Thorny Roses || YeonBin/TaeGyu/YeonGyu/SooKai AU✔

prologue

The operational room was saturated with the smell of different medicines circulating in the air. Air conditioners drew heat energy out of the room, replacing it with cooler air to help prevent infections. A little boy laid unconscious on the narrow operating table, which was tilted up a bit, safety straps keeping him positioned correctly while most of his slender body was covered in a sterile drape. The anaesthesia machine was situated at the head of the operating table, its tubes connecting to the boy to help him breathe. Patches, connected to the monitor, were placed on his chest to measure his heart and breathing rate, causing an unpleasant beeping of the monitor to blare across the room.

A boy in his middle teens stood at his bed, looking down at the little boy with sad, tearful eyes, his heart beating heavily at the idea of losing him forever. A protective cap covered his brown hair, while a mask covered his mouth and nose to exclude inhalation of airborne microbes or plumes. Sterile gloves were placed on his hands and a long gown hung over his body as he wore protective covers on his shoes. His eyes were brimming with tears as he was holding the unconscious boy's hand in his own tightly and stroking his cheek softly, observing and taking in every part of his face carefully as if he was trying to study him in detail. "You are going to be alright," he whispered through the mask even though he knew the other male wouldn't be able to hear him, "I promise, I'll save you even if the world falls apart."

He looked over at the second operating table which was empty yet but prepared for another patient who was going to be carried to the room and placed on its surface soon. His heart clenched as he stared back at the boy who looked so fragile that he wanted to cry. His eyes would brim up with tears every time he looked at his completely pale face and saw dark circles around his eyes which were caused by the severe disease he had been fighting against for years. "Be strong for me," he mumbled as he wiped a single tear off his cheek and held the boy's weak, slender hand in his own. He placed a small kiss on the back of his hand as he mumbled quietly again, "Please, you need to be strong, okay?"

Then he heard some noise from behind and turned back to be greeted by a bunch of surgeons who brought another little boy into the room by wheelchair and gently placed him on the operating table.

"You need to leave, sir," one of the surgeons told the brown-haired boy whose eyes wouldn't stop tearing up at the sight, "We're starting the operation."

He nodded his head while wiping his eyes once more and taking a last glance at both males before leaving the room with heavy steps as his muscles felt very difficult to move.

He ripped the mask off his face as soon as he was already out and leaned against a wall with his palm and forehead as he let his tears flow down his face like a heavy waterfall. He started sobbing quietly.

A few months later

It was just a normal cold day of winter. The wind was blowing across the atmosphere and brutally attacked everything on its path. Everyone was hidden in their houses or moving with their cars, not even a single soul could be seen in the streets besides one middle-aged woman who was wearing old, shabby clothes torn in several places and gripped some papers in her hand tightly as he ran towards some old building, her breath fast and heavy.

She glued one of her papers to the concrete of the establishment quickly as the wind kept swaying her clothes. The woman left the place as soon as she was done just to repeat the same action in the other places and leave the photographs of two kids against the buildings, creating an awful aura in the environment as they had a huge headline right above them:

'TWO MISSING CHILDREN. PLEASE, HELP FIND'