He opens his eyes to the annoying beeping of the machine next to his bed. What is this thing? What is going on?

“Chanyeol, are you awake?” a man with a very pleasant voice asks him almost immediately. Who is Chanyeol? Oh, that must be him. He sits up on the bed, crossing his hands on his lap; he feels very conscious of how he looks and what he does in front of the man for some reason. But he cannot remember the reason. Maybe it is the same reason he feels his heart beat slightly louder in his chest.

“Hello?” has his voice always been so deep?

“Hi” the man smiles. He looks beautiful, bathed in sunlight from the window. He looks like an angel. “Do you remember who I am?”

“I am terribly sorry but, I don’t, I am afraid” he answers, trying to find a fragment of a thought in his head that might contain the man’s face. It feels awful not to remember such a kind and beautiful man. The smile freezes slightly on the man’s lips and Chanyeol feels guilty; but he cannot remember, honestly, he can’t.

“It’s okay. I’m Baekhyun” the man explains softly.

“Nice to meet you” Chanyeol returns shyly the smile that the other man is giving him. He would get up and bow politely, but his feet feel too numb to be his and he cannot even move them.

They stay silent like that for a few minutes. He can feel something stir inside him the more he observes and takes in the appearance of the man. He looks so…so familiar. And it makes his body, his heart, have all these inexplicable, unusual reactions.

Then, Chanyeol realizes he is staring and he averts his eyes quickly. It’s not polite to stare. He notices blankets on the couch.

“Have you been staying here?” he guesses. The man –Baekhyun –turns around and glances briefly at the blankets for himself before moving closer to his bed slowly, as if he doesn’t want to scare Chanyeol.

“I have, yes. You get scared sometimes in the morning, so I keep you company”

“I do?”

“Yes” Baekhyun smiles softly “But there is nothing to be afraid of, that is what I always tell you” Chanyeol presses his lips closed. He cannot remember what it is he might be afraid of in the morning.

“You shouldn’t be sleeping in the couch” he advises. The man is small and he looks fragile; he should be taking better care of his body. He must be very selfless, if he is undergoing such trouble just to keep Chanyeol company whenever he is scared.

“I know” Baekhyun says calmly in a quiet voice. He keeps looking at Chanyeol with this soft look in his eyes. Chanyeol doesn’t know why he is looking at him like that, but it doesn’t feel odd; it feels comforting and warm. Slowly, a smile forms on Baekhyun’s lips, illuminating beautifully in Chanyeol’s eyes. But it looks strangely sad. It’s the light in his eyes that gives that impression. He has very pretty eyes. Chanyeol doesn’t like seeing them sad.

“Why are you smiling?” He really wants to ask why Baekhyun is sad, but he is not sure if he is allowed to.

“It’s nothing…You just…” Baekhyun touches his hand and Chanyeol doesn’t mind his warm, delicate hand; on the contrary, it feels like the hand belongs there and like he needed it there. “You just remind me of someone a lot”

--

He wakes up feeling disoriented. A machine next to the bed is counting heartbeats and a tube with white fluid is linked to his arm. Is he sick? Is this normal? Where is he?

“Hi there, giant!” a man greets him with a smile, sitting casually in a chair next to his bed. Is he talking to him?

“Hi” he answers mechanically. Maybe the man knows what is going on. But he feels a bit tired to ask.

“Your name is Chanyeol” the man informs him methodically and he nods. He is thankful to the man for answering his unvoiced questions. Yeah, Chanyeol definitely sounds familiar.

“My name is Baekhyun.” Baek, flashes in his head. What does that mean?

“We have spent almost seventy wonderful years of our lives together.” Seventy? That’s a lot. He has lived a lot. He doesn’t remember a lot.

“These are some of our memories” Baekhyun places a scrap book on Chanyeol’s lap. He is a bit reluctant at first, but the man keeps smiling encouragingly, so he decides it is okay if he peeks at the photographs. He opens the book carefully and starts examining the photographs. The man tells him a few stories for each of them.

He cannot remember anything out of seventy years; life suddenly seems so scary a notion.

He looks young in these. Very young. The other man is young too. He can tell who the other man is in the pictures, so the tall one must be himself. He has such big eyes. They are wearing colorful clothes sometimes, other times they are formally dressed or with costumes and swim suits. They look happy. The color of their hair changes in the pictures, the light changes from night to day, the fashion of their clothes changes with the years, the setting changes, the people around them change, their expressions change. But there is something that doesn’t change.

He likes the way the man speaks. His voice is soft and sweet and he is very calm. Sometimes he smiles or laughs while telling a story. Sometimes he pouts or quirks his eyebrows in question. All with a lingering sense of sadness and melancholy. Maybe it is because all these years have passed. Maybe it is because all these years have been erased in Chanyeol. A few times, he looks up at Chanyeol and smiles, his eyes turning into beautiful sparkling crescents, every time he notices that Chanyeol is staring at him. The man looks happy in those moments. Chanyeol feels happy too. He has a strange feeling that he is attached to the man with a million strings, but he cannot remember when he tied them. But that doesn’t matter either, because he feels them being tied once again, right now, in this moment, all at once.

The look in their eyes doesn’t change in the photos. It is the same. Happiness, joy, devotion, love. Unwavering love. Unconditional. Infinite. It is the adoration he sees in his own eyes in all of the pictures that confirms for Chanyeol that this person is important and unique to him, that this feeling he has right now is not a figment of his imagination. It is the look in the man’s eyes as he glances up at Chanyeol, a look that has not changed the least bit throughout the years and these pictures, that tells Chanyeol how much he is loved, what a wonderful chance he has had in his life.

All these stories and pictures are his life. He remains silent, reserved in his thoughts, as the man goes on and on. He doesn’t need to learn what he has been doing all his life. Because he knows. All his life, he has been falling in love with Baekhyun. Again and again and again and again.

--

His eyes open. There is a lot of noise, coming from machines around him. He feels very confused. He cannot move his body. He feels tired, like he has lost all of his energy in a blink.

He feels a warm touch on his hand and he turns his eyes sleepily to look. It’s a man. He is holding his hand. He doesn’t mind that. It makes him feel warmth in his chest. The man is so beautiful…

“You’re awake” the man says softly when he notices his eyes. The man has such pretty eyes. He looks surprised but his melodic voice is calm as he speaks. “Are you feeling all right?”

He wants to answer, but he finds that he can’t. There is something in his mouth and down his throat. But the man will get worried if he won’t answer at all…He tries to nod, not sure how much his chin just moved.

“He still responds to you?” a foreign voice sounds in the room suddenly. It scares him. His eyes turn to the other person, the one wearing white. Why is he here? He must go away.

He is so scared. But he cannot move. The noise is deafening and everything is too empty around him. He wants to run away, but his feet won’t move. He wants to fight, but his hands are weighing a ton. He is trapped. His heart is beating very fast, very loud. The world is spinning dangerously. He feels sweat on his forehead. His eyes are wide open yet he still feels like he should be seeing more. He can’t even flinch. He is so scared.

“Don’t be afraid” the beautiful man says “Look at me” He looks at him “There is nothing to be afraid of. I’m here” the beautiful man his hand and he tunes his breath with that rhythm. The man leans closer and leaves a kiss on his forehead. His sweet scent overpowers everything for a moment. After that, he feels safe. The other person doesn’t matter. He becomes calm again.

“I’m here” the beautiful man repeats, kissing his hand. A frown appears between his eyebrows and then a small sob escapes his lips. “I won’t let anyone harm you. Don’t be afraid. I’m by your side” Tears start rolling down his cheeks, overflowing his beautiful, gleaming eyes.

He doesn’t know why, but he wants to cry too.

“I’m always by your side. Always…”

It is a small gesture. It takes all of his energy, but that is okay, because he overflows with affection. He moves his fingers, the ones which the man is holding close to his lips, and he gently wipes away a tear.

--

He opens his eyes. Everywhere hurts. Or it doesn’t.

There are shadows in his vision. They move too fast, crowding above him. They make noise. What does noise sound like?

It is cold. Or it isn’t.

The shadows shift away. Where is away and close?

A face appears. It is very clear and very beautiful.

“Chanyeol?”

The voice is stressed and sad. It is very distant. But it is sweet. Chanyeol? What does that mean?

“It’s me, Baekhyun”

Baekhyun. That sounds familiar. What is something familiar? It makes him warm.

“I love you, Chanyeol”

Love. That sounds nice. Sparkly. Sweet. Beautiful. Warm. It must be something good.

Those are tears. Water? Sadness. That is not nice. It sounds black.

“I’ve loved you all my life. And I will keep on loving you”

That is sweet. Affection. It’s so bright. It’s beautiful, like him. No, not like him, but because of him. His heart flutters happily.

“Wait for me…”

I will.