Suho and the others burst into the room. They became silent at the sight. In surprise, Chanyeol’s grip loosened slightly, and Baekhyun gasped shallowly for precious air. Chanyeol stared at Suho with large, apprehensive eyes, who stared back in the same way. Baekhyun, eyes still closed, whimpered quietly like a puppy, tired and weak. Finally, Suho broke the silence.

            “Chanyeol, what are you doing?”

            Chanyeol didn’t answer. Suho and the others approached him. Suho looked at the thin, dark black belt around Baekhyun’s neck. D.O. pointed out a knife lying on the floor with fresh blood on its edge.

            “What happened here?” D.O. asked. “This looks worse than just another fight.”

            “Let go of him,” Suho said.

            Chanyeol released Baekhyun, who was pulled away by Kai and Sehun. The thin, dark black belt hung limp in Chanyeol’s hand. Suho looked at the knife.

            “Whose blood is this?” he asked.

            “Mine,” Chanyeol said. He turned his left arm to show the gash on the side of his forearm, near his elbow. Blood was still leaking out of it. Suho quivered.

            “D.O., clean his arm, and make sure that knife stays away from both of them.”

            D.O. nodded and went to the kitchen sink with a paper towel. Suho turned his attention to Baekhyun, who was dragged well away from Chanyeol. Kai was lying on the floor with Baekhyun’s head on his shoulder, and Sehun was sitting up holding Baekhyun’s limp hand.

            “He’s okay,” Kai said when Suho approached. “He’s still breathing really shallowly, but he should be better after a few minutes.”

            “That’s good to hear,” Suho said. “We’ll need him to explain what happened.”

            “Why not ask Chanyeol?” Sehun said. Chanyeol looked over at them.

            “I don’t think Chanyeol would truthfully tell us what happened,” Suho replied. “Look, he almost killed Baekhyun. He’s a monster.”

            Hearing this, Chanyeol became tense, and he glared at Suho. D.O. paused a moment from cleaning Chanyeol’s arm.

            “Don’t listen to him,” he told Chanyeol, trying to calm him down. “Just ignore him.”

            “I’m the monster?” Chanyeol murmured to himself. His heartbeat was speeding up.

            “Chanyeol.” D.O. put his left arm over Chanyeol’s shoulder and tried to make him look at him instead. “Chanyeol, look at me.”

            Chanyeol resisted.

            “Chanyeol, did Baekhyun cut you?”

            Chanyeol continued glaring at Suho. When Suho turned his head to look at him, Chanyeol’s glare intensified.

            “Don’t look at me like that, you monster,” Suho said.

            Chanyeol mouth opened slightly, and he was taking faster and shallower breaths.

            “Suho, please don’t anger him more,” D.O. said, still trying to redirect Chanyeol’s attention.

            “Maybe you shouldn’t clean his arm at all. Look what he did to Baekhyun. He could have done this to any of us. He’s a—”

            “NO!” Chanyeol yelled. In a sudden burst of energy, he pushed D.O. away and pounced at Suho. They fell down on top of Baekhyun and Kai, who cried out sharply in pain. Kai pushed them off of him, and Chanyeol drove Suho’s head hard into the floor. Suho cried out in pain and was unable to get up for a moment. But that moment was all Chanyeol needed.

            D.O. jumped to Suho’s aid, and Chanyeol leapt back on top of Baekhyun. Baekhyun strained futilely to move, and Kai and Sehun struggled to push Chanyeol off of him. Chanyeol yelled, telling them not to try to stop him. He held up a thin, dark black belt, ends in each hand. He swiftly wrapped it around Baekhyun’s neck and pulled the ends with as much strength as he had. Baekhyun wriggled like a broken ragdoll, weak and helpless. He had no energy to fight.

            Suho and D.O. were now trying to push Chanyeol off of Baekhyun. But Chanyeol pulled tighter and tighter. Baekhyun made a last desperate gasp for air, and then his body went completely limp. Suho finally grabbed a handful of Chanyeol’s hair, yanked him off of Baekhyun, and threw him against the wall. The room became deathly still.

            After a long moment of stillness filled only with the sounds of exhausted, labored breaths, D.O. kneeled down near Baekhyun’s limp body. Kai and Sehun gazed at him as well. Suho turned his head and saw Baekhyun lying very still. Fear and dread spread through his arms and legs, and he fell down next to Baekhyun. Everyone except Chanyeol stared down at the body. Then Kai turned.

            “You monster!” he yelled at Chanyeol. He jumped at him and shoved him into the floor. “You monster! Look what you’ve done!” Kai’s voice became shaky and weak as tears rolled down from his eyes.

            “Baekhyun…” Sehun touched Baekhyun’s hand, hoping for a response. But there was none. Tears welled up in his eyes.

            “Chanyeol…what have you done…”D.O. said quietly to himself.

            “Chanyeol…” Suho said. He turned toward him. “Chanyeol…you are a murderer!” Suho jumped at Chanyeol and flattened him into the ground. “You murderer! You killer! You monster! I’ll send you to hell a thousand times for what you’ve done to Baekhyun!”

            “Wait!” a voice called out behind him. Suho, with a fist readied over Chanyeol’s head, turned his own head toward Baekhyun. D.O. had the side of his head on top of Baekhyun’s chest.

            “What?” Suho said through gritted teeth and shock.

            “Baekhyun’s…not dead,” D.O. answered.

            “What?” Suho said again, his eyes and mouth opening.

            “He’s not dead,” D.O. repeated. “His heart is still beating.”

            Suho shot off of Chanyeol and slipped down over Baekhyun.

            “Listen,” D.O. said, lifting his head up. Suho put his hands around Baekhyun’s shoulders, caressing him, and put his ear over Baekhyun’s heart. It was true. He was still alive.

            “Baekhyun’s still alive!” Suho said in an excited gasp of relief. “He’s still alive!”

            “Of course he is,” Chanyeol said bluntly. All eyes turned to him.

            “What do you mean?” D.O. asked.

            “Did you think I actually wanted to kill him?” he replied.

            “Umm, yes?”

            “Hmph. Carry him and put him back in his bed.”

            “Why?”

            “I will explain everything to you.” Chanyeol said. “All truthfully.” Suho told Kai to get off of Chanyeol, and Baekhyun was carried into his room and gently laid down in his bed.

 

            Chanyeol was sitting in his bed, being closely watched by Kai and Sehun. D.O. and Suho were sitting on Baekhyun’s bed looking at him. Suho looked at Chanyeol.

            “Explain,” he said.

            “How much do you want me to explain?”

            “Why did you choke Baekhyun until he went unconscious?”

            “I…as you guys probably know, Baekhyun and I fight every so often,” Chanyeol started.

            “Yeah. And?” Suho interjected.

            “It makes me so miserable when we fight, because I…love him so much.”

            “If you love him so much, why did you choke him?”

            “I realized that it also makes Baekhyun miserable whenever we fight. I would hear him crying as he was falling asleep, miserable at the thought that he would have to sleep with me every night.”

            Baekhyun stirred. Chanyeol continued.

            “It was first by accident, but I discovered that making Baekhyun go unconscious, by choking him, makes him forget the fight, and he doesn’t remember me choking him either.”

            “You mean you choked him because you two were fighting?” Suho asked with a hint of anger. “Hasn’t anyone taught you the right way to solve conflicts?”

            “Suho?” a weak voice spoke up. Everyone turned and looked at Baekhyun, lying in his bed. He was awake. “Why is everyone here?”

            “You’re awake already?” Suho asked him.

            “Already? What do you mean? How long was I asleep?” Baekhyun replied, confused.

            Suho looked back at Chanyeol.

            “You choke him until he passes out so that he doesn’t remember anything?”

            “No, he still remembers everything else. Just not whatever happened just before.”

            “Chanyeol? What are you talking about…”

            “Just relax, Baekhyun.”

            “What?”

            “And what if it goes too far? He could get seriously hurt!”

            “Who? What…”

            “I’ve never gone too far. My heart wouldn’t allow it.”

            “You tie this cold, black thing around his neck…you pull as hard as you can…you call him your best friend…and you do it again whenever you fight?!”

            “It’s not like that.”

            “Why are you yelling? What’s going on…”

            “Look at him! He’s so small and weak. Look at his neck—thin, fragile, and delicate—and you think it doesn’t hurt him?!”

            “Relax, Baekhyun.”

            “I love him too much to hurt him!”

            “You choke him until he loses consciousness! You hurt him more than anyone else!”

            “It doesn’t hurt him. He doesn’t remember any of it.”

            “Well obviously! He would have you thrown in prison forever if he remembered!”

            “I make sure I’m the only one who suffers.”

            “Who are you talking about, Chanyeol…”

            “You are the only one who suffers?”

            “Yes.”

            The room became still and silent for a few seconds.

            “How only you?” Suho asked calmly.

            “I am the only one who remembers any of it.”

            “Let’s see…he doesn’t remember all the pain of you two fighting…but you do?”

            “Of course I do. And it makes me so miserable. I remember everything—the arguing, the fighting, the choking, and it hurts so much.”

            “Chanyeol?”

            “Yes, Baekhyun?”

            “Who are you talking about?”

            “Someone I love…very much.”

            “Me?”

            “Yes.”

            Baekhyun went quiet for a few seconds.

            “You mean…the fighting and choking…are about me?” he asked.

            “Yes,” Chanyeol answered reluctantly.

            “But…it doesn’t make sense. Why?”

            All of a sudden, Suho moved and sat on top of Baekhyun’s thighs.

            “Suho, what are you doing?” D.O. asked.

            “Suho? Uhh…why are you on me?”

            Suho held up a thin, dark black belt in front of Baekhyun, with the ends in each hand.

            “Do you know what this is?” he asked him.

            “It’s one of Chanyeol’s belts, isn’t it?” Baekhyun answered apprehensively.

            “Do you remember anything else about it?”

            “What are you doing to him?” Chanyeol asked.

            “Don’t worry about it,” he said to Chanyeol. He looked back at Baekhyun. “What else do you know about this belt?”

            “Umm, it’s…leather?”

            “That’s not what I meant.”

            “I don’t know. It’s Chanyeol’s belt.”

            “Do you know what he uses it for?”

            Chanyeol swallowed uneasily.

            “Doesn’t he use it to keep his pants up?”

            “No he doesn’t.”

            “Then…”

            “He uses it to choke you until you pass out so you don’t remember anything that just happened.”

            Baekhyun stared at Suho in disbelief.

            “But he loves me! But then…he said…”

            “Are you putting the pieces together now?”

            “Suho, that’s enough,” Chanyeol protested.

            “Perhaps…” Suho mumbled to himself.

            “Chanyeol, is it really true? Do you choke me with that belt?” Baekhyun asked, a hint of panic in his voice.

            “I…yes.”

            “But…”

            “I’m sorry, Baekhyun.”

            “But…I…you…love…”

            Suho put a hand on Baekhyun’s neck.

            “So small…weak…and delicate…like a rose…”

            “Suho? What are you doing?”

            “And easy to break…”

            Suho slipped the belt behind Baekhyun’s head.

            “Suho, what are you doing?”

            “Don’t worry about it.” A thin, dark black belt wrapped around Baekhyun’s neck.

            “Suho?” Baekhyun asked nervously.

            “It may be for the better…” Suho murmured to himself.