Black Soda Drink [exo]

X

I was so tired when we got home. My head spun as I finally landed on the bed, not sure how I made it there in the first place.

“Oh!” I raised a hand in the air but didn’t bother to open my eyes.

“Yeah?” Kris’s voice was close.

“I just need to do some final editing on my script. You can read it tomorrow after work.”

“Okay,” he said. “Change into your pajamas before you go to sleep.”

I whined but sat up, pulling my stockings off first. Kris looked away after tossing me my pink Hello Kitty pajama set. I stripped quickly and took a quick peek at Kris when he changed into a simple t-shirt. I blushed because I shouldn’t have done that, but it was so worth it.

Buttoning up was the hardest part. My hands didn’t cooperate. It seemed like an hour had gone by before I fell back against the comforter again.

I was just about to fall asleep when I felt a hand on my stomach. “Ahh!” I blindly hit at whatever was poking me.

“Hey, hold still. I’m trying to fix your buttons for you.”

I opened my eyes. Kris sat on the bed beside me, undoing my shirt. I blinked up at him tiredly. He looked good in any light, I thought, even in moonlight.

I gulped. If he kept going, he would be able to see my boobs.

Quickly, before my shirt could fall open, Kris redid the buttons the right way and then patted my stomach. “Good night,” he said, “and happy birthday.”

I think I snuggled up to him that night because when I woke up, I was in his arms. But the first thing I thought wasn’t about how I could barely breathe; it was concern for Kris.

He was mumbling in his sleep again and his hands were grabbing at my shirt. He looked in pain and he gave a choked gasp. Sometimes, his mouth opened as if he were about to scream.

“Kris?” I shook his shoulder but his hand only tugged harder at my shirt. I was pulled against his chest and looked up. He was shaking. “Kris!”

I held his face in my hands and felt the sweat dampening his temples and forehead. He was in the middle of a nightmare.

“Kris, please wake up.” I was scared. What was troubling him? “Kris...”

Finally, his eyes opened as he inhaled sharply. He was panting and I could see the tears in his eyes. I brought a hand to wipe them away.

“Yuan,” he whispered. “Yuan Yuan.” It was the nickname that my parents called me by or when somebody wanted to treat me like a child. I’ve never heard Kris call me anything other than Yuan. The only other person who ever called me Yuan was Yixing. Everybody else was used to Xiao Yuan.

“Kris, are you okay?”

He shook his head and pulled me against him. He shook with sobs. “I’m sorry,” he said into my shoulder. “I couldn’t save him. He was right there and I couldn’t save him.”

“It’s not your fault.” I kissed the top of his head and stroked his hair. He was feeling guilty again, something that he shouldn’t feel at all. I wanted to get more of the story from him, but I knew it was hard for him to speak about it.

My brother was gone, but I didn’t want Kris to leave, too.