Fic: Family Arc II - 19
Title: Family Arc II - 19
Author: vic_sim
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. I apologise for any incorrect portrayal of people or any inaccurate details mentioned in my story.
Pairing: None at the moment.
Category: Angst
Rating: NC-16 (just to be safe)
Summary: The morning after the incident.
Arc I Arc II
*Squish*
He looked down. Blood. He looked up. It was a field of red. Everything that he saw was red, from the floor to the ceiling. Everything was dyed blood red. Every step that he took, his shoes made squishing noises as they came into contact with the still moist blood.
He spun around, trying to figure where he was. He wanted to escape from this place, this unknown place that ignited fear in him. He ran and ran, with no idea exactly where he was heading. Then he tripped over something on the floor. He fell head first into the pool of red. He shut his eyes, expecting the harsh impact with the floor and the disgusting wetness of the blood on his skin.
Instead, it was something soft and cold that collided with him. He opened his eyes to see a tuft of black hair. He quickly pushed himself up. It was a person he had tripped on. Blood was flowing from a wound on the person’s hand. That’s what tainting the whole place red. His eyes travelled up the person’s body, eyebrows furrowed together as he tried to connect the familiar features of the person with people he knew. As his eyes focused on the face, it hit him.
Kyuhyun! He kneeled down immediately casting aside his fear of the blood.
“Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun. Wake up! Please!”
His vision blurred as tears gathered in his eyes. He could no longer see Kyuhyun clearly. Kyuhyun was slowly vanishing from his sight. His hands reached out in the darkness, trying to hold on to his dongsaeng.
“Kyu!”
His eyes snapped open as he jerked up from his position on the floor. The fear was still visible in his eyes.
“Are you okay?” came a whispered question from one side. Sungmin had opened his eyes halfway, attempting to focus his vision on him. Sleepiness was heard in Sungmin’s voice.
“I’m okay. Go back to sleep.” He whispered back, trying to stop his voice from trembling.
Sungmin contemplated the answer before complying with the request. Sungmin snuggled further into his blanket, closing his eyes. He gave a silent sigh as he extracted himself from the blanket carefully, not wanting to wake the rest who were sleeping near him. His legs wobbled as he stood up. He stayed still for a while, willing his legs to stop shaking.
Slowly, tiptoeing over the various members lounging in the living room, he made his way to the room where Kyuhyun and Kibum were sleeping in. He turned the door knob carefully, pushing the door open. The door screeched. He stopped. He turned his head around to see if anyone woke up. To his relief, they all seemed to be sleeping too deeply to hear the screech. He peeked his head in to make sure that he did not wake the two sleeping dongsaengs in the room. He opened the door just wide enough for him to slip in, before closing the door gently behind him. He twisted around to face the room.
It’s not red.
That was the first thought that entered his mind. There were no squishing noises as he walked towards the pair. He reached out to pull a chair towards the bed. He plonked down softly on the chair, watching as the two slept.
Kibum’s hands were curled around Kyuhyun. Only Kyuhyun’s head was visible. The rest was buried under the blanket. Kyuhyun’s face scrunched up in hurt and Kyuhyun let out a small whimper. Before he could react, Kibum had subconsciously wrap his arms tighter around Kyuhyun, mumbling nonsensical words to Kyuhyun. It seemed to work as Kyuhyun’s whimper stopped and his face relax in sleep.
He smiled at the gesture from Kibum, reaching over to ruffle Kibum’s hair. Kibum whined a little before falling back into deep sleep. He draped his left arm over Kibum, holding on to Kyuhyun’s hand which still clenched onto Kibum. Using his right arm as a pillow, he laid his head on the bed, comforted by the fact that Kyuhyun was not in a pool of blood, that Kyuhyun was not alone, that Kibum was there, that he was able to reassure himself that they were all safe. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kibum’s eyes opened slowly as his internal clock woke him, despite still feeling sleepy. The first thing that came into his vision was Kyuhyun’s face. He looked peaceful, and the flushed look had disappeared slightly. Kibum lifted a hand to Kyuhyun’s forehead. It was still a little hot to the touch, but was much better than the day before. Kibum smiled, noticing that Kyuhyun had not shifted from his position at all. Kibum wished he could remain in this position the whole day; however, it was just a wish. He had to leave for filming today.
Kibum gently pulled his hand from under Kyuhyun, careful not to disturb him. Using both his hands, he tenderly unclenched the grip Kyuhyun had on his shirt which was surprisingly strong. Kyuhyun refused to let go of his shirt even in his sleep. Kibum sighed, twisting his body around to see if there was anything that he could use as a substitute. As he turned, he finally felt an extra limb on his body fall away as the blanket fell off Kibum.
Huh? Kibum was puzzled. As far as he knew, no one else was in the room with them when they fell asleep last night. He glanced down from the corner of his eyes, only to see a tuft of hair. He could not tell who it was. Deciding to just give it a try, Kibum called out softly.
“Hyung?” The figure stirred, taking his hand off Kibum to rub his eyes.
“Ryeowook-hyung? What are you doing here? Did you sleep here the whole night?” Kibum asked when he saw Ryeowook’s face.
Ryeowook had let go of Kyuhyun’s hand when he fell asleep in the night, but his arm remained over Kibum. Ryeowook was trying to process the barrage of question that Kibum threw at him. He too was wondering why he was sleeping on a chair. Then he remembered.
Blood.
His eyes instantly focused on Kyuhyun. Ryeowook sighed when he saw Kyuhyun sleeping on the bed, with his hand bandaged. Kibum took all these into his eyes, from Ryeowook’s almost frantic stare at Kyuhyun to the sigh of relief. Kibum wondered what was with all the emotions that flashed past Ryeowook’s face.
“Bummie, why are you up so early?” Ryeowook asked as he glanced at the clock. 9 am. Scratch that. It’s not that early.
“I have a filming to go to, Wookie. But it seems like Kyu doesn’t want to let me go.” Kibum said, pointing to the hand at his shirt.
Ryeowook stood up, chuckling at the sight. It was heart-warming yet sad. Heart-warming because Kyuhyun simply looked too adorable doing that; sad because Ryeowook knew that fear of them leaving made Kyuhyun seek comfort in the tiniest ways possible. Ryeowook looked around, helping to find something to substitute Kibum temporarily. He would volunteer to take over Kibum’s position, but Ryeowook had something to attend to as well.
He pouted mentally at that, wanting to boycott the work, though he knew it would not be possible. Well, I could always just let it happen in my head. He could almost picture their manager’s face if he knew that Ryeowook boycotted.
Ryeowook spotted the bag of things that they packed from Kyuhyun’s room. They had yet to find time to help Kyuhyun unpack his things. Ryeowook opened it and pulled out the elephant and the blanket, lifting them for Kibum to see. Kibum nodded and Ryeowook brought the two items over. He lifted the two blankets off the pair, before helping Kibum to get Kyuhyun to release his grip.
“Kyu, I love to stay with you, but I have to go to the film site. I promise I’ll be back k? Hyung will be in here to accompany you soon.” Kibum said gently while he uncurled Kyuhyun’s fingers.
Kyuhyun seemed to have heard Kibum’s words as he didn’t grip back onto Kibum’s shirt. Ryeowook took the chance to place the stuffed elephant into Kyuhyun’s hand, watching as Kyuhyun’s fingers immediately closed around the foot of the elephant. Kibum sat up slowly and got off the bed. Kyuhyun whimpered at the lost of the warmth, his free hand reaching out. Ryeowook grabbed hold of his hand.
“Shh. It’s okay. I’m here. You’re not alone.”
Kibum shot a thankful look at Ryeowook, promising to send their hyung in to be with Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun calmed down when he felt someone grab his hand. He didn’t know who it was, but he was just glad that someone was with him. Ryeowook reclaimed his space on the chair as Kibum quietly left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Outside the room, Kibum was met with lethargy floating around the air. None of them wanted to go about their work today. One, they were tired from the late night. Two they were tired from the scare they had the previous day. Three, they were still trying to grasp the fear they discovered Kyuhyun carried in him, wondering how they had missed it and how they could help get rid of it. They just were not in the mood to go to work today.
Kibum went to wash up before heading to the kitchen, looking for something to eat even if he didn’t feel like it. He knew he needed to get at least some food into him to get him through his filming. As he sat down on the table, he could see his reluctance to go to work plastered on all his hyungs’ faces - at least those that were going to work. Hankyung placed a bowl of porridge and some pills on the table in front of him. Kibum looked at the pills, opening his mouth to ask what they were for. Hankyung answered his question without Kibum having to say anything.
“They are vitamins. We won’t want you falling sick after spending the night with Kyu.”
Kibum looked around seeing nods from all over the table. He sighed. It was not that he wanted to get sick. Kibum just didn’t like eating vitamin pills. He resigned himself to the fate as the urge not to fall sick outweighed his dislike of the pills.
“Anyone knows where Wookie is?” Eeteuk asked from his position. He could not find him around the house. He had originally thought that Ryeowook was in the bathroom or in another room, so Eeteuk was not very worried about it. But when they gathered in the kitchen, he noticed that Ryeowook was not around.
Sungmin looked up from his food, remembering hazily that Ryeowook had woken up in the middle of the night. “He woke up in the middle of the night, but I didn’t pay much attention as he seemed fine and told me to go back to sleep.” Sungmin hoped that nothing happened. Or else he would be terribly guilty.
Eeteuk looked really worried now. Before he could start voicing out his worries, someone cut in.
“Ryeowook-hyung is with Kyuhyun. I found him by our bedside this morning.” Kibum put the spoon of porridge into his mouth after speaking. He could see the tension in Eeteuk’s face vanish before returning again.
“You mean he’s been there the whole night since he woke up?”
Kibum shook his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t notice when he came in. Only saw him when I woke up.”
Silence fell on the room as each of them contemplated Ryeowook’s actions. Sungmin was glad that Ryeowook was in the house - and did not just disappear somewhere - but now that he was thinking about it, Sungmin could almost hear a tinge of panic in Ryeowook’s voice. I should have paid more attention.
Then Kibum remembered. “Hyung, who’s taking care of Kyuhyunnie today?”
Kibum did know about the schedule, Ryeowook had told him about it. But he could not remember the exact details of it.
“I am. I have nothing on today.” Siwon spoke up. He was the only one with a free schedule the whole day. Later in the afternoon Eunhyuk would be joining him.
“Siwon-hyung, could you go take over Ryeowook-hyung when you’re done here? ‘Cos Kyu is hanging on to Wookie now. We really shouldn’t leave him alone.”
Siwon nodded, finishing his breakfast. Hankyung shooed him out of the room, saying that he would clear the dish for him. Siwon grabbed a book from his room before heading towards Kyuhyun’s room. Siwon knocked on the door, gently turning the door knob. Ryeowook tilted his head at Siwon, his hands wrapped around Kyuhyun’s hand. Kyuhyun had turned to the side facing Ryeowook, his other hand holding the elephant.
“Ryeowook, I’ll take over from here. You should go eat something before you leave.” Siwon walked up to Ryeowook, touching him on the shoulder.
Ryeowook nodded before looking at Kyuhyun again as if to remind himself that Kyuhyun was here in this pale blue room, wrapped in a blue blanket that Sungmin-hyung had gave him with an elephant in his hand.
Kyuhyun is not in a pool of blood. The room is not red.
Ryeowook stood up, hands still holding onto Kyuhyun, letting Siwon take his position on the chair. Slowly he extracted his hands from the grip, pushing Kyuhyun’s hand to Siwon. Kyuhyun’s fingers slowly curled around Siwon’s hand tightly, using their hands as an anchor from his dreams.
“You might want to wake him later to feed him the medicine and change the bandage, Hyung.” Ryeowook said one last time before leaving the room after receiving a nod from Siwon.
Siwon sat down, staring at his dongsaeng, listening to the soft but steady breathing which told him that Kyuhyun was better than yesterday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryeowook changed and washed up before heading to the kitchen. He sat down next to Kibum and immediately Hankyung placed the same things he gave Kibum in front of him. Like Kibum, Ryeowook was confused over the pills.
“Those are vitamins. You should eat them. We don’t want you to fall sick.” Yesung commented from across the table.
Ryeowook stared at Yesung before turning disbelieving to Kibum.
“Don’t look at me. I got the same treatment.” Kibum raised his hands in surrender. He knew that Ryeowook like him hated pills.
Ryeowook pulled his puppy-dog look at Hankyung, hoping to get out of it. Hankyung turned away, not wanting to answer.
“Hyah. Just eat it. It’s good for you.” Heechul intersected. Ryeowook pouted, placing the pills in his hand.
“Of course you’ll say it’s good for me. You’re not the one eating it.”
Ryeowook mumbled under his breath before swallowing the pills.
Kibum nodded his head next to him, agreeing completely with the statement. Ryeowook made a face after the pills went down, scooping up the porridge to get rid of the after taste.
“Is it that horrible?” Donghae asked curiously having finished his breakfast and was now waiting.
Kibum and Ryeowook shot him a look.
“Why not you try it?” Both of them said together.
Donghae said, “Yikes,” and ran to hide behind Hankyung, shaking his head vigorously. The rest laughed at their antics.
Donghae smiled to himself. That was his purpose. All of them were so upset about the situation that Donghae felt that he had to do something to cheer them up. It was not that they should not be upset - they had the right to feel depressed over the situation - but being surrounded by sadness would not help Kyuhyun recover. Donghae believed that in order for Kyuhyun to recover with their help, they first had to come to terms with whatever they were feeling about the situation before they could help Kyuhyun.
Hankyung smiled to himself, patting Donghae on the back. He knew what Donghae was doing. Donghae looked up and smiled cheekily at him.
Eeteuk clapped his hands. “Okay people. It’s time to go. If not we’ll all be late.”
He stood up after making sure that everyone caught his statement.
“I’ll go tell Siwonnie and Kyuhyunnie that we’re leaving now.”
Suddenly there was a flurry of actions as all of them rushed to bid Kyuhyun goodbye before they headed for work.
Eeteuk opened the door, looking into the room. Siwon was by the bed, holding Kyuhyun’s hand. Kyuhyun was still sleeping. Eeteuk entered, followed by the rest of them. Kyuhyun’s eyes twitched a little at the noise. Slowly his eyes opened.
“Hyung?”
Hearing Kyuhyun’s voice, they all turned their attention to Kyuhyun.
“Kyuhyunnie, how are you feeling?” Hankyung asked as he walked towards Kyuhyun, feeling his temperature.
Siwon stood up but his hand remained with Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun simply nodded as an answer.
“We have to go off to work now. Siwonnie will be here with you. Don’t worry. You won’t be alone.” Hankyung told Kyuhyun, hoping to soothe his fears. Hankyung kissed Kyuhyun on the forehead.
One by one they stepped forward to tell Kyuhyun to rest well and that they would be back before Kyuhyun knew it. Kyuhyun closed his eyes, drifting to sleep; contented with the knowledge that Siwon-hyung would be there with him the whole time. Eeteuk, being the last, turned to Siwon, wanting to leave instructions before he left.
“Siwon-ah, don’t forget to wake Kyuhyun later for his medicine. And remember to change his bandages. Remember to apply the antiseptic. We don’t want an infection occurring. Give him plenty of water, and mind yourself as well. We don’t want you to get sick. Maybe you should eat some vitamins as well. We all should…”
“Hyung! Jungsu-hyung! If you continue like that, we really are going to be late.”
Sungmin cut in, stopping Eeteuk’s tirade. Eeteuk’s mouth remained open though no sound came from it.
Sungmin tugged at Eeteuk’s hand, pulling him out of the room, waving goodbye to Siwon. The rest followed, chuckling slightly at the scene.
“Take good care of Kyuhyun, Siwonnie!”
Heechul threw back as he pushed Hankyung out of the room.
Siwon nodded before taking his place on the seat again. Kyuhyun had fallen asleep again. Siwon decided to let him sleep as Kyuhyun still looked very tired. He settled down on the chair, holding his book in one hand and began reading.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Siwon changed the bandages on Kyuhyun’s hand while he was asleep. Siwon didn’t have the heart to wake Kyuhyun when he was sleeping so peacefully. Siwon didn’t know that it was due to his presence that kept the nightmares away. Siwon winced when he saw the injury. They must hurt a lot. Gently he spread the antiseptic on the wounds, glancing at Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun’s eyebrows scrunched up in pain even in his sleep.
“It’s okay Kyu. It will be over soon. Just hold on for a while more.”
Siwon comforted Kyuhyun, hurrying in his actions yet still being meticulously about his wrapping. He tied the bandages together and placed Kyuhyun’s hand back on the bed. By this time, Kyuhyun had let go of Siwon’s hand, seemingly trusting Hankyung’s words that Siwon would be there with him the whole day. Siwon took the chance to visit the bathroom.
During that time, Kyuhyun woke up. What time is it? Kyuhyun looked around, recognising the place as his room. It was nearly noon. Kyuhyun felt that his hand was curled around something soft and brought it up to his eyes. It was his elephant.
Kyuhyun pulled it to his chest, bringing the other hand up to ruffle the fur on the elephant. It was then that he noticed the bandage on his hand. Where did it come from? Kyuhyun stared at it for a while, feeling slight throbbing coming from his hand.
Then it hit him. He had punched the mirror in anger and frustration as well as denial.
You’re unwanted.
The words whispered in his head. Kyuhyun’s eyes scanned the area that he could see. There was no one.
“Hyung?” Kyuhyun called out as he tried to push himself up, but his hand hurt from the effort that he gave up.
He called out again, hoping for an answer. “Hyung!”
Where are they?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eunhyuk ended his work early. After bidding goodbye to his fellow colleagues, Eunhyuk headed home. He wondered how Siwon and Kyuhyun were coping. He was so deep in thought that his trip home passed in a flash. He didn’t notice that he had reached the dormitory door until he almost crashed into it. Eunhyuk searched his bag for the key.
There! Found it!
Eunhyuk opened the door and looked in. The house looked almost devoid of people, except for the various pairs of shoes that lay on the floor. Eunhyuk dropped his bag on the sofa and headed to Kyuhyun’s room, guessing that they were most probably there as he didn’t think that Kyuhyun was up to walking at the moment.
Eunhyuk was about to knock the door when he heard Kyuhyun’s frenetic calling for his hyungs.
Where’s Siwon? The thought flashed past Eunhyuk’s mind as he rushed into the room. Kyuhyun was trying to push himself up, using one whole arm and hand and using minimal pressure with the other hand.
“Kyuhyun!”
Eunhyuk called out, startling Kyuhyun. He lost his concentration and leaned heavily onto his injured hands. Kyuhyun immediately pulled up his hand to protect it, forgetting that the arm was was supporting him for a moment. Kyuhyun fell a little sideways as Eunhyuk rushed over to prevent Kyuhyun from falling to the floor.
“Kyu! Are you okay?” Eunhyuk asked, concerned.
Kyuhyun, hugging his hand to his chest, looked at Eunhyuk. Hyung.
“Hyung! You’re here!” He opened his arms, asking for a hug from Eunhyuk.
Eunhyuk looked up and down at Kyuhyun before reaching out to hug him. Siwon silently entered the room, shock but happy to notice that his hyung was there already.
“Eunhyuk-hyung, you’re here.” Siwon said to Eunhyuk.
Eunhyuk looked at Siwon, “Where have you been?”
“Bathroom.”
Eunhyuk nodded, turning his attention back to Kyuhyun. He understood the need for the bathroom. There was no way Eunhyuk could blame Siwon for leaving Kyuhyun alone.
“He was looking for the person whom was supposed to be here with him.”
Siwon looked a little sheepish. “I had to go to the bathroom.”
Eunhyuk turned his attention towards Kyuhyun, trying to comfort him, to let him know that they were there and that they did not disappear somewhere where no one can find.
“Shh, we’re here. We didn’t abandon you.”
Kyuhyun buried his head into Eunhyuk’s shoulder, savouring the warmth from his hyung. Kyuhyun refused to give in to the tears. He refused to give in to his tears this time. He won’t admit it but for a moment Kyuhyun doubted Eeteuk’s statement that they would all be there. He was almost stretched to the limit by his fear when Eunhyuk turned up. Simply by being there helped to calm Kyuhyun down.
Siwon hovered behind them, not knowing what to do.
“Siwonnie, why not you cook some lunch for us to eat? I don’t suppose you or Kyuhyun have eaten lunch yet. And in order for Kyuhyun to take his medicine, Kyu needs to get something inside.”
Siwon nodded, heading out of the room to cook. Eunhyuk patted Kyuhyun gently on the back as Kyuhyun kept his head on his shoulder. Kyuhyun did not cry like the previous time. They remained in that position until the food came in. Siwon came in holding two plates of food - one for himself and one for Kyuhyun.
Eunhyuk gently pushed Kyuhyun off his chest, helping Kyuhyun to lean against the head rest until lunch was over.
“Food’s here Kyu. Do you want me to feed you? Or can you do it yourself?” Eunhyuk asked Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun glanced at Siwon, a small shy smile on his face that spoke of his gratitude towards Siwon and Eunhyuk for all their help.
Siwon smiled before turning to stare at his watch looking at the time. He didn’t know that he was able to cook that fast. It didn’t take him too long to cook the lunch for both Kyuhyun and he.
Kyuhyun shook his head at Eunhyuk's question as his hands reached out to take the bowl and the spoon from Eunhyuk. Slowly Kyuhyun ate the bowl of porridge. His appetite was not great with his illness and after a couple of mouths, Kyuhyun had to stop eating. If not he would feel queasy and all the food that he had placed in his stomach would be removed.
Kyuhyun handed the bowl back to Eunhyuk, indicating that he had enough.
Eunhyuk and Siwon glanced into the bowl, realising that Kyuhyun only took about 3 or 4 spoons of porridge before giving up. But it was better than nothing. Siwon took some medicine and handed them to Kyuhyun. Without a single complaint Kyuhyun ate the medicine. It was a totally opposite reaction from the other two magnaes who hated the pills.
Eunhyuk helped Kyuhyun lie back onto the bed, waiting for the antibiotics’ effects to take place.
“Can you stay with me, Hyung?” Kyuhyun whispered lightly to himself, happy that he had two hyungs with him but still a bit fearful that they would disappear if he fell asleep.
Both Eunhyuk and Siwon heard the question and both could not help but answer yes to the question. It was seldom that Kyuhyun asked for anything. Kyuhyun had asked it with a mixture of hope and wariness in his voice as if he was preparing for a rejection.
Eunhyuk took over Siwon’s seat, holding onto Kyuhyun’s hand which was raised for Eunhyuk to hold on to.
“I’ll be here. Siwonnie will be here. We’ll all be here.” Eunhyuk said, repeating his words, hoping that it penetrates through Kyuhyun’s nightmares.
Kyuhyun slowly closed his eyes, his other hand grabbing onto the elephant.
“We will still be here when you wake up.”
its longer than the previous few chapters. i'm happy, n i've changed my layout..^^ hope the ending part made sense cos i was nodding off typing it.haha.its almost 2am le. i think it makes sense since i did attempt to read through the chapter once before posting n spotted quite a number of errors.enoy!
Author: vic_sim
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. I apologise for any incorrect portrayal of people or any inaccurate details mentioned in my story.
Pairing: None at the moment.
Category: Angst
Rating: NC-16 (just to be safe)
Summary: The morning after the incident.
Arc I Arc II
*Squish*
He looked down. Blood. He looked up. It was a field of red. Everything that he saw was red, from the floor to the ceiling. Everything was dyed blood red. Every step that he took, his shoes made squishing noises as they came into contact with the still moist blood.
He spun around, trying to figure where he was. He wanted to escape from this place, this unknown place that ignited fear in him. He ran and ran, with no idea exactly where he was heading. Then he tripped over something on the floor. He fell head first into the pool of red. He shut his eyes, expecting the harsh impact with the floor and the disgusting wetness of the blood on his skin.
Instead, it was something soft and cold that collided with him. He opened his eyes to see a tuft of black hair. He quickly pushed himself up. It was a person he had tripped on. Blood was flowing from a wound on the person’s hand. That’s what tainting the whole place red. His eyes travelled up the person’s body, eyebrows furrowed together as he tried to connect the familiar features of the person with people he knew. As his eyes focused on the face, it hit him.
Kyuhyun! He kneeled down immediately casting aside his fear of the blood.
“Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun. Wake up! Please!”
His vision blurred as tears gathered in his eyes. He could no longer see Kyuhyun clearly. Kyuhyun was slowly vanishing from his sight. His hands reached out in the darkness, trying to hold on to his dongsaeng.
“Kyu!”
His eyes snapped open as he jerked up from his position on the floor. The fear was still visible in his eyes.
“Are you okay?” came a whispered question from one side. Sungmin had opened his eyes halfway, attempting to focus his vision on him. Sleepiness was heard in Sungmin’s voice.
“I’m okay. Go back to sleep.” He whispered back, trying to stop his voice from trembling.
Sungmin contemplated the answer before complying with the request. Sungmin snuggled further into his blanket, closing his eyes. He gave a silent sigh as he extracted himself from the blanket carefully, not wanting to wake the rest who were sleeping near him. His legs wobbled as he stood up. He stayed still for a while, willing his legs to stop shaking.
Slowly, tiptoeing over the various members lounging in the living room, he made his way to the room where Kyuhyun and Kibum were sleeping in. He turned the door knob carefully, pushing the door open. The door screeched. He stopped. He turned his head around to see if anyone woke up. To his relief, they all seemed to be sleeping too deeply to hear the screech. He peeked his head in to make sure that he did not wake the two sleeping dongsaengs in the room. He opened the door just wide enough for him to slip in, before closing the door gently behind him. He twisted around to face the room.
It’s not red.
That was the first thought that entered his mind. There were no squishing noises as he walked towards the pair. He reached out to pull a chair towards the bed. He plonked down softly on the chair, watching as the two slept.
Kibum’s hands were curled around Kyuhyun. Only Kyuhyun’s head was visible. The rest was buried under the blanket. Kyuhyun’s face scrunched up in hurt and Kyuhyun let out a small whimper. Before he could react, Kibum had subconsciously wrap his arms tighter around Kyuhyun, mumbling nonsensical words to Kyuhyun. It seemed to work as Kyuhyun’s whimper stopped and his face relax in sleep.
He smiled at the gesture from Kibum, reaching over to ruffle Kibum’s hair. Kibum whined a little before falling back into deep sleep. He draped his left arm over Kibum, holding on to Kyuhyun’s hand which still clenched onto Kibum. Using his right arm as a pillow, he laid his head on the bed, comforted by the fact that Kyuhyun was not in a pool of blood, that Kyuhyun was not alone, that Kibum was there, that he was able to reassure himself that they were all safe. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kibum’s eyes opened slowly as his internal clock woke him, despite still feeling sleepy. The first thing that came into his vision was Kyuhyun’s face. He looked peaceful, and the flushed look had disappeared slightly. Kibum lifted a hand to Kyuhyun’s forehead. It was still a little hot to the touch, but was much better than the day before. Kibum smiled, noticing that Kyuhyun had not shifted from his position at all. Kibum wished he could remain in this position the whole day; however, it was just a wish. He had to leave for filming today.
Kibum gently pulled his hand from under Kyuhyun, careful not to disturb him. Using both his hands, he tenderly unclenched the grip Kyuhyun had on his shirt which was surprisingly strong. Kyuhyun refused to let go of his shirt even in his sleep. Kibum sighed, twisting his body around to see if there was anything that he could use as a substitute. As he turned, he finally felt an extra limb on his body fall away as the blanket fell off Kibum.
Huh? Kibum was puzzled. As far as he knew, no one else was in the room with them when they fell asleep last night. He glanced down from the corner of his eyes, only to see a tuft of hair. He could not tell who it was. Deciding to just give it a try, Kibum called out softly.
“Hyung?” The figure stirred, taking his hand off Kibum to rub his eyes.
“Ryeowook-hyung? What are you doing here? Did you sleep here the whole night?” Kibum asked when he saw Ryeowook’s face.
Ryeowook had let go of Kyuhyun’s hand when he fell asleep in the night, but his arm remained over Kibum. Ryeowook was trying to process the barrage of question that Kibum threw at him. He too was wondering why he was sleeping on a chair. Then he remembered.
Blood.
His eyes instantly focused on Kyuhyun. Ryeowook sighed when he saw Kyuhyun sleeping on the bed, with his hand bandaged. Kibum took all these into his eyes, from Ryeowook’s almost frantic stare at Kyuhyun to the sigh of relief. Kibum wondered what was with all the emotions that flashed past Ryeowook’s face.
“Bummie, why are you up so early?” Ryeowook asked as he glanced at the clock. 9 am. Scratch that. It’s not that early.
“I have a filming to go to, Wookie. But it seems like Kyu doesn’t want to let me go.” Kibum said, pointing to the hand at his shirt.
Ryeowook stood up, chuckling at the sight. It was heart-warming yet sad. Heart-warming because Kyuhyun simply looked too adorable doing that; sad because Ryeowook knew that fear of them leaving made Kyuhyun seek comfort in the tiniest ways possible. Ryeowook looked around, helping to find something to substitute Kibum temporarily. He would volunteer to take over Kibum’s position, but Ryeowook had something to attend to as well.
He pouted mentally at that, wanting to boycott the work, though he knew it would not be possible. Well, I could always just let it happen in my head. He could almost picture their manager’s face if he knew that Ryeowook boycotted.
Ryeowook spotted the bag of things that they packed from Kyuhyun’s room. They had yet to find time to help Kyuhyun unpack his things. Ryeowook opened it and pulled out the elephant and the blanket, lifting them for Kibum to see. Kibum nodded and Ryeowook brought the two items over. He lifted the two blankets off the pair, before helping Kibum to get Kyuhyun to release his grip.
“Kyu, I love to stay with you, but I have to go to the film site. I promise I’ll be back k? Hyung will be in here to accompany you soon.” Kibum said gently while he uncurled Kyuhyun’s fingers.
Kyuhyun seemed to have heard Kibum’s words as he didn’t grip back onto Kibum’s shirt. Ryeowook took the chance to place the stuffed elephant into Kyuhyun’s hand, watching as Kyuhyun’s fingers immediately closed around the foot of the elephant. Kibum sat up slowly and got off the bed. Kyuhyun whimpered at the lost of the warmth, his free hand reaching out. Ryeowook grabbed hold of his hand.
“Shh. It’s okay. I’m here. You’re not alone.”
Kibum shot a thankful look at Ryeowook, promising to send their hyung in to be with Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun calmed down when he felt someone grab his hand. He didn’t know who it was, but he was just glad that someone was with him. Ryeowook reclaimed his space on the chair as Kibum quietly left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Outside the room, Kibum was met with lethargy floating around the air. None of them wanted to go about their work today. One, they were tired from the late night. Two they were tired from the scare they had the previous day. Three, they were still trying to grasp the fear they discovered Kyuhyun carried in him, wondering how they had missed it and how they could help get rid of it. They just were not in the mood to go to work today.
Kibum went to wash up before heading to the kitchen, looking for something to eat even if he didn’t feel like it. He knew he needed to get at least some food into him to get him through his filming. As he sat down on the table, he could see his reluctance to go to work plastered on all his hyungs’ faces - at least those that were going to work. Hankyung placed a bowl of porridge and some pills on the table in front of him. Kibum looked at the pills, opening his mouth to ask what they were for. Hankyung answered his question without Kibum having to say anything.
“They are vitamins. We won’t want you falling sick after spending the night with Kyu.”
Kibum looked around seeing nods from all over the table. He sighed. It was not that he wanted to get sick. Kibum just didn’t like eating vitamin pills. He resigned himself to the fate as the urge not to fall sick outweighed his dislike of the pills.
“Anyone knows where Wookie is?” Eeteuk asked from his position. He could not find him around the house. He had originally thought that Ryeowook was in the bathroom or in another room, so Eeteuk was not very worried about it. But when they gathered in the kitchen, he noticed that Ryeowook was not around.
Sungmin looked up from his food, remembering hazily that Ryeowook had woken up in the middle of the night. “He woke up in the middle of the night, but I didn’t pay much attention as he seemed fine and told me to go back to sleep.” Sungmin hoped that nothing happened. Or else he would be terribly guilty.
Eeteuk looked really worried now. Before he could start voicing out his worries, someone cut in.
“Ryeowook-hyung is with Kyuhyun. I found him by our bedside this morning.” Kibum put the spoon of porridge into his mouth after speaking. He could see the tension in Eeteuk’s face vanish before returning again.
“You mean he’s been there the whole night since he woke up?”
Kibum shook his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t notice when he came in. Only saw him when I woke up.”
Silence fell on the room as each of them contemplated Ryeowook’s actions. Sungmin was glad that Ryeowook was in the house - and did not just disappear somewhere - but now that he was thinking about it, Sungmin could almost hear a tinge of panic in Ryeowook’s voice. I should have paid more attention.
Then Kibum remembered. “Hyung, who’s taking care of Kyuhyunnie today?”
Kibum did know about the schedule, Ryeowook had told him about it. But he could not remember the exact details of it.
“I am. I have nothing on today.” Siwon spoke up. He was the only one with a free schedule the whole day. Later in the afternoon Eunhyuk would be joining him.
“Siwon-hyung, could you go take over Ryeowook-hyung when you’re done here? ‘Cos Kyu is hanging on to Wookie now. We really shouldn’t leave him alone.”
Siwon nodded, finishing his breakfast. Hankyung shooed him out of the room, saying that he would clear the dish for him. Siwon grabbed a book from his room before heading towards Kyuhyun’s room. Siwon knocked on the door, gently turning the door knob. Ryeowook tilted his head at Siwon, his hands wrapped around Kyuhyun’s hand. Kyuhyun had turned to the side facing Ryeowook, his other hand holding the elephant.
“Ryeowook, I’ll take over from here. You should go eat something before you leave.” Siwon walked up to Ryeowook, touching him on the shoulder.
Ryeowook nodded before looking at Kyuhyun again as if to remind himself that Kyuhyun was here in this pale blue room, wrapped in a blue blanket that Sungmin-hyung had gave him with an elephant in his hand.
Kyuhyun is not in a pool of blood. The room is not red.
Ryeowook stood up, hands still holding onto Kyuhyun, letting Siwon take his position on the chair. Slowly he extracted his hands from the grip, pushing Kyuhyun’s hand to Siwon. Kyuhyun’s fingers slowly curled around Siwon’s hand tightly, using their hands as an anchor from his dreams.
“You might want to wake him later to feed him the medicine and change the bandage, Hyung.” Ryeowook said one last time before leaving the room after receiving a nod from Siwon.
Siwon sat down, staring at his dongsaeng, listening to the soft but steady breathing which told him that Kyuhyun was better than yesterday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryeowook changed and washed up before heading to the kitchen. He sat down next to Kibum and immediately Hankyung placed the same things he gave Kibum in front of him. Like Kibum, Ryeowook was confused over the pills.
“Those are vitamins. You should eat them. We don’t want you to fall sick.” Yesung commented from across the table.
Ryeowook stared at Yesung before turning disbelieving to Kibum.
“Don’t look at me. I got the same treatment.” Kibum raised his hands in surrender. He knew that Ryeowook like him hated pills.
Ryeowook pulled his puppy-dog look at Hankyung, hoping to get out of it. Hankyung turned away, not wanting to answer.
“Hyah. Just eat it. It’s good for you.” Heechul intersected. Ryeowook pouted, placing the pills in his hand.
“Of course you’ll say it’s good for me. You’re not the one eating it.”
Ryeowook mumbled under his breath before swallowing the pills.
Kibum nodded his head next to him, agreeing completely with the statement. Ryeowook made a face after the pills went down, scooping up the porridge to get rid of the after taste.
“Is it that horrible?” Donghae asked curiously having finished his breakfast and was now waiting.
Kibum and Ryeowook shot him a look.
“Why not you try it?” Both of them said together.
Donghae said, “Yikes,” and ran to hide behind Hankyung, shaking his head vigorously. The rest laughed at their antics.
Donghae smiled to himself. That was his purpose. All of them were so upset about the situation that Donghae felt that he had to do something to cheer them up. It was not that they should not be upset - they had the right to feel depressed over the situation - but being surrounded by sadness would not help Kyuhyun recover. Donghae believed that in order for Kyuhyun to recover with their help, they first had to come to terms with whatever they were feeling about the situation before they could help Kyuhyun.
Hankyung smiled to himself, patting Donghae on the back. He knew what Donghae was doing. Donghae looked up and smiled cheekily at him.
Eeteuk clapped his hands. “Okay people. It’s time to go. If not we’ll all be late.”
He stood up after making sure that everyone caught his statement.
“I’ll go tell Siwonnie and Kyuhyunnie that we’re leaving now.”
Suddenly there was a flurry of actions as all of them rushed to bid Kyuhyun goodbye before they headed for work.
Eeteuk opened the door, looking into the room. Siwon was by the bed, holding Kyuhyun’s hand. Kyuhyun was still sleeping. Eeteuk entered, followed by the rest of them. Kyuhyun’s eyes twitched a little at the noise. Slowly his eyes opened.
“Hyung?”
Hearing Kyuhyun’s voice, they all turned their attention to Kyuhyun.
“Kyuhyunnie, how are you feeling?” Hankyung asked as he walked towards Kyuhyun, feeling his temperature.
Siwon stood up but his hand remained with Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun simply nodded as an answer.
“We have to go off to work now. Siwonnie will be here with you. Don’t worry. You won’t be alone.” Hankyung told Kyuhyun, hoping to soothe his fears. Hankyung kissed Kyuhyun on the forehead.
One by one they stepped forward to tell Kyuhyun to rest well and that they would be back before Kyuhyun knew it. Kyuhyun closed his eyes, drifting to sleep; contented with the knowledge that Siwon-hyung would be there with him the whole time. Eeteuk, being the last, turned to Siwon, wanting to leave instructions before he left.
“Siwon-ah, don’t forget to wake Kyuhyun later for his medicine. And remember to change his bandages. Remember to apply the antiseptic. We don’t want an infection occurring. Give him plenty of water, and mind yourself as well. We don’t want you to get sick. Maybe you should eat some vitamins as well. We all should…”
“Hyung! Jungsu-hyung! If you continue like that, we really are going to be late.”
Sungmin cut in, stopping Eeteuk’s tirade. Eeteuk’s mouth remained open though no sound came from it.
Sungmin tugged at Eeteuk’s hand, pulling him out of the room, waving goodbye to Siwon. The rest followed, chuckling slightly at the scene.
“Take good care of Kyuhyun, Siwonnie!”
Heechul threw back as he pushed Hankyung out of the room.
Siwon nodded before taking his place on the seat again. Kyuhyun had fallen asleep again. Siwon decided to let him sleep as Kyuhyun still looked very tired. He settled down on the chair, holding his book in one hand and began reading.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Siwon changed the bandages on Kyuhyun’s hand while he was asleep. Siwon didn’t have the heart to wake Kyuhyun when he was sleeping so peacefully. Siwon didn’t know that it was due to his presence that kept the nightmares away. Siwon winced when he saw the injury. They must hurt a lot. Gently he spread the antiseptic on the wounds, glancing at Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun’s eyebrows scrunched up in pain even in his sleep.
“It’s okay Kyu. It will be over soon. Just hold on for a while more.”
Siwon comforted Kyuhyun, hurrying in his actions yet still being meticulously about his wrapping. He tied the bandages together and placed Kyuhyun’s hand back on the bed. By this time, Kyuhyun had let go of Siwon’s hand, seemingly trusting Hankyung’s words that Siwon would be there with him the whole day. Siwon took the chance to visit the bathroom.
During that time, Kyuhyun woke up. What time is it? Kyuhyun looked around, recognising the place as his room. It was nearly noon. Kyuhyun felt that his hand was curled around something soft and brought it up to his eyes. It was his elephant.
Kyuhyun pulled it to his chest, bringing the other hand up to ruffle the fur on the elephant. It was then that he noticed the bandage on his hand. Where did it come from? Kyuhyun stared at it for a while, feeling slight throbbing coming from his hand.
Then it hit him. He had punched the mirror in anger and frustration as well as denial.
You’re unwanted.
The words whispered in his head. Kyuhyun’s eyes scanned the area that he could see. There was no one.
“Hyung?” Kyuhyun called out as he tried to push himself up, but his hand hurt from the effort that he gave up.
He called out again, hoping for an answer. “Hyung!”
Where are they?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eunhyuk ended his work early. After bidding goodbye to his fellow colleagues, Eunhyuk headed home. He wondered how Siwon and Kyuhyun were coping. He was so deep in thought that his trip home passed in a flash. He didn’t notice that he had reached the dormitory door until he almost crashed into it. Eunhyuk searched his bag for the key.
There! Found it!
Eunhyuk opened the door and looked in. The house looked almost devoid of people, except for the various pairs of shoes that lay on the floor. Eunhyuk dropped his bag on the sofa and headed to Kyuhyun’s room, guessing that they were most probably there as he didn’t think that Kyuhyun was up to walking at the moment.
Eunhyuk was about to knock the door when he heard Kyuhyun’s frenetic calling for his hyungs.
Where’s Siwon? The thought flashed past Eunhyuk’s mind as he rushed into the room. Kyuhyun was trying to push himself up, using one whole arm and hand and using minimal pressure with the other hand.
“Kyuhyun!”
Eunhyuk called out, startling Kyuhyun. He lost his concentration and leaned heavily onto his injured hands. Kyuhyun immediately pulled up his hand to protect it, forgetting that the arm was was supporting him for a moment. Kyuhyun fell a little sideways as Eunhyuk rushed over to prevent Kyuhyun from falling to the floor.
“Kyu! Are you okay?” Eunhyuk asked, concerned.
Kyuhyun, hugging his hand to his chest, looked at Eunhyuk. Hyung.
“Hyung! You’re here!” He opened his arms, asking for a hug from Eunhyuk.
Eunhyuk looked up and down at Kyuhyun before reaching out to hug him. Siwon silently entered the room, shock but happy to notice that his hyung was there already.
“Eunhyuk-hyung, you’re here.” Siwon said to Eunhyuk.
Eunhyuk looked at Siwon, “Where have you been?”
“Bathroom.”
Eunhyuk nodded, turning his attention back to Kyuhyun. He understood the need for the bathroom. There was no way Eunhyuk could blame Siwon for leaving Kyuhyun alone.
“He was looking for the person whom was supposed to be here with him.”
Siwon looked a little sheepish. “I had to go to the bathroom.”
Eunhyuk turned his attention towards Kyuhyun, trying to comfort him, to let him know that they were there and that they did not disappear somewhere where no one can find.
“Shh, we’re here. We didn’t abandon you.”
Kyuhyun buried his head into Eunhyuk’s shoulder, savouring the warmth from his hyung. Kyuhyun refused to give in to the tears. He refused to give in to his tears this time. He won’t admit it but for a moment Kyuhyun doubted Eeteuk’s statement that they would all be there. He was almost stretched to the limit by his fear when Eunhyuk turned up. Simply by being there helped to calm Kyuhyun down.
Siwon hovered behind them, not knowing what to do.
“Siwonnie, why not you cook some lunch for us to eat? I don’t suppose you or Kyuhyun have eaten lunch yet. And in order for Kyuhyun to take his medicine, Kyu needs to get something inside.”
Siwon nodded, heading out of the room to cook. Eunhyuk patted Kyuhyun gently on the back as Kyuhyun kept his head on his shoulder. Kyuhyun did not cry like the previous time. They remained in that position until the food came in. Siwon came in holding two plates of food - one for himself and one for Kyuhyun.
Eunhyuk gently pushed Kyuhyun off his chest, helping Kyuhyun to lean against the head rest until lunch was over.
“Food’s here Kyu. Do you want me to feed you? Or can you do it yourself?” Eunhyuk asked Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun glanced at Siwon, a small shy smile on his face that spoke of his gratitude towards Siwon and Eunhyuk for all their help.
Siwon smiled before turning to stare at his watch looking at the time. He didn’t know that he was able to cook that fast. It didn’t take him too long to cook the lunch for both Kyuhyun and he.
Kyuhyun shook his head at Eunhyuk's question as his hands reached out to take the bowl and the spoon from Eunhyuk. Slowly Kyuhyun ate the bowl of porridge. His appetite was not great with his illness and after a couple of mouths, Kyuhyun had to stop eating. If not he would feel queasy and all the food that he had placed in his stomach would be removed.
Kyuhyun handed the bowl back to Eunhyuk, indicating that he had enough.
Eunhyuk and Siwon glanced into the bowl, realising that Kyuhyun only took about 3 or 4 spoons of porridge before giving up. But it was better than nothing. Siwon took some medicine and handed them to Kyuhyun. Without a single complaint Kyuhyun ate the medicine. It was a totally opposite reaction from the other two magnaes who hated the pills.
Eunhyuk helped Kyuhyun lie back onto the bed, waiting for the antibiotics’ effects to take place.
“Can you stay with me, Hyung?” Kyuhyun whispered lightly to himself, happy that he had two hyungs with him but still a bit fearful that they would disappear if he fell asleep.
Both Eunhyuk and Siwon heard the question and both could not help but answer yes to the question. It was seldom that Kyuhyun asked for anything. Kyuhyun had asked it with a mixture of hope and wariness in his voice as if he was preparing for a rejection.
Eunhyuk took over Siwon’s seat, holding onto Kyuhyun’s hand which was raised for Eunhyuk to hold on to.
“I’ll be here. Siwonnie will be here. We’ll all be here.” Eunhyuk said, repeating his words, hoping that it penetrates through Kyuhyun’s nightmares.
Kyuhyun slowly closed his eyes, his other hand grabbing onto the elephant.
“We will still be here when you wake up.”
its longer than the previous few chapters. i'm happy, n i've changed my layout..^^ hope the ending part made sense cos i was nodding off typing it.haha.its almost 2am le. i think it makes sense since i did attempt to read through the chapter once before posting n spotted quite a number of errors.enoy!