[A/N: I'm back yo~ possibly long a/n ahead but for now enjoy~]

21 > > >

Baekhyun wiped the sweat at his brow as he collapsed against his door with a thud. His chest constricted with pain as the side effects came earlier than he anticipated, and he cursed out loud. His vision was blurred, and his head throbbed with dull pain as he stumbled his way into his shared apartment, tripping on carelessly scattered objects.

He let out another curse as a shock went through his body and caused him fall against the cold hard wall, hitting his head in the process. He gripped the front of his shirt tightly and let out a frustrated groan.

It wasn’t as painful as it was before because he hadn’t used as much force as he usually did, but his sudden use of it after a long period of rest had caused an impact on himself. It was really painful.

But it’s bearable, he added in his head, for now.

Baekhyun closed his eyes and let his head rest against the wall as his thoughts slowly drowned him once again.

He really was stupid—sacrificing his life for someone that would never even love him back. He wouldn’t be able to get her in the end; he knew that. And yet, he couldn’t help but hope.

Unrequited love is painful.

It always was. It was painful when he loved Soo Jung—he refused to call her Krystal—and it was still painful right now. Baekhyun just hated the fact that he always had to be the pitiful one who would never get his love returned.

Is this the price for being good? He asked himself bitterly.

He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling blankly, letting his thoughts wander to his conversation with Soo Jung a while ago.
 

 “You're too uptight. I barely touched a hair on her, and it's not like she's hurt or anything. I simply warned her so I wouldn't have to kill her too.”

Baekhyun eyes flashed gold for a moment before reverting back to its usual brown color.

 “Don't worry about killing her because I'll make sure to kill you first before you can do anything else.”

Krystal faked a whimper then scoffed.

 “I'll be careful. You should too. You wouldn't want to break that vow of ours, would you? I can already see the cracks on your resolution like this table you accidentally gripped too hard.”

Baekhyun's jaw visibly tightened but he loosened his grip and turned to leave once again.

He looked back at her one last time with gold glowing eyes.

 “Soo Jung-noona, some people--no, she is worth breaking vows for.”
 

“Vow of ours, huh?” Baekhyun wondered out loud as the pain slowly passed and his sweat dripped down his face, “Of course she was awake when I said it.”

He laughed bitterly. He honestly didn’t know what he was thinking when he made that vow to her. Was it desperation? Was it pity?

Well, I obviously wasn’t thinking about what consequences it would bring to me in the future, he thought dryly to himself.

He let his thoughts wander back to that day, that cold wintry day.

Baekhyun opened the door to Soo Jung’s room cautiously and took a peek at her still, sleeping figure on the mattress. He chuckled seeing her, curled up like a kitten with her blanket barely covering her small body. He took silent steps towards her and draped the blanket softly over her body, and he smiled seeing his good work.

He made his way towards a chair and carried it to settle beside her with a loving smile.

“Tsk! This irresponsible, girl. She doesn’t even wear the blanket properly,” Baekhyun faked a grumble but ended up smiling instead, “Wear your blanket properly so you can get well soon, Noona. We miss you.”

Baekhyun leaned closer to give her a peck on the forehead then proceeded to brush her hair away from her face, only to find her staring at him curiously.

“May I ask what you’re trying to do, Byun Baekhyun-dongsaeng?” she asked with a playful smile.

The boy immediately pulled away, feeling embarrassed for what he had done but mostly to hide the blush in his face.

“I’m telling Luhan-oppa that you were taking advantage of me while I was resting,” she joked while she poked his blushing cheeks.

“Yah! Don’t you dare! He’ll kill me!”

The girl merely laughed in response to Baekhyun’s whining, and Baekhyun laughed along but quickly stopped when he heard a fit of coughs coming from the girl instead of laughter.

“Kwenchana?!” he immediately stood up and patted her back softly, “Stay here. I’ll get you a cup of water—“

“Don’t—I’m o-okay,” she said in between coughs as she grabbed Baekhyun’s hand, “P-please s-stay.”

Baekhyun looked at her worriedly but settled back down on the chair when her fit stopped and she smiled at him.

“Are you sure you don’t want water?”

“I just choked. I’m okay now; don’t worry,” she smiled at him and drew circles at his palm using her fingers, “Relax.”

The worry still didn’t disappear from his eyes, but his brows slowly unknotted, and he breathed out a sigh.

“Why do I feel like you’re hiding something from me?”

The circles on his palm stopped abruptly, and Baekhyun could suddenly feel the tension in the air rising up.

“You are, aren’t you?” his question came more as a statement than a question, and she looked at him guiltily.

“I—it’s hard to say, Baekhyun. I honestly haven’t told anyone yet because I don’t know. . . . I don’t want to hurt you guys,” she let out a sob and buried her face in her palms, “And I most definitely don’t want to hurt Luhan. I don’t know what he’d do if he finds out.”

Baekhyun’s heart clenched painfully, and he tried his best not to let the pain show in his face. *So in the end, it’s still because of Luhan-hyung, huh. You’re really pitiful, Byun Baekhyun.*

“I’m not Luhan. You can tell me.”

He encouraged her with a forced smile, trying not to let the underlying meaning in his first statement to show, but what she said next completely wiped the smile off his face.

“I’m dying.”

“Wha—“

“This disease—it’s slowly killing me, Baekhyun. I found out a week ago that I had less than a month left, maybe even less than three weeks,” she clung into Baekhyun desperately, “but please, don’t tell Luhan.”

Baekhyun couldn’t stop it. He allowed a tear to slip from his eye and bit his lips to stop the sob that was threatening to spill out. He clenched his fists at his sides until his knuckles turned white. *Take a deep breath, Baekhyun. Relax. Don’t be too obvious.*

“Baekhyun?”

He simply nodded in reply. He still couldn’t bear to look her in the eyes after what she had just said.

“I won’t tell anyone,” he managed.

“Gomawo.”

Baekhyun hid his bitter smile and shook his tears away while clearing his throat.

“You should go back to rest. You seem tired. We can talk about this next time. . .”

He settled her head on her pillow and pulled the blanket up to her chest. He played with her hair for a bit before finally deciding to meet her eyes.

“Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?”

A nod was all he needed.

Deoneun mangseoriji ma jebal nae simjangeul geodueo ga
Geurae nalkaroulsurok joha dalbit jochado nuneul gameun bam
Na anin dareun namjayeotdamyeon huigeuk anui han gujeorieotdeoramyeon
Neoui geu saranggwa bakkun sangcheo modu taewobeoryeo

Baby don’t cry tonight eodumi geochigo namyeon
Baby don’t cry tonight eobseotdeon iri doel geoya
Mulgeopumi doeneun geoseun nega aniya kkeutnae mollaya haetdeon
So baby don’t cry, cry, nae sarangi neol jikil teni

(Don’t hesitate another minute; please just take my heart away
Like a bright light that hurts my eyes, the moon shines and forces them close
If it were any other man, if it were just a single line taken from a comedy
It’s all over when everything burns down, let me endure your scars instead

Baby don’t cry tonight, when the dark night lights up
Baby don’t cry tonight, it will be as if it never happened
You will never turn into bubbles, did you not know
So Baby don’t cry, cry, my love will protect you, always)
 

He allowed his tears to slip as he sang her to sleep and stopped when he thought she was finally asleep. He quickly wiped his tears with his sleeves and his dry lips. He settled for another kiss on her forehead and fixed her hair.

“Did you know that I love you? Do you know how painful it is for me to see you like this? If I can’t even save you from this misery, then what use are my powers?” he said softly, “If I really fail to save you, then this power is as good as nothing. I might as well never use it again.”

A shiver ran through Baekhyun, but he brushed it off.

“Are you sure about that?” a cold voice whispers, “Vows are heavy things to bear.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened, and he quickly looked around the room for anyone suspicious.

“Do you promise?” it hissed, and this time it sounded a lot like the girl he loved.

Baekhyun gripped the bed sheet tightly and let out a breath.

“I promise—”
 

                Baekhyun stood up from his position and made his way to his room, stopping only in front of a mirror. He stared tiredly at his reflection in the mirror. His face was dim and sullen, eyes dull and weary. Dark, heavy eye bags donned his eyes, and his hair seemed black against his pale complexion. His cheeks were sunken as he took in a much needed breath and closed his eyes.

                Four days.

He placed his hand behind his neck and felt it burn behind his fingertips. He let out a drawn back sigh and dropped his hand back to his sides. He allowed his eyes to open back to the somnolent image before him, albeit instead finding his reflection smirking at him.

How have you been? Feeling awfully lonely without me?

Baekhyun gritted his teeth and willed his inner persona to stop. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. It was too early for this to be happening. It was supposed to stay locked up until—

Oh, come on. You don’t really want me to disappear, do you? If it helps, I definitely missed you too.

His reflection leered at him and haughtily made his way around the reflection of the room to sink comfortably onto the plush couch. His eyes shown gold with amusement as he watched Baekhyun gritting his teeth harder and hesitantly opening his eyes to meet his reflection’s fiery glinting one.

I think it’s about time you let out the beast, Baekhyun. You won’t last much longer.

“Shut up,” Baekhyun clenched his shaking fists and looked his reflection in the eye, “It’s not yet time.”

You’re pitiful, Byun Baekhyun. There’s nothing such as the ‘right time.’ You need me, and you need me now. You know you do—

“I don’t.”

A loud crash resonated throughout the room as Baekhyun stared at the broken pieces of glass scattered around the floor, dripping with his own blood. His fists unclenched, and he watched as more of his blood dripped from his hand to fall in a deafening silence to the ground. He flexed his hand a bit before his dry laugh echoed in his dark empty room.

“Between me and you, I wonder which one is more pitiful.”

< | >

Chanyeol watched helplessly as his roommate fell to his knees and a single tear dripped down his cheek. Glass was scattered all over the living room, and their apartment looked as though someone was murdered inside—and the chances of that was actually fairly high, though it was probably something inside Chanyeol that was murdered brutally each time he saw his best friend let another tear slip from his cold, empty eyes.

His fists stayed clenched in his sides, and he simply stood as still as a statue beside the door frame as his roommate sank further into the glass covered ground, wallowing in his misery.

I’m sorry, Byunbaek. I’m your best friend, and yet I can’t do anything to help you.

He watched his best friend for one last agonizing minute before silently stepping out of the room and letting his roommate have his much needed peace. His hand gripped the door knob tightly while he let out a soft sigh, shutting the door silently behind him.

He overheard Baekhyun’s conversation with Soo Jung a while ago, and he honestly didn’t know how to react. Was he supposed to go: “Oh, Baekhyun knew?” or “Buuuurn, gurl, buuurn! That’s my best friend right there and he’s shutting you up!” No, none of them was right because nothing could express how awful he actually felt that time. Almost everything that was happening right now was his fault—because he was a coward. And yet, he couldn’t do anything to even help Baekhyun resolve the mess he made.

Sometimes, he just felt utterly useless, and it was painful, really painful.

All his life, Chanyeol simply lived in the sidelines, and he didn’t mind it at all. If he had to answer honestly, he actually never wanted to be placed in the same spot as Baekhyun or Luhan because as much as it was painful to watch his friends suffer, he was also too much of a coward to step in and actually do something.

He was always there when something happened, always there hiding in the shadows and pretending like nothing ever happened—just like the time when he saw Baekhyun and Yoona talking for the first time, when he saw Luhan staring intently at Yoona, when he saw Luhan pulling Yoona away to the bus stop, when he saw Soo Jung drop the pot on Yoona, when he saw Baekhyun talking to Soo Jung, when he saw Soo Jung’s “dead” body sitting brazenly on the black couch, sipping leisurely on a glass of red wine.

He closed his eyes, and guilt started eating him again as he remembered what happened that day. *If only I did something then.*
 

“Ah! I think I left my coat in the room. Just let me get it,” Chanyeol announced as he hurriedly ran back to the house, not waiting for the others’ responses.

“Arasso, just make it quick, you derp!”

He took ragged breaths as he entered a room, immediately stopping in his course when her cold eyes met his.

Her eyes simply regarded him indifferently as she took another sip from her cold drink with a smack of her lips. She then proceeded to wipe her lips with her white sleeves, causing it to stain red.

“Neh, Chanyeol-ah, can you keep a secret?” she asked as she her lips flirtatiously and settled her drink on the table beside her.

She raised her head to meet his eye, and the boy merely swallowed a nervous gulp before her slender fingers beckoned him forward with a flick.

“You know. It’s really too bad you had to see me like this. I’d have to kill you now unless, of course, you keep this meeting a secret, but then I suppose you wouldn’t do that, or would you?” she asked with a sly smile adorning her pale face.

She slowly stood up and let her long hair cascade down her back with a swish. She took slow steps towards the giant and slowly traced her fingers on his face.

“You can keep a secret, can’t you?

Chanyeol flinched away.

“S-Soo Jung-noona, wha—“

She placed her finger softly on his chapped lips and gave him a simper as she whispered seductively into his ear.

“Tell me, Chanyeol. What, exactly, did you see in this room?”

“S-Soo Jung-noona—“

She pulled him closer and hissed into his ear, interrupting him, “What about me?”

“Y-you’re a-alive.”

Blood dropped from Chanyeol’s cheek as Soo Jung retracted her fingers. She smiled at the boy and waved her bloodied fingers in his face.

“Wrong,” she simply said, “Now, let me ask you again, Yeollie. What did you see in this room?”

“Y-you,” he shakily replied.

“And?”

“Y-you’re dead, a-and the room was just like how we left it,” Chanyeol finished with a breath.

Soo Jung smirked and smeared the blood on her fingers to his face. She ended it with a kiss on his bloody cheek.

“Good boy.”

< | >
 

Suho quickly caught Yoona in his arms and rubbed her arms soothingly. He kicked the disgusting box away and met eyes with a certain person who was stepping out of the elevator.

His eyes immediately widened, but he covered it up with a smile. He mouthed the person a “later” and proceeded to take care of Yoona.

“Shh, it’s okay; it’s okay,” he repeatedly said as he brought Yoona back inside her apartment, closing the door behind him.

He led her to the couch and made her sit while he got her a cup of water.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked once she finished drinking, “Who am I kidding? Of course, you’re not. I’m sorry.”

Yoona merely smiled at him thankfully before her face went back to her blank state once again.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” he tried again as he looked her up and down.

She shook her head and bit her lip while her body continued shaking in fear. Suho simply nodded understandingly while rubbing her back soothingly. He waited for her to relax a bit before he decided to speak again.

“You should rest first. I’ll bring you inside your room.”

Suho stood up first and extended his hand while she shakily reached for it with another grateful smile. He helped her stand up and led her slowly to her room.

Once Yoona was lying down on her bed, Suho quickly excused himself to go out so that he could explain to the person outside about what had happened.

“W-where are you going?” Yoona’s soft quivering voice whispered.

He quickly stopped walking and looked back at Yoona’s frail shaking figure. He smiled at her before going back to her side and brushing her hair softly.

“I’m just going to call Sehun to tell him that we won’t be able to go. I’ll be back so you just rest, okay? Nothing bad will happen,” he gave Yoona another smile before letting go and walking out of the room, missing the silent “don’t go” the girl had whispered.

He breathed a sigh of relief once outside of the room and massaged his forehead. Things were much more complicated than he had initially thought it would be. He had a tiny hunch on the identity of the culprit, but he just couldn’t bear to accept it.

No, it’s impossible. There’s no way it’s her. . . .

He quickly shook his thought away and walked out of Yoona’s flat, immediately greeted by Luhan’s frantic yell.

 “Suho! Who did this?” Luhan shouted once the man stepped out of Yoona’s flat. Luhan held the bloody note in his shaking fists and cornered Suho to the wall.

Suho let out a tired breath and gestured for Luhan to keep quiet.

“She’s resting inside. She’ll hear you if you don’t keep quiet—”

“Kim Junmyeon, what the hell happened?” Luhan’s ears turned red as he grabbed Suho by the collar and slammed him against the wall while the elder gave up and sighed.

“I don’t know.”

Luhan growled and tightened his grip on the shorter boy, “What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I don’t know who did it, but I do know that you should definitely relax.”

Luhan’s grip on the shorter boy loosened until Luhan finally let go of him and breathed out a heavy sigh. He ruffled his hair in frustration and shut his eyes tightly.

“I’m sorry—I just. . . .”

Suho waved him off and continued massaging his head with his right hand as his left hand got his phone from his pocket, switching it on. His eyes widened in the amount of missed calls and text messages.

“You should go inside; take care of her,” Suho said distractedly as he patted Luhan on the shoulder and walked past him, “I need to go to the university.”

“What—“

Suho gave him one last quick smile before rushing to the elevator and leaving the boy behind.

“Ah. . . . .”
 

Luhan stared awkwardly at the open door in front of him and cleared his throat. What was he supposed to do? Could he run away?—no, he couldn’t possibly leave Yoona alone after what just happened, but he also couldn’t just go in in her apartment and take care of her, or could he?

He quickly shook his weird thoughts away and decided to take a tentative step inside the apartment. He took a nervous gulp and took another step then another and another. He stopped in front of a photo and furrowed his brows.

Is this Mei? Nah, that can’t be. Why would Yoona have a picture of her?

He looked around the flat before his eyes landed on the open door to her bedroom, and Luhan suddenly felt the nervousness coming back to him. What would Yoona think of him coming to visit her? Would she freak out? Would she—

“Suho? Is that you?”

Luhan let out a surprised yelp and immediately covered his mouth.

“Suho?”

“Y-yes,” Luhan replied in what he hoped to be in Suho’s voice.

He almost jumped back when Yoona stepped out of her room, and both of their eyes widened in surprise.

“Luhan?!”

< | >

Ayo Whaddup! MissBlackRabit is back in the house yo~ with a long senseless update too ;) I missed you guys so so so much!! and I feel awful for taking this long to update. . . . . Life has been really stressful, and I'm still trying to cope up with the life without a laptop XD I'm currently using my dad's desktop, but I can't promise that my updates will be frequent, but I WILL TRY. . . . anyway, WHO'S EXCITED FOR EXO'S COMEBACK??? *answers "I am" by myself* Ahhh, Baekhyun's black hair was so hot and I just love Xiumin so much and Luhan and then Lay at the middle and ugh I just love exo so much u knw? <3 <3 I don't think I'll waste your time more than I already have so let me just give my thanks to everyone who is reading this stupid a/n, who is reading and supporting my fic, to those who commented, subscribed, and upvoted!!!! THANK YOU EVERYONE!!
See  you on my next update~
Saranghae buing~ <3 <3

       I am not sorry for the gifs :3