It was a cold exchange with few words of few variation.

 

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You're not hurting me. I don't care if yo-"

"Stop it."

". . ."

"You love me and I loved you too. I'm over you already."

"B-But Minseok th-"

"What don't you understand?! I don't want you, I don't love you, and I don't want to hurt you. . . It's only you."

 

The candle in the corner flickered violently with the slam of the door, before resuming to its gentle french vanilla wave. It cast gold and coal colored patterns across the cold wooden floors where a lifeless boy sat, legs folded back, feet portruding from his body. His arms clutched his sides as if he needed a grip on reality's cruelty, and he hugged himself like that while rocking back and forth, back and forth. The rest of the small house was quiet, just listening to the sound of the floorboards creak underneath his shifting weight.

 

The kitchen faucet didn't drip. The toilet didn't hiss. The television didn't crackle. The curtains that hung pulled apart slightly let a few strands of shimmery white in, but even the dust seemed to shy away from the sight.

 

Kim Minseok was the apple of Lu Han's eye. To him he was the world all bundled up in the form of a cute Korean man with a wonderful sense of humor, and good cooking. Up until now they had lasted for three years with no complications of complaints about each other. It was as if Minseok's sudden cut off with him was a joke, a joke that they could all laugh about and say "yah, don't be like that~".

The beautiful intricate string of red that held them together was suddenly fake and had withered away in an instant. The older seemed to have found a greater interest, a greater perfection than Luhan, and immeadiately snatched the golden prize. But Luhan was only assuming all of this, because it's not like Minseok wanted to tell the full details. It was "I love someone else now" and BAM! the door slammed in his face.

Thus, the hollow shell Minseok left the empty house.

 

Luhan stopped his rocking and took a peek at the door. It was painted a bold royal blue and accented with brass handle and peephole, a daring contrast to the creamy walls. It was relatively plain like any other door, with four rectangle designs chiseled into the door. If you looked close enough you would be able to see the brown wood on the inside where there were faint scratches.

Never had Luhan hated a door so much in all his twenty-two years of living. He knew it was dumb. He knew it wasn't the door's fault. But it hurt. It hurt to think a door was what brought him to his knees. Most of all though, was the fact that the love of his life was slamming that door without a proper goodbye. 

He sniffled and flumped to the side, successfully knocking his head on the floor with a whimper. He pulled his knees in, wrapped his arms around them and just laid there, staring at the door. No crying, sniffling, pathetic mumbling; just staring at that door.

 

---

 

Sehun pedaled his wiry bike in through the backgate of the one-story house, hopping off and leaning it carefully against the wall. Blue skies above watched him sigh and stretch his limbs out one by one, sending a cool breeze as a gift. The boy trotted back to his bike and took the groceries in the basket, hanging them from one arm while he searched for his keys.

The house had no backyard as much as he wished there was, but instead was a cement walkway where residents traveled on for a safe trip to a neighbor. It was around ten yards out from his house before a solid brick wall stood, seperating them from the residents on the other side. The odd setup of their neighborhood was definitely uncommon, but it deifinitely meant getting to know new people; especially if they could easily walk in through your back door.

The boy never really thought about it, but the houses had nearly no space in between. It was just a few feet between two houses, and with that distance you can literally hear your neighbors flush the toilet. Meaning, everybody hears everything.

 

Sehun's finger brushed the cold metal of his keys and let out a small victory shout before pulling the ring from his pocket. Just as he was about to shove the key in, open the door, and come home to his lovely roommate slash best friend, a series of high-pitched "Sehun! Sehun!"'s bombarded his senses.

He looked up with an irritated face and was met with Kyungsoo running down the walkway, yelling his name. The older boy stopped in front of him and caught his scrunched up face.

"Don't give me that face Sehun, it's important," Kyungsoo huffed, patting the younger's cheek.

"Yes, hyung," he answered lifelessly.

"Learn some respect. . . Anyway! I saw Minseok come into your house and everything, but when he came out he slammed the damn door and nearly busted the thing! I'm sure he went to see Luhan, but get this: I haven't seen Luhan hyung all day. And he usually goes running at four o'clock which was like. . . thirty minutes ago. Thirty! He never likes going later than he always plans his dates, otherwise he gets all cranky and complains about having to "adjust his schedule" or some sh-"

"Hyung. Cut the chit-chat."

"Oh. Right," Kyungsoo laughed. "Well, the point is, you might want to be careful around him; something probably happened with him and Miinnie~"

[ Sehun's POV ]

And the little chatter-box was right, because right when I opened the back door I saw Luhan balled up on the floor, facing the front door. I blinked and carefully stepped towards him.

"Lu hyung. . . Luhan. Luhan wake up."

I shook him gently with my hand until his swollen eyelids cracked open, revealing red eyes and a dreary expression. His face was splotchy with red and white, like autumn leaves in snow, and his auburn hair stook to the sides of his face. It was a wreck in human flesh.

"Hunnie, wh-at are you doing here?" His voice cracked horribly.

"What do you mean, it's four thirty-five!"

"I see. . . "

He sat up and rubbed his eyes before laying back down on his other side, still facing our blue door.

 

I refrained from saying anything more that night for fear of him crying over Minseok or something; I could hear a few mumbles of "stupid boy" and "Minseok". A crying mess and those words tell enough already. 

I sighed and went about with my usual evening activites, sneaking peaks at my dear Luhan. It would be a lie if I said I didn't have some sort of affection towards him, and it wouldn't be true if I said I was just a little happy Minseok was out of the picture. Hopefully. I have come to a conclusion that Luhan is just more than a guy friend. Much much more.

When dinner time came around he refused to eat at the table, even with the kimchi stew sitting perfectly on it. I had to serve it to him on a tray where he continued to eat and sniffle on the floor.

After dinner he didn't get up to wash up and go to bed, but instead I took a plastic bin and filled it with water and brought it to him. He brushed and washed on the floor as well. Flumping back down onto the floor, I threw a blanket at him out of frustration. Apparently, he thought it was an act of kindness for he snuggled up in it and mumbled a thank you.

 

I laid in bed that night and really wondered how much that Minseok meant to Luhan, so much that he had to shut down all his will and energy to lay and stare at the door. I tried coaxing him into even just laying on the couch; I rubbed his back, fed him a cup of warm milk, and even tried singing a little Chinese. Of course, all he did was stare at me. So I just gave up trying to care for him and here I am now, thinking about his relationship with the older boy.

I turned and groaned in frustration. Thinking hurt, especially when it came to Luhan.

 

---

 

When I woke up I went through a similar process as last night: wake Luhan up, feed Luhan, wash Luhan, and the new addition, changing Luhan. It was rediculous! Not coming from someone who has just a little more than an infatuation with him, but coming from someone who wants a life and a working roommate.

I stood in the kitchen staring at the fridge, waiting for Luhan to be done with changing into his clothes, and took this time to think on what to do with him. He certainly wasn't going anywhere, but if he stays like this both his social and physical health will drop. Not that I want him meeting other people. . . 

"I'm done Sehun," Luhan called, still sounding as if he had no energy at all.

"Hey, Luhan," I said, walking back into the living room, "I'm going to buy groceries, do you want to come?"

I watched his pale face turn from blank to depressed in a flash.

"No."

He then proceeded to lay back down in the blanket and turn his back on me.

 

I gave up after another round of back patting and Chinese, before standing up and grabbing my keys; I had a life outside of Luhan, and that included grocery shopping.

"I'll be back," I sighed, and jingled the keys a bit.

He didn't say anything nor did he move. A burst of pure frustration burned in me and I slammed the door on my way out, but I regretted it immeadiately. Through the thin walls a small whimper could be heard and then a series of sobbing noises. I hopped on my bike and ran away from the pitiful sounds.

 

---

 

Our life continued like that for a week or so. I would try to get him to do something, anything, before giving up and leaving him on the floor. After that, I take my keys, jingle it a bit, and leave quietly as I can. Day after day, I had soon become Luhan's caregiver, his mother even. It seemed I was no longer a candidate for his romantic heart. 

I never had the guts to ask about Minseok, nor did he talk about Minseok; he rarely talked unless I asked him a direct question. After two weeks of key jingling and waiting for a reply, something finally changed.

 

I jingled my keys a bit, hand already on the door as I stared at his back with no hope. But maybe no hope was the key because for the first time in all fourteen days, I was met with his porcelain face.

It was a blank face full of sketchy expressions I could never be sure of, milk chocolate colored eyes blinking slowly as if deciding on something. Our eyes met and just for a moment we stared at each other, not lovingly of course, but there was a sense of longing there, as if Luhan wanted to apologize and hug me maybe. The hugging part was just my wish though.

I waited long enough though, and I opened the door after waving to him a bit.

 

[ Luhan's POV ]

My eyes were blinded with a flash of white as he opened the door, lighting up my features that screamed for the sunny warmth. As the brightness passed I caught a glimpse of the outside world: the familiar wall, the grey stones of the walkway, Sehun's bike leaning agasint the wall. And peaking just below the top the of the doorframe was a beautiful bar of dazzling blue, better known as our sky. It was such a beautiful sight after so many days of constant sulking and depresson, that even that one puffy cloud in there didn't bother me at all.

I don't know why, but for some reason it made tears swell up in my eyes and overflow silently. My eyes caught Sehun stepping out, a glowing outline surrounding his strong frame like, and suddenly I felt the urge to call out,

"Sehun, wait. . . "

He turned around and as soon as he saw my face running with tears he ran back to me with wide eyes, gentle voice cooing to me as he flung the keys somewhere.

"H-Hyung, what's wrong?" He asked, kneeling beside me as he patted the tears away.

"I don't know Sehun, I don't know what's wrong with me," I sighed, smiling faintly. "I don't know why I did that, why I just fell apart like that. It's kind of stupid, isn't it?"

I laughed and Sehun just sighed, looking at me hesitantly.

"So, it was about Minseok?"

"Yeah. . . Yeah it was. But, I'll tell you another time, I-I don't wan-t y-" My voice was cracking and hitching all over the place as another wave of bittersweet emotions hit me.

Another batch of tears cascaded down my cheeks and I went through that reality check process all over again. Minseok is gone, he was gone right when he shut that door. But the world is here with me, still out there. And Sehun too. Sehun was always there with that open door to the world.

"I-I was selfish ri-ght? So s-s-selfish for let-ting you take c-care of me," I sobbed, my face twisting in an ugly expression perhaps.

 

Sehun took me into his arms and hugged me tight, pushing my head to rest on his shoulder. It was very, very, very warm and reassuring, not like that thin blanket he gave me. It felt so nice to just let it all out into his shoulder and feel secure in the world once again, wrapped in a safe embrace. I don't think it was a romantic one - though I had a small feeling there was a bit of un-brotherly love - but it sure had me crying again. Crying for such a beautiful and patient person. 

 

---

 

[ no one's POV ]

For a half an hour or so the two sat on the floor like that, wrapped in each other's arms as a sign of security and apology. Luhan stared longingly at the open door in front of him, enjoying the bright bright blue that was the sky, and Sehun stared indifferently at the closed door, wondering just how hard that Minseok slammed the door.

It was quiet, save for the people hustling outside the door. So nobody but the keys sitting on the ground could sigh and say finally.

 

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This was a bit rushed to get it in time for the deadline, so it's maybe not the best. ouo;; But, I hope you enjoyed it somewhat.

Thank you!