Soobin had barely twisted the knob to open the front door when it practically flew open in his face. Stepping back, he watched as Hueningkai and a semi-reluctant Taehyun stepped into his apartment. Soobin shut the door behind them, turning to look at them with an arched brow.

"Why are you here so late?"

"We were concerned about you," said Hueningkai. "You've been taking Yeonjun's death the hardest and we all know you aren't sleeping at night because of it."

"I'm fine," lied Soobin as he walked back into the living room area of his apartment where he noticed Taehyun was studying the two takeout containers on the table.

"Did you have a guest over?" asked Taehyun.

Soobin didn't reply as he instead moved to start cleaning stuff up. When he knew that silence wouldn't suffice as an answer, he shoved the containers in the garbage as he said, "I just haven't been the best at cleaning up lately."

"I can tell," huffed Hueningkai with a sigh as he moved to grab Soobin by the wrist after taking in his messy apartment. "You need to come here."

"Where are you taking me?" asked Soobin as he was dragged down the hall by Hueningkai, soon entering his bedroom with him.

"We're going to make sure that you get some sleep tonight," said Hueningkai. "TAEHYUN! Where are you?!"

Yeonjun - who was still hidden in the closet crunched amongst various boxes and clothes - watched through the crack as Hueningkai pushed Soobin onto his bed. Just like Soobin, this Hueningkai looked like his. The only difference was the blue hair. It was so vibrant. So...

'Alive,' thought Yeonjun as pain twisted in his gut. He kept hoping that they were alive out there somewhere.

Yeonjun continued watching as Taehyun entered the room. Taehyun stood in the doorway, watching as Hueningkai sat at the foot of the bed and grabbed Soobin by the ankles.

"What are you doing?" asked Taehyun.

"Making sure that he doesn't get up," said Hueningkai.

"You think holding him down like that is going to get him to sleep?"

"Yes! Now you can deal with his head, but first, check his closet for an extra blanket. I don't want him to have an excuse for not sleeping."

Yeonjun panicked when he saw Taehyun starting to move towards the closet. There wasn't much room for him to attempt to back up further into the shadows. Soobin - who was partially restrained to the bed by Hueningkai - had a bad feeling about Taehyun going into the closet.

'What if Yeonjun is hiding in there?' he thought.

"Hey! I'm fine! I don't need a blanket."

Taehyun stopped short of opening the closet, turning to look at Soobin.

"Are you sure?"

Soobin nodded his head as Taehyun merely shrugged and walked over to the bed.

"I feel like holding him down like this is not going to get him to sleep."

"We won't know until we try," said Hueningkai, "Now sit at the head of the bed and make sure he keeps his head down and his eyes shut."

"You're ridiculous," muttered Taehyun, but still did as Hueningkai said.

"Guys...really. You don't need to do this..."

"It's been four months since Yeonjun's death, Soobin, and it's probably the last time since you've actually slept through the night too, isn't it?"

"Well..."

"See? Now sleep!"

Taehyun, who now sat at the head of Soobin's bed with his back up against the head rest, let out a sigh as he clapped a hand over Soobin's eyes and dragged his head down to lay on his lap. Being able to see through the cracks in Taehyun's fingers, Soobin's gaze went to the closet door.

Soobin didn't get much sleep for the next few hours. Every time he even attempted to shift and sit up, Taehyun would make it so he couldn't keep his head upright. Taehyun also made it so he couldn't see, managing to keep his hand clasped about his eyes. The grip on Soobin's ankles was still present but seemed to have lessened; the soft snore adding to the fact that Hueningkai had somehow fallen to sleep.

Beomgyu ended up being Soobin's saving grace from his well meaning friends. A phone started to ring out into the night, causing Taehyun to remove his hand from Soobin's eyes to grab it since he had fallen to sleep himself.

"Kai, wake up. It's Beomgyu," said Taehyun, kicking one of his feet towards the end of the bed to nudge against Hueningkai's shoulder.

Letting out a small groan, Hueningkai moved to sit up as Taehyun answered his phone.

"Hello?"

Soobin moved to sit up too, clearly being able to hear Beomgyu ask if the two of them were still at his place.

"Yeah, we are," said Taehyun as he stifled a yawn. "Hueningkai had an idea about how to get Soobin to sleep, but it seemed to put us to sleep instead. Soobin looks as wide awake as usual."

Taehyun chuckled as he held out his phone to Hueningkai.

"Beomgyu wants to speak to you."

"Me?"

"YES YOU!" came Beomgyu's very audible shout from the phone.

Taking the phone from Taehyun's hand, Soobin could see that - even in the darkened interior of his bedroom - Hueningkai's cheeks flushed as Beomgyu told him off like a parent would their child. Taehyun shifted to get up from Soobin's bed as Hueningkai left the room.

"We'll get going," said Taehyun, pausing in the doorway to Soobin's room as he remained sitting on the bed. "Sorry about tonight."

"Don't apologize. You both meant well. I appreciate it," said Soobin with a thin smile. "I'm going to be okay though. I promise."

"You'd better," said Taehyun. "Just...call if you need us, okay? I promise we won't hold you down if you just need someone to be there with you through the night."

"I will keep that in mind," said Soobin. "Have a good night, Taehyun. You two get home safe."

Taehyun nodded, leaving Soobin's bedroom and walking down the hall to where Hueningkai was animatedly trying to convince Beomgyu why his idea was genius. The sounds of Hueningkai's voice eventually faded away as the front door opened and then shut. Soon silence echoed out in the apartment. It was so silent in fact that Soobin began to wonder if he had been asleep earlier before Hueningkai and Taehyun showed up and had just imagined Yeonjun.

'Was Yeonjun just a dream?' he thought, slipping out of his bed.

"Yeonjun?" he called out softly incase Hueningkai and Taehyun were still close enough to his apartment to hear him calling out.

Soobin's head turned towards the closet when he heard something shuffle inside it. Walking over to it, he opened the door to see Yeonjun sitting in the darkness of the closet with his knees up under his chin. Soobin let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding.

"You can come out now. They are gone."

When Yeonjun made no move to stand up, Soobin crouched down in front of him. Being eye level with him, Soobin could see the twinkling star like tears shining in his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"They are alive..." Yeonjun whispered. "Your Hueningkai. Your Taehyun...your Beomgyu..."

Soobin felt his heart hurt hearing the pain in Yeonjun's voice. He understood what the darkness did to you in terms of amplifying your feelings. The feelings that you felt when it was light out seemed manageable. When you were left alone in the darkness with your thoughts though, they morphed into monsters that ate you alive until all you were left with was the overwhelming flood of emotions. Being in the darkness of the closet for a few hours had seemed to do this to Yeonjun.

"Don't think like that. Yours might still be alive too," said Soobin reaching out to grab one of Yeonjun's hands in his.

Gently, Soobin kept his hand holding Yeonjun's as he guided him out of the darkness and into the newfound hope they had found in each other as he stood them both up and gave him a gentle yet reassuring hug.