"Yes, I truly believe that you aren't the one setting those fires."

Never had Chanyeol felt guiltier. He had confessed to Baekhyun the truth, and Baekhyun claimed to not believe him. In fact, he seemed to be denying the truth, like he wanted to hold on to this ideal image of Chanyeol. It was both a little upsetting, yet heartwarming, to have someone believe in him so much that he was outright ignoring the truth that was right in front of him. Chanyeol could no longer ignore the truth though, his feelings for Baekhyun making his heart pound just by being close to the other; maybe this really was meant to be, and maybe, just maybe, he wasn't bad for Baekhyun after all.

Guilt was still the overwhelming emotion as he kissed Baekhyun, and again, and as he agreed to be in a relationship. It was the wrong decision, he was sure of that, but at the same time, he just couldn't help it. He couldn't remember the last time someone had so wholeheartedly cared for him as Baekhyun did, not since his parents had passed away. Having gained Baekhyun, as a boyfriend, Chanyeol didn't want to lose that, and since he knew that both Baekhyun's mother and Yixing would never allow this, he asked Baekhyun to keep it a secret.

You shouldn't be together! Chanyeol's brain yelled, over and over. He deserves better!

Chanyeol knew that better than anyone. Byun Baekhyun deserved much, much better than the crap he'd been dealing with his entire life, and Chanyeol had only succeeded in causing him more pain. And that was the main cause of his insomnia that night. At around 2 A.M, Chanyeol got out of bed, unable to just lie there any longer. Leaving his bedroom, he saw Baekhyun asleep on the couch, a little lump underneath a blanket. Chanyeol smiled despite himself as he moved to kneel down next to him. Slowly, he swept some of Baekhyun's bangs away from his face, and kissed his forehead.

A quiet sigh escaped Chanyeol's lips as he stood up again, his lips set in a hard line. His eyes were still on Baekhyun's face as he took slow steps backwards until he backed into a chair and knocked it over. Swearing under his breath, he returned it to its upright position again before grabbing his matches from a drawer near the front door. As quietly as possible, Chanyeol pulled the door open and slipped out, his fingers clutching the matches so tightly, his knuckles were turning white. He didn't have much kerosene left, so he decided to settle for something small that night.

Wandering to the back of his building, he noticed the dumpster was overflowing, and found the thought of lighting the garbage on fire to be strangely appealing. He struck three matches at once, and tossed them into the dumpster. The effect was immediate, the flames completely engulfing everything. Chanyeol felt that same fascinated smile appear on his face. Lighting fires made Chanyeol feel like a child again, it was the only time he was really himself, it seemed. Loud sirens appeared in the background, and Chanyeol knew his fun was over for the night, so he struck one more match, and tossed it into the already burning garbage, just for good measure. Something like longing crossed his features as he ran away, just as a fire truck pulled into the parking lot.

"Baekhyun-ah!" Chanyeol screamed. "Baekhyun-ah, why?!"

Baekhyun knew the truth now, he knew that Chanyeol was to blame for all of his recent misfortunes, and yet he had still pushed Chanyeol out of the way, he still let the wall fall on him. He should have run away, Chanyeol thought bitterly, still standing there in shock. I should be the one underneath that wall. Without a single thought for his safety, Chanyeol ran towards the debris and began digging through it, desperate to find Baekhyun. He was panting when he heard the all too familiar sound of sirens, and by then he'd only managed to dig up one of Baekhyun's delicate hands.

Chanyeol was torn; he wanted to dig Baekhyun out, make sure he was okay, alive, that Chanyeol hadn't killed him, but he didn't want to be caught. He knew if he was found there, he'd be taken into custody, and there was no way he was going to be let go as easily this time. At that moment, he managed to find Baekhyun's head, and a shaky finger underneath Baekhyun's nose told him that he was breathing, if just barely. The sirens and lights were getting a little too close for comfort. Hating himself, Chanyeol got up and ran away, praying that Baekhyun would be all right, and that he'd be able to forgive him someday.

Baekhyun was literally his only reason for living still. He tried to reason with himself, tell himself that running away was the right thing to do, even if it wasn't. This way, he could visit Baekhyun in the hospital; he could still be close to Baekhyun. He refused to think about, though, if Baekhyun would still want to be close to him.

Chanyeol went back to his apartment to take a shower, to wash all of the incriminating evidence off of his body. He wanted to be there for Baekhyun while he was at the hospital; he just hoped his condition wasn’t too serious. He hated himself for being so weak, for leaving Baekhyun when he needed him. He kept the water running as he collapsed against the wall, tears mixing with the water from the shower. He had no idea how long he just sat there, but then his phone was ringing and he was dragging himself to his feet, he finally turning the water off and getting out of the shower. Without drying himself off, he immediately went to answer the phone, not even checking who was calling.

“Hello?”

“Chanyeol-ssi,” Chanyeol didn’t recognize the voice at first, mostly because he never expected this person to ever call him. “It’s me, Yixing.”

“Yixing hyung,” Chanyeol his lips, finding them to be unbearably dry. “Hi, how are you?”

“Baekhyun is in surgery,” Yixing’s voice was flat, forced. “I felt like you had a right to know.”

“…Oh,” Chanyeol felt like he couldn’t breathe as his hold on the phone tightened. “Wh-what happened?”

“I’m not sure,” Yixing sounded tired, like he wished he didn’t have to deal with this. “All I know is the he’s in surgery, and his condition is unstable.”

Chanyeol collapsed on to his knees, his vision spinning. Baekhyun’s condition was unstable, that meant he was dying. If Baekhyun actually didn’t survive, Chanyeol wouldn’t be able to live with himself anymore.

“Whi-which hospital?” He managed to say before forcing himself back on to his feet.

Yixing’s voice was barely audible as he told him the name and hung up. Chanyeol had never dressed so quickly in his life, practically charging out the door, like it was his own life on the line.

Chanyeol couldn’t stop sweating, or pacing. His heart was beating at an irregular rate, and he was certain that his blood pressure was higher than normal as well. He could no longer come up with a word that described what he was feeling. He was worried, anxious, sad, distressed, and many other feels that he couldn’t even think of at that moment. Most of all, though, he felt like the guilt was threatening to swallow him whole again. Baekhyun’s mother was sitting in a chair closest to the still closed doors, and lit up sign, while Yixing was sat a bit further down, his brows furrowed. If there wasn’t news soon, Chanyeol was certain that one of them would pass out from sheer exhaustion.

“Family of Byun Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun’s mother was the first out of her seat, rushing over to the doctor, desperation written all over her face. “Is he all right, Doctor? Is my son going to be all right?”

Even with half of his face covered with a mask, Chanyeol could tell whatever news he had for them was not good news. He and Yixing were standing next to Baekhyun’s mother then, and the doctor gave them all a look. “Immediate family only, please.”

Baekhyun’s mother gave Yixing and Chanyeol a look, like she was asking if they really wanted to know. They both replied with a tentative nod, and she sighed. “You can say whatever you have to say to them as well.”

The doctor frowned, considering this, but then nodded before motioning for them to sit down. Chanyeol gulped audibly, his hands shaking and fidgety, terrified of what the doctor was going to say.

“I’m afraid that your son is currently still in critical condition,” The doctor said this with practiced ease. “He has a fractured spine which we were able to set back into place, but will still take at least three months to completely heal. And due to this fracture, he could be paralyzed from the waist down, it’s possible that he will never walk again.”

And for the millionth time that night, the only thought on Chanyeol’s mind was that that should have been him.

“He also has a rather severe concussion, and as of right now, he is in a coma,” The doctor continued quickly, like he wanted to get this over with. “His left leg has a slight fracture, and his right arm is fractured in two places. He has a couple of fractured ribs, and one of them pierced his lung, so he is having trouble breathing on his own at the moment. We were able to correct this, but he currently still needs help.”

Chanyeol knew exactly what that meant, that there was a tube stuck down Baekhyun’s throat. He felt sick, and one look at Baekhyun’s mother and Yixing told him that they shared this feeling; Chanyeol felt worse though, because he was the cause of this. He was sure that he wouldn’t even be able to look at Baekhyun, not like that.

“And-“

“There’s more?” Baekhyun’s mother’s voice was high-pitched, clearly unable to handle anything else. “How much worse can it be?”

The doctor cleared his throat, clearly hating being the bearer of bad news. “He has first to third degree burns on 60% of his body, along with scrapes, and scratches, and slight bruises.”

Yixing’s head immediately turned to look at Chanyeol at the mention of burns, his eyes accusatory, and all Chanyeol could do was turn his head away, unable to even look the other in the eye.

“Can… can I see him?” Baekhyun’s mother asked, standing up, looking very unstable. “Please?”

“We are moving him into a room as we speak,” He told her quietly. “And then you will be able to, but only you.”

Chanyeol sat alone in the waiting area. He wasn’t allowed to see Baekhyun because he wasn’t immediate family, so he was going to wait, wait until he could. His mother was in there with him, and Yixing had gone home with strict instructions to contact him if anything changed. A sigh escaped Chanyeol’s lips as he just sat there, crossing his legs, uncrossing them, crossing them again, and then staring straight ahead. Baekhyun just had to be all right. He would be all right. He would soon be breathing on his own, his spine would heal, and then he would be walking again too; it’ll be like that wall had never fallen on top of him. Chanyeol wanted to believe that, but right now, everything, especially Baekhyun’s condition, was up in the air. The doctor had said that he was lucky to be alive, and that the next fourty-eight hours would be crucial as to whether or not he continued to live.

He buried his head into his hands; he felt so lost. Barely three days ago, he and Baekhyun had begun a relationship of sorts, and that had probably been the beginning of the end. A relationship built on a foundation of deceit, and denial; it had been doomed to fail from the beginning. Despite that though, Chanyeol knew that his feelings toward Baekhyun were genuine, and he was almost certain that Baekhyun’s feelings toward him were genuine as well, even though he would never understand why.

“Chanyeol-ssi,” Chanyeol’s head shot up, surprised by the sudden voice, and was even more surprised to see Baekhyun’s mother sitting next to him. She looked like she had aged ten years in the last two days. “I would like to apologise for my quick judgment of you.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay!” Chanyeol said quickly. She was right though, he wasn’t good for her son, and he was the reason he was dying. “I understand why you thought that, I don’t blame you.”

“I’m sure you’re aware, since Baekhyun has most likely told you,” His mother continued, looking him in the eye. “My husband and Baekhyun’s father recently passed away, making our current situation quite difficult. And now I am terrified of losing Baekhyun as well, he is the only one I have left.”

Chanyeol fought the urge to look away, not wanting to appear suspicious. “I’m sorry for your loss…” He said, hoping that she never found out that he was the reason for this loss in the first place. “And I want Baekhyun to recover.”

“I just wish I knew what had happened to him,” She sighed, placing a hand over one of Chanyeol’s. “You know what the last words he said to me were? He told me that he would be fine; he promised me that he would be fine. No one has told me anything about what happened to him, not the police, the firemen, the doctors. From the severity of his injuries, I’m beginning to think he was crushed by a burning building or something.”

Chanyeol didn’t have the heart to tell her how close to the truth she was.

“But that can’t be, right?” She asked, sounding thoroughly exhausted. “Why would he have been near a burning building? I want to know, but I don’t want to know… Do you understand?”

“Yes, I-…” Chanyeol trailed off. “I think I would rather not know.” But that was only because he knew too well. If he had a choice, he’d rather not know, he’d rather he were the one laying in that hospital bed.

She didn’t say anything, her eyes trained on him, but no longer in a judgmental way, like it had been before. After a moment, she sighed and got to her feet. “You’re right, I would rather not know either… Go home and get some rest, I’ll contact you if anything changes.”

She left the area then, and Chanyeol let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He had never expected her to change her mind about him, and definitely not apologise. Chanyeol stared in the direction she had gone, even though she was no longer in sight, as he considered her words. Maybe he should go home; he couldn’t do anything at the moment anyway. Slowly, he got to his feet and stretched, deciding that it would be best to go home for now.

The next two weeks passed by quickly without any change. Chanyeol went to the hospital every day, hoping for change, but there was always nothing. Baekhyun was still in a coma, but he no longer needed the tube down his throat, that was all of the good news there had been. When he could breathe on his own, when there was more brain activity, then he would be transferred out of ICU, and then Chanyeol could see him. Chanyeol needed to see him. He needed to see Baekhyun open his eyes, to hear him say his name, to hear him say anything, but mostly, Chanyeol needed forgiveness. And if he couldn’t get that, he wanted to hear it from Baekhyun’s mouth.

Chanyeol was driving himself crazy. Every day, hours were spent thinking about what if questions. What if Baekhyun hadn’t pushed him out of the way? What if he’d never agreed to start a relationship with Baekhyun? What if Baekhyun had accepted the truth that night instead of the night where this had happened? What if he’d never met Baekhyun? And the one answer that came out of all of these were that Baekhyun would not be in the hospital at that moment, he would not be in a coma.

Lying in bed, Chanyeol sighed realizing it had been fifteen days since Baekhyun had been in a coma. Baekhyun would wake up eventually; the question was when. Chanyeol needed a distraction. He hadn’t been to school in weeks, and he was certain by this point, he had no hope of passing his classes anymore. With a loud groan, he kicked his blankets off the bed, before rolling off it himself. Maybe he should just head to the hospital again, and pray for good news. Running his fingers through his hair, he got to his feet, and was making his way to the washroom when his phone rang. The caller ID told him that it was Baekhyun’s mother, and his heart was speeding up, praying for good news, before he even answered.

“He-hello?” He stuttered, his throat dry.

“Chanyeol,” She still sounded exhausted, but notably more lighthearted. “He’s not in a coma anymore, they’re going to move him out of ICU. You can see him.”

“…Oh!” It took Chanyeol a moment to process this information, for his brain to register what she was telling him. “That’s great, I’ll be there as soon as I can!”

“I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you, Chanyeol,” She said. “The doctor said he should wake up soon.”

“I hope so,” Chanyeol swallowed, suddenly wondering if he should go, if Baekhyun would really want to see him. “I’ll… see you soon.”

He hung up, his hand shaking. Despite his worries, he knew he needed to do this. With a sigh, his phone was tossed aside as he went to get dressed, but doing so just a little slower than usual, trying to avoid the inevitable.

By the time Chanyeol arrived at the hospital, Yixing was there as well, holding one of Baekhyun's hands and the back of it. Yixing barely acknowledged Chanyeol's presence when he sat down on the other side. Baekhyun's mother wasn't in the room.

"If you have anything to do with him being in this state," Yixing said quite suddenly, his eyes never leaving Baekhyun. "I swear, Chanyeol, I swear I will never let you anywhere near Baekhyun again."

Chanyeol sighed. "If I had anything to do with this, I wouldn't need you to threaten me, I would never be able to face him again... I care about him too, you know?"

"I know." Yixing's words were barely audible.

The conversation was clearly over then, and Chanyeol could only sigh; part of him did not what to be there. A groan was heard then, and both Chanyeol and Yixing's attentions immediately snapped to Baekhyun's face; was he waking up?

"Baekhyun-ah," Yixing said softly, reaching forward to gently Baekhyun's cheek. "Wake up, Baekhyun-ah."

And then, Baekhyun's eyes were fluttering open. They were glassy, unfocused, but he was finally awake, and that was what mattered.

"Yi-Yixing hyung..." Baekhyun gasped, a smile appearing on his face. "You're... here...."

"Yes, Baekhyun-ah, I'm here."

Baekhyun's eyes turned towards Chanyeol then, and Chanyeol had to fight the urge to look away, to run away. Baekhyun looked a little confused as he stared at Chanyeol, eyes half open, clearly not fully awake. A soft smile appeared upon Baekhyun's lips, like he had finally placed where he'd seen him before. He opened his mouth to speak and Chanyeol braced himself.

"I'm sorry," He said softly, same polite smile on his face. "Who are you?

There was palpable tension for a long moment as Chanyeol just stared at Baekhyun. And then, against his better judgment, he started laughing, loudly and awkwardly.

“You’re kidding, right?” He said, after he’d stopped laughing. “You can hate me, anything, just don’t pretend you don’t know me!”

“I don’t know you though…” Baekhyun’s brows furrowed together, like he was concentrating. “Why would I hate you?”

“You… really don’t remember me?” Chanyeol was still hoping this was some practical joke, but as he studied Baekhyun’s face, there was really no hint of recognition at all.

Baekhyun shook his head sadly, as best he could while lying down. “I’m sorry, I wish I did…”

“…I should go.” Chanyeol got up, not being able to look at Baekhyun anymore.

Maybe it’s better this way… Chanyeol thought, turning to leave. We can both go our separate ways…

"Wait!" Chanyeol was so surprised he froze, not daring to move. "Wait... can't we be friends? We used to be friends, right?"

Chanyeol didn't know what to think. Of course he wanted to be friends with Baekhyun again, but at the same time, he didn't, at the same time, he was tempted to leave and let Baekhyun move on, to forget him, literally. Instead though, selfishly, he turned back around, and sat back down, his eyes noticing Baekhyun's outstretched arm.

"I'm Chanyeol..." He said softly, remembering the first time he had introduced himself to Baekhyun. "And we are friends... even if you don't remember."

Baekhyun smiled then, an adorable smile that made Chanyeol’s heart skip a beat, and he knew then that he would never be able to just let Baekhyun go.

"It's nice to meet you, Chanyeol-ssi," Chanyeol almost cringed at the use of the formal honorific from Baekhyun's mouth. “Let’s be friends again.”

There was a barely suppressed groan as Baekhyun tried to sit up then, but immediately gave up. “Why does everything hurt? What happened to me?”

Yixing and Chanyeol shared a look; Yixing’s sad, and Chanyeol’s regretful, guilty.

“We were hoping you could tell us…” Yixing said softly, tucking Baekhyun’s still outstretched arm back underneath his blankets. “Because no one knows…”

“Why can’t I remember, Yixing hyung?” Baekhyun stared at the ceiling, his expression one of depression. “And everything hurts…”

“Should I ask for more painkillers, or…” Chanyeol quickly offered, hoping to make Baekhyun feel better.

“No, no painkillers…” Baekhyun raised his left arm, the one that was generally unaffected other than a few minor burns and bruises, and draped it over his face. “I hate painkillers…”

Chanyeol felt saddened by those words. He wasn't surprised, since he knew that Baekhyun has been in and out of hospitals a lot, but to hate painkillers so much to not want any even when he was in so much pain? Chanyeol couldn't understand, but he felt bad. That was when Baekhyun's mother came back into the room, a boy with wide eyes next to her.

"Baekhyun-ah!" She exclaimed when she noticed he was awake. "Thank goodness."

Baekhyun removed his arm from his face and smiled at his mother. "Hi mom."

"Baekhyun-ah," His mother bent down and gave him a gentle hug. "Look who came to visit."

Chanyeol looked at the boy, he was cute, similar in stature to Baekhyun, with large eyes, and heart shaped lips; Chanyeol didn't recognize him.

"Soo!" Baekhyun exclaimed. "Hi!"

“I’m going to go find a doctor,” Baekhyun’s mother said, moving away. “I’m sure they’ll want to make sure everything’s okay, maybe run some tests.”

Chanyeol watched as she left the room before shifting out of the way as Kyungsoo squeezed past him.

“Baek…” Kyungsoo sat down next to Baekhyun. “How are you?”

Chanyeol began feeling uncomfortable as he watched Baekhyun and Kyungsoo converse, like he didn’t belong there. Baekhyun had Yixing and Kyungsoo; he didn’t need Chanyeol, at least not now. So he turned to leave, hoping to just slip out unnoticed.

“Chanyeol-ssi!” Of course it wouldn’t be that easy, he thought. “Are you leaving?”

Turning back around, he saw sadness upon Baekhyun’s face, and his resolved wavered. No, he wanted to say. I’ll stay with you forever… but he said: “Ye-yes, I um… I have somewhere I need to be.”

“Oh, okay,” Baekhyun attempted to reach out to him with the arm that was wrapped in a cast, but couldn’t. “Will you come visit me again?”

Chanyeol paused, he knew the right thing was to say: No, it’s better if I stay away from you. Desire overtook common sense, though, and then he was nodding. “Yes, I promise I will. “

And he did, almost every day. Baekhyun had completely forgotten him, but Chanyeol couldn’t stay away; he found himself craving what they once had. Before everything had gone to hell. Since the day that wall had collapsed on top of Baekhyun, Chanyeol had not yet set a single fire, may it be a small one to satisfy this obsession, or a large one for the sake of just doing it. It was like there was something inside him that was telling him not to, something that was telling him to stop. And for Baekhyun, he wanted to stop; he never wanted to hurt Baekhyun again.

It wasn’t quite that easy though, it never was. Chanyeol lasted barely a month, before the urge to do so overwhelmed every other feeling in his body. He tried to suppress it, push it away, ignore it, but nothing helped. In the end, he was grabbing handfuls of hair while screaming loudly, the withdrawal symptoms threatening to swallow him whole.

Eventually, he gave in. He stumbled out on to the balcony and lit a match, a single one. Instead of setting fire to any objects, where there was always the possibility of hurting someone, he burned himself. He held the flame close to his wrist, his back pressed against the balcony door. The flame was moved closer and closer until it was actually touching him, burning him, leaving a mark. It didn’t hurt; instead it was almost comforting. This was the second time he’d done this; he just could never leave fire behind, but he was certain that hurting himself was better than hurting others.

Chanyeol stopped when he no longer felt like he was going to implode. By then, his arm was raw, and the skin was peeling, a bit of blood coming through. It still didn’t hurt. Checking the time, he saw that it was almost four P.M.; Baekhyun would be waiting for him. Grabbing a long sleeved shirt, to hide the burns, and pulling on the same jeans as the day before, he left his apartment, his mind calm for the first time in weeks.

“Chanyeol-ah!” Baekhyun exclaimed when he entered the room and sat down next to him. “I get to go home tomorrow, isn’t that great?”

“I’m happy for you, Baekhyun-ah,” Chanyeol offered a smile, even if he didn’t feel too happy. “You’re going to be fine.”

“I hope so…” Baekhyun frowned slightly, his head tilting cutely. “The doctor said this amnesia is only temporary, and I really want to remember what we used to have…”

No, you don’t… Chanyeol thought sadly. I hope you never remember. You don’t need that kind of burden. The fact that I’m still in your life is a burden.

“What did we used to have, Chanyeol-ah?” Chanyeol winced, he always evaded Baekhyun’s questions about their past. “How did we meet?”

“I…” Chanyeol tried to think of a reason to not answer the question, but he could think of none. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, and ran into you, knocking your papers and books flying…”

Baekhyun laughed, a high-pitched, but endearing laugh. “I meet everyone in the same way, it would seem.”

“And then I wanted to be friends with you…” Chanyeol admitted. “I waited for you after school the next day, and then I intervened when I saw you being picked on…”

“Again, same as everyone else… but I’m pretty sure neither Kyungsoo nor Yixing actually waited for me…” Baekhyun smiled, a beautiful, eye-crinkling smile. “Thank you, Chanyeol-ah, for making me feel special.”

Baekhyun was definitely special; there was no question about that. After all of this, Chanyeol could no longer deny his feelings that had been changing, evolving, and at this point, he was almost certain he was in love. He hoped that, with his memory gone, that Baekhyun would never like him again, at least not in that way; he didn’t deserve the pain.

“Are you okay?” Baekhyun asked quietly, a hand cupping Chanyeol’s face softly. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, no!” Chanyeol exclaimed quickly, instinctively moving away from Baekhyun like he was the most fragile little flower. “I’m fine, I’m sorry.”

“Have I… have I hurt you? Baekhyun said then, looking at Chanyeol, concerned. “In the past, have I…”

“Oh, no, definitely not!” Chanyeol was so shocked by the question he nearly fell out of his chair. I’m the one who hurt you…

“Oh, that’s good,” Baekhyun looked relieved, and the smile was back. “I wouldn’t ever want to hurt you.”

And he never could, Chanyeol was certain of this. That familiar feeling was back, that feeling of dread, and guilt. He stood up, knocking the chair over, that feeling telling him it was time to go.

“Chanyeol-ah?”

“I… I need to go…” He didn’t even attempt to explain why; he just kept stumbling backwards, closer to the door.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” Baekhyun called after him.

Chanyeol didn’t reply though, he didn’t stop either, not until he was outside the hospital. His breathing was ragged, and he was certain he might just collapse on to the floor. And then he was laughing, loud and fake. Just the thought… Baekhyun thinking he’d hurt him, it was so ridiculous that he thought he could ever hurt Chanyeol. Standing up, Chanyeol decided it was time to leave, to clear his head, but there was only one way to do that.

 The night was misty, foggy, but that didn’t deter Chanyeol in the least. The flames were already bright in the background, and his expression didn’t show the usual enthusiasm he had, instead his expression was one of distress.  He was worried because not even this much fire was able to satisfy the hunger that was steadily growing inside himself, this hunger that was getting increasingly harder to quell, and Chanyeol was growing frustrated with himself, mad that he allowed this to get so out of hand.

He stared up at the burning building, debris falling, and he was reminded of Baekhyun, Baekhyun pushing him out of the way and being crushed by the wall. Poor Baekhyun, who was still in the hospital suffering the consequences for Chanyeol’s actions. And then Yixing was before him again, a phone in his hand.

“I’ll ask you one more time, Park Chanyeol,” A dead serious look on his face. “Did you, or did you not, have something to do with Baekhyun’s current state?”

Chanyeol just looked at him, a blank expression upon his face. He didn’t want to tell Yixing the truth, that would mean admitting the truth that he’d been trying to deny, but he felt the need to tell someone, to remove this weight from his chest.

“I did,” Chanyeol said before he could think it through. “He followed me, he saw me light the building on fire, he found out the truth. A wall of the building collapsed, he pushed me out of the way, and it fell on him…”

“Dammit, Chanyeol,” Yixing exclaimed, taking a step closer. “You were supposed to protect him!”

“I know,” Chanyeol’s face was downcast, sirens drowning out his already barely audible words. “I failed him, I failed you, I failed his mother, and I’ve failed myself.”

The sirens got closer, but Chanyeol didn’t even move. He barely reacted when a police car pulled up next to him, and he didn’t resist when handcuffs were slapped on his wrists. Yixing couldn’t even look at him as Chanyeol was forced into the back of the police car.

“This is for your own good, Chanyeol,” Yixing was already turning away. “Maybe now, you can finally stop hurting Baekhyun.”

End of chapter 7

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I just.... I am so very sorry OTL That is all I have to say. 

Thank you so much to everyone that subscribed to, upvoted, commented on, and just took the time to read this fic, it really means the world to me ^_^

So until the next chapter. =3