His head throbbed with the cadence of a beating drum. Strong and piercing pulses of pain ricocheted around his temples as if he’d suffered a jarring concussion. Kyungsoo struggled to open his eyes, every flutter came with an elevating sense of dread.
“Ah,” he winced, hands flying to rub the pulsating spots. It was almost unbearable.
Why did he have to go through such tribulations on his day off from the firm? Sure, he had a late night with his friends, television and blanket, but Kyungsoo didn’t remember drinking to the point of warranting such an insufferable hangover. If he drank at all, because no one would consider wine coolers to be real alcohol. But lo and behold the damage it had dealt, and he vowed to himself that he would never drink Seagrams again.
He could hurl, but the thought of moving an inch from this very spot made his head ache even more.
However, in spite of the glaring pain, it was oddly very quiet. The type of quiet which allowed one to drown inside their thoughts but Kyungsoo’s mind was ultimately blank. He slowly lifted and turned his head to read the time on the clock. It was 11 AM.
Getting up at such a time was a very unique experience. Even on his days off, his body would naturally wake up at dawn, conditioned and routine. He’d make breakfast, find an outfit to wear, and do something else…
“Ack,” he hissed, gritting his teeth. Why can’t I remember?
He didn’t think much of his lack of recollection and brushed it off as a side effect from the ongoing migraine, which he definitely should do something about.
With much effort, he rose from the bed dazed and groggy, trying not to fall with every step.
“Morning, had a rough night?” An all too familiar voice chimed in with a light question, and Kyungsoo snapped his head toward the door, regretting it seconds later when a wave of pain surged through his head. “It’s a bit late for you to be getting up, isn’t it?” Jongin teased with a cross of his arms and a wicked grin.
However, Kyungsoo didn’t have the leisure to rebut his teasing right now. “Fuck.” he grimaced. This stabbing ache could rival a blow to the head from a shovel. He had never experienced something like this and wanted to lay back down. “Jongin, can you please get me some medicine for the headache. It’s really killing me.”
“Alright, I’ll look for something.” Jongin gently smiled before turning and leaving the room.
Kyungsoo sat on the mattress and briefly thought to search the night stand beside the bed, hoping something to remedy this headache would be inside. But to his dismay, there was nothing there but a few books and a diary. He could only rely on his husband and wait for him to return.
Which took more time than he could tolerate. After several long and painful minutes of waiting, he decided to try and find some medicine on his own.
“Jongin!” he called, only to be met with silence.
He shuffled his toes inside his slippers and walked into the living room of the apartment. Jongin was not there. When he turned to enter the kitchen, his husband stood before the counter, staring at the cabinets.
“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo asked, his eyes squinting from the fluorescent bulbs.
“I was just about to return, I looked everywhere and I couldn’t find anything…I’ll have to go to the store.” He appeared apologetic and hopeless, so Kyungsoo let his impending complaints go.
It would be just his luck that they didn’t have anything. “Okay.” he resigned the notion of getting this pain under control any time soon, and was about to trudge back to the bedroom before the doorbell rang, halting his motions.
With a wearied sigh, he went to the door and swung it open without looking through the peephole.
“Hey.” Chanyeol’s eyes were tinged with red as if he had been crying all night. “You good?” Kyungsoo almost felt that question was ironic, as bad as Chanyeol looked right now, maybe he should be the one asking that question. “Did you need anything?” Chanyeol feebly smiled.
At first, Kyungsoo’s mind blanked. How would his neighbor know if he needed anything? It was quite odd.
“Hey…um, actually, yes…” he enunciated slowly and with uncertainty. “Do you have anything for a migraine?”
“Sure thing,” He sniffed and brushed his nose, “But the next time you need something, don’t knock on my door and then leave.”
Before Kyungsoo could reply, Chanyeol turned and walked into his apartment to fetch him some pain relievers.
An uncomfortable emotion settled in and Kyungsoo couldn’t make sense of what this feeling was. He turned to Jongin and asked, “Did you knock on his door?”
Jongin shook his head. “It’s probably those kids up the hall playing around. You know it’s Halloween and everything.”
While nodding, he contemplated over Jongin’s words, but soon agreed. Though, why they would play tricks in the daytime was beyond his level of comprehension. Before these thoughts became even more muddled, Chanyeol returned, with the grace of God, and gave him a small bottle of prescription pain relievers of the opioid class.
“If you don’t tell the doctors, then we should be good.” He slapped a hand on Kyungsoo’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, “If you ever need anything, I’m just next door alright, don’t forget.”
“Thanks, Chan…and um, are you alright?” There was an attempt to smile but it came off as a grimace with a twinge of pain on his features.
Chanyeol chuckled, “I’m doing better now that I’ve seen that you’re okay. We’ll talk soon.” And his friend left just like that, leaving a question residing inside Kyungsoo’s mind. Yet, he didn’t have the energy to pursue it and wasted no time downing the pills with a generous glass of water. The day was approaching lunch time but he wasn’t hungry, he simply wanted to go back to bed.
“Jongin, I’m going back to sleep.” he waved a lazy hand as he headed to the bedroom.
“Okay, I’ll be in there shortly.”
Kyungsoo hummed an incoherent reply and shuffled toward the bathroom to relieve himself.
While returning to his room, he heard a low thud from inside the closet. The sound was just loud enough for him to hear, he assumed that some clothes fell from their hangers.
He opened the closet door and found it was a small shoebox that fell. The box was satin black, and Kyungsoo’s eyebrows knitted as he tried to remember ever having such a shoebox in the closet. He grabbed it from the floor and stood up preparing to place it on the top shelf, but stopped.
This box was quite strange to him and curiosity sprung forth like an uncontrollable impulse. He flipped open the top and rummaged around the box. Its contents only consisted of papers that he didn’t even attempt to read. He despondently leafed through them before something caught his eye.
His motions stopped instantly and he snatched the paper from the box which fell to the floor, now long forgotten as the words jumped from the page.
Kyungsoo’s breath quickened, his vision blurred in and out as he attempted to read the words before him over and over again. It was as if the letters were moving in waves of water, and the room began to spin.
He wobbled out the closet on shaky legs while clenching the paper tight, his hands trembling violently as his eyes bulged to twice the size of saucers.
“I wish you hadn’t seen that.” Jongin’s voice shattered and cut through his thoughts, and Kyungsoo nearly sprung out his skin, throwing the paper up in the air and falling to the floor on his bottom. He looked up at Jongin, every word caught inside his throat, every thought blank and discombobulated. However, it was his eyes, those rounded eyes spoke of his pure and utter disbelief…and fear.
The paper floated to the ground and landed face up, the words on the page read:
In loving Memory of Kim Jongin. January 14 - October 30, 2020
jacobvanloon
blakekathryn
areudirty
theartofmadeline
vaporwave
gummygunk
origamiaround
