TAEYONG watches Traze, as she runs out of the room, while holding her dextrose. Her friends follow her trail, trying to stop her from running, but Traze is just so stubborn. Upon hearing that her mum got rushed to the same hospital, she got stunned for a second, then stood up without hesitation. Taeyong may not know her well, but after all that he witnessed today, he realized that Traze was running earlier because she was worried about her mum. He thought it was because she's just really clumsy and careless.

"I guess we have to go home now," Yuta speaks, breaking the silence inside the room. He taps Hansol beside him, gesturing him to go out.

"Are you gonna stay here, mate?" Hansol asks.

Taeyong shakes his head. "Why would I stay here? Come on, Mark." He turns to his brother, who answers him with a frown.

"Aren't you gonna wait for her to come back?" Mark asks.

"She's not my responsibility," Taeyong answers.

"Blud, at least pay the bills for her," Mark says.

"Ye. Judging from her status, she's not capable of paying even the half of her bills," Yuta butts in.

"And now her mum's even hospitalized," Hansol adds.

Taeyong heaves a sigh. "You want me to pay her bills? Alright. I'll pay for it."

Mark smiles. "I'll just go get some coffee."

"Coffee? You know I don't drink coffee. And we're going home, Mark. I'll cook something if you want," Taeyong says.

"We're just gonna wait for her to come back and then, we'll leave. Alright?" Mark looks at his brother and waits for his answer.

Taeyong really hates it when Mark's being all nice to everyone. He knows his brother can't help it though. "Alright," he finally says.

♚♚♚

MARK heads out of the room and searches for the vending machine. When he reaches the corner near the nurses's station, he sees it immediately, but someone catches his eye upon reaching the machine. A girl is sitting on the chair next to it, her palms covering her face. She looks like she's been crying.

Mark passes by infront of her and places the coins in the machine. When the 2 cups of coffee are done, he takes them, clearing his throat. "Uh, can I sit here?" he asks.

The girl finally looks up and sees him. Her face has become red from crying, but she still looks pretty with her blonde hair and doe-like eyes. She doesn't respond to him so Mark just takes the seat next to her.

"Coffee?" he offers, handing the cup to her. The girl looks at him for a second, then covers her face with her palms again and continues to sob. "You know what, I remember crying so much when my mum died. I was only like 5 years old back then. I cried so much that I thought my eyes would dry up and not produce any more tears," he finishes, stifling a laugh.

The girl stops sobbing and looks at him again. "Why are you telling me this? I don't even know you."

"Oh, uhm... I just thought... maybe you'd feel a bit better..." Mark answers.

"Who are you?" the girl asks again, raising a brow.

"I'm Mark."

"Well Mark, thank you for attempting to make me feel better, but I just want to be alone right now." The girl stands up and prepares to leave, but Mark stops her.

"W-wait, may I know your name?" he asks.

The girl hesitates for a moment, before answering, "Chelsie."

♚♚♚

TRAZE holds her mum's hand, while stroking her hair to put her to sleep. When she arrived earlier, Chelsie shouted at her and blamed her for not being able to take care of their mum. Traze knew that Chelsie was just being emotional and she felt responsible herself that she couldn't help her mum on anything. Even though she's working at the pub, she still felt like she's doing nothing to help their family.

"Patricia, you need to go back to your room now," her mum speaks in a soft voice.

"But mum, you need me here. I won't leave you," Traze insists.

"You're sick as well. I don't want you to suffer more."

"Mum, I'm alright. Just please rest now."

"Where is your sister?"

"She went out."

Her mum nods in response. "I heard what she said about you. She's just really temperamental at times."

"I know, mum. I'm used to her."

"Just understand her and always guide her, alright? I won't always be here right beside you. I'm getting old now. Soon, I'll be gone. You two need to be responsible and take good care of each other."

"Mum, please don't say that," Traze says, trying to hide the fear inside her.

"I'm just telling the truth, hun. You need each other's backs when I'm gone."

Traze closes her eyes for a moment and nods. Just then, the door swings open, as Chelsie makes her way inside. "I'm going back to my room now then, mum. If you need anything, tell Chelsie to do it," she says, planting a kiss on her mother's cheek, before leaving.

When Traze comes back inside her room, she's surprised to see Taeyong still there, sitting on the corner with his arms crossed over his chest. "Why are you still here?" she asks.

"I'm just waiting for my brother," Taeyong answers. "The airconditioner is better here inside the room so don't dare tell me to go out."

"You're still being rude after what you did to me? You almost killed me," she states, infuriatingly.

Taeyong stands up from his seat and took a step forward. "I almost killed you? Didn't the doctor tell you that you have no fractures or bruises? Now you're telling me I almost killed you?" His hands are now clutched into fists, trying to control his rage. "I even brought you here to the hospital. Is that how you're gonna repay me?"

Traze pauses, processing what he's saying. Before she can even respond, the door opens, revealing Mark with 2 cups of coffee on both hands. "Oh... uh sorry, I just stumbled on someone outside," Mark says, laying the coffee on the table. "How are you feeling, miss?" He turns to Traze.

"Let's go home now, Mark." Taeyong grabs his brother's arm, dragging him outside.

"W-wait..." Mark tries to protest, but his brother won't let him go, until they finally reach outside the hospital. "Aye! Why are you so infuriated, blud?"

Taeyong heaves a deep sigh. "She's getting on my nerves. I can't deal with such a munter."

Mark chuckles. "Munter? Anyway, have you settled on her bills?" Taeyong nods, putting on his helmet. "And did you tell her about it?" his brother continues to ask.

Taeyong starts his bike, ignoring his brother's question. "Hop on!"

♚♚♚

THE NEXT day, the doctor tells Traze that she can be discharged already. She immediately calls Izzy to come over and after a few minutes, her friends arrive at the hospital. "So you're feeling better now?" Izzy asks, holding a basket of fruits in her hand. "We even bought you these. We'll just give it to your mum then."

Traze nods. "Uh... can I just ask you a favour?"

"Anything as long as it doesn't involve hurting ourselves," Taeil answers, grinning.

"You see, I don't know how much is my hospital bill and you know that we're not well-off so can I borrow from you guys for the meantime? I promise to pay you back in a month... or maybe after 2-3 months? Please?" Traze finishes, closing her eyes.

"We'll ask first how much is your bill and we'll do our best to help you with that," Doyoung says.

"Really? Thank you so much. You're really such great mates! What did I ever do in my past life to deserve you guys?" Traze exclaims, pulling them into a hug but they resist.

"Bun, please don't overreact!" Izzy says, raising her hands up in the air.

"Come on, Doyoung. Let's go ask the billing section," Taeil says, as they head out of the room.

Izzy brings out her phone and suddenly curses when she sees a news article from the site. "Traze, have you seen this?" she asks, showing her phone.

Traze curiously takes a look at the phone screen and sees an article about the Palace's announcement for a 'Royal Birthday Bash' for the second Prince. "Is it his birthday already?" she mumbles, remembering Prince Jaehyun's birthday.

"It's Valentine's day next week already so ye, it's his birthday," Izzy points out.

Everyone probably knows his birthday since it's exactly on Valentine's day, February 14. And every birthday of Prince Jaehyun, he usually organizes a charity event. But this time, it's different. They're actually inviting every 'elite' aged 16-18 years old to attend, which is quite surprising. "What's up with the specific age bracket? Don't you think it's strange?" Traze asks.

"Well, I'm supposed to tell you that you should go. But it states here that only elites are invited. The world is really unfair," Izzy says.

Traze sighs. Of course, she expected this to happen. The elites are the second in the society, next to the royals. And her kind, the meagre ones are classified as bourgeoisie. "That's a relief. I didn't want to go anyway."

Izzy chuckles, then something catches her eye from the article. "Ha! Guess what, it's stated here that every volunteer who has participated in the charity events are mandatory to come. So that means..." Izzy pauses, looking at her friend, who's already frozen on her seat.

Traze gulps down. "What?" This can't be...

A/N: Sorry for updating only now. I'm still frustrated because NCT still doesn't have a comeback. SMent is really testing our patience. -__- Their MAMA stages are quite short as well. I want them all to perform 'Switch' but then again, it won't be 'Switch' without Johnny and Hansol. :/ 

Anyway, thank you for those reading this story (i'm not even sure if there is one) LOL XD I'll still update this so don't worry. If NCT will have a comeback, maybe I can update faster.

Till next update! ^^

P.S. Who's your bias in NCT? What's your favorite unit so far (U, 127 or Dream)?

~neoluv