He was your angel, wasn't he?

Strength
does not come from winning.
Your struggles
develop
your strengths.
When you go through hardships
and decide
not to surrender,
that is
strength.

-Arnold Schwarzenegger

__________________

Baekhyun woke up before Chanyeol, not because he's a morning person, definitely not, but because he has a maknae called Sehun who makes bed tea for him every day to wake him up. Not to mention that Baekhyun gets 7 different type of teas on different days of the weak. And today was the day for cinnamon tea.

So Baekhyun woke up and got ready. Then had breakfast which was cooked by Kai. Also not to exaggerate but since it's Friday, he had Thai on his menu.

"Let Chanyeol sleep. Don't disturb him."

He told the youngers before leaving.

____________________

Chanyeol woke up late. Slowly absorbing his surroundings, his eyes started searching for Baekhyun who was nowhere to be found. He went out of the room only to find Kai in the living room, working on his laptop.

"Where's Baekhyun?"

"Hospital."

"Okay. Umm.. I need some.. Never mind."

"Chanyeol, some spare brushes are kept in the kitchen drawer. Wait, I'll give you."

Kai helped Chanyeol in knowing the house better.

After refreshing, Chanyeol thanked Kai for the breakfast.

"This is really good."

"Thank you."

Kai said smilingly.

"Were you always so good at cooking?"

Chanyeol asked trying to make conversation.

Kai laughed at this and said,

"I never was. But then, Baekhyun was fond of food. So I learned it."

"Oh."

"Chanyeol, would you mind telling me why you tried to kill yourself?"

Chanyeol stayed quiet at this. He wasn't confident enough to tell the world about his past. Not right now at least.

"I would just say that I was high on pain."

Kai got the hint and didn't push the subject any further. But he wanted to comfort Chanyeol. Not because he pitied the boy but because he could relate with Chanyeol. He could see his own past self in Chanyeol. And he wanted to help. He wanted to befriend this person before him. He wanted to know him better and so he decided to share his own story with Chanyeol.

"Chanyeol, I feel like I should share this with you. About why I am here today."

This brought to wide smile on Chanyeol's otherwise dull face. It was the first time Kai was seeing him smile so genuinely. He too wanted to know Kai.

"The only family I ever had was an elder sister. Our parents died in a car accident when I was 8. I was too young then. So noona would always take care of me. She was 15 at that time. And she wanted to become a heart surgeon. But as we grew up, she gave up on her dreams so she could educate me instead. When I was 15 when one day I came home with a tattoo of 'noona' on my wrist. See-"

Chanyeol smiled at how cute Kai looked while telling about his beloved sister.

"Yeah, it's cute."

"But noona didn't like it that much. Then when I turned 18, noona was diagnosed with terminal cancer."

"."

Chanyeol cursed.

Even though Kai managed to keep a smile on his face but his insides started burning.

"So I wanted to make noona proud of me before she would leave me. I wanted to make her really happy. So I decided to become a heart surgeon. So I could clear the written exam but a doctor should be free from all kinds of diseases. So for the physical test, I went through this test.

I was very sure that the result would come out good. I kept telling noona that she's going to be so proud of me. But noona's condition kept worsening. So finally I got my results and it stated that I had some blood disease, so I couldn't pursue being a doctor."

"What blood disease?"

Chanyeol asked.

"I got it from the ink that I got tattooed in my skin."

Chanyeol's eyes bulged out at this. He didn't know what to say anymore. He himself would have lost all hope in life if this would have happened to him. But before he could say anything Kai continued his story,

"So I went home and decided to tell noona about this. I was in tears. I was a mess. I didn't know how to frame words. How to express my feelings. So as soon as I went in I found noona on the floor. I called her so many times. I- I tried- I tried waking-ng h-her up. But she left me."

And Kai couldn't contain it anymore, he started crying with his face stuffed in his palms. Chanyeol couldn't handle this either. He hugged Kai and allowed him to cry in his embrace. He teared up on hearing Kai's past. They both cried in each other's embrace for what seemed like hours. Kai would say things like-

"I couldn't even say goodbye her."

"She left me just like that."

"She promised she would always be there for me. She l-lied."

They both calmed down after a while.

"So after all that, I tried to hang myself from the ceiling fan. But Baekhyun was my neighbor at that time. He heard my loud cries and came to check. I accidentally left the doors open and when he saw me, I was about to kick the foot stand from below my feet.

He immediately jumped on me and then slapped me across my face."

Chanyeol laughed lightly at the slapping part.

Baekhyun has a unique way of saving lives, more like, slapping people to life.

"So Baekhyun brought me back to life in a way I didn't know was possible."

Kai understood that Chanyeol could relate to him. They weren't strangers anymore. Kai smiled at the thought.

"How did you both land to Paris?"

"Better treatment is available in Paris for blood disorders. So we came here for my treatment."

"How is your disease now?"

"I am fighting. Probably, it will be completely cured in a couple of months if I keep progressing in the like I am currently."