~~~

12:21 AM

Yifan pulls up in front of Sehun's apartment roughly half an hour later, the latter nearly falling right of his chair when Yifan not so gently slams on the brakes. Sehun doesn't even bother scolding Yifan for it, though, because the latter has a history of not going easy on the brakes no matter the circumstances.

Staring straight ahead, onto the ghostly street before him, Sehun bites his lip as he sits glued to his seat. Yifan has locked the doors and his head is still spinning. In fact, Sehun has yet to fully process what went down less than an hour ago and he swallows.

"What on Earth was that?" Yifan suddenly asks, nearly scaring the living daylights out of Sehun, who flinches. He stares at the latter with a confused yet mildly terrified glare.

Sehun fidgets with the zipper to his duffel bag whilst tapping his foot impatiently. He feels like the car's walls are closing in on him and all he wants to do right now is to get out of the car, run straight up to his room, maybe eat a snack, and fall asleep, something that Sehun figures is apparently way too much to ask for when Yifan repeats his question, and Sehun subconsciously scratches the back of his neck. 

"Thanks for the ride," Sehun says simply, yet sincerely, and he reaches for the door lock and unlocks it, only for Yifan to promptly click it back into place less than half a second later.

"I'm not ing around," Yifan says in a voice Sehun doesn't recognize. "What the actual hell was that all about?" he asks, staring at Sehun with his eyebrows furrowed. "Who even- What even- I'm so confused, Jesus, I don't get it-"

Clearing his throat, Sehun shrugs. "It was nothing, I guess I got a little- I don't know, really, don't worry about it," he mumbles, avoiding Yifan's piercing eyes. "Seriously, don't worry about it," he adds when Yifan still doesn't stop staring. 

Turning the key in the ignition, Yifan promptly turns the engine off and rests his left hand on the steering wheel. "Now you're just gonna make me worry about it, you fool," he chuckles but his voice remains serious. "Anyway, what was that about? I want to know."

"Nothing special-"

"You made him cry," Yifan says lowly, and sternly, eyes darting back and forth as he watches Sehun doing his best not to shift. 

Sehun feels his eye twitch. He'll admit that he honestly didn't even notice Jongin crying at all, but he blames it on his mind going haywire earlier. Seriously, he barely even knew what he was saying and he finds it awfully strange of Yifan to expect him to remember that. "I uh...I did?" he asks dumbly, running a hand through his hair and ignoring the trembling somewhere in his chest area.

"Don't be an idiot, he put both his hands in front of his face," Yifan scoffs, brushing a piece of dust off the dashboard. "I mean, I didn't actually hear anything, but I'd say he was since, y'know, you freaking shoved him hella hard and all, but what do I know," he adds, a hint of confusion in his voice. 

"We're not together," Sehun blurts out, although it sounds more like he's trying to convince himself rather than Yifan, who most certainly isn't convinced. "And-"

"I didn't ask if you were together," Yifan mumbles, rolling his eyes. "I asked why on Earth you felt the need to be so harsh on him, he seems like a cool guy and I've only known him for two hours." He presses his lips together. "It was just so...unnecessary."

Sehun fights the urge to drag a hand down his face. Yifan, you know nothing. Absolutely nothing. He takes a deep breath before keeping his gaze fixated on his reflection in the side view mirror. "I regret doing it," he says quietly, 

Yifan is quiet for a considerable amount of time. "Sehun, can I ask you something?" he asks casually and blinks in surprise when Sehun visibly tenses. "Jesus, dude, relax a bit before you end up barfing all over my new seats." He makes a disgusted face. "If you do, you're paying for 'em, just so y'know."

"We're not together, I keep telling you," Sehun says a little too loudly before reaching for the door lock and managing to successfully unlock it and swing the door open before Yifan has a chance to react. Not that the latter even bothers to, anyway. "It's a long story, I'll call him in a couple of minutes and set straight, alright? Thanks for the ride." He ducks before stepping out onto the pavement, shivering when a cold gust of air passes and hits him right in the face.

Yifan presses his lips together. "Yeah, I don't think he's going to want to talk to y-" He doesn't even get to finish his sentence when Sehun slams the door shut and he watches as the latter quickly walks up to his front porch. He waits until Sehun closes the door behind him before he shakes his head, muttering something incoherent under his breath as he slams the key in the ignition and slowly drives off.

12:35 AM

Turning on the light in the hallway, Sehun carelessly dumps his duffel bag on the nearest chair, not caring if his shoulder pads end up getting squashed, before quickly removing his shoes and placing them by the wall. He runs a shaky hand through his hair, which is oh so coarse, just like Jongin said to him earlier, and he tries to calm his racing heart. 

Yifan doesn't know , Sehun thinks before listening for any signs of his parents being home. He doesn't hear anything but he assumes they're upstairs, anyway, because over time, they gradually grew used to him arriving home at ungodly hours during the night after late night practice, so they stopped rushing downstairs in a blind panic years ago. 

With that thought in mind, Sehun makes his way down the hallway and nearly jumps out of his own skin, a quiet, high-pitched shriek leaving his lips when something furry grazes against his leg. His nerves instantly relax when he looks down and sees Vivi, in his white and fluffy glory, staring up at him with wide eyes. Sehun feels his stomach churn because Vivi's stare almost reminds him of Jongin. Precisely, the latter's face when he tried persuading Sehun to buy him the stuffed bear at the zoo, and Sehun subconsciously smiles at the memory. Vivi's eyes are as wide and innocent looking and his stare is as curious yet mellow as the brunet's and Sehun finds himself scrambling towards the stairs less than three seconds later, Vivi (unfortunately) hot on his heel.

Sehun opens the door to his bedroom and waits for Vivi to rush inside before entering himself and closing the door. He turns the light on and watches as Vivi hops onto the bed and lies down at the foot of it before pulling out his phone and throwing it onto the mattress. Looking at Vivi reminds Sehun of the fact that his coat desperately needs a trim, which in turn reminds him of how Jongin wanted to name his stuffed bear Monggu, after the latter's poodle, which in turn only reminds Sehun of Jongin, and Sehun bites his lip before removing his jeans and sliding his shirt over his head, a wave of fatigue washing over him.

He hates that Yifan had to barge into the room right at that moment and nearly scare him to death, but all in all, Sehun couldn't help the way he acted earlier. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn't even remember a word of what he said, and he mumbles something incoherent under his breath while sitting on his bed and picking up his phone. Neither Junmyeon nor Chanyeol have texted him, which he finds odd, since they always tend to no matter what time it is.

Running a hand through his hair, Sehun lies down on one of his many pillows while simultaneously trying to remove his socks with his left hand and keep the phone steady in his right. Once he's finished, he quickly dials Jongin's number because he's suddenly feeling extremely lonely despite Vivi snoring away at his feet.

Sehun puts the phone by his ear and looks up at the ceiling. He wonders what Jongin is doing right now; if the latter got home safely, if he's eaten anything or if he's studying (Sehun figures he isn't), or sleeping, for that matter. Speaking of which, Sehun seriously begins to wonder if Jongin has, in fact, fallen asleep, which wouldn't surprise him in all honesty, when he waits for a considerable amount of time for the brunet to pick up, and after a full minute of listening to the monotone sound of the dial tone in his ear, Sehun comes to the conclusion that Jongin must have hit the hay as soon as he got home, and Sehun is seconds away from hanging up when the dial tone suddenly cuts off and is replaced by a muffled sound. Sehun instantly feels his mood lighten and waits to hear the all too familiar voice he's grown to love.

Except it never comes, not for a long time, at least, and Sehun blinks in confusion when he doesn't hear Jongin's voice, let alone anything in the background. Figuring he must've dialled the wrong number, Sehun opens his mouth to speak. 

"...Hello?"

Leaning back against the pillows, Sehun presses his lips together as he waits for Jongin, or whoever it is on the other side, to speak up. He sort of regrets running off with Yifan on such short notice, because if he didn't, he would be lying next to Jongin at the latter's house, which is all he wants right now (Vivi just isn't companionable enough, he figures). Despite that, it's taking an awfully long time for whoever's on the other end of the line to reply and Sehun is about to hang up with a frustrated huff when he finally hears something, which momentarily causes everything inside his head to come to a full stop.

"I hate you."

Sehun blinks. I really must've called the wrong person, he thinks, and his confusion only doubles when he briefly removes the phone from his ear to take a look at it, only to realize that he is, in fact, talking to Jongin and no one else. But despite that, the voice he just heard didn't sound like the brunet at all; it probably did, but in his defense, Sehun barely had time to pick up on the sound since his mind is still trying to process the three words he just heard. 

Scratching his head, Sehun raises an eyebrow. "What?" he asks, blinking in confusion when he hears nothing but silence. He doesn't hang up, because he knows for a fact that it's Jongin on the receiving end, but even so, he wants to because he's just so puzzled right now. "Anyway." He opts to steer the conversation elsewhere and rid himself of the confusion he's feeling. "Hope you got home safely! What are you even doing up at this hour, by the way? Hey, when you go to sleep tonight, make sure you cuddle up with Nini and dream of me later, alright?" he hums, sitting up and reaching out to Vivi's matted white fur. The whiteness and coarseness of his fur reminds Sehun of Jongin when the latter had blonde hair and he feels his lips curl upwards.

When he's greeted by silence yet again, Sehun blinks. Did the connection die out or something? he thinks to himself before speaking again, a little louder this time. "Jo-"

"Who the actual do you think you are," Jongin deadpans and his voice is so low and foreign overall that Sehun shivers. 

The heck. Sehun's hand promptly stops Vivi's belly and he blinks in confusion. He has to stop and ask himself if he really did hear Jongin's voice and not anybody else's because the foreignness in the brunet's voice - a humongous contrast to his usual chirpy, energetic tone, is enough to make Sehun do a double check. Sehun dismisses it, however, for unknown reasons.

"...What do you mean? Is something the matter?" he asks, playfully tugging on Vivi's tail, flinching like he's been burned when he hears Jongin's voice again.

"I don't know just how idiotic you think I am, I'm actually not entirely sure," Jongin says, a sense of coldness in his voice that Sehun doesn't recognize (or like, for that matter). "But one thing you bet your  that I'm sure of, however, is that I never, ever want to talk to you or see your sorry ever again," he adds and the lack of sarcasm and or humor in his voice, which Sehun has grown accustomed to, makes the latter want to vomit all over his bed (and Vivi).

Sehun sits nailed to the mattress for what feels like a century, trying to untangle the mess inside his head that is his thoughts, and he stares into the distance as he opens his mouth to speak. But he doesn't have, or get, to, because the next thing he knows, the eerie and annoying sound of the dial tone is beeping in his ear on repeat, and he has to force himself to remove the phone from his temple. Sehun is sort of thankful that the brunet chose to end the conversation first, because when Sehun finally does open his mouth to say something, he finds himself unable to utter a single word. The inside of his mouth, as well as his entire tongue, both feel like a piece of sandpaper and he has to let out a loud cough to make sure his throat isn't at risk of closing up completely, and thus suffocating him to death (although Sehun figures dying right now would be much, much less painful than what he's currently feeling in his heart). 

Looking at his phone, Sehun barely manages to get a glimpse of Jongin's contact photo as it disappears from the screen when the latter quickly ends the call, and Sehun is greeted by his contact list once again. An endless list of names and faces he barely recognizes and doesn't care to.

Sehun doesn't know if it's the fatigue making him act, or the overall confusion surrounding everything, or something else, but the next thing he knows, a shrill noise is bouncing off the walls - his own low cry of despair, and before Sehun has a chance to even process what he's doing, there's a dent in the wall across from his bed, and he soon realizes that his phone is no longer in his hand.

---

"You did the right thing," Jungah says in a soothing tone as she massages the small of Jongin's back. She presses her lips together and sighs when Jongin doesn't even move an inch, the latter only lowering his head even more, if that's even possible. "Look-"

"That was too harsh," Jongin mumbles, clenching his jaw. The entire house smells like smoke thanks to Junmyeon, and Jongin curses himself for choosing to sit next to the former earlier as he waited for the bus. Or at least he thinks he sat next to Junmyeon, he isn't sure since he could barely see his own hand in front of his face. That, and because he was mentally occupied with other things; things that most certainly didn't concern Junmyeon at the time.

Jungah's eye twitches, but Jongin doesn't see. "Listen, he was a goddamn ing and he deserved way more than a pesky 'I hate you'," she grits, rubbing Jongin's back. "He ing shoved you for God's sake, and didn't even bother helping you up!" she adds in mild distress (and anger) as she stands up and walks over to the fridge, opening it up and retrieving a leftover muffin. "Hell, it's a good thing you ended the damn call so soon since I was just about to grab the phone and tell him to go die." She shakes her head in frustration before walking back to the table, where Jongin is sitting, and slides the muffin across the surface. "Point is, you weren't harsh. Hell, if anything, you weren't harsh enough."

Running a distressed hand through his hair, Jongin presses his lips together. While half of his mind succumbed to a state of pure mental turmoil a while ago, the other half of it feels absolutely nothing. In fact, for the most part, his entire head feels like a blank slate and Jongin doesn't know if he should be relieved or downright worried. His shoulders still ache (he figures, worst case scenario, he'll end up with blu-ish colored fingerprints on his them by tomorrow morning) and his entire spine feels like it's dangerously close to splitting in half, but, despite that, he barely even feels it. 

The tiny window to the right is sitting wide open and Jongin shivers when a cold gust of wind enters the kitchen and hits him in the face, causing a cold chill to spread across his cheeks because of the dry tear streaks on his face. Come to think of it, Jongin figures he isn't feeling anything at all because he just so happened to let it all out on the bus earlier, and he prays to God that whoever he sat next to at the bus stop wasn't Junmyeon because bawling his eyes out on the same bus as Kim Junmyeon, or anybody for that matter, would be pretty embarrassing, to say the least.

"Aren't you gonna eat?" Jungah asks, cocking her head to the side, a slightly concerned glint in her big, brown eyes. "Man, am I glad Dad's away tonight since he'd chew me out if he caught me with a muffin at one in the morning," she adds with a dry chuckle.

Eyeing the muffin in front of him, Jongin stares at it like it's a creature from outer space for a good ten minutes. He's busy trying to pull himself together and organize the thoughts in his head, and he clears his throat before sinking deeper into his chair, ignoring Jungah's cry of 'Don't hurt your back even more!'. It's not until his head briefly seems to catch up with reality that he flinches like he's been burned, nearly falling off his chair as he emits a loud shriek. He barely even feels his spine protest when he scrambles to get out of his chair, eyes wide as dinner plates.

With a high-pitched cry of terror, Jungah is out of her own chair and by Jongin's side in mere seconds. "Whattheisit!" she exclaims, eyes darting back and forth between Jongin's terror-stricken ones, as she grabs his wrists. The thought of whether or not somebody has broken into the house hits her and she's about to panic when the brunet suddenly points to the muffin. "...What?"

"Sehun," Jongin croaks as he points to the pink frosted muffin before him, and he nearly steps on Jungah's toes in the commotion. In all honesty, he doesn't even know why he cares, but the last thing he wants to do right now is think of Sehun and seeing the pink pasty on the table is doing nothing to help. It's foolish and he knows it, but he seriously needs some time to calm his reeling head and tingling nerves, and the fact that his stomach feels like it's seconds away from constricting into a pulp makes him croak-garble the taller's name yet again. ing hell.

Jungah stares at Jongin, and then at the muffin, and then back at Jongin, who looks like he's on the verge of a mental breakdown. "What is it? What do you mean?" she asks, eyeing the cupcake as if it's about to turn into a giant monster any second. When Jongin continues to point in a panicked frenzy, she raises an eyebrow in confusion. "What the hell are you- Is Sehun a muffin?" she asks, more confused than scared.

Instead of answering, Jongin yanks his hands away and bolts up the stairs without another word, Jungah following suit. In desperate need of distraction, he throws himself onto the bed after throwing the door open with a lot more force than necessary, and proceeds to bury his face in one of his pillows, and sighs in relief when the coolness of the fabric seeps into his skin and drying his tears. His head is pounding and he just wants to sleep.

Jungah makes it up the stairs ten seconds later and she furrows her eyebrows upon seeing Jongin splayed out across the bed. "Listen, could we-" She halts when Jongin looks up. "Jesus, your face is so red- Oh my God, are you crying?" She rushes towards him and places a hand on his shoulder.

"No," Jongin says in a muffled tone, shaking Jungah's hand off his back as he practically slams his face back down into the pillow. "Go away."

"Come on," Jungah whines, grabbing Jongin's shoulder in a second attempt to get him to look at her, and it's not until he emits a loud sob that she retreats slowly. "Okay, okay." She bites her lip and sits perched on the edge of the bed, running a hand through one of her pigtails. Even though she knows Jongin probably doesn't want her touching him, she opts to pat his shoulder anyway.

Wiping his face with the back of his hand, and growling under his breath because he thought he'd cried enough for one freaking day, Jongin squeezes his eyes shut when it feels like his entire cranium is being split down the middle. His gut is rumbling, but not because he's hungry, and his heart is racing at inhuman speed, not only because he feels like every capillary in his body is about to blow, but also because he's never cried in front of Jungah before. Jongin his hands into fists because he figures that if he ever were to ever cry in front of Jungah, it would be at her wedding, and not in his room, face down on his bed after getting his heart torn out of his chest, thrown on the ground and stomped on ferociously. ing damn it.

"I- damn it," Jungah murmurs, patting the small of Jongin's back as the latter does his best to stifle the series of sobs that escape his throat. She checks the time on her phone before biting the inside of her cheek. "I...I think it's best if you get some sleep, we'll talk about it tomorrow if you'd like," she says with a reassuring pat on the brunet's head. She waits for a while for Jongin to reply, only to get none, and she sighs before making a move to stand up and walk towards the door. She's about to mumble a 'good night' when her breath hitches in and she feels like she's being squeezed by a boa constrictor. "What the-"

, Jongin thinks as he pulls Jungah's small frame as close as he possibly can. He finds it weird, hugging her like his life depends on it, like this, because if he remembers correctly, he hasn't hugged Jungah since they were infants; precisely, 13 years ago when they were in the midst of protecting themselves from evil monsters outside their couch fort (he'd break out into a smile if only his head and heart weren't hurting so incredibly much right now). Her body is small and fragile, a giant contrast to a certain someone's, and she smells sweet and flowery, unlike a certain someone, and Jongin feels himself relaxing significantly. He still remembers the void; the black hole that appeared and settled deep inside his gut the second Sehun shoved him away in the changing rooms, and he subconsciously pulls Jungah closer because even though he dreads that said void is there to stay forever, the least he can do is make it a tiny bit smaller.

Again, Jongin doesn't know if Jungah is comfortable with what he's doing right now, and he wouldn't even be fazed if she were to stand up and walk right out of his room, which is why the shock that washes over Jongin when Jungah proceeds to wrap an arm around his neck and give him a tight squeeze comes as a huge surprise. In fact, he briefly feels his mind blanking out at the gesture (which he's highly thankful for, since he'd rather not think of a certain somebody right now, or ever, for that matter) and he feels a tear roll down his cheek, for a different reason this time.

"It's not your fault," Jungah says reassuringly, untangling a few strands of Jongin's hair. "Conceited, idiotic son of a ," she murmurs angrily under her breath, nearly choking Jongin to death when her entire body tenses in fury. "Whoops, sorry."

Sputtering, Jongin barely manages to croak out something along the lines of 'It's fine' before tugging at his collar, hurrying to wipe away the single teardrop hanging off his chin before Jungah has a chance to see. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel his heart tremble at Jungah's words but he's just so exhausted right now that he can't bring himself to tell her off. Instead, he chooses to flop down on the mattress and stare up at the ceiling, at his star stickers. He hates himself for ever wanting to remove them because for some reason, on this particular day, he finds them awfully comforting.

"I don't know what you're thinking right now," Jungah starts, and Jongin fights the urge to say 'Absolutely nothing', "but whatever you do, you better not be blaming yourself for this because you have no clue how much I'd hate you in that case." She shoots Jongin a stern yet concerned look. "Jesus Christ, I was right about him, I got jerk vibes from him the very second I first met him," she adds, chuckling to herself while shaking her head in disbelief.

Jongin exhales loudly, trying to stop the spinning in his head. "M hmm."

"I mean, can you believe it?" Jungah scoffs, throwing her hands in the air. "'I don't know him'," she mimics in what she assumes to be Sehun's voice, and Jongin nearly cackles because it's so off. "I mean, good God, the nerve! And you were standing like, right there! What a !" she practically hollers and Jongin is sort of glad Sehun isn't standing in the room with them right now, because he's at least 100% sure Sehun would be going home with every single bone in his body broken and crushed to smithereens (as Jongin keeps reminding himself - Jungah may be small, but what she lacks in size she makes up for in strength and attitude).

Closing his eyes, Jongin swallows, a newfound weight settling on top of his chest. "M hmm." The light is burning his eyes and he hopes his eyeballs don't melt into his head.

Realizing (or rather, sensing) Jongin isn't up for talking anymore, Jungah closes , biting back her (many) words before nodding slowly. She stands up and shoots Jongin's alarmingly calm form a sympathetic glance. "Good night," she mumbles before making her way towards the door, at which she stops before reaching for the door handle. "Remember, it's not your fault," she adds before moving to open the door. However, she stills and bites her lip. 

Stretching out his long limbs, Jongin tenses and swallows when the words 'I'm here for you' fill the air, his already churning gut practically shrivelling up at the unexpected words. A warm sensation erupts in his chest, although it's not strong enough to numb the rock hard feeling which has plagued him for hours, and he rolls over, onto his stomach, before burying his face in the same pillow as before.

When the door closes a second later, Jongin listens to the sound of Jungah's soft footsteps as she walks away, and as soon as everything goes silent he instantly shivers, partially because Jungah is no longer there to reassure him, but mostly because his shoulders ache from earlier. That's definitely gonna leave a bruise, he thinks before sliding his shirt over his head and quickly removing his jeans. He isn't feeling the pain nearly as much as he probably should and he doesn't know if that should worry him or not.

I don't know him; those words will haunt him to the grave, Jongin knows it, and he shivers when he turns off the light and easily finds his way back to his bed in the darkness. His head is spinning so much he fears he'll stumble over nothing and split his face open against the wooden floor, but he doesn't, surprisingly enough, and he practically dives under the covers the very moment his knee bumps into the edge of his bed. He purposefully avoids lying down on the right side of the bed in fear of it still smelling like Sehun so he rolls over to the left side; his side, and pulls the covers up to his chin.

The blanket is cold, so cold, just like the stone hard mattress and Jongin swallows the lump in his throat that never really seems to go away. The pale blue moonlight seeping through the curtains illuminates a small part of the empty side of the bed, and Jongin has to roll over and face the other way when he feels his throat constrict.

Despite lying securely on the solid, unmoving mattress, Jongin feels like he's lying on top of the tallest building in the world, which just so happens to be rocking back and forth and his hands seem to move of their own accord as they scramble to grab onto the covers for dear life. The spinning in his head only increases and he briefly worries he might fall off the bed if it continues.

It's strange, really; he wants to cry, but he can't, and he wants to scream at the top of his lungs, but he just can't, and the frustration nearly makes him want to rip his own hair out. He doesn't know what to blame it on, and the irritation causes him to avert his gaze, which just so happens to land on his backpack which is sitting neglected in the corner. Before Jongin knows it, he's thinking of the bear, which in turn makes him think of a certain somebody, and he quickly covers his entire body with the blanket.

The second the pitch blackness engulfs him, Jongin instantly feels his nerves relax, his heartbeat slow down and, most importantly, his head stop spinning so frustratingly much. However, the relief is short lived when a wave of agony washes over him and, before he has a chance to stop himself, he's throwing the covers off his body and standing up, careful to avoid passing out on the floor when he feels his head start to spin again.

He holds the bear close to his chest as he makes his way back to bed, hurrying to get under the covers before he has a chance to suffer an acrophobia-induced anxiety attack. For some reason, the toy seems to have magical powers because Jongin feels his headache disappear without a trace the second his body hits the mattress, and Jongin holds onto the bear for dear life as he curls up under the covers. He really isn't sure if he should love it or hate it (or if he's going crazy; he settles for that alternative), but the bear smells exactly like Sehun and, as much as Jongin wants to open the window and throw it out and leave it to rot out on the road, he finds himself grabbing it tighter. He can't bring himself to cry for different reasons, and it's not like he could, but, even if he could, he doesn't think he could bring himself to do so, anyway, since he doesn't want to get the bear wet and thus risk washing Sehun's scent off of it.

4:39 AM

After several hours of tossing and turning, Jongin feels himself starting to approach the verge of sleep, much to his relief, only for his entire body to convulse as he suddenly jolts awake (if he'd been sleeping at all, that is) after he'd closed his eyes, only for the mental image of Sehun's stone cold glare from earlier to pop up in his head without a warning, and Jongin lies on his back, panting like a dog in the desert as he stares, wide-eyed, up at the glowing plastic stars above him. On a side note, he's overly thankful he didn't scream, because he's pretty sure he'd give Jungah a heart attack. The same splitting headache he'd been sporting hours ago hits him like a freight train and he inwardly screams. He blinks in confusion when he realizes his fingers are gripping the sheets, and he's about to question his sanity when it hits him that the bear is gone. He finds it on the floor a couple of seconds later, before he has a chance to suffer a mental meltdown.

He's scared to go back to sleep. Or to be exact, he's scared of closing his eyes in fear of being greeted by the haunting image of Sehun's ice cold eyes, and Jongin has to give the bear a squeeze and breathe in Sehun's scent to calm himself down, all while ignoring the sickening irony of it all.

Jongin doesn't know when he finally falls asleep, but it finally happens after a painfully long time, somehow.

~~~