Jongin felt his hands reach out against his will towards Sehun's throat; he wanted to stop it, almost as if he knew what was going to happen, but it was like his body paid no heed to what his brain was saying.
“No,” He whimpered as his fingers trembled with the force he tried to summon but wouldn't seem to come.
“Don't-don't look at me li-like that! It's not me!” He cried out when he saw the dark shadow of horror cloud Sehun's usually brown orbs, and Jongin bit down on his hurt lip as his hands closed around his boyfriend's throat. Still, it seemed his body was acting on its own accord, not listening to a single word his brain screamed at his limbs.
“Make it stop,” He whimpered again as his fingers squeezed, “please, Sehun! I don't want to hurt you!”
But his boyfriend did nothing to stop him, only looking at him with such a strong sense of betrayal in his eyes that the blonde almost broke into a fit of sobs. He could feel how Sehun's life force began to decrease - like his energy was disappearing with each breath he tried to in - and even though it was breaking his heart into a million pieces, still, his hands wouldn't loosen until Sehun stopped breathing completely.
“No...you can't do this...you can't! Yah! Sehun!” Jongin's voice was barely a whisper when his hands finally began obeying his commands, and he cupped his boyfriend's already cold face.
“Please, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to,” He almost whined out and glanced at his hands that seemed to be turning a bloody red; but there was no blood! He didn't stab Sehun...right?
He pushed himself off of the other one in panic as his heartrate start to skyrocket. No matter how much he wiped his hands off on his pants, the blood on his palms wouldn't disappear. 𝑆𝑒ℎ𝑢𝑛'𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 wouldn't disappear.
Jongin burst into tears before he could stop it, and he wailed almost like a baby. Not necessarily thrashing around and kicking and screaming, but just sobbing as if nothing in the world seemed right. Which it didn't.
He didn't want to kill Sehun - he never wanted that! He could never. He adored Sehun with all his heart and soul...so how could this happen? He would never do this. It was madness!
“I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry,” He continued to sob relentlessly, even when it felt as if someone was roughly shaking him by his shoulders. He was too absorbed in what an awful crime he had committed to take much note of it, but when he felt his one cheek begin to hurt, as if someone had slapped it a little too hard, he opened his eyes with a whine of pain.

Sehun glanced down at him, very much alarmed. His hair was ruffled, and his eyes were slightly droopy, but mostly widened from the fright.
“It was just a dream, Jongin,” He said calmly once the blonde had opened his tear-filled eyes, and Sehun his one wet cheek softly.
“Just a dream, just a dream,” Jongin whispered to himself as he pressed himself even more into Sehun's arms, taking in as much warmth as he could. His heart was still racing and he could feel an oncoming headache, but he was too happy to care.
“What was it about?” Sehun questioned while trying to keep his voice calm and not as worried as he felt at the moment.
“I-I was strangling you. It was like I couldn't stop myself, but-but I tried! I really did! Then you...I...” The blonde couldn't bring himself to say more, but Sehun understood.
“And there was so much blood on my hands. No matter what I did, it wouldn't stop,” He said before Sehun began to hush him softly, and Jongin clung onto him as if there were no tomorrow.
It was concerning that these things were stuck in Jongin's head even when he was asleep; it made this all the more serious, and Sehun knew he had to do something before Kai hurt them both. But the problem was that Kai could easily pop out if he misinterpreted Sehun's words, and neither of them had fully recovered from their fight earlier...or Jongin, Sehun thought to himself. He was just Kai's vessel, after all.

Sehun grimaced as Jongin clung onto his abdomen so tightly, gently peeling the blonde's arms away to sit up.
“Let's take a bath, have some breakfast, and we can talk about this in more detail,” He said as he stood up with a clenched jaw - he knew it would make his boyfriend feel bad if he knew how badly Sehun was hurt, so he tried his best not to show it. All he hoped was that he didn't have any bruises on his skin.
They both went to the bathroom to strip down, not without its complications.

“What happened?” Jongin asked once he had noticed Sehun sneakily trying to peel the bandage off from around his abdomen, only to notice the dark patches of skin beneath it. So much for hoping not to have any bruises.
“Don't worry about it,” Sehun said dismissively, already a little annoyed at the pain that shot through his whole ribcage with any tiny movement he made. He wasn't used to being in this amount of pain, and he hated it.
“I did it, didn't I?” It didn't take a genius to figure that out, but it was obvious Jongin was hurt by it. How could he not be? He could never imagine hurting Sehun even playfully, so seeing this hurt him deeply.
“It wasn't...𝑦𝑜𝑢,” Sehun said softly, wincing when he gave off an automatic sigh and then climbed into the tub as Jongin watched with his arms on the side of it.
“You know that even though I didn't do it as myself, I still did it,” He answered, Sehun trying his best to ignore the pain as he motioned for his boyfriend to come lay against his chest. Cuddling or just being clingy in general always helped Jongin feel better, no matter what it was. Even when his pet goldfish died and he was sad about it for a week, lots and lots of cuddles made him feel better. Sehun didn't like it that much, but he knew he had to sacrifice some of the things he liked and the things he didn't like to make Jongin happy. Was this what married people did? If so, then Sehun was (figuratively) ready for marriage. His mother always did say Jongin and him would make things work for many years...since when was Sehun like this? Thinking of getting married at such a young age? Probably since his mother pointed out the sparkle in his eyes because of Jongin.

“What are we going to do?” He asked after a while, trying not to touch any sensitive areas of Sehun's body.
“I have an idea, but I think we should talk about it over breakfast. I'd like to spend some time with you without worrying you're going to kill me,” Sehun said as he rested his head on the wall behind the tub with his eyes closed, almost slapping himself immediately for his words. He knew he had to be gentle with his words to Jongin, yet these bad things always came out without trying.
“Sorry,” He tried to smooth things over, but he knew it was too late from Jongin's momentary silence.
“You're not wrong,” He whispered after some time, and Sehun opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling for a little bit.
“You know I didn't mean it like that,” He said, and Jongin laid his cheek on his boyfriend's shoulder.
“But it's true either way...” He said as Sehun looked down at him for a minute as he held Jongin's waist, “it's not you,”
The blonde sighed, then sat up.
“Let's get done and find ways to fix this,”

Once they were done - Sehun feeling rather flustered as Jongin offered to wash him since he couldn't move too much - and dressed, they went to the kitchen to start making breakfast.
“So, we both know you need help,” Sehun started as he cracked some eggs and added them into the pan of bubbling oil to cook.
“And I've talked to my mother about it,” He said, making sure Jongin didn't clumsily cut himself as he chopped the tomatoes, and the blonde let out a whine.
“You told her what happened? Now she won't like me anymore~” He said as his eyebrows crinkled a little into a frown as always when he whined like a child.
“Where am I supposed to get your baby photos from now~? We were such good friends! Sehun~!” Jongin carried on, and Sehun had to laugh at how upset he seemed; he didn't seem to really care Sehun told his mother his boyfriend was trying to kill him, but rather how she wouldn't want to be friends anymore. Soon enough, Jongin would start stomping his feet like a child, too.
“Relax. She wants to get you help, she doesn't hate you. She's seen these things before, and she knows it isn't you that does it on purpose,” He said as he made sure the eggs didn't burn, placing them on the plates afterwards.
“So does that mean she'll be directly involved then?” Jongin asked as he put the tomato slices on the plates followed by the bacon Sehun had just finished frying in the pan.
“Yes,” He was somewhat nervous to tell Jongin what him and his mother had thought of, but he wanted to be as transparent as possible with his boyfriend. Not to mention he knew just how upset Jongin would be if Sehun had to stick him in an asylum without telling him he'd do it.

They sat down at the table with their plates, added some salt, and then ate in silence for a little bit.
“We were talking yesterday while you were asleep, and we've found a way for you to hopefully feel comfortable...but you'd have to go to the asylum she works at,” Sehun said carefully, deciding to hold Jongin's hand to keep him calm.
“The asylum...? You know I don't like it there,” He said lowly, and Sehun nodded gently.
“I know. I do know that, but that's the only thing we could think of. She'd conduct the therapy with you as your psychologist, and she said it herself that she'd do everything for you without anyone else if that would make you more comfortable,” Sehun said softly, rubbing his thumb over Jongin's hand in a loving way.
“I don't want to go there. I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy like those people are!” Jongin said in an agitated tone, taking his hand away annoyed.
“Jongin, you need help,” Sehun said softly, and the mentioned man rubbed his hands over his face.
“Not like this. There has to be another way for us to do this,” He said while brushing his hands through his hair, and Sehun scratched the side of his head with his one finger.
“Not for the therapy my mother has in mind,” He said as he leaned back against his chair.
“But you'll be there, right?” Jongin said as he looked at his boyfriend hopefully, “you'll be there for me, right, Sehun?”
“I can't,” He answered in a gentle voice.
“Why not?” The blonde frowned, glanced at Sehun, and then let out a small angry huff.
“Why not, Sehun? Why can't you be there?” He asked, and Sehun bit his lip. He knew this was going awry, and it wasn't good. If Jongin continued to get angry, then Kai would come, and Sehun wouldn't be able to defend himself at all.
“I'll come visit you every day. She said she'd make an exception for us and let me stay after visiting hours,” He said to hopefully calm his boyfriend down, but Jongin would have none of it.
“No. I don't want to. I don't want to be locked there! They're going to tie me to the bed, aren't they? I've seen these things, Sehun. I've seen them! They're going to...to electrocute me! And torture me! And you're letting them!” The blonde huffed and puffed as Sehun tried to calm him down, all to no avail.
“They won't do that. Jongin, take it easy. You know my mom right? And you know she would never let anyone hurt you,” Sehun said, and Jongin's harsh pants suddenly calmed down. Like the calm before the storm.
“You're just trying to get rid of me, aren't you?” His voice was eerily calm, and Sehun felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at the sound. He knew it too well at this point, and he moved away from Jongin as slowly as he could to stand up from the table. If he didn't get away this time, he'd be dead for sure. He knew that much.

His body hadn't even begun to recover, which meant he was much slower than he was the day before, so he came to the conclusion there would be no fighting going on here today. Neither of their bodies could handle another knock like before, and he knew his ribs especially wouldn't take it.
“I just want to help Jongin. You want him to be happy, don't you? This is the best thing to do,” He tried to lull Kai just a little bit, enough for Sehun to urge him to leave.
“You want me dead so you don't have to worry I'll come for you after you leave him in that crazy house,” Kai spat as he moved towards Sehun who moved away.
“That's not true. What do you want me to prove I don't want to hurt him?” Sehun questioned as calmly as he could; maybe if Kai told him what he expected of Sehun, then he could do something to prove his innocence.
“There's nothing you could do to prove otherwise, you're a liar. I know it, he's just too silly to see it. But I'll show him. I'll expose you, and then he'll see he's better off without you,” Kai's brows furrowed as he took a step closer to Sehun each time the other one took a step to get away from him.
“What are you going to expose? I've done nothing wrong, even you know that,” Sehun said seriously, carefully making sure not to bump into something that would potentially harm him.
“Doesn't mean I can't find something to convince him,” Kai's lips turned up into a smirk just a little as he tilted his head, and Sehun's eyes widened slightly.
“So you're willing to make it seem like I did something so wrong just to make Jongin leave? You'd go through all that effort?” He knew Kai was crazy, but not 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 crazy.
“Of course I would. To get rid of you, I'd do anything,” Kai continued, and soon Sehun felt himself backed against the wall. He wasn't sure how long it had taken him to get there, but he didn't like it since it meant he was cornered.
“Don't you see I want him to be happy? I'd do anything for that to happen. Don't you think I would've left him by now if I didn't want to deal with all of this? Your own arguments don't even make sense to you, do they?” He wasn't sure whether it was because of the ache he felt in his fatigued limbs or the fact that he felt threatened by Kai who was intruding on his personal space, but it made him snappy, and he knew that wasn't good.
“Of course they make sense to me! And they'll make sense to Jongin too, soon enough,” Kai said in an offended tone; how could Sehun think his own thoughts didn't make sense to him? Sehun was starting to sound like the crazy one now, and Kai internally chuckled at the thought of shoving him into the mental asylum instead.
“Not that it matters,” He said, “because you'll be dead before I have to explain anything,”

Sehun felt a sharp pain in his stomach and he let out a small cuss before he glanced down to notice the knife plunged into his abdomen, looking up at Kai with betrayal edged into his brown eyes; he didn't notice the blonde take a knife, nor did he notice Kai take it out during their little argument.
He felt himself slide down the wall, unable to keep himself up due to the lightheadedness, and he only managed to keep his eyes open long enough to notice Jongin return and let out a small gasp at the sight in front of him.
“Sehun? Sehun?” The panic was evident in his voice - albeit how far away it sounded to Sehun's ears - and he soon felt the darkness take over his eyelids, causing them to close to the sounds of Jongin's terrified cries.