I'm carrying my worries
Even if no one cares, I'm exhausted
With a vow I promised, I won't fall over
There are countless dreams in the sky
- Han (Stray Kids), Alien
"You met someone new?", Ms. Choi asked surprised. Rory nodded almost proud of herself. Even though she had been discharged from the hospital two days ago, she called Len every free minute, making sure the girl had someone to talk to.
"Yes. We met at the hospital.", Rory explained, her head dangling from the couch, her feet on the opposite side. For some reason she was sick of sitting normally, sick of the normal therapy, so she convinced Ms. Choi to sit like that. Surprisingly the woman followed Rory's example, even though it was far more difficult to make notes that way. At some point she gave up and put her notebook away.
Ms. Choi looked over to Rory. The moment she had walked through the door, she knew something had changed, something was different and it couldn't just be the fact she made a knew friend. Something must've happened to her the past two weeks, other than her hospital stay. There was something in her eyes Ms. Choi had seen. It wasn't happiness or excitement but a glimpse of hope.
"So anything else that happened? What about your nightmares?"
"Didn't have one the last nights.", Rory said, surprising herself. It was true, she hadn't had one but there was a reason behind it and she couldn't tell it, knowing Ms. Choi would think she was crazy. But for some reason Rory told her everything else: Her fight with Changbin, the schools decision to throw away the theatre's old costumes and even her incident with (Insert HJ's crazy stalker name).
Ms. Choi lifted an eyebrow in surprise. Rory had never told her so much but she wouldn't dare to point it out, scared she'd close up again. "So basically, you're saying you're life is shit."
This time it was Rory's turn to be surprised. She had never heard her doctor swear before. But it was making her more normal and Rory felt even more relaxed now. "You could say that."
"Have you been to the kindergarten again?"
"Once but then Jisung insisted to bring me home because I looked like a 'walking piece of shit'.", Rory said and quoted Jisung's exact words, making Ms. Choi laugh.
"Are you spending more time with him lately?"
"He wanted to come by later to help me with my History stuff."
"That's good, Rory! But don't focus too much on your grades, okay? Education can be done later but your health is either good or bad, so concentrate on that."
"So I can ditch him and skip school?"
"No!"
"God, Mr. Brunner is expecting the impossible from us.", Rory whined as soon as she saw the stuff they had to learn for their upcoming exam. Jisung rolled his eyes.
"It's not that much. It's only three major topics."
"That's three too many.", Rory said but still opened her book to study. She was sitting on her bed while Jisung had sat down on the floor with a pillow. It felt weird letting him in her room but at the same time it made the room seem much smaller now that a second person was in here. Rory was thankful to Jisung that he tried not to stare at the things in her room, trying to get to know her better.
Occasionally, Jisung would ask questions out of the blue and Rory had no clue how to answer them. Jisung would then patiently explain it wasn't Da Vinci who discovered America. At one point Rory started answering the stupidest things just to tease Jisung.
"I don't think we're getting anywhere with this.", he said after Rory said the Beatles won the war and closed his book with a small smile.
Rory cheered in relief. History was boring for her and she was glad to do something different. Jisung on the other hand was already packing his things, getting ready to leave, when he saw Rory's look on him. She tried not to seem to disappointed by the fact he would go. Actually, she enjoyed spending time with him.
Jisung stopped, a small smile on his face. "Would you like to do something else?
A smile made it's way on Rory's face. "I have an idea."
When Chan returned from work, he was exhausted. Now that it was getting colder again, many people came. Of course he loved his job at the Café but it was tiring at the same time. On top of that he had something else to check on afterwards, so he came home even later.
The moment he opened the door, he could hear shouting. Confused and worried he tried to make out the voices and immediately sprinted to the living room when he recognized his sister's.
"You evil unfinished sandwich!", Rory shouted angrily.
Another voice stepped in and Chan recognized his friend's. Jisung? "NOT THE BLUE ONE!"
"Aww are you sad because you got beaten? Again?", Rory asked, her voice full of sarcasm. Now completely confused Chan opened the door and definitely did not expect this.
Both Jisung and Rory were laying upside down on their couch, holding Wii controllers in their hands. The floor was covered in pillows and empty snack bags. Chan had to yell as well so the two would notice him.
"What the hell is going on here?"
Surprised the two turned to him and as soon as Rory saw her brother, she handed him a controller as well. "Wanna get beaten by me as well?"
Jisung let out a snort. "You cheated!"
"So knowing how to play Mario Kart is cheating?"
"Yes?"
"Anyways-", Rory said and turned to her brother again. "-So?"
Chan didn't waste a second and plopped down next to his sister who looked at him expectantly. "What?"
"You have to drive upside down.", she demanded. "That's a new rule." Not wanting to start a fight Chan did as he was told but the moment the game started, he complained.
"How the hell are you even able to drive like that?"
Jisung threw a pillow at him, but missed. "You're the only one who has a drivers licence. So shut up."
Chan already wanted to say that a drivers licence would benefit him nothing in terms of Mario Kart, when a red shell hit him. The other two broke out in laughter and Chan felt like they teamed up on him.
Through time they added a few new rules, just as playing with one hand or playing blindfolded. It always ended in chaos but the three of them had so much fun and Rory almost forgot about her worry to bring her friends to Wonderland.
After hours of playing Rory had fallen asleep, her legs on Chan's lap. He watched her sleeping peacefully and a smile made it's way on his face. Then he turned to Jisung who held back a yawn. "Thanks, mate."
Confused his friend turned to him. "For what? Honestly we didn't even study History. We're fucked at the exam."
"Not for that. For making her happy, being there for her, you know?"
Jisung nodded at that, not sure what to say. He regretted not talking to Rory more often before the incident, wondering if she would have been different. Of course she was. Jisung shook his head not wanting to think about it. He didn't want to spend time with Rory so she could get over the incident, he wanted to get to know her better. Not as his friend's sister but as Rory.
"Have you heard of Changbin?", Jisung asked worried, desperate to change the topic. Changbin hadn't responded to any of their texts and even skipped school. Chan flinched at this question.
"I did. Well, technically.", Chan answered, hesitant to tell him what he knew. It was a private information but Chan had to talk to someone about it. It destroyed him not being able to do anything for his friend.
"Is he alright?"
"His mother is ill. Leukaemia. 10% survival chance.", Chan whispered, not wanting to see his friend's reaction. Jisung gasped.
"Why didn't he tell us?"
"Don't know. But Mom told me about her illness, worrying about Changbin as well. Then I called him-"
"And?"
"He picked up.", Chan said, surprising Jisung. "He wanted to apologize but then I asked why he got so angry at Rory. Then he got furious."
"What did he say?", Jisung asked whispering as well, not wanting to wake Rory up. In fact he wasn't even sure if he wanted to know what was coming either. Chan sighed and when he looked up, tears were in his eyes.
"He thinks it's unfair Rory throws her life away, when his mother has almost no chance of living. He thinks she wanted to commit suicide."
Jisung stopped breathing. "She didn't, right?"
"No. All the stress and trauma is doing something to her body and I have no idea how to help her, it's killing me."
Chan's gaze fell onto his sister's arms and shoulders. They were covered in bruises and cuts, old scars and new ones. He was scared and tried to convince himself Rory would never hurt herself. It got silent between the friends and the only sound they could hear was Rory's soft snoring.
"If there's something I can do for you, say it.", Jisung offered, making his friend smile.
"I will, I promise. But let's go to sleep. You can stay here."
"Thanks, man."
Trying not to wake up Rory, Chan stood up carefully and placed a blanket over her sleeping figure. He knew she would complain about back pain the next day but at least she was sleeping peacefully.
The friends went up to Chan's room, noticing it was already pitch black outside. Chan lend Jisung comfortable clothes and both fell onto his bed, not caring about personal space. A few seconds later they fell asleep.
"How the hell did you manage to disappear just after dinner?", Wooyoung asked amused as soon as Rory walked into the room, her clothes drenched in water. Since she couldn't land in the sea anymore, she appeared in a sea near the mountains. She had to climb up for about an hour and if the guards wouldn't know they should wait for her, she would have been fucked.
"My timing is perfect, Woo."
"Well, not for one person.", Wooyoung said, a grin appearing on his face. He held the slingshot of Seoho in his hands and easily shot down a target.
"What the hell do you mean?" Rory was sick of standing there, freezing and barefoot, because she fell asleep in light clothing. She wrapped her arms around her body, trying to warm herself.
When Wooyoung turned to her, he forgot to answer Rory's question. Instead he quickly grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Sorry, I didn't notice you were freezing. You should change."
"I know, or else I'll get a cold and Seonghwa's going to go all Mo-"
"That's true but you would drive Yunho crazy in this shirt."
Rory looked down and blushed. Her white shirt was making her bra visible and even though it was dirty, one could see it clearly. Another reason to add to the list of why black clothes are better. Rory rolled her eyes.
"Here.", Wooyoung said and gave her his jacket. It was too big for her but Rory was glad to wear something dry. Still freezing Rory stood there, not sure what to do, making Wooyoung snort. "What the hell are you doing? Are you just standing there waiting for your prince Charming to get you?"
"Don't start this again."
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind carrying you around.", Wooyoung said, smiling brightly, and turned his back to Rory so she could jump on it. Rory didn't hesitate and held onto his shoulders. It felt normal between them and Rory was thankful for him to treat her like a normal girl, a friend.
The two reached a room, which Rory didn't know and Wooyoung let her down. Rory took a look around. "Is this your room?"
"The guys and mine, yes. It's a bit messy, though. Here.", he answered and threw pants and a shirt to her. Rory caught it easily.
"You know I could have just asked Ra for some?"
"I do, but god I want to see Yunho get jealous again. It's so funny to tease him."
"He promised to not be, though."
Wooyoung raised an eyebrow. "He may doesn't show you he is, but he is. You should've seen him yesterday when you went away with Xion. Priceless."
"So you're lending me your clothes, just to make fun of Yunho?"
"Come on.", Wooyoung whined. "Just training is boring. And it's the only way to make Yunho annoyed. Or do you have any ideas for pranks?"
Rory didn't answer for a while, staring at the clothes in her hands. When was the last time she pranked someone?
"I'm sure we can come up with something."
Wooyoung grinned and they gave each other a high five. "Perfect. Now change."