"I don't want to live anymore."

The two men struggled in the dim lighting of the kitchen. The blade inched steadily closer to the pulsing vein in Kyuhyun's wrist. Ryeowook fought as hard as he could to keep Kyuhyun from harming himself, one hand clutching protectively onto Kyuhyun's wrist, and the other desperately trying to restrain the hand gripping the knife. He knew that he wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer. The maknae was quite a bit stronger than him, Kyuhyun would overpower the smaller man soon. He had to think of something, and fast.

"I don't want to live... I don't want to live..." Kyuhyun whined over and over again in that unfamiliar voice.

"Kyuhyun, stop it, I'm begging you!" Ryeowook pleaded.

"I don't want to live... Nobody loves me..."

"Kyu, what are you saying? You're scaring me, please, stop this!"

His mind was spinning; he had no idea what was going on. This shouldn't even be happening. He shouldn't be trying to stop his best friend from hurting himself, killing himself. 

"I don't want to live..."

Ryeowook looked pleadingly into Kyuhyun's face, and gasped. Kyuhyun wasn't really all there, he realized. His eyes were glazed over, staring and unfocused. His face was expressionless. God, was he still asleep?

"Kyuhyun..."

Ryeowook pushed back as far as he could, but the blade still crept closer to his wrist. He shook Kyuhyun desperately, trying to wake him.

"I don't want to live anymore..." 

Closer.

"Kyuhyun, snap out of it!"

"Nobody loves me..." 

Closer.

"Kyuhyun, wake up!" Ryeowook cried in anguish.

"Please, just let me die!" Kyuhyun shrieked.

Suddenly, Kyuhyun pushed down with a new surge of strength. Ryeowook didn't think about what he did next. He had just been grabbing at straws, trying at anything as a last-ditch attempt to wake Kyuhyun up - no, wake them both up from this hellish nightmare.

He let go of Kyuhyun's wrist, and with as much force as he could muster, slapped Kyuhyun across the face.

Kyuhyun's hand jerked from the shock, and the blade slid over his wrist, missing the vein but still opening a shallow cut. He stumbled back from the force of Ryeowook's slap and sat down hard. The knife clattered to the ground, throwing flecks of blood onto the floor.

Ryeowook was gasping, breathless both from fright and relief. He didn't dare take his eyes off Kyuhyun. Every muscle in his body was tensed, afraid of whatever his friend might attempt next. Kyuhyun was sitting slumped on the floor, head dropped to his chest.

"Kyuhyun?" Ryeowook said experimentally.

Kyuhyun looked up. His eyes were filled with confusion and fear, but they were clear and focused now. His gaze fell squarely on his best friend. When he spoke, his voice trembled, but his voice was his own again.

"W-Wookie?"

When Kyuhyun used his nickname, Ryeowook finally out the deep breath he'd been holding in and fell to his knees in front of Kyuhyun. He pulled him with trembling arms into a relieved embrace. Tears spilled over his cheeks and onto Kyuhyun's shirt, a reaction to the overwhelming stress he felt just moments ago.

"Wookie, why are you crying? What's wrong?" Kyuhyun frowned, utterly confused.

Ryeowook was shocked. His voice was stuffy when he spoke. "Y-you don't remember anything?"

"Remember what? Wookie, what happened?" Kyuhyun looked around, mind racing. His gaze fell upon the abandoned knife on the floor, blood glinting off the blade. Kyuhyun felt panic rise inside himself. "Oh God, Ryeowook, what did I do?"

He wrenched his best friend back and held him at arm's length, a stricken look on his face. "Did I... did I hurt you?"

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Ryeowook finally let go and shook his head, but he stayed silent. He didn't trust himself to speak. Kyuhyun just then noticed the nagging, throbbing pain in his arm and looked down, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

His head shook with disbelief. He gulped, and looking up at Ryeowook, he whispered in a broken voice, "... I don't understand."

Such short updates recently, I know T_T

I'll write more next time ~