The Demon Next Door

25

Kyungsoo couldn't find Jongin.

He glided through the hallways of the school, eyes open and alert. His mind was focused on one thing, and that was to unearth Jongin. The search resembled an excavation more than a manhunt.

Kyungsoo was startled to find Jongin absent during first period. The younger man hadn't missed a day for the longest of time. Why would he start skipping classes again?

Kyungsoo couldn't focus at all knowing the seat behind him was empty. It seemed like a desert had sprouted at the baren desk. The space behind him was suddenly distant.

And when Jongin didn't show up to any other one of the classes that they shared, Kyungsoo knew it had something to do with what happened the day before. He beat himself for it.

Words hurt. Kyungsoo had gotten a taste of that from the things Baekhyun had written and said about him. He should have known better than to use such language against Jongin, especially when he knew that Jongin was...already dying.

Trying to ignore the guilt pouring onto him in the form of waterfalls, Kyungsoo continued looking for Jongin throughout the entire school during his lunch period.

He peeked into every single room he passed by. No nook and cranny was left uninspected. He searched even the most ridiculous places, like the sewing class's room. (Who knew? Maybe Jongin decided to knit socks to pass the time.)

Kyungsoo felt like he was lost in a maze, trying to find his way out. He was looking for something he couldn't find, longing for someone he couldn't obtain.

It broke his heart and, frankly, he felt as though he'd screwed everything up. Just that one sentence spewing from his mouth had shattered the foundation his and Jongin's relationship was built on.

When the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, Kyungsoo refused to go back to class. Instead, he headed for the lobby, specifically to the nurse's office.

He wasn't about to start leaving school without permission. He'd already done that with Jongin before, and it hadn't gotten him anything or anywhere good.

Stopping at the school's trophy display case, Kyungsoo practiced a 'sick face.' Drooping his eyelids and letting out a moan, he attempted to look fatigued and completely ill.

He 'dragged' himself to the nurse, just in case someone was watching him already. There was no other student there and he was thankful for that. He didn't want to waste time waiting for the nurse to take care of someone else.

Kyungsoo approached her slowly with his mask of sickness. As soon as she heard his heavy footsteps, the nurse looked up from the paperwork she was filling out on her desk.

"Do Kyungsoo! Good Heavens, child, what ever is the matter?!"

Kyungsoo dropped his backpack to the floor as if he couldn't carry it anymore. With a groan, he fell onto the nearest bed and buried his face in the pillow.

"Kill me, Ms. Song!" he wailed. "I feel like I'm dying! Put me out of my misery!"

Ms. Song's hands flew to her cheeks and she jumped up from her chair. She rushed over to Kyungsoo and flipped him over, receiving another groan of utter despair.

"Kyungsoo, what hurts?"

"Everything!"

"What happened? D-did you hurt yourself somehow? Did you eat something that's upsetting your stomach? What happened?!"

"I don't know!" Kyungsoo yelled, forcing tears to come from his eyes to show his deep emotions. "I'm the sickest boy in the world! Oh, oh, oh!"

He grabbed Ms. Song's scrubs when she took a step back. She took his hand into her own and gave the back of it a pat. Kyungsoo relaxed it enough to make it go close to limp, and she gasped at his weak state.