Shinae stared after Baekhyun, still shocked by the silence that had followed his abrupt exit. Her eyes scanned the edge of the table and she knew she wouldn’t be able to get down at this height, at least not safely. She jumped when a muffled shout crept across the room, the source being his room. 

She tilted her head. She had never known anyone else to get under Baekhyun’s skin so easily or quickly, other than herself. Her curiosity peaked but she also was sort of freaked out. She sat on the table trapped while she would randomly hear Baekhyun’s voice slip out and every time it did it was raised and she couldn’t decipher what exactly he was saying. 

+++

Her eyes wandered between his room and the front door, her fingers picked at her nails. She knew it would be any moment now when his roommates would return. What was Baekhyun doing? It had been a while since she last heard a sound come from his room and it felt like he was intentionally taking a moment to come back out. Did he not realize she was tiny? Also that she genuinely didn’t want anyone to see her. It was bad enough that Baekhyun had found her in this shrunken state. But she couldn’t even imagine his three other roommates being in on the secret.

Chanyeol was beyond handsome…all of them were but Chanyeol and Sehun usually towered above everyone else in the hallway. She couldn’t imagine having to look up at them at this size. Her stomach dropped and her skin prickled with ice. She needed to get off the table and now. 

“B-Baekhyun?” She tripped over her words. 

“Byun Baekhyun?!” Her words came out stronger. She was almost too terrified to truly shout. What if they were right at that door? What if she raised her voice and they heard it? How would they explain it…

“BA-” the words died on her tongue as she watched and heard the front door handle jiggle and bounce. She felt all the blood rush from her face as she looked around frantically for something to hide behind. She felt her heart pound, blocking out all sound as she noticed the vase of flowers on the table. Her feet slammed against the hardwood as she made a dash for the vase. She heard the faint click of the lock popping and felt her eyes clenched shut as she dove for the vase. 

She hissed, her elbow scraping against the hardwood as she finally made it to safety. She winced getting up to push her back against the cool porcelain. She felt the ground shake subtly with the thunder of shoes slamming against it. 

“Yah! I want to play first-I literally called it.” Sehun shouts.

“Yeah, but I called it literally before we left this morning.” Chanyeol’s deep baritone voice shoots back. 

“Junmyeon?!” Sehun’s voice whined before Shinae heard two somethings thud against a cushiony surface.

“I’m not getting involved.” Junmyeon’s clean tone clipped back. 

Shinae closed her eyes, pressed her hand to her chest, and swore she could feel her heart about to shoot out of her chest. She knew they could not see her but she felt wholly exposed. Her eyes stung. Don’t cry. Breathe in and out, in and out. 

She tried to take some breaths in but found it hard. Scared that any noise she made would be one they could hear. She genuinely did not want to get caught and could feel all the heat in her body seep out, leaving her shivering. She wrapped her arms tightly against herself, pulled her knees in, and prayed silently that they would not come over to the kitchen table. 

She heard Chanyeol and Sehun wrestling for something before the television sparked to life, nearly deafening her with its sound. She could hear the familiar chime of a PS4 starting up and she relaxed ever so slightly against the vase. Then cringed. They weren’t leaving their spots for a long time. 

She could hear who she assumed was Junmyeon nearby. “What the hell did Baekhyun cook?” 

She inhaled sharply, he was in the kitchen. She suddenly could almost feel his movements. Above the sounds of Chanyeol and Sehun arguing, there was a subtle thudding. She could feel them moving. It was the strangest thing she’d ever experienced. When you’re normal-sized you can feel someone stomp, or feel them sit next to you on a couch. But when you're tiny it’s almost like you can feel every little movement. Every sound when you're large most of the time goes unnoticed. But now she could hear and feel everything. 

She wanted to cover her ears and sink through the wooden top of the table and disappear. She didn’t like this, it was too much all at once. She could hear the faint clanging of the remaining dishes and the rush of the faucet. She tried squeezing her hands tighter over her ears but she couldn’t get rid of the sound. Everything was too loud, and she was too small. Her eyes watered, as she squeezed them shut. Don’t cry Shinae, don’t cry.

She hated that she really wanted Baekhyun to come out and take her away. But she could barely stand this. Then the sound of the faucet shut off and she heard footsteps thump. She muttered under her breath, trying to force herself to peek out and get her bearings. She could feel Junmyeon nearby but she needed to know what exactly was going on in case she wanted to make an escape. Even though she had no clue how she would do that. She quietly built up the courage, her heart felt like it was going to pop but she scooted to the edge of the vase, took a deep breath, and then peeked out. 

She could see the back of Chanyeol and Sehun’s heads. The large TV the boys shared lit up with the image of weird animated characters firing things at each other. They both were randomly cursing and shouting at each other every time one of the characters died. 

Junmyeon was actually farther away than she expected. He was making his way to Baekhyun’s room, she heard the knock, and then the creak of his door as he let Junmyeon in…that bastard.

He was done with his phone call and he still left me out here alone.

She wished she was normal-sized so she could storm in there and push him or hit him or do something to express the panic she was feeling. She felt like she was about to faint, every muscle in her body was tight, and her hands were shaking. Why did he just leave her out here? He knew his roommates were going to be coming back soon. She wished she could hear what the two were talking about behind that door. What was so important that Baekhyun would dare to leave her to her own devices?

Moments passed and the door finally opened. Junmyeon came out first, before heading down the opposite direction towards his own bedroom door. Baekhyun came out a moment later and Shinae swore she saw red. She was ready to kill him. But he started walking towards the table, his lips in a tight straight line. 

Sehun and Chanyeol greeted him but Baekhyun merely grunted bitterly in response. He approached the table, his shadow slowly creeping up and covering Shinae entirely. Her stomach dropped as she titled her head back to meet his eyes. She could’ve sworn his eyes looked slightly red at the edges, his eyelids a little swollen….had he been crying?

But before she could say anything or react, Baekhyun’s hand slammed flat on the table before her shaking the surface she sat upon. His palm up, she jumped at the harsh movement but got what he wanted and quickly scurried up and onto his palm. He lifted his palm slowly to rest against his stomach. Shinae’s fingers dug into his open hand to steady herself. 

She still had not gotten used to being carried. Every time he moved a gush of wind would blast her and her entire body would sway with any movement he made. She could almost feel his pulse dully thudding against her body, his stomach made a noise behind her and she swallowed hard closing her eyes hoping she wouldn’t get nauseous from the movements.

She heard a door open and close and then felt his hand drop with her in it onto another surface. She peeked, popping one eye open, and realized they were in their other bathroom. It was smaller than the one she had shrunken down in, the door to this one had been by the kitchen table and she scolded herself for not thinking to run to it. But then again, how would she have even gotten to it without falling to her death?

She cringed before pushing herself up on unsteady feet and stepping off onto the counter. She felt the thud of Baekhyun sitting behind her and she turned to face him head-on. She nearly jumped back realizing that they were almost at eye level with each other. She hadn’t been this close to really see his eyes since the night before when she was at her normal height. She felt in his stare.

His eyes were blank and hard, but she wasn’t wrong-he’d been crying. She could feel all the anger from moments ago evaporate at the sight. 

She’d never seen him cry, not that he was currently crying. But she never really pictured him crying. She’d only ever seen him with his jaw tight, fingers clenched and fire burning behind his brown irises. She wasn’t used to seeing his hard gaze softened by swollen edges. She sniffled remembering that she herself was on the brink of tears moments ago. She wished she hadn’t been so thrown by ever