congratulations || jeongchan

- 28 - Hold Me -

That I'd be just like you

"Chan what the hell?!"

I weakly pushed past Hyunjin but he easily grabbed onto the collar of my coat.

"You were supposed to be in there for at least an hour, it's been twenty minutes at most."

"Where's Minho?"

Hyunjin's eyebrows draw together but he still can't see my face under the fringe that hangs low over my eyes.

"What could Minho possibly have to do with any of this? This is about making Jeongin better."

"Hyunjin. Where's Minho?"

"Do you not even care about Jeongin anymore Chan? This bond should just break so Jeongin can finally move on and find someone else. What's the worth in fixing it?"

He says the words like they're supposed to hurt, but I can see the concern building in stature as he takes in my shaking hands and downcast gaze that won't stay still or linger on one point on the floor.

"Chan? Are you okay?"

"WHERE IS MINHO HYUNJIN?! I NEED- I need.... i need to find him."

That's when the tears start falling. They don't feel like they've ever stopped this entire evening.

Hyunjin takes my chin now, gently, he tilts it up like I'm a scared animal.

He observes the red rims around my eyes and probably the panic that I can feel ricocheting around in my head.

"Chan. Take a deep breath. It's going to be okay alright?"

"W-where's Minho Hyunjin?..." the world tilts and Hyunjin's face gets further and further away.

The floor hits me much sooner that I expected it to, and it's warmer than I expected as well.

I feel my eyes flutter closed and can faintly hear voices in the echoing space surrounding me.

"What's up with him?"

"I think............Minho."

"Minho? What's happened to him?"

"I need to go and see where Jeongin is at."

"Jeongin?" I barely recognise it as my own voice, but I know it must be. I know it by the word. The name that ties me to happiness, that ties me to feeling the floor beneath my fingers. That leads to the overwhelming surge of love that swells like a cresting wave in my chest at the sound of it.

Light fingers trace their way across my cheeks, gentle but wavering and rushed in their urgency.

"He looks bad Jisung."

"There's nothing more we can do, he'll be okay."

My body instinctively curls towards the warmth emanating from near my right arm.

I think I hear something almost like a squeal and the faint sound of a photo being taken.

"Minh-"

"A-a-ah they'll thank me for this later."

"Why do I love you?"

"Because you couldn't do any better if you tried."

The hand brushes my face again. But it doesn't feel quite the same, it's touch is softer as it lays flat on my face.

"Channie?"

A low rumble of a reply manages to make its way out of my throat.

I'm just so- so tired.

"Chan you need to open your eyes."

"Five more minutesss~"

I blearily open my eyes and take in the sight that is Jeongin, lying next to me, he looks lots better than before, all the traces of blood and tears are gone.

It almost makes me forget what happened in the specialists room.

My eyes blink once in pain at the memory and when I open them Jeongin's eyes are closed as well, he's falling back to sleep again.

I quickly press a light kiss to his forehead and heave myself to my feet, a move that I like to think was both graceful and quiet, but probably wasn't either.

Everyone else who was in the room has left and gone somewhere else in the hospital - or that's what I thought at least.

Until I tripped over Hyunjin's legs in the corridor outside the hospital room as he sits there with his back to the painfully bright lights of the vending machine.

I mumble an apology and make to step over his legs when he grabs my ankle, his grip is weak but there's fire in his eyes as he tells me to sit down.

"Chan I- I didn't mean what I said before about... your bond and Jeongin and everything."

I watch as his fisted hand slowly falls to the floor, it's like all the rage has completely drained out of him.

When he looks up at me his eyes are shining and his lip quivers even as he tries to hide it.

I instinctively hold out my arms and he leans into them, cursing quietly as his tears start to fall.

"This jacket better not have been expensive...." I mumble, as calmingly as I can, "all in one night it's had blood, sweat, rain, tears... more than it's fair share of tears actually."

Hyunjin giggles softly into the jacket, it definitely looks like it's a jacket that's been through a lot, but I'm glad that my joke had the desired effect on Hyunjin.

His voice pulls me out of my jacket-themed daydreaming.

"I really am glad that Jeongin found you Chan. That Jeongin found someone who loves him for everything he is and that he loves equally as much back, in the way I knew I never could."

"Hyunjin.. I-..."

"I'm sorry about being iffy to you in the past Chan. Thank you.

Thank you for looking after my friend."

I wrap my arms tighter around Hyunjin as he starts crying again and I can only just keep the tears from falling from my own eyes as I tilt my head back to rest against the glass of the vending machine.

If I close my eyes and listen hard enough I can almost hear Jeongin's quiet peaceful breathing from in the room just around the corner.

Taking a deep breath, I let myself relax and slow down after an evening of running up and down every road of my heart and the city looking for the answers I think I've finally found.

A/N - Hikari by Pentagon really is that song

And who am I by Hui
Followed by third eye, we love a power couple

And those two followed by All right, name a stronger trio, I'll wait

(I should just have made a playlist of what I listen to when writing or just not said anything
Rather than listing them all like they're an interesting thing to talk about
I'm sorry
*sighs* why can't I contain my... whatever this is that's going on right now)

And of course. This playlist that I randomly chose to put on shuffle just had to play congratulations right as I was tying up the chapter, fate has interwoven its hands in beautiful and mysterious ways this evening.

One more
Intro: Ringwanderung is
So beautiful
And calming
I can't even begin to describe

Okay I promise I'm done with the songs.

Thanks for reading this far and I hope we make it to the end, and let's hope it will be as amazingly happy as the characters deserve, only the unplanned writing to come ahead can decide.