•How long till you start falling apart?•
Min Sehyuk, a new transfer student from the U.S. joins Hanhwa university and entangles himself with the resident bully after defending a student. He becomes the new target, taking each punch with a smile, ask...
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"Min Sehyuk!" Kihyun yells, dashing at full speed. He wraps his arms completely around the boy's knees and lifts him up, his head lolling to the side with, lifeless. "Help!" He shouts, eyes desperately looking at the main door he kept open, fortunately. "Help! Please, somebody help!" The erratic beats of his heart pulsate against Sehyuk's shin, feeling the taut muscle against himself.
"Help!"
A man and woman enter Sehyuk's apartment, the latter shrieking in fear at the sight while her husband runs towards where the boys are. "Call an ambulance!" He shouts, running into the kitchen and getting a knife. He then moves the coffee table and climbs on it, cutting the rope with the blade.
Sehyuk's lifeless body topples over Kihyun, the older holding him as much as he can by extending his arm to support his neck. The feel of the rope looping over his fingers forces him to swallow the panic that's about to unleash itself. Not only is there a reddened area around where the rope loop was, but he also, Sehyuk has bruises over his face and a busted lip. Who did he get into a fight with? Kihyun knows the boy isn't an easy opponent. "Sehyuk..." he mumbles, fingers reaching to pat his cheek. "Please...w-why would you do—"
"I don't know if he still has a pulse," the neighbor informs with two fingers pressed to Sehyuk's neck after he cuts the loop. The woman behind them gasps and silent tears trail down her cheeks and Kihyun completely understands her. "But let's not lose hope." The man's smile is anything but assuring.
Hope. Hope has never been Kihyun's strong forte. The anticipation that hope brings is meretricious; attractive on the surface but of no real value. Hope hasn't been forthcoming when it came to his life, always torn between looking forward to a better tomorrow or living in a distorted world without being disappointed for having expectations.
But now, he hopes. With every fiber in his being, he hopes. Not for himself but for someone else. He hopes for Min Sehyuk, who sheltered him when he needed a haven the most. He hopes for Min Sehyuk, who saved him from jumping in front of a train and slitting his wrist. He hopes for Min Sehyuk, who is a presence he didn't know he needed all this time.
Kihyun stands on his knees and tilts the blond's head upwards to clear a path for his airway. He then slaps one hand in the middle of the boy's chest, slipping the fingers of his other palm on it and curling them around, clasping them together. With the heels of his hands and straightened elbows, he pushes hard and fast. He doesn't know if he's doing it right but that's all he remembers how CPR is done. About thirty compressions per minute and two rescue breaths. He compresses Sehyuk's chest at the rate his heart rumbles against his rib cage.
"Don't die on me..." Kihyun whispers as he opens Sehyuk's mouth and blows into it by pinching his nose close and slightly lifting his chin. Once then twice. He gets back to compressing his chest when there's no response. "This can't be your end!" Kihyun's hands start trembling and his knees hurt. He clamps his teeth shut and breathes through his mouth.
