Chapter 20
InkHeart
Baekhyun couldn’t understand why he felt so at ease. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He needed to be miserable, agitated, these guys were supposed to be driving him up the wall with such lame jokes and overwhelming energy. But that sadly wasn’t the case. Yes, he wasn’t alone with Zora as he wanted, it wasn’t a small visit down memory lane between the two of them anymore but more like a Christmas social gathering between friends. And the worst part was – he was enjoying it.
He actually enjoyed having Chanyeol push him and convince him to buy stuff. He enjoyed having Luna, who like a caring mother was watching out for everyone. He enjoyed King’s company and acting, having seen the puppy transform himself into a human-being whenever signs warned ‘NO PETS ALLOWED’, as creepy as it was, he could only laugh. He even enjoyed Kai’s presence as a whole, despite feeling the need to hate his guts; his sarcasm and quiet behaviour around such an enthusiastic group couldn’t help but remind Baekhyun of somebody. Somebody he couldn’t put his finger on. But nonetheless, the two were clearly awkward; only exchanging strange glares and glances.
This wasn’t good, if this keeps up then it’s going to be even harder for him to avoid them. He would’ve convinced everyone to go home if he hadn’t noticed that he wasn’t the only one enjoying this time. Yes, despite the below freezing temperature, the girl in simple jeans and a thin white shirt was radiating with bliss. After seeing her so happy, so overjoyed and content, Baekhyun couldn’t bring himself to rain on everyone’s parade, especially not hers.
Not knowing where else to put the thing, Baekhyun gave Chanyeol the snapback cap he was wearing and wore the woolly beanie given to him by the old lady instead. The taller male glared at the foreign object in his hand. “You’re…You’re giving me this?” Disbelief widened his eyes.
Baekhyun shrugged, “I already have lots of them at home. Keep it. It’s Christmas” Feeling a bit awkward, he avoided eye contact.
A wide grin stretched across Chanyeols face before all of a sudden, Baekhyun felt his body being lifted from the ground. “Whoa, , Chanyeol! What –“
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!!!” Chanyeol said as he embraced Baekhyun in a spine-crunching hug.
Unfamiliar with the contact, Baekhyun just struggled, trying to worm himself out of Chanyeol’s arms, “A-Alright, alright, just put me down god dammit” When his feet finally reached the floor, Baekhyun brushed himself off. Geez, he never thought someone could be so happy about receiving a second-hand gift.
“Zor! Look! Look what Baekhyun gave me!” He dashed over to Zora.
Why Baekhyun started laughing he didn’t know. It was like looking after a child, Chanyeol was just so full of energy. A bit like Zora actually.
“You seem at ease” Kai spoke up, the male somehow appearing beside him.
Baekhyun’s smile instantly dropped into a frown, “Whatever”
“Have you finally realized?”
“What cryptic bull are you giving me this time?” Baekhyun growled.
Kai’s eyes narrowed, “Are you mad at me by any chance?”
Baekhyun scoffed, “Why would I be mad? You think I’m mad? I’m not mad!” Only after he said it did he realize how ironic it was. He was saying he wasn’t mad with such an angry tone that he wasn’t even surprised when he saw how amused Kai looked. “Fine, I’m…a little bit angry” He admitted.
“Oh? And why is that?” Kai bloody well knew the answer. Oh, he knew it well and Baekhyun could tell that he did. There was just that certain cockiness in his voice that told him so.
Baekhyun suddenly felt uncomfortable, he buries his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and stared off into the distance. “Dunno”
Kai shook his head, laughing dryly, “Wow…it makes me mad how stupid you are” At that remark, Baekhyun turned to glare at him, but found that the pair of eyes that looked back at him were too familiar for words. The eyes that reflected sorrow, loneliness, indifference…yes, he knew these eyes all too well. It was like looking into a mirror. “It makes sense though…If you were a bit smarter then maybe I would be too” Kai said, almost solemly.
“What’s that supposed to…” Baekhyun would have finished his sentence if the store behind Kai hadn’t caught his attention. A mobile shop. And they were still open. Baekhyun couldn’t help but think back, remembering that Zora’s phone got damaged the day she was taken. But surely, they weren’t allowed mobile phones in mental institutions anyway…right? That doesn’t mean she can’t sneak one in, Baekhyun smirked at the thought, causing Kai to stare at him back with knitted eyebrows. “Just a sec” Baekhyun dismissed himself.
Complaints of hunger left the gang no other choice but to go home, although Baekhyun didn’t miss the chance to get some ddeokbokki for takeout. Once everyone was back home, Luna cooked up a quick meal, with Baekhyun’s permission of course. He almost forgot that she was supposed to be no one but a stranger, and here she was, cooking up a feast in his own house. Geez, if Uncle Max found out then Baekhyun just knew that his uncle would bury him alive.
After coming home, Zora rushed right into her room – surprisingly. Baekhyun figured that she’s probably been itching to draw all day. Actually, maybe all month. Now that he thought about it, didn’t she say that the mental institute wouldn’t let her draw? It was something along those lines, right? It was strange the way she freaked out when he asked her that but he couldn’t imagine why. What was so wrong with drawing? Did they think she’ll stab herself with a pencil or something? Eat the paper? Bleed to death from a paper cut?
“Baekie!” Chanyeol’s voice cut off Baekhyun’s string of thoughts, the taller male was sat cross-legged on the couch, waving around the TV remote with one hand and patting the space beside him with the other, “Let’s watch a movie together! Come on! Bring the snacks too!” His bursting enthusiasm made it hard for Baekhyun to disagree.
King helped fetch the snacks and brought them to the living room. Chanyeol put in some random disk that had probably been collecting dust on the shelf for years. He must have done this often because despite it being his own house, Baekhyun already forgot how his own DVD player worked. And Chanyeol was working the thing with no problems.
“What film are we watching?” Kai suddenly appeared on the piano chair, strangely enough not even startling anyone. Damn it, even Baekhyun was starting to get used to it.
Chanyeol had to check the DVD case for the title, “Mir…Miracle…in Cell No.7” He answered.
A sudden smile tugged at Baekhyun’s lips. Ah, that film. Jongdae gave him it as a second-hand gift sometime in the beginning of the year. ‘No more dude, I can’t handle this film, just take it, if you don’t cry in this then you really are stone cold’ His exact words were. Being not so much a fan of sappy movies, he left it, only to come home from school one day to find Zora buried under a blanket decorated with tissues. Baekhyun remembered rolling his eyes and ignoring her, letting her drown in her pool of tears.
“Baekie?”
“Hm?” Baekhyun found Chanyeol blinking at him curiously.
“Why are you smiling? Is it a comedy?”
Damn, was his grinning that obvious? A little embarrassed, Baekhyun cleared his throat and jerked his head, “It’s a good movie” He commented, inwardly anticipating the reactions he’ll get.
“Awesome!”
Not even half way through the commercials, Luna came out with dishes for everyone, even a plate of dog food (presumably) for King. “Oh, Baekhyun, where’s the ddeokbokki takeout that you brought honey?” She asked.
“It’s on the kitchen table, I’ll go-“
“Oh don’t be silly, I’ll go get it!” She grinned, happily trotting back into the kitchen where she found the white plastic bag resting on the table as Baekhyun said. She takes out the boxes of rice cakes, however a particular blue and white box caught her attention. “What’s this?” She murmured to herself. Only when she noticed the logo and the picture on the box did it click and a wide, content smile curved her lips. “Oh, Baekhyun…” She shook her head, chuckling to herself before sighing, a wave of guilt suddenly washing over her. I’m so sorry dear…
Luna returned to the living room with the boxes of ddeokbokki. And at the sight of the thick red sauce, Baekhyun blurted, “Oy! Zora! Come downstairs! I brought your fav…” He froze and all of a sudden, three pairs of eyes make their way to him. “E-Er…” He started to stutter. Luna tried so hard to keep her smile to herself and Kai just shook his head at him. Oh, Baekhyun…
Before anyone could say anything else, Zora’s footsteps were heard stomping down the stairs and she made her appearance, she was back in her normal white pyjamas but her hair was still down. Her face lit up when she spotted the ddeokbokki and darted to it, instantly picking up the toothpick and shoving a rice cake into , beaming in delight.
Aware of the eyes that were on him, Baekhyun pulled his usual poker face and focused on the screen. But his usual poker face wasn’t enough anymore. The gang have already seen what’s behind the mask.
Zora took the seat beside Chanyeol and nudged him, jerking her head towards the screen.
“Oh, we’re watching a movie. Miracle in Cell no.7”
Baekhyun secretly predicted Zora’s reaction; her eyes would widen like saucers and she’d walk right back up those stairs with her white polystyrene box of rice cakes. But much to his surprise, Zora practically jumped with joy, her grin possibly wider than before.
“Is it that good?” Kai asked, walking over to her and taking a seat on the armrest of the couch. Zora nodded her head, an exaggerated ‘oh my god, you have no idea’ expression on her face. Baekhyun’s brow furrowed at her, the rice cake left dangling from his mouth as he tried to decipher her.
Luna seemed convinced, “Really? Oh, I might just join you then, I love a good movie, what’s it about?” She made herself comfortable on the single armchair, her own plate of omurice sitting on her lap.
“Er, it’s about-“ Chanyeol took out the DVD case, about the read the blurb when all of a sudden, both Baekhyun and Zora pounced at him, Baekhyun being the first to reach the DVD case and snatch it away from him.
Chanyeol blinked at them quizzically, “Mwo?”
Baekhyun and Zora glanced at each other, “S-Spoilers” Baekhyun answered. Despite not even having seen the movie before, he knew there was a spoiler at the back. How? It was exactly what Zora did to him when he asked how she could cry so much at a ‘dumb movie’. He remembered when he was about to read the blurb and all of a sudden Zora snatched it away from him. Déjà vu.
As the movie went on and everyone was comfortably watching, Baekhyun found out that Chanyeol was the type to be completely immersed in a movie once it starts. The usual chatter box and loud mouth was long gone before the movie even got half way through. So much that Kai nudged Baekhyun and pointed out Chanyeol expression to him. The guy had a spoonful of omurice still in his mouth, his eyes narrowed at the screen in full concentration, oblivious to the world around him and they couldn’t help but laugh.
Baekhyun couldn’t figure out why everyone thought it was so sad. It seemed like quite a light-hearted film to begin with. However, once it got nearer to the end, everyone was in full focus on the screen. Kai and Baekhyun weren’t laughing anymore. It got to that point of the film, the , and Luna was the first to start the water works, bringing in a box of tissues for herself and the others, followed by Chanyeol’s outburst. Then it went to King who turned himself human just to fit in and then it went Zora, who was using her pyjama sleeves to hide the tears, but sure enough, Baekhyun caught the first tear that fell down her cheek before she could quickly wipe it away.
With the lights dimmed and the TV screen lighting up her face, Baekhyun couldn’t help but stare at her. Just her side profile…Just one side of her face. He couldn’t believe someone could look so beautiful whilst crying…
Wait what?
Baekhyun snapped his head back to the screen, wanting to slap himself in the face. What was he thinking? No, focus on the film, focus on the film. He chanted to himself.
It got to the point of the film where Baekhyun himself found it very difficult to hold the tears back. When he felt the tears threaten to fall he would turn away instantly. What was wrong with him? He’s never cried in a movie before. It didn’t help that he had Chanyeol beside him, blubbering like a baby. Even when the film ended, Chanyeol was hugging the pillow, his knees to his stomach, his face contorted.
Kai was the first to get up and to turn the lights back to normal. But what this? His eyes are red too.
“That was so sad” Luna cried, blowing her nose into the tissue.
Baekhyun was just glad that it was over. No tears fell so it was mission accomplished. He smacked Chanyeols leg playfully and laughed, “Hey, it wasn’t that bad” He just knew that Chanyeol would storm into the kitchen or some kind, hit him for saying that it was a good movie or something along those lines. But for the second time, he was surprised by his remark,
“Can- *hic* Can we- *hic* watch it again?”
“What?” Baekhyun urged, thinking that he heard wrong.
“I wanna watch it again” Chanyeol said, still in tears. “It’s *hic* so goooood” He cried.
Baekhyun just didn’t get it. He was crying, right? “Why would you want to watch a film again if you’re just going to cry?” He blurted
“Some people just like crying when there’s no reason to” Luna said, sniffling. “Chanyeol must get it from Zora” She laughed.
At that, all eyes fell to Zora who was so deep under the blanket that she was barely visible. She puts her hand out to say that she’s fine before Chanyeol suddenly hugs her through the thin blanket, blubbering incoherently, “Ye-Seung-ahhhh~” He cried, causing Zora to pop her head out of the blankets and laugh at him. Her eyes and the tip of her nose were red but she was smiling no less.
There was a tug of jealously at Baekhyun’s heart as she hugs Chanyeol back. Another thing he never knew about her. So she liked these kind of things. He’ll remember that for nex–
He stopped himself when he noticed that Kai was glaring at him, watching his reaction closely to the skinship between Chanyeol and Zora as if he was anticipating a certain reaction. But Baekhyun refused to give him any and quicker than ever, he puts his poker face back on. “I’ll clean the dishes”
Having let his mind wonder whilst doing the dishes, Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel uneasy. He was letting his guard down, he was opening up too much, he was getting too attached…and not to mention…No! He couldn’t be swayed. After doing the dishes, Baekhyun ran straight up to his room and focused on his school work again.
The tactic worked for a good couple of hours and before he knew it, it was already dark. “I’m kinda hungry again” He murmured to the walls, hesitantly glancing over to the door. He wouldn’t be surprised if the others thought he was bipolar or something. He let his guard down so many times today that he was afraid the guys would start suspecting something (as if they already weren’t). His stomach growled at him, demanding to be fed.
With a sigh, Baekhyun got himself up and headed downstairs, only to find a Park Chanyeol, knocked out and snoring in an odd position on the couch. All that crying must have tired him out.
“No…Get away…” He murmured in his sleep. What was the giant on about this time? “Stop it! Get away!” Baekhyun was startled when Chanyeol swung his fists at the imaginary character. “I don’t like needles! Stop!”
Baekhyun brows creased. Needles? How did he even know what needles were? Oh, if it was anything with a sharp point then he must be on about earrings. He remembered that the first time he met Chanyeol, the guy only just found out what those ‘pointy things’ were. Baekhyun shook his head, dismissing Chanyeol as he made his way into the kitchen. Wow. What if he acted like that whenever he had nightmares. Those nights of running around in an endless white maze, tracking down the screams, he shuddered at the memory.
He just about opened up the fridge when his eyes caught sight of the white plastic bag sitting on the table. That’s when he remembered what he brought with the emergency credit card Uncle Max gave him years ago that was left in his pocket. What possessed him to buy it so suddenly, he wasn’t sure. But he couldn’t possibly return it now…So he had to give it to her.
Baekhyun couldn’t remember the last time he gave Zora a Christmas present. The only thing he could remember was getting scolded by Uncle Max for not getting her anything, the cause for his distaste of Christmas as a child. Looking back, he must have been such an immature kid.
He sighed looking at the bag and fishes the box out. It was an exact replica as the one Uncle Max got her…knowing Zora and her thing for sentimental value, she wouldn’t want any other model. Now the only problem was how he was going to give it to her…it’d be awkward to suddenly give her a Christmas present after so many years of not doing so.
Baekhyun bit his lip in thought and put the box back down onto the table. He didn’t think this through.
“Aren’t you going to give it to her?” Luna’s voice appeared, only just about startling Baekhyun.
“Geez Luna, I swear you’re worse than Kai” Baekhyun pushed the box away from him secretively. Luna raised an eyebrow before giving him that ‘are you serious’ kind of look.
Nevertheless, she smiled whole-heartedly, “Christmas is almost over…don’t you want to give that to her?”
Baekhyun heart randomly skipped a beat, his cheeks flushing a light shade of pink, “What? This thing? No, who said I was…” He couldn’t lie. Not when Luna was looking at him like she already knew everything about him. “…Should I?”
“Of course! Zora would be over the moon!” She said, batting her chrome-tipped eyelashes. But even with Luna’s support, Baekhyun still felt awkward. He suddenly wanted to change the topic.
“That movie was pretty sad, huh?”
“Oh, too soon Baekhyun!” Luna fanned herself, as though the tears were about to fall again. Baekhyun could only laugh dryly.
“Sorry…Where’s Kai? I don’t see him” He asked; too busy messing with the box at his fingertips to notice Luna’s face suddenly drop. She went quiet all of a sudden, hesitant before taking a deep breath in, “Baekhyun…about Kai –“
An agonized scream from the living room made them freeze on the spot. Both heads snapped towards the incoherent screams and instantly, Baekhyun and Luna ran to the living room. But Baekhyun couldn’t register what he was seeing in front of him quick enough to react.
“Chanyeol!” Luna dived to his side. Chanyeol was in hysterics, yelling and screaming whilst clutching his head, his eyes squeezed shut. “Chanyeol! Chanyeol!” Luna cried, trying to calm the boy down, but nothing was working.
Baekhyun stood there, dumbfounded. Not only was he screaming like a lunatic but the tattoos…those words similar to the one along Luna’s neck was all over his face, all over his body. Just a minute ago, Chanyeol seemed fine. What...What happened?
“BAEKHYUN!” Luna's panicked cry snapped him back into reality. “Go check on Zora!”
“But Chanyeol-“
“GO CHECK ON ZORA! HURRY!”
It took a second for it to click, but once it did, his body moved on its own. Chanyeol was Zora’s creation. If he was like this, then Zora…
Baekhyun moved so fast that everything went by in a blur. He stormed to her room and gracelessly burst through the door. His eyes skimmed around her room, finding her body lying on the floor. “ZORA!” Baekhyun falls to his knees beside her, turning her body and holding her up. Her face was paler than usual, translucent, her lips almost the same colour as her pyjamas. Baekhyun’s heart raced, pounding heavily at his chest in alarm, “Zora! ZORA!” He shakes her vigorously, but her lifeless body just lies in his arms, motionless. Something was wrong. “ZORA!” tears brimmed at his eyes, blurring his vision. Why wasn’t she responding?
He laid her back down and pressed his ears to her chest.
There's no heartbeat.
Comments