*Chapter 23;

The thunderclouds rolled in quite fast that night, blocking out his view of the sky that should have been pink, orange, and purple. Baekhyun knew he was in trouble, too, when he opened his cellphone to discover that his mother had called sixteen times with minute intervals in between. He sort of gave up thinking of a good excuse, so he decided not to answer her call (expecting the sheer fury he would have to face tomorrow, if he got back).

Once the weather started to go gloomy, though, the neighbors dispersed and the home was abandoned except for the old lady who still sat on the front porch, fanning herself with a thick clump of newspapers.

"You'll have to stay for the night, it's going to rain until tomorrow."

Baekhyun glanced up, his hands still warmly wrapped around Chanyeol's, then nodded slowly. All he managed was a simple "thank you" even if he meant to be a little more sincere to the old lady who had shown the two nothing but kindness for the past few hours. She was different than the rest of the townspeople who were quick to judge and accuse Chanyeol of being crazy, even if she hadn't said much to them ever since Baekhyun found Chanyeol there.

Judging from the stillness of the neighborhood, he also guessed she or anybody else hadn't called the police yet, but he knew it could be a different story the next morning.

For a long time, Baekhyun sat in the dark with Chanyeol, ignoring how exhausted or hungry he was because he was afraid Chanyeol would open his eyes and he would miss it by doing something else like sleeping or eating. He wanted Chanyeol to wake up knowing his brother was physically by his side and not transient, only reachable with words and bittersweet hopes of a tomorrow that might not come. He wanted Chanyeol to know he was loved even while he was sleeping, because he hadn't received enough of it while growing up.

There were so many things left unsaid that Baekhyun wished he had more time to tell him, not on paper but spoken face-to-face. While Chanyeol slumbered, Baekhyun recited those words in his head, still lacking the courage to say them even if he had the perfect opportunity to.

I missed you. Life is boring without you. I'm sorry for everything I've done to you and everything I might do to you in the future. I'm so happy you're my brother, Park Chanyeol.

He hadn't even noticed that the old lady had gone to bed in another room of the small house that had just one other room spacious enough to fit two people. He had been too distracted by his thoughts. Baekhyun didn't want to move Chanyeol from the porch though, mainly because the weather was comfortably cool and the flooring was warm enough to keep them cozy.

Baekhyun sighed and rested beside Chanyeol now, using his own bicep as a pillow while the other hand lifted the blanket up to Chanyeol's slowly rising-and-falling chest. He thought Chanyeol must be dreaming of something sweet because he would catch a glimpse of a smile here and there, but Baekhyun decided not to imagine what that something was. Knowing Chanyeol, it could have been anything because he knew Chanyeol smiled at the strangest, randomest things sometimes.

Chanyeol's mentality was like that of a child's; the world was an infinitely better place to Chanyeol than it was for everyone else his age and Baekhyun only appreciated that way of thinking now. Before, he used to think Chanyeol was immature, but really, Chanyeol had taught Baekhyun more about life than he could ever hope to know.

Chanyeol, Baekhyun thought, was amazing. He knew so little, yet he knew so much, and now aware of that, Baekhyun felt more like a child in Chanyeol's presence than ever before. He wanted Chanyeol to hold him, to reassure him, to be his support beam, to guide him home in the dark, to just be there while he poured out his heart.

Yet, he knew Chanyeol couldn't be that for him, and Baekhyun was strangely okay with it.

As the sound of the rain hitting the shingles reached his ears, Baekhyun realized he had been drifting in and out of sleep for the past hour, hypnotized by the comforting sounds of Chanyeol's breaths. He opened his eyes slowly and Chanyeol's ear came into view first, which he noticed was bent at the cartilage shell and a bit oversized, like Dumbo the elephant's. He followed the contour of Chanyeol's cheekbone to the unsettling bruise that covered Chanyeol's left brow.

His heart sunk into the pit of his stomach at the sight of Chanyeol's face marred with nicks and injuries. How he had gotten them he didn't know, but he assumed he had tripped and fallen over somewhere, maybe into a bed of leaves that had some sharp rocks and branches in it.

"Clumsy idiot," Baekhyun muttered under his breath, but his words were imbued with affection that he had grown into over time. Why he was talking to an unconscious Chanyeol was beyond him, but something convinced his conscience that maybe, somehow, Chanyeol could hear him.

He fell asleep shortly after the rain ebbed into a faint murmur, his legs pulled up in a fetal position because the blanket was only big enough to cover one full body. The floor was thankfully warm but the weather was still unforgiving as it reached two and three in the morning. Between three and four in the morning, Baekhyun dreamt of running on a wide field with a soccer ball dribbling between his feet, and there was Chanyeol on the other side. Suddenly, the missing background materialized into a colosseum packed with cheering fans and Baekhyun was strangely used to the fanfare. They were chanting his name (Baekhyun! Baekhyun!) as he sprinted towards the goal and Chanyeol. He should have drawn his right leg back to strike when he had the chance, but he kept running towards Chanyeol and jumped into his open arms. The crowd disappeared. The field narrowed. He was home.

Blink. Blink blink. Blink blink blink. Blink.

When Chanyeol's eyelids fluttered open, they flickered like shutters on a camera for a few seconds, his blurry vision adjusting to the new sight of a roof over his head. He couldn't remember much, especially not how he had ended up there.

His body felt heavy when he tried lifting his shoulders from the hard floor so he gave up struggling and turned his head from left to right instead, stopping at his left when he saw Baekhyun's face. He was so close that the tip of their noses almost touched. Chanyeol stayed absolutely still for a few seconds, letting Baekhyun's presence sink into his perspective of reality, but that momentary state of confusion was, indeed, momentary. A smile blossomed on his face and he resisted the urge to wake Baekhyun up in case Baekhyun was dreaming or he was dreaming.

Slowly, Chanyeol to his side, not caring about the aches throbbing in his bones or all the misfortunes that had been nipping at his heel the past few months. Everything was okay because Baekhyun was here.

Chanyeol carefully pulled the blanket towards Baekhyun, noticing how cold he looked shriveled up and trembling. He tucked it up to his brother's shoulder and smiled again, this time his smile not so wide and obnoxious as they usually were but endearing and gentle, like a big brother looking after his younger sibling.

It was safe to say Chanyeol remembered and cherished all the moments Baekhyun spent taking care of him, making sure he was well-fed and satisfied while Baekhyun thought Chanyeol was clueless of his grace.

He tucked his arm under his head, mimicking Baekhyun's posture. They were face-to-face now and Chanyeol stared at Baekhyun's face for a long, long time, admiring how so very delicate but perfect his features were. Everything from Baekhyun's eyes sloped downwards at the corners to his pink lips was so lovable.

Chanyeol leaned in, closer and closer, until his lips were on Baekhyun's. They barely touched but he felt the warmth flooding into his entire body, making his heart thump a little faster than normal. Well, he wasn't sure what normal was, but he liked kissing Baekhyun so he did it again, this time pressing a little closer with really no thought in his head but "I really like Baekhyun. I missed Baekhyun." That was all the motivation and reason Chanyeol needed to pull such a bold move because he innocently associated kissing with showing affection.

The more he kissed him, the more he could show Baekhyun that he loved him.

It was too bad that his eyes were awkwardly open as he kissed Baekhyun a third time, and when his lips were pressed to Baekhyun's, he was staring into his brother's wide open eyes—

A full second passed.

"What the hell!" Baekhyun shrieked, kicking Chanyeol off of the porch.

It turned out that Baekhyun had kicked Chanyeol in a man's very vital area and sent him rolling on the ground. By the time Baekhyun had any idea what was going on, Chanyeol got up, his legs twisted together like a pretzel and a hand squeezing his throbbing crotch because dear God, he had never felt so much pain in his life.

"That was your fault. You shouldn't have... k-kissed me like that." Baekhyun huffed, gently pounding Chanyeol's tailbone with a closed fist. His tone of voice was clearly angry but the blush on his cheeks convinced anyone otherwise, that he wasn't really angry deep (deep, deep, deeeeep) inside and only wanted to use that as an excuse to cover up his embarrassment.

For what it was worth, he was happy to see that Chanyeol had recovered for the most part. The color was back in Chanyeol's face and so was the smile he missed so much (it felt like he hadn't seen him in years when it had really only been a few months).

They bickered for a while like he assumed they would (Baekhyun was still a little too shy to initiate hugs or anything of that sort, especially after he had woken up to Chanyeol's face zoomed up to his), then Baekhyun brought up a tentative subject: "Why did you... run away from the... institution, Chanyeol?"

The smile on Chanyeol's face vanished like a blown-out flame on a candle wick and he stared at Baekhyun emotionlessly for a while. "I-I... They didn't let me see Baekhyun."

Baekhyun nodded slowly, trying to muster up a small smile. "We should go back tomorrow. They're going to look for you and there might be more trouble... if we don't get you back..."

"N-No..." Chanyeol stuttered, scooting away from Baekhyun on his until his back pressed flat against the nearest wall. He shook his head hard, the fear so clear in his gaze that Chanyeol looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Chanyeol..."

"No!" Chanyeol whimpered, pressing his hands tight against his ears to drown out Baekhyun's voice. He trembled and fat tears rolled down his cheeks. "Chanyeol doesn't want to go back!"

Baekhyun was at a loss for words as he witnessed Chanyeol crumbling before him, sobbing and pressing himself against the wall so hard, as if... as if he had done it before, as if he was trying to get away from some demon out to get him. He reached out to Chanyeol but his hand was motionless in the air because he didn't know how to comfort him. He didn't know what words to say. He had never been the best at expressing his emotions, especially to Chanyeol. He was so close to touching Chanyeol's hair, but his hand dropped because he was suddenly so scared that Chanyeol might pull away and yell at him again.

Chanyeol hiccuped and whined even louder. "Th-They said they will kill Baekhyun if I tell anyone. They said they will never let Chanyeol see B-Baekhyun again..."

Baekhyun swallowed the dry lump in his throat. "Tell anyone what, Chanyeol?"

"No..."

"Chanyeol, talk to me..."

Before he knew it, Baekhyun's hand was on top of Chanyeol's head, fingers curled in his brown locks. He his hair down to his cheek and gently pulled Chanyeol away from the hard wall with his other hand.

"It's okay, Chanyeol... I'm here, now. I'm here," he finally said.