Baekhyun still stared, he was left breathless. What he was staring at was Shinae it was her but she was so small. Her pale cheeks were flushed with color and her tiny fingers grabbed at her shirt trying to pull it up to cover her fully. She was frozen practically in place and so was he. He couldn’t believe it. This had to be some sick twisted joke some trick of the mind. Maybe he had fallen asleep while studying and this was just some weird freaky dream. But then he heard the door of Sehun’s room begin to pull open and the panic in his veins spurred him forward. 

He shot into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him, heart pounding so hard that the sound of it filled him up. Seconds passed before he heard a door shut and the door that pressed against his spine shake with a knock.

“Baekhyun? Are you ok?” Sehun’s exhausted voice pressed through the door muffled and concerned. Baekhyun looked around, anywhere but down to come up with some sort of reason as to why he screamed. He was half thankful that Sehun hadn’t mentioned hearing a girl scream, but that also made him nervous that he was just imagining all of this.

“Y-yeah I’m fine I just saw a spider! I killed it though so i-its fine!” He wanted to smack himself for stuttering and coming up with that excuse. It wasn’t exactly a secret that he was terrified of bugs but it didn’t stop his roommates from mocking him from time to time for it. But to his surprise, Sehun didn’t take the chance to mock him.

“Ok,” he said blankly before Baekhyun heard his door shut again. He let a bit of the tension inside of him leak out but couldn’t let go of the rest because he still had to look down. He still had to look down and see if she was there if this was reality. Was he losing his damn mind? He inhales slowly trying his best to relax before dropping his gaze to the floor.

To his luck, he didn’t imagine it. She is standing there, her neck bent back, small eyes were blown wide, lips parted, and face incredibly pale. Her figure is stiff and he barely notices the way she trembles. This is real. 

He tries to find something to say, anything. But nothing comes to mind. I mean what can you say in this type of situation? Shinae is his enemy and she is basically at his mercy, and that right there was a terrifying thought. He felt his stomach sink. What was he supposed to say? 

He tried swallowing so he could maybe get something out but found his mouth to be dry and bitter.

“What happened?” The words were soft and small just like her as they tickled his eardrums. He found his heart stopping at the sound of her voice. It was just another sign this wasn’t fake.  

“I was going to ask you that question,” he whispers out. Not sure if talking at a normal volume would hurt her or not. Her eyes widened again, face hardening. It seemed that was her only course of action to ask him what happened. Then it suddenly hit him what she meant with that simple question.

“Wait, did you think I did this??” Despite the worry, he felt seconds ago anger begins to swallow it the moment he sees her features shift a little. It’s as though he saw right through her words and caught her off guard. He feels that anger settle in his bones with that subtle confirmation. 

“Are you ing serious Shinae?” The second the words leave his lips he sees her features slip into a bitter twist. Her fingers twist and tighten around her oversized shirt. 

“Of course I’m ing serious! Who else would want to do this to me!?” He’s not entirely sure but he thinks he sees her sneer, flashing her minuscule teeth with the shout. He feels his self-control slip through the cracks with that accusation. He knows they are enemies and aren’t exactly friends but he isn’t some monster.

“Honestly those are some big words for someone your size!” He feels the atmosphere change the second those words enter space. Her little body goes rigid and she steps back. Her legs get caught in the too large fabric and she winds up falling and landing on her back.

“Oh my ing-” he cuts his words off trying to quell the frustration that is building inside of him. Every word she says and every accusation is like she is stoking a fire that is already too big and right now it is roaring inside of him. He tries to grasp onto some sanity and ground himself. He breathes in slowly, then out, in and out.

“I’m not going to hurt you Shinae,” he says the words quietly fearing that if he goes any louder his simmering temper might bleed through and taint the sentence. She shifts a bit more and then looks around, her posture still set awkwardly. 

“I…what are…what am I going to do?” She stumbles over the words as though she isn’t entirely sure what she wanted to ask in the first place. working faster than her brain. She stands up slowly, her head turned away from Baekhyun so that all he can see is her long locks. She moves a bit adjusting her top over her form.

He looks away only now realizing that she is completely . Embarrassment suddenly cracks along the top of his skull and spreads through his body painting his cheeks a bright pink. He swallows hard. 

“Well, we can maybe start by getting something on you that fits properly,” Baekhyun utters slowly turning his head around making an effort to not look at her directly. His eyes scan the countertop and he sighs the moment he realizes there is nothing she could wear.

“Do you have a small rag? I have an elastic I can use to hold it up.” She whispers it out as though scared that Baekhyun will actually hear her. 

“Won’t it still slip though even with the band?” He bends regardless and opens the cupboard doors underneath the sink and begins digging through everything till he finds a small washcloth that hasn’t been used and is neatly folded. He turns to look at her and feels the shock of the situation slam into him all over again. She’s so small. He holds the cloth out and watches in pure awe. His mouth hangs open as he sees the way her hand is smaller than his fingers. She then tugs on it lightly and he can barely feel it but still lets go. He is so enamored by how she still looks normal but is shorter than his fingers. Her head probably goes a little above his ankle. He barely notices the way she eyes him till she clears and he’s snapped back into reality. 

“I will only need something temporarily,” she pulls the cloth close to her dropping her gaze. Looking at him must unsettle her the way looking at her fascinates him. 

“I’ll be back to normal in no time,” she mutters softly her words unsure. Baekhyun stands up not questioning her reasoning and turns so she can get dressed. He listens to fabric shift and her small grunts as he tries to calm his heart. Something about this has set adrenaline pumping through his veins.

“Maybe we should start with getting you back to your family first,” the idea is met with blaring silence as everything seems to still.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” the words hardly register they are spoken so softly. He isn’t even entirely sure he heard them.

Either way, he responds as though she did say it, “You said you didn’t know what to do and I’m giving you an idea."

"You sure can’t stay with me.” He says it finding the words silly almost, as a smile twitches across his features as he stares into the grains of the door he faces. 

“Why can’t I stay here?” This time he’s sure he didn’t hear that and it was just imagined. But seconds pass and she doesn’t say anything more. In that moment something sickly buries itself in his chest.

“Did you say something?” He asks it feeling his throat shrink and tighten. 

“Yeah, I did. I said why can’t I stay here?” The question sets his blood pumping and racing, his veins almost hurt with the way it slams into him.  

“Uh, I don’t know if you remember or not but you and I aren’t friends Shinae. I’m not going to watch over you and take care of you till you somehow magically grow big again. Also, why do you even want to? I’m going to get you to your home tomorrow morning or maybe even tonight.” The words come out in a rush, one that seems to cleanse him. But at the same time, it feels as though the statement pulled a rope out of his throat. One that was tied to all of his organs and now just pulled them up too close to the surface. 

“Baekhyun,” her words are soft and shaky “please.” 

He blinks hard, sure that he didn’t hear that right as well. But every time he doubted himself today it seemed to be real and exactly as he had thought. He swallows again feeling the air leave him a bit. Why did she sound scared?

“Shinae…I can’t,” he feels guilty for saying it out loud but he isn’t sure what she expected. They aren’t friends. They’ve been at each other's throats for ages and they couldn’t even sit to do a project for less than a couple of minutes before he kicked her out. Did she actually think he would want to keep her here? He didn’t even get why she wanted to stay here in the first place, shouldn’t she want to be with her family?

“Baekhyun please, even if its just one night! I’ll be back to normal later on anyways so I won’t be bothering you for long,” He felt his stance sway a bit but then felt doubt with her confidence. Why was she so sure she would change back to normal so soon?

“Shinae do you even know how you got to be this size?” The pause after his words was answer enough.

“Ok, then why do you think you’ll magically be fixed in a night? You could be this size for a while…I don’t have the time or the energy to keep an eye on you. And I doubt you want to spend it being with me.” He finishes his tangent feeling as though a weight has been lifted and then waits for her to say something more. To give him a reason not to bring her to her family.

“I’m dressed,” he sighs and turns around slowly and stares a little confused. She took the rag and managed to keep it upheld above her chest with a twisted rubber band and had something similar cinching in at her waist. The dress looked clunky and all too big but looked secure nonetheless. She shifted a bit and looked up at him, albeit hesitantly. Her eyes seemed to be shaking as she tried to get them to focus on him, her head bent all the way back to meet his gaze. He suddenly wondered if this is what skyscrapers felt like and had the urge to cover himself up somehow. 

“Look Baekhyun I don’t know what happened. One second I was on your couch waiting for my friends and the next I was rushing to the bathroom and staring at my quickly shrinking reflection. Then I was here trapped in my own shirt. I want to be back to normal soon but I don’t know what happened. But all I know is I can’t go home…please, I’m begging you please let me stay here. I’ll try not to get in your way,” she closes her eyes halfway through the speech as though anticipating rejection. Baekhyun opened his mouth to protest but was running out of excuses till he snagged onto one.

“Ok but I have roommates. I’m not the only one here so you can’t even wander around by yourself without them seeing you or accidentally…” he trails off not wanting to voice the idea of her accidentally being stepped on. By the way her body tightened and her face paled again, it seemed she got what he was about to say. 

“Look I get that there are some faults in my plan