The smoke cleared from the grounds. There, standing tall and proud was Isas, towering over his defeated shadow. He smirked in satisfaction.

It's over now...we're safe.

"ISAS!"

Isas whipped around to see Jumin, a side of his face covered in dried blood, dizzly stumbling over to him, supported by a pillar.

Isas smiled, letting out a light laugh before running towards him, lunging at him into a tight hug.

"Welcome back, man..." Jumin whispered weakly.

"It is- it's good to be back..." Isas replied.

Jumin smiled, but stopped once the ground beneath them began to shake vigorously and the castle began to collapse. Isas pushed away from Jumin, panic flooding his face.

"You have to leave! NOW!" Isas shouted.

"BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU?!" Jumin yelled back.

"I'LL BE FINE! JUST GO!"

"BUT-"

Isas went up to him and hugged him once more, heavier debris falling around them.

"I'll see you on the other side....now go!" He commanded.

Jumin gripped his shirt before nodding and letting go. He gave Isas one last smile before Kimi yelled for him to run.

"HURRY! WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME!" Suki cried.

Jumin nodded and ran away from the chaos. Isas smiled and went the other way, for he knew his own way out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The trio barely escaped with their lives as they all shot out of the waterfall and into the water itself.

The girls surfaced, gasping for air and swam to the shore, falling face down once they got to the grass, still gasping for air.

"Oh god...never...AGAIN!" Kimi gasped.

"Yes," Suki glupped for air, "I-I can agree with that..."

The girls were about to take a breath of relief, when they remembered something.

"JUMIN!!!'

They quickly stood and scanned the area, only to find him lying face up just a few feet where they themselves had landed. They raced over and fell beside him. He sat up once they fell next to him and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"THANK GODS YOU'RE OKAY!" Suki exclaimed, beginning to cry.

Kimi broke away from the hug, tears spilling from her eyes, and punched Jumin hard in the chest.

"OW!! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"IF YOU EVER DIE ON ME AGAIN, I SWEAR I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Kimi sobbed.

"Okay! Okay! I won't die....I'm..I'm sorry..."

Kimi sniffed, getting rid of any remaining tears in her eyes and on her face.

Jumin smiled at her, until something clicked in his head. He hastily took out his phone and checked the time. In only four seconds it became midnight.

"Something wrong?" Suki asked.

Jumin turned to look at them both, showing them his phone.

"Just turned midnight...March ninth..."

They both let out a quiet gasp.

"Does that mean...?"

A big smile crossed Jumin's face. "We did it. We won..."

The girls faces lit up. The trio suddenly began laughing, pulling each other into one tight hug, as tears began to fall.

They did it. They won! They saved Isas!

Then unexpectedly, a light shined through the trees.

"JUMIN! JUMIN!" Someone called. It was Jumin's father, holding a flashlight and searching for him.

"Dad?" Jumin questioned.

He broke away from the hug and stood up just as his father had stepped into the clearing. Relief crossed his face as he ran to the young brunette and embrace him in a protective hug.

"U-uh, dad-?"

"Don't you EVER scare me like that again! I thought you were dead!" Yu cried, gripping onto his son's hoodie.

Jumin was a bit stunned by the sudden burst of emotions, but they were truly justified. Jumin sighed and rested his chin on his father's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I broke our promise dad..." Jumin said.

Yu held him a little tighter before relaxing, rubbing Jumin's back.

"It's okay...I know you didn't mean to...it's kinda hard to promise not to die."

Jumin chuckled a bit. He broke away from the hug to face his father with a smile. Yu smiled back, when he noticed something. He brushed back Jumin's bangs to find a large scar going across the right side of his head.

Grey's gonna kill us...

"Does it hurt?" He asked.

Jumin shook his head. "J-just the inside of my head...and my entire body."

Yu nodded. "We'll get you fixed up in the morning. You just need rest for now..."

Jumin tiredly nodded as he rested his chin on his father's shoulder.

"C'mon, you at least have to be awake for the walk to the car. I'm too old to be carrying you like a baby!" Yu said.

Jumin sighed. "Fiiinneee."

Yu chuckled and patted his son's head. He looked up at the girls.

"You two wanna ride back home?" Yu asked.

"If it's not too much to ask...?" Suki asked.

Yu shook his head. "Not at all. Come on."

Suki nodded and the girls followed them out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suki was dropped off a little before 1am. She tiredly dragged herself to the front door as Yu's car left back to Jumin's house. She unlocked the front door, quietly stumbling into the hallway to find to her surprise, Akiniko, dead asleep on the couch.

Suki smiled.

He waited for me...He gave up going to sleep for...me.

Her smile than faltered.

But why for me...?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 9th, 20XX

Sunday

Noon/Midday

The trio had decided to sleep in for awhile before going to visit Isas. When they woke up, their bodies felt so sore they could hardly stand straight, but they still managed to drag themselves to the hospital.

Suki found Kimi and Jumin in the waiting room. Jumin had his hood up and was on his phone, while Kimi was falling asleep.

"Ugghhhh..." Kimi groaned.

"You slept for about twelve and a half hours, how are you still tired rather than in pain?" Jumin asked.

"Pain over powered me...I hardly slept a wink last night." She moaned in response.

"Really? My mom just gave me a bunch of pain killers and I was out."

"Your mom's weird."

"It runs in the family."

Suki walked over to them, a soft smile to her face.

"Oh, hey Suki!" Jumin greeted with a smile.

"Hey Suk.." Kimi groaned again.

"How's Isas? Can we see him?" She asked.

Jumin nodded. "We're waiting for them to give us the okay."

"Better be soon. Kimi doesn't seem like she can last much longer." Suki said jokingly.

Jumin chuckled quietly, trying not to make too much noise so he wouldn't draw attention to himself.

Just then, a nurse with a clipboard walked up to the trio.

"Are you friends of Isas Chikako?" She asked.

Jumin bit his lip and nodded.

"You can see him now. He just woke up."

Without another word, the trio rushed to Isas' hospital room. Kimi threw open the door, a big grin plastered on her face.

"We're-?!" Kimi started but stopped once they noticed something.

Isas was fine. He was sitting up in bed, looking as healthy as could be, but it was his eyes that were different. While his right eye was still its dark brown, his left...was clouded.

He was blind in one eye.

Isas smiled nervously. "W-well? What do you think?"

They were all silent. Isas sighed and looked down at his hands.

Jumin stepped forward and sat at the edge of his bed, looking at the floor as he held one of his hands.

Isas smiled.

The girls walked in. Kimi leaned up against the wall as Suki stood in front of the bed.

"So, how are you feeling? Is everything okay? Y-you know, besides the...y'know..." Kimi asked.

"Surprisingly, yes. Other than my poor vision, I am completely fine! It almost gave the doctor a heart attack of how fast I recovered." Isas replied, chuckling.

"Seriously?!" Jumin asked, a bit startled.

Isas nodded. "They said I could leave as soon as my grandmother comes with my younger sister to sign my release forms. Oh! And look. I found this by my bedside table."

He opened the drawer and pulled out an onyx black framed pair of glasses and placed them on. "What do you think?"

Jumin tilted his head and smiled. "They...they suit you. Really great."

Isas smiled, turning his attention to Suki.

"Ichika-San. I have to thank you. I mean, I thank you all but-you helped Jumin. You kept him alive! And...you saved me as well."

Suki bowed. "Of course, Isas. But I must ask you something. Your shadow...your entire castle..it was constantly bringing up 'perfecton.' Do you happened to know anything about that? Or, should I ask, do you know what I'm talking about?"

Isas looked down at the bed. "I...I have an understanding of it, yes....I just didn't think it was true."

He gripped the sheets tightly, gritted his teeth.

"I...I suppose I have some explaining to do, don't I?" Isas chuckled sadly.

"Isas...?"

Isas sighed before speaking again.

"For the longest time, I was taught to be the symbol of absolute perfection. Being that my parents are highly respected in their line of business. Because of this, they are hardly ever around now. But...when I was younger, they beat it over my head day in and day out. Literally and metaphorically...I had to be the perfect, obedient child. I was to study on my free time, I was to learn how to run a business and begin a company. I was to do some many things that no normal child would do and-and I hated it! And it was all to rule an industry that I have never wanted! To cheat people out of their money for personal gain? That's not at all what I wanted!"

Isas visibly began to shake with anger as he tightened his grip on the sheets.

"When I attended school, everyone envied me. I hated it. I had no friends because everyone thought I was "better than them." I was picked on but because of my parents status they never laid a hand on me but...it is possibly a sick thing to want, but I wanted them to pick on me. I wanted to be like...like everyone else..."

Isas turned his head to face Jumin.

"When I met you, you showed me a whole world. Sure, most of it was-actually all of it was in closed in your bedroom and other closed spaces-but I was the world of someone I wanted to be. A son with parents who absolutely love him and shower him with their constant support. A boy who could play with his best friend in the comfort of his really messy room and gorge on junk food for hours! I...I envied you. I was jealous-I will admit that. But I never hated you! I-I do not even understand why my shadow-or my subconscious would make you believe otherwise! I care about you, Jumin. You make me feel normal..."

Jumin did not face Isas. For a minute, he just looked down at the floor saying nothing.

"T-that is why I never said anything...I never told you what I felt because...I did not want to ruin you. I did not want our good times to end. I did not want our moments of freedom...to be dampened by me..." Isas concluded, tears in his eyes.

All eyes were on Jumin as he continued to look down. Everyone anxiously awaited his answer to it all.

"J-Jumin?"

"I-I...you shouldn't-ugh! You shouldn't be jealous of me Damnit!" Jumin blurted out.

He stood up and began pacing back and forth around the room.

"You shouldn't be jealous of me! I mean, look at me! Look at my fucking track record! I hardly ever went to school, spent most of time in my room, and I freak the fuck out everytime I'm alone or around more than a few people!" He exclaimed.

"But look at you now! You're in a hospital! You hate hospitals!"

"I'm here because I care about you! FUCK the hospital!"

"See! You are getting better!"

"Yeah because of you! I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you!"

"Well I wouldn't be alive if to wasn't for you!"

"I-I LOVE YOU MAN!" Jumin finally cried.

"I-I LOVE YOU TOO!" Isas cried back.

Now they were both in tears. Jumin lunged forward and hugged Isas tightly.

"Jesus, this shit just got-?! Suki?! You too?!"

Suki tirned to Kimi, tears flooding out her eyes. "I-it's just so sweet!"

Then Kimi started crying. "Damnit, now you got me going!"

Now, all four of them began crying their eyes out. They all wrapped each other in a tight group hug, almost sobbing before they heard the door open.

"Isas...?" A young voice broke in.

They all rose their heads to see a young girl with black hair, light brown eyes, and a blue uniform.

Isas' face lit up. "

The little girl ran, jumped on the bed, and wrapped her arms around Isas' neck.

Isas chuckled and looked up at the others. "Chiyoko, these are my friends. Jumin, Kimi, and Suki! Everyone, this is my younger sister, Chiyoko."

Chiyoko greeted them with a big smile. "Hi everyone!"

They all waved to her.

Chiyoko smiled and continued to hugged Isas' neck. "You get to come with us! You get to come home!"

Isas chuckled nervously. "Y-yes...but first...I need some time to myself. J-just for a bit."

"Oh..okay! We can have your welcome party tomorrow!"

Isas chuckled. "That would be lovely. Thank you..."

A doctor entered the room with Isas' grandmother.

"Are you ready to go, Isas?" His grandmother asked.

Isas nodded. "Yes....yes I am.

He looked up at Jumin and smiled warmly at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isas was escorted out with the others following behind him. Jumin was a bit behind for he was calling his parents to bring them the news. The minute he hung up, he ran to catch up with the others when he bumped into another teen boy dressed in all black.

"Oh, s-sorry! I-I-" Jumin stammered before looking up, his eyes widening in realization, and so did the other boy.

"O-oh...hey..."

The boy said nothing. He simply growled and walked away.

"Yeah...I knew you would do that..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isas sat alone on a bench in the park he first met Jumin. He smiled at the serenity.

"Hey..."

Isas looked up and saw Jumin. He smiled warmly at him. "Hello."

Jumin smiled and sat down next to him. For a while, they sat there saying nothing, doing nothing. Just gazing.

Then, Isas spoke, a solemn expression on his face. "I-I'm sorry Jumin..."

"Sorry for what?"

"For everything...for lying to you, for keeping things from you, for almost killing you...I-I...You're my best friend, my confidant, my family...And I-"

Jumin suddenly hugged Isas, shutting him up.

"Not all princes become kings...and sometimes...that's a good thing."

Isas smiled as the tears ran down his face. "I-I suppose you are right Jumin...I suppose you are right..."