I wish it would all stop.

Sehun traced his finger along Luhan's jawline. 

I want the pain to go away.

Luhan stirred in his sleep and Sehun stopped his actions, not wanting to wake the other.

I don't want you to leave.

Luhan's eyelids slowly fluttered open.

I need you to stay.

"Sehun? Wow, you're up before me again." Luhan rubbed his eyes with his hands and looked up at Sehun. "Morning." 

Sehun's lower lip trembled as he smiled. "Good morning, hyung." 

"Hey, hey, hey. Why are you crying so early in the morning? Don't cry." Luhan brought a hand up and rubbed Sehun's chin with it. "You look ugly when you cry." 

Sehun laughed and turned away to wipe his eyes. "I'm not crying," he denied. "There's something in my eye." 

Luhan nodded, even though he knew it wasn't true. Sehun's nose had turned red, a sure sign that he was about to cry. "I believe you," he said. Sehun had been crying too much and too often after he confronted Luhan about him dying and how he knew Luhan was leaving in exactly one week from now. Whatever Luhan did, didn't stop Sehun's tears. Nothing could stop them, according to Sehun, but Luhan could.

Sehun walked into Luhan coughing up blood after lunch. Luhan was wheezing, oxygen not quite reaching his lungs and making everything blurry. The tissue in his hand was stained red and Sehun stood, wide eyed, as he watched Luhan struggle for air. Sehun felt everything go numb, but he regained his senses when he saw Luhan almost topple over. 

Sehun caught Luhan before his head hit the floor. Luhan's lips were shiny with saliva and a darker shade of red than normal, but otherwise, he was alive.Sick, but alive. 

"I'll bring you back to your room. Then, I'll get you water," Sehun grunted as he tried to carry Luhan out of the bathroom. Luhan was still wheezing, but there was a little but of oxygen in his lungs. But Sehun, even with his newly gained two pounds, couldn't carry Luhan, He ended up half-dragging, half-leading Luhan to his room. After making sure, Luhan was situated, Sehun ran and got a glass of water. Luhan's hands shook as he gulped the water down. "Should I call the hospital?" Sehun asked quietly.

Luhan put the glass down and sighed. "You don't have to," he replied. 

"But you look really bad," Sehun said. "Please just let me call a doctor at least." 

"Fine." 

Sehun curled up in Luhan's hold and let Luhan his hair lovingly. 

"Sehun, can you promise me something?" he asked out of the blue. Sehun blinked sleepily and nodded. "Look at me." Sehun forced his eyes open and looked up at Luhan's face. Luhan his dry lips and lifted his eyebrows. "I want you to promise me that you'll be happy after I...you know." 

"Die?" 

Luhan bit his lip. The way Sehun said it made it sound like an everyday occurrence, like it didn't even hurt anymore. "Pass," Luhan corrected. 

"Same thing," Sehun mutters. 

"Well, saying 'pass' is better than such a crude term, Sehun." 

"But it doesn't make a difference. They both mean the same thing. You're going to die." Sehun broke eye contact with Luhan. "Can I sleep?" 

"You didn't promise me yet," Luhan said. 

"What's the point of making a promise if I'm going to break it?" 

Sehun banged on the door to the bathroom. "Hyung! Help me! There's a giant eight-legged monster on my bed and it touched me!" Sehun rubbed and scratched at the skin on his arm until the skin turned red. "Hyung, hurry!" He heard the door click unlocked and Luhan came out, hair still wet and oversized shirt hanging off his shoulders. 

"What eight-legged monster?" he asked. 

Sehun dragged Luhan to his room and pushed the older inside. It's on the blanket. See?" Sehun pointed to the creature crawling around on the blanket. "It's huge." Luhan laughed and picked up Sehun's notebook. "No! Don't use that!" Sehun screeched. But Luhan only smiled and held it out so that the spider could crawl onto the cover. He lifted the book and walked towards the doorway. Sehun, who was standing in said doorway, thought Luhan was coming after him, let out a squeak and ran. "Squish it, hyung! Kill it!" 

Luhan brought the spider to the backyard and let it free. He rolled up Sehun's notebook and hit the latter's head with it. "It's just a spider. And, like always, it isn't that big. You overreacted again." Sehun rubbed his head and shuddered. "Anyway," Luhan started, "you never told me why you hate spiders so much." 

"Oh..." Sehun glared at the red cover of the notebook placed on the coffee table and chewed on the inside of his mouth. "Jongin threw one in my mouth when I was younger. It was still alive and I almost swallowed it." Sehun's whole body shook in disgust when he remembered the feeling. "I was scarred for life and Jongin got in trouble." Sehun looked at Luhan and pointed a finger at him. "You have to stay with me to protect me from them." 

It sounded so innocent, so childish, but at the same time, so painful, so desperate.

Luhan locked himself in his room. Sehun could hear the coughs, the groans, and then the small crash of something breaking. As much as he wanted to break the door down, he didn't. Luhan wanted to be alone. And deep down inside, Sehun didn't want to see Luhan at the moment. Not when he was so weak, not when he was so vulnerable. That was supposed to be him. Sehun was supposed to be the weak and vunerable one. 

Luhan left his room, breathing heavily but still alive. He stumbled into Sehun's room and flopped down on the bed. Sehun glanced at him and shut his book and dropped his pencil. He made his way to the bed and sat down beside Luhan's body. He Luhan's hair, like Luhan did to him and wiped the traces of saliva and blood from Luhan's lips away. 

'What were you doing?" Luhan asked, breathlessly. 

"Writing," Sehun replied. 

"Writing about what?" 

"About us." 

"Us?" Sehun nodded. "Can you read it to me?" 

Sehun stiffened and looked at Luhan confusedly. "D-do you really want to hear it?" 

Luhan reached a hand up to Sehun's cheek and brush his bangs away from his eyes. "Yes. I want to hear what you wrote."

Sehun got off the bed and plucked his book off his desk. He opened it to the page he was on and began to read. 

We have 6 days left together. He's dying and hurting more day by day, but he's staying here. With me. Where I want him to be. Where I need him to be. He looks so much worse every second, but he still smiles and pretends he's okay. I love him. I really do. I don't know what I'll do after our last 6 days end. Will I even be able to live? He wants me to be happy, but I can't. Because the scariest thing in the world is to be left by the people who were once beside you. He was once beside me. But he'll be gone. Just like the rest.

The quote, "Because the scariest thing in the world is to be left by the people who were once beside you," were Sehun's actual words. ​