Luhan’s body begged for him to sleep away the exhaustion, but his mind screamed for him to stay awake.  Behind this door he’s been yelling into is his best friend, Kim Minseok, and judging by the doctor’s frantic movements inside and outside the room, and them barking orders, it isn’t so good.

                Earlier, Luhan called Minseok’s family but he doesn’t remember what he said to them.  Everything was in a daze and he had to bite his lip to prevent himself from crying.  Minseok got beat up really badly, and it was bad enough that even family cannot even visit him.

                He’s been begging to go inside his room for the past two hours but soon lost the fight.  Luhan sat on one of the nearby chairs, hunched over with his face in his hands.  On his hands were still some traces of Minseok’s blood when he found him on the street and the sight made his stomach knot uncomfortably. 

                Luhan began to grind his teeth together.  He started to believe that it was his entire fault for even letting Minseok go to the store alone, especially so late at night.  Not only did it cost Minseok his dream to play in nationals, it’s coming close to costing his life and Luhan’s sanity.

                The seconds ticked by slowly and Luhan’s impatience began to consume him.  His foot was tapping in aggravation but he knew that yelling at the doctor’s to let him see Minseok was futile.  Luhan has to be strong for his best friend, because he’s inside that room fighting too. 

                Once he felt the waves of sleep fall over him, he flinched once he heard Minseok’s room open, revealing a doctor who was pulling off his mask and medical gloves.  They made brief eye contact and a small smile formed on his face.

                “I’m assuming you’re here for your friend?”

                Luhan stood up immediately, stumbling a bit from the sudden rush, “How is he?”

                “He has received trauma to the head, resulting in a severe brain injury.  It’s a great thing that you found him relatively early, because any later we would not have been able to save your friend,” Luhan’s heart clenched. “He’s in a stable condition and right now he’s asleep, but there are high chances that he’ll be slipping into a coma.”

                Luhan’s whole world began to shake, “A c-coma?”

                “A coma is the body’s way of slipping into a deep sleep to fully recover his injuries.  He’s going to suffer memory loss, but with enough patience, it’ll be possible to regain those.”

                The little deer stood silently, letting his words digest.  A coma?  He could be sleeping for probably a few hours, let alone days.  But if it extends to weeks, months, or even years, Luhan might go insane.  He furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head.  Minseok is the one suffering, not him.

                “He’s going to survive…right?” He asked the doctor in a soft voice.

                “Yes, your friend will survive.” The doctor stepped aside. “You may visit him, if you want.”

                Luhan didn’t reply as he bowed and made his way into the quiet hospital room.  He heard the heart monitor mimicking his best friend’s heartbeat and the significant drops of the IV bag.  Taking a deep, he eyed the big white bed and saw Minseok’s small body tucked neatly underneath a blanket.  Around his head was a thick bandage. 

                Stepping slowly towards him, Luhan took in Minseok’s peaceful appearance.  The color was drained from his face, but Luhan felt relieved as he saw that Minseok’s chest was rising and falling evenly.  He grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to Minseok’s bed, reaching forward and grabbing his hand, giving it a squeeze before looking intently at his sleeping face.

                “I’m going to win the national’s in your place,” Luhan started talking to Minseok, knowing that he probably can’t hear him. “I’ll make you proud.  We’ll make you proud.”

                A moment of silence hung in the air and then Luhan continued on, “But no matter what, I’ll stay strong for you, Minnie, so you stay strong too, okay?  I need someone to eat steamed buns with, and someone who knows how to make my favorite frappes.  Well, I just need my best friend.  Someone has to be my best man when I get married.”

                The corner of Luhan’s curved up into a smile, reminiscing on their childhood and growing up together. “Wake up soon, Minseok.  All of us need you.  Your family needs you.  I need you.”

                “I sound like some sappy romance novel character right now,” he chuckled and squeezed Minseok’s hand. “And if you really are listening, you’ll be giving me so much shit for it.”

                  “But the thing is…I wouldn’t mind it.  Don’t give up on me, Kim Minseok, because there is no way in hell that I am giving up on you.

-

                Fired with determination to win the game for nationals, Luhan’s team beat the opposing with an astounding score with 5-1.  At first, the team was hectic because with Minseok’s absence, but Luhan reassured them that they must win for Minseok, because he knew that Minseok will make their lives a living hell if they don’t get their act together and work as a team.  The team captain and coach worked on new strategies and risked using the other players, but in the end, Luhan’s words sunk into each team member’s bones.

                Right afterwards, Luhan skipped out on the victory party and spent the rest of the evening sitting beside Minseok’s bedside.  The doctor’s here were generous enough to let him use the showers here and Luhan showed his gratitude by buying them bubble tea when he left to buy himself dinner.

                Luhan told Minseok how they won, and he began to imagine Minseok’s reactions, making him talk more and more. At school, Luhan started to grow depressed when he didn’t see Minseok’s usual smiling face drinking coffee at school, and had to adapt to hanging out with Yifan and Yixing once again.  He doesn’t hate or have anything against them, but he still felt alone without Minseok.

                It was an everyday ritual for Luhan to visit Minseok, sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by Minseok’s other friends.  Luhan’s faith in Minseok waking up hasn’t dimmed whatsoever, and firmly believes that each day is just a day closer for him to waking up.

                Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months, but Luhan hasn’t stopped visiting his best friend.  He has grown used to not seeing him at school, but now it’s around Christmas time.  Instead of spending his vacation with his family and non-existent girlfriend, he spent it with Minseok. His family finally got used to Luhan leaving early in the morning and arriving late at night, because they already knew where Luhan will be. 

                Luhan’s hopes only heightened when the doctors revealed that Minseok’s condition has gotten significantly better and that only made Luhan’s stay next to Minseok longer.  Sometimes Luhan would even spend the night but run back home the following morning, only to go back to the hospital.

                -

                Luhan’s head was resting against Minseok’s bed, watching the television that was airing a new episode of the drama he and Minseok enjoy watching.  Occasionally Luhan would get distracted by Minseok’s heart monitor, but after a few weeks, he got accustomed to blocking it out.  As a matter of fact, Luhan was capable of blocking anything out. 

                As weeks passed by, Luhan’s other friends began to complain that he never has time for them anymore and that pissed Luhan off.  His friends understood that their selfishness was wrong and it only drove Luhan further away from them, but they didn’t expect for Luhan to act like they don’t even exist.

                “It’s almost Christmas, Minseok,” Luhan murmured, checking his phone to see that it’s almost midnight. “In just five minutes, it’ll be Christmas.”

                “I know you’ll reprimand me for not spending it with my family, but I’m sure you forgot that you are family as well,” Luhan grinned, still eyeing the T.V. “You’re the best big brother I could ever ask for, and no one could replace that.  You deserve to spend Christmas with someone, and here I am!”

                Luhan chuckled and continued watching the drama, remembering to check the time.  He wants to say Merry Christmas to Minseok at exactly midnight before heading out to buy some hot chocolate and cookies to celebrate.  It made him a bit sad that Minseok probably won’t be awake, but at least they’ll be together.

                “Thirty seconds,” Luhan whispered, rubbing his eyes in attempt to wake him up a bit.  He stretched and leaned against Minseok’s bed again, letting their childhood memories take over until those thirty seconds passed.

                He remembered when he accidentally let Minseok’s ferret get loose and he was too cowardly to tell him that he was the main culprit for losing his first pet.  Minseok was distraught, but he eventually got a little puppy that they both fell in love with.

                When they first met, he believed that Minseok was taking a shit on his lawn when he just happened to be waiting for Sehun.  Of course, that moment was embarrassing enough that he remembers it, about eleven years later.  The memory can’t help but put a smile on Luhan’s face.

                These two have a friendship that deserves a book.

                “Ten seconds,” Luhan whispered.           

                He remembered when Minseok was bullied for his weight and began to diet extremely and worked out endlessly.  Luhan never noticed that Minseok was torturing himself until he started seeing Minseok’s ribs sticking out.  Since he discovered that Minseok kept his bullying and dieting a secret, Luhan did his best to get Minseok back to a healthy weight and even got him into soccer, a sport they both enjoyed equally. 

                Two seconds.

                One sec—

                “Merry Christmas, Luhan.”

                __________________________________________________________

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