As he stared up at the ceiling, Kibum felt his stomach grumble painfully from lack of food it’d had lately. He didn’t remember the last time he’d actually went into the kitchen, where the cupboards held the same stale food as it had a month ago. There wasn’t much left, but he knew that there was a box of saltine crackers and some peanut butter. But just the thought of eating made his stomach twist and turn queasily. So once again, it was another day of not eating. Not that it mattered, really, because Kibum had no intentions of actually getting out of bed.

The newly turned sixteen year old, having spent his birthday last week alone in his room, rolled over in his bed and sighed softly, closing his eyes and burying his face into his pillow. He didn’t know what time it was, or even what day, but since there were rays of sunlight leaking through the curtains of the window, he knew it had to be sometime in the afternoon. And still, he refused to get out of the bed. He was content to lay there for the rest of his life, hoping that if he stayed there long enough without getting up to eat or anything, that his body would finally just give up and let him die. Because quite frankly, he didn’t actually like cutting himself. When he’d saw the blood spilling out over his wrists, Kibum was taken back to that night, and the memories would take over.

The coppery smell was so vivid in his mind, and the dark, velvet red liquid that streamed over his fingers was just – Stop. Stop it. Go away, just disappear, Kibum thought, clenching his eyes shut as if it would stop his chain of thoughts. But he knew it was futile; nothing was going make him forget that night. The memories would just keep replaying in his head, driving him towards insanity…if he hadn’t reached that point already.

Breaking him from his thoughts, Kibum sat up quickly when he heard the front door open and slam shut. He narrowed his eyes and watched his door as footsteps could be heard drawing closer to his room. There was only one person who would barge into the house unannounced.

“Hey! I come bearing food!” Tiffany said with a bright smile, walking into Kibum’s bedroom. He watched her with blank eyes as she set down a bundle on the floor and headed over to the window, throwing open the curtains so that sunlight burst into the room, causing Kibum to wince and cover his eyes at the sudden brightness.

“I brought your favorites, cooked everything myself!” She bragged, picking the basket up and sitting next to her boyfriend. She pulled off a cloth and revealed a few Tupperware bowls of kimchi, fried rice, and a few other meals that would last Kibum at least a week. If only the refrigerator actually worked…

Kibum nodded slightly but said nothing.

“So, I heard some of the teachers talking about you at school today,” She told him, setting the basket of food on the floor. “They were saying that you haven’t been to school since you left the hospital, and that was over a month ago. When are you coming back, Kibum?” Tiffany asked, a hint of hope evident in her voice. Although they only had one class together, she really wished he’d come back to school. Hiding out all alone in the house wasn’t helping anything.

Kibum shrugged his shoulders and scooted back to lean against the wall. He felt weak and shaky from not eating in so long.

Tiffany sighed and they sat there in silence for several long minutes. She moved back to sit next to him and took his hand into her own, softly tracing her fingers over his and slowly moved up his wrists. She pushed up the edge of his sleeve and slid her fingertips over the red, raised skin where Kibum had cut himself. She had freaked out two weeks ago when she’d come to visit him and saw that he’d done it again. A horrible scen