Bound By Love.

Note: There might be loads of mistakes. Please ignore them. I wrote this in a haste. Happy reading ~

"Chan Yeol..." Baek Hyun whispered, the smile growing wider with time and eyes twinkling with mirth.

Chan Yeol circled his arms around Baek Hyun's waist, bringing him closer and hugged him tightly. A contented sigh escaped his lips before he loosened his grip and broke the hug rather unwillingly.

Baek Hyun was still in a trance, Chan Yeol noticed and thus he stepped inside without waiting for the latter to let him in. He pulled Baek Hyun inside and closed the door, all the while eyeing Baek Hyun from time to time, unable to keep his gaze away from his lover's angelic face. When their eyes met, he saw Baek Hyun's eyes expressing a bunch of emotions, all at once. He could see the eyes seeking answers from him.

"Let's talk in the morning, love. Not now." Chan Yeol said and moved further inside after breaking the eye-lock, afraid that Baek Hyun would berate him for coming here or worst, he would push him away.

Baek Hyun's heart made a little flip due to the endearment used by Chan Yeol. Not willing to give into his desires, he moved inside. Making sure the door was locked properly, he slid the glass door close and walked to the window nearby to see if someone had followed Chan Yeol to this place. He found no one as such and closed the window. He then moved ahead into the kitchen that he had arranged in the afternoon before preparing the lunch.

From the corner of his eyes, he kept looking at Chan Yeol who was moving around the cottage, looking at things and going inside the only bedroom. He poured a glass full of orange juice from a jug and filled a plate with the food he had prepared for the dinner. Not much was left since he had cooked only for himself, but fortunately, he was not good at estimating the amount required. He took the plate in one hand, the other hand held the glass of juice, and walked to where Chan Yeol was currently seated, a sofa in the small living room. He set them on the table in front of Chan Yeol and sat himself down in a cushioned chair by the sofa that Chan Yeol was perched on.

"Orange juice?" Chan Yeol raised a brow at Baek Hyun, making him flush in embarrassment.

"Ah... Well, I don't have wine here, if you're trying to imply that. So..." Baek Hyun trailed off and before he could say another word, Chan Yeol was making satisfied noise, taking gulps after gulps.

"I didn't mean it like that. As far as I remember you don't like oranges..." Chan Yeol murmured after he was done emptying the juice from the glass instead of sipping it while eating the food.

"Um... It's the easiest to make... Besides, I don't hate it. I just never tried drinking it before, assuming it wouldn't taste good..." Baek Hyun mumbled and leaned back on his chair still trying to settle with the sudden appearance of Chan Yeol. He had too many questions to ask and he knew he owed Chan Yeol answers too. He saw no reason in hiding and keeping Chan Yeol waiting anymore, now that Chan Yeol had found him.

While Baek Hyun was busy thinking about how he could possibly answer Chan Yeol's questions, Chan Yeol silently ate his food and relished it. Also not missing a chance at stealing glances at the other.

Baek Hyun looked different, he noted. Without the thick layer of eyeliner and other artificial make-up colors on his face, he looked different. Monster and Baek Hyun were worlds apart. But no matter what disguises he wears, Chan Yeol was sure he would identify Baek Hyun within minutes. But he knew that the police would not identify him since none of them had seen him closely enough to even know how Monster looked. All they had were blurry pictures of him and a few points that could help them identify him, which Baek Hyun had cleverly hidden or cleared from his body, like the tattoo on the backside of his neck. He wondered if the tattoo had been a sticker or something of that sort because he could not find a single mark of removing the tattoo on his neck.

Breaking the silence surrounding them, Baek Hyun's phone rang. Knowing very well who the caller is, Baek Hyun answered the call.

"Hello, Baek! It's urgent! I think... I think Chan Yeol has figured out your place somehow. I- I don't know ho-" Jong Dae couldn't complete because Baek Hyun interrupted his rambling.

"I know. He's already here. And I'm gonna hang up now. Talk to you later." With that, Baek Hyun cut the call and sighed.

"He's pretty slow, you know. He should've figured it out as soon as I left the city. It's not like him..." Chan Yeol, who was done with the dinner, voiced out his opinion about Jong Dae.

"It's unlike him to not have a clue about this and it's unlike me to leave behind traces..." Baek Hyun said.

"Baek, let's not talk about it now... It's pretty late and you should be tired from all the moving-in and things, right? Let's go to sleep... I'm sleepy as well." Chan Yeol pulled Baek Hyun to the bedroom to sleep for the night. There was a huge mattress spread on the floor with soft pillows and fluffy blankets.

"Do you mind if we- you know, um... if we share-" Before Chan Yeol could complete asking the question Baek Hyun pushed him down on the mattress and himself lied down on his side.

"Uh- umm.. Than-"

"Sleep, Chan Yeol." Baek Hyun whispered cutting him yet again.

Getting the hint, Chan Yeol pulled a blanket to cover his body. When he turned to see Baek Hyun, he met with his back rather than his face which disappointed Chan Yeol. He wanted one last glance of Baek Hyun's angelic features before sleep could take over his senses. Unable to sleep without seeing his face, Chan Yeol slightly poked Baek Hyun on the back and waited for a reaction. When there came none, he poked again. Once... Twice... Thrice!

"What is it, Yeol?" And Chan Yeol's heart skipped a beat just like that. Biting his lower lip, he poked once again, making the other sigh.

"Turn around..." Chan Yeol whispered and the other obliged.

When Baek Hyun raised his brows questioningly, he shook his head sideways and replied, voice just above a whisper.

"Just... wanted to see your face before I fell asleep..."

--

The night, though aged quickly, was an awkward one for the both of them. 

With Chan Yeol refusing to sleep and keep gazing at him, Baek Hyun felt conscious and he felt like the other's gaze was piercing through his heart and reach deep down into his soul. He had tried to make the other quit staring and sleep, but Chan Yeol was stubborn and did not agree to sleep.

Whereas for Chan Yeol, Baek Hyun seemed too far away to reach and felt as though Baek Hyun would disappear the moment he closes his eyes. He trusted Baek Hyun, but he still had to keep looking at Baek Hyun, just to make sure. Though it was awkward, he cared less about it and kept his eyes trained on the latter, rather shamelessly.

As the sunlight peeked through the glass window, seeping through the colorful designs and tinting the room with bright colors, Chan Yeol stirred awake from his short slumber of one and a half hours. Squinting his eyes confusedly about the color-filled room, he groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes to make sure he was not seeing things. The wall, ceiling, doors, everything looked like someone had splattered colors on them and Chan Yeol found himself gaping at the beauty of the art. Still unable to figure out the source of tinted light filling the room, he stood up and slowly dragged his feet to the living room and then to the kitchen.

Baek Hyun was not to be seen anywhere, neither in the living room nor in the kitchen. But he found a note addressed to him.

Going to the general store nearby. Will be back soon.

Your coffee's on the counter. Freshen up before you drink it and wait for me. Please don't come out of the house.

-Baek Hyun.

Chan Yeol smiled sheepishly at the 'freshen up' part and walked back to the room to start his day with a warm shower, (only to shriek when the water that hit his body was freezing cold!)

How the hell did he shower in this cold water!?

When he walked out of the shower, he was shivering and his hands had gone numb, yet nothing could stop him from smiling when he saw Baek Hyun tidying the bedroom. Chan Yeol quietly walked behind the shorter male, standing right behind the other, all set to startle him. But the tables turned when Baek Hyun took his hand, spun him around and kicked him hard on his ; actions all too quick for Chan Yeol's mind to register what had happened. He could do nothing but complain and whine to the other about how painful the kick was while Baek Hyun continued with his work, nonchalantly. When Chan Yeol failed to get a reaction from the other, he grumbled to himself and walked into the kitchen to have the by-now-cold coffee.

"Baek Hyun, when I woke up, this room was colorful and all... Uh.. was that all my hallucination or does that actually happen in this place?" Chan Yeol asked, body leaning on the bedroom door frame and eyes scanning the walls of the room, that were now surprisingly plane!

"No, it wasn't your imagination. It's due to the paintings on the window glasses and last night I forgot to draw the curtains." Baek Hyun moved to the window and showed the tinted window.

"Wow! It's-it's so beautiful."

Baek Hyun silently walked out of the room, not bothering to reply or even spare a glance at Chan Yeol's direction, for that matter! Chan Yeol too, wordlessly followed him out, wondering if he had uttered something different than the word beautiful, something that he shouldn't have said! But he had no memory of saying anything as such and he was sure of it.

"Chan Yeol, it's time we had a little chat, don't you think?" Baek Hyun was sitting down on a wooden chair, looking at him and silently asking him to sit down and start talking. Again, Chan Yeol silently made his way towards the sofa and sat down right opposite to the shorter. He was not ready for this yet, but he knew he could not push it any further. He sighed and looked at the ground, mustering up all his courage and trying to push away the nervousness that was making his hands tremble and it was uncomfortable. From the corner of his eye, he saw Baek Hyun taking a deep breath in. Clearly, he was as nervous as Chan Yeol himself was, if not more!

When Chan Yeol finally mustered up and opened his mouth to say something, all that came out was a shaky whisper, laced with more pain than anger.

"Baek Hyun, I- I... I don't want to ask you the reason behind all this drama you've been up to. But tell me if this has anything do with me and my family... Why-why are you running away? Running away from us? From me?"

Baek Hyun chose to not look him in the eye and successfully averted his eyes from the glassy brown orbs, tears threatening to fall out any moment. He knew he would break down the moment he sees hurt in those beautiful eyes. He wanted to keep the image of those eyes filled with love and adoration for him.

"Baek Hyun..." He heard Chan Yeol's pained voice and he winced at that, knowing very well that he was the one who caused it.

"Chan Yeol, I..." He trailed off, unable to talk. He gulped a big lump that had clogged his throat and cleared his voice, to start speaking again.

"Chan Yeol, first of all, you should know that I'm sorry. I'm extremely sorry for having been a jerk and making you go through all of this... I'm-I-I don't know... I wasn't thinking right...My mind wasn't working right when.. when I let you breach my wall and let you inside my broken heart... I-I should've known this would happen.. I wasn't thinking right and.. and I dragged you into this mess... I'm sorry..." Baek Hyun trailed off again, an air of silence surrounded them. Chan Yeol was shedding silent tears by now and Baek Hyun was still facing the ground, unknown of Chan Yeol's grief.

After a few minutes, which felt like hours to Chan Yeol, the other broke the silence and spoke again, voice cracking slightly and trembling, a result of holding in the urge to cry out loud.

"Chan Yeol, I don't want to talk about all the mistakes I committed back then, but I want you to know this. Whatever I did, everything