Everything feels as if it’s crashing down all at once. The temperature drops, and his entire being feels numb. The air that surrounds him is painful, and everything is just so damn unfair. Like the rain that pelts the ground every season, Luhan has been washed away and carried to a place one will never think to care about once more.

So is this how it feels? Being nothing more than a thing of the past? 

Time is a funny thing, really. It passes too fast when one is happy, but becomes nauseatingly slow when pain is there to mock. 

He has no strength left in the body that used to be so filled with it. He’s finally sick of trying. 

He finally wants to give up. 

He doesn’t think that anything can help anymore. 

Emotions whirl through Luhan’s head, but none of them are decent or show any glint of happiness. He has been swallowed by a gaping black hole, so he stops the pleas for help. He knows that they are useless now. He can scream all he wants, yell until his voice gives out, pound against the wall with no purpose, but, in the end, will anything actually change? 

Will he ever become something other than what no one could actually see?

Being in the presence of Sehun only plays his thoughts on maximum volume. It no longer brings him that now unfamiliar churn of his stomach,or brings him a spark of joy from the love that used to swim in a flow of colors. It brings emptiness. It brings pain. 

Luhan concludes that this so called life gives him pain.

With every empty, thoughtless stare Sehun gives the items that behold him, the last few bricks of hope slide out until the two sides of hope and despair meet--despair being the victor in it all. 

A giggle is heard from the bedside, and Luhan notes the way Sehun diligently covers his mouth as his eyes scan the contents of the card for the umpteenth time these past few days. His eyes crinkle up  into two endearing crescents, but gone are the feelings of delight from seeing such a beautiful scene. 

To Luhan, happiness was just a full glass of water. He used up most of it, and now no drops are left. Even through his exhaustion, there are no more drops to replenish his thirst. Maybe, just a small hope, he could disappear the same way his happiness had. 

Sehun shifts from his bed. The covers crinkle in a way that makes Luhan wishing to straighten them out. Sehun reaches across the bed and picks his phone up. He scrolls through, and is about to press down on the screen, but it is as if an invisible force stops him from doing so. The smile that once adorned his face turns into one of contemplation. It’s an internal struggle of tug and war. After what feels like forever, the phone drops to the sheets and Sehun’s features marr into one of worry and sadness. 

Sadness. 

How mocking it is that he is the one to experience the draining feeling of sadness when all seems to be so damn swell with him. 

(It’s only until that thought is actually processed that Luhan becomes disgusted of himself.)

Once, twice, and one more time Sehun takes a secretive glance at the screen of his phone as if someone had careful eyes on him. Small tapping sounds are heard from Sehun as Luhan takes careful strides and settles himself on the bed as if it was made of cracking glass. As soon as the idea crosses his mind to lean over and figure out why Sehun is constantly showing colorful messages, the doorbell rings breaking the silence that Luhan have grown so accustomed to. 

Sehun’s form becomes rigid, but it quickly melts into one of conformity. A quick whisper escapes his pink, plump lips but Luhan doesn’t seem to catch it. 

But how ecstatic he would have been to finally hear Sehun say, “It’s okay. It’s not Jongin.”

The doorbell rings once more, and this time Sehun darts towards the door. Luhan stays seated on the edge of the bed with a posture that can rival that of a noble. Simply the thought of seeing Jongin gives him the feeling of sickness. 

But he isn’t quite sure if it’s Jongin or himself giving him that feeling, so the frustration just continues to build. 

Whispers that filtered into the air become louder and louder in volume such as the footsteps that follow them. And for once in his life, Luhan can't find the familiarity in the second voice. 

It's oh so soft, oh so mellow, and as calming as the sunset unlike the rough scruffy voice of Jongin. 

It makes him feel at peace. 

The two men stride in the room. Then taller of the two settles on the far end of the couch simultaneously as the pink haired boy settles right besides him. The pink haired boy's eyes scream with a fire Luhan had never seen before--not even with Jongin. He doesn't know what to make of it. 

Will he simply be another passerby in the never ending road Luhan had set himself upon?

Sehun sits up and speeds to the kitchen, and as quickly as he left he came back with a kettle of tea and two traditional tea cups

"Min...seok..." Sehun spoke softer than the leaves bristling outside. 

Minseok held a hand to grasp Sehun's so cautiously as if he would shatter at any moment. Luhan simply observed, his eyes narrowing between the non existent gap between the two men. 

"I presume you question why I'm here?" He had started, his tongue darting out to moisturize his chapped lips. 

With the question being processed after some time, Sehun shyly nodded his head, his eyebrows furrowing and lips turning into a fine line. 

"You see Sehun, Jongin isn't really the man you think hin to be. I'd advise you to keep your distance," he stated as he looked around the apartment. 

Luhan walked up to the pair, sitting on the balls of his feet in front of them. He drew his knees up and placed his chin upon them with eyes bearing such concentration on this Minseok character. 

"There would be no reason to. Jongin cares for me and-"

"And he shouldn't be the one to call you his. That's that Sehun. He has many secrets locked up within the chambers of his own heart and mind." 

"Jongin is nice..."

"Jongin can and will hurt you as he had done to others in the past," Minseok states, lifting the petite teacup in his soft fingers. 

His fingers shake within the grasp, and without any warning, the teacup falls to the ground and explodes into a million pieces. One by one, tears begin to flow from Minseok's eyes as Sehun could only look back in shock. 

"...as he had done to me. As he had done to him," Minseok breathes out steadily but shakily. 

Sehun reaches to the table to get a simple brown napkin and wipes away the tears that have cascaded down Minseok's rosy cheeks. 

"Minseok, are you okay?" Sehun asks with a glow of concern. 

"Y-you do remember Luhan, right?" 

Luhan looked up at him, his face filled with softness. He knew the answer Sehun was about to give, and he knew it simply wasn't entirely true. 

Sehun's lips molded into a smile, a low "of course" escaping from them. 

"Do you know why he isn't here?" 

Once again, Sehun's eyebrows furrowed down. A look of concentration replaced his smile. Luhan looked to Minseok as well, curious as to the answer of the question. 

"Because...," Sehun started, pearls forming at the corner of his eyes but he didn't understand why. 

"Because of Jongin." 

As soon as the statement was said, both Luhan and Sehun shared a look of shock and wonder towards Minseok. 

Luhan had a million thoughts process through his mind, and a feeling of butterflies in his stomach--but not the good kind. 

Sehun kept staring and staring at Minseok. Why would Jongin be the cause of Luhan not being here? Entirely lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the dull sound of footsteps approaching, or the rattling of the doorknob. Nor did Minseok. 

"Sehun, Jongin isn't the man you think he is. He...Luhan...Jongin k-"

And that's when the door bursted open to reveal Jongin. 

"Sehun I'm ho-," he started, but quickly stopped as he saw another person in the room. 

Minseok's eyes widened in horror as he was being observed by Jongin as if he were prey to a predator. Jongin stalked closer as Minseok made a fruitless attempt to widen the gap between the two. Sehun simply stayed in place. 

"What the are you doing here?" 

The tone of agression shone through, his features marring up into a snarl. 

Minseok was left voiceless as he fell to the ground. He looked to Sehun for help, but he was simply ogling Jongin. 

"Sehun, tell me why he is here," he had said, and inmiediately Sehun snapped his head up to look at him in the eyes. 

"He was telling me about Luhan."

A quick laugh boomed through the entire premise, and Sehun smiled along with him,  though he didn't quite understand the hilarity in this situation. 

Cautious steps were taken by Jongin towards Minseok. He crouched down to eye level with him and cupped his cheek with his hand. 

"You really shouldn't have been here," he said. 

He lifted his hand up, and gave Minseok a punch that echoed with a large crack. Sehun's smile dropped, and Luhan covered his eyes. 

"S-Sehun help me!" He screamed out as Jongin took hold of his collar. 

Sehun squirmed uncomfortably where he sat while twiddling his fingers in his lap. He couldn't get Jongin mad now, could he?

"But Jongin didn't say for me to help," he all but said, and Jongin made a smirk as Minseok's eyes widened. 

Luhan looked over horrified of what Jongin could do to Minseok. Jongin looked almost animalistic with the way he was staring down the man before him.

He threw him up against the wall, a groan leaving Minseok's lips. With a punch to the stomach, Jongin began carrying him out of the house. Screams of "let go of me" and "Sehun help me" were heard but all fell to dead ears. 

Before he was completely dragged outside, Minseok yelled, "Jongin killed Luhan!"

And with that, the door closed with Sehun and Luhan both sharing the same shocked, horrified expression. 

Tears began to fall from Sehun's eyes. He meekly whimpered over and over again, "but Jongin didn't say to help. I couldn't have helped."

Neither of the two would know, but that would be the last time they laid eyes upon the pink haired boy. 

That would be the last time anyone would.