Sehun ditches all rationality and dashes into the clearing, throwing himself onto Jongin, using his body as a shield. He bites his lip in an effort to not cry out, for Jongin will recognise his voice.

Eventually the bullies go away, and Sehun hurriedly limps off before Jongin has a chance to stop him. He manages to leave before Jongin even gets up, but he knows that Jongin knows it's him. The backpack Jongin gave him is on his shoulders—the one he painstakingly decorated for hours, just to get the perfect look.

But that's in the past. No longer would Jongin do things like that for him. Now, if he were to do anything like that, it'd be for Kyungsoo.

Everything is for Kyungsoo nowadays.

Sehun blinks, and only then does he realise that he's crying. Brushing the tears off his cheeks, Sehun limps into his house, heading for his room immediately before his parents can ask him if he's okay.

Weeks pass, and Jongin's still as lovey dovey as ever to Kyungsoo. Sehun doesn't realise it, but he's fallen into a state of depression. No longer does he smile at Chanyeol's cheesy grins and incessant jokes, at Tao's aegyo, or at Chen's trolling. His face is expressionless almost all the time, and he even finds himself thinking of suicide.

Everyone notices. Xiumin attempts to drag him to go shopping with Tao, Luhan keeps asking him to hang out, and Kris even tries to have a heart-to-heart talk with him. But Sehun always brushes them off, giving halfhearted excuses which everyone knows are lies.

Soon, they notice the scars on Sehun's wrists. Each day, there are fresh cuts that have barely scabbed over. Sehun barely eats at lunch, and eventually he doesn't even go to the lunchroom with them. Suho and Yixing go and look for him one day, and they find him crying in one of the toilet stalls, not even having bothered to lock the door.

They know this can't go on. Baekhyun tries to talk to Jongin and tell him about Sehun's depression, but Jongin brushes him off the moment Kyungsoo comes bounding over. Baekhyun sighs, knowing Jongin barely listened to him.

They decide to talk to Sehun instead, and when the lunch bell rings and Sehun is about to sneak off to the toilet to slice at his wrists again after seeing Jongin and Kyungsoo secretly joke and giggle behind the teacher's back, they corner him in the classroom as the other students file out.

Sehun merely laughs mirthlessly when the nine boys finish talking. They've been trying to convince him to brighten up, to look at the bright side of things, and other cheerful stuff for the past ten minutes. Sehun smiles a small, sad smile, and quietly replies, "Don't worry. It'll all be over soon." The boys sigh and leave the classroom, except for Luhan, who turns around and pulls Sehun into a tight hug.

"Don't cut yourself anymore, okay? You have no idea how much my heart hurts when I see those scars on your wrists..." Luhan murmurs, sniffling. "Promise me, Sehunnie..."

Sehun smiles another small, sad smile, rubbing circles on Luhan's back comfortingly, "I won't. I promise." Because there won't be a need for me to cut after today, Sehun thinks to himself.

Because Sehun overheard the bullies' conversation in the toilet.

They were planning to stab Jongin in the alley he always took as a shortcut home, make it look like a robbery, and they'd have Kyungsoo back.

It turned out that they were a gang, and Kyungsoo was their leader. However, once Kyungsoo started dating Jongin, the latter managed to convince him that being in a gang was wrong, and Kyungsoo left the gang, telling the others to stop getting involved in gang fights with other high schools and to lead decent lives.

Perhaps it was his overwhelming feelings that prevented him from thinking straight, or perhaps it was the fact that he just loved Jongin too much, and was blinded by his love, but Sehun immediately realised what he should have known all along.

​He would die for Jongin.

​If Jongin was truly happy with Kyungsoo, then he'd do anything to allow Jongin to be with Kyungsoo.

Because that's what people who love each other do, right? They do anything to make the other person happy, because they're contented if the person they love is happy.

As long as Jongin is happy, he'll be happy too.

​Sehun quietly follows the gang of five boys, holding a knife he nicked from the kitchen. His parents rarely returned home anyways; they always spent the night at the hospital they worked at. They always said it was because the hospital they worked at was too far from home and that it'd be a hassle to return home—but Sehun knows better. He knows they simply don't love him anymore. Not after he confessed he's gay.

Peeking out from behind a corner, he watches as they follow Jongin and Kyungsoo, waiting for the perfect time to launch his attack. He watches as Kyungsoo answers a call—or did he make the call? Sehun can't tell.

Sehun knows that shielding Jongin with his body, like how he usually does, won't work now, as the bullies are wielding knives and broken beer bottles. They'd kill him and then kill Jongin.

He follows them as they walk past several shops, before finally reaching the alley. He bites his lip, watching as the bullies push Jongin against a wall, one of them pulling Kyungsoo towards them, most probably convincing him to rejoin their gang.

Their leader, the only one wielding a knife, punches Jongin in the jaw, holding the knife against his throat. Sehun gulps, knowing he can't rush out now, for there are no weak spots in the leader's defence—the other four members are standing around him in a semicircle, effectively protecting him.

The leader draws the knife back, cutting a small slit in Jongin's throat. He holds the knife above his head, smirking and saying words to Jongin that Sehun can't make out. Then, he holds the knife even higher, gaining momentum.

Sehun gasps, quickly screaming out, "No!" The leader hesitates for a split second, and that's more than enough time for Sehun. He dashes to Jongin, flinging his arms out in an effort to shield him, just as the knife stabs into his stomach.

The leader smirks, swiftly pulling the knife out and stabbing Sehun again in the chest. "Serves you right for interfering every time we beat that Kim Jongin up." He scoffs, as Sehun slumps against the wall, blood oozing out of the two wounds on his body.

"Dongseok! Kyungsoo called the police!" One of the other four guys suddenly speaks up, showing Kyungsoo's phone to his leader. He'd been trying to delete Jongin's phone number, and everything related to Jongin, when he'd accidentally clicked on the call register and realised Kyungsoo had called the police.

Dongseok's face darkens, slowly and menacingly making his way towards Kyungsoo, whose eyes are wide with fright.

"Betraying your gang already, Kyungie? What a shame." Dongseok scoffs, purposely using the nickname Jongin gave Kyungsoo. He raises his knife, about to plunge it into Kyungsoo's abdomen, when he is stopped in his tracks by a loud siren. One gang member even drops his beer bottle in shock.

The police have arrived.

"Police! Don't move!" One of the officers shout, and Kyungsoo takes advantage of the gang's shocked state, pushing them aside and lunging for the dropped beer bottle. He's almost reached it when Dongseok comes to his senses and stabs deeply into Kyungsoo's leg. Kyungsoo screams in pain, and Jongin hurriedly runs over to him.

Within seconds, all the five members of the gang are arrested, and an officer quickly calls for two ambulances. Sehun watches Jongin and Kyungsoo hug each other tightly, and he smiles weakly, happy that they can be together, yet heartbroken that he's forgotten yet again. His fingers dig into his pocket slowly but surely, and he clutches the small keychain that's inside.

Soon, the ambulances arrive, and as Sehun expected, Jongin goes with Kyungsoo. As the doors close and they drive off to the hospital, Sehun cries silently.

A single tear falls from his left eye, and at that exact moment, Sehun dies, his grip on the keychain loosening.

Luhan and the other boys rush to the hospital the moment they're notified of Sehun's death. The doctor's just finished checking the cause of death, and is about to exit the room just as the nine boys arrive.

"I'm sorry. Your friend could have survived; he was brought to the hospital in time, but he lost the will to live." The doctor apologises. "The paramedics in the ambulance with him told me that he cried right before dying. They think it's because the tanned boy—Jongin-ssi, I believe—went with Kyungsoo-ssi, and not him. He was holding this in his hand when he died." The doctor gestures to the keychain on the bedside table, before bowing slightly and leaving the room.

"That son of a—" Kris bangs on the table angrily, about to leave to go find Jongin (and possibly beat him up), but is stopped by Tao. The nineteen-year-old shakes his head, his eyes pleading, and Kris slumps down in a chair, ruffling his hair in frustration.

Luhan picks up the keychain with a shaking hand, recognising the keychain as the one Jongin dragged him to a shop to make for Sehun's birthday. He'd kept asking him questions, like if he thought Sehun would like the colour or if he thought the design suited Sehun.

A tear falls from Luhan's eye as he realises that Sehun still loved Jongin, even when he was about to die because of him. Another tear falls as Luhan realises that Sehun had made the promise to him because he had already known he would die. Because he had decided to die.

Yet another tear falls as Luhan regrets.

He regrets not telling Sehun that he loved him earlier.

---

So, I've finally finished this!

Sorry for taking so long to write this. I kinda fell into a slump...

I only got inspiration in the late hours of last night when I was woozy from the medicine I'd taken. (Yup, I have a cold >.<)

Ugh, you have no idea how much I had to research for this... Forgive me if there are any mistakes, Google barely supplied any useful answers. =__=

Good news: I'm writing another TaoRis fic!

I've been having so many TaoRis feels recently... <3

Edit [1/1/2013]: Sorry if you get false updates, I'm editing the chapters ^^