𝘼 𝙆𝙄𝙎𝙎 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙀𝘼𝘾𝙃 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙔 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿𝘽𝙔𝙀 : nyukyu.

𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙍𝙏𝙀𝙀𝙉.

changmin didnt feel the impact of anything. not the impact of the car, not the impact he would feel if he was thrown back in time, he just felt nothing. confused, he attempted to open his eyes.

"doctor, doctor, quick!" who was that? "doctor, he's waking up!"

changmin felt weak, as if he couldnt keep his eyes open for a second longer. he blinked slowly, trying to adjust his eyes to the bright lights.

"call his parents, stat, let them know he's alive." then, he heard rushing footsteps. then the voice of the first person again. did he know them?

changmin felt a certain warmth around his hand, and he could hear the other side of the phone call. his parents. that warmth, something he would feel whenever chanhee would hold him as close as possible, or when chanhee would become to scared from a movie that their group of friends were watching.

and then it hit him. the voice, he did know them. the warmth of the hand wrapped around his, the familiar fingertips brushing against his knuckles, it was chanhee. chanhee was here, by his side, alive.

changmin's eyes flew open, and his body jolted to sit up straight. he wanted to see him, he wanted to see choi chanhee. alive, finally, both of them were alive. the phone call quickly cut off. not only would he see chanhee, he would see his parents too.

"hey, hey, calm down, everything is okay. do you know where you are?" changmin didnt care to pay attention to whatever he had said, taking both of the other's hands  in his own.

"chanhee." he whispered them out, his gaze soft and sad. the boy smiled.

"you remember me?" changmin didnt know what was true and wasnt, but as of now, he wouldnt bother to ask why.

"of course i remember you, my friend since diapers, yeah?" changmin would always say that. he would always use that phrase, because it would make chanhee smile. and he smiled, chanhee smiled.

"oh, thank god. you have no idea how worried i was. do you know how long youve been in a coma for, min? do you know?" coma? what? was all of it a dream?

"coma? i was in a come?" chanhee sighed, shaking his head.

"in your dreams, there had to be something. there was something that would mark each day, each nightmare, whatever it was, did you stop that?" the marks. the marks on his arms that he would always add to. he checked for them, there was nothing. "thats how many days youve been out for. years, changmin, years. you came here when you were five, youre twenty one now, almost twenty two. its been forever, changmin. the doctors wanted to give up on you, unplug you. i told them not to, i didnt want to give up on you. and so they didnt, because i knew that you would make it through this, whatever it was." he paused a bit to breathe, and changmin took the time to speak up.

"chanhee, chanhee, do you know what my dreams were like? do you know how bad they were, and how much i—" he cut himself off, he didnt want to embarrass himself.

"no, what were they like, tell me all about it." and so he did. changmin told chanhee all about what it was like, all about how many times he died, all about how different it was, all about how he would only feel self shame each time he failed to save him.

he wanted to leave this place. he wanted to leave this place and never come back, it felt like a graveyard to him. but he would wait. changmin would wait for his parents because he knew how much they would want to see him, to hug him, to hear him again.

changmin promised to come back home. because he wanted to, because he wanted to sleep in a bed other than a hospital one. but for now, he wanted to be with chanhee. he wanted to make sure that this isnt the world's cruel ways yet again, yet again getting his hopes up.

chanhee didnt mind. in fact, he looked happy that the younger had asked to get up and out again. he had toold him it would hurt, he hadnt been walking for over ten years now— what had it been, almost seventeen years now? he didnt care if he fell over, he just wanted to be with him and out of here.

walking along the streets had never been more refreshing as chanhee held his hand, no dangers and death threats that changmin had gotten used to in sight. he recognized some of these places, the cafe, the arcade, the fancy restaraunt they had went to for chanhee's fourth birthday, and the 99 cent store.

the 99 cent store. changmin wondered if she was still there, minji. if she knew him, recognized him at all. luckily enough for him, chanhee felt drawn to it. he didnt want to explain why he wanted to go in.

and so the two of them walked in, hand in hand so that the youngest of the two didnt fall flat on his face when he tried to walk. the person at the desk, whoever it was, looked up before changmin could recognize who it was.

it was minji, and she was smiling at the two of them. a knowing smile, as she looked at changmin in a hospital gown and chanhee in the uniform of a nurse.

"ive heard about you two, y'know, and i knew that it would end happily. because you cant igve up, you have to try to do things right." at this, the words that changmin recognized, he looked at the clock.

three pm, the time that chanhee would usually be bleeding out to death, and he was right here by his side. alive.

ENDENDENDENDEND

hi!! thank you so much for reading this!! i barely had a plan in the beginning but my sister helped me a lot, so thank her for the way this book ended please!! either way, i appreciate all that you guys have done to show support to this story, ily all sm :(( have a good day / night!! — Z.