the bridge - changki

the party

songs for this chapter:
dying in a hot tub - palaye royale
death dance - palaye royale
ballad of the lonely hearts - black veil brides

﹀﹀

January 26th, 2022: Changkyun's birthday.

"Kihyun!" Kihyun rolled over in his bed, grabbing his phone first thing and checking the time. It was five in the evening meaning he had slept for four hours. He didn't bother to respond to whoever had called for him as it was probably Hyungwon and the boy would barge into his room in a few seconds.

Despite being told not to.

Just as Kihyun had predicted, the white wooden door to his room opened after a few moments. "I know you are resting... but.." It wasn't Hyungwon, surprisingly. "What is it, Min?" Kihyun mumbled, throat a little dry. "I... I screwed up the cake." Minhyuk mumbled.

The older let go of his phone, letting it fall onto the sheets before sighing. "How bad?" He asked, pushing himself up from the bed. He sat still for a moment, trying to regain his senses and also trying to fight the urge to throw himself back down and hide. "I... I put salt instead of sugar." Minhyuk muttered and it took Kihyun a moment to process the statement. "You... What..?" He forced out a chuckle, pushing his blanket off of his body.

"I know... I read the label wrong and were already behind on schedule..." Minhyuk whined. Kihyun grabbed a hoodie from his closet, pulling it over his head. "It's fine. I'll come down in a bit." Kihyun yawned. "It's probably my fault for not labeling the containers well enough..." he smiled, watching as Minhyuk headed out of his room, leaving the door ajar.

Kihyun let out a sigh, lowering his head a little as he brought a hand to his forehead. The headache he had been dealing with for the past week was still present. He wasn't sure if he was sick or if it was because of the sudden stop of his medication.

"I really need to get them..." he muttered quietly, leaning against his closet. He had returned to living just like he used to before. Going to work, or back then school, and coming back home only to order him and Hyungwon something to eat and go to sleep. Rinse. Repeat. Maybe cry before falling asleep.

He knew it worried Hyungwon but he had reassured the younger or at least tried to.

He wasn't much better considering his mental state, in fact, he was much worse than on the day he slept over at Changkyun's and just wanted to crawl back into bed, maybe even shed a few tears out of pure frustration. But his eyes landed on the wrapped gift leaning against his wall and he knew he couldn't do that.

The whole group had come together to fund the present as it would have been impossible for any of them to buy it on their own. 

He said he'd make this the best birthday Changkyun had had in ages and he would hold onto that. No matter how it clawed him up from the inside to pretend that he was perfectly fine when there were so many things wrong.

From the headache to the urge to jump off of a building.

Maybe you should've considered making sure you have enough money to afford the gift and your prescription. Yet you put a mere stranger before yourself.

Was Changkyun a stranger anymore? No, no he wasn't so the voice in his head could shut the hell up for a change.

Kihyun eventually arrived downstairs where the others had been putting up part decorations. They were the same ones they had used for Hyungwon's party because what was the point of buying completely new ones if you have perfectly intact old ones. 

Kihyun wanted to take part in the decorating but he had been ushered to bed by his brother as he had looked beyond dead when he came home from work, Hyungwon's words not his own. He had heard the others mention Changkyun's birthday, even if he had known of it, and threw in a comment that they could hold the youngest a party.