Never Online ch. 46
Title: Never Online
Chapter: 46/50
Pairing: JungMin/KyuJong, HyunJoong/Tablo
Rating: R overall
Warning: AU, violence, angst
Summary: As part of the security detail for the online game known as Never, two officers encounter a group of elite hackers that seem intent on destroying the game, and it's their job to stop them.
A/N: RP with yeonah. Crossover with Super Junior, U-Kiss and Epik High
RyeoWook finished stacking their plates to one side of the table to be washed tomorrow morning, watching Daniel get out the mats and blankets for them to sleep with. "Want to go get some sleep?" he asked YoungSaeng quietly beside him.
YoungSaeng glanced down at him, silently nodding as he got to his feet. He didn't say anything, even when HyungJoon wished them goodnight, his hand finding RyeoWook's as they went towards the other bedroom and stepped inside. When the door was closed, he pulled the younger man into a tight hug. "I hate that I'm even thinking this, but I'm glad you didn't go with them into the game. You could have ended up just like SungHyun."
Blinking, RyeoWook's gaze saddened and he wrapped his arms tightly around YoungSaeng in return. "I'm glad you weren't in there either," he admitted softly, running one hand along YoungSaeng's back. "You scared me enough with the...uploading and downloading. We're going to be fine, okay?"
"We will," YoungSaeng agreed, resting his chin on RyeoWook's shoulder. "And I won't have to do any more of that, hopefully ever. When this is all done, and we can go back to a normal life, first thing I'm doing is calling about getting this removed."
"Sounds like a plan to me," RyeoWook nodded, kissing the side of YoungSaeng's head softly. "Maybe that hospital HyunJoong says doesn't ask any questions would be a good place to start, or they'd at least know where to go."
"I know where to go, it's where I got it done in the first place," YoungSaeng said, pulling back to smile down at him. "It's not exactly a board certified hospital or anything, because it's not a legal procedure, but it's safe."
"That's good," RyeoWook smiled back up at him. "I'm worried about getting it out of your head, so it has to be safe. And then we can go karaoke and a bunch of other things."
"Karaoke huh? I'd like that," YoungSaeng chuckled softly, bringing up his hand to frame RyeoWook's cheek. "Right now I think I'd like to sleep though, how about you?"
"Yeah," RyeoWook smiled in return, shivering a little; it was still pretty cold in the room. "At least it isn't the middle of winter." He stepped back away from YoungSaeng, going to the bed in the corner of the room.
"No, and hopefully we'll be gone before snow starts falling," YoungSaeng nodded, crouching down to open up one of the bags and pull out some sleep pants. "It is going to be chilly overnight though, especially since we don't have heat other than the fire and they're probably putting that out overnight. So don't be surprised if you wake up with me attached to you for body heat in the morning."
"I think I'm getting better about that, you do that even without the cold," RyeoWook chuckled sheepishly, finding a pair of warm pajamas for himself. Looking around though, he quickly remembered there was no where he could go to change, not even a big enough closet.
"Sorry, it's not something I do on purpose," YoungSaeng said, watching RyeoWook. "Something wrong?"
"There's...nowhere I can go to change," RyeoWook bit his lower lip, looking around again in case he'd missed something.
"Ah... no, there isn't," YoungSaeng murmured, giving RyeoWook a sympathetic smile as he sat down on the bed and turned away, covering his eyes with his hands. "I promise I won't peek."
Looking at the older man awkwardly, RyeoWook swallowed before starting to change. Even if he was getting more and more comfortable with physical contact, he had zero confidence in his body. Changing quickly, he pulled the pajama top down over his stomach and gathered together his clothes in his arms, face bright red. "Okay, I'm done."
True to his word, YoungSaeng hadn't peeked once, lowering his hands and opening his eyes when RyeoWook was done. "Next time, you can go to bed first and get changed without me in the room, though we ay not always have a room to sleep in," YoungSaeng said, pulling off his own shirt and unbuttoning his pants. "Maybe we'll put up curtain partitions or something, if we're here for long enough anyway."
Flushing, RyeoWook averted his eyes when YoungSaeng started to change, placing his clothes in the corner and sitting down on the edge of the bed. "That wouldn't be a bad idea. Who knows when we'll be able to go back home."
"Hopefully sooner rather than later," YoungSaeng said, pulling on his sleep pants and sitting down on the other side of the bed. "This is a small bed, I'd almost prefer the mats, at least if I fall off I wouldn't have far to go."
"Let's try not to fall off," RyeoWook shook his head, looking back at YoungSaeng. He shifted a little closer to the older man. "We'll just have to stay close together."
"As long as you're okay with that," YoungSaeng smiled scooting up to lay down and holding out his arms for RyeoWook. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, even if this is less than ideal situation for you."
Turning pink, RyeoWook shifted to lie down as well, settling himself beside YoungSaeng and hesitantly wrapping one arm around the older man's waist. "I don't...mind being close as much as I used to. Baby steps, I guess."
"I'm fine with whatever and however slow you want to go," YoungSaeng said, kissing the top of his head. "And just so you know, I'm not embarrassed if you look at me, clothes on or off, so you don't have to turn away for my benefit."
"O-okay..." RyeoWook reddened more. "It's habit, and you did that for me so I thought I would do the same."
"I did it for you because you were uncomfortable," YoungSaeng chuckled, running his hand up and down RyeoWook's back lightly. "I'm not shy when it comes to my body, and would walk around naked some days if it was just me and Kyu and the heat was unbearable. Not like he would know the difference."
"I guess he wouldn't," the younger man couldn't help but chuckle quietly at that. "I want to be confident like you...though I probably would pass on walking around naked."
"In your own time, no pressure," YoungSaeng murmured, his hand sliding up the back of RyeoWook's shirt to rest on the small of his back. "As long as I get to hold you like this, I'm happy."
Flushing at the hand against his skin, RyeoWook relaxed again after a moment, pulling the blanket up over them properly and settling against YoungSaeng. "I'm happy too," he whispered, closing his eyes. "Good night, YoungSaeng...I love you..."
"I love you too RyeoWook, goodnight," YoungSaeng murmured, burying his nose against the man's hair and sighing softly as his eyes slipped closed. Sleep would be a long time coming for him, since he had spent most of the day sleeping as it was. That suited him just fine, since he wanted to enjoy holding the younger man in his arms while he could.
***************************************
Adapting to living in the mountains was hard on all of them; after all, they'd all spent their entire lives depending on simple things like electricity, heating and running water. Life slowly developed a routine though. Water was drawn from the stream in the morning to clean up their dishes. For the most part, they washed their clothes themselves with small trips every now and then into town for a proper wash. They explored the area or played board games for entertainment, JungMin and KyuJong often working together so the blind man wouldn't be left out.
Every few days after the first week, JongWoon, HyungJoon and YoungSaeng would go into town for groceries, supplies and information. Even the remote town they were closest to had heard news of what was happening in Never, and word spread like wildfire. There were massive investigations into the company's background and each co-founder. With the puzzle they had pieced together to fuel the fire, further information on the company's plans were discovered, leading to many behind bars where they could cause no more trouble. The storehouses were slowly being emptied, the people in them brought out of their long sleeps and sent to temporary shelters if they had no homes to return to.
Two weeks after they left home, Never was shut down.
It was four weeks before they judged it was safe enough to return. NVR was in shambles, everyone in a position of power either in prison, awaiting trials, or under investigation. A few reports had even surfaced that pointed fingers to NVR's methods of making sure their plans were never leaked. 'Accidental' deaths from as long as 20 years ago were put back on the table for discussion and investigation. There was no danger anymore.
When the engine of the van finally shut off, KyuJong lifted his head from JungMin's shoulder, listening to Daniel get out of the driver's seat. "Stay here for a moment while we take a quick look around," the older man told them, closing the door and heading up to the house they'd left over a month ago.
JungMin watched HyunJoong and Daniel head inside, his arm around KyuJong's shoulder. "Well it doesn't look too bad, I'm not seeing any damage or anything," he said hopefully. "I wonder if they actually even sent anyone out to collect us or not."
"Possibly, but it's better that we hid anyway," YoungSaeng said, looking up at the house. "I'm glad to be home though, and first thing I want to do is take a proper shower."
"Shower sounds nice," RyeoWook smiled in agreement, watching the house as well.
"Or sleeping in a proper bed, in my own room," KyuJong laughed quietly, putting his head back down on JungMin's shoulders. He'd insisted he and JungMin take turns sharing the beds with the others to make it fair, but he'd never fully gotten used to the layout of the cabin.
"Yes, nice comfortable bed," JungMin nodded. Though the real reason he was glad to be back and sleeping in their bed again was because it smelled like KyuJong, and he loved that smell.
"They're coming back out," YoungSaeng said, leaning forward a little as HyunJoong came out of the house and opened up the van door. "Well?"
"Doesn't look like anyone was here, doors were locked still and the alarm was still on," HyunJoong said. "I think it's safe to go in."
"Maybe it was too chaotic for them to send anyone," KyuJong mused, undoing his seat beat. JongWoon and HyungJoon were already unloading their car to bring everything back inside.
"Once we're done unloading here, we're going to go check on SungHyun," Daniel said, glancing at HyunJoong. "You all can finish unpacking while we're gone."
YoungSaeng bit his lip worriedly at that, but he nodded, following RyeoWook out of the van and going to the back to grab bags from the trunk. "I really hope he's okay," he murmured quietly, mostly to himself.
"You want to head in and get reoriented while I bring in the bags?" JungMin asked KyuJong as he hopped out of the van and held out his hands for KyuJong to take.
Taking his hands, KyuJong carefully got out of the car, holding onto his cane. "I can at least bring in a bag or two." RyeoWook started to pull bags out from the trunk, slinging them over his shoulders.
"You sure? I think we can get it," JungMin said, picking up a couple bags, and handing one of the lighter ones to KyuJong.
"You're backsliding Min, let him do what he wants," YoungSaeng chided gently, grabbing another bag and heading for the door.
"I'm fine, I want to be useful," KyuJong chuckled, shouldering the bag and heading to the door. He had to use his cane to find the bottom of the stairs since it had been a month and a bit since he'd been here, but then he didn't have any further difficulties getting into the house. JongWoon scooted out of his way so the blind man could go put the bag down.
It didn't take long for the van and car to be unloaded, since they hadn't brought that much with them to the cabin in the first place. Daniel and HyunJoong left not long after they had started unpacking, leaving the rest to get things in order and the house back up and running.
"Looks like the computer in the hall still works, and it has an internet connection," YoungSaeng said, tapping at the terminal. "Good thing we had this on a separate server, now we won't have to go somewhere else to find out what's going on." He stopped, head tilting to the side. "Hey Kyu? There's a message for you in voicemail."
"Huh? For me?" KyuJong blinked at that, leaning his cane against the inside of the cupboard. He placed his shoes away before padding over to where YoungSaeng was, one hand brushing against the terminal. "Probably telemarketers again." He tapped at the screen where he knew the 'play' button was.
"Good morning, this is Doctor Jung from JY Medical. We met two months ago, and your results from the tests have returned from our lab in Japan. When you have a moment please return this call to schedule a follow-up appointment so we can go over the details."
"Was that the eye doctor you went to?" YoungSaeng blinked a little, glancing at the day of the call. "They called last week, I can dial in the number for you if you want to call them right away," he said.
"What's going on?" JungMin had just come down the stairs again, going to grab another bag.
"The doctor called Kyu about his test results," YoungSaeng said, picking up the phone to hand to KyuJong.
"Usually it's HyunJoong chasing them, not the other way around," KyuJong frowned. Either way, they'd agreed this was the last doctor he'd have to deal with, so one more appointment couldn't hurt. "Might as well schedule that then," he sighed softly, taking the phone.
"Yeah, it could be good news, you never know," JungMin nodded, watching YoungSaeng dial in the number. He'd completely abandoned carrying bags upstairs in favor of waiting for KyuJong to finish his call.
"Or maybe just a more solid 'no' than the 'maybe' I keep on getting," KyuJong shook his head, holding the phone to his ear. "Either way, I'll be glad when this is over."
The phone call was quick, KyuJong's brow furrowing slightly as he spoke with the receptionist at the other end. A minute later he hung up, blinking a little. "She said I was on the priority list. The appointment's this Friday."
"Priority list? What does that mean?" JungMin looked in confusion at YoungSaeng who shook his head.
"Not sure, probably that they want to see him right away," YoungSaeng said, rubbing a hand up and down KyuJong's back. He hoped that meant good things, and not anything bad, though he didn't say that out loud.
"Does that mean getting you to go to the appointment will be a little easier?" JungMin asked, wincing a little.
KyuJong placed JungMin's voice enough to kick him lightly in the shin. "It's the last one, I can deal with one more. Can you fault me for hating doctors?"
At the warning glance from YoungSaeng, JungMin shook his head quickly, pouting at the kick. "No, no I don't blame you at all Kyu," he said, taking his boyfriend's hand. "I'm sure it's good news too, so I'll go with you again and be right there at your side, okay?"
"I'm not getting my hopes up, if you're there with me then that's good enough for me." KyuJong's fingers curled around JungMin's, and he smiled at YoungSaeng in thanks before heading towards the stairs. "Let's go unpack then."
"Yes, let's," JungMin nodded eagerly, pulling KyuJong lightly towards the stairs. Even if KyuJong wasn't getting his hopes up, he was. A call back usually meant something good, right?
It was close to an hour before HyunJoong and Daniel returned, people still unpacking upstairs when HyunJoong opened the door. "Hello! We're back!"
JongWoon appeared at the top of the stairs first, hurrying down. "And? Is he okay?" he asked, trying to see around the two of them in case SungHyun was just outside the door. Then he saw the tight-lipped expression on Daniel's face.
"He hasn't woken up once...and there's no brain activity."
"His parents had been there, and they're considering just... letting him go," HyunJoong said, shutting the door behind them and locking it. "At least that's what the doctor said, but it's... hard to just let their only son go, I can imagine."
"And no one asked what happened?" YoungSaeng asked, still at the stop of the stairs.
"No, but apparently he wasn't the only one like that," HyunJoong said, sighing heavily. "The doctor said at least a dozen others had come in that way after being cut off from the game. There's more all over the world. They're adding that to the charges against the NVR execs."
JongWoon sat down on the stairs, shoulders slumped. They'd all hoped SungHyun had woken up. "Do you think any of the others were caught the same way? DongHae, HeeChul, MiMi?"
"No idea, we never knew them offline," Daniel said quietly. "I can contact Tukutz and Mithra to find out if they're okay, but the others we never knew. We'll just have to hope for the best."
"So many lives lost," YoungSaeng shook his head. "Such a waste, such a stupid, stupid waste."
"No more, that's the only bright part of this. No one else is going to lose their life because of it," HyunJoong said, glancing at Daniel beside him. "We should go downstairs and see just how bad the damage to the equipment is."
Daniel nodded, slipping off his shoes. "We'll have to replace the router for sure, and maybe some of the wires." He headed towards the stairs.
KyuJong listened to them go from outside his room, shoulders slumped. "No one else," he whispered.
"Hm? Did you say something?" JungMin poked his head out of the room, looking at KyuJong. "Daniel and HyunJoong come back? Was that them?"
KyuJong blinked, tilting his head back towards JungMin. "Hm? Yeah, they just came back. They're going downstairs to check on the equipment now." He went back into the room, making himself busy unpacking his clothes. "SungHyun hasn't woken up. His parents are considering...letting him go."
JungMin's expression fell at the news, and he glanced down the stairs before stepping back into the room to help KyuJong. "We knew it was a possibility," he murmured, completely depressed. "Still sucks though... that poor kid."
"Yeah," KyuJong whispered, closing his eyes and holding onto the edge of his drawer tightly before continuing to work. "No one's going to have to go through that, ever again. I just wish I'd spent more time with him before all this. You never know when you're going to lose someone."
"Me too, he was just always so quiet, and spent so much time in the game that I didn't seem him that much," JungMin said, unpacking his own bag. "We'll have to do something for him, some kind of memorial or something. Him and KiBum both... and everyone else that we know that's died because of this."
"That would be nice," KyuJong nodded. "It's thanks to all them that we're here right now...and that this nightmare's finally over."
"Well I think it's over because of you, and how determined you were to see it done," JungMin said, padding up behind KyuJong and putting his arms around the man's waist. "None of this would have been possible without you Kyu. Have I told you lately how amazing I think you are?"
"Stop that, you're going to give me a fat head," KyuJong chuckled softly, leaning back against him. "I wouldn't have gotten very far without everyone helping me...and that includes you."
JungMin snorted, kissing the side of his head. "I didn't do much, I was second string replacement. "You're amazing, that's all there is to it," he murmured into his ear. "You know.. it's been a month since we've been alone really, and even having a bed to ourselves some nights just wasn't the same."
"I know," KyuJong smiled and shook his head, reaching back with one hand to cup JungMin's face lightly. "We're back in our own bed tonight though, with proper walls. Once we're done unpacking...how about a shower?"
"Shower sounds wonderful," JungMin grinned, nipping at KyuJong's jaw lightly. "Hurry up and finish unpacking then," he said, patting his boyfriend lightly on the rear before he went back to his own bag to unpack.
Yelping a little, KyuJong laughed quietly as he tried to hit JungMin and missed, shaking his head before turning back to his dresser.
Chapter: 46/50
Pairing: JungMin/KyuJong, HyunJoong/Tablo
Rating: R overall
Warning: AU, violence, angst
Summary: As part of the security detail for the online game known as Never, two officers encounter a group of elite hackers that seem intent on destroying the game, and it's their job to stop them.
A/N: RP with yeonah. Crossover with Super Junior, U-Kiss and Epik High
RyeoWook finished stacking their plates to one side of the table to be washed tomorrow morning, watching Daniel get out the mats and blankets for them to sleep with. "Want to go get some sleep?" he asked YoungSaeng quietly beside him.
YoungSaeng glanced down at him, silently nodding as he got to his feet. He didn't say anything, even when HyungJoon wished them goodnight, his hand finding RyeoWook's as they went towards the other bedroom and stepped inside. When the door was closed, he pulled the younger man into a tight hug. "I hate that I'm even thinking this, but I'm glad you didn't go with them into the game. You could have ended up just like SungHyun."
Blinking, RyeoWook's gaze saddened and he wrapped his arms tightly around YoungSaeng in return. "I'm glad you weren't in there either," he admitted softly, running one hand along YoungSaeng's back. "You scared me enough with the...uploading and downloading. We're going to be fine, okay?"
"We will," YoungSaeng agreed, resting his chin on RyeoWook's shoulder. "And I won't have to do any more of that, hopefully ever. When this is all done, and we can go back to a normal life, first thing I'm doing is calling about getting this removed."
"Sounds like a plan to me," RyeoWook nodded, kissing the side of YoungSaeng's head softly. "Maybe that hospital HyunJoong says doesn't ask any questions would be a good place to start, or they'd at least know where to go."
"I know where to go, it's where I got it done in the first place," YoungSaeng said, pulling back to smile down at him. "It's not exactly a board certified hospital or anything, because it's not a legal procedure, but it's safe."
"That's good," RyeoWook smiled back up at him. "I'm worried about getting it out of your head, so it has to be safe. And then we can go karaoke and a bunch of other things."
"Karaoke huh? I'd like that," YoungSaeng chuckled softly, bringing up his hand to frame RyeoWook's cheek. "Right now I think I'd like to sleep though, how about you?"
"Yeah," RyeoWook smiled in return, shivering a little; it was still pretty cold in the room. "At least it isn't the middle of winter." He stepped back away from YoungSaeng, going to the bed in the corner of the room.
"No, and hopefully we'll be gone before snow starts falling," YoungSaeng nodded, crouching down to open up one of the bags and pull out some sleep pants. "It is going to be chilly overnight though, especially since we don't have heat other than the fire and they're probably putting that out overnight. So don't be surprised if you wake up with me attached to you for body heat in the morning."
"I think I'm getting better about that, you do that even without the cold," RyeoWook chuckled sheepishly, finding a pair of warm pajamas for himself. Looking around though, he quickly remembered there was no where he could go to change, not even a big enough closet.
"Sorry, it's not something I do on purpose," YoungSaeng said, watching RyeoWook. "Something wrong?"
"There's...nowhere I can go to change," RyeoWook bit his lower lip, looking around again in case he'd missed something.
"Ah... no, there isn't," YoungSaeng murmured, giving RyeoWook a sympathetic smile as he sat down on the bed and turned away, covering his eyes with his hands. "I promise I won't peek."
Looking at the older man awkwardly, RyeoWook swallowed before starting to change. Even if he was getting more and more comfortable with physical contact, he had zero confidence in his body. Changing quickly, he pulled the pajama top down over his stomach and gathered together his clothes in his arms, face bright red. "Okay, I'm done."
True to his word, YoungSaeng hadn't peeked once, lowering his hands and opening his eyes when RyeoWook was done. "Next time, you can go to bed first and get changed without me in the room, though we ay not always have a room to sleep in," YoungSaeng said, pulling off his own shirt and unbuttoning his pants. "Maybe we'll put up curtain partitions or something, if we're here for long enough anyway."
Flushing, RyeoWook averted his eyes when YoungSaeng started to change, placing his clothes in the corner and sitting down on the edge of the bed. "That wouldn't be a bad idea. Who knows when we'll be able to go back home."
"Hopefully sooner rather than later," YoungSaeng said, pulling on his sleep pants and sitting down on the other side of the bed. "This is a small bed, I'd almost prefer the mats, at least if I fall off I wouldn't have far to go."
"Let's try not to fall off," RyeoWook shook his head, looking back at YoungSaeng. He shifted a little closer to the older man. "We'll just have to stay close together."
"As long as you're okay with that," YoungSaeng smiled scooting up to lay down and holding out his arms for RyeoWook. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, even if this is less than ideal situation for you."
Turning pink, RyeoWook shifted to lie down as well, settling himself beside YoungSaeng and hesitantly wrapping one arm around the older man's waist. "I don't...mind being close as much as I used to. Baby steps, I guess."
"I'm fine with whatever and however slow you want to go," YoungSaeng said, kissing the top of his head. "And just so you know, I'm not embarrassed if you look at me, clothes on or off, so you don't have to turn away for my benefit."
"O-okay..." RyeoWook reddened more. "It's habit, and you did that for me so I thought I would do the same."
"I did it for you because you were uncomfortable," YoungSaeng chuckled, running his hand up and down RyeoWook's back lightly. "I'm not shy when it comes to my body, and would walk around naked some days if it was just me and Kyu and the heat was unbearable. Not like he would know the difference."
"I guess he wouldn't," the younger man couldn't help but chuckle quietly at that. "I want to be confident like you...though I probably would pass on walking around naked."
"In your own time, no pressure," YoungSaeng murmured, his hand sliding up the back of RyeoWook's shirt to rest on the small of his back. "As long as I get to hold you like this, I'm happy."
Flushing at the hand against his skin, RyeoWook relaxed again after a moment, pulling the blanket up over them properly and settling against YoungSaeng. "I'm happy too," he whispered, closing his eyes. "Good night, YoungSaeng...I love you..."
"I love you too RyeoWook, goodnight," YoungSaeng murmured, burying his nose against the man's hair and sighing softly as his eyes slipped closed. Sleep would be a long time coming for him, since he had spent most of the day sleeping as it was. That suited him just fine, since he wanted to enjoy holding the younger man in his arms while he could.
***************************************
Adapting to living in the mountains was hard on all of them; after all, they'd all spent their entire lives depending on simple things like electricity, heating and running water. Life slowly developed a routine though. Water was drawn from the stream in the morning to clean up their dishes. For the most part, they washed their clothes themselves with small trips every now and then into town for a proper wash. They explored the area or played board games for entertainment, JungMin and KyuJong often working together so the blind man wouldn't be left out.
Every few days after the first week, JongWoon, HyungJoon and YoungSaeng would go into town for groceries, supplies and information. Even the remote town they were closest to had heard news of what was happening in Never, and word spread like wildfire. There were massive investigations into the company's background and each co-founder. With the puzzle they had pieced together to fuel the fire, further information on the company's plans were discovered, leading to many behind bars where they could cause no more trouble. The storehouses were slowly being emptied, the people in them brought out of their long sleeps and sent to temporary shelters if they had no homes to return to.
Two weeks after they left home, Never was shut down.
It was four weeks before they judged it was safe enough to return. NVR was in shambles, everyone in a position of power either in prison, awaiting trials, or under investigation. A few reports had even surfaced that pointed fingers to NVR's methods of making sure their plans were never leaked. 'Accidental' deaths from as long as 20 years ago were put back on the table for discussion and investigation. There was no danger anymore.
When the engine of the van finally shut off, KyuJong lifted his head from JungMin's shoulder, listening to Daniel get out of the driver's seat. "Stay here for a moment while we take a quick look around," the older man told them, closing the door and heading up to the house they'd left over a month ago.
JungMin watched HyunJoong and Daniel head inside, his arm around KyuJong's shoulder. "Well it doesn't look too bad, I'm not seeing any damage or anything," he said hopefully. "I wonder if they actually even sent anyone out to collect us or not."
"Possibly, but it's better that we hid anyway," YoungSaeng said, looking up at the house. "I'm glad to be home though, and first thing I want to do is take a proper shower."
"Shower sounds nice," RyeoWook smiled in agreement, watching the house as well.
"Or sleeping in a proper bed, in my own room," KyuJong laughed quietly, putting his head back down on JungMin's shoulders. He'd insisted he and JungMin take turns sharing the beds with the others to make it fair, but he'd never fully gotten used to the layout of the cabin.
"Yes, nice comfortable bed," JungMin nodded. Though the real reason he was glad to be back and sleeping in their bed again was because it smelled like KyuJong, and he loved that smell.
"They're coming back out," YoungSaeng said, leaning forward a little as HyunJoong came out of the house and opened up the van door. "Well?"
"Doesn't look like anyone was here, doors were locked still and the alarm was still on," HyunJoong said. "I think it's safe to go in."
"Maybe it was too chaotic for them to send anyone," KyuJong mused, undoing his seat beat. JongWoon and HyungJoon were already unloading their car to bring everything back inside.
"Once we're done unloading here, we're going to go check on SungHyun," Daniel said, glancing at HyunJoong. "You all can finish unpacking while we're gone."
YoungSaeng bit his lip worriedly at that, but he nodded, following RyeoWook out of the van and going to the back to grab bags from the trunk. "I really hope he's okay," he murmured quietly, mostly to himself.
"You want to head in and get reoriented while I bring in the bags?" JungMin asked KyuJong as he hopped out of the van and held out his hands for KyuJong to take.
Taking his hands, KyuJong carefully got out of the car, holding onto his cane. "I can at least bring in a bag or two." RyeoWook started to pull bags out from the trunk, slinging them over his shoulders.
"You sure? I think we can get it," JungMin said, picking up a couple bags, and handing one of the lighter ones to KyuJong.
"You're backsliding Min, let him do what he wants," YoungSaeng chided gently, grabbing another bag and heading for the door.
"I'm fine, I want to be useful," KyuJong chuckled, shouldering the bag and heading to the door. He had to use his cane to find the bottom of the stairs since it had been a month and a bit since he'd been here, but then he didn't have any further difficulties getting into the house. JongWoon scooted out of his way so the blind man could go put the bag down.
It didn't take long for the van and car to be unloaded, since they hadn't brought that much with them to the cabin in the first place. Daniel and HyunJoong left not long after they had started unpacking, leaving the rest to get things in order and the house back up and running.
"Looks like the computer in the hall still works, and it has an internet connection," YoungSaeng said, tapping at the terminal. "Good thing we had this on a separate server, now we won't have to go somewhere else to find out what's going on." He stopped, head tilting to the side. "Hey Kyu? There's a message for you in voicemail."
"Huh? For me?" KyuJong blinked at that, leaning his cane against the inside of the cupboard. He placed his shoes away before padding over to where YoungSaeng was, one hand brushing against the terminal. "Probably telemarketers again." He tapped at the screen where he knew the 'play' button was.
"Good morning, this is Doctor Jung from JY Medical. We met two months ago, and your results from the tests have returned from our lab in Japan. When you have a moment please return this call to schedule a follow-up appointment so we can go over the details."
"Was that the eye doctor you went to?" YoungSaeng blinked a little, glancing at the day of the call. "They called last week, I can dial in the number for you if you want to call them right away," he said.
"What's going on?" JungMin had just come down the stairs again, going to grab another bag.
"The doctor called Kyu about his test results," YoungSaeng said, picking up the phone to hand to KyuJong.
"Usually it's HyunJoong chasing them, not the other way around," KyuJong frowned. Either way, they'd agreed this was the last doctor he'd have to deal with, so one more appointment couldn't hurt. "Might as well schedule that then," he sighed softly, taking the phone.
"Yeah, it could be good news, you never know," JungMin nodded, watching YoungSaeng dial in the number. He'd completely abandoned carrying bags upstairs in favor of waiting for KyuJong to finish his call.
"Or maybe just a more solid 'no' than the 'maybe' I keep on getting," KyuJong shook his head, holding the phone to his ear. "Either way, I'll be glad when this is over."
The phone call was quick, KyuJong's brow furrowing slightly as he spoke with the receptionist at the other end. A minute later he hung up, blinking a little. "She said I was on the priority list. The appointment's this Friday."
"Priority list? What does that mean?" JungMin looked in confusion at YoungSaeng who shook his head.
"Not sure, probably that they want to see him right away," YoungSaeng said, rubbing a hand up and down KyuJong's back. He hoped that meant good things, and not anything bad, though he didn't say that out loud.
"Does that mean getting you to go to the appointment will be a little easier?" JungMin asked, wincing a little.
KyuJong placed JungMin's voice enough to kick him lightly in the shin. "It's the last one, I can deal with one more. Can you fault me for hating doctors?"
At the warning glance from YoungSaeng, JungMin shook his head quickly, pouting at the kick. "No, no I don't blame you at all Kyu," he said, taking his boyfriend's hand. "I'm sure it's good news too, so I'll go with you again and be right there at your side, okay?"
"I'm not getting my hopes up, if you're there with me then that's good enough for me." KyuJong's fingers curled around JungMin's, and he smiled at YoungSaeng in thanks before heading towards the stairs. "Let's go unpack then."
"Yes, let's," JungMin nodded eagerly, pulling KyuJong lightly towards the stairs. Even if KyuJong wasn't getting his hopes up, he was. A call back usually meant something good, right?
It was close to an hour before HyunJoong and Daniel returned, people still unpacking upstairs when HyunJoong opened the door. "Hello! We're back!"
JongWoon appeared at the top of the stairs first, hurrying down. "And? Is he okay?" he asked, trying to see around the two of them in case SungHyun was just outside the door. Then he saw the tight-lipped expression on Daniel's face.
"He hasn't woken up once...and there's no brain activity."
"His parents had been there, and they're considering just... letting him go," HyunJoong said, shutting the door behind them and locking it. "At least that's what the doctor said, but it's... hard to just let their only son go, I can imagine."
"And no one asked what happened?" YoungSaeng asked, still at the stop of the stairs.
"No, but apparently he wasn't the only one like that," HyunJoong said, sighing heavily. "The doctor said at least a dozen others had come in that way after being cut off from the game. There's more all over the world. They're adding that to the charges against the NVR execs."
JongWoon sat down on the stairs, shoulders slumped. They'd all hoped SungHyun had woken up. "Do you think any of the others were caught the same way? DongHae, HeeChul, MiMi?"
"No idea, we never knew them offline," Daniel said quietly. "I can contact Tukutz and Mithra to find out if they're okay, but the others we never knew. We'll just have to hope for the best."
"So many lives lost," YoungSaeng shook his head. "Such a waste, such a stupid, stupid waste."
"No more, that's the only bright part of this. No one else is going to lose their life because of it," HyunJoong said, glancing at Daniel beside him. "We should go downstairs and see just how bad the damage to the equipment is."
Daniel nodded, slipping off his shoes. "We'll have to replace the router for sure, and maybe some of the wires." He headed towards the stairs.
KyuJong listened to them go from outside his room, shoulders slumped. "No one else," he whispered.
"Hm? Did you say something?" JungMin poked his head out of the room, looking at KyuJong. "Daniel and HyunJoong come back? Was that them?"
KyuJong blinked, tilting his head back towards JungMin. "Hm? Yeah, they just came back. They're going downstairs to check on the equipment now." He went back into the room, making himself busy unpacking his clothes. "SungHyun hasn't woken up. His parents are considering...letting him go."
JungMin's expression fell at the news, and he glanced down the stairs before stepping back into the room to help KyuJong. "We knew it was a possibility," he murmured, completely depressed. "Still sucks though... that poor kid."
"Yeah," KyuJong whispered, closing his eyes and holding onto the edge of his drawer tightly before continuing to work. "No one's going to have to go through that, ever again. I just wish I'd spent more time with him before all this. You never know when you're going to lose someone."
"Me too, he was just always so quiet, and spent so much time in the game that I didn't seem him that much," JungMin said, unpacking his own bag. "We'll have to do something for him, some kind of memorial or something. Him and KiBum both... and everyone else that we know that's died because of this."
"That would be nice," KyuJong nodded. "It's thanks to all them that we're here right now...and that this nightmare's finally over."
"Well I think it's over because of you, and how determined you were to see it done," JungMin said, padding up behind KyuJong and putting his arms around the man's waist. "None of this would have been possible without you Kyu. Have I told you lately how amazing I think you are?"
"Stop that, you're going to give me a fat head," KyuJong chuckled softly, leaning back against him. "I wouldn't have gotten very far without everyone helping me...and that includes you."
JungMin snorted, kissing the side of his head. "I didn't do much, I was second string replacement. "You're amazing, that's all there is to it," he murmured into his ear. "You know.. it's been a month since we've been alone really, and even having a bed to ourselves some nights just wasn't the same."
"I know," KyuJong smiled and shook his head, reaching back with one hand to cup JungMin's face lightly. "We're back in our own bed tonight though, with proper walls. Once we're done unpacking...how about a shower?"
"Shower sounds wonderful," JungMin grinned, nipping at KyuJong's jaw lightly. "Hurry up and finish unpacking then," he said, patting his boyfriend lightly on the rear before he went back to his own bag to unpack.
Yelping a little, KyuJong laughed quietly as he tried to hit JungMin and missed, shaking his head before turning back to his dresser.