Monday, 31st October 2016.

“Well, today’s the last day of the week, so, I guess this is it, huh? The inevitable breakup for the two of us has come,” Byun Baekhyun stated, clearing his throat awkwardly as his fingers curled around his cup of coffee.

His boyfriend, or rather his now ex-boyfriend, looked at him with pleading eyes from across the table they were seated at in a quiet cafe. “Baekhyun-ah, don’t you think that we could actually work? I mean, we were going so strong for an entire week, so don’t you think-”

Baekhyun sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes tiredly with his knuckles trying to chase the sleepiness away from them. It was a Monday morning and breakups on Monday mornings were seriously the worst.

“Look, Jongdae, I told you before we even started dating how this would turn out; if I wanted to continue, I would, but if I feel that it wouldn’t work out between the two of us, we break up – no strings attached.”

“B – but, Baekhyun, I love you!” Jongdae cried, eyes shining with tears as he clasped Baekhyun’s small hands in his own.

“I know, but that’s not my fault. I warned you not to before we even started this.”

“B – but, Baek-”

“Enough, Jongdae.” Baekhyun commanded, ripping has hands away from his ex-lover’s iron grip. “We’re done here.”

Baekhyun hurriedly left the café, ignoring Jongdae’s desperate cries before he pulled his hoodie up, lowered his head and disappeared among the ocean of people rushing to work on a Monday morning.

**********

“Baekhyun, you better have one hell of a good reason as to why you are calling me at nine in the morning on a ing Monday!” Kyungsoo grumbled from the other end.

“Morning to you too, Soo,” Baekhyun grinned, sliding in the key to his apartment, opening the door and stepping inside.

“Don’t you ‘Morning’ me, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo growled from the other end. “I’m gonna hang up if you can’t come up with a valid enough excuse in the next five seconds as to why you woke me up this early. Five… four…”

“I broke up with Jongdae and now I am depressed, Soo.”

“Three…”

“Soo! Help me mend my broken heart!”

“Two…”

“I feel sick.” Baekhyun sighed.

Kyungsoo became silent on the other end. Baekhyun waited for a few moments before he heard a crisp rustling of sheets, signaling that his friend was finally awake and paying attention.

“Baekhyun, if it’s… you know what… you know it’s not too late to do the surgery, right? Why don’t you do it? It might save you.” Kyungsoo said in a strained voice.

Baekhyun laughed a humorless laugh. “What’s the use, Soo? If I survive today it doesn’t mean I’ll survive tomorrow. I might survive for some time, but eventually I’m gonna have to die, right? It’s not like I’m immortal or something.”

“But Baek-”

“Forget it, Soo. Never mind. I’m sorry I called you this early. Go back to sleep.” Baekhyun said before hanging up and switching off his phone.

Kicking off his shoes and dumping his jacket on the floor, he jumped onto his couch and placed his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

I wonder how much longer I have left… a month? A week? Maybe I’ll die tomorrow. Yeah, that would be good. I hope I die tomorrow.

Baehyun’s stomach growled loudly, distracting him from his thoughts and he remembered that he hadn’t had any breakfast before he had gone to the café to meet with Jongdae in order to break up with him.

“Seriously? Why did I forget my breakfast?” Baekhyun grumbled crossly, reluctantly making his way to the kitchen to grab a bite. He finally decided to eat the previous night’s leftovers – pizza.

Grabbing a random plate, he placed the pizza on it and shoved it into the microwave, setting the timer to a minute. As he waited for his pizza to warm up, he took a small book from his pocket and turned to the last page with his messy scribbling.

Day 6 – Jongdae

It’s not working. I don’t feel anything for him. I guess I’ll have to leave him tomorrow.

Baekhyun frowned upon seeing the last entry, remembering the cries he heard in the café from his ex-boyfriend. Quickly shaking his head, he drew a line below the last entry before writing again.

Day 7 – Jongdae

Broke up with him. It was never going to work anyway. Will I ever experience true love before I’m gone?

The annoying beeping of the microwave pulled Baekhyun out from his activity and he quickly took his steaming meal out, his stomach growling even more loudly.

He was happily munching on his pizza as he turned through the pages of his notebook, reading the last few entries.

Kim Jongdae… Oh Sehun… Kim Min Seok…

Baekhyun frowned again as he mindlessly flipped through the pages full of names, days and reasons as to why they never worked with the last question ‘Will I ever find true love before I’m gone?’ written boldly at the end of each ‘Day 7’ entry.

Sighing, he closed the book and finished gulping down the last bites of the pizza before he proceeded to wash the plate. He was mindlessly scrubbing it with soap when a drop of red fell on the white porcelain, running along with the water and quickly disappearing. But another fell, and another, and another. Quickly closing the tap, he grabbed a handful of tissues and held them under his nose as he tilted his head upwards.

“!” he cursed out loudly, feeling a warm liquid trickle down his nose steadily. With his head still facing upwards, he ran blindly to the bathroom, almost tripping over a bag he hadn’t seen lying on the floor.

As soon as Baekhyun entered the toilet, he dumped the crimson stained tissues in the bin next to the wash basin and looked at his reflection in the mirror, eyes widening a fraction upon the sight of the thin trail of blood travelling down from his nose and to his lips, an instant metallic taste overriding the flavors of pizza on his tongue. With a fresh wave of panic, he opened the tap and started to furiously scrub the blood trail, the red staining the white wash basin almost immediately. After a few moments of scrubbing, he slowed down when the intensity of the red had lessened to a dull hue of pink. Taking some more tissues, he held them under his nose as he waited for the bleeding to stop gradually.

Even when he could feel a dull throbbing in his head and could see the tissue being stained red, Baekhyun couldn’t help it but grin widely at his own reflection.

“I guess I gotta pay my doc a visit after all,” he whispered, grinning.

The short brunet smiled goofily once again before throwing the red tissues in the bin and holding some fresh ones again.

“Tomorrow,” Baekhyun hummed happily. “Tomorrow is the day I die.”

**********

“Why am I not going to die tomorrow? I basically bled the seven oceans through my nose in my bathroom and you’re telling me I’m gonna live for about another month?” Baekhyun questioned, staring daggers at his doctor as he waved a sheet of his test results in his hand furiously.

“Baekhyun, I thought you’d be happy,” his doctor, Kim Joonmyeon, said nervously.

“Happy?” Baekhyun glowered. “You know damn well how I feel about having to live on this godforsaken planet for a day longer.”

Doctor Joonmyeon rubbed his hands together. “Baekhyun, I know how you feel, but please, you could still do the surgery and you still have hope. Why don’t you take it?”

“Forget it. I said it before, and I’ll say it again: I am not doing the damn surgery. I have the freedom to choose and I choose this.” Baekhyun huffed angrily as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Why, Baekhyun? Just why?”

Baekhyun sighed heavily. “Because I have no reason to live, so I’d rather die. Don’t worry Joonmyeon, you won’t miss me much when I’m gone.”

Joonmyeon, one if his closest friends since university, looked at him with a pained expression as he opened his mouth again to speak but Baekhyun interrupted him.

“Well, I guess I can’t help it, I’ll just live for another month then. See you later, Joonmyeon.” Baekhyun waved at his friend before he quickly dashed out, not giving his friend a chance to speak.

Baekhyun didn’t stop running until he was well away from the hospital. He glanced once more at the results sheet in his hand before he stuffed it roughly in his jacket pocket.

**********

Baekhyun was walking deep in thought, his legs knowing the way back home as they guided him automatically.

Why? Why?? Why???

Baekhyun sighed again before coming back from his thoughts and changing directions to go to the park nearby instead. He walked with his hands deep in his pockets, head lowered and back hunched towards the small pond in the park.

Staring at his frowning reflection, the short male kicked roughly at the ground and pebbles fell into the water forming ripples making his image fade in and out.

Baekhyun sighed again and took a lighter and a pack of cigarettes from his pocket before lighting one and placing it between his plump lips as he shoved the lighter and the packet back inside his pocket. Taking a long drag from the cigarette, he looked up at the blue sky.

"I am seriously done and sick of my life, please take me away already," he said and closed his eyes.

"No! Don't do it!" A foreign voice yelled and Baekhyun yelped in surprise when a hand grabbed him by the back of shirt and pulled him back. His cigarette fell into the water and went out with an angry hiss while he landed on a firm chest with an ‘oof’ with a pair of arms circled around his waist.

After a few moments, the shocked brunet quickly disentangled himself from the arms circled around him and jumped onto his feet.  He turned around and saw a male lying on the ground with his face contorted in pain.

“Oh my God! What the hell are you doing, you ert!” Baekhyun screeched, taking a few steps back.

The male seemed to forget that he was in pain as he quickly got back onto his feet and hugged Baekhyun.

“Don’t do it! Please, don’t do it!” The stranger with a babyish face said to Baekhyun as he squished Baekhyun’s face against his chest tightly.

The stranger didn’t even have a moment’s warning before a small fist solidly connected with his nose.

“So, you weren’t going to kill yourself, then?” The stranger asked, shoving some fresh tissues up his nose to stop the bleeding.

“Do I ing look suicidal to you?” Baekhyun muttered angrily as his foot tapped impatiently against the ground.

“Well, not really, but I heard you saying ‘I am done and sick of my life and please take me away already’ so I thought you were going to drown yourself or something,” the stranger said as he looked quizzically at the fuming male.

“The water is only up to my ankles, you idiot.”

“Well, you are pretty short anyway,” the stranger said jokingly but looked down when the brunet glared daggers at him. “Never mind…” he trailed off.

Baekhyun shook his head and scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“But you didn’t have to punch me in the nose, did you? I mean, I was only trying to do a good deed.”

“You hugged me and touched me and I don’t even know you, so of course you deserved that.” Baekhyun deadpanned.

The stranger opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, deciding that it was better to remain quiet than to argue with a fuming brunet. He sighed heavily before taking a fresh wad of tissues and holding them under his nose before disposing the used ones in a trash can next to the bench he was seated on.

Baekhyun’s eyes softened a bit when the stranger kept quiet and continued to avoid his gaze and concentrated on stopping his nosebleed.

“Hey, I’m sorry, alright? I didn’t know and I freaked and I’m sorry,” he sheepishly apologized.

The stranger looked at him and gave a huge gummy smile, showing off a perfect set of pearly white teeth. “It’s okay. It was my fault for jumping on you like that,” he chuckled.

Baekhyun smiled and sat down next to the stranger.

“Park Chanyeol,” The stranger said and extended a hand towards the now seated male.

“Huh?”

“I am Park Chanyeol and you are…?”

“Oh, I’m Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun,” he introduced himself and shook the giant’s hand.

“Nice to meet you.”

Baekhyun laughed. “I don’t think so.” He smiled, throwing a look at the stained tissues and red nose.

Chanyeol also laughed in his deep, timbre voice and then a silence settled upon the two.

“So do you usually go around hugging and trying to save random people?” Baekhyun asked, swinging his legs unconsciously back and forth.

“Not really, sometimes I do. First time I got punched for trying to do something good, and you pack quite a punch for a small guy,” Chanyeol said smiling.

“I’m not small.” The short male pouted.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, shortie.” The giant laughed.

“Don’t make me punch you again,” came the warning and Chanyeol’s laughter immediately stopped.

Another silence before Baekhyun decided that it was time he went home and mourned over the fact that he had yet a month to live and that meant he’d have to find four people to date within that period.

“Well, it was… okay meeting you, I guess,” Baekhyun mumbled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. “I gotta go now and get some work done. Goodbye, Chanyeol.”

“Goodbye? Seriously?” Chanyeol asked, bewildered. “You don’t wanna meet me again?”

Baekhyun stared back at the giant in a confused manner. “What? No, it’s not that, but I don’t think we’ll meet again, so, yeah.”

“It’s a small world, Byun Baekhyun, and it would certainly be a pleasure to meet you again.”

The shorter smiled widely, his eyes turning into crescents. “Okay, fine, though not like today hopefully.”

“No, of course not.” Chanyeol also smiled. “You go and get whatever you want to do finished and I’ll… wait here till the bleeding stops, I guess. I think it’s already stopped, though.” Chanyeol dabbed at his nose with the red tissues to check.

Baekhyun smiled and extended his hand this time. The giant gratefully shook the small hand with his hand which wasn’t bloodied and smiled widely.

“See you around, shortie.”

“I swear I’m going to punch you again,” the brunet said smiling as he turned around to leave.

Baekhyun had not taken more than five steps when the world seemed to spin around him and everything went black.

“BAEKHYUN! WAKE UP! BAEKHYUN! OH GOD!” Someone shouted in Baekhyun’s ear and the said male forced his eyes open. A dull and persistent thudding could be felt right around his temples and he felt sick.

“OH MY GOD! WHAT THE WAS THAT?” Chanyeol yelled in his ear.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun muttered breathlessly.

“ME? YOU FAINTED RIGHT NOW! AND I FREAKED OUT! GOD, I THOUGHT YOU DIED OR SOMETHING!” Chanyeol was still yelling in his ear.

Baekhyun’s mind was still fuzzy as he tried to grasp the words that tumbled from the giant’s mouth.

“I… fainted?”

“YES!”

“Oh, jeez, calm down. You’re so loud.” He grumbled as he sat up and rubbed his temples.

“Sorry, sorry. Oh God, but I seriously thought something happened to you or something.” Chanyeol said, worry etched over his features.

“Relax, it’s nothing. I… uhh… didn’t get much sleep and that’s why this happened.”

“Oh, o-okay. You really need to get some sleep, then.” Chanyeol nodded his head. “Where do you live? My car is nearby and I’ll drop you at your house.”

Baekhyun shook his head and groaned when it felt like his brain was sloshing around in his skull. “No, it’s okay. I’m fine now and I live nearby anyway.”

Chanyeol eyed him and sighed. “Are you sure? I mean, it’s no problem, really.”

“No, I’m sure, but thanks anyway.” He started to get up and immediately regretted it. The entire world seemed to spin around him again and he wanted to throw up. Baekhyun’s hands gripped the giant’s as he tried to balance himself.

“Nope. Nope. So not happening. We’re going to the hospital right now.”

Small hands tightened around the giant’s own and the pale male shook his head vigorously. “No, not the hospital, anywhere but the hospital, please,” Baekhyun begged.

The giant growled in reluctance. “Then at least let me drop you at your house instead! You look like you’re about to pass out or something.”

Baekhyun sighed tiredly. “I… okay. Fine.”

Chanyeol smiled widely at this. “Good, now tell me where you live.”

Baekhyun, with much reluctance, told the overly happy giant the address.

**********

“Hey, um, we’re here.”

Baekhyun’s eyes fluttered open and he took in his surroundings. They had arrived at his apartment building. “Oh. Did I fall asleep?”

“Yeah. You really do need to get some sleep.” Chanyeol nodded before switching off the engine and stepping out of the car as Baekhyun also got out.

“Okay, thanks for the ride. You can, you know, go now.” The shorter said.

“And have you faint somewhere on your way to your apartment? I think I’ll drop you off at your doorstep.”

Baekhyun sighed. “Are you always this annoying to people you just met?”

The giant smiled widely. “Only to those who look like they’re about to die,” Chanyeol grinned, oblivious to the other’s slight wincing.

“Fine.” Came the curt reply before Baekhyun started walking in silence with the giant trailing behind him. They reached the elevator and waited in silence till it arrived.

“So… umm… do you usually pass out like that?” Chanyeol broke the ice.

Baekhyun’s brows furrowed. “No, not really. Only sometimes.”

“Maybe you should get yourself checked by a doctor then?”

The short male fidgeted, uncomfortable at the mention of doctors as he shook his head. “Nah, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.”

The ding of the elevator’s arrival had both males look at the shiny metal doors as they waited for it to open up. Baekhyun stepped into the elevator first and noticed that Chanyeol seemed a bit squeamish before he cautiously stepped into the elevator.

“You’re afraid of elevators, aren’t you?”

Chanyeol chuckled nervously. “Was it that obvious?”

Before the doors could close again, Baekhyun grabbed Chanyeol’s hand and stepped out.

“What?” Chanyeol asked baffled.

“You could’ve said that before. We’ll use the stairs, then.” Baekhyun smiled.

“But what if you pass out on our way up?”

The brunet only grinned widely in reply before he started climbing the stairs with Chanyeol right behind him.

A few minutes later.

“You know, between the two of us, I think you’re going to pass out first.” Baekhyun stated as he stopped midway and observed the giant who was sitting on a step trying to catch his breath.

“Shut… up…” Chanyeol panted.

“Oh, come on, Chanyeol. We only made it to the fourth floor.” Baekhyun laughed.

“And… umm… which floor do you live in?”

“The fifteenth floor.” Baekhyun smirked and Chanyeol groaned out loud.

Five minutes later.

Baekhyun was also panting heavily by the time they reached the fifteenth floor and he couldn’t even find enough energy to laugh when the giant crawled up the few remaining steps on his hands and feet before he finally plopped himself against the wall and gasped for his breath like a fish out of the water.

“Well, that was quite a climb, wasn’t it?” Baekhyun asked, wiping the sweat off his brow.

After a few minutes, when Chanyeol finally got onto his feet shakily, they made their way to Baekhyun’s apartment. The brunet slid in the key and opened the door before he was pushed out of the way by the giant who rushed inside and jumped onto the couch.

His brow raised questioningly at the giant, the shorter closed the door behind him. “I don’t remember inviting you inside.”

“What? You think I’m gonna leave after having climbed fifteen ing floors?” The giant groaned loudly.

Baekhyun laughed out loud. “Fine, fine. You want something to drink, then? Tea? Coffee?”

“You’re being pretty nice and homely to a person you don’t know.”

“You were being pretty nice to a person who punched your nose till you saw the stars.”

Chanyeol grinned. “Touché. Some water would be good, actually, cool water if you have some.”

“Sure thing, wait here.” Baekhyun said before taking his jacket and dumping it at one end of the couch.

He walked into the kitchen and filled two glasses up to the brim with iced water before he went back to the giant who was now sitting with a distant look on his face.

“Hey, here’s your water.” Baekhyun said as he handed the glass to the dazed looking giant.

“What? Oh, thanks.” The giant said taking the glass and sipping on the water silently.

“Is something wrong?” Baekhyun asked, noticing the sudden silence from the male seated opposite to him as he too sat down on the couch.

“What? No,” Chanyeol hurriedly said. “It’s just, I was looking around your place and I noticed how quiet it is and how it feels as if no one had been here before.”

Baekhyun smiled. “That’s ‘cause I never have brought anyone here before.”

Chanyeol quirked a brow at that. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

Chanyeol received a wicked grin from the other before the male drank some of his water.

Chanyeol stared at him before giving him a smile. “You’re not, like, some kind of murderer who stashes bodies in his apartment, are you?”

Baekhyun choked on his water before he burst out laughing. “What? Why would you say that?”

“Well, because no one else has been to your house and because this place seems to give off a creepy and murderous vibe.” Chanyeol grinned.

Baekhyun tapped his chin thoughtfully, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Hmm, I might have lured you into my place just to kill you and stash your body in my place, you know?”

Chanyeol laughed and held his arms up in surrender, nearly spilling over some water. “Please, have mercy. I am innocent.”

“I might make you climb all fifteen floors and watch you die a slow and painful death gasping for breath.”

“Oh, the horror!” The giant faked being terrified as he clutched at his heart. “Anything but the stairs!”

Baekhyun laughed out loud and soon the giant also joined in with his obnoxiously loud laughter as well.

“So, what are you gonna do today, then?” Baekhyun asked the giant when another silence started to engulf the two.

“I think I have a rather high chance of surviving if I don’t tell you where I am going to be going and all,” Chanyeol joked making the brunet grin. “But I don’t know, I think I might just visit a friend today or something. Or else I’ll just stay at home and finally get my pathetic to study. What about you?”

“I think I’m gonna go sleep a bit and then maybe go out for a walk in the evening or so. I don’t know,” Baekhyun mumbled.

“Should I be there in case you decide to faint again?” Chanyeol asked.

“What? No. It’s okay! I’ll also need to find someone new to date tomorrow or today.”

“What?” Chanyeol asked baffled.

Baekhyun grinned. “I’m doing an experiment, you see? I’m trying to find true love so I usually date a person for a week and I just broke up with someone today so I need to find someone else for the next week.”

“So, you date someone for a week in order to experience true love?”

“Yep.”

“And how has it been working for you so far?”

“Not good. If I had found true love, I wouldn’t even be dating anyone except that person right now, so I’m still trying.”

“Is it even possible to fall in love in a week?” Chanyeol asked as he sipped the remaining water.

“I think so.”

“So, how do you know when you have found true love?”

“When I feel everything that I have never felt before with anyone else I have dated,” Baekhyun stated.

“Right,” Chanyeol said, cocking a brow.

Baekhyun grinned at that. “My friends even call me ‘Seven’.”

“Gee, is it because you date a person for seven days and breakup with them?” Chanyeol asked to which the shorter nodded.

“Hey, you okay?” Baekhyun asked, noticing the change of behavior in the giant, the slight frown plastered on his lips and his eyes casted on the ground.

“Are you even okay with doing this? I mean, what if they fall in love with you? Aren’t you going to just hurt them?” Chanyeol asked as he looked at the other male, his eyes flashing with a tinge on anger and his voice bitter and slightly hostile.

“I warn them not to before we even start and they have to accept the fact that it’s their fault if they do. No strings attached.”

Chanyeol stared at the short brunette in disbelief before sighing heavily. “Well, I hope you find your partner before you go around breaking any more hearts.”

“Yeah, me too,” Baekhyun mumbled almost inaudibly.

Chanyeol placed the glass on the table before getting up. “Well, I gotta go now. I guess I really need to get back to studying and you better get back to… finding your life partner.”

Baekhyun smiled as he too got up. “Nice meeting you, Chanyeol.”

“Yeah, you too,” Chanyeol said. “Umm… do you mind giving me your number?”

This time, the shorter raised a brow at the giant. “My number?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind that is. I mean, what if you black out again and need my help?”

Baekhyun giggled. “That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard,” the brunet exclaimed but gave Chanyeol his number nevertheless and took the giant’s number in return.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you around, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said one last time as he stepped out of the apartment.

“Sure. See you around, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun waved and watched the giant’s figure retreat and disappear before he closed the door with a smile painted on his lips.

Baekhyun walked over to the couch and took his phone out from his jacket pocket to switch it on. Sounds of messages and missed calls filled the empty air as he checked his phone, only to see several missed calls and text messages from Kyungsoo. Just then, his ringtone rang loud and clear as Kyungsoo’s smiling face filled the screen.

“Speak of the Devil,” Baekhyun muttered but answered it anyway.

“Hey, Soo. What’s-”

“BYUN ING BAEKHYUN WHERE THE WERE YOU?! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS? I CALLED YOU AND SENT YOU SEVERAL TEXTS BUT NOTHING! YOU SWITCHED YOUR PHONE OFF AND I WAS WORRIED SICK, YOU HEARTLESS BASTARD!” Kyungsoo half shrieked and half cried through the receiver and the shorter had to hold the phone away from his ear.

“Soo, chill, I’m okay. Just been a busy day, that’s all. I’m alright.”

“What happened to you?”

“I… uhh… went to the hospital today ‘cause I got another nosebleed.”

He could hear Kyungsoo stifle a gasp from the other end. “A-and…? What did the doctor say?”

“I’m gonna live for some more time.”

“How much longer?”

“Long enough.”

Kyungsoo growled in frustration from the other end. “How much longer, Baekhyun? I know you know so just tell me!”

Baekhyun inhaled deeply and closed his eyes for a moment. “A couple more months, Soo,” he lied. He hated lying to his best friend, but he couldn’t help it. It was better telling him a lie than telling him the truth.

“Baekhyun, you better not be lying to me. I-I want to see you. Where are you? Damn it, would you please tell me where you live so I can at least know you’re okay?”

Baekhyun thought for a few moments. “See you at your place in twenty. There’s something else I have to tell you, too.”

“What is it? Is it something bad, Baek?”

“Nope,” Baekhyun said, popping the ‘p’ as he put on his jacket and quickly left to Kyungsoo’s place. “It’s something good, actually. Or ‘someone’ rather.”

“A person?”

“Yep. Give me twenty minutes and I’ll tell you all about it when I get to your place.” The brunet grinned widely as he hung up. 

Tuesday, 22nd November 2016 (3 WEEKS LATER).

Baekhyun sighed heavily as he made his way to his apartment, hidden among the crowd of people in the early morning hours.

Another breakup. Seriously?

He kicked the ground mindlessly as he continued walking with his head hanging low and a permanent frown on his face.

As he was about to enter his apartment building, a familiar voice broke through his thoughts and startled him.

“Bad breakup?” A deep timbre voice asked him and the brunet jumped up in fright.

“Wh-what?” Baekhyun asked as he whirled around to face Chanyeol towering him. “What are you doing here? It’s ten in the morning, Chanyeol.”

“Well, you said you were going to break up with… who was it again? Pao?”

“Tao. Huang Zitao. But I broke up with him two weeks ago and today it was Luhan,” Baekhyun informed as he turned around and entered the building with Chanyeol following him.

“Right, Luhan. Never mind,” Chanyeol said as he shook his head. Too many people and too many names.

“You coming up?” the shorter asked as he stopped near the staircase.

“Well I came to mend your broken heart, so might as well climb fifteen floors,” Chanyeol laughed nervously.

“I’m not broken hearted,” the other stated as he took the steps two by two.

“Whoa, wait! Slow down, Baekhyun! Okay, okay, you’re not broken hearted, but I just came to check on you after the breakup. Is that so wrong?”

“I had two other breakups before this and you never turned up at my doorstep after those. You only came when you wanted free food or when you were dead bored. So, tell me why you’re here.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll tell you when we’re at your place, I can’t breathe right now,” Chanyeol panted slightly.

“I swear to God you’ve climbed these fifteen floors more than a couple of times for you to get used to them but you’re still panting? Your health is deteriorating so badly, man.” Baekhyun laughed, but he too was struggling to catch his breath and he seemed to be worse than Chanyeol.

“Baekhyun are you okay? You look so pale right now and you’re panting harder than me,” Chanyeol said in between breaths.

“I’m… okay… just… tired…” Baekhyun croaked, his mouth suddenly dry.

Chanyeol stared at the brunet who stopped and doubled over to catch his breath.

“What’s wrong, Baekhyun?”

“Nothing. I’ve been… running around a lot… lately… so I’m… quite… tired…” the brunet breathed, his heart hammering against his chest uncontrollably.

Chanyeol observed the short male before grabbing the petite hand in his and climbing the few remaining stairs to the next floor before walking to the elevator and pressing the up button.

“What are you… doing?” Baekhyun wheezed.

“Well, trying to keep you alive. You look like you’re gonna pass out if you go up one more floor.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. Now listen to me, I’m gonna be alright. It’s just a few more floors up and I won’t die, right?” Chanyeol chuckled but failed to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

As soon as the doors opened, Chanyeol pushed Baekhyun in before he too stepped into the elevator and quickly pressed the number fifteen.

A sheen of sweat broke out across the giant’s forehead as the doors closed and they slowly started to ascend.

A small hand crept into Chanyeol’s big one and gave a small squeeze. Baekhyun smiled softly when a terrified Chanyeol looked at him.

“It’s gonna be okay. I’m here with you, so it’s going to be okay,” he whispered reassuringly.

As soon as the doors reopened on the fifteenth floor, Chanyeol stepped out of the elevator and let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding in.

“My, you really are scared of elevators aren’t you?” Baekhyun asked, amused.

“Y-yeah.” Chanyeol nodded, relieved to be out of the metal box.

“Come on,” Baekhyun said as he walked to his apartment and Chanyeol gladly followed.

Chanyeol made himself at home and sat on the couch while Baekhyun went to get them something to drink. It was a usual routine for him for him now. Ever since Chanyeol had come over to his place the first day, he had gotten used to the giant’s usual visits and he actually enjoyed the company in the lonely apartment he had all for himself.

Baekhyun walked back to the giant seated on the couch and handed him a can of coke. He too sat down, opened the can and drank up to moisten his throat which had suddenly gone dry.

After a few moments, Chanyeol broke the silence. “So, how was the breakup today then?”

“Same old, same old.” Baekhyun waved a dismissive hand and rolled his eyes. “It’s annoying at times, really. I warn them but they never listen to me.”

“Huh,” Chanyeol grunted before sipping on his drink.

Baekhyun drank silently too before Chanyeol spoke up again.

“What’s it like to date a person?”

Baekhyun cocked a brow at that. “What?”

“What? I’m curious.” Chanyeol merely shrugged.

“You don’t know? Have you never dated anyone before?” the brunet asked quizzically.

“Nope,” came the reply followed by a loud slurping noise.

“Are you serious?” Baekhyun gawked.

“Yeah. I was never into the entire ‘falling in love’ thing, you know. So I’m wondering what it must feel like.”

“Well, I don’t know what ‘falling in love’ is supposed to feel like since I haven’t fallen in love before but, well, dating someone is… okay, I guess. I don’t know,” Baekhyun struggled to say, his brows furrowing together.

“Hmm,” The giant said before he drank another sip.

Baekhyun also absentmindedly sipped on his drink, trying to remember what it felt like to date all those people.

“Date me for this week, then,” Chanyeol said nonchalantly. Baekhyun choked on his drink and spurted coke all over the giant who jumped back from the spray of the brown liquid.

“W-what?” the coughing male gasped in between short breaths, his eyes tearing.

“I said date me for this week, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol repeated, rubbing his shirt where some brown spots were visible.

“You want me to date… you?” Baekhyun asked, confused.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol said as he continued to rub his shirt.

Baekhyun stared long and hard at the giant before he burst out laughing. “What the made you say that?”

Chanyeol stopped rubbing his shirt and looked up at the hysterical brunet. “What?”

“Why do you think I’m going to date you?” Baekhyun asked in between his laughter.

“Well, you need another person to date and here I am offering to date you and I have never dated anyone so I’m curious and I think this is a win-win situation for both of us. You get a date and I get experience.”

Baekhyun grew silent as his mind wrapped around what Chanyeol had said.

“You really wanna know what it feels like to date someone that badly?” the shorter asked after a while to which the giant nodded enthusiastically. “Well, I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because I’ve broken rule number one and I don’t date people whom I’ve broken the number one rule with.”

“And rule number one is what now?”

“Never bring them here, and you came here on the first day we met. So no, Chanyeol.”

“Oh come on, Baekhyun. It can’t be that bad,” Chanyeol grinned. “I know where you live, sure, but it’s only one week, so what?”

“If you fall in love with me you know exactly where to find me.”

“What makes you so sure I’ll fall in love with you?” Chanyeol challenged.

“Everyone seems to.”

“Well, you’ll be glad to know that I’m not like ‘everyone’,” Chanyeol stated.

Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol who held his gaze firmly.

“Fine,” Baekhyun finally huffed, breaking the eye contact.

“Yes!” Chanyeol said as he pumped a fist in the air.

“Jesus, why are you so excited about dating me?” Baekhyun scoffed.

“You’re my first boyfriend, why shouldn’t I be excited?” Chanyeol grinned.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and drank his coke in order to hide the small smile that was tugging at his lips.

“So we’re good then? We’re a couple? Boyfriends? Lovers? I don’t know… are we official?” the overly excited giant asked, frowning.

Baekhyun laughed. “Yes, yes. We are dating now since I agreed to this stupid idea of yours.”

“You won’t regret it!” Chanyeol smiled his gummy smile.

“Some part of me already does,” the short male said and stuck his tongue out.

Chanyeol laughed out loud but then held out his hand at the brunette. “So, we’re now boyfriends?”

Baekhyun smirked. “Pretty much,” he said as he shook the giant’s hand.

“Great! Remember Baekhyun, don’t fall in love with me, ‘cause once the week is over there’s no longer ‘us’.”

Baekhyun scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Puh-leaze. That’s supposed to be my line. Let’s see who will fall for the other first, then.”

“Deal!” Chanyeol said excitedly as he quickly gulped his drink down and set the empty can on the table and got up to leave.

The still seated brunet looked at Chanyeol in a confused manner before he scrambled to his feet and ran after his now ‘boyfriend’ who was heading to the door.

“Wait, where are you going?”

Chanyeol turned around with a smile. “Why, I’m gonna make plans on how to make you fall in love with me of course.”

“By leaving me?”

“Well, looks like you’re already gonna miss me.” Chanyeol smirked which earned him a slap to the arm from the brunet. “Ow! Okay, alright. I’m gonna go home and plan out our entire week. I need to do everything I can in order to make you fall for me.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Fine, off you go then.”

“Aren’t you gonna plan anything?” Chanyeol quirked a brow.

“No. Why would I when I can make you fall for me without even trying?” Baekhyun grinned and Chanyeol ‘tsked’.

“So full of yourself already.”

“Remember, don’t cry when I’m leaving you.”

“I don’t cry.”

“Really? How much are you willing to bet on that?”

“Everything.”

“You’re willing to bet everything?” Baekhyun grinned.

“Yep!” Chanyeol nodded, a fire burning in his eyes.

“Okay, we’ll see who’ll win the bet then.”

“Obviously me since it takes a lot more than a breakup to make me cry,” Chanyeol said as he turned and walked away.

“We’ll see at the end of the week!” Baekhyun yelled at the giant’s figure.

Chanyeol turned back and winked at him with a thumbs up before leaving. Baekhyun giggled as he closed the door behind him and ran and jumped onto the couch.

“Okay, Chanyeol, let’s see who’ll win,” Baekhyun grinned to himself.

DAY 01 – Wednesday, 23rd November 2016

An absolutely pissed off, sleeping Baekhyun (who was now very much wide awake) let out a string of colorful words as his hand desperately searched for his phone which was ringing away as if there was no tomorrow at one in the afternoon.

Without even looking at the caller ID, Baekhyun swiped his thumb across the screen, ready to give the caller a piece of his mind. “Whoever the you are better be ready to die,” he hissed.

“Well, hello to you too, boyfriend,” came a chirpy voice from the other end.

Baekhyun bolted upright in his bed. “Chanyeol?”

“Yep. Did you just wake up or something?”

“I stayed up till four in the morning watching movies,” Baekhyun grumbled.

“Oh, okay. Well, be ready in fifteen minutes. We’re going on a date,” said Chanyeol before he hung up.

Baekhyun quirked his brow as he removed the phone from his ear and looked at it curiously, and soon, a huge grin made its way to his face despite having been woken up from sleep. Grinning like an idiot, he jumped out of bed and went to quickly take a wash, brush his teeth and get ready.

After having changed into a white V-neck shirt which exposed his collar bones and a pair of black skin tight jeans that hugged his legs in all the right places, he sat down in front of the mirror and smirked at his reflection.

“Okay, Chanyeol, since you say you aren’t like the others and won’t fall for me that easily, I’ll show you what I’m capable of,” he smiled before working wonders with eye liner to highlight his eyes.

Once done, Baekhyun hurriedly grabbed his jacket, phone and wallet before heading out of the apartment and making his way down, taking the elevator. Just as he stepped out of the apartment building, his phone started ringing again.

Smiling, he answered the phone. “Where you at, Chanyeol?”

“Open the door for me, boyfriend, I’m at your doorstep.”

“What? But I’m downstairs. I just came down.”

“What? Seriously? But I didn’t see you on the stairs!” the giant exclaimed.

“That’s because I took the elevator. Doh.”

“Aw, come on! You telling me I climbed fifteen ing floors for nothing!”

“Hurry up, lover boy, I won’t wait forever for you to come,” Baekhyun laughed and hung up. Sure enough, two minutes later came a gasping giant bursting through the doors as he looked around wildly for a certain male.

“Nice timing, I was about to leave without you,” Baekhyun greeted as he waved at the giant.

“Pfft! And go where without me?” Chanyeol asked as he wrung an arm around the shorter male’s neck.

Baekhyun grinned and let himself be led towards Chanyeol’s car and smirked widely when the giant opened the passenger door for him to get in. “Well, aren’t you quite the gentleman, Park Chanyeol?”

“Only to you, boyfriend,” the giant winked.

As soon as Chanyeol also got into the car, he revved up the engine and pulled out onto the road.

“So, then, where we going Chanyeol?”

The giant gave a cheeky smile, his eyes never leaving the road. “You’ll see soon enough.”

**********

“You’re kidding me, right?” Baekhyun questioned as he got out of the car. “Our first date is at a café?”

“Yep!” the giant grinned as he locked the car and walked to the short male who was looking at the café with a frown on his face.

“Seriously? And here I thought you were going to woo me by taking me to somewhere special.”

“Actually, this isn’t exactly the place I wanted to bring you to, but we’ll get to that later. I assume that you haven’t eaten anything since you woke up a short while back so let’s eat something and go.”

Baekhyun brightened up at that and smiled. “Oh, okay. Then what are we waiting for, let’s go!”

The two entered the café and ordered some food and two cups of steaming coffees. They walked over to an empty table at the corner of the café near a window and seated themselves.

“So, where are we gonna go after this?” Baekhyun asked as he sipped some coffee.

“You’ll know later,” came the simple reply.

“Yeol, if you’re thinking that being mysterious is gonna make me fall for you, you’re dead wrong,” the brunet huffed.

Chanyeol grinned. “Yeol. I like that name… Baek.”

Baekhyun looked at the other before his face split into a smile.

The two silently ate their food for a few minutes before Chanyeol broke the silence. “So then, Baek, tell me more about you.”

“What?” the male asked with food stuffed in his mouth as he looked up at the giant.

Chanyeol chuckled before getting a tissue and wiping the corners of the brunet’s mouth. Baekhyun remained frozen before snapping out of it quickly.

“You have watched way too many dramas, Yeol.” He laughed.

“What can I say? I love these kind of things.”

Baekhyun laughed out loudly.

“So, as I was saying,” the giant said again, capturing the other’s attention. “Tell me more about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything and everything. Your personal details, because although we have been friends for a month, I still don’t know how old you are,” the giant grinned sheepishly. “And tell me about your life; your likes and dislikes, your dreams, what you want to be or what you want to do and all. Your favorite color, pet, food, movie, song. Anything at all.”

Baekhyun frowned. No one had ever asked him these kind of things and it made him feel weird.

“Umm… well, the name is Byun Baekhyun as you know, and I’m twenty-two years old-”

“Oh my God! You’re older than me by one year?” the giant asked surprised.

“Well, if you’re twenty-one, then yeah.”

Chanyeol looked at the other and then nodded as if saying to continue.

“And, uh, my favorite color is grey, or at times it’s black-”

“Oh my God! Me too!” the giant interrupted him again, making the elder chuckle.

“And for food, I like everything. I don’t really have one specific dish I like, really. I love dogs-”

“I love dogs too! They’re so cute!”

Baekhyun laughed. “Are you going to keep interrupting me whenever I say something?”

Chanyeol grinned in reply and mumbled an apology before he went back to eating and listening to the brunet.

“I like many songs and I like action movies a lot… and, yeah.” The shorter ended.

“What? That’s it?” the giant asked. “What about your dreams?”

“Dreams? Like what?”

“I don’t know. Don’t you have any dreams or something?”

“Well, last night I dreamt of being chased by a puppy for some reason.”

Chanyeol guffawed and nearly choked on his food and Baekhyun looked around at the other customers who were giving them weird looks in an apologetic manner.

“Chanyeol!” he hissed. “Keep it down!”

“Oh my God! That was hilarious!” came a strangled cry from the laughing male.

Baekhyun pouted and crossed his arms and waited for the giant to stop laughing. Once he had, Chanyeol wiped a few tears streaming down his face and looked at his angry boyfriend.

“Are you done yet?” the male huffed.

“I didn’t mean if you dream at night, Baekhyun. I was asking whether you had any life goals and things you want to achieve in life,” Chanyeol chuckled.

Baekhyun blushed at that and buried his head in his hands, embarrassed.

Of course he asked that. Stupid me.

“Hey, it’s OK. I swear I won’t laugh anymore, OK?”

Baekhyun groaned but looked back at the giant. “Well, I don’t really have any dreams, or, wait, I do. I want to find my partner, remember?”

Chanyeol nodded thoughtfully. “That’s all?”

Baekhyun looked down at his hands. “Yeah, that’s all. For now.”

I don’t really have much long to make my dreams come true anyway.

“Hmm, you’re really serious about this ‘falling in love’ thing, aren’t you?”

Baekhyun remained quiet.

“But what about your studies and stuff? Like, I don’t know, what do you want to do in the future?”

The brunet bit his lips.

Lie. It’s the easiest.

“I was in medical school and I wanted to become a doctor.”

“Was in medical school? Are you done with your degree or something?”

“No,” the brunet lifted his gaze to look at the giant and the lies stumbled out of his mouth with ease. Just as they always had. “I dropped out. It wasn’t what I wanted. Too difficult and I wasn’t cut out for that sort of thing.”

“You’re not cut out for that sort of life? The Byun Baekhyun isn’t cut out for that kind of life? I think you underestimated yourself a bit too much there, Baekhyun. If anyone’s able to pull through anything, it’d have to be you. No doubt.”

Baekhyun bit his lip again as he felt guilt wash over him. “Yeah, well, it’s too late for that now.”

“So what are you doing now?”

“Nothing.” Keep lying. “But I think I might do something else. Business or something, though I’m not so sure.”

“I see.”

“What about you? What are you doing?”

“I’m in medical school, actually.”

“Ah, what do you want to specialize in?”

“I haven’t thought that far, but I want to save people.” The giant sheepishly answered.

Baekhyun laughed at that. “Should have seen that coming.”

“Hey, Baek? Is there like some special things you want to do or places you want to visit or something before the week is over?”

Baekhyun thought about it for a minute. “Well, I really want to go to the sea side or something. Or maybe go camping or something, I really like the outdoors a lot. Oh! Oh! I really wanna see millions of shooting stars streaking across the sky at night, too!”

Chanyeol stared at the elder in amusement, his lips curling up in a smile. Baekhyun, noticing this, stopped talking and gave the male a questioning look. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s fun seeing you get excited about all what you want to do and stuff. You remind me of puppies who are about to be fed.”

“Hey! I’m not like a puppy!”

“An excited and feisty pup.”

Baekhyun punched the giant lightly on the arm. “Well, you remind me of Dumbo with your large ears.”

“Hey, my ears aren’t that big!” this time the giant argued back.

Baekhyun grinned before he reached across the table and grabbed both Chanyeol’s ear and playfully tugged them. “I think they’re quite cute.”

The ears in Baekhyun’s hands turned a bright red and as did the owner’s face become a bright shade of red. Chanyeol leaned back on his chair, freeing his ears from the shorter male’s grasp.

“Aaawww!! Look! Your ears are red, Yeol! It’s so cute!” Baekhyun cooed while laughing and the giant sank deeper into his seat, mumbling something inaudible.

“What was that, Yeol?” Baekhyun teased.

“N – nothing.”

The shorter grinned and drank his coffee.

The two talked for another good thirty minutes and when they were finally done, Chanyeol tangled their fingers together before the two walked out.

“You’re making quite a bold move, Chanyeol,” the brunet remarked, glancing at their intertwined hands.

“Boyfriend, you gotta deal with it whether you like it or not ‘cause we are official.”

I’m not even complaining, Baekhyun thought with a wide smile.

As they got into the car and Chanyeol started the engine, Baekhyun turned to the giant again. “So, are you gonna tell me where we’re going?”

“Nope.”

The brunet sighed out in frustration and sat back on his seat.

“Baekhyun, put the seatbelt on.”

“Not until you tell me where we’re going.”

“Byun Baekhyun, put your seatbelt on right this moment.”

The burnet stuck his tongue out childishly and looked out the window.

The car pulled onto a side and as Baekhyun turned to look at Chanyeol with a questioning look, the male had leaned over to his side to put the seatbelt on.

Baekhyun froze immediately and alarms were ringing inside his head. Close! Too close! Way too close!

Once the giant had put the seatbelt on, he sat back on his seat. “There, all done.”

Then, his face split into a victorious smirk as he looked at the frozen male on the passenger seat with his face the color of a tomato. “Well, look whose blushing now, pup,” he chuckled.

“Shut up,” hissed the other before he turned away.

Somewhere along the way, the brunet started feeling sleepy.  “Chanyeol, are we there yet?” he whined sleepily.

“No, why?”

“I’m still so sleepy.”

“You can sleep for a while. I’ll wake you up when we are there, OK?”

“You’re not like some ert who does funny things to people when they’re sleeping, are you?”

The giant grinned cheekily. “Who knows? I might be driving around in circles and once you’re asleep, I might sell you to the zoo.”

“What the ? Why the zoo?”

“You’re like a wild animal. You deserve to be chained and in a cage.”

“Oh my, aren’t you ,” the brunet teased and laughed out loudly when the giant blushed.

“Well, wake me up anyway, alright?”

“Sure thing, Baek.”

Baekhyun’s eyes fluttered close and he slipped into the darkness. It was all too soon when he felt himself being shook mercilessly. He tiredly rubbed at his eyes and stared up at the giant who was still trying his hardest to wake him up and then swatted the other’s hands away from him.

“I’m awake, jeez, stop shaking me so hard,” he grumbled.

“I’ve been trying to wake you up for the past five minutes. Jesus, I thought you had passed out or something.” Chanyeol breathed out in relief once the brunet had fully woken up.

“Nah,” he grinned and got down from the car and froze after having a look around. “It’s a park.”

“Yep,” came the chirpy reply before the giant locked the car and walked over to the confused looking male.

“This was the big surprise?”

“Well, this was more of a spontaneous thing, actually. I honestly wanted to get to know you better today and I think we could take a walk in the park and ride the swings while we do that,” Chanyeol smiled. “And also, there is an amusement park near here, so we can go there afterwards if you want and then in the evening there is a fireworks show as well.”

Baekhyun pondered about it for a few seconds before breaking into a huge smile. “Sounds like a good plan to me! Let’s go, Yeol!”

Chanyeol breathed out in relief before breaking into a smile himself and grabbing the shorter male’s hand in his.

“I’m warning you, my hands might sweat,” Baekhyun said jokingly.

“That isn’t a problem. Mine might too,” the giant grinned back.

“Eh?! You’re gonna make my hand all sweaty and stinky then!” the brunet screeched and retracted his hand.

“I was just joking, Baek,” Chanyeol said, feigning hurt and placing a hand over his heart.

The two laughed before they walked hand-in-hand once again.

“So, I believe I talked a lot about myself back at the café, so why don’t you tell me something about you?” Baekhyun suggested, swinging their intertwined hands back and forth.

“I do believe I did by interrupting you whenever you talked,” the other grinned and the shorter laughed. “But feel free to ask questions if you want to.”

“Hmm, say, I have been curious about something since yesterday,” Baekhyun said as he tilted his head to look at the giant.

“What is it?”

“You said that no matter what happens, you won’t beg me to take you back since you apparently won’t fall in love with me-”

“Are you implying that I will fall for you?”

“Most of the people I have dated have,” Baekhyun replied shrugging nonchalantly. “But you said that yesterday and also that you don’t cry that easily. Why is that?”

“Why won’t I fall in love with you or why don’t I cry easily?”

“Both.”

The hand around Baekhyun’s smaller one tightened and Chanyeol smiled at him. “You’ll find out soon enough. I’ll tell you when it’s the right time.”

“And when will the right time come? You do remember that I am only dating you for a week, right?”

“We’ll see.”

Baekhyun pouted sadly and looked at his feet, disappointed. “Well, sometimes it might be too late when the right time does come around,” he mumbled.

Another squeeze and he looked up at the smiling male. “Come on, boyfriend, smile!”

“Or else what?” the brunet huffed back, struggling to keep a smile off his face.

“I will tickle you,” came the mischievous reply before a finger poked at Baekhyun’s ribs making him jump with a startled yelp.

“Hey!” the brunet exclaimed whacking the other up the head. “Don’t do that!”

Chanyeol only laughed out loud and rustled Baekhyun’s hair much to the shorter male’s annoyance.

“You are really fun to annoy,” the giant grinned and Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

With the wind rushing past them as they swung back and forth on the swings, the two talked really loudly with their laughter ringing our across the park.

After about fifteen minutes, Baekhyun stopped and remained seated and breathless. Chanyeol cocked a brow but the brunet waved a dismissive hand and the giant continued to swing as they talked. After another fifteen minutes, Chanyeol also stopped and both males chatted endlessly while ignoring the annoyed looks they were receiving from people for their loud voices and boisterous laughter.

A comfortable silence settled between the two and Chanyeol took that chance to take out his phone and type furiously into it.

“What are you doing?”

Chanyeol hummed absentmindedly before tapping on the screen a few more times and then looking up at the other with a smile. “Hey, we have lots of time today. There’s a cinema near here, so do you wanna go watch a movie? It starts in another twenty minutes.”

Baekhyun laughed loudly, causing Chanyeol to look at the hysterical male in a confused manner.

“You!” Baekhyun muttered breathlessly. “I thought you went home to plan out the entire week on how to make me fall for you. Why does it look like you haven’t planned anything?”

Chanyeol scratched the back of his head with a lopsided grin. “Ah, that. I actually spent nearly an hour searching up places to visit but none of them seemed good enough. In the end I decided to ask you what you wanted to do and then plan something. So this entire week is going to be full of unplanned dates.”

Baekhyun giggled. “Sounds like a good plan!”

“So, shall we go?”

“Sure thing, Yeol.”

The two drove to the cinema and was going through the movies being showed as they tried to decide which one to watch.

“Let’s watch the horror movie,” Chanyeol suggested.

“You’re way too obvious, Yeol.”

“What? I’m not suggesting that because I want you to cling on to me when you’re scared and all. Nope, not at all,” Chanyeol replied as he avoided the accusing gaze directed at him.

“Yeah, right,” Baekhyun snorted as he tried to hide his nervousness as he was not a fan of horror movies or anything scary. He was even scared of being alone in the darkness. But he was also every bit as stubborn to not let it show.

“Fine, let’s watch the horror movie,” Baekhyun agreed and the two went over to the ticket booth and stood at the end of the short queue.

“Hey, you wait here and get the tickets. I’ll go get some snacks for us, okay? Be right back,” Chanyeol said as he gently ruffled the brunet’s hair and left.

Baekhyun was standing at the entrance to the theater when Chanyeol walked over to him with his arms filled with all sorts of junk food. But what caught Baekhyun’s attention was the red rose clasped tightly in between the giant’s teeth as he grinned widely at him.

“Chanyeol, what the hell is that for?” Baekhyun questioned with a brow raised although a small smile was starting to bloom on his face.

“Sorry I couldn’t find a flower more beautiful than you, but is this okay, boyfriend?” Chanyeol asked after Baekhyun took the rose out of the giant’s mouth.

Baekhyun struggled to prevent himself from laughing out loud and managed to awkwardly clear his throat. “Of course you can’t find anything as perfect as me; I am the Byun Baekhyun!” Baekhyun fake huffed and pretended to flip his hair, making the giant burst out in laughter.

“Let’s go, boyfriend. Movie starts in five minutes,” Chanyeol said as he went in first followed by the shorter male.

After sitting down towards the back of the theater, Chanyeol immediately opened a packet of chips and held it out for the other to take some.

“We’re gonna finish it even before the movie starts, aren’t we?”

“Probably,” Chanyeol replied as he munched on some more chips.

A few minutes after, the entire theater was pulled into darkness as pictures came alive on the screen.

“It’s starting,” Baekhyun whispered as he sank into his seat.

Two hours later.

Chanyeol’s legs gave out as soon as he stepped out of the theater and he hugged his knees close to his chest as he tried to calm his erratic breathing and ignore the hysterical brunet sprawled on the seats inside the theater.

Once the laughing inside the theater quietened down to soft giggles, Baekhyun walked out and slumped on the floor right next to the pale giant who looked like he was ready to pass out any moment.

“What the hell, Chanyeol? I thought you suggested that we watch the horror movie because you liked them!” Baekhyun said in between soft laughter. Although Baekhyun had jumped when there were sudden creatures and hand and faces popping up on the screen, he had been smart enough to hide behind his hands for more than half the movie whereas Chanyeol had clung to him and spewed out a long string of curses during the movie.

“Sh-shut up.” Chanyeol groaned and hid his head between his legs. Chanyeol liked horror movies, he did, but he didn’t expect the movie to be that horrifying. He was sure that he was going to have nightmares.

After five minutes, Baekhyun helped the shaky giant to his feet before they decided to go to the amusement park. They decided to leave the car at the car park since they were pretty close by.

Chanyeol was afraid of heights and screamed during the entire ride in the rollercoaster. As soon as they got down, he ran to the nearest possible washroom to throw up. To tease the giant even more, Baekhyun dragged him to the haunted house, but it backfired on him as he too started to scream in perfect harmony with Chanyeol at the ghosts.

“Oh, ! ! YOU! YOU, YOU MONSTROUS CONTRAPTION!” Chanyeol screamed at a bloody head that dropped down from the ceiling as Baekhyun was shouting something incomprehensible.

Both of them barely made it outside and Baekhyun hurriedly wiped off the drool at the corner of his mouth with his sleeve before turning to face the giant.

“Well, that was… not a good idea,” he mumbled.

“Never again, Baekhyun. Especially after we have watched a horror movie.” Chanyeol breathed out shakily.

“Yeah, okay, but I think even the ghosts were scared of you screaming though. I saw one jump when you started screaming and cursing at him,” Baekhyun giggled.

“I scared myself, so that’s understandable, but what the hell were you shouting in there? I couldn’t understand you one bit. Were you speaking in your dialect or something?” Chanyeol smirked and the shorter male flushed before playfully punching the giant on the arm.

“Come on, let’s please go get something to eat. I’m not sure about you, but I am famished after throwing up and also from all the shouting. We’ll take the less scary rides from now on, okay?”

Baekhyun happily agreed since he was starting to feel exhausted and he could feel that he had strained himself a bit too much as well.

The two males got themselves hot dogs and soft drinks and walked through the crowd as they ate in happiness.

“Hey, come here,” Chanyeol said and motioned for Baekhyun to follow him with his head.

The shorter male obliged and the two went behind an empty booth and ate in silence where there wasn’t much of a crowd.

“Feeling full?” Baekhyun asked once the giant finished eating his hot dog and downing his drink.

“Yep!”

“I’ll be done soon,” Baekhyun mumbled as he stuffed his mouth with the hot dog.

“Take your time, Baek, we have enough and more time,” Chanyeol laughed at the other.

**********

“Oh, God, I can hardly feel my legs right now,” Baekhyun whined as he slumped on a bench in the park.

“Me too,” Chanyeol said and sat down next to the brunet.

“Ah, but today was really fun. Thanks Yeol.”

Chanyeol simply beamed at the other male before catching him by surprise by lying down on his lap, facing the sky with his eyes closed.

Baekhyun became stiff instantly and his breath hitched. “W-what are you doing?”

“Lying on your lap,” came the reply, but the red creeping on the giant’s babyish face deceived his cool façade.

Baekhyun simply smiled down at the giant before he started running his fingers through the other’s hair.

They remained that way for a long time in silence and Baekhyun took the chance at times to sneakily glance at the other.

It was later some time that Chanyeol opened his eyes and caught Baekhyun staring at him. Instantly the male flushed and looked away and the giant chuckled before sitting up.

“Don’t worry, I know you have been staring at me from time to time,” he said mischievously.

“What the-? No I haven’t!” Baekhyun screeched mortified.

“Give it up, boyfriend, I could practically feel you burning holes through my face at times.” Chanyeol laughed out loudly.

Baekhyun grumbled something inaudible before crossing his arms over his chest.

“Anyhow, come on, let’s watch the fireworks show. After that I’ll drop you at your house since you must be pretty tired from today and all.” Chanyeol got up and extended his hand towards the brunet.

“Yeah, okay,” Baekhyun said and sighed in relief. His body had been strained too much in one day and he couldn’t seem to keep up with it.

“Let’s go,” Chanyeol intertwined their hands and the two slowly started making their way to the area where a small crowd was gathering to watch the fireworks.

“Have you ever come here with any of your previous boyfriends?” Chanyeol asked curiously.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then what have you done with them?”

“Mostly hung out with them; have a date at some café, or go watch some movie, or they prepare some romantic dinner.”

“Wow, and after all that you breakup with them?” Chanyeol cocked a brow and Baekhyun shrugged.

“I warn them before we even start, so you can’t exactly blame me.”

Chanyeol stared at the brunet for a long time before looking expectantly at the empty sky.

“What do your parents think about you doing this?”

Baekhyun’s lips formed a tight line. “They’re all dead.”

“Ah, I thought so.” Chanyeol said out loud.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing.” Came the curt reply.

“No, no. Tell-” Baekhyun couldn’t continue to nag the other when the colors started exploding in the night sky.

As the fireworks continued to decorate the sky, Baekhyun smiled shyly when he felt the giant slip an arm around his think waist and pull him against the taller male’s frame.

**********

“Thanks, Chanyeol. I had fun today,” Baekhyun smiled at the giant in the car who had dropped him off in front of his apartment complex.

“Wait, I’ll drop you.”

“What? No, you don’t have to. I can-”

“I want to.” The giant said and got out of the car.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and hid a smile. “Fine.”

“We’ll take the elevator. You must be tired after today.”

Baekhyun frowned at the taller male. “Is it that obvious?”

“Sort of.”

Upon reaching the door of Baekhyun’s apartment, the giant shuffled awkwardly while looking at the ground.

“So… are we going somewhere tomorrow as well?” The brunet asked as he cleared his throat to break the ice.

“Uh, I’ll let you know in the morning. Is that cool?”

“Sounds good.”

“Okay. Then, see you tomorrow?” Chanyeol asked hopefully as he looked Baekhyun.

“Yep. See you.” Baekhyun smiled before opening the door and stepping in.

“Baek, wait.”

“Yeah?” Baekhyun turned around went rigid when the giant bent down and kissed his forehead.

“S-see you tomorrow. Good night. Bye.” The giant managed to stutter before he ran towards the stairs.

Baekhyun absentmindedly closed the door and one of his hands travelled up to his forehead, where there was still a tingling sensation.

Sleep, Baekhyun thought giddily. Sleep won’t come to me that easily tonight.

DAY 02 – Thursday, 24th November 2016

Baekhyun bolted upright in his bed before letting out a long groan and falling back into the sheets as he listened to his phone ring early in the morning.

He took the phone and answered the call. “Chanyeol, it’s eight in the morning. Why are you even awake at this ungodly hour?”

The giant laughed loudly from the other end. “I was bored.”

Baekhyun’s eye twitched in annoyance before he scoffed and then hung up.

Moments later the phone started ringing again. Baekhyun didn’t answer it and instead watched Chanyeol call him for seven times straight before the calling stopped.

Have you given up yet?

Then the phone exploded with notifications of messages. Baekhyun rolled his eyes but decided to read them anyway.

Baekhyun!!!

Baekhyunnie!!!

Baekkie!!!

BOYFRIEND!!!

I AM SORRY!!! I REALLY AM!!!

That’s not why I called. I actually called to ask you to pack your bags for one night and one day because I booked us tickets to go to Jeju Island. We need to get to Gimpo airport by eleven since our flight is at around twelve, so hurry up! I’ll come to your place and we’ll leave at ten thirty or so.

HURRY UP, BOYFRIEND!!!

Baekhyun stared at his phone in disbelief before calling Chanyeol.

“Chanyeol, what the hell? Jeju Island? Today?”

“Yes! You don’t have much time so hurry up!”

“Chanyeol! How could you plan something like this without even asking me first? What if I’m busy or something?”

“Baek, I know you’re not busy. Plus, I know you’ll love it, so let’s go.”

Baekhyun bit his lip. He had no doubt that he would love the trip, but with his deteriorating health, he wasn’t so sure about straining himself again.

“I-”

“I know that you must be tired after yesterday and all, so don’t worry, okay? We won’t do anything too strenuous. The thing is, my sister is also in Jeju Island and she said she’ll let us borrow this car she had rented during her stay, so we won’t walk around as much and we’ll just go hang out at the beach.”

Baekhyun’s heart swelled with warmth at the effort made by Chanyeol.

“Okay. Then I’ll see you at around ten thirty?”

“I’ll be there at ten.”

“Okay. See you.” Baekhun grinned before hanging up and getting off bed to get ready.

He carefully packed his skincare products, packed two extra sets of clothing, swimming briefs. Then he proceeded to pack his little first-aid kit which he carried around whenever he went out of the city and his painkillers. Biting his lip in doubt, he debated with himself before he threw in a pack of cigarettes in as well.

He was done by a quarter to ten when there was a knock on his door.

“Morning, boyfriend,” Chanyeol greeted cheerfully once he opened the door and walked into the apartment with his luggage bag and bags of food.

“Morning, Chanyeol. Did you bring food?”

“Yep. I figured you wouldn’t have eaten breakfast yet, so I bought this on my way. Here,” the giant explained before handing him his bag.

“Thanks.”

“Are you done packing?”

“Yep. I just finished.” Baekhyun replied over his shoulder as he went into his bedroom to get his bag as well.

“Jesus, are you moving out of the country or something? Why do you have so many things? It’s just one night and one day.”

“Better to be equipped with everything that I might need,” Baekhyun shrugged. “But what time will we be coming back?”

“Tomorrow in the evening.”

Baekhyun nodded thoughtfully.

“Anyway, come on. Let’s eat, I’m hungry,” Chanyeol said excitedly as he sat down on the couch with his bag of food.

Baekhyun sat next to the giant and the two started eating in silence.

“So, have you thought about what you want to do when we go to Jeju Island?” Chanyeol asked with his mouth full of food.

“Well, I would like to see the sunset today, and tomorrow morning I would like to see the sun rise. I wanna go swimming today if possible too. And can we buy fireworks there? After watching the fireworks yesterday I really wanna send some fireworks too.”

Chanyeol was silently staring at the brunet with an unreadable expression.

“What is it? You’re staring at me in a weird way,” Baekhyun asked feeling uncomfortably.

“You… wanna go swimming?” Chanyeol asked hesitantly.

“Yeah.”

“Are you allowed to? I mean, can you swim at all?”

“Of course!” Baekhyun huffed. “I used to be in the swimming team in my school.”

“I see.” The giant mumbled before looking down at his lap.

“What’s wrong?”

Chanyeol remained silent for a few moments before looking back up. “It’s just… I don’t think…”

“Don’t think… what?”

“I don’t think we should go swimming, Baekhyun.”

“What? Why?” Baekhyun asked in disbelief before it seemed to click. “Wait, is it because you can’t swim or something?”

Chanyeol looked at the brunet for a few seconds before looking down at his lap as if in embarrassment. “Y-yeah. I’m scared of the water and I don’t know how to swim. So, can we not go swimming?”

Baekhyun grinned before grabbing the other’s face in his hands and lifting it up. “Okay, we won’t go swimming then. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Yeol. All of us have something or another which we are scared of.”

“Thanks for understanding, Baekhyunn,” Chanyeol said gratefully.

“No problem, Yeol,” he grinned.

“I think we better get ready to leave. We’ll catch a taxi.”

“We’re not going with your car?”

“No. I left it at home because I feel better knowing that it will be there.”

“Oh, okay. Then let’s go. We’ll hopefully reach there by twenty minutes.”

“Let’s go!”

**********

The two sighed in relief once they took their respective seats in the flight.

“I honestly thought we would miss our flight when we got caught in traffic,” Chanyeol exclaimed.

“Chanyeol, you were overreacting. We had more than enough time to board the plane,” the shorter male rolled his eyes.

“But still, we could’ve missed it.”

Baekhyun merely rolled his eyes once again before deciding to sleep for the journey.

“Hey, wake me up once we arrive, okay? I’m really tired,” Baekhyun yawned.

“Okay. I think I’ll also take a nap anyway.” The other said as he too got ready to take a nap.

**********

“Wah!” Baekhyun grinned up at the blue sky once they exited the airport. “The weather is so nice!”

“I’m still so sleepy,” the giant mumbled on the other hand and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

“Chanyeol, get yourself together. We need to find your sister.”

Just then Chanyeol’s phone started to ring and he answered it. “Noona, we just came outside. Where are you? What? Oh, okay. We’ll be there.”

“What did she say?”

“She asked us to stay near the exit. She said she’ll come.”

In a few minutes, Chanyeol’s sister arrived and the two males packed in their luggage before jumping into the backseat.

“Noona, this is Baekhyun. Baekhyun, my sister – Park Yoora.”

“Hi, Baekhyun. Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you although you guys seem to have met not long ago.”

“Hello, nice to meet you too,” Baekhyun laughed awkwardly.

“How have you been doing Noona?”

“I’m good, Channie. How about you?”

“Also great. Where’s your boyfriend?”

“He decided to have an afternoon nap so I had to come without him,” Yoora rolled her eyes and Chanyeol laughed loudly at his sister’s annoyed tone.

Chanyeol closed his eyes and sunk deep into his seat before placing his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Oh, did you book a room for us as well?” Chanyeol asked with his eyes still closed.

“Yep. You guys just need to go ask for the room key.”

“Thanks, Noona.”

“No problem, Channie.” Came a mischievous reply.

**********

They arrived at the hotel within fifteen minutes and the two waited at the entrance with their luggage till Chanyeol’s sister came back after parking the car.

The three walked to the reception and Chanyeol’s sister confirmed the booking and asked the receptionist to hand the keys to the two males.

“Hey, Channie, I have to head to our room. I’m working on a report so I need to complete it before we go back to Seoul, so you guys can get your keys at the reception. It’s booked under your names,” Yoora hurriedly said as she nervously glanced between the two.

“Oh, okay. Thanks Noona. We’ll find the room.”

Baekhyun bowed and also thanked her.

“Shall we meet at the hotel restaurant at around eight thirty? We can all have dinner.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Chanyeol replied cheerfully.

“Okay. See you guys then.” Yoora waved at the two before she hurriedly left towards the elevators.

The receptionist handed a single key to Chanyeol. “Here is the key for the room booked under the names Park Chanyeol and Park Baekhyun. I wish you a very pleasant stay.”

The two males stiffened at the last name and Baekhyun thought he was tired enough to be hearing things.

Chanyeol cleared his throat in an embarrassed manner before muttering a weak ‘what?’

“This is your room key, sir.”

“Under what names?”

“Park Chanyeol and Park Baekhyun, sir.”

The two males blushed furiously.

“Is it just a room and not rooms?” Chanyeol stuttered while Baekhyun looked down at the floor.

“It’s one room only, sir.”

Chanyeol shuffled awkwardly for a few moments before he took the key, mumbled a ‘thank you’ and left with Baekhyun trailing behind him.

The atmosphere in the elevator ride was heavy with tension between the two as neither could dare to look at the other without going red.

As soon as the doors opened, the giant stepped out and set out to find their room. Once he found the room, he paused in front of the door, hesitant.

“Uh…” Baekhyun started to say. “Shall we… go inside?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Silence.

Chanyeol didn’t make a move to open the door.

“Chanyeol?”

“Let’s… just go inside…” the giant trailed off as his face flushed again.

“Come on, Yeol. It can’t be that bad. Let’s go,” Baekhyun said with a smile.

Chanyeol cleared his throat and finally inserted the key and opened the door for Baekhyun to enter.

After the two walked into the room, both of them paused as they saw the bed.

It was a luxurious looking double bed draped with white and red sheets and fluffy pillows, but the only thing that the two realized was that there was only one present in the room.

There were a few minutes of silence before Chanyeol let out a huff in disbelief.

“You’ve gotta be ing kidding me,” the giant muttered as he fished out his phone and dialed his sister’s number as he put it on loudspeaker.

“The number you dialed is currently switched off. Please try again later.”

Chanyeol stared at the phone for a few seconds before scoffing again and Baekhyun started to feel uncomfortable at how the giant’s anger seemed to slowly be rising.

“Hey, Chanyeol?”

“Give me a minute, I’ll be back. I need to go find Yoora and talk about this with her.”

“Chanyeol?”

“Does she think this is ing funny or something?”

“Yeol?” Baekhyun asked timidly as he placed a hand gently on the fuming giant’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry about this, I’ll just-”

“Chanyeol.” Baekhyun said firmly as he grabbed the other’s face in his hands and stared into the taller male’s orbs. “Listen. Your sister, and also probably her boyfriend, are obviously trying to play a joke on us. Don’t get angry about it.”

Chanyeol stared at the shorter male in disbelief.

“Come on, Chanyeol. It’s not a big deal, alright? Calm down. I mean, it’s not like we’re gonna do some weird , right?”

“You’re okay with this? You don’t feel the slightest bit weird or anything?” Chanyeol questioned. “Or have you done this with your previous boyfriends as well that you just don’t care anymore?”

Chanyeol regretted the words that escaped his mouth the moment they were out. Baekhyun was shocked for a few seconds before his gaze hardened and his hands fell to his side.

“You know what? Go do whatever goddamn thing you want then. I’m really tired right now, so I’m just gonna go have a shower and sleep till it’s dinner time.” Baekhyun said coldly before turning around and proceeding to take his belongings in his bag.

Chanyeol remained silent while the brunet took some clothes and a towel and went into the washroom. He collapsed onto the bed in frustration and growled at his own stupidity.

Chanyeol decided to wait till Baekhyun came out so that he could apologize, but eventually decided to take a walk and calm himself down first before apologizing.

**********

The slight smell of smoke was what hit Chanyeol’s senses the moment he reentered the room after his walk. Puzzled, he walked to the balcony to find Baekhyun facing the beach with a cigarette placed between his plump lips.

“What are you doing?”

Baekhyun turned around to face Chanyeol before looking the other way again as he took a long drag from the cigarette.

“You’re smoking.”

Baekhyin remained silent and continued to smoke in silence.

“Those things kill, Baekhyun. Why are you smoking?”

“Did you ask them to change the rooms?”

“Stop smoking, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun paid no attention and continued.

“Stop. Smoking.” Chanyeol said between gritted teeth and clenched fists.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes before he took the cigarette out and put it out in the ashtray where two cigarette butts were already there.

“Fine. Let me know when it’s time for dinner.” Baekhyun said coldly before walking back into the room and lying on the bed.

Chanyeol remained rooted outside as he absent mindedly stared at the three cigarettes for a long time.

After a while, he went back in to take a shower and get some rest as well.

**********

It was dark by the time Baekhyun woke up from his nap and he groaned when he felt a pounding in his head. With much difficulty, he moved his heavy limbs around and turned over to the other side to see Chanyeol seated on the arm chair and staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

“You’re awake,” Chanyeol breathed softly.

“Is it time to eat dinner?”

“Yeah, but we have about an hour or so to get ready, so don’t worry.”

Baekhyun hummed before lying on his back and facing the ceiling.

“Do you feel better now? You looked pretty worn out in the afternoon.”

Baekhyun remained silent for a bit before sighing heavily. “My head hurts a bit.”

“If you don’t want to go have dinner, you don’t have to. I can order us something and we can eat in the room together.”

“Is this your way of apologizing to me?”

“What? No. I mean, I really am sorry for what I said to you. That was really harsh and you didn’t deserve it, but I know that you’re not like that so I’m sorry for having said that kind of thing. But I’m worried because I tried to wake you up earlier but you didn’t even budge so I was worried but figured that you must be really tired and decided to ask you whether you wanted to have dinner in the room or not.”

“Oh.”

Chanyeol remained silent for a few more seconds before breathing out and leaning forward as he placed both his elbows on his knees. “Baekhyun, I’m really sorry about earlier. I just got angry at my sister and I took it out on you. I’m sorry.”

Baekhyun smiled softly before slowly sitting up on the bed and staring at the giant who was looking at him with desperation glimmering in his eyes. “It’s alright. I realized you were angry at that time. But did you ask someone maybe at the reception or something for another a room?”

“I… no. Like you said, it’s one night. We can manage.” Chanyeol tried to shrug it off coolly.

Baekhyun hid his smirk once he saw how the tips of the giant’s ear were reddening.

“I can sleep on this.” Chanyeol said as he patted the arm chair made for two people.

Baekhyun took one look at the chair and then at Chanyeol’s figure before scratching his head. “Chanyeol, you’re gonna have cramps all over your body in the morning. Plus, half of your body would be out of the chair. There’s no way you can sleep on that for a night.”

“What? You want us to sleep together on… that?” Chanyeol asked as he looked at the bed.

“No. But I’m smaller so I’ll take the chair. You take the bed.”

“No. No way is that happening. You are most definitely not sleeping on this piece of .”

“But-”

“Don’t even argue with me on this one, Baekhyun. I said no.” Chanyeol stated firmly.

“I’ll be fine, Chan-”

“No.” Chanyeol stood up. “And since you’re up, do you feel well enough to have dinner or do you want to eat in the room?”

Baekhyun bit his lip. “I feel fine, so-”

“You kept asking for something in your sleep. I wasn’t sure what it was first, but later on I’m pretty sure you said ‘pill’ and ‘head hurts’ repeatedly. You also kept whimpering in your sleep as if in pain. I already told Noona that we might not make it, but I said I’ll check with you first and let her know.”

Baekhyun looked down at his lap embarrassed as he blamed himself.

“Hey,” Chanyeol’s voice said and the shorter male felt the bed dip. “It’s not your fault. Even I’m still tired from yesterday, so I can understand. We’ll eat in the room, and then maybe you should get more rest.”

“Thanks, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said gratefully.

Chanyeol smiled softly at the brunet. “It’s no problem, Baek. I’ll let Noona know and you order something.”

Chanyeol started to dial a number as he got up from the bed and walked to the balcony.

Baekhyun watched the giant for a few moments before he decided to order some food. Afterwards he also walked to the balcony.

The two remained silent for a long time before Chanyeol finally spoke.

“Baekhyun? Why were you smoking in the afternoon?”

Baekhyun looked quizzically at the other before nonchalantly shrugging. “Because I wanted to.”

“Was it because of what I said?”

“Not really.”

“Do you smoke or something when you’re angry or frustrated? Because if I remember right, you were not in a good mood that day when we met either, and you were smoking then too.”

Baekhyun nodded slightly and Chanyeol sighed.

“Baekhyun, those things kill you.”

“I’m gonna die sooner or later anyway, Chanyeol.”

“It kills you faster.”

“I know.” Baekhyun replied. That’s the whole point.

Baekhyun started smoking ever since he found out about his sickness and he tried his best to make it worse or speed up the process of dying.

“Then why would you still do it?”

Baekhyun chose not to answer it and instead looked at the night sky, ignoring the stare directed at him from the other.

“I won’t ever make you angry again. So don’t smoke again, okay?” Chanyeol asked in a somewhat desperate tone. “And if you ever do feel like smoking, don’t do it.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

Baekhyun scoffed. “Why do you care anyway?”

This time, Chanyeol chose to remain silent and stare at the sky.

“I don’t know, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said after some time and he looked at the brunet who also turned to look at him. “Why do I care?”

Baekhyun just kept a straight face before looking away again. “Fine, I won’t smoke.”

“When did you start anyway?” Chanyeol asked curiously.

“About a year back.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, Chanyeol. Do I have to have a reason to smoke?”

Chanyeol bit his lip. “Maybe? I don’t know. Maybe you’re like one of those people who smoke because they haven’t got a purpose in life?”

Baekhyun winced at that but quickly regained his composure. “Do I look like that?”

“Now that I think about it, yes. No one knows where you live and all, so it’s as if you don’t want anyone to know where to find you or anything in case anything happens.”

Baekhyun was rendered speechless. “But you know where I live,” he stated.

Chanyeol seemed to think about it for a while. “Oh, yeah. I do, don’t I? But still. It’s either that or you’re a murderer who stashes bodies as trophies in your apartment.”

Baekhyun laughed out loudly but soon clutched his head in pain.

“Are you okay?” Chanyeol asked with worry etched over his features as he grabbed Baekhyun by the shoulders.

“Yeah, just a headache. I should probably take my medicine,” Baekhyun said through gritted teeth.

Chanyeol helped him by getting him a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and his medicine bag as the shorter male shakily sat on the bed. Baekhyun was halfway drinking the pills when there was a knock on the door.

Chanyeol answered the door and walked in with food in his hands.

“You ordered pizza?”

“Couldn’t help it,” Baekhyun grinned.

Chanyeol chuckled before setting down the box on the bed. “Let’s eat.”

The two were done eating, washing up and were watching a movie, but the brunet was unable to concentrate on the screen.

Baekhyun kept glancing at the giant who had stubbornly said that he will sleep on the couch and couldn’t help feeling guilty.

“Chanyeol?”

“Yeah?”

“How the hell are you going to sleep on that?”

“I’ll manage.”

Baekhyun remained silent for a few seconds before sighing. “Do you… maybe… want to… sleep here?” Baekhyun asked as he patted the empty side of the bed softly.

The blush on the giant’s cheeks couldn’t be controlled and Baekhyun couldn’t help flushing either.

“I feel guilty, and anyway, it’s not like we’re gonna do anything strange, right? I mean, it’s just sleeping.”

Chanyeol kept quiet.

“Chanyeol, I’m serious. Just come here. Look, we’ll keep a pillow in the middle, okay? I don’t sleep with a pillow anyway, so come on. You look so uncomfortable on that.”

A few more seconds of silence before, “Are you sure?”

Baekhyun smiled reassuringly at the giant who was now looking at him. “Of course. Come on. It’s okay.”

Chanyeol swung his long limbs off the couch and fell face-first onto the bed with a groan.

“Oh my God, I thought my back was going to break if I stayed any longer on that.” Chanyeol’s muffled voice said and Baekhyun giggled.

“I told you.” He said as he carefully placed the pillow in the middle as promised.

The two were still in the middle of watching the movie when Baekhyun started feeling drowsy and fell asleep first. Chanyeol looked at the other male startled when there was sudden yelp.

Chanyeol smiled widely when Baekhyun yelped again and kicked a bit against the sheets before he turned to face Chanyeol and hugged the pillow in the middle tightly.

Grinning, he ruffled the sleeping male’s hair, whispered ‘good night’ before he switched off the television, the lights and went to sleep.

DAY 03 – Friday, 25th November 2016

Baekhyun and Chanyeol both groaned simultaneously as they woke up to the sound of Chanyeol’s phone ringing.

“Hello?” Chanyeol answered sleepily. “Oh, Noona.. No, we just woke up. What? Breakfast? Okay, we’ll be there in an hour. Yeah, yeah. Okay.”

Baekhyun cracked an eye open to look at the giant who was ready to fall asleep again. “What’s the time?”

Snore.

“Chanyeol, what’s the time?”

Snore.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes before smacking the giant’s chest and waking him up.

“Yeol, what’s the time right now?”

“It’s nine,” Chanyeol answered as he looked at his phone.

“Hmm. Come on, we need to get ready and go have breakfast. Let’s get ready.”

“Breakfast lasts till eleven, Baek, so we have some more time. I want to sleep a bit more,” Chanyeol groaned before turning his back to the shorter male.

Baekhyun sat up on the bed. “Chanyeol, your sister is gonna be mad. Look, I’ll go take a wash first, then you can go, okay? Till then sleep a bit more then.”

Chanyeol hummed and Baekhyun went to shower. Once done, he wrapped a white towel around his waist, peeked to see if Chanyeol was still asleep, and walked out to get some clothes from his bag.

“You done, Baekkie?” The giant asked before turning around in bed and facing a startled and half- brunet bent over his bag.

Chanyeol froze for a second before he suddenly shot up in bed and rolled over the edge with an unmanly shout.

Baekhyun took that chance to randomly grab some clothes and run back to the bathroom.

As soon as he stepped out, the giant rushed in with a towel and some clothes in his hands. Baekhyun just chuckled before he brushed his hair and lay on the bed playing a game on his phone.

Chanyeol also walked out after about twenty minutes while wiping his hair and sat at the edge of the bed.

“You done?” Chanyeol asked as he rubbed his hair.

“Yep.”

“Okay, then let’s go after I finish drying my hair.”

Chanyeol ruffled his wet hair before the two males set out to go eat breakfast. The two walked over to the table from where Chanyeol’s sister was waving at them.

“Morning, Noona,” Chanyeol greeted and Baekhyun bowed to her.

“Good morning. Did you guys sleep well?”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol nodded in unison as their eyes raked over the food on the table and missed the smug smile on Yoora’s face.

“That’s good,” Yoora smiled. “Channie, will you guys be going anywhere today? Jaewon and I have to go visit elsewhere for some work purposes and we’ll be leaving in about forty-five minutes. We could drop you guys near the city area and you guys can look around and come back to the hotel or something? Our flight to Gimpo airport is at around nine-thirty so we have enough time.”

“Sounds good,” Chanyeol replied with his mouth full of food.

**********

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun said in a sing-song voice and Chanyeol mentally face-palmed himself.

His sister and her boyfriend had dropped the two not five minutes ago and Chanyeol knew that he was going to go bankrupt since his boyfriend’s eyes seemed to shine at everything he saw.

“Yes, Baekkie?”

“Isn’t this adorable?” Baekhyun asked as he grabbed a large brown and white stuffed puppy and hugged it close to him.

“Not one bit, Baek.” Chanyeol replied with a straight face and the shorter male pouted.

Baekhyun grabbed the puppy’s cheeks and squished it together as he looked at it lovingly meanwhile Chanyeol let out a loud groan and stared up at the sky.

“Take this card, we are buying that puppy,” Chanyeol said to the shop owner.

Baekhyun’s eyes widened and he hugged the puppy tightly as he looked at the giant in an unsure manner. “Are you serious?”

“Don’t tell me you changed your mind.”

Baekhyun giggled loudly before hugging the puppy and Chanyeol at the same time.

“Thanks, Yeol!”

Chanyeol just chuckled before the two continued to visit shops and buy little souvenirs from here and there.

**********

“Ah, I’m so exhausted right now,” Baekhyun mumbled as he dropped the bags on the room floor and fell onto the bed with the puppy in his arms. The bed dipped even further when the giant also collapsed onto it.

“I’m broke right now,” Chanyeol fake cried.

“Oh, shut up. I also spent my money, boyfriend, not only you.”

Chanyeol flashed a toothy grin before turning around to face Baekhyun.

“You like it?” Chanyeol asked as he the puppy as well.

“I love it,” the other smiled.

“What are you gonna name it?”

“Hmm, I haven’t thought about it. Why don’t we name it together?”

“Is it a he or a she, then?”

“Definitely male.”

“Okay. Then let’s name it Baekhyun,” Chanyeol joked and Baekhyun slapped his arm.

“Shut up.”

“I’m serious. This puppy honestly makes me think of you.”

“There can only be one Byun Baekhyun; human, animal or whatever.” Baekhyun stated matter-of-factly and the giant laughed.

“Well, do you have any ideas?” Chanyeol asked as he propped on his elbows and stared at the other.

“Not yet. Do you?”

“I’ve been thinking. How about… ‘Shichi’?”

“Shi- what?” Baekhyun frowned before he pursed his lips.

“Shichi. It’s a Japanese word and it means ‘seven’.”

Baekhyun frowned even more. “Is this because my friends also call me ‘Seven’?”

“Well, that could also be part of the reason, but more like we only have seven days, right? Seven days to spend together, fall in love and all that. So, this puppy here is ours. So, as a memory for us of the seven days we’ll spend together and our love that lasted seven days.”

Baekhyun bit his lip. “So, we’ll end up breaking up anyway, huh?”

Chanyeol stared at the brunet who was the puppy’s head and then sighed softly. “I don’t know. I guess only time can tell.”

Baekhyun kept the brown fur before he looked at the giant abruptly. “Okay, the name is Shichi. But do you know Japanese?”

“Not much. Just a bit.”

“Oh. That’s cool.”

Chanyeol smiled and he reached over to ruffle the other’s hair before he too lay his head down once again.

“Ah, by the way, didn’t you say you wanted to see the sunrise and sunset when you came here?”

“I did, but we missed today’s sunrise since both of us slept.” Baekhyun pouted and Chanyeol couldn’t help it but ruffle the male’s hair again, but this time his hand remaining there and continuing to the soft hair.

“I know, we were both tired. But we can see the sunset today. Do you want to go see?”

“Yes!” Baekhyun said excitedly.

“The sun usually sets at around five-thirty, so we’ll go to the beach at around five. It’s about a five minute walk from the hotel.”

“How much time do we have till then?”

“We have about two and a half hours till five.”

Baekhyun nodded before he breathed out deeply.

“Are you tired, Baek? We did walk around for a long time today,” Chanyeol asked worriedly, his hands still running through the brunet’s hair.

“A bit. I’m sorry, Yeol,” Baekhyun said ashamed.

“For what?”

“I’m so tired most of the time that you must find it really boring to have a boyfriend like me.”

“Baek, you’re not the only one tired, I am too. I never shop for this long. Today was my first time and my legs feel so numb.”

Baekhyun giggled at the giant before he sank deeper into the sheets and hugged the puppy harder.

Chanyeol got off the bed, removed Baekhyun’s shoes and moved onto his side. “Baek, go further up. Get some rest. I’ll wake you up when it’s time for us to go, okay?”

Baekhyun moved up with the puppy and grabbed Chanyeol’s hand as he lay down. “Stay by my side?”

Chanyeol smiled down at the brunet before he nodded and went to his side of the bed.

Kicking off his own shoes, he lay on the bed and faced the other.

“Thanks.” Came a soft whisper and the giant smiled.

“No problem, Baek.”

**********

“Hey, Baek? Wake up. It’s four forty-five. We need to leave now to the beach if we want to see the sunset.” Chanyeol’s gentle voice cut through Baekhyun’s dream and his eyes immediately fluttered open.

“Should we go now?” He asked as he rubbed his eyes.

“Yeah. I’ve already washed my face, so you can use the washroom now.”

Baekhyun nodded and he stretched lazily before swinging his heavy limbs over the edge of the bed and waddling into the bathroom.

Soon after, the two were walking in the direction of the beach when Chanyeol intertwined their hands together.

“That’s what was missing today,” Chanyeol said.

“Huh?” Baekhyun flushed.

“I was wondering what felt so wrong today, and now I realized that I hadn’t held you hand the entire day till now,” Chanyeol replied grinning widely.

“You cheesy giant,” Baekhyun laughed.

“But you love it.” Chanyeol wiggled his brows.

They were sitting on the sand and talking away when Chanyeol suddenly grabbed Baekhyun’s hand and pulled him up.

“The sun’s setting,” Chanyeol said as he and Baekhyun walked closer to the crashing waves.

They stood side by side in silence and just as the sun was about to disappear, Baekhyun pulled out his phone and videoed the splatter of colors in the sky change to another with every passing minute. He was too engrossed in capturing the perfect moment that he was completely oblivious of Chanyeol who was staring at him from the corners of his eyes.

When he was done, Chanyeol took the petit hand in his once again.

“What do you want to do now? Earlier I texted Noona saying that we were going to see the sunset, and she said to meet her and Jaewon at the restaurant by six-thirty or seven as we’ll be having some dinner before we pack up our stuff and go to the airport.”

“Shall we just walk around a bit then?” Baekhyun suggested.

“If you’re not tired, I’m okay with that.”

“Let’s go.”

**********

Baekhyun and Chanyeol arrived at the restaurant by six-fifty and both Yoora and Jaewon were waiting for them at a table.

“Hey, how was your day?” Yoora asked as the two males walked over to the couple.

“It was good,” Chanyeol answered as he pulled out a chair and motioned for Baekhyun to sit down.

Yoora followed their actions and once Chanyeol had also taken a seat, she turned around to face her boyfriend.

“See what my brother did?”

Jaewon blinked at her.

“He was being a gentleman and pulled out a chair for Baekhyun to sit down.”

Jaewon looked at the two males before looking back at Yoora. “And…?”

“You’re a journalist! Take notes! And treat me like that too!” Yoora fake huffed in annoyance and Jaewon laughed.

“Okay, well, we already ordered some food, so I hope you guys don’t mind since you were a bit late. But once we are done eating, go pack up all your belongings and we’re leaving at seven forty-five, alright?” Yoora announced, ignoring her boyfriend’s laughter.

**********

It was past ten in the night when the flight landed and Baekhyun was beyond exhausted by the time they made it out of the airport.

“Baekhyun, are you alright?” Yoora asked worriedly.

“Yeah, I am. Just a bit tired, that’s all.”

“You don’t look that good, Baekhyun. Do you want to go to the hospital?”

Baekhyun immediately flinched when he heard the word ‘hospital’.

“N-no, no. I am fine. Don’t worry about me,” Baekhyun said as he waved a dismissive hand.

Yoora continued to stare at Baekhyun with a confused expression. “Are you… perhaps… sick or something?”

Baekhyun immediately froze.

Chanyeol wrapped a protective arm around Baekhyun and pulled the brunet against his frame just then as he threw an unreadable look at his sister.

“Noona, we’re both a bit exhausted after today and also really sleepy.” Chanyeol explained calmly.

“Oh.” Yoora said as she looked between the two in a strange manner. “Well, in that case, we’ll just drop you off at your places.”

“I’ll drop Baekhyun off at his place. Just take us to my place.”

Yoora gave Chanyeol a strange look but nodded.

Chanyeol guided Baekhyun into his house and helped him sit on his sofa while he knelt in front of the brunet.

“Baekhyun? Are you alright? Do you want to go to a hospital?” Chanyeol asked as he placed a palm against the other’s forehead to see if the male was running a fever.

“No. I’ll be fine. I’m just really, really tired.”

“Okay.”

A few minutes of silence passed before the giant spoke again. “Baekhyun?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to stay here for the night?”

“What?” the brunet looked up in surprise.

“I’m just really worried right now, that’s all. You don’t look so good, and if I drop you at your place, I won’t be able to get any sleep ‘cause I’ll be worrying about you. Do you want to – no, actually, can you please stay here for the night?”

Baekhyun looked at the giant and melted at the worry etched over his soft features. “O-okay. Fine.”

Relief flooded into Chanyeol and he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding in. “Thank you,” he said as he held both of Baekhyun’s hands in his large ones and placed them against his cheek. “Thank you so much.”

Baekhyun smiled warmly and hugged Chanyeol. “You honestly worry too much, Chanyeol. I’ll be fine.”

“Maybe, but I won’t.” Chanyeol replied hoarsely as he draped his arms around the other as well. “Baekhyun, you need to rest. You can change your clothes and sleep. Come on, I’ll show you the way.”

Chanyeol helped the brunet into bed after he was done changing into a comfortable set of clothes and covered his frail looking body with a blanket.

“You’ll be coming here as well, right?” Baekhyun asked as he turned around to look at Chanyeol.

“Of course.” Chanyeol replied and fetched the puppy in the living room to give to Baekhyun.

“Here.”

“Thanks, Yeol. Come fast.” Baekhyun mumbled and then he kissed the puppy lovingly, whispered ‘good night’, and hugged it.

Chanyeol switched off the lights and was about to get into bed when Baekhyun’s voice cut through the darkness.

“Chanyeol? Is that you?”

“Yeah, Baek. Is there anything you need?”

“I- I don’t sleep with all the lights off, Chanyeol. I’m kind of scared of the dark and can’t sleep if there’s not at least a little bit of light.”

“Hold on, I think there was a lamp somewhere in the room.” Chanyeol said as he switched the lights back on and searched for a lamp he remembered having moved all over the room.

Once he found it, he switched it on next to the side of the bed and switched off the room lights.

“Is it too bright, Chanyeol?”

“A bit. I don’t sleep with the lights on, that’s why.”

“Oh. Maybe you could cover it a bit with a cloth or something? To dim it a bit?”

Chanyeol grabbed a T-shirt from under the bad and placed it over the lamp and immediately the intensity of the light reduced.

“Is that better?”

“Yeah, much better, Baek. But how come you were able to sleep yesterday night? I didn’t leave any lights switched on then.”

“That’s because I fell asleep before you went to sleep. And you were lucky enough I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night.”

“Ah,” Chanyeol exclaimed. “Well, this is alright for both of us. Now sleep, Baek. You need it.”

Baekhyun hummed before turning to face the giant. “Chanyeol?”

The giant turned his face to the brunet and smiled. “Yeah?”

“Thanks,” Baekhyun said before he leaned towards Chanyeol and placed a kiss against his forehead. “Good night, Yeol,” Baekhyun hurriedly said before turning the other way and hugged the puppy tightly.

Chanyeol smiled at the other before he looked up at the ceiling. “Good night, Baekhyun.”

DAY 04 – Saturday, 26th November 2016

Baekhyun woke up confused and disorientated as he looked at the unfamiliar surrounding through his sleepy eyes. Then he remembered that he was at Chanyeol’s house and a smile bloomed on his lips when he heard loud singing as a confirmation to his thoughts.

Baekhyun managed to find the washroom and brushed his teeth and washed his face before he grabbed Shichi and followed the voice.

“Morning, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun greeted cheerfully when he saw the giant bustling around in the kitchen preparing some food.

“Morning, Baekkie. Hungry?”

“Famished, actually.” Baekhyun stated as he rubbed his stomach.

“I really am not a good cook, but I made sandwiches. Is that alright?”

“Sounds good, Yeol. What’s the time now, though?”

“Eleven, I think? We slept extremely well.”

Baekhyun laughed. “Wow. That’s a long time.”

Baekhyun set the puppy on the small dining table and walked over to help the giant. As Chanyeol applied butter on the bread, he placed cheese on the slices

Once Chanyeol was done applying butter, he was about to cut a tomato before he stopped and looked at the brunet. “Hey, Baek?” Chanyeol said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Yep?” the brunet asked as he looked up at the giant.

Chanyeol grinned widely as he lifted the tomato in front Baekhyun’s face. “You know what this reminds me of?”

Baekhyun looked at the tomato and then back at the giant, a crease forming between his brows. “What?”

Chanyeol put the tomato back down on the cutting board and then placed his hands on his head. “It reminds me that I love you so much, and that means all the way from my head to my toes.”

Baekhyun frowned for a bit before bursting out laughing. “Seriously, Yeol? Cheesy much?”

“Only for you.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes playfully as he lightly punched the giant’s arm. “Whatever,” he muttered as he walked to sit at the small dining table in the kitchen and hugged Shichi.

Chanyeol smiled once at the brunet before going back to making the sandwiches. A couple of minutes later, he placed a plate containing two unstable sandwiches and a cup of coffee in front of the starving male.

“Enjoy your meal, Baek,” the giant said as he got his sandwich and coffee as well.

Chanyeol was the first to finish between the two and he observed the othe other as he slowly drank his steaming coffee.

“Is it okay?” Chanyeol asked. “I was so hungry that I ate too fast to even taste it properly.”

“It’s the best, Yeol!” Baekhyun grinned with puffed cheeks.

“What do you wanna have for lunch?”

“Lunch? Chanyeol, we are still eating breakfast.”

“I’ll make anything you want – or at least try to.”

“Really? Anything?”

“I said I’ll try.”

Baekhyun chuckled. “Boyfriend, you’re the best. And for lunch, how about you cook what you’re really good at making? I’ll eat it all up.”

Chanyeol shot the brunet a toothy grin. “Okay! Then prepare to be amazed by my culinary skills.You’re going to-”

Chanyeol’s smile faltered and he froze midsentence.

“Chan-”

“Baekhyun, your nose.”

Baekhyun immediately swiped at his nose and his pale fingers were stained red.

Baekhyun curse loudly as he got up from his chair, knocking it backwards, and ran to the washroom with a worried Chanyeol running right behind him.

Baekhyun grabbed the toilet roll and rushed to the sink, almost tripping over his own feet when his head started pounding painfully.

“Baekhyun! Baekhyun! Are you alright?” Chanyeol’s voice seemed to shout from a distance.

Baekhyun groaned out in pain and his fingers gripped the wash basin to keep himself from falling. The pounding in his head was getting worse and his limbs started feeling heavier with every passing second. Baekhyun felt his legs collapse from under him and black spots invaded his vision.

Chanyeol was worried to the core and he wrapped his arms around the fallen male as he tried to calm the shaking male who was whimpering in pain while clutching his head.

“Baekhyun, Baekhyun, listen to me. You have to go to the hospital now. You’re not fine, Baekhyun. Please. Let’s go,” Chanyeol begged as one of his arms went behind Baekhyun’s back and the other under his legs.

Baekhyun couldn’t even bring himself to answer Chanyeol before he was engulfed in black.

**********

Chanyeol was seated beside Baekhyun’s bed in the hospital room when the brunet’s eyes opened hours after he had fainted.

Baekhyun let out a weak cough and turned his head enough so that he could see the giant.

“Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol kept quiet and instead took Baekhyun’s hand in his.

“Yeol?”

Baekhyun’s felt his heart shatter when the giant looked at him in pain and confusion.

“Did… the doctor’s say anything?”

Chanyeol shook his head.

“Is this the National University Hospital?”

Another shake.

Baekhyun sighed.

“Chanyeol, I need to be transferred to that hospital. Tell them to contact Doctor Kim Joonmyeon and tell him that it’s patient Byun Baekhyun and that I need to be admitted to the hospital.”

Chanyeol remained unmoving as he stared at Baekhyun with an unreadable expression.

“Yeol? Can you do that for me? Please?”

A few more moments of silence passed before the giant nodded. He released Baekhyun’s hand and walked towards the door to go talk to a doctor or a nurse.

“And Chanyeol?”

The called male turned around to face Baekhyun.

“Once we get there, we need to talk, Chanyeol.”

**********

Within an hour, Baekhyun had been transferred to Seoul National University Hospital and Doctor Joonmyeon had asked a nurse to run some tests on him, but Baekhyun had firmly refused. In the end the doctor left and Baekhyun and Chanyeol were left in the room alone.

The air was heavy with so much questions but both of them remained silent for a long, long time.

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun finally spoke and the other flinched before looking at the brunet.

“Remember the first day we met?”

Chanyeol nodded timidly.

“Do you remember that I fainted?”

Another small nod and the giant’s focus was on the ground.

“I… I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you, Chanyeol, but that day, I lied to you. I lied to you when I said that it was because I hadn’t got enough sleep. I’m… sick, Chanyeol. Really sick. That’s why I nearly passed out that day and that’s why I am easily tired and that’s also why this sort of thing happened today.”

Chanyeol continued to look at the ground. “What is it? What is it that’s making you suffer so much like this?”

Baekhyun sighed. “Lung cancer.”

“Stage four?”

“Yeah.”

“How long?”

“Not that long. A few more days at most, maybe?”

Another silence settled between the two and the tension between them was unbearable to Baekhyun.

“Chanyeol, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you earlier. I didn’t mean for it to be like this. I’m so sorry.”

Chanyeol looked at the brunet with a pained expression. “I’m sorry too, Baek,” he whispered in a broken voice.

And then he left the room, leaving behind a shocked Baekhyun.

Baekhyun could understand if the giant was angry at him. He could understand that Chanyeol is so mad at him that he never wanted to see his face again; but he didn’t think Chanyeol would actually leave him, and that hurt him the most for some reason.

The tears were falling down his face before he could do anything to stop them. The soft sobbing was then replaced by loud hiccupping noises as Baekhyun tried his best to stop himself from crying anymore.

He had been through an uncountable number of breakups. He had left some people and also some people had left him, so he was confused as to why he was crying so hard.

About five minutes passed before the door to his room opened and Chanyeol walked in with Shichi in his arms.

“Chan- Chanyeol?” Baekhyun sniffed.

Chanyeol walked over to him, placed the puppy in his arms before taking the surprised brunet into his own.

“I thought you left,” Baekhyun sobbed against Chanyeol’s chest.

“Never, Baek. I would never.”

“Aren’t you mad at me, Chanyeol? For telling this to you now?” Baekhyun questioned as he disentangled himself from the other’s embrace and looked into the brown orbs.

“No.”

“N-no?”

Chanyeol gave a weak smile. “No, Baekhyun. I’m not mad at you. I was waiting till you decided to tell me yourself.”

Baekhyun stared at the other in confusion and Chanyeol gave another weak smile.

“I already knew you were dying a long time ago, Baekhyun.”

Baehyun was speechless after Chanyeol had finished explaining how he had known about the shorter male’s health.

Chanyeol had known from the first day itself. Because when Baekhyun had invited Chanyeol over to his place, Chanyeol had been sitting on the sofa waiting for Baekhyun to bring some drinks for the two of them. The sofa onto which Baekhyun had carelessly thrown his jacket and that very jacket had been containing the crumpled sheet of paper with the results of the tests that he had gone through a month ago at the hospital. The crumpled paper had rolled out of the pocket when Baekhyun had thrown it onto the jacket but the brunet had not noticed it. Chanyeol had picked it up and, out of curiosity, had gone through it.

Baekhyun was quiet for some time and Chanyeol’s eyes kept raking over him, trying to figure out what the other was thinking.

“Why?” Baekhyun finally asked.

“Why?” Chanyeol echoed, his voice hollow. “Why in the sense, why did I still ask you out despite knowing that you were dying? Why I was stupid enough to ask you to be my boyfriend in the last week of your life?”

Baekhyun nodded.

“Because I wanted to be selfish.”

No, Baekhyun thought. Please no.

Baekhyun stared into Chanyeol’s eyes and he regretted the decision he made that day in his apartment; he regretted agreeing to Chanyeol’s plan.

“I wanted to be selfish and I wanted to be the last person who could love you. I wanted to be the last person who could be loved by you. I wanted you to smile, laugh, and have fun one last time because of me. I wanted you to be mine, Baekhyun. That’s why.”

No. No. No.

Baekhyun’s heart hurt with each beat and he could feel the tears threatening to spill over. “That day when you asked me out, you said you won’t fall in love with me. Why aren’t you sticking to your promise, Chanyeol?”

“And I have stuck by it.” Chanyeol whispered softly as he hooked his finger under the shorter male’s chin and lifted his face to level their gazes.

No, no, no.

“That day, I said I won’t fall in love with you when we started dating, and that’s because I fell for you long before that, Baekhyun.”

No.

Baekhyun cried for a long time in Chanyeol’s arms.

DAY 05 – Sunday, 27th November 2016

Baekhyun woke up and winced immediately at the amount of light present in the room. Squinting, he looked around the room searching for a certain person.

“Morning, Baek,” Chanyeol’s timbre voice greeted him and Baekhyun’s face split into a smile immediately.

“Morning, boyfriend.” Baekhyun greeted.

“How are you feeling?”

“Dead.” Baekhyun answered casually and bit his lip when the giant winced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Just tired, that’s all.”

Chanyeol nodded before walking up to Baekhyun.

“I’ve got a small surprise, but I’ll show it to you after you have washed up and everything, alright?”

Chanyeol waited in the room until Baekhyun finished changing with the help of a nurse and helped the brunet onto the bed as soon as he appeared from the washroom.

“So, what’s the surprise, Yeol?”

“You know what the date today is, Baek?”

“The twenty-seventh of November?”

“Bingo. You know what’s special about today?”

Baekhyun seemed to think for a moment before his eyes widened. “Is it by any chance… your birthday?”

Chanyeol gave Baekhyun a wide, gummy smile as he nodded.

“Oh, God, Chanyeol. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

Chanyeol laughed. “Of course you didn’t. You never asked me, Baekkie.”

“I… is there something you want for your birthday?” Baekhyun asked as he bit his lip.

“Actually, yes.”

“What is it?”

“A lifetime to spend with you. Maybe not this time, but maybe next time.”

Baekhyun bit his bottom lip. “I – I’ll let God know about that.”

“Good. Now, you wanna cut the cake with me?”

“Sure.”

Baekhyun sang ‘Happy Birthday’ while Chanyeol just sat on the bed with the cake placed in front of him and he clapped. Then they fed each other and Chanyeol took out a wrapped gift from his pocket.

“Aren’t I supposed to give you a gift?” Baekhyun asked with a cocked brow.

“It’s okay. It’s for both of us.”

It was a set of couple rings and Baekhyun was smiling from one ear to the other when he laid eyes on them.

“You like them?”

“I love them, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun gushed as he took the smaller of the two and examined it. “Oh? It has my name engraved in it?”

“Yep. I had them made,” Chanyeol announced proudly.

“When?”

“Before I even asked you out, actually. I was gonna give it you today, too.”

“Does yours also have your name on it?”

“Yep.” Chanyeol said as he showed off his ring with ‘Chanyeol’ engraved in it.

“Wow. They’re beautiful.”

Chanyeol took Baekhyun’s ring and took the shorter male’s petit hand. He quickly slipped the ring into Baekhyun ring finger as he said ‘I do’, making Baekhyun burst out in laughter. Baekhyun later did the same and both of them were wearing goofy smiles as they held hands and stared at the rings.

“Is there anything you want to do today?” Chanyeol asked after a while.

“I should be the one to ask you,” Baekhyun grumbled childishly.

“Doesn’t matter because your happiness is my happiness.”

Baekhyun thought for a moment before he looked at the giant with a strange look.

“Actually, there is something I want to do.”

Chanyeol nodded.

“I told you that no one besides you knows where I live, right?” Baekhyun asked and Chanyeol nodded again. “The thing is, not even Do Kyungsoo – my best friend – knows where I live. I lied to him too, actually. He know about my sickness and I lied to him saying that I have a couple more months left to live. I… I want to talk with him and explain everything to him. Could I… do that?”

“Of course, Baekkie.” Chanyeol smiled.

Baekhyun called Kyungsoo and asked him to come to the hospital and that he had something important to tell him. Kyungsoo was there within fifteen minutes and he barged into Baekhyun’s room with a wild look in his eyes.

Chanyeol excused himself as he realized that the two would need space to talk it out between themselves and decided to wait outside; he didn’t realize that he would have to wait outside for nearly an hour.

Kyungsoo was, to say the least, furious with the brunet. At first Chanyeol heard loud cursing and frustrated screams from inside and Baekhyun’s voice asking his friend to calm down, and then there were soft crying sounds.

After a while, Kyungsoo came out of the room and stood in front of Chanyeol. “He’s asking for you.”

“Is everything alright between you two?”

“No. It isn’t.”

Chanyeol breathed out and looked at the broken male in front of him. “I’m sorry for asking that. Of course it wouldn’t be alright.”

Kyungsoo sniffled before looking up at Chanyeol. “Chanyeol, right?” He asked as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and Chanyeol nodded. “I… I have some things to do. Baekhyun asked me to do them since he can’t right now. I… take care of him for me? Please? Until I’m done with the errand?”

Chanyeol’s brows furrowed in confusion but he nodded his head nevertheless. “Of course.”

“Thank you, Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo said before he shook hands and left.

**********

“Hey, Chanyeol? I have a question.” Baekhyun said later that evening when the two were lying on the small hospital bed.

“What is it, Baekkie?”

“That day when you asked me out, do you remember saying that you won’t cry if you lose me?” Baekhyun asked as he drew circles on the giant’s chest.

“Yeah. Do you want to know why I said that?”

“Yeah. I’m curious.”

“Well, I was about thirteen when father left my mom, Yoora and I. He left us for some other woman and the thing is, he never even looked back when he did that. I remember my mother crying and begging him not to leave us and he didn’t listen to her. Even after he left, mother never really got over it and she used to cry herself to sleep on so many nights. But no matter how much she cried, he never came back. After a long time, she understood that and stopped weeping over him. One thing I learnt from my mother is to not spend your time crying over something that’s never going to come back.”

“You knew then that this time would come for us and that’s why you said that, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“I hope you stick to your promise then, Yeol. I really do.”

Later on Chanyeol was helping Baekhyun to change into a comfortable set of clothes and was helping him into bed when the brunet suddenly made him stop.

 “Chanyeol, wait.”

Chanyeol held Baekhyun by his shoulders.

“What is it, Baek? Do you need anything? Are you in pain? Should I call the nurse?”

Baekhyun smiled at the giant, adoration shining in his eyes. “No, Yeol. I’d like to give you your birthday gift.”

“My… gift?” Chanyeol asked as he tilted his head in confusion.

Baekhyun’s face seemed to heat up as he nodded.

“O-okay. What is it?”

Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol for a few seconds before his hands gently cupped the giant’s face and brought his head down, connecting their lips.

The brunet smiled into the kiss when he felt the other stiffen and the grip on his shoulder’s slacken.

Soon after, he broke the kiss and placed his forehead against Chanyeol’s.

“I may have dated a lot of boys, Chanyeol, but there’s my gift; my first kiss.” Baekhyun said softly and smiled when he saw happiness shining in the other’s eyes.

Chanyeol’s eyes flicked to Baekhyun’s lips again before he breathed out. “That… was the best gift anyone had ever given to me, Baek. The best.”

“I know, Yeol,” the brunet replied teasingly.

Chanyeol went to sleep that night with Baekhyun in his arms.

Chanyeol didn’t know when it was that he started falling for Baekhyun.

Was it the first day he had met him?

When he had tried to ‘save’ him (as the brunet phrases it) and he in turn got punched in the face?

Was it the sassy attitude that Baekhyun put on although his world was falling apart?

Was it the fact that no matter how hard Baekhyun tried to cover up the fact that he was not afraid of dying, he would still show some signs of it?

And he wondered whether it was a mistake that he tried to ‘save’ Baekhyun that day at the park. He wondered whether he should’ve just walked away and not looked back.

Maybe if he had known that he was going to fall in love with Baekhyun, he may have made that decision. Maybe if he had known that he was going to fall in love with someone who was going to hurt him in the end, he would’ve just walked away to never cross paths with Baekhyun. Maybe if he had known that he was going to fall in love with someone who wasn’t even his to begin with, he would’ve never, ever tried to save him.

Because he knew that every ‘Hello’ meant that there would be a ‘Farewell’.

But, whenever Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun, he saw all the reasons as to why he never did walk away that day.

He knew that the years of pain ahead were worth it for the days of happiness he got by being with Baekhyun. He knew that the nights filled with tears are going to be worth it for the hours spent with Baekhyun. He just knew, that even if falling in love with Baekhyun was a big mistake, it was the best mistake he had ever made. And he didn’t regret it.

The only thing he did regret is that he hadn’t asked him out sooner. He blames himself for holding back and not having told Baekhyun sooner, because he later realized that falling in love with Baekhyun was not the mistake, but rather holding himself back was.

Chanyeol always kept feeding himself lies and convincing himself by saying ‘there’s always a next time’ and ‘there’s still time’, and failed to realize that he would come to a point when the only thing he could say was ‘it’s too late’.

Time has a wonderful way of showing people what actually does matter, and time waits for no one.

Waiting was the mistake Chanyeol made. He wasn’t an exception and he realized how important each second with Baekhyun was and wishes he had more than what he got.

Chanyeol didn’t know when it was he started falling for Baekhyun. All that he knew is that he just did and Baekhyun became his everything.

“Remember, don’t cry when I’m leaving you.”

“I don’t cry.”

“Really? How much are you willing to bet on that?”

“Everything.”

It was the third of December when Chanyeol lost his everything, and, as he had promised, he didn’t shed a tear because he knew all too well that the ‘Farewell’ was bound to come for the two of them anyway. 

Chanyeol was studying in his room when his phone rang. The caller ID read ‘Kyungsoo’. A tight lump formed in Chanyeol’s throat as memories flashed by in his mind.

“Hello?” Chanyeol answered the call.

“Hey, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo said from the other end andhe sounded every bit as devastated as Chanyeol did. “How are you doing?”

“I keep smiling in front of everyone, Kyungsoo. I keep smiling in front of everyone but I’m dying inside,” Chanyeol sighed, his voice going hoarse as the image of a bubbly brunet clouded his mind.

“I know, Chanyeol.”

There was a moment of silence before Kyungsoo spoke again. “Are you busy right now?”

“Not really. I was trying to study but I can’t.”

“Okay. Well, there’s a favor I need to ask of you.”

“Yeah?”

“I am right now at Baekhyun’s apartment and I was wondering if you could come here. Baekhyun asked me to do some stuff and they’re all ready and… you need to come see them.”

Chanyeol’s brows furrowed in confusion. “He asked you to do something?”

“Yes, Chanyeol. Can you come over?”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

**********

“Hey,” Kyungsoo greeted as he opened the door to let the giant into the apartment that used to once be filled with Baekhyun’s presence.

“Hi.” Chanyeol said as he looked around and was surprised at the amount of boxes around the room.

“Are you… moving here or something?”

“No. These are actually the things that Baekhyun wanted me to do.” Kyungsoo said and handed a white envelope.

Chanyeol looked at the doe-eyed male once before he cautiously took the letter, opened it and started reading it, pain hitting him stronger with every word he read.

Hey Boyfriend! :D

You’re probably wondering what all this is about, right? Well, remember when we celebrated your birthday and I didn’t have any gift to give to you except my first kiss? Well, I got some proper gifts for you now, boyfriend (well, actually Kyungsoo is the one who got them, but I was the one who told him! >_<)

You and I only got to know each other about a month ago and I wished we had met sooner. I really do. I could’ve loved you more and I could’ve loved you better. My health wasn’t exactly the best when we were together so I’m really sorry for that. But if I could turn back time to make everything alright, I would do it in a heartbeat to spend more time with you.

Anyway, since I was only able to celebrate only one birthday with you and I won’t be there for your next one, and the one after that, and also the one after that… I have prepared gifts for you in advance! For all the birthdays I am not there to celebrate with you, there is a gift for you already! :D

But I am warning you! You have to promise me that you won’t cheat. That means that you’ll open ONE box EACH year. Every box has been labelled according to which year you’re supposed to open it. You have to promise me, okay? Or else I will be angry with you!  -_-

Kyungsoo will hopefully be there to help you in case you need help.

Oh, there’s also a gift for this year. It wasn’t only the kiss :)

And Chanyeol? Thanks for loving me, even if it was for a short period of time. I’m really glad that you were my boyfriend. I’m sorry if I didn’t fulfill your fantasies (if you even had any) of dating and falling in love, but like I told you, I shall have a small talk with God and in our next lifetime, I will find you. I will find you no matter where you are and I will love you and cherish you and make up for everything that we missed in this lifetime, okay?

Don’t miss me too much, boyfriend!

-Baek <3

P.S. Remember to give the puppy a kiss for me before going to sleep.

Chanyeol looked up from the letter at Kyungsoo, trying to ask him what Baekhyun was talking about but failed to form the words from all the emotions that were threatening to burst forth.

Kyungsoo nodded in an understanding manner and pointed to a large box. Chanyeol staggered towards it, his breathing becoming shorter and more rapid with every step he took.

He opened the box and inside was Shichi. He grabbed the puppy and hugged the puppy close to him, inhaling the scent of Baekhyun which still lingered on it.

“There’s a book there too, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo said and Chanyeol looked inside.

He bent over and picked up the book.

He turned to the first page and there was a name scribbled at the top. Then on that page there were days and events noted down.

Chanyeol’s eyes widened as he flipped through the pages.

“Is this…?”

“Yeah. As you might know, Baekhyun was obsessed with falling in love with someone and he actually dated a person for a week before breaking up with them. That’s all the names of the people and everything they had done together.”

Chanyeol read the first few pages and he noticed that at the end of the page it always said ‘Will I ever find true love before I’m gone?’

Curiosity eating away at him, Chanyeol flipped to the page of the last entry. He found his name written at the top of a fresh page, and he noticed, that unlike the other entries, he had occupied two pages in the small notebook.

Day 1 - Park Chanyeol (the guy who I punched the first day I met him)

He asked me out yesterday and today we went to the park. That liar said he was going to plan the entire week so that he could make me fall for him but instead hadn’t planned anything! But I still had fun. We talked a lot at the park and then went to watch a horror movie. I was smart enough not to watch it whereas he’ll probably be having nightmares tonight! Hahaha! Then we went to see the fireworks and it was really colorful and beautiful!

Day 2 - Chanyeol

The annoying giant called me in the morning and told me to pack my bags suddenly and the next thing I know we were going on our way to Jeju Island! The beach was beautiful! And the hotel we stayed at was really luxurious too! But his Noona had booked a single room and we had to share a single bed. I was so embarrassed! Hopefully he didn’t see me go red! Unfortunately we couldn’t do many things today as I was too tired. Chanyeol and I also had a small fight… but it was nothing. We solved it out later on.

Day 3 – Boyfriend

I got a huge stuffed puppy! Chanyeol bought it for me and it’s really adorable. We named him together. It’s called ‘Shichi’. Chanyeol suggested it since he said ‘Shichi’ means seven or at least it’s a Japanese name that means seven… just like how we’re gonna spend seven days together and make memories. But I’m actually wondering if it’ll be over in seven days for us. I honestly have never felt like this with anyone else unlike when I’m with Chanyeol. He makes me… happy. And I feel like everything is going to be okay for that time when we are together. Is this what it feels like to be in love?

Day 4 - Boyfriend

I fainted today when Chanyeol and I were eating breakfast at his place. I got a nosebleed, a bad headache and passed out. I also had to tell Chanyeol the truth. He suddenly left me in the hospital room and for some reason I started crying uncontrollably because I thought he left me because of my sickness. But he came back after a few minutes and I was so grateful. Why did I cry though? Why did I cry for him? I have left so many people but I never thought twice about leaving them. But for some reason, I’m scared of the thought of Chanyeol leaving me.

Day 5 – Boyfriend

Today was Chanyeol’s birthday and I didn’t know! He had bought a cake himself and we cut it. Afterwards, I asked him if I could talk with Kyungsoo and explain to Kyungsoo what I hadn’t told him either. Kyungsoo was really mad at me. I would be too if Soo had done something to me like what I did to him. He didn’t easily calm down and cursed at me so much. I swear that if this cancer wasn’t killing me already, he would’ve. I explained everything to him and I also had a favor to ask him. He was really reluctant at first since it meant that he couldn’t be by my side for a long time, but I forced him to and he agreed. Chanyeol is going to love the surprise!

Day 6 - Channie

It’s already been six days since Chanyeol and I had started dating. I wish time would stop. I know it’s immature of me to think that this is all unfair for the two of us, but it really is. I hate myself so much. I started hating myself so much after I met Chanyeol because he made find a purpose to live, but it’s too late. I wish I hadn’t been stupid enough months back when I found out about this. I wish that I could go back in time to change everything. I was lying in bed today and imagining of how it would’ve been like if I had taken the chance to save myself months back. Maybe I could’ve survived and Chanyeol and I could’ve been together. I hate myself for not having taken the chance when I had it. I hate myself for leaving Chanyeol like this.

Day 7 - Channie

It’s the seventh day, and I didn’t break up with Chanyeol. I was afraid that Chanyeol might break up with me, but that didn’t happen either. I don’t know why I was worried over such a thing. We’re actually possible, aren’t we? We could actually continue just like this if I could be alive, right? It hurts. It hurts so much because for the first time, I’m scared of dying. I don’t want to leave. I’ve always been wanting to fall in love and I’ve been searching for true love before I leave. I finally found true love, but I’m still leaving. I don’t want to leave his side. If I could give anything to change the way things are going to end up becoming, I would not hesitate to do so. I keep wondering if Chanyeol is going to miss me when I’m gone. As much as I don’t want him to hurt after I’m gone, I don’t want him to forget me either. Joonmyeon is unsure of how many more days I can last. I cried today in Chanyeol’s arms because I was so scared of dying. I don’t want to die. God, please don’t let me die.

Day 8 - Yeol

I can feel myself slipping away slowly. It hurts everywhere now. But it hurt me the most when I saw Chanyeol watching me as the doctors put an oxygen mask on me as I suddenly had trouble breathing in the evening. I could see it in his eyes that he knew it too. He knew that it was all coming to an end. I knew that both of us were not ready to give up, but we are at the point of not having enough time.

Day 9 - Yeol

It’s over, isn’t it? It’s as if I can feel it. I woke up in the morning and when I looked at Chanyeol, all I saw was pain and betrayal in his eyes. Sometimes I wonder why I was so curious about falling in love. It hurts. It hurts so much to see the one you love in pain. And it hurts even more knowing that you’re the reason behind his pain. Chanyeol doesn’t deserve this. He has given me nothing but the best all this time, and I am just hurting him. I don’t want to…

The next page just bared a note for the giant.

Hey Chanyeol. This notebook is my gift to you along with the puppy. To be honest, I really didn’t want to give this to you as it is so embarrassing, but I thought why the hell not? You deserve to at least know how I felt about you.

I love you, do you know that? I really do, Yeol. I didn’t think it was possible to fall in love in seven days or even less. But then again, I fell for you before we even started dating, and you didn’t even have to try hard.

Thank you for everything, Chanyeol.

I’m going to be watching over you from wherever you are because one thing I realized is that you won’t be able to go anywhere where I won’t be there right by your side. It’s okay to miss me, but you can’t miss me too much, okay? It’s also okay to think about me from time to time, but not all the time. Understood? I want you to be the bright and cheerful Chanyeol I always knew.

I love you Chanyeol. I love you so much.

-Baekhyun.

P.S. I know that the puppy was named according to the time we had spent together and the time we had to love each other, so I’m sorry I changed the puppy’s name without asking you first.

Chanyeol’s frame was shaking as he tried his best not to cry. “Baek…”

Kyungsoo gently placed a hand on the giant’s shoulders and squeezed. Tears were falling down his face uncontrollably upon seeing the broken man in front of him. He extended his hand to the giant and there was a silver name tag lying in his palm.

Chanyeol took it and observed it through blurry eyes. “Z- Zutto?” He asked in confusion as he looked up at the other.

“Hmm, Baekhyun asked me to make it with that name for the stuffed puppy you’re now holding,” Kyungsoo sniffled.

Chanyeol looked back at the tag in a confused manner.

“I’m not surprised if you’re confused at the name. Baekhyun was the one who searched up the word and he decided. And mind you, he always has been horrible at picking names for pets.” Kyungsoo smiled through his tears. “

“What does it mean?”

“It’s Japanese,” Kyungsoo explained. “It means something like ‘eternal’ or something like ‘now and forever’.”

Chanyeol’s breathing shortened as his legs collapsed under him. Hugging the brown puppy tightly, Chanyeol cried for the first time in years because no matter how well he knew that meeting Baekhyun was going to lead to a farewell, he wanted the brunet back.

It was after then that Chanyeol started writing letters to Baekhyun. It helped him ease at least some of the pain. So he wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

Hey, Baekhyun. I received the gifts today and I promise I will cherish them forever. And Baekhyun, I cried. I cried for you, because although I said I won’t cry since you’re going to leave me and never come back, I keep waiting for a miracle to happen. I want you back. I will remember to kiss Zutto every night. Oh, I hope you don’t mind that I used the ring that you returned to me as a pendant and hung it around Zutto. He smells like you, you know?  

Hey, Baekhyun. How are you doing up there in heaven? Are the angels treating you alright? Or are you causing trouble up there as well? Or are you lonely without me up there with you? Because I’m lonely down here without you by my side.

Hey, Baekhyun. I started specializing in Psycho-oncology. Do you know what Psycho-oncologists do, Baekhyun? They handle cancer patients. They focus on the psychological response of the cancer patients and their families and help them cope with it, and they also focus on the things that influence the process of the disease. I saw you dying in front me, Baek, and only I know the pain of having lost you. The families of the cancer patients must also be going through the same thing I went through, right? I want to help them because I know what it feels like to be broken. Are you proud of me?

Hey Baekkie Have you talked with God yet? Did he agree to let us have a lifetime to spend together when we meet next time? Can you tell him I have a small favor to ask of him? Can you tell him that I asked if I could have you again for some time? Even if it’s short? Even if it’s for a minute? I miss you, Baek.

Hey Baekkie.  Today we had to put what we had learned so far into practice. We were taken to a hospital and we had to go around talking with cancer patients and their families. They reminded me so much of you, Baek. All the patients I met were so full of happiness despite knowing that time was running out for them; just like how you were. Why is it that the good people always leave us faster, Baek? Why is it that they are the ones that have to suffer? One family highly regarded me of doing a good job and I explained that I once went through exactly what they were going through. They listened to my story and they asked me how I pulled through it. I told them that it’s better to let go of the people who you love if they are hurting, because that’s the greatest sacrifice one could ever do for the sake of love. But I didn’t tell them of the never-ending pain that consumes you and makes you go insane. I didn’t tell them about how I fake a smile just to hide the sorrow and how I’m dying inside every single day.

Hey Baekkie. If you were still here with me, it would be our third anniversary together. Can you believe it? Three years have gone by. I wonder if you still love me, even after all the time that has passed. I still love you, Baekhyun, and I love you so much more with each passing day. I still wish that you were here with me… or that I was there with you… or that we were together somewhere – anywhere. I miss you so much, Baek.

Hey Baek. Apparently winter this year is going to be really harsh. The skies turn dark very early these days. Oh, did you know that ever since you left me, I always slept with the lamp in the room? I remember that you are scared of the dark and of sleeping alone in the dark, so I leave the lamp switched on, you know… in case you decide to pop into my room some nights and keep me company. Or in case you want to kiss Zutto goodnight when I sometimes forget to do so… and hopefully you kiss me goodnight too, right?

Hey, Baek. I’ve been thinking, Baek. Humans are really weird, aren’t they, Baekhyun? We tend to get attached to the people who are going to hurt us and leave us. Even if we know so well that there is going to be an end and we see that end approaching, we still hold on so tightly even if it’s for a minute or a second more… just so we can love them a bit longer even if it hurts a little more. But I know that no matter how much people are scared of being hurt by others, they make the choices that causes them to end up being hurt. I never meant to fall in love with you, Baek, but I just did. I made the choice to love you despite knowing what was going to happen in the end. And I know you never meant to hurt me, but you did. But I don’t regret loving you one bit. Not one bit. If I could go back, all I would do is love you more like how I should have but didn’t. I’ve tried moving on, but it’s useless, you know? The more I try to move on, the more I find that I can’t do so. Because from the day you left me, I knew that I should let you go, and I knew that I should stop hoping for anything since I kept waiting for something that was not going to happen, and I knew that I should move on like you would want me to, Baekhyun, but that’s the thing; for me, ‘I can’ and ‘I know’ are so, so different. I know what I should do, but I just can’t do it. Today marks the seventh year since you left me. Can you believe it? Seven years have passed. It’s funny how it took me less than seven days to fall for you but it’s taking me more than seven years to try to get over you. Why is it still so hard, Baekhyun? Seven years and I’m still here waiting till the time comes when I can be with you again. I still love you, Baek, more than ever if it’s even possible. And I also miss you more than ever.

A/N

I shall now proceed to bury myself :)

Hope you liked it...?

Yeah.

Bye-bye *runs and hides*

-DW