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Yuri's eyes fluttered open to a room full of people. Her members, aunt and a few Seventeen members had huddled in the VIP room, speaking discreetly amongst themselves. "What in the world?" Yuri whispered out loud as she tried to sit up. She winced at the pain that echoed from her body and it caught the attention of the people in the room.
Seungcheol struggled to his feet and looked in her direction as Yuri's aunt spoke out loud, "Why are you up already? You should've rested a little more."
"It's fine, mom. We're the ones who probably woke her up with all that noise anyway, " Jihoon spoke as he rushed to his cousin's side and helped pull her up. Once she was up, Yuri thanked Jihoon with a smile.
She then turned her attention to the Seventeen members in the room and nodded slightly, not being able to bow in that situation. Dokyeom was on his feet immediately, "No no, you don't need to greet us, just take care." Four people including Jihoon were at the scene, Hoshi, Dokyeom, Seungcheol and Jihoon.
"But... How are you feeling now?" Hoshi asked hesitantly.
"I'm mostly alright," Yuri answered with a strained smile, "It hurts every time I stretch my leg but other than that, I'm alright."
"That was a bad question to ask, Hoshi-hyung. Obviously, she's not alright." Dokyeom spoke, shaking his head.
"No no, it's fine," Yuri spoke, "I don't mind. But if it's okay to ask..." Yuri started hesitantly.
Seungcheol grew tense. He was quick to ask, "Do you need anything? You can ask for anything." Yuri shook her head to say no but by then, Seungcheol was already on his feet and ready to dash out to get whatever she wanted.
"I was just gonna ask why you guys still speak formally with each other." She spoke nimbly, a little embarrassed that she was being given so much attention.
Dokyeom stifled a laugh as he looked away from a red-faced Seungcheol. Hoshi muttered with a smile, "Looks like you were in too much of a hurry, hyung." There was some underlying meaning with the way Hoshi teased Seungcheol that Yuri couldn't understand.
Jihoon rolled his eyes, "They're just using honorifics because they're around a girl for the first time in a while."
Yuri's eyebrow raised as the other two members denied it, a smile forming on her face to see them bickering. Suddenly, Scoups coughed loudly as in to signal something and pointed at the flowers with his eyes. Beautiful pink and white flowers were sitting on the side, wrapped in a silk ribbon.
Dokyeom rolled his eyes, "You should just give it to her yourself since you bought them, you know?" He complained but picked it up anyway. Walking towards the bed, he handed it to Yuri and Hoshi, who was holding a basket of fruits and healthy drinks, placed it by her side. "These are for you to get well soon." Hoshi smiled his cheerful smile that was somehow contagious because Yuri couldn't help but mirror it.
"Thank you, Soonyoung-ssi, Seokmin-ssi." Yuri's cheerful smile brightened up the room. For a minute, Seungcheol could see the innocence of her young soul and how her presence changed the mood of the room.
Yuri's aunt was watching the whole scene unfold with a knowing look on her face. Slowly, she stood up and announced her leave, "Your manager is going to stay here tonight so I'll bring dinner at around 6 and leave after. Until the manager arrives, these kids can stay here. Tell me if you need anything, okay?"
Yuri answered that it was alright and urged her aunt to go home and get some rest. Her aunt and Jihoon had been around all night anyway.
Soon after, Hoshi and Dokyeom took their leave saying they had plans, leaving only an extremely tired Jihoon, Seungcheol and her in the room.
"You should go home too, Oppa. You look really tired right now." Yuri was worried.
"No, Yuri-yah. It's okay. I can stay till your manager or someone comes, it's fine."
Lee Yuri sighed, "There is someone here already with me." She turned to Scoups, "Seungcheol-ssi, could you stay for a little bit? I think one of my members will visit within an hour."
Seungcheol looked startled, "M-me? I mean, yeah, sure. I don't have any plans today." He agreed, looking at Jihoon sceptically, unsure that Jihoon would approve.
Jihoon looked at Seungcheol, "Are you sure you don't mind?" To which Seungcheol nodded making Jihoon sigh, "Alright then, I'm trusting you with my sister, hyung. Call me if anything goes wrong." He then looked at Yuri sternly, "I'm only leaving because it's Coups. You better not play any of your tricks and disappear out of the room or something. Stay out of trouble."
"Yeah, yeah." She answered, her voice monotonous but Jihoon knew exactly how playful Yuri could get if she was bored or in the mood. He only wondered how or who made her a leader.
Jihoon gave her one more stern look before leaving.
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Yuri made a face at the door after Jihoon had passed through it, making Seungcheol smile. She sure acted like a child at times. Instead of sitting far away and avoiding conversation, he decided to walk to her and sit on a chair by the hospital bed she was sitting up in.
"Seungcheol-ssi..." Yuri started hesitantly, making him look at her, "I actually wanted to talk to you alone."
He had this look that urged her to go on and she complied. "Thank you. For what you did back there for me. You pulled me out of danger just in time."
"There's no need to thank me." Seungcheol shook his head looking down, "No, it's actually my fault that you're here like this in the first place. I knew that light was about to fall, I'd noticed it the moment we'd stepped up to receive the Daesang award. But I didn't alert the staff in time and it eventually crashed down on you. If anything, I'm at fault for your injury."
"I saw it too." Yuri piped up softly. "I saw it right before it fell and instead of fighting or running away, I just... I just gave up." She looked away from Seungcheol's astonished face. "I thought it was over for me and rescinded to let the situation decide between life and death. What a coward, right?" Yuri chuckled without humour as tears spilt out of her eyes silently.
Seungcheol hurried to find a tissue or a napkin and found some in the drawer next to the bed. He offered her the tissues that she dabbed her eyes with as he consoled her, "There was nothing you could've done then and your body knew it. You just didn't have enough time to move, Yuri. And that's fine." He paused, "That's fine."
Yuri watched him reminisce his own experiences. She could see the painful memories he was surprising. There were some things he regretted too, surely there was no man without regrets and somehow her situation had reminded him of his.
"If there's something that the last year has taught me, it is that it's okay to forgive yourself for the things you couldn't do." Seuncheol could remember what had caused him to walk away from his own concert. But it was over now. "Its okay." He looked at her with an understanding in his eyes, something she could relate too. She only nodded.
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