"We have to get him to the O.R… NOW!"

The white lights flashed high above Yunho's eyes, blinding him as if he had just come back from the darkness. What was going on? He tried to sit up, but someone pushed him back down, saying something he didn't comprehend. A distressed mumble could be heard from him, but no one seemed to notice.

"Jung Yunho-ssi?" a kind voice was heard somewhere above his head "Everything is going to be alright, just relax and let us take care of you."

Yunho let himself go, floating back into the unconsciousness.

Changmin was sitting in the waiting room, his face buried in his hands. He couldn't believe this. Just an hour ago, he and Yunho had been sitting in the kitchen, quarreling about some stupid card game. He had insisted on Yunho cheating, which had made them end the game and just sit. Then Yunho had gotten up from the chair, smiling like the idiot he were and said he wanted ice cream. And then he had left.

Yunho could see himself lie there on the operation table. For a moment he panicked, he could see all the blood, the wound from the gun shot that had hit the left side of his chest. Was he dead? No, the heartbeats from the machine next to his body told him he was still alive. Barely. The doctors and nurses must be working hard, he couldn't feel any pain. It was weird though, he should feel pain right? But all he felt was… nothing. Almost a sort of inner peace.

He could still hear the words that came with the call. Could still feel the fear that grabbed hold of his heart as the words were spoken.

"Yunho has been shot. Please hurry and go to the hospital."

The call had come from Yunho's mother, who were miles away and wouldn't be there for at least another two hours. Changmin prayed, he prayed more than he had ever done, that she would make it in time. That Yunho would survive this. That he wouldn't have to go through the rest of his life on his own.

"Doctor, the pressure is decreasing!" the nurses words made Yunho flinch. Decreasing? But he was doing so well, wasn't he?

"The heart-rate is going down too, we're losing him."

Yunho found himself suddenly standing in the waiting room. He could see Changmin sitting in one of the chairs, alone in the room. Changmin, his best friend, the guy who made his life worth living when everything else brought him down. He had never seen such an expression on his friends face before. Despair and sadness. Worry and guilt. Yunho could feel his heart ache, but wasn't sure if it was because of what he was seeing or what his body was experiencing right now. A shock went through his body, and he had to bend over, his hand clenching the skin over his heart. Another shock made his body jolt, and he was back in the O.R.

"Pressure stabilized Doctor. Heart-rate increasing again."

"Good. Let's keep it that way."

"Changmin-ah!" the scream echoed through the corridor, and Changmin's head jolted up.

"Hyung..?" he whispered as Jaejoong came running into the room, followed tightly by Yoochun and Junsu. He got up from the chair, looking at the three men with both confusion and relief "What.. what are you..?" he didn't get to say more as Jaejoong gave him a hard hug, and he let himself relax in the warm embrace for a moment before the anger rose inside of him and he wriggled himself out.

"So now it's fine to show up huh?!"

"Changmin…"

"Yunho might be DYING and that's the ONLY time you guys come to see us?!"

"Changmin, we…"

"How can you do this to us? Do you know how much he's been hurting?!" Changmin's voice reached falsetto as he pointed towards the operation room "Do you KNOW what your actions did to him? To us?"

Yoochun stepped in and gently placed a hand on Changmin's arm "We know." He said softly "But right now is not the time to talk about this."

Changmin bit his teeth together, fighting the tears that wanted to escape from his eyes but then nodded "You're right." He whispered, slowly walking back to the chairs and sat down. Jaejoong sat down on his right side, Junsu next to him on his left, and Yoochun next to Junsu. And then they just sat there.

Yunho gasped for air as he was sent back into the world, looking around. He was in the backseat of a car. He could see his mother in the passenger seat, and his father in the driver's seat. They were both dead silent, with hard and worried expressions on their faces. He leaned forward, reaching out his hand towards his mother's cheek and gently stroke it over the warm skin. She started sobbing, leaning into the invisible touch. His father placed his hand over hers, squeezing it gently. Yunho couldn't bear looking at them like this. He had never seen anything but strength in his parents, and to see them like this, so hopeless… it hurt him more than he could ever have imagined. He could feel his own tears burn behind his eyelids, and he leaned back in the seat with closed eyes. He wasn't ready to go yet; he wasn't done with his life. When he opened his eyes again, he was sitting in a chair in the waiting room. Opposite to him he saw something he had spent the last four years imagining.

Jaejoong gently took Changmin's hand with his own "It'll be fine…" he whispered, over and over again "It must be fine…"

Yoochun placed his hand over theirs, followed by Junsu's hand. The four men sat still in the room, just comforting each other with their presence and giving each other strength by merely being there. The silence that filled the room was thick with unanswered questions and the worry over their friend.

In Changmin's head, the pictures of the night played, over and over again. Every word, every touch, every movement. How Yunho had threw his head back when laughing over Changmin's accusation of him cheating, and then the idiot smile when he said he wanted ice cream.

"What? Do you want ice cream? It's the middle of the night!"

"Don't worry, I'll just go to the 24/7 store down the street. I'll be back in a moment."

"Alright, just don't get yourself killed."

They had laughed.

Jaejoong was the first one to cry. The sobs filled the room, like the sound of a hurt and scared puppy. The three hands holding his squeezed, wanting to comfort without knowing what to say. It didn't take long until tears were streaming down Yoochun's face as well. Junsu soon followed, and Changmin sat there, fighting the need of crying with everything he had. It wasn't over yet. He wouldn't let it be over yet.

"He's dropping again. Heart-rate is almost gone."

"I won't let it happen, not on my watch. Don't die on me."

Yunho walked out of the O.R, slowly strolling down the corridor towards the waiting room. It was time. He entered the room and sat down on his knees in front of his four friends, smiling sadly.

"You're in good hands now Changmin." He whispered, looking at his friend's strong face. He was keeping it together so hard, but Yunho knew what was beneath the hard surface.

He turned his eyes to Yoochun, smiling slightly and nodded "It's been hard on you the past few years. I'm sorry."

Watching Junsu he had to let out laughter, a sad but still amused one "Junsu, if you only knew how much I have missed your jokes, and how you could wake me up in the middle of the night to talk about some game."

When his eyes turned to Jaejoong, he couldn't keep it together anymore. Tears started to fall, and he swallowed hard so many times to be able to speak, even though he knew they couldn't hear him "Jaejoong. My best friend. My other half." He choked on his words "I wish I could have done more for us."

He placed his two hands over the four entwined hands in Changmin's lap, looking at them with sadness "Don't mourn me too much. We'll meet again soon."

For a moment he sat there, just holding their hands. He could feel the warmth, but it was slowly fading. He was fading. Slowly he got up and took a step back, just as Changmin's hard surface broke down and he started sobbing.

"I'll always be around." He whispered before he closed his eyes, letting the warm light embrace him and take him away.

In the O.R the Doctor took a step back from the operation table, putting down the instruments he had been holding in his hands.

"Time of death… 5.55 am."

And all that could be heard in that moments, were the desperate cries from the heart-rate machine.