“Hehehe...”

Jongin rolled his eyes dramatically as he judged the blushing brunette seated in front of him. Why was he friends with him again?

“Hehehe...”

This time, Kyungsoo too gawked at Baekhyun. He nudged Jongin and leaned in. “Chanyeol is worse.”

Jongin attempted to picture the tall model giggle like a schoolgirl--- he almost vomited if it wasn’t for the fact that Kyungsoo was seated right beside him. Kyungsoo chuckled and nodded. “Exactly, and I see it in person.”

Jongin couldn’t help but break out into a smile, much to the amusement of Kyungsoo.

“Kyung, do you really think Chanyeol likes me? He never fails to remind me but I don’t know... he is a model after all, I’m pretty sure he always has pretty girls and boys chasing after him.”

Jongin snorted but disagreed anyway. Sure Baekhyun was no Korean god but he would surely give most popular idols a run for their money. He contained this natural charm that you couldn’t help but become instantly attracted to him, ually or not.

It seemed Kyungsoo had the same thoughts since he replied, “Baek, Chanyeol is crazy over you. Plus, I honestly think you are 1000 times better than those models. Believe it or not, they are quite the es.”

Jongin nodded in agreement and hummed. Kyungsoo sure knew what to say. “He’s right, Baek. You might be a bully, at times annoying, plus you eat too-”

He was rudely interrupted with a stab to his stomach by a doe eyed male. Jongin leaned over in pain and glared at Kyungsoo. “You’re mean hyung!” he exclaimed as he rubbed his wound. It really hurt. Considering Kyungsoo had this cute face and small body structure, he sure was strong. Jongin even believed that he was a wrestler in his past life for a while.

Kyungsoo replied with his smirk. He reassured Baekhyun about his good points before rubbing Jongin’s sore area and mumbling apologies-he did have a conscious after all.

It was when Baekhyun turned to face forward when he realized... the entire classroom including the teacher were staring at them.

Kyungsoo and Jongin were ignorant of Baekhyun’s nudges signaling them to face forward because they are in some deep .

Baekhyun gave up when he noticed the teacher pull out a red pack of paper.

“Byun Baekhyun, Kim Jongin, Do Kyungsoo, detention!”

And once again, they sang and danced the whole afternoon, not scrubbing the toilets as they were ordered to, before being released home with yet detention for the remainder of the week.

-Last day of school, Junior Year-

“Kim Jongin, Do Kyungsoo, you guys are the dearest friends I’ve ever met! I love you, don’t forget our friendship!”

“Baek, our junior year is barely ending. We still have one year left,” Kyungsoo stated in solace as the brunette wheeped, his eyeliner smeared.

Jongin tched at his overdramatic friend and glanced away. He noticed a group of girls staring at him and giggling. He made eye contact with one of them, and groaned as they all fought over who he made contact with.

As Kyungsoo continued to comfort Baekhyun, the girls approached Jongin. Jongin could already smell their artificial perfumes which made him scrunch up in disgust. He prefered a certain doe eyed male’s natural vanilla scent.  

“Hi Kai, we were wondering if we could have one of your buttons...” a taller girl with dyed blond hair asked as she brushed her hair backwards. Now that they were up close, Jongin realized they were seniors.

“I want to keep my buttons,” is all he said before grabbing Kyungsoo and Baekhyun by the arm as he stroded past his classmates towards the rooftop.

Baekhyun sniffled, his tears dispersed due to Kyungsoo, and stared at Jongin. Kyungsoo huffed and wiped his sweat, he was not the most athletic person. Jongin sighed as he stared at the students down below snapping pictures and conversing about summer vacations.

Once Kyungsoo’s breath returned to normal, he stared at his surroundings and felt his heart skip a beat. Jongin followed him here the first day of school. He slightly teared at the distant memory.

God, he was deeply in love with Jongin and he was too much of a coward to admit it. The past months, he just saw himself falling even deeper.

As he inserted his hands into the pockets of his pants, he could barely make out the outline of his pills. The ones he took every day, without fail. Expect for today.

As Baekhyun began to question Jongin about miniscule and stupid things, Kyungsoo could already begin to feel the effects of skipping just one day of his medication.

Lightheadedness, a severe migraine, dehydration, and last but not least, bad thoughts.

Kyungsoo knew he couldn’t just take his medicine right then and there, not without Jongin or Baekhyun seeing and asking their purpose. He glanced at the duo and noticed Jongin was immersed in explaining to Baekhyun how exactly a twinkie was made. How the question was brought up left him dumbfounded but ignored it nonetheless.

“Yah, I’m going to the restroom, I’ll be back!” Kyungsoo shouted as he ran to the exit. Jongin completely forgot about his explanation behind the making of a twinkie as he attempted to follow Kyungsoo. As he was about to take his first step, he was halted by Baekhyun. His face was serious as he rubbed his jaw.

“I think he has diarrhea, leave him alone. I can just tell.”

And Jongin, being the idiot he is, believed that to be the most rational explanation in the world and nodded.

Kyungsoo rushed down two flights of stairs before entering the nearest restroom. He desperately wanted to end everything right then and there but the jingle of the pills reminded him: he has to live. No matter how crappy life is, or how depressing it is, he has to keep breathing for as long as possible.

That was he wanted after all. That was Chen’s last wish. The Chen who was Kyungsoo’s childhood friend. The Chen who committed suicide. The Chen who Kyungsoo loved. The Chen who transformed his life. The Chen who everyone thought was still alive.

Kyungsoo screamed as those thoughts came crashing in. They were horrible, sick, scary. Kyungsoo reached for the bottle and twisted it open. Rushing to the sink, he opened the tap of water and drowned his face as he gulped it along with a handful of the pills.

Once he felt the pills sliding down his esophagus, he crashed against the cold marble floor and laid there, soundless and motionless.

He kept reminding himself that these thoughts weren’t real-they couldn’t be. They weren’t him. They are all just an effect of not taking his medication as he was supposed to. Now, he has to suffer the consequences.

Kyungsoo drifted into a deep slumber, as a trail of blood seeped from his nose.