Claustrophobia is the irrational fear of having no escape. The disorder is not usually genetic but brought up from past experiences in which the person found him or herself in a windowless room, a crowded elevator, or even the den of a dangerous animal. 

*

It was thirteen years ago in the middle of summer, when skin peeled and reddened in the sun, that Baekhyun’s life changed forever. Of course he didn’t know it when he awoke that fateful morning and ventured into his mother’s bedroom.

His mother was an interesting woman, and he meant that neither in a positive nor negative way. Her hair was a dark sky with golden hues laced through and through, and when she walked it hit her shoulders in the same dramatic way waves crash on the shore.

As Baekhyun rubbed his sleepy eyes and took a seat on her bed, he couldn’t help but notice how glamorous she looked. A scarlet dress hugged her body and when she leaned over her small vanity table, he saw her reflection in the mirror: a round face that had the chubbiness of a child. With a black eye pencil in her fingers, she carefully ran kohl along her eye lid.

But all of that was a facade. Baekhyun had seen flaws lurk beneath her make up and extravagance. 

After applying blood-red lipstick, she smacked her lips and it looked as if a rose had blossomed right on .

“Baekhyunnie, I have to go somewhere today. I’ll be home around 3PM, so Ms. Kim will be here to look after you in 20 minutes. Look after Soo till then, okay?”

“What about Grandpa-”

“Oh, hush. Ms. Kim will take great care of you. Be a good boy, okay? Promise me.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. He was far too old for making such promises.

“I promise.”

“That’s my boy.”

She planted a kiss on his cheek, but he scrunched up his nose as if someone was holding a piece of rotting fruit under it.

“You don’t want a kiss from mommy? What has gotten into you?!” She smirked and swung him around in her arms. He’d never admit how warm he felt in her embrace.

After a few spins, she lowered him down on the bed and wiped her forehead.

“God, you’re getting heavy.” Baekhyun pouted and she pinched his cheek. “I’m only kidding, babo.”

And with that she grabbed a black sequined purse and went downstairs. Baekhyun watched through the window as she walked towards her little car. Mothers weren't supposed to look like she did. She was neither old nor wrinkly.  Her skin never sagged and there were no black moons painted under her eyes.

She projected confidence and youth with every click of her heels. 

But Baekhyun knew too well that was a facade. 

*

Twenty minutes later, when Ms. Kim still hadn't arrived, Baekhyun shrugged his shoulders and woke Kyungsoo up. Afterwards, they toasted up some bread and thankfully Kyungsoo was quite adept at spreading jam on the slices- well, for a seven year old anyway, as Baekhyun liked to say.

Once he was done eating, Baekhyun decided to go outside into the backyard. If there was only one thing he shared with his mother, it was their affinity for the natural world. When she wasn’t swinging multiple jobs, she maintained the beautiful garden behind their small house. Baekhyun helped her when he could, and often sat among the flowers with rays of sunlight weaving through his hair.

As he sat on the grass now, daisies danced in the summer breeze. He liked to think of them as little yellow suns, each one orbited by its own set of planets. Twinkling stars in the night sky were really just billions of suns.

He guessed it should have made him feel insignificant since the world was so big and he was so little. But ironically, in examining the universe’s greatness, he felt great himself. When he looked out into the sea of yellow, he saw a plethora of worlds and the fact that he was a part of them left him suffused with joy.

Kyungsoo didn’t understand that sort of thing. Baekhyun often likened him to an insect, blissfully ignorant to the magnitude of life. Kyungsoo lived in a bubble, not knowing what lay ahead. Later on, Baekhyun found that he wasn't any better.

*

​Even though the warm air made his hands gleam with sweat, Baekhyun wound his fingers around a daisy and brought it up to his nose. Crisp, flowery aromas flooded his nostrils and took him to paradise. He knew he wasn’t supposed to pick his mother’s daisies, but what good were stars if you couldn’t reach up and touch them?

His peaceful alone time was interrupted by a voice he did not want to hear.

"Hyung!" shouted Kyungsoo.

Baekhyun groaned and opened his eyes. "What is it?"

"I’m … I’m scared.”

"Don’t act like a baby, Soo." replied Baekhyun, propping himself on his elbows to get a better look at his brother.

"I know … but why hasn’t Ms. Kim come yet? Can you call Mommy?"

"She’ll be here soon, don’t worry. Stop being such a baby.”

"Hyung!" cried Kyungsoo, throwing a piece of grass at his brother's face, and missing by a feet or two.

Baekhyun rolled over, and laughed and laughed with dancing sunlight illuminating his red mouth.

Kyungsoo scowled and made a similar noise to a dying elephant. "You’re so mean."

“I didn’t even say anything.”

“You’re laughing at me, hyung.”

“Oh c’mon.”

Kyungsoo grunted, and stormed inside.

The older boy sighed in relief and closed his eyes once again. Kyungsoo overreacted to everything and he was not in the mood to deal with him. Finally he'd get some alone tim-

But no, a leaf blower was running full speed somewhere close by. Baekhyun grunted in frustration and stood up hastily. How unfair, he thought to himself. All he wanted was some quiet. He followed the sounds of the blower and they led him next door - the annoying neighbors were cleaning their stupid deck.  

Baekhyun rammed his fingers in his ears and hummed a tune. Was some peace and quiet really a lot to ask for?

The buzzing sounds didn't stop and found ways to penetrate through Baekhyun's digits and into his ears. Soon all he could think about was how not to hear the leaf blower.

He ended up taking his fingers out of his ears. There wasn't much point in trying to achieve peace when it wouldn't work. He stood up, wiped the globs of mud and grass off his blue t-shirt, and walked towards the house. Before going inside, he made a crucial mistake;

he took a glance back.

His wandering eyes fell automatically on the grove of trees beyond the picket fence of his backyard. Sudden curiosity took hold of him, causing him to decide against going inside to his bug-eyed brother.

The forest on the far side of the fence was strictly forbidden. Not to the world but to Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. Their mother didn’t enforce many rules but she was unyieldingly strict about this one.

Kyungsoo was totally alright with the restriction, the forest scared him too much. Baekhyun, however, always reeled in curiosity over what lay in the woods.

The forest was a kite, and he was its string. The pale gold rays that peeked through green leaves melted Baekhyun's heart and made him take small steps towards the woods.

The plethora of trees were gilded with magic and wander and things unknown and now since he was alone, how hard would it be to just unlock the gate on the fence ...?

​No one would ever have to know. He'd go in, explore a little and come back. Fool proof right?

Baekhyun etched closer, and carefully undid the latch on the little door, eyes looking around nervously. Once he opened it, the sight of the lush forest staring back at him vacuumed all his anxiety. The beautiful green labyrinth invited him in.

As he walked, leaves crunched under his footsteps, and branches rustled against the wind's small whispers. The poignant smell of pine and wet rain hit his nose and he breathed it in as much as he could. 

Why did his mother not want him to experience this place? With every step, he became more confident, and increased his speed, eyes widening at the new sights. 

He was running now, faster than he'd ever done in P.E class, faster than a cheetah running for its prey. With every leap and bound, his happiness doubled. He didn't even spare one look for the little house he'd left behind. 

Thump.

​That was the sound Baekhyun's body made when it fell.

"Unghh" he whimpered, sitting up straight. Darkness surrounded him, and only a slight gleam of light shone down on him from above. Pain spread to every inch of his body, penetrating through skin, and down to the bone. He cried in agony, and when he tried to pick his mangled body from the ground, he was unable to do so. His ankles gave way, and he fell again, head banging against a black wall.

His perception became hazy, and his mind felt a little heavier than usual. The realization that he was trapped hit him like a blow to the gut. He'd just gone from the top of the world to the lowest pit of hell with just one fall. Angry tears poured out of his eyes, each tear stinging his skin like drops of acid.

​What would he do now? He was a broken little boy lying in a pile of damp mud and god knows what else. He couldn't even stretch his arm out completely in any direction without feeling a muddy wall.

​What if he never got out of here?  The image of his body rotting in this ditch twisted his stomach in a nasty way.

​"Mommy, help!" he screamed. He was under the deluded notion that if he exhausted every atom of his breath, she’d hear him.  

The sun disappeared and darkness took over when Baekhyun finally exhaled in defeat. He tilted his head back and took deep breaths. His throat ached from screaming and crying, so to release his frustration, he punched the black walls instead. 

What if this was his last night of life? What if he died here? Again, he imagined his skeleton decaying in this ditch and creepy crawlers chewing his face off then eating the flesh of his insides. The thought frightened Baekhyun to death so he closed his eyes shut and muttered to himself.

"It's okay Baekhyun. You're going to be fine. Mommy will find you and take you home. Then you'll watch Dr.Who reruns and eat vanilla ice cream with Kyungsoo. No need to be afraid. You'll be fine. You'll be fine." 

After some reassurance, Baekhyun felt better, but when he opened his eyes to find himself enclosed by four walls, his breathing quickened. He needed to get out now. His muscles tensed up in a way they'd never done before and Baekhyun knew he had to get out this instant or something really bad was going to happen.

He forced himself to stand up but immediately fell, hitting his head roughly against the wall. Feeling a little lightheaded, he tried touching his head but was too disoriented to do so. Tension built up inside him and before he knew it, his entire body trembled and shook. 

He no longer had control over his motions. Arms twitched upwards and legs went up and down in a fit of tension. 

Tears welled down his cheeks and the moisture in his eyes made everything blurry. It was like a demon had all the authority he had over his own body. The four pitch-black walls were the only ones that watched him squirm and writhe in the dirt. They became hooded figures in Baekhyun's mind and smirked down at him. He could almost hear their malicious chuckles echoing through the darkness. 

Baekhyun continued to spasm but managed to slur a few words. "Don't laugh."

The four walls snickered again and sounded more menacing this time. Their black eyes penetrated Baekhyun's.

"Don't laugh!" he screamed with every piece of energy he had left. The walls scoffed and closed in on him, black mouths ready to devour his soul.

*

 *

After completing his boss’ errand, Kris returned to the 24th floor to find the white chairs of his desk unoccupied and Chanyeol's lab door slightly ajar. His handsome face hardened as he walked hastily towards the scientist's play area. Upon entering he found Baekhyun knocked out on a chair, a pink tongue hanging loosely from his mouth.

Chanyeol was behind a desk nearby, pouring some sort of pink and blue concoction on what appeared to be cotton candy.

"Dr.Park!"

Chanyeol's shoulders tensed up suddenly and the blue and pink liquid splashed over his arms. 

"Fudge-caramels!' shouted the scientist, the spilt substance off of his arms and looking uncannily like a cat while doing so. He clearly hadn't noticed that his secretary was standing behind him.

"Dr.Park!" barked Kris again. 

"Oh Kris, it’s you! I didn't see you there," said Chanyeol, turning around to face his secretary. His eyes greedily eyed the box of cookies in Kris' hand. "Oh good, you brought the food!"

When he extended an eager hand to grab the box, Kris slapped it. "Oh no, you don't! What the hell did you do to the kid?!" He pointed to Baekhyun, and parted his lips to release an exasperated sigh. 

"I just wanted to make sure the anesthetic works."

Kris scrunched up his face like he was about to combust into flames. "You've already tested it out successfully 27 times, Dr.Park!"

"Indeed," said Chanyeol, pushing his glasses further up on his nose. "But, I wanted to try it on a person who was feeling nervous."

"Nervous?"

"Yes. See, hospitals make people nervous, right?"

Kris nodded, and folded his arms together. "Right."

"So, I wanted to give the anesthetic to someone who was genuinely nervous so that his response would be similar to a patient's."

"Baekhyun was nervous?" 

"Well he certainly displayed the symptoms: clammy hands, quivering voice, large pupils, mild lightheadedness," replied Chanyeol, swinging his arms nonchalantly. Kris scoffed and walked towards Baekhyun's body, grazing the boy’s cheek with cool fingertips. 

"It's not even been one day, and he’s already broken my rules. I specifically told him not to go in to your lab … Are you sure he's the one? He can't even follow the simplest of instructions."

"Well he did listen to me," chuckled Chanyeol, his twitching eye melting Kris' heart. "And besides I learned some interesting things about him."

"Like what?" 

"He's a severe claustrophobic."

"Okay, how did you figure that out?"

"Alprazlolam Ethanamide: the main chemical derivative used in Prayzoc."

"What?"

"Prayzoc, as in the medication for claustrophobic patients…I got a whiff of it as soon as he walked in, and once he was out cold, I checked his shirt pocket to find two pills."

Kris raised his eyebrows and frowned. "That's rather interesting."

“I suppose it is. But not as interesting as the fact that the eye liner he’s wearing is made from a specific form of sodium that went off the market in 1992, the same year as his birth, I believe.”

Kris flailed his hand in annoyance, “Big deal.”

“For all we know, it could be. Doesn't the fact that he’s wearing something so old imply that it holds some sort of sentimental value?”

“Why does that even matter?”

“I don’t know. Sentiment's fascinating, don’t you think?”

Kris' narrowed his eyes for a brief second, then shrugged, “I suppose.”

"Well anyhoo, can I have the cookies now?"

Kris grimaced but handed the box over, "Let me remind you that I am your head secretary and that if you ever, and I mean ever make me get cookies for you-"

"They're not just for me, y'know."

"Well in that case, I'll have two," said Kris, his scowl turning into a small smile.

"No, you misunderstood. They're for Baekhyun hyung and me."

Kris rolled his eyes and  his heel: the fall of his footsteps in cadence with Chanyeol's chuckles.  

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ayo wassup readers?

so..uhm yeah hope you like the update. as always i'd like to thank my beatiful beta LotusK. also happy new year to you all. 

note: Prayzoc and Alprazolam Ethanamide are both fictional.

i leave you with the greatest gif ever made [credit goes to exokm on tumblah] work dem hips jongin