The birds outside the window were chirping away in the morning glow, the sea threw itself against the banks of the warm beach, breaking the same way it always had, but inside Luhan’s summer house, not a sound could be heard other than the soft sigh of Jongin as he peeked around the corner to look at Baekhyun.

It had been a few days since Jongin’s little snap at the other and it was more than safe to say that he had been regretting it ever since. It had been a few days and nothing had been the same; Baekhyun had grown distant, taking a habit of sitting close by the windowsill while gazing out the window, and Jongin was lucky if he could even get a vocal response from the other. It felt so unnatural to him, all of it. It simply wasn't right, not waking up to the sweet and melodic calls from Baekhyun in the morning, falling asleep to the softest, kindest lullabies in his ear at night, and the ever present laughs and questions that filled in the space in between the two. But Baekhyun had now turned silent and it was definitely eating Jongin up inside and shredding his guilty gut up into bits. All Baekhyun did was sit there these days, and Jongin wasn’t even sure if he had been sleeping ever since that night.

A large part of his brain knew that truthfully, Jongin shouldn’t care about it, about what Baekhyun thinks or does. He was a robot, and at the end of the day, could a robot ever feel hurt over words? Could they feel sadness or sorrow? But then, Jongin would find himself bringing his gaze back and the pitiful sight in front of his eyes made the tinier, less rational part of his mind dismiss everything else. He knew that he had to do something about what he had caused. He couldn’t take it anymore.

Before he could back out due to a toxic mix of guilt and anxiety building up in the pit of his stomach, Jongin gulped, walked towards the other and gently tapped him on the shoulder. Baekhyun look up slowly as if he hadn’t been expecting it at all, making sure what he saw was truly reality before he opened his mouth to speak. “Yes?”

And it was music to Jongin’s ears.

“Hey,” the human started awkwardly, avoiding his eyes to the rising sun outside the window. He was never good at these sorts of talks. “How’s it going?” He really wasn’t.

Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows and looked up. “I—I thought you were mad at me?” The confusion was clear in his voice. Jongin vehemently shook his head before scratching the back of his head.

“I’m not mad at you, Baekhyun. What gave you that idea?” And in that moment, Jongin was legitimately surprised he was able to write coherent lyrics with the clear failure in social talking he possessed.

“But you raised your voice at me two nights ago, I thought that—“

Jongin quickly interrupted Baekhyun with a shake of his hands. “Oh I wasn’t mad!” He denied but was only thrown a skeptical look in response. “Ok… well maybe I was a little bit but,” Jongin slowly took a seat beside Baekhyun, noticing happily that the other shifted over slightly to accommodate him, “I’m not mad anymore and I’m sorry.” Jongin hesitantly placed his fingers on Baekhyun’s cold wrist biting his lip as he watched the other’s expression. It seemed to take a few moments for Baekhyun to process the words Jongin had said, and the apology, but when it did, his head nearly whipped off his body with the force he turned to face Jongin.

“You aren’t mad at me?” Baekhyun’s voice was a mix of incredulousness and joy, which sparkled in his once dull eyes. A smile spread across his face for the first time in what had felt like a lifetime to Jongin, and it was all worth it.

“Of course not!” Jongin couldn’t help but smile back, “I’m really sorry though, for the misunderstanding…” he trailed off, feeling the left over traces of guilt give him one last shove in the heart.

“Oh no, it’s ok, I’m just glad that I haven’t angered you,” Baekhyun replied simply, patting Jongin’s hand with his own. But for Jongin, this wasn’t enough for the other; Jongin hadn’t done enough to show his sincerity yet.

“No, I still feel bad about it,” he admitted sheepishly, and before Baekhyun could cut in, he continued, “so let me make it up to you ok? That’s what humans usually do. Let’s go to the beach. We can feed the seagulls if you want to."

“Really? You’d take me?” Baekyhun asked in shock. Jongin chuckled.

“Of course. I see the way you look at them every morning, flying across the window. Let’s go!” Jongin said excitedly and got up from his seat. Baekhyun’s face lit up like a light bulb and Jongin felt his world get just a little bit brighter from the way Baekhyun's entire body beamed.

-

The birds outside were chirping away in the afternoon sunshine, the sea threw itself against the banks of the warm beach, breaking the same way it always had, and down the main sidewalk of the summer town, footsteps could be heard along with a dull thud when Baekhyun collapsed onto the sweltering pavement.

-

Jongin nearly fainted right then and there when Baekhyun, who had been lagging beside him, suddenly fell to the ground, eyes shut and unresponsive to any panicked yells or frantic nudges Jongin gave him. Jongin had never been so nerve wracked in his entire life and in that moment, the whole world became a blur as he quickly swept Baekhyun up into his arms and ran for it. Jongin ran to the only place he knew he could. Going to a hospital was completely out of the question for the most obvious reasons, and he couldn’t just take Baekhyun home and hope for the best.

No.

That left him with only one option, and before he knew it, he had arrived right in front of Chanyeol’s shop’s door. The faded wood and pinned sign was still the same as it had looked before, but Jongin didn’t have time to dwell as he forcefully threw it open and ran inside. The interior was also vacant as he had suspected, dusty and stale, but he wasn’t about to give up. “Hello?! Is anybody here?!” Jongin yelled frantically, voice nearly breaking and delving into hysterics. He was met with silence but before he could clear his throat to call out once more, Chanyeol had appeared at the back, almost as if he had melded from the shadows of the hidden door in the wall, walking towards them with a questioning look. Jongin ignored the strange nature of the taller’s sudden appearance and strode up to him.

“What’s the matter here?” Chanyeol’s calm voice was in direct contrast to Jongin’s throbbing nerves.

“I don’t even know! We were just walking and then he just collapsed... I don’t know! Help me, please!” Jongin spoke up the best he could with the jumbled state his mind was now in. Chanyeol, with his large sweeping eyes, asserted the situation; Jongin was all flustered and disheveled from running with Baekhyun, dormant and resting, held in his arms. With one last pause, Chanyeol, with his curled hair flopping down over his eyes, gently reached out to take Baekhyun out of Jongin’s arms. The tanned boy was at first, reluctant to let his music box go, but the rational part of Jongin’s brain kicked in and he released him, feeling a sense of helplessness wash over himself as he knew that everything was now ultimately out of his control. Jongin could only watch from his spot as Chanyeol slowly turned his back and walked away, opening the door again in the back, which revealed an ominous white light.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be back in a sec,” Chanyeol called out before he shut the door behind him with his foot. In the meantime, Jongin found a little stool propped by the table in the middle of the room and made his way over, plopping down bonelessly as if his legs had finally given out. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed by, but it was too long, much too long for his racing mind to handle.

What if Baekhyun had malfunctioned? Over heated?

He never should have overreacted at Baekhyun—it wasn’t his fault because he didn’t know. He didn’t know the truth.

What if Baekhyun was never alright ever again and it was all his fault? Jongin didn’t think he could live with himself anymore if that was the case—if he was the reason why Baekhyun would never smile again, or laugh or walk upon this Earth with his innocent eyes that shone like the stars and his voice that filtered through the cracks that had been surely filling Jongin’s world.

But before Jongin’s imagination could pummel his sanity into bits, a creak was heard, which shot Jongin straight up to his feet as Chanyeol entered the room again, but this time with a wide and almost literally face splitting smile. Jongin felt a huge urge to swipe that smile off his face with the back of his hand. How could Chanyeol be smiling in such a dire situation?! “I have good news!”

Jongin took that back. “Good news?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol replied, “it seems that Baekhyun was merely out of power. But it’s fine, he’s charging up in the back room as we speak. He should be up and running pretty soon.”

“Out of power…?” By now, Jongin's relief had worn down and his mood was now replaced with confusion. He never thought about that before, what kept Baekhyun powered.

“Oh yes,” Chanyeol began to explain with his index finger pointed up in the air, “Baekhyun recharges his system every time he sleeps, or should I say, ‘sleeps.’” Chanyeol made quotations in the air with his fingers. “Did you not know? Oh actually, more importantly, had he not been sleeping lately?”

Jongin squirmed away under Chanyeol’s gaze, although it wasn’t particularly scrutinizing or patronizing, when he felt a twinge of guilt clawing up again at his sensitive insides because perhaps, he had disappointed the other. It wasn't present in Chanyeol's eyes or his voice, but Jongin felt that way. He was in charge of Baekhyun’s well being and in that moment, Jongin, with his all of his ignorance about the whole ordeal, felt like he had failed. He had failed both Chanyeol and Baekhyun. “I—I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know that Baekhyun hadn’t been sleeping…” And that was when he finally realized, that for those past couple of days after his snap, Baekhyun never did go to sleep when he sat there alone, always alone.

Chanyeol, seeing the furrow of Jongin's eyebrows, purse of his lips, and his conflicted expression, couldn’t help but let out a deep laugh as he reached out to lightly ruffle the other’s hair. “It seems that someone has gotten a bit attached to their music box I see.”

Jongin looked up in surprise at the mischievous glint in Chanyeol’s eyes and quickly held his arms out in front of his chest. “What?! No, no, no I haven’t!”

This only made Chanyeol laugh harder and Jongin swore he could feel the walls vibrate around him from the sheer bass that emitted from the strange giant's laugh. “I’m sure you haven’t, Jongin. But you know there’s nothing wrong with that.” And before Jongin could bite back another denial, Chanyeol’s smile suddenly dropped from his face and his eyes turned unusually serious before he cut him off. The once bright atmosphere suddenly fell and Jongin gulped. “But I have to warn you, you mustn’t get too attached to Baekhyun, you understand?”

Jongin nodded.

“You mustn’t let him take even more of your heart than he has because remember, he’s only with you for a maximum of 30 days, and after that, you must give him back.”

Jongin felt utterly dumbfounded and he felt his heart suddenly beat uncomfortably at the implications behind the warning. “But I’m not… too attached… am I?” He questioned out loud to no one in particular. His voice was soft and hesitant, which made Chanyeol’s eyes soften as he gently placed his hand on Jongin’s shoulder.

“Try to think about living without him, Jongin. Can you?”

Even though they were simple words—even though it was a simple question, Jongin couldn’t formulate an immediate answer. The right one was obvious. Jongin had lived without Baekhyun for his entire life leading up to their meeting. He had lived perfectly and should be able to continue the same way afterwards.

Should.

But could he? They had barely known each other, barely began to understand each other, but yet, “he’s become a part of my life now.” And now, was the only way Jongin could imagine living. Jongin felt a squeeze in his shoulder from Chanyeol who smiled once again, real or forced, no one knew.

“It’s fine, Jongin. I’m only saying this for your own good and to remind you. Just—just be prepared in the future if your feelings continue to grow, because with every gain, there is also a loss.”

And Jongin didn’t understand these words until it was far too late.

-

Back at home, Baekhyun felt like he was suffocating, literally, as Jongin shoved another fluffy pillow into his face. “Jongin! Stop! I have enough already!” The music box managed to mumble from behind his thick blanket as Jongin insisted that he take it for “extra comfort”.

Right after they had returned, Baekhyun, although insisting that he had completely recovered and that it was indeed not Jongin’s fault for his own negligence, the other had none of it and proceeded to fawn over Baekhyun’s every little need or whim. It was a kind gesture, one that Baekhyun would be lying if he said that he didn’t appreciate, but after Jongin had insisted on literally every step of the walk home that he carry him, and even getting out an umbrella so that the sun wouldn’t irritate his eyes and no bird would poop on his head (Jongin’s words, not his), he had taken it too far. Baekhyun, with one last sigh, jumped up from his fort of pillows that Jongin had stacked onto his bed, which he lent to Baekhyun to force him to rest, and crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s enough!”

“But—“ Jongin looked up and started to pout before he was silenced by Baekhyun’s stern glare. Baekhyun felt something inside himself relax before he gently walked over and sat on the edge of the bed where Jongin was standing, pulling on the side of Jongin’s sweater ever so slightly.

“I’m fine now, ok? It’s not your fault so you can stop this now, Jongin, I don’t really like to be smothered. Whether I need oxygen or not, it's not a pleasant feeling.”

Jongin slumped down next to him and sighed into a nearby pillow. “I’m sorry, I just cant do anything right, can I?”

Baekhyun reached over and gently patted the back of his hand. “No, I’m touched really, or at least I think that I am…”

“But I yelled at you.”

“Jongin, I understand and I forgive you, isn’t that enough?” Baekhyun tilted his head. Wasn’t that the way it was supposed to go? Why couldn’t Jongin just move on when he already did ages ago?

“No, no I want to make it up to you. Is there anything that you want to do? An eye for an eye, that’s only fair.”

Baekhyun recognized the idiom and smiled. “Well, if that’s the case… there is one thing."

Jongin shot up. "Anything."

"All I want right now, more than anything else, is to sing.”

And Jongin couldn’t have been happier or swifter to comply.

-

After a bit of sorting, Jongin decided to show Baekhyun the piece he had been working on called Machine, which was near it’s completion. And to bring it up a notch, he was planning on sending it back home to Kris and Luhan as a preliminary demo. Baekhyun was delighted at the prospect and made sure to sing with all his might and skill. Seeing him like this, doing what he was made to do, with the shine back in his eyes where they belonged, Jongin couldn’t have been happier with the ways things were right then and there, with no lingering thoughts of their looming future.

-

Jongin sent the recording by email to the company and he next morning, he was woken up to the blaring sound of his message alert while he blindly reached over to the bedside table to check his phone.

37 unread messages

16 missed calls

All from Luhan. 

Jongin should have seen that coming but yet, here he was, scrolling down countless messages that started off calm and collected, but he could see gradually more and more profanity was thrown in as the night wore on. Jongin couldn’t help but chuckle at all the emoticons and the obvious deterioration of his best friend’s mental state. Here was the highlight reel from last night’s events:

Jongie I like this song! And cool you found someone to sing demos for you? ヾ(@^▽^@)ノ

Wait a minute…  ( ・∀・) you found someone to sing demos for you…? ( ・∀・)

Who is this guy, aND WHERE DID YOU FIND HIM?

OMG JONGIE DON’T TELL ME HE’S A HOBO THAT YOU LET INTO MY HOUSE Σ（ºд º///）

Jongin reply to me

Bastard *poke* (｡･_･｡)σ

(*・_・)ノ How’s your tan going?

If you do not answer this in the next 5 minutes I am gOIng TO pAY You A ViSIT And It WILl nOt BE PREtTy jk we all know I'm always pretty (◡‿◡✿)

That’s it, I have a free schedule tomorrow and I’m taking the first flight down there to whoop your .

I’m gonna do it, you know I am (◕‿◕✿)

I did it (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ See you tomorrow my Jongie~ I hope you know you have a lot of explaining to do.

Upon reading the last text sent, which was time stamped 5:06 AM, Jongin internally face palmed and externally groaned loud enough to send Baekhyun’s head popping through the door a few seconds later with a worried frown. “Is everything alright in here?”

Jongin nodded his head and sat up before getting out of bed and calmly walking into the kitchen with Baekhyun trailing behind. He surveyed the room around him and focused up on all the places that needed a little bit of organizing or cleaning before Luhan was going to arrive, whenever that would be. “Hey Baekhyun, you remember my friend Luhan, right?”

Baekhyun nodded enthusiastically. How could he forget the person who gave such a splendid performance, one that was recorded into his memory logs for safekeeping and motivation? “Of course!”

“Well good, because he’s decided to pay us a little visit.”

“What, really?! When?”

“Well I’m not sure, but first of all we need to lay down some ground rules for when he gets here—“

“No need Jongie, I’ve already arrived.”

The room suddenly turned dead silent as Jongin slowly looked up from his spot, only to see another figure had entered the room. He was tall, slim, with a head full of golden hair covered by a straw fedora. He had a beige backpack slung over his shoulder with an all too familiar deer keychain dangling down fron it's zipper. His face was covered in a pair of huge black sunglasses and his thin pink lips were pulled up into a notorious up-to-no-good smirk. In his hand was a pair of keys, spinning around the metal loop it was attached to around his index finger.

“Luhan,” Jongin breathed.

“Jongin,” Luhan returned before turning his attention to the only other person left in the room. “And you are?” The sugary sweet essence of his voice was turned up a notch. Baekhyun’s eyes widened at the person in front of him, almost not believing his eyes. He smiled and immediately took a step forward, taking Luhan’s outstretched hand like he had just met his childhood hero.

“Hi I’m Baekhyun, model number one, processor version twelve.”

By now, Jongin had turned white as a ghost while he watched Baekhyun staring up at the Chinese boy in utter admiration and the former, turning his head ever so slightly to face Jongin and mouth to him a few words.

“You have a lot of explaining to do.”

Author's Note:

Oh my I am really sorry for the late update OTL

I was really busy with other things this week *cough* SHINee's comeback *cough* *wheeze* *hack* *dies*

And so I hope you understand and forgive me haha as SHINee has taken over my life 

About this chapter, it was supposed to include the whole escapade of Luhan that's going to come, but it ended up way longer than i had expected~ so anticipate!! haha

Thanks for reading and for those who commented as well ( /  ^ u ^)/ <3