When he opened his eyes the room was still dark, which meant it was totally not time to be awake yet. Kibum rolled over in bed and squinted warily across the room to where Mir’s alarm clock was sitting on the dresser. It was hardly three in the morning, so he was ready to just snuggle back into his blankets and fall asleep again when he noticed something wasn’t right. He sat up and looked around the room and quickly realized that Mir was no longer sleeping next to Donghae. He figured that the younger boy had probably just left to go sleep with Heechul, but then he heard a noise from the living room and decided to go investigate.

He slung his legs over side of the bed and stood up tiredly, shuffling out of the room. The sudden movement made him realize that the ache in his stomach had not yet gone away yet from eating dinner. He really wished Heechul hadn’t made him eat more than usual, but it was too late now. When he entered the living room he found Mir sitting on the couch playing on Heechul’s phone. He looked up when Kibum walked over and sat down beside him.

“What are you doing awake?” Mir asked him curiously, not looking up from the screen.

“Looking for you,” Kibum told him. Mir hummed in response but didn’t answer; his attention was completely focused on the game he was playing. It was that one where you popped the bubbles that matched and was completely pointless and addicting, a great way to waste time.

“Can I tell you something? Only if you promise to keep it a secret?” Mir asked him quietly, finally looking away from the phone.

“Well it depends on what it is,” Kibum said carefully.

“Oh, okay. Never mind then,” Mir said, going back to the game. Kibum watched him as he played silently, wandering what it was that he wanted to say. It could have been important, although he didn’t sound too serious.

“You can tell me, though, if you want,” Kibum said, twiddling his thumbs together and trying to ignore the growing dullness in his stomach. Mir thought for a second and nodded and put the phone aside, scooting a little so that he was facing Kibum completely and put on a serious face.

“I’m going to skip school tomorrow,” He said in a grave voice.

“How come? Because of that project thing you have to do? You shouldn’t skip school, Mir, that’s not good and you’ll be in a lot of trouble if you get caught,” Kibum told him, trying not to outright lecture him; it wasn’t his place.

“I know, but I just...” Mir said, his voice cracking slightly and his eyes watered up. “I can’t do it anymore! No one likes me there and I’m so alone and I hate it. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong but no one wants to be my friend.”

Kibum was silent as Mir wiped away endless tears. Honestly, he knew a lot about how Mir was feeling. After dealing with the whispers and accusations from peers at school, there just comes a time when a person will break and just can’t take it anymore. Of course, that was one of the reasons he had started doing the drugs, but Mir was nothing like him and really had nothing to turn to.

“It’s hard, isn’t it? Especially when there’s nothing you can do to make it stop. They make you feel worthless and unwanted, but really it’s them. They’re the ones who are messed up because they think its okay to shun others for really stupid things. You’re not doing anything wrong, Mir, they are,” Kibum told him softly.

Mir stared at him with watery eyes. Kibum had just said everything that he needed to hear and for some reason that just made Mir feel so relieved. He leaned over and hugged Kibum tightly, burying his face in his shoulder.

“Thank you,” He whispered in a wavering voice, “Thank you so much, Kibum.”

Kibum smiled softly and patted Mir’s back comfortingly. He was about to say something else, but that’s when the nausea hit him hard. He pulled away from Mir and clenched his eyes shut tightly, holding his aching stomach with one of his arms.

“Kibum, what’s wrong?” Mir asked worriedly. But Kibum didn’t answer him; instead he quickly stood up and made his way into the bathroom. He didn’t bother turning the