Heartstrings

Chapter Thirteen: It's Time

Baekhyun blinked, closed his eyes, and blinked again.

Everything was blurry.

For a second, he didn't know where he was or why he was. He didn't know why he felt heavy, his head so dizzy and throbbing. His muscles felt weak, just like his energy. He tried to get up only for a sharp pain lancing in his body. Baekhyun winced, his senses slowly kicking in and his hazy mind registering the surrounding.
Everywhere he looked, there were pieces, lots and lots of them. Some reflected the light coming in through the blinds while some laid scattered, representing his broken self. And the rest, they were covered in crimson, a reminder of last night. Slowly gazing down at his left hand, Baekhyun was met by his failure. He saw his cowardice, his weakness. His pale skin seemed like a canvas decorated only in red. The only thing unlike was the color of his cut. It was darker and uglier, deep even that he could see his flesh beneath.

Yet not deep enough for me to be dead.

He didn't make any other attempt to stand up, didn't see the time going by. Though his eyes were open, he can't think of why. His heart was pounding, mind empty. The dampness didn't bother him as he laid there alone for hours. He didn't even cry, not a single tear escaped his eyes. Why would he cry? For whom? Was there any need to do so? Will it help him ease the numbness he was feeling? Will it make him forget the memories that haunt him? Those things that mock him?

No.

Will crying ever, ever bring back everything that he's lost? Baekhyun didn't need to answer that.

In silence, he stared at the ceiling with absolutely nothing on his mind. He didn't care if he would get late for work (maybe he already was) or if he would lose it. He just wanted to stay there lying, breathing in the smell of his own blood and watching his shattered pieces. He wanted to stay isolated from the outside world. What good does it even bring when he is out there?

An image of Chanyeol suddenly flashed before his eyes making him squint his eyes. A strange emptiness started to take over his body bringing back the pain with it. His heart burned when the pain hit it and then the walls heard it. First, it was the sniffs, then sobs and then it turned to crying and screaming.

Baekhyun screamed in pain, in hurt, and in anger. Clenching his fists, he knocked them on the floor making them bleed more as the shards dug into his skin.

The river of tears trickled down his neck, wetting the collar of his shirt.

It hurt but Baekhyun didn't stop because somehow, it felt good.

He felt at peace.

Chanyeol was having the time of his life.

Since morning he was grinning like a maniac and even though Baekhyun and Seohyun both have told him he looks scary like that, he didn't drop it. Instead, it grew, even more, bigger (if possible) as he remembered last night. He will be no longer dying inside every day. His bleeding heart will no longer ache. He wouldn't have to see the hurt in Seohyun's eyes and feel helpless.

And he won't be carrying the weight of a meaningless marriage anymore.

"...yeol? Chanyeol?" The said man's bubble popped as he heard someone calling him. In front of him was his co-worker Taeyeon, looking at him worriedly. In the past year of his internship at his father's company, Chanyeol had become good friends with her. She also happens to be friends with Seohyun, thus deepening their bond.

"Are you alright?" She asked putting down her files at her desk which was adjacent to him.

"A..ah yeah." The giant replied scratching the nape of his neck. The female nodded and settled on her chair.