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Daeun heard a knock on his bedroom door at 2AM, and he immediately knew what its purpose was. With zero hesitation, he paused his game and took off his headphones, getting up to walk across the room and open the door.
As expected, Jae-Hyun was standing in the hallway. He was wearing an oversized sweatshirt hood pulled over his tussled hair, and eyes heavy with deep bags. He'd looked like this for almost the entire week; a hollow shell of the person Daeun had known his entire life.
They shared no words. Daeun simply stepped to the side to let him in, and Jae went straight for his bed. He curled up under the covers as Daeun sat back down in front of the TV, the first muffled cries breaking the silence just as he put his headphones back on.
Jae hugged his friend's blue tiger plushie tightly while he bawled, shoulders jerking uncontrollably as he hiccupped in-between sobs. He felt safer crying in Daeun's room than his own, as if he hated the idea of being alone even as he completely broke down. He needed someone to ground him in the moment, to stop him from sinking and never coming up for air.
Maybe it sounded dramatic; he'd been called every variation of the word more times than he could count. But even if it was dramatic.. Daeun just let Jae cry. There was no awkwardness, no rush to "help," no belittling for being overly emotional, he just let him release it all, his silent presence comfort enough. Jae had spent countless hours in his room, crying until his throat was sore and his head started to hurt.
Daeun glanced back every so often to check on his friend, and time went by, the hour grew later, and Jae's cries soon dwindled to the occasional sniffle and tearful exhale. He climbed out of bed to plop down next to Daeun on the floor. He watched the pixelated avatar on the screen plant vegetables in a partial daze, his head falling to rest on his shoulder as he let out a deep, releasing sigh.
He'd needed that.