♦♦♦ Prologue ♦♦♦

In Baekhyun's opinion, it was the worst three months of his life.

(Emotionally) getting over a certain one-hundred and eighty-five centimetre giant wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do, especially if your apartment was filled with things that constantly reminded you of the happy-go-lucky twerp (or douche bag, as Baekhyun had grown used to calling him ever since the break up).

The cabinet in his living room contained CDs of Chanyeol's favourite video games which he used to play with Baekhyun if they weren't ing like bunnies in their shared bedroom (which was usually the case, hence the reason why Baekhyun sometimes had to force himself to sleep in the said bedroom after the break up). Chanyeol's yellow apron (which had the adorable message 'Bacon and Eggs! ♥' printed on the front) still hung from the hook on Baekhyun's kitchen. His refrigerator still sported the magnetic alphabet that Chanyeol had bought on a whim, spelling out 'I'm sorry, babe~ forgive me?' on the cold surface (Chanyeol had accidentally broken Baekhyun's favourite CD hence the apology).

The bathroom was no better. Chanyeol's favourite yellow toothbrush still hung from its place on the mirror, beside Baekhyun's light blue one, and his favourite towel (which he had personally customized with the word BaekYeol) still hung  from the towel rack.

It took Baekhyun's whole being to touch and move all of Chanyeol's stuff into a box without breaking down into a sobbing and whimpering mess. Still, he didn't have the guts and heart to throw or burn them all away, so he just pushed it into a deep, dark corner in his apartment (a.k.a. the space under his bed).

On the first day of his fourth month being single (which he hated, by the way), he was dragged by Taemin and Minho to a newly opened bubble tea shop. Baekhyun wanted nothing more than to stay home, but the two older boys managed to get him into something decent and drag him out against his will. So now, we see him sitting with said boys, him feeling very much like a ing third wheel. He sipped loudly on his bubble tea (which was good, really), catching his friends' attention.

"Oh, sorry, Baekhyun, we kind of lost you there." Taemin said, pushing away Minho's hand which was getting dangerously close to his crotch.

"I'd like to go now, if you don't mind." Baekhyun said quietly.

"What's got you in a hurry? Come on, just stay with us for a bit longer, okay? Like old times?" Taemin pleaded, smiling and throwing his best aegyo at Baekhyun.

"If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to heal a ing broken heart here. Seeing you two acting all lovey dovey in front of me is not only unbearable for me, but it's also very rude and inconsiderate of you two." He hissed, setting down his cup on the table loudly.

"Wait, what broken heart? You have a friend who got dumped or something?" Minho asked, raising an eyebrow at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun wanted to punch the confused look off of Minho's face. He just wanted to make his fist and that annoying face connect in the most painful and brutal way possible, but he couldn't since he wasn't in the mood to create a scene. Plus, doing that would only remind him more of Chanyeol since he was the one responsible of controlling Baekhyun's y dragon side.

"What the , you guys? Are you serious?" Baekhyun asked, glaring at his friends.

"What? We're so lost right now." Taemin said, frowning.

"I'm not even sure if I should call you my friends or not."

"Of course, we're your friends, you idiot! If you've got a friend in need, we'll be there for him, too, I guess." Taemin said, shrugging.

"What do you-- guys, I'm the one with the ing broken heart." Baekhyun hissed angrily, rolling his eyes and ignoring the ache in his chest.

"Wha-- you?! Since when? Holy sunuva." Minho breathed, leaning over the table and looking at Baekhyun curiously.

Baekhyun sat up straight in his chair and glared at Minho.

"What the do you mean, since when?!" Baekhyun repeated, feeling the growing urge to knee Minho in the stomach.

"No, I mean, why don't we know this dude? You've never introduced him to us."

Baekhyun stared at his friends who had genuine looks of surprise on their faces. Which was weird, really, because three months ago, just before the break up, these two were the ones complaining about Baekhyun and Chanyeol's frequent PDA sessions. When Taemin and Minho were over at their apartment, Minho and Chanyeol were the one beating each other's asses on Mario Kart. Baekhyun raised an eyebrow at them.

"....Guys, I'm talking about...Chanyeol." He started.

"...who?" Taemin asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Uhm...I don't think I've had many boyfriends for you guys not to remember him. Park Chanyeol?"

"Sorry, dude, doesn't ring a bell...you sure you weren't dreaming or something?" Minho looked at Baekhyun strangely.

"Choi Minho, Lee Taemin, I will pour my bubble tea on you guys if you don't stop this right now. It's already hard enough for me to cope with this break up. Don't add with your annoying act of cluelessness. It's not cute."

"No, seriously, Baekhyunnie, we don't know any Chanyeol dude. Who are you talking about?" Taemin retorted, looking at Minho for approval.

"185cm tall, shoulder length hair which he usually ties into a low ponytail. Deep voice, does this really weird, uhh, facial twitching thing, when he laughs. Minho, you ing play Mario Kart with him for God's sake." Chanyeol might have dumped him, but it was seriously horrible of Minho and Taemin to forget him this easily.

Sure, the guy had been missing in action for three months already, but friendship doesn't go away that fast. Baekhyun wanted to strangle the couple in front of him.

"I only play Mario Kart with Taemin. What are you saying, man."

Baekhyun groaned, taking out his wallet. He really didn't want to take out that picture, but he couldn't throw it away since it was the only photo he had from last Christmas wherein everyone was present. Without glancing at it, he took it out of his wallet and placed it on the table for his friends to see.

"See? Right there beside me. That's Chanyeol." He whispered sadly, sighing.

"Dude, are you on drugs something?" Minho asked him, looking genuinely worried.

"What?"

"Baekkie, the one beside you is Kyungsoo and Jongin. Just them." Taemin said, sounding equally worried as his boyfriend.

Baekhyun stared at them, and slowly, he took the photo back with shaking hands. He put it up to his eye level and scanned everyone's faces. Sure enough, just like what Taemin and Minho had said, Kyungsoo and Jongin were the ones beside him.

No Park Chanyeol.

"What in the ing hell is..."

Baekhyun was in his apartment, sitting in the midst of what seemed to be the aftermath of a hurricane. Albums were scattered everywhere, and the box containing Chanyeol's stuff was sitting idly in a corner. Baekhyun threw it a helpless look, and he looked back at the photos again.

All of these photos were supposed to be of him and Chanyeol. The two of them in Disneyland LA. The two of them in a park in Seoul. The two of them just playing around at home. The two of them during their first and last Halloween. The two of them under the mistletoe (which Jongdae had taken secretly).

But in any of the photos, Chanyeol wasn't there.

It was only Baekhyun in the photo, smiling as Cinderella's castle is seen behind him. It was just him in the park in Seoul. It was just him playing around at home (and looking very much like an idiot). It was just him donning on a weird Halloween costume. It was just him standing under the mistletoe, a goofy smile on his face.

Just him.

Baekhyun, unable to understand any of the that was happening, sprang up to his feet and out of his apartment. He needed to breathe, and he felt that the walls of his apartment were closing in on him. He caught a glimpse of the box that contained Chanyeol's stuff, and he felt that familiar lump in his throat. He ran up to the rooftop, opening the door hurriedly and stepping out into the cold night breeze.

He crashed down on his knees, panting and sobbing. He didn't even know the exact reason anymore on why he was crying. He just knew that if he stopped the tears again, he'd explode. So he stayed still, kneeling and crying and whispering his problems into the air.

"You're not insane, Baekhyun."

Baekhyun snapped his head up, looking for the source of the voice. He saw a young man around his age, maybe younger, sitting on the edge of the rooftop. His hair was an unusual shade of pink, and he had this innocent yet I-know-more-than-you-think-I-know atmosphere going on around him. Baekhyun, despite feeling very lame after having been seen in one of his vulnerable moments, managed to frown at the person.

"Who the are you and how do you know my ing name?" An emotionally wrecked and pissed off Baekhyun was no good boy. Nope.

"Calm down, Baekhyunnie. Trust me."

"Why the should I trust you? And will you just answer my questions? You're creeping me out."

"I'll tell you who I am in due time, but for now...well...all you need to do is jump." He said casually, dangling his leg over the edge as if it was the most normal and safest thing to do considering that they were on the rooftop of a freaking twenty-floor building.

"Uh, no thanks, man. I may be in an emotional ty mess right now, but I'm not suicidal."

"He's real, okay? Chanyeollie is real."

Baekhyun stared hard at the frail-looking, pink-haired boy. Taemin and Minho, one of the two closest people to him and Chanyeol, didn't even remember the one-hundred and eighty-five centimetre twerp and yet this boy, whom he had no recollection whatsoever of meeting or even going diva mode on, knew him. Something about the way he said 'Chanyeollie' clicked something in Baekhyun.

"Come here, Baekhyun. Trust me. Jump."

As if on auto-pilot, Baekhyun stood up from his spot shakily, wary of the boy. He made his way closer, closer, closer, and soon, the pink-haired boy was holding on to his elbow like a little kid. Baekhyun threw him a strange look.

"By jump...look, man, I'm not suicidal. I swear."

"Will you please just trust me? God, Chanyeollie wasn't kidding when he said you were a chatterbox." The pink haired boy said, giggling.

"You-- wait, you know him?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"...who are you?"

"I'm Luhan." He smiled, and without any warning, he stepped on the ledge, pulling Baekhyun with him.

In that moment, nothing seemed to matter to Baekhyun anymore. Time seemed to stop. Everything seemed to pause as Luhan, still clutching onto his arm, let himself fall from ledge, pulling him along. Baekhyun's inner diva wanted to smack Luhan on the arm and say, 'you said jump, idiot, this isn't jumping' but he restrained himself, feeling lightheaded and empty.

And so, with Luhan holding on to him, he let go of everything.

Byun Baekhyun let himself fall.