Chanyeol starts to get really sick, really fast. The chemo doesn't help, just amplifies his headaches and mix of schoolwork with his cancer stresses him out to the point that he can barely hold on. It's a Monday morning as he walks into the school building. He chooses to go in early because if Yifan sees him like this, he's sure to be given an earful. He's stumbling all over the place and he feels like he's going to topple over at any time. He regrets even deciding to go to school today.

Baekhyun and Jongdae are the first to see him as he stumbles into the school building, and both inhale sharply as they pick up their pace and hurry over to him.

"Chan! Are you okay?!" Baekhyun hollers, and Chanyeol leans into the arm that's wrapped tightly around his waist. It keeps him steady and Baekhyun's grasp is warm as it always is.

"I don't know." Chanyeol answers honestly, and his attention shifts down the hall where Jongin is making his way with Sehun and Yixing following closely behind him.

"I'll uh, head to class first."

Seeing that the trio is making their way over tells Chanyeol that it's about time before Minseok and Joonmyeon do the same, and Chanyeol doesn't want to worry them any more than he already does with his worsening condition.

Jongdae and Baekhyun share a glance, and then Jongdae wraps an arm tightly around Chanyeol's, and his grip is unyielding, "I'll take you to class today, no but's."

Chanyeol wants to laugh at this point, because ironically enough, he wouldn't have rejected the help today in the first place.

"Keep him safe, will you?" Baekhyun asks quietly as the couple shares another glance. Then, Baekhyun strolls ahead of them to where Jongin and the others are in order to intercept them. Chanyeol's grateful to know Baekhyun understands why he wants to leave so suddenly.

"Come on, Chan." Jongdae mutters quietly, and they start off in the direction of Chanyeol's classroom silently. Silently, that is, until Jongdae breaks the silence with a quiet but curious question,

"Does Kris know?"

Chanyeol shakes his head in reply and as they enter the classroom, Chanyeol just takes the seat he's used to sitting in usually. Jongdae sighs at his response, or lack thereof, and opts to hop up onto another desk and watch him.

"I don't... Dae, I don't think I have much time left." Chanyeol finally sounds out, and he's glad there's no one else in the room to hear their conversation. He wouldn't know what to say to any of them, either,

"I just want the rest of my days to be... you know...?"

Jongdae sighs as he hops off the desk he had tried to make himself comfortable on, and steps forward, one hand rubbing Chanyeol's back as yet another sigh escapes his lips,

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't be taking care of yourself."

"I'm fine, Dae." Chanyeol croaks out, though he doesn't know if he's trying to convince Jongdae or himself. The subject is dropped after that, because there's the sound of someone's footsteps nearing the classroom and both of them turn to the door to watch. It's Yifan himself, and he pauses by the door as he takes in Chanyeol's state.

"I'll get going." Jongdae says as he walks away, brushing shoulders with Yifan. Chanyeol doesn't expect for the both of them to glance at one another and he definitely doesn't expect the way Yifan's eyes sparkle with unshed tears as Jongdae raises a hand behind him in a half-hearted wave,

"Maybe you can convince him to take care of himself."

When he's gone from view, Chanyeol and Yifan just stare at one another for a few moments. Chanyeol wonders what's going on in Yifan's head, but judging by the expression, it's fairly obvious that he knows from just the silent conversation he's had with Jongdae what's going on.

"You have a habit of avoiding me when things go wrong, but I was hoping I was off this time. I wish I could be more relieved about this." Yifan whispers, and Chanyeol feels a few tears trailing down his cheeks at Yifan's heartbreaking words.

The next thing he knows, Yifan's in the classroom and holding him by the shoulders. It's a little awkward since Chanyeol's sitting and there's a desk in the way, but Chanyeol buries his face in the taller male's chest anyway because even this small action gives him comfort.

"Yifan I get more and more scared as days pass." Chanyeol sobs right into his shirt, and Yifan doesn't seem to realize or care that his shirt will be soaked through due to Chanyeol's tears.

"Don't be. I'm here." Yifan whispers once more, and Chanyeol can faintly feel the press of Yifan's lips against his hair. He inhales sharply, and his tears still upon the contact. Does Yifan even realize what he's saying, or what he's doing?

"Yifan-" Chanyeol gasps out, and it's not because of Yifan's startling display of affection as much as he wishes it could be. He grips onto the hem of Yifan's shirt and he can feel himself losing his grip on reality.

"Chanyeol! Chan!" Yifan calls hysterically and he pulls back to cradle Chanyeol's face in his hands to inspect him better.

Chanyeol doesn't register anything but the look of pure pain that dances in Yifan's gaze. He hates that he's the reason for Yifan's pain, and wishes he never got close to Yifan in the first place. At least then, Yifan wouldn't be looking like this- crying like this.

"I love you." Is all that he can hear himself say, and then his eyes roll back and he's unconscious.

He doesn't really know what happens next. He just knows that he finds himself awake later inside a hospital room. The beeps of the several machines around him are deafening and he wants to ask if they can turn it off, but his voice is crackling and he knows they won't listen to him anyway.

"Chanyeol? Baby?" It's his mother. He turns his head slowly to find both his mother and father sitting there looking solemn. They're not alone, either. They're in a large, private room that Chanyeol knows they can't afford, but because of the space, Baekhyun, Jongdae, and even Joonmyeon are in the room with his parents.

"M-mom?" Chanyeol asks in return, and the next thing he knows, his mother is full out sobbing and throws her body over his, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"Stop crying." He begs quietly, and his fingers run through her hair. She's lost a lot of weight and her skin's almost as pale as his is.

"What do you mean don't cry?!" His mother exclaims, and she even hits his shoulder to exclaim her anger towards him. Chanyeol winces a little but he can't help the smile that spreads across his face.

"Your heart stopped a couple of times." His father speaks up suddenly, and Chanyeol's ears perk up because he didn't think it was this bad earlier.

"I'm fine now." Chanyeol reassures them both, and he squeezes his mother by the shoulder in an attempt to prove his words,

"You're both so warn out. Go home and get some rest, for me. Please?"

It takes some coaxing, but eventually, Chanyeol convinces them to go and take the rest of the day off. Baekhyun helps by promising them he'll be with Chanyeol until he's kicked out. Joonmyeon even agrees to take them home and walks out with them. Chanyeol thanks him quietly but Joonmyeon never turns in his direction.

When he's left with Baekhyun and Jongdae, he realizes something's wrong. They're silent towards him and when he looks in their direction neither of them are looking back at him.

"Yifan, is he okay?" He finally asks, and both of his friends slowly drag their gazes over to him.

"Chan, you should forget about him." Baekhyun says quietly, and he turns away as Chanyeol's gaze finds him.

"Why?" Chanyeol questions, and he wishes it's just Baekhyun's overprotective side speaking but even Jongdae's a little wary as he shifts on his feet.

"Yifan- he called the ambulence and told us to come help you- and then he disappeared." Jongdae explains, and Chanyeol's heart breaks.

"It's fine." He lies, and he closes his eyes as he remembers the look of pure fright in Yifan's eyes before he couldn't see them anymore.

"Chan..." Baekhyun mutters and he walks forward, placing a hand in Chanyeol's hair to soothe him.

"No, it's best this way." Chanyeol tells him honestly, this time. He believes it to be true even if it hurts. So long as he knows Yifan will be alright, it doesn't matter if they're not together anymore.

"Why is it best this way? Don't you have feelings for him?" Jongdae asks, and Chanyeol slowly opens his eyes to look over at Jongdae.

"I do. That's why I have to let him go. So he can be happy again."

Baekhyun sighs and he opens his mouth like he's going to argue about something but his cellphone dings and he quickly fishes it out.

"That's probably Yixing. He went out to find Yifan." Jongdae explains, and he and Baekhyun huddle together to read and answer whatever it is that Yixing has sent them.

Chanyeol, on the other hand, just shakes his head and weakly holds out his hand, "No. Tell Yixing to stop. Yifan's the kind who runs when he's scared. You'll make things worse. Just let him... just let him be."

He's getting a little weak again as he speaks and both Baekhyun and Jongdae are quick to return their attention to him.

"I'm a litte tired, so I'll sleep. You guys can get going." Chanyeol tells them sleepily.

"Are you sure?" Baekhyun asks, glancing back at the phone in his hands. No doubt he's still thinking about Yifan.

"I'll be fine." He reassures them.

The two of them look at one another and then they back away from Chanyeol's bed because they both know that maybe it's best to leave him alone for a while after all.

"Make sure you're still here when we come back, okay?" Jongdae asks, and he's half joking though there's fear dancing in his eyes.

Chanyeol's grin is weak but it's a grin nonetheless. Seconds later, after hearing the soft clang the door makes as it closes, Chanyeol drifts off to sleep once more. He doesn't dream of anything. He likes to thank his medication for that, because he's not sure if he'd like the things he'd see as he sleeps. And he's sure he'll sleep all night through, until some time late at night when a pair of lips brush against his own. When his eyes open, there's Yifan. He looks discheveled and like he's been crying the past several hours since they've last seen one another. The moonlight makes Yifan's blonde hair shine.

Yifan's about to pull back, breathing heavy and eyes still closed, but Chanyeol brings a hand up to his hair and pulls him right back for another kiss.

"I'm scared too, Chanyeol." Yifan admits against his lips.