Dinner that night was an awkward affair for everyone except for Kibum.

Kibum sat at his spot at the table, in between Heechul and Key, quietly picking at his meal of plain chicken , wild rice, and steamed broccoli with his fork. He could distinctly see that Mir and Donghae were glancing at him every now and then, staring at him as if he were some sort of animal in the zoo. An unnatural hush had fallen over the room, but it was clear that everyone had something to say but was biting their tongues.

“Kibum, would you like something else to eat?” Heechul said finally, noticing that Kibum had barely touched his supper. He’d noticed that Kibum had lost some weight, but Dr. Choi had explained that the medication Kibum was on sometimes made him feel nauseous and he wouldn’t eat. He knew that it was more than likely that Kibum had probably lost his appetite again and would return to his normal picky eating habit.

“I’m not very hungry,” Kibum replied quietly, pushing around a piece of broccoli. “Can I be excused, please?”

“You may,” Heechul agreed with a nod, deciding that he would just bring a snack up to him later when it was time for his nightly dose of medication.

Kibum thanked him quietly and left without another word. He slowly walked upstairs to his bedroom, pausing twice on his way there. First he went into Key’s room and stole the fluffy down comforter from his bed, and then he stopped at the end of the hall to turn on the lamp before he entered his room. He dumped the blanket on the mattress before crawling under it and making himself comfortable. As he lay there, he could hear voices floating up from downstairs and wondered if they were talking about him.

Neither Donghae nor Mir had spoken a word to him all afternoon, which made him think that Heechul had probably warned them from bothering him or causing too much noise and commotion. That or they just didn’t know what to say because the last time they’d seen him hadn’t been in the best circumstance. He honestly just wanted both of them to stay the hell away from him. Brothers weren’t supposed to lie to each other and the fact that they had made him feel like a complete joke that they could laugh at when he wasn’t around made him never want to forgive them.

He closed his eyes, all the thoughts in his head washing away until his mind went blank. Everything went numb, but he felt comfortable that way. He wished that he was in his room at the hospital, safe and secure with the quiet company of his nurse and doctor. They had assured him that he was ready to return to normal life at home, even though he had insisted that he didn’t feel ready. It didn’t matter now, though. He was home and he would just have to deal with it.

There was a knock on his doorframe and a moment later Heechul walked into the room, sitting down on the mattress next to him. He smiled lightly at Kibum, reaching over to his cheek lovingly. “I’m really happy that you’re home, Kibum. I missed you so much.”

Kibum slowly placed his hand on top of Heechul’s, feeling the warmth of it against his face. He unconsciously leaned into the touch, yearning for more. He didn’t want to admit it, but he had missed Heechul too. The unfortunate part was that he was mad at Heechul for lying to him and convincing his brothers to lie to him as well.

“I’m mad at you,” He whispered, although he didn’t pull away from Heechul.

“I know you are,” Heechul said quietly, bringing Kibum’s hand up to kiss it. “It’s okay that you’re mad and when you’re ready we can talk about it. If you need time to be mad at me then I understand. I just want you to know that I love you and I will always love you.”

“I love you too,” Kibum told him, looking up at him. Even if he was mad, Heechul meant the world to him and he had missed him more than he missed his own parents, which was why it was so hard to forgive him.

“There is a lot to talk about but it can wait until tomorrow,” Heechul said, running his fingers through Kibum’s hair. “Anyways, you have had a long day and it’s getting late. Come downstairs so you can take your meds, okay?”

Kibum nodded and rolled off the mattress, trying to free himself from the sea of blanket. Once he was out he stood up and followed Heechul out of his room. There were still voices coming from the kitchen, but this time they didn’t stop when he entered the room. He glanced towards the table where Donghae and Mir were talking animatedly over their homework assignments while Key stood at the sink washing the dishes. He leaned against the counter, watching silently as Heechul took out four small orange bottles from the medicine cabinet next to the refrigerator.

“I picked up your prescriptions while you were asleep earlier,” Heechul said conversationally, taking a single pill from each bottle. He lined them up in a row on the counter before opening the fridge and pulled out a mini carton of chocolate milk, handing it over to Kibum and beckoning him to take the pills. “I was reading all the directions and they’re supposed be taken with food. We can go to the store tomorrow and pick out some snacks for you, but for now chocolate milk has enough calories.”

Kibum raised his eyebrows at him, smirking slightly as he grabbed his anti-everything pills and the sleeping pill that he took at night and swallowed all of them at once. “That’s what Jongwoon gave me at first, but then I projectile vomited all over him twice because for some strange reason dairy made me really sick. But that was weeks ago. I’m sure I’ll be fine. Good night.”

Heechul stared at him horrified, grabbing up the pill containers and reading them more thoroughly. Key whirled around, pointing the scrubby brush at Kibum as water dripped all over the floor.

“You put my blanket back in my room or so help me God I will murder you,” He said in a firm voice, glaring at his brother. Kibum ignored him, walking back to his room for the night. “I’m warning you, Kibum! I will kill you!”

~continuum~

The following morning Heechul awoke to his least favorite sound in the world: rain. He could hear it loudly pounding on the roof and against the windows. Thunder rolled in the near distance and seconds later his room lit up as lightening struck through the sky. He groaned unhappily knowing that h