The first day back was hard. Luhan was sleepy, so sleepy. If it wasn't for Sehun, he would have fell asleep right on the sidewalk. The dark haired male held Luhan's waist tightly, talking to him lowly as they walked through campus. Many students' jaws dropped when they saw the couple. They rubbed their eyes and looked again, making sure they weren't hallucinating.

Luhan smiled as they stopped in front of his classroom. He blinked, watching Sehun as he said goodbye. Luhan nodded and went up on his tiptoes, pressing a faint kiss on the taller's cheek before walking into the class.

Chanyeol was sitting in the back, scribbling something in his sketchbook. He had a pen tucked behind his ear and was holding another pencil in his mouth as he aggressively tried to blend the lines of graphite together. Luhan watched the red headed male dirty his fingers before reaching into his bag. He pulled out a couple tissues and handed it to the tall male. Chanyeol grinned and thanked Luhan quickly before going back to work, "It's an assignment I forgot to do over break." Chanyeol said sheepishly as he held the sketchbook away from him, trying to see how it looked.

Luhan gave him a thumbs up. Chanyeol smiled, "Glad you like it."

The male locked eyes with Luhan before looking down at his sketchbook. He frowned and looked back up, "Say, would you be open to a new hair color?"

Luhan's eyes widened.





 

"Okay so we have two hours of free before our next class, let's go!" Chanyeol said smiling. Luhan pouted and pulled out his phone.

Lulu: I don't know Chanyeol a new hair color?

Chanyeol glanced at his phone and rolled his eyes, "Oh come on Lu, I'll change my hair color too! I promise it'll be okay."

"What'll be okay?"

Chanyeol screamed when he heard a sudden voice from the left of him. Luhan turned to see Jongin had joined them when they weren't paying attention. The red haired male smacked Jongin on the arm, still gasping for air, "Don't ing scare me like that!"

Jongin laughed, "Seriously, what're we doing?"

"Getting our hair dyed."

Jongin's face lit up, like a child on Christmas morning more like Chanyeol on Christmas morning.

"I wanna come too! I'm bored of pink." He pouted as he ran his fingers through his  hair. Chanyeol made a face, "How is that even possible, your hair looks like actual cotton candy."



 

Xiumin sniffed as he closed the dorm room door behind him. He had another bad day, fourth one this week actually. He sniffed again, tossing off his glasses and throwing them, not caring when they landed on the floor haphazardly. He shed layers of his clothes until he was left in a wife beater and jeans. Xiumin didn't know how to feel. Something was...missing. He felt empty inside, lonely. Which he shouldn't. He was the son of a business tycoon! He had a gorgeous girlfriend who loved him and yet...he felt like he was the only one in the world.

He texted Luhan a couple times but the latter didn't respond. Maybe Xiumin was just annoying him.

Xiumin's heart wrenched, but for what reason? Xiumin did not know. He just wanted to be happy. It was a simple task. A smile, a small laugh, that was all that was needed. But it was more complicated than that. Xiumin sighed, running his fingers through his gelled hair. He walked to the bathroom, barely having the energy to lift one foot after the other. He leaned over and turned the shower on. Without waiting for the water to warm up, he stuck his head underneath the stream, gasping as the ice cold water hit his neck. He shivered as the water droplets rolled down his face and down to his neck. Each drop feeling like ice.

The water slowly heated up until the ice droplets felt like fire. Xiumin didn't even realize he was crying.
 

Luhan stepped inside the dorm room. After he got his hair dyed, he barely made it to his next class. He had finally made it back to the dorms after having coffee with Sehun. He frowned when he heard the shower. Xiumin usually went to practice dance at this time, claiming that it was the only time where the studio was mostly empty.

Luhan walked over to the bathroom, frowning even more when he saw the door was cracked open. He peeked inside and almost tripped when he saw Xiumin sticking his head under the scalding water. Steam filled the air and Luhan felt like he was suffocating as he walked inside. He turned the tap off and pulled Xiumin's head after from the dripping water droplets.

He tugged the male into the bedroom and helped him sit on the bed. Luhan raced to grab two towels and an ice pack. The short male ran back into the bedroom to see Xiumin hunched over, his shoulders shaking as if he was crying.

Luhan crouched so he was level with Xiumin's hidden face. His neck was pulsing red, probably irritated by the scalding hot shower. Luhan slowly wrapped a towel around Xuimin's shoulders and started to dry his hair with the other. He placed the ice pack on the irritated skin and moved it to different spots every couple of seconds.

Luhan worked quietly, not bothering to squeeze answers out of the brown haired male. Xiumin was not in the mood to talk. Luhan kept rubbing his hair until it was mostly dry. He helped the male out of his wet top and into dry clothes. Luhan's bottom lip quivered as he caught sight of Xiumin's face for the first time.

The male looked so tired. The bags under his eyes were immense and his eyes themselves were bloodshot. And they looked so empty. Xiumin had vibrant eyes, light brown and filled with life but now....now they looked dead. Luhan lifted a shaking finger and gently wiped away Xiumin's tears. He pushed the male backwards until his back hit the mattress. Luhan lifted Xiumin's legs onto the bed so he was now laying comfortably. Luhan got up, pressing a hand on Xiumin's forehead.

The male was burning up. Luhan sighed and leaned down, pressing a loving kiss on the latter's cheek and pulling the covers over his body. He grabbed a chair and set it next to the bed. Luhan sat in the chair as he gently caressed Xiumin's face, pushing back his hair and gently massaging his head.

Luhan knew Xiumin was going through rough times. Whether the brown haired male told Luhan or not, Luhan was always going to be there for Xiumin. He ignored his buzzing phone as he tended to the sick male all night.

 

Sehun was loosing his goddamn mind. Luhan wasn't responding to his texts or calls. The black haired male's thoughts jumped immediately for the worst. He should've have walked Luhan all the way up to his dorm. He was going to but was stopped by a member of the dance club. They needed him and Jongin pronto. Sehun didn't want to go with her but Luhan frowned. He told Sehun to go, that he was already in the building, he just had to go up a couple floors.

Sehun grudgingly agreed and let Luhan go.

Stupid stupid stupid. Sehun thought as he fumbled for Luhan's dork key. Okay he might have copied an extra copy without the smaller male knowing but that was besides the point. It was for emergencies...like now!

Sehun burst through the door, "Luhan?"

He walked through the door until he came across the open bedroom door. The black haired male slowly peeked his head inside, raising an eyebrow when he saw Luhan fast asleep on a chair, while holding Xiumin's hand tightly. The only difference was that his once blonde hair was now faint pink. Sehun's eyes bulged as he took in the new hair color. He would've been very angry with Luhan for not answering his phone if it wasn't for the adorableness that the pink hair brought to the smaller boy.

"Luhan?"

The smaller male didn't stir.

"Luhan?" Sehun walked closer. He frowned when he saw a bucket half full with a towel on the ground. There was a dry hand towel on Xiumin's forehead. Luhan was hunched over in an uncomfortable position, his head almost touching the mattress as he sat in the chair. He must have fallen asleep while taking care of Xiumin.

"Baby, wake up." Sehun said louder, gently shaking Luhan. The pink haired male sat up in shook. He blinked once, twice before turning to Sehun. His frown turned into a smile as he hugged the black haired male's torso.

"Good morning babe. What are you doing? You worried me! You should answer my texts."

Luhan looked down sheepishly, "I came home and saw Xiumin sticking his head under boiling water! So I pulled him out, dried him up but he had a high fever so I was taking care of him. Something's wrong, and it's not just his fever."

Sehun smiled softly, brushing Luhan's bangs off his face, "What an angel. Now tell me, who took you to get your hair done?"

Luhan grinned and twisted a pink strand between his two fingers, "Chanyeol and Jongin! Jongin changed his hair too, now he has platinum hair. Chanyeol has a light brown except he said he's not going to straighten his hair anymore so now it looks like he has a poodle on top of his head." Luhan signed with a smile.

Sehun chuckled, "Alright, let's go get some breakfast. Wake Xiumin too, he can come along."

Luhan nodded and turned to Xiumin, patting his cheek softly. The latter didn't move. Luhan froze and shook him more desperately. Sehun frowned, "Xiumin?"

The sleeping male didn't budge. Sehun's eyes widened as he shook Xiumin harshly, "Xiumin wake up! Luhan get your phone! XIUMIN."
 

Luhan sobbed as he watched his best friend get rolled into the emergency care. Sehun held him tightly, his face deathly serious. Chanyeol was sitting down, his head in his hands as his legs shook uncontrollably. Kyungsoo placed a gentle hand on the tall male's thigh, "Its okay baby boy, he's strong. Whatever is wrong with him, he can fight it." Chanyeol merely nodded.

Although Xiumin had met Luhan, Sehun and the rest of their friends only five months prior, he was dear in their heart. Seeing their happy friend get rolled away broke their hearts. Jongin ran desperately to get Xiumin's girlfriend, thinking it was better to drive her here in case she took the news badly. Surprisingly she walked along aside Jongin, not a tear in her eye. Luhan looked at her, his eyes bloodshot and his nose running. The moment their eyes met, Luhan knew she was putting everything into not breaking down. She had to be strong. For Xiumin.

The hour was nerve wrecking. Each minute felt like an hour, each second felt like a minute. But the doctor came out fairly quickly, a troubled look on his face. Luhan was the first to notice him. He flew up from Sehun's lap and walked to the doctor. Injeon was inches behind him. "What's wrong doctor?" She asked, her voice quivering.

The doctor shook his head, "Severely malnourished, as in, days without food. His neck has a sort of rash?"

"Hot water." Luhan signed. Sehun translated. The doctor nodded, "That checks out, pretty easy to heal. But, may I suggest, taking Xiumin to a counselor? I'm suspecting some major problems, that can be talked out, maybe even a couple of antidepressants?"

Luhan's eyes widened. Chanyeol choked back a sob and Injeon burst into tears. Sehun held Luhan close while keeping a reassuring arm around the girl as she cried.