AN: the song above is the song I listened to while writing this chapter cuz yeah.. You should check it out..

Renjun paced slowly around the warehouse, worry clouding his thoughts. Jisung had informed them all that Chenle was 'badly hurt'. He refused to confirm whether Chenle was dead or not, simply repeating that everything was fine.

But he seemed to be convincing himself more then anyone.

Renjun looked at the group around him. It was dark out and Jaemin still wasn't back. Mark looked worriedly at the ground while Haechan watched him from a distance. Jisung was being comforted by Kun who was hugging him and rubbing the youngers back while whispering something to him. Lucas was leaning against the wall and watching them while Winwin was on the ground beside him, head burried in his knees. Xiaojun, Hendary, and Yangyang were huddled together, Hendary and Yangyang looking sadly at eachother and speaking softly while Xiaojun quietly watched someone a little ways off. Renjun followed his gaze.

Kyungsoo.

The man was on the ground with his head in his hands, slowly rocking back and forth. Renjun walked tentatively over to the man. As he drew closer he could hear the man muttering something to himself.

"This is your fault... You should've told them.. You could've stopped this..."

"Kyungsoo... It's not your fault." The man looked up sharply at Renjun with tear stained cheeks as the chinese boy crouched beside him, his voice soft. "No one could've stopped this.. But we can still stop it from happening again. Plus, we don't even know if Chenle is-" just then, the warehouse door opened slowly. Jeno walked in and everyone went silent as they anxiously waited for him to speak.

"He's.. He's dead.... Chenle is dead." All around the room were scared gasps. Kun looked at Jisung who's eyes had widened.

"No, that's not true! He.. He.... He has to...." He swallowed. "Chenle can't be dead.." He squeaked, his voice breaking as he spoke. Unable to prevent them, the tears began to flow with no sign of stopping anytime soon. He looked at Jeno and walked forward, grabbing his sleeve and pulling on it lightly. "You're lying! Tell them it's a joke! Tell me it's a joke..." He said desperately. Jeno hugged him tight and didn't let anyone see his own tears as he burried his head into Jisung's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Jisung.. I'm so sorry... It's true."

Renjun felt the floor spin beneath him.

Chenle was dead?

He hadn't gotten to know the kid very well but he liled him very much and had always thought that the boy was adorable. He still couldn't believe it. Not five hours before this moment he was standing talking to the boy. He had gone up with Jisung to visit him earlier.

It was getting dimmer outside as the sun set over the black horizon. He looked to his left at Jisung who nervously kicked a pebble as they walked.

"Why did you want me to go with you Ji? I like Chenle and all but you seemed fine going there alone before." Jisung stopped. His hands were pushed deep into the pockets of his jacket and the bitter wind blew his hair around carelessly, carrying his loose shirt with it and sending ripples through his clothes. He met Renjun's gaze.

"I think I'm going to.. Confess." Renjun was slightly stunned by the youngers response. He really wasn't expecting that.

"Oh so I'm here to be sure you don't run away from him before confessing."

"Exactly!" Jisung said excitedly.

Renjun frowned when he was pulled out of the memory and felt tears sting in his eyes when he remembered that Jisung hadn't confessed. The boy had awkwardly fumbled with his words and stared at hus hands until Chenle had playfully waved them off and had gone back to keeping watch.

Chenle would never get to hear it.

The innocent bubbly boy would never hear the love of his life say the three most important words.

He never had.

And he never would.

After everyone calmed down a bit, they started to head to bed. Renjun was thankful for the mattress he had and snuggled closer to Jeno before closing his eyes and allowing sleep to consume him.

But not before he could here Jisung crying himself to sleep.

Renjun opened his eyes in a familiar field. The church on the horizon still stood tall and the tree before him was still there, it's creeky leafless branches blowing in the wind.

And best of all, the fimiliar figure of a man he hadn't seen in a while, stood firm by the tree, stareing out at the field.

"Moon!" He said urgently. The man turned and watched as Renjun ran forward and threw his arms around him. The boy cried a bit into Moon's sleeve. He pet Renjun's hair softly.

"What's wrong?" Renjun hesitated.

"Chenle's dead." He replied, head still burried into Moon's sweater. The man pulled back and his eyes were filled with pain. He ruffled Renjun's hair.

"I know it's a little abrupt, and I want you to have time to mourn, but I'm afraid now we have something important to witness." Renjun wiped his tears away and nodded as he sniffed a little.

Before he could think, the field before them was swept away, along with the church and the tree. He looked around and they were in a blank white space. Before them was Haechan and Mark. It was much like before, Mark in front of Haechan, the two only feet apart, but this time, Haechan was on his feet.

"Ready?" Mark asked. Haechan nodded and opened his arms in response. Mark ran forward. For a moment, time seemed to slow and something held Mark back, but it didn't last long. Tears of joy filled Renjun's eyes as he watched Mark clutch Haechan protectively. The younger was crying and he hugged back.

"Don't let go.." He whispered. His head was spinning as emotions rushed throughout him. He recognized some of them like fear, anger, and sadness but others were new to him like love, hope, and peace.

It felt amazing.

A feeling he had never felt before.

Not even when he saw Renjun crying.

Never.

Just for Mark.

For the first time, he felt empathy.

-tbc-

AN: Sorry this update took 10 years I just got kinda busy ya know. Also I didn't know what to write after the Chenle thing but after talking to my friend I figured it out and have the story planned. Anyway, hope this wasn't to sad. Theres gonna be alooot of this kind of stuff thi sooo yeah. I love you spectacular kiwi!