#63:Holding You Tight 2

Baekhyun took a deep breath. “Okay,” he huffed. “This time, it’ll be different.” He gripped Chanyeol’s shoulders, missing his boyfriend’s pained wince as he glared at the water. “This time, Chanyeol, I want you to promise me something.”

Chanyeol looked up. Baekhyun was sitting on the edge of the pool, his legs wrapped around Chanyeol’s waist and his face slightly tear-stained. “That depends on what it is.” Chanyeol said flatly.

Baekhyun stared him down. “I want you to promise me that you won’t take me back to the edge of the pool, not even if I cry.”

Chanyeol stared at him in horror. “No.”

Baekhyun kicked his hip. “It’s the only way!” He cried. “I have nothing to be afraid of and I know it! I don’t know why I’m reacting like this!”

Chanyeol came closer and stood on his toes to give Baekhyun a soft kiss. “Let’s just call it a day,” he whispered, rubbing Baekhyun’s arms soothingly. “You’ve done enough for today, let’s just go inside and snuggle, okay?”

Baekhyun resolutely shook his head. “I can’t do that yet. Please Chanyeol just keep me in the water for five minutes, and then we can go.”

Chanyeol looked pained, but he promised to do so. Baekhyun slipped off the edge of the pool and into Chanyeol’s waiting arms. Chanyeol backed up a little, and Baekhyun hid his face in Chanyeol’s neck as his heart rate picked up. He swallowed a whimper, not daring to look at how far they’d gone. Chanyeol rubbed his back, supporting Baekhyun’s thighs with only one arm.

“You’re shaking,” Chanyeol sighed, as if Baekhyun needed to be told. “Baby, it’s okay. I won’t let you get hurt, I promise.”

Baekhyun only clung tighter to Chanyeol’s neck and tried to count seconds in his head, but he kept losing track. Finally it got to be too much.

“I can’t,” he gasped, tears springing to his eyes, “Chanyeol I can’t do it!”

Chanyeol bolted for the edge of the pool and lowered Baekhyun down as he started to cry. He held Baekhyun close as he sobbed, murmuring comforting words. Or he did until Baekhyun pulled back and hit him weakly on the shoulder.

“Damn it!” Baekhyun shouted, “You promised to keep me there!”

Chanyeol looked heartbroken. “You were scared!” He cried. “What was I supposed to do?”

“Keep your promise!” Baekhyun yelled. He pushed Chanyeol away and jumped to his feet, running away as fast as he could. He heard Chanyeol yelling after him and he threw up a wall of light, shielding his movements until he managed to get to the entrance to the hotel. Once inside he ran down one hallway after another and up and down so many flights of stairs that he lost track of where he was. He threw open a door and flung himself inside. It was a spectacular bedroom, and from the view Baekhyun could tell that he was higher up than any of them had gone yet. The room was huge, with not only a bedroom but also a sitting room and what looked like a work space.

Baekhyun wanted to curl up on the bed, but he was still wet and knew that he shouldn’t lay down in his wet shorts. Instead he went into the bathroom, which proved to be just as lovely, and had a huge tub. Baekhyun the hot water and watched the tub fill, letting it get pretty deep before he finally turned off the tap. He was still in his swim shorts and t-shirt and not in a mood to part with either of them, so he lowered himself into the water fully clothed, sighing at how warm it was. The tub was big enough for him to stretch out his legs and slouch down without being uncomfortable. He slumped until the water reached his chin and glowered. He was totally fine in the bathtub, what made the pool so scary?

His eyes filled with tears again as he thought of Chanyeol’s face. Baekhyun really wasn’t fair to him, he knew that. He owed Chanyeol an apology…actually he owed Chanyeol much more than that. He owed Chanyeol a total personality change. But Chanyeol knew what he was like, he knew Baekhyun wasn’t good at expressing himself.

Baekhyun sat up and drew his knees to his chest, hunching over as he started to cry again. He felt so awful for what he’d said. He couldn’t really have expected something like that of Chanyeol, he was being unrealistic and unfair.

There was a knock on the bathroom door. “Baekhyun? It’s Kris, can I come in?”

Baekhyun wasn’t even aware that he’d shut the door, but he supposed it had been habit. He splashed some water on his face and took a deep breath. “Yeah, you can come in.”

Kris entered slowly, and Baekhyun was relieved to see that he was alone. He wasn’t ready to face Chanyeol yet. Kris sat on the edge of the tub and ruffled Baekhyun’s hair. “You okay?”

Baekhyun’s lip quivered and he bit down on it harshly, but it didn’t stop the tears. He lowered his head to his knees, just barely poking out of the water. “Everyone’s having so much fun,” he whimpered, “Everyone except me and Chanyeol—and it’s completely my fault.” His voice broke so badly on the last word that it came out as a squeak. He started sobbing, barely registering Kris’ hand rubbing his back. Eventually Kris started petting his hair, something that had always calmed him in the past, and slowly Baekhyun’s sobs quieted.

“What’s wrong with me?” He asked tiredly. “Why can’t I do this?” He turned his head so he could face Kris, and Kris wiped at his tears with his thumb.

“I think,” Kris said slowly, “That you’re being far too hard on yourself. And now I think I know why.” He smiled a little sadly. “You know Baekhyun, you don’t need to learn to swim to have fun here. Not everyone enjoys the ocean, and Chanyeol knows that too. You two don’t need to be together twenty four hours a day in order to have fun.”

“But it would be better if we were,” Baekhyun whined. “And I want to learn to swim, I really do! This is for me as much as it is Chanyeol!”

Kris kneeled on the floor and leaned over the edge of the tub to wrap Baekhyun up in a tight hug. “I know,” he assured, “You don’t have to convince me.”

Baekhyun leaned into Kris and then quickly pulled away. “I’m getting you all wet,” he mumbled.

“I was wet already,” Kris promised, standing up to how Baekhyun his wet swimming shorts. “You know what, scoot over, I’m cold and that water looks warm.”

Baekhyun grinned weakly and did as he was told, and Kris slid in next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Baekhyun snuggled into Kris’ chest, forever awed at the difference between the two of them. When they’d gotten older puberty hit Kris like a train, giving him long legs and broad shoulders and a much deeper voice, while Baekhyun was still slight and small. Kris was the kind of person who looked like he could crush someone if he wanted to, when in fact he was the most sweet person Baekhyun had ever met (besides Suho). At times like this it gave Baekhyun hope that he wasn’t forever doomed to the image he’d had since he was a child—snarky, cold, and a little bit wicked. If Kris could go from looking like some kind of demon (with his wings out behind him and a glare that could scare a tiger off) to quite literally flailing at the sight of a puppy, well why couldn’t Baekhyun do the same thing?

But as nice as Kris was, it didn’t mean he held back from telling things like they were.

“You know, you can’t hide here forever,” Kris reminded him. “As nice as it is, you’ll have to get out at some point.”

“You too,” Baekhyun countered, elbowing Kris.

“Well yes,” Kris sighed, “But I’m not the one hiding from my boyfriend.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun whispered. “Did he…um, tell you what I said?”

“Kind of,” Kris admitted. “You asked him to keep you in the pool, and got upset when he didn’t.”

Baekhyun sighed. “It wasn’t fair of me.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Kris agreed, frowning at Baekhyun. “He’s not sure if he should be more worried or angry.”

Baekhyun had the decency to be embarrassed. “Probably both.”

“Yes, that’s what I told him before I went off to find you.” Kris said. “But at the same time I understand that you were very emotional and not reacting well.”

Baekhyun the now wet feathers on Kris’ wings. “I don’t do it on purpose,” he mumbled. “I need an attitude adjustment.”

“Well, that’s not something that’s going to happen overnight,” Kris reminded him. “From what I can tell, you’ve improved a lot. You had a very traumatic experience growing up and it’s understandable for your emotions to get out of hand and for you to react in ways you don’t mean to or even want to.”

Baekhyun was confused. “If you understand, then why does it sound like you’re scolding me?”

Kris huffed. “Because you ran away when things got out of hand.” He reached out and cupped Baekhyun’s face in his hands, keeping him from lowering his head. “I know it’s scary sometimes, when things go wrong and you take it out on the ones you love, but you don’t do yourself any favors by just up and running away. If you need space then say so and let Chanyeol know where you’re going. You can have your space, but you cannot shut Chanyeol out in the process.”

Baekhyun bit his lip again as a few tears slipped down his cheeks. Kris wiped them away. “Oh, Baekhyun.” he sighed, “You are so sweet. I know you don’t believe it but you are nice and we all know how much you care about all of us. But you’re so used to running, and Chanyeol is so used to it, that neither of you realize that it does more harm than good. But now you know, and now you two can talk about it.”

Kris lowered his hands and Baekhyun leaned against his chest, hiccupping on sobs. “You know,” he said quietly, “If I were Chanyeol, I’d hate me.”

“No you wouldn’t,” Kris laughed. “If you were Chanyeol, you’d be able to forgive anything. Now this water is getting cold, so how about we go dry off and find Chanyeol?”

Baekhyun clung to his hand. “But I don’t know what to say to him!” He cried, “Kris, help me! You know everything!”

Kris hauled Baekhyun to his feet and gave him a slight shake. “You do know what to say,” he said firmly. “I will go with you, but it’s time for you to start having some faith in yourself.”

“I have faith in myself!” Baekhyun sputtered.

“Then start having faith in yourself even when you’re unsure and lost,” Kris amended. “Being off center doesn’t mean you suddenly lose your wits. You’re still you, even when you’re not feeling your best, and you have it in yourself to navigate your way out of anything.”

He handed Baekhyun a towel and Baekhyun took it, glowering. “You’re so much better at this than me.”

“Because I have practice,” Kris insisted. “And once you start opening your mouth instead of running, you’ll be just as good as me. Now come on, let’s get out of here.”

Chanyeol was waiting for Baekhyun in the lobby. Once they were done hugging and crying and blubbering all over each other, Kris suggested to the two of them that (in an effort to help Baekhyun swim and keep Chanyeol from crying in the process) Baekhyun’s swimming lessons become more public. He then suggested, as delicately as he could, that perhaps Chanyeol, while meaning well, had not been the best choice to help Baekhyun get used to the water. Especially if Baekhyun wanted to take a hard approach to his problem.

“However you, Baekhyun,” he continued, “Need to realize that throwing yourself headfirst into your fear may not be the best thing either.”

“But I’m not afraid!” Baekhyun cried. “Well…not really.”

“Even so,” Kris went on, “You may want to try a different approach.”

“Like what?” Baekhyun and Chanyeol asked together.

Kris thought about it for a moment. “How about instead of carrying Baekhyun into the water, the two of you go in together, and you can hold hands and hug or whatever you like, but Baekhyun enters at his own pace and only advances when he feels comfortable. It may take longer,” he had to raise his voice as Baekhyun started to protest, “But we’ve been here all of six days and we’re not leaving just yet. You have some time.”

Baekhyun opened his mouth, closed it again, thought for a second, and then sighed. “Okay, I’ll think about it.” Then he looked over at Chanyeol. “I mean…we’ll talk about it.”

It was kind of shocking that they had been here for so long and yet never put the pool to its full use. So far only Chanyeol and Baekhyun had ever gone in it, and they hadn’t exactly enjoyed it. The pool was long enough that if two people stood on opposite sides of it, they would need to shout to be heard. They were mostly sticking to the shallow end, occasionally the better swimmers (Lu Han and Suho) would go into the deeper end, but they’d come back quickly.

“This is much nicer than the ocean,” Kai said as he kicked his feet in the water, turning in a lopsided circle. He was clinging to some kind of foam board which helped keep his chest afloat. Baekhyun had thrown it to him after seeing him make a truly awful attempt at the doggy paddle. “At least here we don’t have to worry about the waves.”

“I like the waves,” Lu Han called over, “But it is nice to actually be able to swim.”

Baekhyun had been sitting on the edge of the pool and watching Lu Han for a while—Sehun was throwing coins into the deep end and Lu Han was diving down to catch them. How exactly that was considered fun was beyond Baekhyun’s comprehension but if Lu Han was enjoying it then who was he to judge? Aside from Lu Han, Baekhyun was also keeping an eye on Kris, but only because he’d never actually seen Kris’ wings get completely wet before. It was really something to watch Kris move around in the water, the weight of the wet feathers making his wings drag behind him. Earlier Tao had asked Kris to open his wings completely, and Kris had actually laid flat on the bottom of the pool before unfolding his wings. It was amazing to see from above the water, and Baekhyun found himself wondering how the individual feathers would look when submerged. Would they still be fluffy and loose, or would they clump together? He didn’t think it was likely he’d ever find out, he couldn’t even be in the water for a few minutes never mind put his head under water.

Baekhyun sighed heavily, and it didn’t escape Chanyeol’s attention. He was close at hand as always, in the pool, leaning against the wall with his shoulder just brushing Baekhyun’s calves. A little too close. “Are you okay?” He asked immediately. “Do you need anything?”

‘I need the Tree to put a block on my fear,’ Baekhyun thought, but he didn’t dare say it out loud, it was too sensitive of a topic. “I’m just being wistful,” he said with a careless wave, “Don’t mind me.”

“I’ll always mind you,” Chanyeol said seriously.

Baekhyun felt a flash of annoyance. “That’s not what I meant.”

Chanyeol moved around and stood in front of Baekhyun, slouching so he could rest his chin on Baekhyun’s knees. “I know. But it’s true anyway.”

Baekhyun’s annoyance disappeared and he smiled, brushing Chanyeol’s bangs away from his eyes. “I’ll always mind you too, you know. You don’t have to stay right next to me, why don’t you go play with Kris or something? I’m going to go up to our room.”

Chanyeol looked unsure. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I promise,” Baekhyun insisted. “I…I want to go mess around with my gift for a little while.”

Chanyeol looked surprised for a second before he smiled. “Okay babe. Have fun.” And then he braced his hands on either side of Baekhyun’s legs and pushed himself up to give Baekhyun a sweet kiss.

When Baekhyun was sure that Chanyeol was having fun, he got up and started to make his way back to the hotel. He’d gone a fair distance when he heard footsteps behind him. He sighed, figuring it was Chanyeol, but when he turned around it was Kyungsoo who was running after him.

“Hi,” Kyungsoo panted when he’d caught up. “Mind if I hang out with you for a bit? I don’t feel like swimming anymore.”

Baekhyun grinned. “Sure, I was going to go play around with some light, that sound like fun?”

“It sounds relaxing,” Kyungsoo said with a smile. “Which sounds like fun.”

They continued on with their arms linked together, walking in comfortable silence until they got to the hotel.

“Wanna grab something to eat?” Kyungsoo asked. “We could sneak some tuna.”

“I like the way you think!” Baekhyun had forgotten that Kyungsoo had a bit of a mischievous streak in him as well.

In the kitchen they sliced some meat off a tuna chunk and grabbed one of the leftover crabs and two sodas before dashing up the stairs. None of them wanted to risk taking the elevator and possibly getting stuck, but the stairs weren’t exactly fun. They were both winded by the time they got to Baekhyun’s room.

“I hate stairs,” Kyungsoo panted as he put the plate of tuna on the spare bed. Once it was secure he promptly flopped onto the floor, flat on his back. “Baekhyun, am I out of shape?”

“You are perfectly in shape—the shape of a pillow,” Baekhyun laughed as he sat next to Kyungsoo. “Soft and squishy and—ouch!” He rubbed his ankle where Kyungsoo had pinched him. “You are in the same shape as all of us. We’re all out of breath.”

Kyungsoo groaned. “We should all work out more.”

“Who are we going to work out for?” Baekhyun asked.

“Kai works out,” Kyungsoo pointed out.

“Kai works out because he wants to impress Chen,” Baekhyun sniffed. “He has dongsang syndrome.”

Kyungsoo sat up and looked at Baekhyun weirdly. “What the heck is that?”

“It’s when you’re in love with someone who’s older than you, so you compensate for the in some other way.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo smirked. “Like when Sehun was trying to prove that he was a expert?”

“Exactly.”

“Tao’s not like that though.”

Baekhyun snorted. “Tao doesn’t need to compensate, he can actually look pretty fierce when he wants to. It’s his eyes, there’s something about them that just makes him look like…I don’t know. Like a tiger.”

“Yeah, but he’s more like a house cat,” Kyungsoo giggled. “Cute and fluffy.”

Baekhyun grinned, imagining Tao as a fluffy cat. “He’d make a good cat, but he wouldn’t be much of a mouser.”

Kyungsoo sat up and grabbed the plate with the tuna, balancing it on his lap so he and Baekhyun could pick at it. “I’ve missed hanging out with you,” Kyungsoo said suddenly. “We used to do this all the time when we were kids.”

Baekhyun nodded, feeling a little guilty. “I know, I think we’re all starting to realize that we kind of…lost touch with each other for a little while.”

“When everyone started pairing off,” Kyungsoo agreed.

Baekhyun took another bite of tuna and chewed slowly, wondering how he should ask what he wanted to ask. They finished the tuna and the crab and Baekhyun still hadn’t quite figured out how to phrase his question.

Again, Kyungsoo spoke up. “I know what you’re thinking, just ask, go on.”

Baekhyun took a deep breath. “You, Xiumin and Yixing aren’t…you’ve never thought about making something work between the three of you? Like what Suho, Kris and Tao have?”

“I haven’t,” Kyungsoo said firmly. “Not seriously. We did talk about it once, but we all agreed that it would never work. We don’t feel that way about each other, and I don’t know about Yixing but Xiumin is definitely not interested in guys.”

Baekhyun nodded. He could respect their choices, but he was still worried. “Are you rooming with them?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “We’re good friends, but I wouldn’t say I love them any more or less than I love the rest of you.”

“Don’t you get…you know, lonely?” Baekhyun pressed.

Kyungsoo paused. “I used to,” he said slowly, “But I’m starting to think that maybe that was more because of my gift. I really feel a lot better now and…any way I just know that someday I’ll fall in love. Forever is too long not to meet the one who’s perfect for me.”

Baekhyun smiled. “That’s a good way to look at it. I’m glad you’re so positive. You know, feel free to whack me over the head if you feel like I’m ignoring you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kyungsoo laughed. Then he stood up. “I’m going to go change, okay? These shorts are starting to chafe.”

Baekhyun stood up as well. “Okay, I’ll change too. Knock when you get back.”

As soon as Kyungsoo had shut the door behind him, Baekhyun stripped off his wet clothes and changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He forewent socks, preferring bare feet. He put his wet things in the bathtub and began preparing the room for what he was about to do. The shades that covered the windows were a good quality and in very good shape, they blocked the light quite nicely. Baekhyun made sure to turn on the lamp before he pulled the shades down and tugged the curtains over them, effectively blocking as much sunlight as possible. Kyungsoo came back just as Baekhyun started to unpack his collection.

“What’s all this?” Kyungsoo asked, gesturing at the boxes laid out on the bed.

“My toys,” Baekhyun said, grinning at Kyungsoo’s confused look. In lieu of an explanation, Baekhyun simply took the lid off one of the boxes.

“Oh my god,” Kyungsoo gasped when he saw what was inside.

Baekhyun wasn’t exactly sure himself what had been in the box, but he laughed when he saw. It was a ruby and diamond necklace, a great one but not the best.

“Oh wow, this isn’t even the best one,” Baekhyun said.

Kyungsoo gaped at him.

“It’s great, don’t get me wrong,” he said quickly. “But I have one that’s even better.”

He located the correct box and handed it to Kyungsoo.

“It’s so heavy!” He cried. “I’m afraid to look.”

“Go on, look at it!” Baekhyun insisted.

Kyungsoo took a deep breath and lifted the lid. Baekhyun smirked as Kyungsoo’s jaw dropped again—it was a really amazing necklace, the sheer number of diamonds was incredible. “By the Tree,” he gasped. “People actually wore these things?! It’s so heavy and…and…gosh, I’d be afraid it would fall off.” He eyed the rest of the boxes. “How many of these do you even have?”

“None like that,” Baekhyun said. “The first one you saw and the one you’re holding are easily the best parts of my collection. The rest are bracelets and rings, I have five…no, six loose diamonds and one loose sapphire. I also have a few pieces that are fake—some are glass, some are quartz, some are this thing I don’t even know what it is but it’s not a diamond. It sparkles, which is great but…” he shrugged. “I started collecting these things the second we landed.” He started to unpack everything and lay the pieces out on the bed. He kept the loose stones in their box (one that latched closed) but made sure the box was close by.

“You’re actually the only one besides Chanyeol and myself to see the whole thing like this,” Baekhyun informed Kyungsoo. “I think the others know I collect these things, they just don’t know how many I have.”

“How many do you have?” Kyungsoo asked.

“The two necklaces that you saw—they’re the only ones with jewels all the way around. I have three other necklaces with simpler designs, ten ‘real’ bracelets, fifteen fake ones, twenty eight rings, and thirty seven earrings.”

The collection was slowly taking over the bed. Kyungsoo edged up to the pillows, watching Baekhyun arrange and rearrange everything. “Thirty seven earrings?”

“I don’t have all the pairs,” Baekhyun sighed regretfully. “And I’m only collecting rings and bracelets with genuine stones. Chanyeol’s idea, not mine.”

Kyungsoo laughed. “You’re pouty because of that?”

“Well, he had a point,” Baekhyun admitted. “If I collected everything I saw, I wouldn’t be able to carry it all. As you can see, it’s already getting kind of out of hand.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“What are all of us going to do,” Baekhyun sighed. “I guess when we get back to the Tree, I’ll have to leave a few things behind. We’ll have to find a safe house where we can put all our stuff. But in the meantime I’m going to enjoy this while I can.”

With that he finished his arrangements. He leaned over and flicked the lamp off.

“Hey!” Kyungsoo cried as the room was plunged into darkness. “What the heck?”

“Are you ready to see something cool?”

“Yeah sure, what—oh.”

Baekhyun held a ball of light in his hand. He concentrated hard and very slowly, the ball of light floated out of his hand and hovered over the gems. Kyungsoo’s eyes were glued to the bed, taking in the way the stones shimmered in the light. Baekhyun tapped his arm.

“Look up.”

Kyungsoo did and he gasped again. “By the Tree,” he breathed.

The room was full of rainbows. The ceiling, the walls, even Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were splashed in rainbows, thanks to some creative positioning of the rings.

“I can see why you collect these things,” Kyungsoo laughed. “This is amazing.” He pointed at the ball of light. “That’s amazing. How are you doing that?”

“I’ve been working on it for a while now,” Baekhyun said. “I don’t know how I can do it, I’ve never known how I was able to create light from nothing. To be honest I think not knowing makes me more powerful in that respect. But anyway, watch this…” and he made the ball float in a circle around the bed, the rainbows on the walls twirling and shifting with it. Baekhyun didn’t even have to focus all that much to keep it going, and he lost himself in the movement of the rainbows and flashes of light as they circled the room.

It was a while before either of them spoke again.

“Are you crying?” Kyungsoo asked after a while.

“I always cry when I do this,” Baekhyun sniffed. He wiped his eyes. “You’re crying too.”

Kyungsoo laughed, but Baekhyun could see the tears shining on his cheeks. “Yeah, I guess I am. It’s like watching stars. It’s like…”

“Like watching an entire galaxy move,” Baekhyun whispered. “Stars and planets all moving around you. It’s an amazing feeling.”

“It really is.”

After a few more minutes they agreed that it was time to go back outside, as they were probably being missed. Kyungsoo helped Baekhyun pack everything up again, but Baekhyun noticed that Kyungsoo seemed to have something on his mind.

“Anything you want to talk about?” He asked casually.

Kyungsoo paused in putting a few rings away. “I don’t know…maybe.”

He didn’t say anything after that, and Baekhyun didn’t push until after everything was put away. Only then did he take hold of Kyungsoo’s hands and give him a serious look. “Did something happen? did I make you uncomfortable or anything?”

“No, no,” Kyungsoo huffed. “It’s nothing like that it’s just…” he took a deep breath. “I had a vision the other day while I was meditating.”

“A vision?” Baekhyun repeated excitedly. “Of what?”

“Of the future,” Kyungsoo said evasively.

“Tell me!” Baekhyun pleaded. “Come on, we hardly ever have visions of the future, why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“It’s confusing,” Kyungsoo mumbled, “I don’t know what to make of it. I saw…I saw Guardians. At least I think that’s what they were—they were powerful, and unfamiliar, and there were eleven males.”

“The eleventh generation,” Baekhyun breathed.

“Most likely,” Kyungsoo agreed.

“Wait,” Baekhyun said suddenly. “You said eleven males.”

“There were twelve people,” Kyungsoo said slowly. “But the twelfth…I couldn’t tell the gender. I didn’t see their faces but I just knew that eleven were males and one was…not.”

“Was it female?” Baekhyun pressed. “Are the future generations going to be mixed?”

“I thought that too,” Kyungsoo admitted. “But the more I think about it the more I realize that the person wasn’t female either.”

Baekhyun was stumped. “What does that even mean?”

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo sighed. “But I am stuck on that person. It’s only been a few days but I can’t stop thinking about them.”

Baekhyun heaved a sigh. “Well, it’s going to be a few hundred years before your vision comes true and we figure out what happened. Don’t stress about it, okay?” But he could tell his warnings were going unheard.

It was the second day of public swimming lessons and three days since Baekhyun’s moment with Kyungsoo. After telling Baekhyun about his vision, Kyungsoo had sworn him to secrecy, saying he didn’t want to raise any questions before he had a chance to talk to the Tree. Baekhyun didn’t see the big deal but he really didn’t care, he had bigger fish to fry. He was trying something new, as Kris had suggested, he would walk into the water and only go deeper when he felt comfortable enough to do so. Yesterday he’d barely made it up to his waist before he’d given up, but that had been because of an oncoming storm. Today though, he was not going to give up. He wasn’t.

Chanyeol was on his left side, and Kris on his right. They were each holding one of his hands—or rather Baekhyun had their hands in a tight grip while he struggled to keep calm. The others were all gathered on the side of the pool, for moral support, or so they claimed. Baekhyun knew they were trying not to stare and make him uncomfortable, he could hear them talking amongst themselves.

Baekhyun was once again up to his waist his, and he’d been standing in the same spot for the last half hour, willing himself to calm down. it wasn’t working.

Kris rubbed his back in small circles. “You can take a break if you want.”

“I’m fine,” Baekhyun ground out from between his teeth. His jaw was clenched to keep his teeth from chattering.

“You’re shivering,” Chanyeol sighed. “Not shaking, shivering. And your lips are blue.”

“So heat up the water,” Baekhyun growled. “I’m not leaving.”

From the edge of the pool Suho called, “There’s nothing wrong with taking a break to warm up.”

“I don’t care!” Baekhyun shouted, tears stinging his eyes. He closed his eyes, trying to squeeze the tears in. “I can do this, I will do this! I refuse to be afraid anymore, I am stronger than this, I will not let my fears win out, I won’t, I won’t! I’m not scared!”

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol gasped.

“What?!”

“Open your eyes!”

Baekhyun did so and gasped sharply. The water was up to his chest. He quickly looked around—he’d gone deeper into the pool without even realizing it. “What…when…did I do this? Or did you guys…?”

“You did this all on your own,” Kris laughed. “You just started walking, we were running to keep up with you, didn’t you notice?”

“No!” Baekhyun cried, loosening his grip. “I mean, maybe? I wasn’t thinking…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Chanyeol said gleefully. “You did it Baekhyun, you did it! Look at how deep you are and you’re not even afraid!”

Baekhyun let go of Kris and Chanyeol’s hands, spreading his arms out in the water. He spun around, hopped a little, and then he started to laugh.

“I’m not scared,” he repeated, choking back tears. “I’m not scared…” he started to cry.

“Baekhyun? Are you okay?” Chanyeol asked at once, fussing over him. “Do you want to get out?”

“No,” Baekhyun sobbed. “I’m really happy, by the Tree I’m so happy…”

“Then why are you crying?” Kris laughed. He hugged Baekhyun tightly, and Chanyeol quickly joined in, the two of them sandwiching him. Baekhyun could hear his brothers laughing and clapping from the edge of the pool. He still hadn’t learned to swim, and that would be a hurdle he’d need to conquer another day. For now, Baekhyun was just so happy to get over his fear.

UUUGH. This chapter was so hard to write. I actually started it weeks ago, but it had ended after the scene with Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Kris talking after Baekhyun ran off. then I started writing the OT3 scene and well, that just needed it’s own separate drabble (which is why it seems to pick up in the middle of nowhere—it happens like in the middle of this drabble). Then I had intense writer’s block and last night it was just like BOOM the scene of Kyungsoo and Baekhyun in the dark surrounded by jewels hit me and I was off.

So anyway I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, leave me a comment if you did!