locked [chanbaek and kaisoo]

Chapter 14

"Jongin ah." Chanyeol whispered.

This, this situation that stood before him now, was exactly what he had feared the most.

Ever since the moment he first saw Kyungsoo in his office.

Jongin, standing there, on the doorstep to his office, and locking his eyes with no one else, but Do Kyungsoo.

To make the matters worse, Jongin was looking unwell not only because of the sudden reappearance of his long lost lover, he also looked severely exhausted and ill as it was. There were obvious dark bags under his eyes, speaking tons about the lack of sleep he was going through these days, and the hard time he was having right now. Adding to that, even his skin itself looked really ill, colorless and dry.

But the worst thing about Jongin's appeareance was the amount of weight he had lost, in these few days. It was such a short term since Chanyeol had last seen him, and yet the loss was so scarily evident. It looked like Jongin had starved himself for weeks, from the way his clothes hung on him like loose rags, and his cheekbones seemed to tear right through the thin, tender skin of his cheeks just at any minute now. It was terrible. But knowing Jongin, Chanyeol could have expected him to starve himself as a response to such deep stress. He had done it before, and that made Chanyeol feel even worse.

I shouldn't have left him alone, he realized, heart constricting painfully inside his chest. With that realisation, guilt didn't last long to follow that pain, and take over him.

When he heard about Jongin's idea to take a few days off, he thought it was a good decision, as good as it could be in that kind of a situation. There weren't exactly that many options of how Jongin could have dealt with himself and what had happened that night, then. And Chanyeol figured that what Jongin considered necessary now was just some time, some time alone with himself, and a bit of rest. To organize the thoughts and let himself breathe a little.

But now, Chanyeol saw the whole situation differently. He was so wrong. What Jongin really needed then was not to be alone and think- he needed to have someone, who would be there with him and not let him think. He needed someone to take care of him, and take his mind off of Kyungsoo, distract him from overthinking things, and make sure, that what had happened now with his health, didn't happen.

That was what Jongin needed.

But instead, he was left alone. Chanyeol, his best friend, had left him alone.

"Kyung--" Jongin breathed out, a tear escaping his swollen eyes. "K-Kyungsoo."

He leaned on the wall beside him heavily, unable to keep his balance anymore. But even if his body was turned uncomfortably, and he could hardly keep standing even while leaning on the wall for support, Jongin's eyes were still glued onto Kyungsoo as if his whole life depended on that. Just seeing him. Jongin didn't even blink, as he stared at the smaller male. He seemed to be afraid, that if he keeps his eyes away from the other for too long, Kyungsoo will disappear again.

Watching him do that, after having just heard Kyungsoo say he doesn't want Jongin in his life anymore, broke Chanyeol's heart to unimaginable extents. It filled his chest with fear, sorrow and wish, that this day never came; the day, when Jongin will have his heart shattered to pieces once again, and again, by the same person. And Chanyeol will only be able to just watch.

He won't be able to help. He knew it.

With his owl eyes unreadable, Kyungsoo took a step closer to his ex lover, another one, and Chanyeol held his breath back, watching him carefully. He caught himself fearing, fearing so badly of what was going to happen.