It was the third city that Baekhyun visited this week. Baekhyun smiled looking at the lake in front of him. The afternoon sunshine was sparkling on its surface. Baekhyun pointed his camera, capturing the beautiful scenery.

After capturing a few pictures, Baekhyun decided to take a little rest. He walked towards the lakeside, sitting there and enjoying the wind blow. He took a bottle of water from his black bag, drinking it while looking at the pictures that he took.

But soon Baekhyun could feel that someone had just arrived at this place. He turned his head and found a tall guy stood a bit far from where he sat. Baekhyun couldn’t see his face clearly, so he took his camera and pointed it to the guy, taking a picture of him.

“It’s not very clear…” Baekhyun mumbled to himself. He then took a few steps closer to the tall guy without making any noise so the guy wouldn’t know he was here.

Click!

And then Baekhyun saw it, the expression of the guy.

He is so handsome… but why does he look so… lonely and sad?

“Who’s there?”

Hearing the deep, low voice of the tall guy, Baekhyun hid behind the big tree beside him quickly. He didn’t want the tall guy to know he was taking the photo of him.

“Somebody’s here?”

That deep voice again. Baekhyun held his breath when he felt the tall guy came closer.

Please, don’t come here, don’t come here…

Baekhyun could breathe freely as he heard the footsteps went away from the place he hid. The tall guy was going back to the place he stood first. Carefully, Baekhyun took his step and went away from the place.

***

Baekhyun laid his body on the hotel bed, keeping his look at the tall guy picture. He did really adore the expression of the guy, even it was the saddest expression he’d ever seen. How could he say it, sad yet beautiful? Whatever. But he’d never seen such an expression before.

“What did happen to you…? Why you looked so sad…?”

A sighed escaped from Baekhyun’s lips.

Honestly, Baekhyun wanted to see this man again. He wanted to talk to him. He wanted to know why he had such a sad expression. Because of that, Baekhyun decided to come to the lake again the day after. At the same time, in the same place. With a hope he would see the tall guy again tomorrow, Baekhyun fell asleep.

***

As Baekhyun expected before, the tall guy he took his picture yesterday was there, still with the same expression.

God, that sad face.

Slowly, Baekhyun came closer to him. And when the guy felt somebody was coming approach him, he turned his head.

At the time their eyes was meeting, and Baekhyun swore it was the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen.

“Uh… hello?” Baekhyun said those words with such an awkward smile appeared on his lips.

The guy looked at the shorter boy. “Hey,” he replied. “Who are you?”

“I… uh… well, I’m Baekhyun. I’m a photographer.” Baekhyun replied, showing the camera on his hand. “And you are…?”

“Chanyeol.” The taller said, giving Baekhyun a smile.

“Chanyeol…” Baekhyun mumbled, repeating the name as if he wanted to test it. And it felt nice in his mouth. “What are you doing here, by the way?”

“Nothing. I use to come here.” said Chanyeol. He then sat on the lakeside, looking at the lake blankly.

“Can… umm… can I sit here with you?” Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol, saying the words carefully. He didn’t want to sound too rude or something that could make Chanyeol disturbed.

But Chanyeol just smiled and nodded slightly. “Of course.” he said.

“Thank you.” Baekhyun smiled back at the guy before sitting beside him.

Silence came between two of them, but it seemed they really enjoyed it. Sometimes Baekhyun reached his camera and took a picture, and Chanyeol would look at the photographer with a smile on his lips.

“So,” Chanyeol finally spoke up, “you’re a photographer,”

“Yeah.”

“And you come here to photograph this place?”

“Well, yes.” Baekhyun smiled as the cool breeze blew. “I know this place from someone I know. He said there’s a beautiful lake in this city, and I can say he’s definitely right.”

“It’s indeed beautiful…” Chanyeol whispered. His eyes looked softer than before and Baekhyun could see it changed.

There must be something in this place that very precious to him…

“You must have something, like a precious memory maybe, in this place.”

“How could you say that?”

“Well… if I were you, I would not come to the same place again and again if I didn’t have something I treasure the most in that place.”

A smile, the sad one, appeared on Chanyeol’s lips. “Well…”

“Am I right?”

“Maybe…”

Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol just to find the taller guy’s face fell down. “What’s wrong, Chanyeol…?” he asked hesitantly.

“Nothing.” Chanyeol shook his head. “I just… remember about something.”

Baekhyun opened his mouth to say something, but he canceled it. He decided to keep quite even though he really wanted to ask what did happened back before. No, it wasn’t his business.

Again, the silence came between them, until Baekhyun finally called Chanyeol’s name. “Chanyeol…”

“Hmm?”

“Will you come back here tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

“Around this time too?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Can I come again tomorrow?”

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun with a surprised look. “Well…” he replied. “I’m okay with that. But don’t you come here to photograph? You’d better go around the town instead of sitting here with me.”

“Hmm… how about you join me tomorrow?”

“Me?”

“Yes. You can take me to walk around this town, can’t you? We will have such a great time together!”

Chanyeol smiled at Baekhyun’s words. “You say it like we will have a romantic date.”

Suddenly Baekhyun felt his face got hotter. “I-It’s not what I mean!” he said. “I mean… w-well, I don’t really know about this town and I need a guide… so don’t get it wrong!”

Chanyeol chuckled looking at the red tint on Baekhyun’s cheeks. “I get it, don’t worry,” he replied. “So, we’ll see again tomorrow?”

Baekhyun gulped. “Y-Yes, if you don’t mind…”

“I don’t mind it at all.” Chanyeol said. “Well, I have to go. See you tomorrow, Baekhyun.”

And then Chanyeol stood up and left Baekhyun alone.

The afternoon cool breeze blew Baekhyun’s dark brown hair as the boy touched his chest, feeling the unsual heartbeat.

It beats faster.

***

Baekhyun smiled happily when Chanyeol walked him to the amusement park. It was a long time since he came to the amusement park. Maybe it was about two or three years ago. And even the bad weather—the sun was hiding behind the clouds today—couldn’t reduce Baekhyun’s happiness.

“Let’s ride the rollercoaster!”

“Hey, what are they selling? A cotton candy? I want it!”

“Chanyeol, stand beside the clown! I’ll take your picture!”

“Chanyeol! They sell balloons! Let’s buy one of it!”

Chanyeol couldn’t help but follow what Baekhyun wants. “Easy, Baekhyun. We have a long day to spend here.” he said when Baekhyun pulled him to ride the merry-go-round.

“Oh, no. I want to go to the lake in the afternoon.” Baekhyun said. “Hey, hey, is that—aah!”

“Hey, watch out!”

Baekhyun closed his eyes tightly as he stumbled over his own feet, ready to hit the floor.

But he didn’t hit the floor. There were warm arms holding his body tightly.

“Clumsy,”

Baekhyun opened his eyes and found that Chanyeol was holding his body before he fell.

And their face was so close Baekhyun could feel Chanyeol’s warm breath swept his cheeks.

“S-Sorry!” said Baekhyun, quickly ducking to hide his reddened face.

“Are your legs okay?” Chanyeol asked. He extended his hand to help Baekhyun up.

“Y-Yeah…” Baekhyun replied. He took Chanyeol’s hand, letting the taller to pull him up.

“Good. Because I’m afraid we have to run over to my house, the rain will start falling really soon.”

Baekhyun looked up at the dark sky and realized that Chanyeol was right. “Is your house nearby here?” Baekhyun asked Chanyeol.

“Yes. It’s apartment, actually. It’s not too far from here.”

Not too long after Chanyeol said his words, the first raindrop fell onto Baekhyun’s nose. “I think we have to go now…”

Chanyeol took Baekhyun’s hand. “Let’s go.” he said, pulling the older and running together with him.

But the rain wouldn’t wait for them to reach Chanyeol’s apartment. It was getting heavier and heavier, and they couldn’t help but stop running for shelter.

And there were they, in front of an old, empty warehouse near the amusement park, stood closer to each other to reduce the coldness.

“I-I’m so cold…” said Baekhyun with voice shaking with cold.

“I wonder if we can get in…” Chanyeol muttered. As long as he knew, this warehouse was always empty nowadays, and he believed it was warmer inside.

Chanyeol then tried to open the warehouse door. Thank God it wasn’t locked.

“C-Can we come in? Is that okay?” asked Baekhyun.

“Well… it’s better than here.” Chanyeol pulled Baekhyun to come in with him.

Chanyeol sighed in relief. As he thought, it was warmer inside the warehouse. Maybe it was a bit dirty remembering how long this place had not been used, but it didn’t even matter as long as they could find a warm place until the rain stop falling.

Baekhyun took a seat on the warehouse ground, rubbing his cold hands to make it warm. “So cold…” he said in weak voice.

Chanyeol looked at the freezing guy before saying, “Put off your clothes.”

“W-What?”

The taller guy put off his long-sleeves shirt and repeated, “Put off your clothes, it’s soaking wet. You’ll catch a cold if you resist keeping it.”

“B-But…”

Chanyeol sighed. He squatted beside the blushing Baekhyun, pulling off the shorter boy’s white shirt.

“Chanyeol, d-don’t—“

“Do you think I’ll make something bad to you?”

Baekhyun couldn’t say any of word hearing Chanyeol’s words.

“Don’t worry. I’ll just try to make you feel warm.”

As Chanyeol said so, he pulled Baekhyun into his embrace.

“Chanyeol…!”

“It’s better, isn’t it?”

More than ever. “Uh… yeah, I feel warmer.”

“Good.”

Baekhyun buried his face on Chanyeol’s bare chest. He closed his eyes as he heard the tall guy’s heartbeat. It made him feel so calm. The coldness was gone, there was just Chanyeol’s warmth that surrounded Baekhyun’s body. And Chanyeol’s scent, Baekhyun loved it really much. Slowly, Baekhyun pulled his hands up, placing them around Chanyeol’s body to hug him back.

They didn’t know how long they hugged each other, but now they realized that the rain was stop falling.

“It’s stop,” said Chanyeol as he got up, walking towards the door and opening it.

And Baekhyun could say that he hated it when Chanyeol’s arms were gone from his body. He suddenly felt so empty.

“So, we can leave now?”

“I think so.”

Chanyeol took his shirt and wore it back. Baekhyun did the same before standing up and walking outside. He squinted as the ray of light blind his eyes. “Wow, the sun shines warmly,” he said with a smile on his lips. “Where are we going now?”

Baekhyun turned his head to see Chanyeol and his eyes widened as he saw Chanyeol behind him, standing under the sunshine. Baekhyun could see the taller guy’s flawless skin looked brighter under the warm ray, and Baekhyun loved it as the rain drops on his dark brown hair sparkling every time the sun shone on it.

And, Chanyeol smiled at him. Just a little small that made the older guy felt like melt.

This beautiful creature… I’ve never seen nothing like him…

“We need to change our clothes since they’re soaking wet. Let’s go to my apartment, I’ll lend you my clothes,”

Baekhyun nodded, following Chanyeol to go to his place.

***

“Here, drink this.” Chanyeol handed a cup of hot chocolate to Baekhyun whose sitting on the couch in the living room. Baekhyun now was wearing Chanyeol’s black, long-sleeves shirt which seemed too big for him. But Baekhyun liked it. The shirt felt warm on his skin, and he loved Chanyeol fragrance on it.

“Thanks,” said Baekhyun, taking the hot chocolate. The warmth spread in his body as he sipped it. “It’s the most delicious drink I’ve ever drank,” he added, giving a smile to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol sat beside Baekhyun, smiling back. “Good to hear,” he said before turning his head to look outside through the window. “It seems the rain is falling again,” he added.

“I love rain…” It makes me can stay here with you for any longer.

“I hate it.”

Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol. “Why?” he asked.

Chanyeol looked down to his lap, feeling hesitate to answer. He anticipated if that he could tell his reason to Baekhyun, but soon he said, “I broke up with my boyfriend when it was rain. It was about a month ago, but… well, I still can’t move on.”

Baekhyun blinked his eyes. So that’s why he looked so sad in that photo… he thought. Somehow, his heart felt so heavy hearing Chanyeol’s reason. He was like… jealous? Yes, he was jealous there was somebody Chanyeol loved the most.

Realizing that Baekhyun didn’t say anything to respond, Chanyeol patted his head. “Don’t think about it,” he said. A sad smile appeared on his firm lips, making Baekhyun feel his heart would break.

No, don’t give me that sad smile...

“Chanyeol…”

“Yes?”

“Can somebody replace him in your heart…?”

Chanyeol chukled. “I don’t know. I never think about it. Moreover, who would?”

Baekhyun clenched his fist. He ducked his head, gulping before saying, “Me…”

“… sorry?”

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol. His face was red as apple. “I want to take his place in your heart.”