First there was darkness. Then Chanyeol moved the thing covering his face, and light blinded him.
Above him was nothing but endless blue, a few white fluffs, and that angrily-shining ball.
He blinked away the vague tears, tugging the world into focus.
Sky. Clouds. Sun.
The words appeared in his head, dipping out of the hazy ocean that was his mind.
How very strange.

He sat up to look around.
Vast, endless fields with mountains and forests in the distance. Not a single living being caught his attention.
Then he looked down at himself, at his elegant coat and orderly clothing. How would he know those were elegant? That was easy - it had the color of the sky, and the sky Chanyeol found beautiful and elegant indeed. How did he know what clothing was?
Who was he? And was there anything he was supposed to do?

He found nothing of meaning on him, nothing to give him a hint... except for a finely crafted, golden pocket watch, dangling of a slim chain. It was softly ticking, towards the carved XII displayed on top. A twelve, twelve o'clock, noon and midnight, his brain added belatedly, and Chanyeol felt a vague sense of urgency.
Surely, he had somewhere to be at a time this crucial, right?

And so he got up to search. He wandered the fields, roamed forgotten ruins and listened carefully all the while. There was no life filling the air though. It was just a soft breeze, carrying the watches' ticking noise, which seemed to become increasingly louder. By now, he didn't have to have the watch opened, didn't even have to take it out of his pocket to hear it.
Where did the watch want him to go?

Chanyeol decided to follow the lead of the wind, and wandered through a forest. The world was so vivid, overwhelming his senses. The scent of the slightly damp wood was sweet, slightly tangy and heavy. Rays of sunlight were blazing through the gaps in the leaves far above his head and the ground was cracking, but ultimately soft beneath his soles. Chanyeol came to a halt, forgetting about the clock for just a moment.
There was just one thought occupying him right now, the first realization, the first answer he found in this new existence.

This world was beautiful.

The clock struck twelve, and with a faint echo, it froze.

Chanyeol didn't hear that though - for in that exact moment a sizzling sound filled the air, followed by a bitter, unpleasant smell.
Behind him, a fire was spreading rapidly, up the innocent trees, eating away at everything it could reach. Chanyeol barely understood the concept of fire, and so he stepped closer, curious and fascinated. In the center of the fire lay two women, too peaceful for the fire and heat around them. Too peaceful to be alive.

Their time had ended.

For a long time, Chanyeol sat on the ground, observing the two as if they harboured a great secret.
'Why would anyone leave such a beautiful place?' he asked himself.

It was sad, it was supposed to be sad. And as he sat there, completely ignored by the flames, Chanyeol wasn't so sure what he was supposed to feel. His eyes were glued to the way the two young women held hands, even in death.

Something about that was beautiful, too.

So today I had an exceptionally ty day and this is the only writing I could get done.
To be very honest - but psst! - this is a sneak peek of a rather big fic I got in the working~

Love,
Sugar-and-Salt~
 

P.S.: I was thinking of making this a general drabble collection (since I got quite a few drabbles waiting on my laptop). Just a heads up~