Sad Birds Still Sing (Bang Chan x Reader)

S.O.S.

Word count: 2163

Chapter warnings: Mild language, themes

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She surprisingly had a completely quiet night following her rude middle-of-the-night awakening. Even more surprisingly, though, when she opened her eyes, stretching slightly, she saw Chan asleep next to her. She knew he'd be there, he'd never broken a promise the entire time they'd been friends, but asleep? That was a rare thing, to say the least. She stayed put for a few minutes, but grew more and more antsy the longer she stayed. Sunlight was filtering through the curtains, a cheerful yellow, so she knew it was well into the morning. Even more so, she wanted to see how everyone was doing- especially Jeongin and Jisung. It might be weird to look at them after her dream, but she could acclimate.

Finally, she chose to risk it, slowly sitting up and letting Chan's arm fall to the bed beneath her. Thankfully, the sheets were still warm, as her body had been there just moments ago, so he didn't even notice a temperature change. She tiptoed across the room, keeping her eyes on him, but his never fluttered awake. One inch at a time, she slipped through a crack she'd made in the door, shut it behind her, and then turned the handle back into place as quietly as possible. She hadn't even realized she'd been holding her breath until she was in the hallway. At least he would finally get a little rest.

When she entered the kitchen, she was surprise to find no one there. Even the sight of the familiar table had her a little on edge, but she didn't know whether to be worried or relieved that it was empty. The clock above the oven read close to ten... Maybe they were still sleeping? The day before had taken a lot out of all of them. Changbin spent a good amount of time patching both Jisung and Jeongin up, with a little help from Chan, although the other man was mostly focused on keeping her as far away from the action as possible.

She didn't want to bother Chan. She could either go see Changbin, sung, or Jeongin. Changbin was probably just as beat, if not more so, than Chan, and she knew how cranky he could get when he was interrupted. Jeongin and Jisung were bother recovering. Really, she should leave them all alone, but... She really wanted to see Jisung. She hadn't even talked to him aside from his first spell out of his grey-state, and she had no idea what to expect. He was one of her best friends, though, and dammit if she didn't want to make sure he was okay.

She snuck back past her room, sleeping Chan presumably still inside. There was only one other guest bed in this wing of the house, originally Jeongin's, but since no one wanted to go back down to the basement, and Jisung was clearly in worse a state, Jeongin had given up his spot in favor of the pull-out couch of one of the recreational rooms. She wouldn't have to pass Changbin, as he was in the master suite at the end of the hall.

When she made it to Jisung's door, she started by pressing her ear against the wood. Although it felt kind of creepy, she didn't want to catch him off guard. If he were changing or stumbling around or whatever, she didn't want to embarrass him. Thankfully, she didn't hear any movement, so she tapped the door lightly, their regular four-beat knock, hand already turning the handle when he said softly,

"Come in?" Stepping in, she tried to keep her voice down, not wanting to overwhelm him too quickly.

"Hey, Ji."

"Y/N?" He asked. She felt a weird pain in her chest as she watched his eyelids twitch, struggling to blink around nothing. His brain clearly hadn't recalibrated to the fact that he couldn't see, no doubt continuously straining to try and make out anything. It had to be exhausting, at least mentally, if not physically as well.

"Yeah, it's me." She said. She saw that he was reaching his arms out, completely disoriented in the way that he couldn't see her.

"Am I almost there?" He joked as he felt around in midair. Hoping it would help, she walked over to the bed, sitting cross-legged and facing him, holding her arms out until he found them with his hands. He steadied himself by gripping onto her arms, almost like a handicapped elderly person. She could barely even look at his face... He had always been handsome, but the strange vacancy, it was unsettling at best, and grotesque at worst. Thankfully, he couldn't even see the trouble she was having.