Yeosang kept Yunho in his ward for another two days. They ran frequent tests on him and Yunho did some cognitive exercises to prove to Yeosang he hadn't taken permanent brain damage or was lost to some demon.

Though Mingi didn't come to see him to resolve the many questions spinning in Yunho's mind, he saw the rest of the team.

Jongho snuck in right the next morning with fresh flowers, muttering at the door with Yeosang when Yunho woke up. As he stirred, his trainer looked sheepish at being caught with the flowers in his hands, but Yunho asked him to come in to thank him.

They sat together for a while and Jongho made sure Yunho was feeling okay. He gave everyone a mighty scare. They were unsure if he got hit by a stray bullet from Auresce and after finding out the truth; it didn't get any better. Apparently, Yongguk himself studied up on all the known information of demon abilities right now.

Yunho was touched to hear how everyone cared about him. When Jongho left, his gummy grin wished Yunho a speedy recovery.

"I will see you soon at training. Don't miss out."

"I will catch up, sir," Yunho smiled back, and he actually looked forward to it. Despite his mistake and the lingering parasite in his mind, his abilities served him well in that last battle. Bora had been right. Tenebra's system allowed even people like him fulfilment. If he could train some more and get used to guiding, he might live a long life Auresce never would have allowed him.

Lying there in boredom all day, Yunho missed her a lot. He hoped she found a good place.

Wooyoung and San also came to visit him once the rumour spread that he was up. Wooyoung asked Yeosang at the door first if it was fine to disturb Yunho and even in their worries, his friends were so considerate towards him.

When the pair made it in, Wooyoung teared up at seeing Yunho among his white sheets.

"How are you?" He choked out as he sat by his side and San rested his hands on Wooyoung's shoulders behind him, as if he were the one to do the guiding now.

Yunho took Wooyoung's trembling fingers and squeezed them gently. Guiding sparked back at him on impulse, but Yunho felt alright without it.

"I'm okay now. Everyone took care of me," he assured his quiet sniffles and Wooyoung wiped at his eyes.

"I was so scared. We promised you that you would be safe, and then you were the only one who went down. I thought you might die from what Mingi described."

Yunho didn't tell him he thought the same. That amount of pain would have killed him if it had been accompanied by a matching physical wound. He didn't want to brush it off as nothing.

"Poor Wooyoung even pestered Yeosang to sleep by your side because he felt guilty, but Yeosang kicked him out," San snickered fondly, just as glad to see his roommate in one piece.

Yunho had to smile back.

"Thank you for taking care of me. It was my own fault, really. I didn't know something like that would happen."

"I would have kicked that demon's ass if I had been there," San muttered ominously. Yunho accepted their displays of friendship, contrasting as they were. Wooyoung's shorter fingers played with his mindlessly.

"Let's all go out to eat together soon. Forget about stupid rifts and stupid demons. The big downside in Tenebra's team is that everyone gets a heart attack when a friend gets hurt," Wooyoung demanded, and Yunho had to admit he preferred this over the nonchalance towards loss in Auresce. He much rather soothed his friends than be alone in this world.

"Do you need something from home? I brought you fresh clothes and my Switch with some of my favourite games, so you get something new to play, but I can also lug anything else." San brought forth the bag over his shoulder and placed it on Yunho's side. He was handed the Switch and one of San's plushies for moral support. His clothes sat next to the flowers.

"I think Yeosang wants to let me go soon, but if he finds something new, I will need my books. Unless Mingi wants to move the lessons here," Yunho joked, and they all leered at Yeosang, who was bent over a microscope to study something. He punished them with steely silence. This time, Yunho was more than welcome to stay as his study subject.

When Yunho had to giggle, Wooyoung gathered himself up.

"Let us know. We will prepare a party until then and it will be super cool," he chirped, energetic now that Yunho wasn't dying anymore in his mind.

Yunho saw them off with a grin and played a bit until Yeosang brought him his food, this time fresh. Everything he fed Yunho was nutritious and delicious, some of the best stuff he ever had.

Seonghwa and Hongjoong also visited him. They brought a card game and spent some time together with Yunho so he wouldn't get bored. Healing red marks still covered Hongjoong's arms and the side of his face, but when Yunho asked him whether he was fine, the esper waved it off.

"I'm just upset I couldn't kill the thing. We never saw a demon retreat before. They are rarely wise enough for that. I was so close." Fury marred his brow, but Seonghwa smoothed his hand over Hongjoong's hair in tender comfort.

"You did your best," he assured, before Hongjoong could beat himself up over it. Instead, their firecracker slapped down a card to convey his upset, and they continued their game.

The only one Yunho didn't see until he got discharged was Mingi. It was a bummer; Yunho had many questions for him. Then again, it might be better to ask those in private.

On the day Yeosang finally let him go, Yunho was almost sad to leave his presence. The doctor's personality was soothing, even without a touch of guiding. Though hospitals usually scared Yunho, he got used to these surroundings and the dull hum of machines that lulled him to sleep.

"Report to me at the slightest difference you notice. Every headache, no matter how irrelevant it seems. And stay at the top of your health with frequent guiding," Yeosang instructed him like a strict mother. He told Yunho the same things a dozen times already.

"Will do," Yunho replied as he packed his bag, San's things, and his flowers. As much as he would miss the cosiness of being right at HQ and everyone visiting him during their breaks, he was also glad to get home and hang out with San over games and stupid giggles while falling asleep.

One last time, he ate together with Yeosang on a ridiculously small metal rolling table meant for tools. Yeosang had sauce stuck all over his mouth since they celebrated with chicken today, but he seemed to love it more than all his healthy dishes.

After making sure Yunho was really just Yunho and he wasn't hiding any pains, Yeosang finally saw him off.

"Oh, also, Mingi wanted to talk to you before you leave," he said and Yunho hesitated in the door. He didn't mind lingering if it was Mingi. No matter how he missed the shower at home.

"Was it pressing?"

"He looked serious." Yeosang shrugged in his lab coat. Yunho bowed at him.

"I will check in with him. Thank you for all your care, Yeosang."

Yeosang ducked his blushing cheeks between his shoulders.

"It's my job." With that, he whipped around, nonchalant, to return to his work. During his time in the sick ward, Yunho noticed he also always had fresh flowers on his table.

With a grin, Yunho made his way upstairs. He felt refreshed, like a new person. Oddly shifted in his mind, as if he moved just slightly to the left in his own brain, but it was still undoubtedly him.

When he rapped his fingers against the door to Mingi's office - never wishing to make that same mistake of peeping in on someone a third time - he placed his bag on the ground next to it to pick it up later.

"Yes?" a voice called from inside, and Yunho stuck his head in, scanning the room. No Yongguk or anyone else in a conference right now. There was just Mingi at his large desk, filling out paperwork.

When he looked up, Yunho pinched his lips shut, worried to have come at an inconvenient time. But Mingi's brows smoothed out from their frown.

"Yunho," he greeted him, standing up to round the table, so Yunho made his way inside and tugged the door shut behind him. He awkwardly rubbed his nape.

Did Mingi know he didn't remember? Did he consider Yunho a nuisance for getting involved and gravely hurt instead of calling out to him so Mingi could take care of things? Yunho didn't mean to patronise him. He reacted on instinct.

"How are you? Yeosang finally let you go?" Mingi asked him and Yunho ducked his head. Maybe he would ask all those things another time. He didn't have the courage today.

"He did. I'm feeling good now, thanks to your guiding and his care."

Yunho thought it would get awkward and prepared some lame excuses about his pain and gratitude that Mingi helped him even when he was ignorantly passed out in his arms. But Mingi didn't miss a beat. He picked up an item from his table and held it out to Yunho. It was a sleek, black case. When Yunho cradled it hesitantly, Mingi nodded at him to accept it.

"I got them fixed for you. They broke when you fell."

Surprised, Yunho opened the case. A pair of new glasses sparkled up at him, shiny and without the slightest scratch. He put them on and blinked against his shifted sight after long days of blurry faces.

An abrupt blush took over his features when he realised Mingi's gaze tracking him. It was intense, so concentrated only on him. An unfair handsomeness lurked in Mingi's features and it had been confusing Yunho more than anything else for weeks now.

"Thank you for stepping in that day," Mingi told him and Yunho let go of a breath. He had expected a scolding about foolishly putting himself in danger, but no one could change the past. If he hadn't reacted, Mingi might have got hurt instead, and he was much more important than Yunho.

Still, he knew he made a mistake and lowered his eyes to the ground.

"Because of me..."

Mingi sighed, leaning back against his desk. When Yunho trailed off into a mutter, he scowled to himself.

"That wasn't anything you could have avoided, even as a trained S rank. That beast was beyond our current capacities," he admitted. None of them had known, perhaps not even Auresce. Did others get poisoned in the same way? Perhaps not, since Yunho's abilities opened a bridge for the demon to skip right into his mind with.

"What was it?" He asked, since he had never seen the full beast, only the one tentacle creeping their way. But even together with Auresce's espers and an enormous explosion, Hongjoong hadn't been able to defeat it.

"We call them demon overlords. They are capable of sentient thoughts and feelings and rarely emerge from the masses. Usually, they can communicate and steer more insignificant demons. They might be the highest ranking creatures we battle, so only a few can take them on. We only realised what it was when it had the sense to retreat when critically injured. By then it was too late for you. I'm sorry, Yunho. I would have warned you if I had known."

So that was it. Mingi was also sorry.

When Yunho fidgeted, unsure what to say about that, Mingi studied him from head to toe as if trying to spot any differences in him.

"Yeosang said its sentience touched you. We thought you were gone into madness. It's risky to open yourself to the enemy, but overlords are intelligent enough to find an opening and take it. I promise we are doing everything we can to heal you." His voice was grave, alluding to more research and efforts than what Yunho witnessed on Yeosang these past few days. Was this such a rare occasion? Or did he need to fear for his life?

"T-Thank you," Yunho muttered, overwhelmed by being the centre of attention.

When Mingi pushed off his table, Yunho's eyes flinched up, nervously catching onto his boss' elegant stride.

"I could use a walk right now. Would you mind if I accompany you home?"

"No... Not at all." Yunho's mind was buffering like an old computer when Mingi picked up his jacket from his chair and held the door for him. Together, they stepped outside to make their way back to the dorms and catch up in the balmy air of the evening.