Sanctuary | Chanbaek

Chapter Seven

It had been just over three weeks since Chanyeol was supposed to be home and Baekhyun was drained. He had gotten back into his nervous habit of rubbing the rings on his fingers when his thoughts became too much to hand. Not once in those past three weeks had he been able to sleep on his own, though he had tried. None of his friends ever complained about keeping him company through the night, but he felt guilty anyway. His face was starting to hollow back out from a lack of food, though he tried to eat when he could. He had even tried to eat down in the cafeteria a few days ago, but the tension between the remaining survivors had hit a boiling point that day and a large argument broke out between them.

He had done his best to be brave and stay at the small table he was sharing with Nayeon as he listened to them attack each other. Some argued that it was immoral for them to just sit there while the three missing scavengers could still be out there waiting to be rescued. Others argued that there was no one else they could send. They were spread too thin trying to always have someone guardian the gate and doing the inside jobs with even more people missing. There was no point, they had argued. Not only did they not know if the scavengers were alive but if the city was so bad that three of their men were already overwhelmed and killed who was to say it wouldn't happen again?

Killed. Baekhyun stood up so fast his head spun. His chair squeaked loudly against the tile as he pushed it out of his way so he could sprint back towards his room. He couldn't hear any more of it and he had refused to come out of his room for the rest of the day. Now he had gone right back to being mostly reclusive, sitting beside his room's window and staring out at the front of the hospital. He could see Yixing in the distance and watched for a while as he paced back and forth in front of the gate before stopping to stare off into the distance as if he had heard something. Baekhyun's breath stuck in his throat for just a moment before Yixing returned to pacing as if nothing had happened. Baekhyun shut the blinds.

Later that night Baekhyun slipped on one of Chanyeol's shirts and a pair of stretchy shorts before climbing onto one of the mattresses to sleep. He'd slept in this particular shirt many times and Chanyeol's scent was completely gone from it, but he still brought a little up to his nose, trying to connect to any bit of the taller male that he could. Minseok was lying on his side on the other side, lips curling into a weak but well-meaning smile when Baekhyun's eyes met him. "It's going to all be okay one day, Baek. I promise."

Baekhyun had stayed awake for hours in bed, as he always did these days. He stared at the ceiling and replayed all the talks he'd had with Chanyeol over in his head. He thought about what Chanyeol had told him about his first day of high school. How he had tripped over his shoes right in front of his homeroom class, not used to his growth spurt yet, limbs too long for his own good. Baekhyun was glad that even in moments like this Chanyeol could bring a smile to his lips no matter how temporary.

HONK HONK HONK

"What the hell–" The sudden loud noise had awoken Minseok from his slumber and Baekhyun reached out to grab his arm out of fear. The noise was so unlike the usual calm of the hospital, assaulting his ears. The noise was extremely loud but it sounded so familiar that he dared to focus on it, trying to piece together what was going on.