Saerom

“Saerom! Saerom! Saerom!”

The whispers stir me out of my sleep. I grumble as I sit up in my dorm bed, my eyes fluttering open to a very dark room.

It’s still the middle of the night. Whoever’s waking me up at this hour better have a damn good reason to.

“What?” I grumble as I shift to see who woke me.

It’s Seungkwan.

“What do you want?” I mutter in a half-asleep daze.

“Saerom…”

There’s something usual about the way he whispers my name. His voice is more breathy, more loaded. Something about it makes me sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes so I could see him more clearly.

Even in the dim light of the hallways outside, I can see that something is clearly wrong with Seungkwan. There’s this shine in his widened eyes, like he’s in shock.

He’s also shaking.

“What’s wrong?” The bitter edge of my voice teeters off into concern.

I see him open his mouth, but nothing comes out. Like he’s lost his voice or something.

“Are you okay?”

I know the answer to that is no.

I’ve never seen Seungkwan like this. He has always been the level-headed one in our relationship, but right here, right now, it’s like he’s lost his mind. He can’t speak and his body is shaking more and more, like it’s about to burst or something.

“Seungkwan, what’s going on?” I reach out and hold his arm, trying to steady him.

He eventually finds his voice again. “I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” he says

“What’s wrong with who?”

“Ch… Chaeyoung.”

“What did she do to you?”

“She’s not waking up.”

I stiffen. “What?”

“She’s not breathing.”

“Not breathing… you mean she’s…”

“Yes,” he says it like it’s a load on his tongue and a knife to his heart. “I think she’s dead.”

-

Chaeyoung’s skin is cold when I go up to her bed to confirm what Seungkwan was telling me. Her body was still, like an inanimate object that you can poke and prod without getting a single reaction.

I have never seen a dead body before. I feel like I passing out from the sight of it, but Seungkwan is freaking out and I feel like I need to be the responsible one who does something about this.

I reported Chaeyoung’s body to the staff.

After that, I hold Seungkwan as he shakes and cries the rest of that night.