•How long till you start falling apart?•
Min Sehyuk, a new transfer student from the U.S. joins Hanhwa university and entangles himself with the resident bully after defending a student. He becomes the new target, taking each punch with a smile, ask...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Kihyun's at it again. Sehyuk stands outside the washroom door, breathing slowly as he hears hurling sounds from inside.
Sehyuk remembers the horror of the first day he found the older with fingers in his mouth, trying his hardest to throw up. Since then, almost every night, he stood outside the washroom when Kihyun thought he had already slept.
Sehyuk doesn't have the guts to confront Kihyun about the matter. How is he supposed to do that when he doesn't understand what's happening? Is it an eating disorder? Would he even talk to Sehyuk about what's going on? At first, he thought Kihyun was vomiting due to poor ingestion.
It seems as if life doesn't want to give him a break today. It's one thing after the other. Sehyuk still hasn't recovered from how Jaemin betrayed his trust in him. The sound of flushing alerts Sehyuk and once again he sprints away from the scene on autopilot, escaping to the comfort of his bedroom.
He taps his head repeatedly on the closed door, the sight of his bare feet scaring him. He doesn't know how long he's going to be able to stand and walk normally. "Don't think, don't think," Sehyuk whispers to himself, shutting his eyes and gulping audibly. He needs a distraction, overthinking may lead to him losing his legs faster than he's supposed to. After all, his condition was psychological.
So, he opens the door, finding Kihyun in the living room, a towel around his neck, droplets of water still clinging to his raven hair. He's wearing Sehyuk's borrowed white graphic t-shirt and joggers, two sizes big for his body.
The boy coughs, fingers carding through his damp hair. "You're back..." He lets his hands hang by his sides. "Did...did you hear anything...from the washroom?"
Sehyuk sighs, walking closer to Kihyun and taking a seat on the couch, patting the space next to him. "I...I have been hearing it since the day you started living here." He confesses, releasing a cold breath.
"Oh."
"I didn't say anything because I had no idea how to approach it. I stood outside the bathroom door every time, but didn't have the gall to go in and help you."
Kihyun curls, making himself smaller. "I was sure to do it when you slept. Didn't know I was making you uncomfortable. Sorry."
The blond boy shakes his head. "I'm a light sleeper. And it's not about being uncomfortable, more of..." he licks his lips. "...are you alright?"
"Honestly speaking," Kihyun sighs, slumping into the backrest of the couch. "I'm far from being alright. These past weeks have been stressful, I felt suffocated, hard to breathe. I'm here doing nothing at all to render my mistakes, hiding away from reality. So, the only way I could feel better, although, it only lasted for a few moments, was by emptying my stomach till it hurt. The freedom is short-lived but it's welcome."
When Sehyuk gives him no response, the older boy continues.
"People stress eat but my brain conceptualizes that the heaviness I feel would leave with the vomit that flushes in the drain. You don't have to worry about it, I don't usually throw up, only when things are not under my control."
