Dead or Alive

21: Red Thread

Seoho woke up feeling tired. No matter how much he slept he couldn't seem to feel rested. He wasn't sure why exactly his body felt this way, but it was tiring.

The once orange-head sat upright feeling strange. He looked around, noticing Keonhee was not sleeping besides him. He started to cough as he got out of Xion's old bed. His eyes searched the dark room, realizing he slept another day away on accident.

The group had decided to stay in the large house for a few days to allow Xion's older brother to recover. None of them really wanted to admit that staying also meant they could sleep on comfortable surfaces. But they all knew they needed to head out soon.

Seoho walked around the room, not bothering to turn on his flashlight. He tried popping his ears, and rubbed them a few times as well. His throat was bothering him too, every time he swallowed it hurt.

"Keonhee?" Seoho called out, his eyes now adjusted to the darkness and realized the boy was no where in sight.

Panic instantly set in. Seoho grabbed his backpack and rushed out of the bedroom, leaving the door fully flung open. He had no clue where the taller could be and that's exactly why the older was freaking out.

"Please don't do anything stupid." Seoho muttered to himself as he speedily walked through the many hallways in the house.

It was difficult to navigate the house, especially in the dark. While there weren't many hallways there were tons of doors, its difficult to keep track of where they all go to. Evidently, Seoho ended up in where he assumed was Xion's parents bedroom. A door was wide open, leading to a balcony that looked out over the backyard. A human shadow was casted from the moonlight.

"Keonhee?" Seoho called out, making his way towards the taller.

The boy turned his head, his hair casting shadows on his slim face. He looked happy for a moment, before his features formed a concerned expression.

"Are you okay?" Keonhee asked, walking away from the ledge to grab ahold of Seoho's arms.

"That's what I was going to ask you." Seoho replied, a confused yet concerned expression on his own face. "Do I not look okay?"

"You look really sick." Keonhee answered, looking into the olders eyes. "Like, sick-sick. Not because of, lack of eating or whatever."

Keonhee removed one of his hands from Seoho's arm and placed the back of it against the shorters forehead.

"You feel hot." Keonhee muttered, leading Seoho back into the dark hallways. "Let's go back to the room, you should get back in bed."

Seoho just followed him.

"Why where you out there?" Seoho asked the question once they left the larger bedroom.

"I needed some fresh air and just some time to myself to think." Keonhee replied with an almost depressed tone. He felt Seoho's eyes on the side of his face, so he glanced over and gave him a small smile. "Don't worry. I'm fine."

Seoho knew better than to believe those words. He could tell that Keonhee was slipping into a dark place if he wasn't already there. All Seoho wanted to do was be able to help the younger, but its difficult with so many things to constantly worry about.

"Do you feel sick? Like does anything hurt or feel achy?" Keonhee spoke in a serious but calming manner.

They entered Xion's old bedroom where Keonhee forced Seoho back onto the bed. The taller proceeded to pull the bedsheets up over Seoho's body, making sure he was tucked in.

"I guess I'm kind of tired still." Seoho muttered, feeling like a child.

Keonhee hummed and looked at the older worriedly. "You slept the entire day. Your definitely fighting something."