Sehun and Jongin were best friends. They had been for years. There wasn’t anything more between them; it was purely platonic. Mostly platonic. They only had sometimes, when they were bored.

Jongin collapsed on the bed next to Sehun, his bare chest rising and falling rapidly. Sweat glistened on his face, plastering his hair to his forehead. He smirked up at the ceiling, extremely pleased with himself, as if he’d done all the work. Sehun hated Jongin’s smirks.

Once their breathing had calmed, Sehun said. “I’m sick of being bottom. Let’s switch next time.”

“Why? You can’t deny I’m great on top.”

“And I’m not?”

“You’re a better bottom.”

Sehun glared at Jongin and shoved him. “Get out of my bed. And my apartment.”

“You’re kicking me out?”

Sehun kicked him under the blankets. “Yes. Hurry up before I call the police and tell them there’s an intruder in my house.”

“Might want to put on some clothes first, if you want them to take you seriously.”

Sehun made an irritated sound and sat up, starting an assault on Jongin with his pillow. Jongin laughed and blocked Sehun with one hand, using the other to push himself out of bed. He started collecting his clothes, scattered around the room.

“Hey, where are my pants?”

“I don’t know. Probably in the living room. Or the hall. You basically had them off before I answered the door.”

Jongin stuck his tongue out at Sehun, then left the bedroom in search of his pants. Sehun flopped back on his bed, hugging the pillow to his chest as he listened to Jongin patter around his apartment. A couple of minutes later he returned to the bedroom, now wearing his pants.

“Where were they?”

“Under your couch.” Jongin said, slipping his phone out of his pocket.

“How did they get there?”

“Hell if I know.” Jongin sat on the bed, still staring at his phone. After a minute he put the device away and reached for one of his socks lying near the bedside table. “I’ve got to go now, but I’ll see you later.”

“Go?” Sehun asked. “But you just got here.”

“I just got here a half hour ago.”

“Yeah, and as you can see we exchanged greetings.” Sehun waved to indicate his rumpled bed sheets and the scattered clothing. “After that, it’s considered proper etiquette to stay a while. You know, have a sandwich. So the other person doesn’t feel like a tool.”

Jongin grinned at Sehun, reaching over to pinch his cheeks. “Aw, does little Sehunnie feel abandoned?”

Sehun smacked his hand away. “I just want to know why I haven’t heard from you in a week, and when I finally do it’s a booty call.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. I’ve texted.”

“Yeah, to tell me you were busy when I asked if you wanted to hang out. That doesn’t count.”

“Why? Technically it’s communication.”

“Technically you’re supposed to be my friend. So are you going to tell me what’s up or not?”

Jongin hesitated. Then he sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair, making it even messier. “There’s this new club...”

“A club.” Sehun said dryly. “Of course it’s a club.”

“See, this is why I didn’t tell you. I knew you’d judge me.”

“I haven’t said anything to indicate that I’m judging you. I am, but that’s besides the point.” Sehun shook his head. “I just don’t understand why you spend so much time clubbing.”

“I don’t understand why you don’t.”

“People, for starters. I hate people.”

“Really? I happen to love people.”

“Which is exactly why I’m not dating you. That, and your face looks really stupid when you smile.”

“Hey!” Jongin grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at Sehun. “I’m the one who doesn’t want to date you! Besides, people say my smile is charming.”

“People are dumb. Another reason I hate them.”

“I guess that means you don’t want to come to the club with me.”

“Oh, you’re inviting me now?”

“I would’ve invited you sooner, but there’ll be people there. You don’t seem to like them all that much.”

“People are a perpetual hazard.” Sehun pushed himself out of bed. “Just give me a sec to find my clothes.”



Sehun didn’t like the club, and he wasn’t even inside yet. But he could tell he wasn’t going to like it. It was just like all the other clubs Jongin went to. Loud music, flashing lights, and way too many people.

Sehun really didn’t see the appeal.

Inside was even worse than outside. Even louder music. Even brighter flashing lights. Even more people.

Jongin thrived in places like these. Grabbing Sehun by the arm he pulled him through the crowd, waving or calling out to people as they went. Jongin had already made some new friends here. Sehun wasn’t surprised. Jongin made friends as soon as he stepped into a room.

Reaching the bar Jongin pushed Sehun into a seat and ordered something from the bartender. Sehun couldn’t hear what it was over the music, so he shouted into Jongin’s ear. “What did you order me?!”

Jongin winced and covered his ear. In a loud voice, he said. “What makes you think I ordered something for you?!”

“Whatever it is, it better not be drugged!”

“Technically alcohol is a drug!”

“Technically I hate you!”

Jongin laughed and gave Sehun’s shoulder a shove. “I’ll be back in a minute! There’s someone I want you to meet!”

“Great! New people are my favourite people!” Sehun called after his friend. Jongin just waved at him before disappearing into the crowd. Scowling, Sehun turned his attention back to the bar. He already regretted coming with Jongin. But what else would he have done? Wasted away his night on the internet? Normally he would have made plans with Zitao if Jongin was busy, but lately Zitao was even harder to get a hold of than Jongin. Sehun hadn’t so much as received a text from him in over three weeks.

Someone came up to the bar, next to Sehun. From the corner of his eye Sehun could tell it wasn’t Jongin, so he didn’t pay much attention. The bartender came over and placed two colourful drinks in front of Sehun, before listening to the order of the new person. Sehun eyed the drinks wearily. He didn’t trust colourful things. Especially when Jongin was the one who ordered them. Too many bad memories. Too many missing memories.

Sehun felt a hand on his shoulder. “Is anyone sitting here?”

Sehun glanced over at the person who’d just ordered and felt his head spin a little. He’d never seen a more beautiful person in his life. He couldn’t think of any other word to describe the guy standing in front of him. He really was beautiful. And Sehun never found anything or anyone beautiful. But there was something about this guy that seemed surreal. Something unearthly.

“Don’t worry,” The guy said, offering a small smile, “I’m not trying to hit on you. I just want to sit down while I wait for my drink.”

Sehun nodded dumbly. As the guy sat down, Sehun realized he’d been able to hear him perfectly when he spoke. The song must have changed, or maybe they’d turned down the volume. Sehun couldn’t quite place the difference, but the music seemed muted now.

“You must be new here. I don’t recognize you.” The guy studied Sehun, and Sehun found his heart speeding up. “My name’s Luhan.”

It took Sehun a moment to find his voice, and when he did all he could manage was: “Sehun.”

“Sehun.” Luhan repeated, smiling to himself. “Yeah, I definitely don’t know you.”

“You come here a lot?” Sehun asked, suddenly worried over his social ineptitude. It had never bothered him before, but he’d never spoken to a beautiful person before. How did someone speak to a beautiful person?

“Depends on what you consider a lot.”

“Probably once a month.” Sehun said, since once a month would be more than enough for him.

Luhan laughed. “In that case, I’m here way more than a lot.”

Sehun didn’t know what to say to that, but he didn’t care. He was too distracted by Luhan’s laugh. Even his laugh was perfect.

The bartender arrived with Luhan’s drink – something a lot less colourful than the two in front of Sehun. Instead of leaving, Luhan took a sip from his drink and turned his attention back to Sehun. “Are you single?”

“Am I... Wait. What?”

“Are. You. Single?” Luhan repeated slowly. He smiled again and Sehun felt lightheaded. “I’m going to hit on you now, so I’d like to know if I’ll have an angry boyfriend to deal with.”

“No. Nope. No boyfriend. Angry or otherwise.”

“Good.” Luhan suddenly leaned forward, and for a stunned moment Sehun thought he was going to kiss him. Then Luhan pressed his lips against Sehun’s ear and whispered. “I wouldn’t care even if you were taken.”

Sehun felt his face heat up as Luhan pulled back, grinning wolfishly. That drew Sehun’s attention to his lips, which were as perfect and beautiful as the rest of him. Sehun wondered what they would taste like, subconsciously wetting his own lips.

“There you are!”

Sehun’s attention snapped to Jongin, shouting out to them as he pushed through the crowd. A bit behind Jongin, Sehun spotted a guy watching them. Even from here he looked large, but that wasn’t what caught Sehun’s attention. His eyes, for a split second, were red.

Then the lights flashed and Sehun realized it had been an optical illusion. The guy watched them a second longer with his normal dark eyes before turning away.

“I was looking everywhere for you!” Jongin was saying, voice loud above the suddenly blasting music. Sehun was surprised to see Jongin wasn’t talking to him, but Luhan.

“Looks like you found me.” Luhan said.

Jongin smirked – the annoying smirk – and leaned in to kiss Luhan.

Sehun could only stare.

Jongin was still smirking when he pulled back and turned his attention to Sehun. “This is Luhan, but I guess he’s already introduced himself. Luhan, this is my friend, Sehun. I might have mentioned him to you.”

“You might have.” Luhan was looking at Sehun. Smiling at Sehun. He didn’t seem embarrassed about letting Jongin kiss him in front of the guy he’d just been flirting with. Sehun didn’t know what to think.

No, he did know what to think: coming to the club had been a bad idea.

“Great, the drinks are here.” Jongin reached between Sehun and Luhan to grab his drink. He flapped a hand at Sehun, indicating for him to move over a seat. Scowling, Sehun scooted over and Jongin slipped in next to Luhan.

“So are you guys dating?” Sehun asked curtly. He didn’t want to sound annoyed, but he couldn’t help it. He was annoyed. He told himself it was because his sometimes -friend mostly best-friend was involved with another guy and hadn’t told him about it. But Sehun knew that wasn’t really the problem.

Of course the one time a hot guy showed even a bit of interest in him, that guy would already be involved with Jongin.

“Are we dating?” Jongin echoed, grinning at Luhan. Luhan laughed lightly, squeezing Jongin’s knee. Sehun noticed that Luhan didn’t answer the question, but Jongin didn’t seem to realize it. He was too preoccupied with capturing Luhan’s hand and keeping it pressed against his knee.

“Drink up.” Jongin said to Sehun, gesturing to his untouched glass.

“No. It looks weird.”

“It tastes even weirder. You’ll like it.” Jongin said, but Sehun just pressed his lips together and refused to take the drink. Rolling his eyes, Jongin turned to Luhan. “He’s always like this. I don’t think he knows what the words ‘let loose’ mean.”

“Of course I do. They mean losing my memory of an entire night and waking up – without any money or clothes – at a stranger’s house, in a puddle of someone else’s vomit.”

“Hey, that only happened once, and it wasn’t a stranger’s house. It was my friend’s house.”

“Right. One of your ‘friends’. Well, they were a stranger to me, but I still had to borrow clothes from them – which didn’t fit, by the way – and walk for three hours to get home.”

“You could have just taken the subway. Or a taxi.”

“That would have cost money which I didn’t have since I was apparently mugged.”

“There’s still no evidence of that.”

“Except the fact that my wallet was missing and I had a black eye. And do you remember how all of that started? You handed me a weird looking drink that you thought I’d like.”

“But you did like it!” Jongin pointed out, then: “That was sort of the problem...”

Sehun scoffed. “This is why I never go clubbing with you.”

Someone laughed, and it took Sehun a moment to realize it was Luhan. Sehun had completely forgotten about him while he was arguing with Jongin. He flushed, thinking about all the stupid things he’d said in front of Luhan. But he shouldn’t be embarrassed. It didn’t matter what Luhan thought of him. He was just another one of Jongin’s ‘friends’.

“You should have brought Sehun with you earlier.” Luhan said to Jongin. “It’s funny listening to you guys. You must be really close.”

“Not really.” Jongin said quickly, which made Sehun even more annoyed.

“We’ve been friends for years.” Sehun said. “I’ve even seen him .”

Jongin’s gaze snapped to Sehun and he glared, but Luhan only laughed: “What, you mean like little kids getting bubble baths together?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Sounds cute.” Luhan said. “I’d love to see pictures.”

“I’m sure I could find some.” Sehun offered.

“I’m sure you couldn’t.” Jongin said pointedly.

“Aw,” Sehun said in a mocking tone. “Is little Jonginnie embarrassed?”

Jongin just kept glaring.

“So what do you do, Sehun?” Luhan asked. “Are you a university student?”

“Hm? Yeah, I go back in the fall.”

“What are you studying?”

“Don’t feel like you need to be polite and ask about his life.” Jongin said, before taking another slug from his glass. He was almost finished. “Sehun’s never polite. He’s the rudest person I know.”

Sehun scowled at Jongin and was about to say something, but Luhan beat him to it. “I’m not asking to be polite. I’m curious.”

“Curious? Fine, if you say so. But his life really isn’t that interesting.”

“Hey!” Sehun snapped.

Jongin shrugged at him, as if to say it couldn’t be helped. Then he reached for Sehun’s glass. “Are you sure you don’t want this?”

“What do you think?”

Again, Jongin shrugged. Then he took a sip from the glass.

“So?” Luhan asked, gaining Sehun’s full attention. For a moment Sehun found that attention slipping down to Luhan’s lips again, but he forced it back up to his eyes, which were just as perfect but not quite as tempting. “What are you studying?”

While Sehun talked to Luhan about his university life, Jongin continued nursing Sehun’s rejected drink. Finally, when he was done the drink, Jongin slammed the glass down on the counter. “This is boring! Let’s go dance!”

Luhan’s eyes brightened. Sehun couldn’t help feeling a bit hurt. Was Luhan bored talking to him?

But he shouldn’t care about that.

“You can just stay here.” Jongin said to Sehun as he slid off his stool. “We’ll probably come back eventually.”

“Sehun doesn’t want to dance too?” Luhan asked.

“No, he hates dancing.” Jongin replied, before Sehun could. Jongin turned so Luhan couldn’t see him and gave Sehun a pointed look. Ah, so Jongin wanted alone time with Luhan.

Sehun was tempted to mess with Jongin again and tell Luhan the truth – that he loved to dance, even at these stupid clubs – but the look Jongin was giving him was quite clear. If Sehun got in the way, he wouldn’t hear from Jongin for a while, and this time it wouldn’t be because of a new club.

“That’s right.” Sehun said. “I hate dancing. Sitting at a bar without a drink is so much more fun.”

Jongin ignored the sarcasm. “I bought you a drink.”

“You bought me disaster in a glass.” Sehun turned back to the counter. “I’ll be fine. You guys have fun.”

“Planning on it.” Jongin said, sliding an arm around Luhan’s waist as he tugged him into the crowd. Just before they disappeared, Sehun thought he saw Luhan glance back at him.

But no, that couldn’t be right. After all, no one was ever interested in Sehun when y, social Jongin was in the picture.

Sometimes Sehun disliked his friend even more than he disliked everyone else.

Sehun waved over the bartender. He might as well have a normal drink. Get a little buzz, seeing as he was already here. Then he’d leave.



Two drinks later and Jongin still hadn’t returned. Sehun cast a bored look at the crowd, debating whether to leave or not. It wasn’t like he wanted to talk to Jongin anymore; he was irritated with him now. And he didn’t really want to see Luhan again. So he should leave. He would leave. He intended to leave.

After one more drink.

Accepting his third glass from the bartender, Sehun was just about to raise it to his lips when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Glancing up, Sehun was surprised to see a man towering over him. The same guy he thought he’d seen watching them earlier.

“I think you’ve had enough.” The man said.

Sehun stared at him a moment, then looked at his drink. “I don’t think so.”

“You’ve had enough. In fact, it’s about time you head home.”

“What, are you the owner or something?”

The man didn’t answer, but his hold on Sehun tightened so that it physically hurt. Sehun hissed, both in pain and surprise. How could this guy be so strong?

The man released Sehun and a moment later he was placing some bills on the counter. Money, Sehun realized, for his drinks.

“I’ll see you out.” The guy said.

“Not necessary.” Sehun snapped, shoving away from the bar. “I know the way.”

The guy didn’t say anything else, but Sehun could feel eyes on his back as he wove his way through the crowd. He had a feeling if he tried to stay in the club that man would find him again.

Why, Sehun didn’t know. He’d just been sitting down drinking. Since when was that illegal in clubs? Whatever. He didn’t care. He’d been planning to leave anyway.

Sehun took out his phone to text Jongin, let him know he was going. Instead, he just stared at his cell a moment. Then he shoved it back in his pocket. Jongin was probably too busy with Luhan to care what Sehun was doing.

Even though Sehun had said he knew his way out of the club, he ended up leaving through a side exit, unable to find the actual exit through the crowd. He came out in a dimly lit alley, brick walls closing in on either side. Glancing to his right he could see the street, cars zooming back and forth.

Sehun stepped away from the club, letting the door slam shut on the lights and music behind him. He could still clearly hear the song playing, but it was no longer pounding in his ears.

Sehun was wondering whether he should call a cab or walk home when he heard a noise above him. Sehun peered up into the darkness of the fire escape. He wasn’t sure, but it looked like there was something crouched up there. Like a dog. A big dog.

The animal opened its eyes and Sehun saw a flash of red. The club door opened at the same time, spilling multicoloured light into the alley.

“I thought I saw you come out here.”

Sehun’s gaze snapped to Luhan. There was a light sheen of sweat on his face and arms from being in the club, but that somehow made him even more appealing. His hair looked even paler in the dim alley light, like a silver gold halo.

“Where’s Jongin?” Sehun asked as Luhan shut the door behind him.

Luhan shrugged. “Still dancing. He was a little out of it, probably because of the drinks. I don’t think he noticed I left.”

“And you left because...?”

“I was looking for you.”

That startled Sehun. “Why?”

Instead of replying, Luhan said, “You were lying, weren’t you? When Jongin said you didn’t like to dance. I saw the look you two gave each other.”

“I don’t dislike dancing...” Sehun said evasively.

“But you dislike me?”

Sehun’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Why else wouldn’t you dance with us?” Luhan took a step towards Sehun, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes. “I know we just met, but what have I done to make you dislike me?”

Sehun shifted uncomfortably. Luhan was just a little bit too close, and Sehun wanted to step back. But the longer he stared into Luhan’s eyes the less he could control his own body. He felt rooted to the spot.

“I don’t dislike you.” Sehun managed to say, his voice surprisingly hoarse. He cleared his throat. “I don’t know you.”

“I guess you don’t.” Luhan’s lips curled into a small smile. “But you could.”

Before Sehun could ask what he meant, Luhan grabbed his collar and pulled him down so their faces were inches apart. Sehun reddened as his gaze darted rapidly from Luhan’s too close eyes to his way too close lips. He could feel Luhan’s breath against his own mouth. For a moment, Sehun thought Luhan smirked a bit, like one of Jongin’s smirks but far more justified. Then Luhan closed the gap between them.

Sehun had been kissed before. By old classmates or coworkers at his part-time jobs or guys he met at Jongin’s clubs. He and Jongin had even kissed a few times, but neither of them liked it much so they stuck to pure , nothing romantic. All in all, Sehun wasn’t new to kissing. But he was new to being kissed like this.

Luhan’s lips were the softest thing he’d ever felt. That should have made the kiss gentle. It wasn’t. Not at all. It was forceful, but not needy. Although it made Sehun needy.

When Luhan finally pulled back, Sehun found himself leaning forward in an attempt to continue the kiss. Realizing what he was doing, Sehun quickly pulled back, but not in time to hide the action. With a light chuckle, Luhan released his collar.

“So?” Luhan asked. “What do you think of me now?”

Sehun was thinking a lot of things about Luhan at the moment, and he was pretty sure ninety percent of them weren’t appropriate to say.

“I’m not sure.” Sehun said. “I still feel like I don’t know you well enough.”

“We’ll have to fix that. After you catch your breath.”

Sehun was about to argue, when he realized how heavily he was panting. The kiss had actually left him breathless. He didn’t think something like that was possible. It had certainly never happened to him before.

Suddenly, Luhan’s eyes darted to the sky. They seemed to narrow, but he looked normal when he turned his attention back to Sehun. He even smiled. “Let’s go somewhere else.”

“Somewhere else?” Sehun echoed.

“Yeah, unless you want to get to know each other in a dirty alley. Quite the classy guy you are.”

“Oh.” Sehun said. “Yeah. Yes. Somewhere cleaner might be better.”

“And indoors.” Luhan added. Suddenly he looped his arm through Sehun’s, guiding him down the alley. “I know the perfect place.”

As Sehun let Luhan lead him, he remembered Jongin. Specifically, he remembered how happy Jongin had been to see Luhan, how eagerly he’d kissed him, and how rushed he was to get Sehun out of the way so they could be alone. Jongin clearly liked Luhan. A lot. Luhan was probably the reason Jongin had been going to the club so much.

Sehun should pull away and send Luhan back to the club. Back to Jongin.

But Jongin had been an . Ignoring Sehun, blowing him off for Luhan until he felt the urge to have Sehun blow him off. If Jongin was going to be a ty friend, Sehun would be too.

Still, Sehun couldn’t help thinking that whether Jongin had been a bad friend or not his decision to go with Luhan would have been the same.

The fire escape creaked behind them. Sehun didn’t notice, but Luhan did. Glancing back, angling his face so Sehun wouldn’t see, Luhan bared his teeth at the creature watching them. Then, for the briefest moment, his eyes flashed red.



Sehun stared at the back of Luhan’s head as he unlocked the door to his apartment. There was a thin line of flesh showing between the tips of his hair and the neck of his shirt. It looked so pale and smooth, Sehun just wanted to pull back Luhan’s collar, lean in and-

“There.” Luhan said, pushing the door open and grinning over his shoulder at Sehun. “It always sticks. I really need to talk to the landlord about it.”

Sehun nodded distractedly and followed Luhan into the apartment. He momentarily wondered if Luhan had brought Jongin here too, but quickly pushed back the thought.

“Are you going to give me the tour?” Sehun asked, watching as Luhan tiptoed through the apartment, opening doors and peeking in. Was he looking for someone? A roommate? A lover?

“You actually want a tour? It’ll take like three minutes.”

“That’s not long.”

“You don’t think so?” Luhan asked, raising an eyebrow. He was at the end of the hall now, Sehun just a few steps away. “I don’t think I could wait another minute. Three would kill me.”

The way Luhan said it, with a hint of desperation, made Sehun crumble. He walked right up to Luhan, who was leaning back against a door, idly twisting the knob back and forth. Sehun put his hands on either side of the door and leaned in, slowly pressing his lips to Luhan’s. He felt Luhan smile against his mouth a moment before returning the kiss.

It was just as good as before, if not better. The next thing Sehun knew Luhan had opened the door and they were stumbling into the room, still entwined. Sehun knew it was Luhan’s bedroom when they fell on his bed, Luhan’s back pressed into the mattress. Sehun broke the kiss with a gasp for much needed air. Below him, Luhan the bottom of Sehun’s shirt. Wordlessly, Sehun yanked it over his head and tossed it aside. Luhan smiled as he ran his hands over Sehun’s stomach and chest, his touch feeling like a thousand little sparks all over Sehun’s body.

“You’re perfect.” Luhan murmured, and in the back of his mind Sehun couldn’t help finding that ironic. Luhan was the perfect one.

Which Sehun realized yet again, when Luhan pulled off his own shirt. He was in even better shape than Sehun, a fact that usually pained Sehun to admit about another guy. It didn’t pain him at all now.

Sehun leaned in for another kiss, intending it to be brief as his hands ran along Luhan’s hips, to the waistband of his jeans. As soon as their lips met, however, Sehun found himself being drawn back into the kiss, like Luhan was pulling him and he couldn’t resist.

Luhan’s hands trailed over Sehun’s chest again, coming to rest, then grip Sehun’s shoulders. Sehun winced as Luhan’s fingers dug into the spot where he’d been grabbed earlier, by the huge guy in the club. Luhan didn’t seem to notice, pulling Sehun even closer so that their bodies were crushed together. Sehun had to give up his attempt on removing Luhan’s pants and instead use his hands to support himself, so that his weight wasn’t completely on Luhan. Sehun fisted his hands in the bed sheets, the way they were touching everywhere driving him crazy as the kiss only deepened. He felt light-headed and knew he needed air, but that didn’t seem to matter anymore. Nothing mattered but Luhan lying underneath him, pressed against one another, Luhan’s hands digging into his hair, trapping Sehun in a kiss he never wanted to end.

When Sehun finally thought he’d pass out, Luhan yanked his head back sharply. Sehun felt a faint pain where his hair had been grabbed, but the look in Luhan’s eyes, glazed and wild, made him forget about everything else.

Even the fact that Luhan’s eyes were red.

Suddenly, Luhan pulled Sehun back to him. Instead of their lips meeting, Sehun saw a flash of teeth. The next thing he knew Luhan’s mouth was pressed to his shoulder, teeth clamping and digging into Sehun’s flesh. Sehun heard himself cry out as pain he’d never felt before rushed through his body. It was like his blood was on fire, burning him up from the inside. Sehun tried to jerk away, but Luhan was gripping his arms, keeping him in place with inhuman strength. The pain got worse and worse and Sehun screamed until his throat was raw and tears streamed down his face.

Luhan’s teeth retracted from Sehun’s shoulder, and Sehun slumped against him, all his strength gone. The pain was quickly being numbed, but Sehun still sobbed as he pressed his face into the blankets next to Luhan’s head. His sobs were the only sound in the room.

Sehun didn’t know how much time had passed when he felt a hand against his back. Tentatively, it started up and down his spine.

“I’m sorry.” Luhan whispered, in a voice that made it sound like he was crying too. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Sehun.”

Sehun sobbed until he was all out of tears and then he cried quietly. The pain was still fresh in his memory, mixed with horror and overwhelming confusion. He didn’t know what was going on and he didn’t know why he felt like this. He didn’t know what to do.

Sehun stayed there for a long time, lying on top of Luhan who continued to his back and whisper meaningless apologies. Finally – mercifully – he passed out.