The Demon Next Door

33

The first thing that Kyungsoo did when his parents brought him home was lock the door and shove his bed in front of it.

After that came the extraordinarly long river of tears, gallon after gallon pouring into his bed's sheets as he lay sprawled over them. The bed was soaking wet and soggy in just a few seconds.

Naturally, there were a couple of worried knocks on his door. Begs for him to come out and eating something, say something, do anything but lay in bed and sob all day. And naturally, Kyungsoo refused to oblige to any of them.

He wanted to curl up and die, just as he'd promised Jongin he would if something happened to him, and he was closer to doing so than he'd ever been before. He could already feel himself withering away slowly like a rotting flower.

It was amazing how fast everything happened in life. One moment, Jongin had been telling him everything was going to be all right. That they were going to be together forever and get married and have babies and all that shit.

The next, Jongin was snatched away from him, sucked out of his life as if by a vacuum. Kyungsoo had no idea whether or not he'd be ever seeing Jongin again, and the uncertainty was killing him.

If only he could see Jongin and talk to him once more. Kyungsoo didn't know how long Jongin was going to be in prison, but he was sure the criminals trapped in it were allowed visitors. Kyungsoo wanted to see him, even if it was behind glass, and talk to him, even if it was through a phone.

Sighing, Kyungsoo buried himself under his blankets. He'd liked to do this as a small child, all the while pretending he was looking for treasure. Now, he felt like there were monsters after him in the dark.

Kyungsoo wasn't aware just how long he'd been under the covers, but by the time he poked his head out from underneath, the moon had already finished its shift and the sun was now working its job.

School could go to hell. No way was he going. It wasn't just a matter of him not wanting to go; Kyungsoo wanted to give Mr. Do that he didn't care about his grades again, and wouldn't care unless Jongin was with him in school again, which was highly true.

As expected, Mr. Do came banging on his door a half hour prior to the start of the school day. Kyungsoo listened to him quietly without making a sound, and after a few more tries, his father let out a sigh and gave up, footsteps heavy as they walked down the hall.

Oh, so now you feel bad?

Kyungsoo didn't leave his bed the rest of that day as well, not even when his stomach rumbled and certain organs screamed for relief. (Ok, maybe he did rush to go to the bathroom once, but that was in the case of an incredible emergency and he made sure nobody was around. (Also, he did it on Mr. Do's new hiking shoes...))

This was his life for the next few days. Kyungsoo stayed in bed until he was practically starving to death and could barely make it to the toilet before he had an accident. His appearance classified him more of a zombie than anything. He really looked like the walking dead.

It was when someone knocked a specific pattern—two knocks on top of the door and one on the bottom—did Kyungsoo finally maneuver his way out of bed and push it out of the way before opening up.

"B-Baekhyun?"

Kyungsoo watched the older totter back and forth on his heels, hands clutched to his chest. Baekhyun looked extremely nervous to be standing in Kyungsoo's house, the home of his former arch-nemesis, but there was something else in his face, something that surprisingly gave Kyungsoo a bit of comfort.

"Chanyeol taught me the knock." Baekhyun replicated it on the air. "You didn't come to school and Jongin didn't either, so we got worried. I mean, it's none of my business what you do and I know you guys went on a little vacation to who-knows-where recently and I thought maybe you didn't come back or you did or something happened or 'what's going on?' or—"