Chapter 12: Summer Night

Baekhyun, Jongin, and Kyungsoo sat in the living room and quietly discussed other aspects of the battle for the next few hours.

When they were finally satisfied with their plan, Baekhyun stretched and noted that it was already dark outside.

“You guys should go home,” he said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “It’s getting late.”

Kyungsoo nodded. “Chanyeol’s leaving for China tomorrow, and I have to see him off, so I have to wake up early.”

Baekhyun stood up and walked Kyungsoo to the foyer, opening the door for him.

“Baekhyun-ah, don’t worry, okay?” Kyungsoo said, pausing right outside the door.

“Hmm?” Baekhyun asked, not really understanding what Kyungsoo was referring too.

Kyungsoo just shook his head and smiled. “Don’t forget that you still have me. I’ll always be by your side.”

Baekhyun felt a sudden rush of warmth fill him, chasing away all of the fatigue and anxiety.

“Thank you, Kyungsoo,” he said earnestly. “I appreciate it, really.”

Kyungsoo nodded and with a wave, left.

Baekhyun closed the door and turned to head back into the living room, only to see Jongin leaning against a wall, waiting for him.

“Aren’t you leaving, Jongin?” He asked.

“Actually, hyung, I wanted to talk to you,” Jongin said.

Baekhyun did not miss the serious tone and nodded, leading Jongin back to the couches, plopping down on one.

“What is it?” He asked.

“Baekhyun, you care about Chanyeol-hyung, right?” Jongin asked, getting to the point immediately.

“Of course I do,” Baekhyun replied, surprised by his question. “Why suddenly ask?”

“Chanyeol cares for you too,” Jongin said, not answering his question.

Baekhyun laughed. “Yeah, I kind of figured that out by myself.”

“I’m serious, hyung. He cares for you a lot. Probably more than you think.”

Baekhyun stopped laughing and his expression turned wistful.

“I know,” he said softly.

“That’s good. Then, you’d know to keep yourself alive and not do something stupidly heroic.”

“…What do you mean?”

“You would give your life for Chanyeol, wouldn’t you? You’re willing to sacrifice yourself, so Chanyeol-hyung can become the Emperor, right?”

Baekhyun didn’t reply and simply looked at Jongin.

Seeing that Baekhyun wasn’t about to reply, Jongin spoke up again.

“You don’t know how important you are to him,” Jongin said in a low voice, glancing up at Baekhyun.

“Jongin, I-“

“When Chanyeol told me that he made a new friend and introduced you to me, I really thought you were a savior sent from God,” Jongin admitted. “Before you arrived, Chanyeol-hyung did nothing but sit in the fields and watch the military train their army. The physicians said he was traumatized and that he might never be back to normal, that he might never interact with people as he did before. They said that the shock was too much for a little boy like him to take, especially since he saw everything with his own eyes. We were so afraid, especially since he hardly said more than two sentences to us each day. I thought I l had lost my playful older brother.”

Jongin took in a shaky breath as he remembered those days when his brother was so emotionally distant from him. Even though many years had passed, he still felt a small tingling of fear every time he recalled Chanyeol’s blank, lifeless expression. It scared him to no end. He was determined to never see that look on his brother’s face again, so he was going to protect everything Chanyeol deemed important. And that was Baekhyun.

“…I didn’t know,” Baekhyun said softly.

It was true. He knew the basic details about the experiences of Chanyeol’s childhood, but no one had ever bothered telling him the whole story. It was always the same few sentences that explained nothing to him.

“Of course you didn’t. You hated him, didn’t you? You hated him because you thought he was an arrogant prince that cared nothing about others’ feelings.”

Baekhyun let out a small, weary chuckle, as memories of his childhood with Chanyeol passed through his mind. It seemed as if they had argued nearly every day.

“Yeah,” he said. “But I was wrong, wasn’t I?”

Jongin nodded. “Chanyeol-hyung’s strong. For him to forget what happened, it must’ve taken a lot. But…”

Jongin smiled and placed his hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“But I think he got through it because of you, Baekhyun. Without you, we might not have the Happy Virus Chanyeol today. That’s why, take care of yourself and your friendship, okay? Those are two of the most important things in my brother’s life. He’s lost too much already, he can’t lose you too.”

Jongin patted the half-stunned Baekhyun and walked towards the door, bidding him goodbye.

“You really care for your brother, don’t you?” Baekhyun asked suddenly, when Jongin was tying his shoelaces.

“Of course,” Jongin replied, straightening up. “He’s my brother, right?”

Baekhyun smiled. “He’s lucky to have a brother like you.”

“I know I’m awesome,” Jongin joked.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Be careful on your way home!”

“Alright.” Jongin turned to leave, before abruptly facing Baekhyun again. “Chanyeol-hyung’s leaving six in the morning tomorrow. You should go see him before he leaves.”

Baekhyun found himself smiling stupidly, watching Jongin’s disappearing figure.

“I will,” he said quietly to himself.
 

---
 

Chanyeol didn’t sleep well that night. He tossed and turned for hours on his bed, eyes squeezed shut, Baekhyun’s hurt expression constantly appearing before him, as if etched on the back of his eyelids.

After Baekhyun had left, he had sent Joohyun back to her chambers. claiming that he was tired and wanted to sleep. To his relief, she left with no other comment, softly telling him to rest well.

Chanyeol wished he could rest well.

He honestly didn’t think that he could get any sleep tonight. Not with the never-ending heavy bricks of guilt crashing down upon his chest one by one. He felt like a complete for dismissing Baekhyun so coldly.

He isn’t mad at me, is he?

Panic flowed through his veins as he thought about how Baekhyun might never talk to him again. His heart clenched with pain as he wondered how life without Baekhyun would be like.

“No,” he whispered to himself.

No. He couldn’t lose Baekhyun.

If Baekhyun left him, he would return to the dead-looking, pasty kid who talked to no one. He would return to the child who lived half on Earth and half in his frightening memories.

The kid who lived in those vivid, wicked images.

Nothing could distract him from them at that time. No matter what he did, where he went, they would come swarming back to him, catching him off-guard every time, taking him forcefully on a memory trip of death.

And then Baekhyun appeared, Chanyeol thought dreamily.

Chanyeol remembered seeing the young Baekhyun lying on the concrete, blood streaming down the side of his arm. He, for the first time in a long, long, time, felt an urge to help the boy up. It was an impulse that was almost unfamiliar to him.

He remembered the moment when Baekhyun had looked up, his dark eyes filled with spite piercing through Chanyeol. Flashes of hatred, hurt, and betrayal appeared in those dark orbs, allowing him to almost feel the same raw pain the boy had.

Baekhyun was different. His eyes showed it. He wasn’t a plotting, scheming, two-faced . He was pure, uncorrupted, innocent, and saw all the good in life.

And, he made Chanyeol smile again.

When Baekhyun had introduced himself in that blunt, annoyed tone, Chanyeol couldn’t help but feel a smile slip onto his face.

The voice sounded ridiculously like his mother’s when she caught him doing something stupid and foolish. Instead of feeling a nauseating wave of pain, a wave of nostalgic warmth enveloped him.

That was when Chanyeol decided that Baekhyun was going to be his best friend. Baekhyun was going to be most important thing in his life.

“Baekhyun…” Chanyeol breathed, his eyes now wide open, staring at the ceiling.

His chest tightened as he remembered what had happened that afternoon.

What if Baekhyun really doesn’t talk to me anymore?

Chanyeol immediately bolted out of his bed, getting dressed quickly.

“P-prince, where are you going?” His servant asked, flustered, as he rushed out of his room, slamming his door close.

“Baekhyun’s house!” He called, running down the hallways and nearly tripping on the stairs. He knew what he was doing was stupid, and that Baekhyun was too nice to ignore him forever, but he longed to see Baekhyun.

“But, Prince, it’s late! Prince! Prince!!”

He could hear the servant’s desperate calls and pleas, but he ignored them all, flinging open the side door and rushing out of the estate. The cool summer wind felt nice against his skin as he ran down the familiar road he had walked a hundred times before. As he stood outside, ringing the doorbell frantically, the chill of the night finally fell upon him.

But he didn’t mind it.

Not when Baekhyun was standing in front of him, wearing a cozy-looking hoodie and sweats, staring at him like he had just seen a ghost.

“Hey,” Chanyeol murmured, smiling sheepishly.

The cold breeze seemed to disappear as Baekhyun’s body was pressed against him warmly, his arms wrapped tight around his shoulders.

“Hi,” Baekhyun mumbled back, burying his face in Chanyeol’s chest, feeling the vibrations of his laugh.

Suddenly, the night didn’t seem all that cold anymore.

___________________________________

A/N: As promised, guys, 2 updates this week. ...I don't know if I'll have two next week though ;__; depends on how devoted I am/how inspired I am.

AND omg guys, THANK YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH! Now I have over 100 subs for this fic alone :o

Goshies, I don't know what to say, except THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, here, have some muffins. -rain of muffins shower down- THANK YOU FOR ALL THE NICE COMMENTS TOO.

Lol, I love comments. A lot.

As thanks, I made a Baekhyun edit for you guys :D .... >.> It looks sorta lame, but I'm not too good at editing so sorry :o

Uhm, if I did this right, just click the picture for the full-size one. If I did t right. I hope I did. LOL.

Anyways, back to the story. Finally, our dear Jongin does something all kind, lol. Yeah, you can see that he really, really cares for his older brother. It's quite nice, really. And for the "traumatizing childhood experience", you'll have to read further to find out. But people who are familiar with Russian history should know already, lol. Don't spoil, guyses.

Oh! Fic recommendation!

I read a Baekyeol and Kaisoo one yesterday, and both made me cry buckets of tears. 

Us Two (BaekYeol)

Moving Closer (KaiSoo)

Awesome author right here, guys.

And then... I'm sure you guys are all aware of the fanfic "Anterograde Tomorrow"? It's beautiful. Simply beautiful. I read it in the summer and die every time I re-read it. Sadly, Changdictator left AFF because of plagiarizing issues (bad people >:O). Those who haven't read it, go search it up on livejournal! It's amazing.

And then there's the other awesome KaiSoo fic called "Arbitrage". That had me mindfked to the point that I couldn't even talk anymore >.> It's also very awesome and sad and angsty and makes me want to live in a hole and never come out again. (search it up on LJ, I'm too lazy to find it, lol)

And then (LOL YES THERE'S ONE MORE), there's "Jinxed" which is another KaiSoo fic (I love KaiSoo, okay?). This one had me... I didn't cry but I WAS SOO DAMNED PISSED in the end. All three of these KaiSoo fics make me feel like screaming, punching the wall, impaling myself with a butcher knife, and then blaming God for everything that has gone wrong. Good thing "Moving Closer" ended happily :o

Okay, that's sort of weird coming from me, because I looooove angst and I always tell my friends that I like tragedies. And I do. They're beautifully written, but I just get pissed and want to slap myself for liking it.

I'm done ranting guys. I think the A/N's like longer than the chapter itself.