and listened to him, then his crying became louder and he clung to me.

"That wasn't a dream, was it? Juhee Noona is dead, isn't she? Please tell me, I only dreamed it..." he asked, sobbing, and sadly we had to tell him what had happened.

Then San came back with Sunny in his arms, who squealed with delight when she saw that two of her favorite toys were now sitting on the bed with their eyes open. When San put her down on the bed, she immediately crawled onto Jongho's lap and gave him a peck on the nose, which he simply let pass, totally perplexed, and looked at the child with wide eyes. He slowly lifted a hand and stroked her head while she beamed at him.

"My daughter must have just chosen her bias and it's not me..." San grumbled jokingly and we laughed.

"Your own parents are always embarrassing, no matter how cool they are." Lee said with a grin.

Since Seonghwa still hadn't called me and didn't know about Jongho, I went back to our bedroom to swap places with him so that I could be with Wooyoung again and he could hug Jongho.

"Is there anything new here?" I asked him, but he just shook his head regretfully.

"But over there, with the boys, Jongho is awake too." I informed him and saw him smiling happily. He jumped up and walked towards the door where I was still standing. I gave him some space so he could get through, but before he disappeared into the hallway, he gave me a kiss on the cheek and left me standing there, confused. God damn Park... Did you have to do that? With my heart pounding wildly, I sat back down next to Wooyoung and looked at him with a guilty conscience while he still showed no movement...