Chanyeol’s lungs burned with effort as he forced one foot in front of the other; the elevator had broken and he was forced to take the stairs, only, he had never remembered the climb being so difficult.

His throat stung with every raspy breath of air he in, his coat, saturated, stuck to his skin uncomfortably. It had rained on the way home from the cinema - something Chanyeol hadn’t counted on – and he could feel his temperature rising rapidly, despite the freezing temperature and wild winds outside.

Caught without an umbrella – in the middle of winter! He was an idiot. But at least Baekhyun was safe and warm inside his pocket, away from the pouring rain and icy wind. A series of shivers washed over Chanyeol as he panted at the door, exhausted, as he fumbled for his house keys.

His fingers stung with cold, to the point they hurt just to bend. Chanyeol creased his brow as he plunged his hand into the outside pocket of his saturated jacket in search of the keys.

With a lot more effort than usual, Chanyeol managed to unlock the door and shove it open, immediately shrugging out of his jacket and hanging it up on the coat hook to dry.

Holding the jacket open, he reached into the inside pocket, lifting Baekhyun carefully out. Wrapped in his tiny cape, Baekhyun squirmed at his touch.

“Cold, cold!” Baekhyun stammered, surprised as he tried his best to wriggle out of Chanyeol’s grasp. “I don’t want to be a snowman!”

Chanyeol shook his head at the tiny being, quickly placing him on the back of the couch.

“I think you’ve watched the trailer for Frozen too many times.”

Baekhyun shivered. “Did Mister Giant bring an umbrella?”

Chanyeol remained silent. Instead, he arched his brow at Baekhyun, pushing his dripping wet hair out of his eyes.

“… Yes?” Baekhyun guessed. “Was your umbrella broken?”

“No, Baekhyun.”

“Did you sit on it in the picture theatre?”

“No, Baekhyun.”

“Maybe there a hole in it, then? A hole in an umbrella is never a good thing,” Baekhyun tutted, shaking his head.

“No,” Chanyeol sighed.

Baekhyun furrowed his brow, deep in thought. If there was no hole in Chanyeol’s umbrella, he was certain he didn’t sit on it and it most certainly wasn’t broken, then …

“Mister Giant? Did you forget your umbrella?”

Chanyeol didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. The loud sneeze that echoed throughout the apartment said more than he probably could have, and, caused a startled Baekhyun to trip over his own feet and land on the couch with a quiet ‘oof.’

“Was that thunder?” Baekhyun whimpered, trying to shield himself with his cape. Chanyeol sniffed, his voice deep; hoarse.

“No, Baekhyun. That was a sneeze. I guess I’m sick.”

Wiggling himself into a sitting position, Baekhyun peered up at Chanyeol from behind his cape, his tiny face immediately creased with worry.

“Sick?”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol sighed. “Sick.”

Scampering to his feet, Baekhyun clambered up the couch arm to get a closer look at Chanyeol.

“Oh no!” he would squeak over and over. “Oh no!”

With one hand, he waved Chanyeol over to him, the taller who, with a roll of his eyes, crouched down next to the couch armrest, his face inches away from Baekhyun. Reaching out a tiny hand, Baekhyun touched Chanyeol’s cheek, then, with great effort, balanced on his toes to touch Chanyeol’s forehead.

“Mister Giant is burning,” Baekhyun said quietly. He was beginning to panic now. His Mister Giant was sick, and it was all because he sat on his umbrella took him to the picture theatre. Baekhyun shook his head, his eyebrows knitting together tightly.

“Mister Giant,” he said as firmly as possible. “Off to bed, now. I will take care of you!”

Baekhyun’s tiny feet padded softly against the wooden floorboards as he hurried this way and that, putting together a collection of things he liked to do so that Chanyeol would be happy, albeit bed ridden.

A colouring book rested at the entrance to Chanyeol’s (and now Baekhyun’s, too) bedroom, Mister Byun and Mister Ducky were lined up against the wall, ready to be dragged inside. (That took quite a lot of effort. Baekhyun made a mental note to ask Chanyeol if Mister Byun could go on a diet.)

Crayons were next on the agenda to find and carry to his ‘Cheer Up Chanyeol’ stash. After locating a rather old, dusty packet, Baekhyun tried his very best to slide the box along the floor to where his supplies waited for him.

It took Baekhyun a good three hours to get everything organised; a colouring book, Chanyeol’s Pokemon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew dvd, crayons, Mister Ducky, Mister Byun, and a once-frozen-now-defrosted-and-covered-in-dust slice of bread which Baekhyun had managed to drag from the kitchen (after wrestling with the plastic bag), through the house and to their bedroom.

Chanyeol had to eat, after all.

“There,” Baekhyun nodded, satisfied with his efforts. He dusted his hands, placing them on his hips as he caught his breath. Everything was ready. Turning to peer into their bedroom, Baekhyun’s brow furrowed.

How was he supposed to get everything up to Chanyeol?

Baekhyun sat, perched on Chanyeol’s knee, his face in his hands – sobbing. Chanyeol had been left with no choice but to get out of bed and help Baekhyun carry everything back to his bed. Mister Ducky and Mister Byun were on one side of Chanyeol’s bed, resting against the pillow. The other items were scattered across the blankets.

Although Chanyeol appreciated Baekhyun’s good intentions, he had no desire to colour, nor did he dare to touch the slice of bread, which was covered in dust from being dragged across the floor, no matter how many times Baekhyun offered to feed him.

Instead, he had opted to watch Pokemon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew – at least that would keep Baekhyun entertained for almost two hours. However, Baekhyun reacted to the movie in a way that Chanyeol did not predict.

Wrapped in his cape, Baekhyun sobbed throughout, his head cradled in his hands, occasionally stealing a peek at the screen, only to result in more loud sobs.

“Lu-Lucario,” Baekhyun whimpered, wiping his eyes roughly with the corner of his cape. He glanced over his shoulder to take in Chanyeol’s reaction to the movie; his eyes red and puffy. Chanyeol, more entertained by Baekhyun than the movie offered him a small smile. Baekhyun burst out into tears again.

“Mister Giant!” he howled, wiggling his way backwards towards Chanyeol’s chest before burying his face into his shirt. “Lucario! He’s dead!”

With a shake of his head, Chanyeol allowed the corners of his lips to tug upwards into a small smile. Scooping the sobbing Baekhyun up, Chanyeol nestled him to his chest.

“It’s not sad, Baek,” he said softly. “See? Lucario has just gone to be with his friend.”

“But-” Baekhyun sniffed, holding onto Chanyeol’s shirt tightly.

“It’s happy,” Chanyeol replied. “You should be happy too.”

Baekhyun remained quiet until the credits had come and gone, the screen of the television fading into black. Wiping his tear stricken cheeks with his cape, he glanced upwards at Chanyeol.

“Mister Giant?” he asked, his voice croaky from crying. “Are you happy?”

“Uh,” Chanyeol began. In all honesty, he felt anything but happy; his throat stung whenever he spoke, his head throbbed – he wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. “Sure, Baek. I’m happy.”

Baekhyun straightened himself up, adjusting the knot on his cape that fastened it around his neck. “You don’t look very happy, Mister Giant…” he began, before something clicked in his mind. “You need a cape.”

“Pardon?”

“A cape,” Baekhyun nodded. “You need a cape, too! Mister Byun has one. Mister Ducky, too!”

Chanyeol was confused, and his headache made deciphering the way Baekhyun’s mind worked anything but simple. “What has that got to do with happiness?”

“Capes make people happy,” Baekhyun said firmly. He tugged on the thick woolen blanket that Chanyeol had draped across his shoulders in order to keep warm. “This will make a good cape,” he said. “We can have a Cape Crew! That means Mister Buyn, Mister Ducky, you Mister Giant, and I can fight evil together and – Fly!”

Chanyeol raised his eyebrows in confusion. “And … That would make me happy?”

Nodding his head determinedly, Baekhyun gave the woolen blanket another tug. “Yes,” he said. “And seeing Mister Giant happy makes me happy.”

A soft sigh escaped Chanyeol’s lips as he placed Baekhyun on his knee. Reaching for the corners of the blanket, he fastened it around his neck. Baekhyun watched on, excited.

Another sigh. Another smile.

“Baekhyun?” Chanyeol said after a while. “You were right. I am happier now.”

“Good!” Baekhyun chirped, clapping his hands. “If Mister Giant is happy, so am I!”

Casting a sweeping glance across the room to try and locate their first mission as the Cape Crew, Baekhyun’s eyes fell upon the dust covered slice of bread.

“But first,” he said, hopping down off of Chanyeol’s knee and scampering over to the bread. “You need to eat so that you recover quickly!”

Chanyeol wrinkled his nose. “Uh, no thanks.”

Wanna join the Cape Crew, too?