Triangle. |Stray Kids

Twelve.

Chris gasped. He was still breathing heavily but he was doing much better. He was wrapped in multiple layers of covers and blankets on the bed in the guest's room he uses when he's staying over at Lilly's.

Darkness had already cascaded the sky and night took over, matching how dark thoughts took over Chris's brain while he was curled in that room, alone, shivering and aching from the aftermath of the ghosts' attack earlier that day. More than twelve hours flew by already but nothing changed.

Lilly was still by Lino's side, crying and sobbing while cradling the boy and using her body warmness to warm him up. The moment the three of them walked into the house, Lilly asked Chris to help her take the passed-out boy to her room and since then, she didn't move an inch or even look at Chris who was swaying his way out of the room and to his.

Chris went to check on them a couple of times and found them in the same state. He had no energy to talk and he guessed she wouldn't listen so, he quietly headed back to his room and waited patiently while trying to warm his cold body up. And to mend his aching heart.

He was in pain.

He felt like Lilly couldn't see him. She didn't care about him and all she cared about was Lino. He knew that his friend was in a bad state. He knew that he was way much weaker and needed care. He himself wanted to help Lilly in taking care of him but she shut the world off and couldn't see anything except the boy in her arms.

Chris didn't want Lilly to come and look after him. He could do that. He was recovering well. But she didn't even ask him if he was okay. She didn't respond to him when he tried to check if she was okay.

To her, he was invisible.

Just like he was for all those years.

Lino was always the closest to her. They would hype up together and plan stupid things, leaving Chris out of it because he was the not-fun-friend who would ruin their plans. Lino would always be the first to know her updates. He would always be the first she would call when she wants help, when she wants to cry, or when she needs support. Chris was always the second choice. But that never stopped him from caring for the girl.

How could he when she was planted deep inside of him?

He loved her.

He loved her with all of his heart to the extent of letting her go when she wanted to leave because he thought that would be the best for her. He had always had those feelings for her but after that day, nine years ago, those feelings got the best of him in a very exaggerated form. It was to the extent of crying every night in his bed after she left while clenching his chest from the pain that was squeezing his heart. That pain was unbearable and it didn't go away. Never in those nine years, it went away, but he somehow managed to live with it.

Later, when the madness in this world became clear as daylight, Chris learned why he was in such pain. Why he couldn't find himself another girl. Why he couldn't see any other female as beautiful as his Lilly. Why he couldn't move on from his high school crush. Simply, because she wasn't his high school crush. She was much more.

Lilly was his soulmate.

And that soulmate refused to acknowledge his presence in her life and preferred to keep him as a friend. Chris knew that. It was impossible that Lilly didn't feel the pull they had. It was impossible that their bond was only torturing him. But then, not all soulmates end up together. Not all of them accept each other.

What pained him more, was how he sat alone in that room with his head hanging low, knowing that she was next door, cuddled in the bed with his friend and holding him the closest to her when he was supposed to be the one in her arms.

Chris shook his head to try and push those thoughts away. He stood up, sliding the covers off his body. That made him let out a little gasp. He wiped his face which was damp from the few tears he shed while thinking of the girl next door. He rubbed his arms up and down a few times before he leaves the room and heads downstairs.

Chris was walking to the front door when he saw a figure moving inside the kitchen. He didn't need to have a second look because he could always spot her even without looking. He could just sense her presence.

"Hey." He called softly.

Lilly turned around and looked at him. Her eyes were puffed from crying and tears were still staining her pale cheeks but she looked alive. "Hey." She said faintly. "I came to make him something warm."

"He regained his consciousness?" Chris questioned with much relief.

"Barely. He opened his eyes and tugged my shirt weakly."

Chris sighed in relief, letting his trapped breaths leave his constricted chest. "That's great. Do you need anything? Any help with him?"

"No. Thank you. I can handle it. I know how to deal with ghosts' attacks." She gave him a tight smile.

"Okay. I'm leaving then." He nodded at her.

"What? Where are you going?" She questioned and Chris could see the slight panic on her face.

"Home." He gave her a short answer while looking at her dead in her eyes. He wished she would hold onto him or ask him to stay with her. He hoped she needed him as much as he needed her right then.

"Okay." She replied, crashing all of his hopes and the remnant parts of his heart. She nipped on her lower lip nervously before she resumed. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Chris scoffed bitterly. He let out a long heavy sigh while rubbing his face, passing his fingers up to his hair and then back down to his nape. He gave her his fake smile. "I'm fine, Lil." He said then turned around and walked away.

He wasn't fine. He was far from being okay and that's why he was leaving.

His heart was aching badly, twisting and squeezing inside his chest so that he wanted to rip it out of his cage. He wanted to get rid of it in order to stop the pain. In order to stop hurting because of his soulmate.