Chanyeol's P.O.V

Baekhyun whines in pain as Chanyeol carefully lets him down onto the bed. The cats tried to follow them into the room to watch over Baekhyun, but Chanyeol decided to close them out for a while. Right now he wants to be alone with Baekhyun, he doesn't want anything or anyone to interrupt them.

“Thank you Chanyeol for carrying me up the stairs. I'm sorry that I'm being such a burden.”
“You're not a burden Baekhyun, it's the opposite. Now... What should I do?”

Chanyeol stares at Baekhyun who smiles slightly. Even though Baekhyun's body is full of bruises, blood and pain, he's still smiling one of his beautiful smiles. It amazes Chanyeol to see Baekhyun smiling like this, it makes him both calm and happy at the same time. If his little Baekhyun is calm and happy, then Chanyeol can't help but to feel the same.

“I don't want to bother you more than what I already have done, but if you could help me a little more, it would make a lot of things easier for me.”
“I will help you, else I don't know if I would be able to calm down or not.”

Baekhyun chuckles as he holds out a towel to Chanyeol. Chanyeol gently grabs it before he looks up at Baekhyun again.

“Go and drain the towel with water. Then squeeze out as much of it as you can and come back with it to me. Can you do that for me please?”
“Of course I can, I'm not that stupid. You're lucky because I actually know a lot about humans.”

Baekhyun chuckles as Chanyeol gets up and quickly walks over to the bathroom. In the room he finds a small first aid kit that will be helpful for them both. He pour warm water over the towel and then squeezes it carefully, just like Baekhyun told him. He then grabs the kit and the towel before he leaves the bathroom.

“Look what I found! I didn't know Kris had this, but it's good that he has something like this in case of an emergency.”

Chanyeol quickly walks over to Baekhyun and sits down on the bed besides him. Chanyeol put the first aid kit beside him on the bed before he turns to Baekhyun to ask him what he should do next, but Baekhyun is already a step ahead of him. Chanyeol watches Baekhyun slightly awkwardly try to pull of his shirt, but his aching body stops him. Chanyeol quickly stops Baekhyun and gives him a small smile to assure him that everything is going to be alright, eventually.

“Let me do that for you, I don't want you to move around more than necessary.”
“I-It's alright, really...”
“Baekhyun, you can barely move. Please let me help you, only for this time.”
“I-It's awkward you know... B-But... since I can't move myself...”

Baekhyun lets out a sigh in defeat as he holds out his arms towards Chanyeol. Chanyeol quickly grabs Baekhyun's shirt and carefully pulls it off Baekhyun who's blushing slightly. What is wrong with him? Wait, is he having a fever? Chanyeol can't help but to put a hand against Baekhyun's forehead as fast he has put away the shirt, but Baekhyun doesn't feel the slightest warm. No fever with other words.

“Y-Yah, what are you doing? I'm not sick if that is what you're checking.”
“Sorry, I just thought that your face is slightly red.”
“D-Don't make fun of me!”

Baekhyun's face is becoming slightly more red by now and Chanyeol realizes that the young man in front of him is blushing. A smirk spreads across Chanyeol's lips as his body moves on its own. He leans closer to Baekhyun's face while having a charming, though quite teasing smile on his lips.

“Oh, now I get it, you're blushing. Is it that embarrassing to show your skin for me?”
“Chanyeol! Stop fooling around and help me out already! Else I will ask Kris to do it!”
“Yah, don't let Kris see your skin like this!”
“Oh, why not? Would it make you jealous or something?”
“Actually... I think it would.”

Baekhyun stares speechless at Chanyeol who accidentally let his inner thoughts slip out of his mouth. Did he just speak his mind right out in front of Baekhyun? Chanyeol feels how the embarrassment takes over him as Baekhyun looks awkwardly down at the floor. The room falls silent after Chanyeol's last comment, but it doesn't stop Chanyeol from remembering why they're here to begin with.

“U-Uhm... Should I take care of your wounds now?”
“Yes please... That would be nice of you.”
“Then... Excuse me for touching you, if you feel uncomfortable, please don't be afraid to tell me to stop.”

Baekhyun only nods slowly as Chanyeol takes a better look at the shorter man's chest. He now sees all the bruises, scratches and blood that covers Baekhyun beautiful skin. Pain strikes Chanyeol as he stares at the wounds. How could this happen when he and Baekhyun were under the same roof, even in the same room? Chanyeol feels how he reaches out a hand to one of the bigger wounds and carefully touches it. It looks to hurt.

“Are you... alright? It looks to hurt a lot.”
“It does hurt, but only when I move. Hopefully it will disappear soon.”
“I'm sorry...”
“Why are you apologizing? It wasn't you who did this to me.”
“But it was my job to protect you from harm.”

Chanyeol feels a strange feeling fill him as he stares at Baekhyun in front of him. He's not sure, but he thinks he's frustrated. He wants to protect Baekhyun so badly, to be his guardian and make sure that he will live a long and wonderful life. But he has failed and he doesn't even deserve to be called Baekhyun's guardian anymore. Maybe he never was Baekhyun's guardian to begin with?

“Chanyeol, it wasn't your fault. That guy literally stopped the time! What could you have done against it, even if you knew he was coming? Tell me, what could you have done?”
“I... I don't know...”
“Exactly. It wasn't your fault and I do not blame you for getting hurt. Please, don't blame yourself. It will hurt my feelings if you do.”

Baekhyun carefully grabs one of Chanyeol's hands with a weak smile on his lips. Why is Baekhyun forgiving him like this? Why is he so understanding about everything? Chanyeol failed to protect him, yet he's still willing to hold his hand and smile at him. A small smile spreads across Chanyeol's lips as he snaps out of his thoughts.

“Sorry, I have made you wait. Tell me what to do next so I can help you get better.”

Baekhyun smiles as he lets go off Chanyeol's hand. He slowly clear his throat and begins to explain to Chanyeol what he's supposed to do and how to do it. Chanyeol obediently does as Baekhyun tells him and tries to be as gentle and quick as possible. This will take a while for him to do, but hopefully he will make Baekhyun feel much better after he's finished.

Baekhyun's P.O.V

Baekhyun stares up at the dark ceiling while waiting for Chanyeol to come back to the room. After Chanyeol helped him to fix his wounds, he strictly told Baekhyun that he can't leave the room and that he has to lie on the bed until he comes back. At least Baekhyun isn't alone anymore, the four cats are with him and are watching him carefully.

Though there is something seriously wrong with him and he means it. What is wrong with him? Well, this might sound crazy, but he can hear the cats talk. At first he thought he heard things because he had hit his head a little to hard, but now he's one hundred percent sure that he can hear the cats talk.

“So, Baekhyun, are you really able to hear us talking now?”
“I... I think so. I mean, I understand everything you say.”
“It's actually quite amusing that you can hear us.”
“The bad thing for us is that we can't have any secret talks with our owners with you around from now and on.”
“I'm sorry if I'm making it harder for you, but I can't really help it either.”

The cats don't say anything else while Baekhyun goes back to staring up at the ceiling. Now when he thinks about it, he's quite amazed about him still being alive. He faced a high leveled demon who could stop the time, yet he's still alive. Though he was close to die more than once and his body is quite messed up after the fight, but he's alive.

The room is silent and all the lights are turned off. Baekhyun listens to the cats, but they're not even purring. From time to time he glances over at them to make sure that they're moving and not frozen, but whenever he looks at them, they're all looking back at him. It's quite assuring to know that they're moving and that the time hasn't stopped once again.

Baekhyun takes his time to study the dark ceiling, even though there isn't much he can see. After a while he begins to feel sleepy and his exhausted body tells him it's time to go to bed and sleep. He doesn't want to fall asleep until Chanyeol comes back up, but he's just too tired to stay awake. Hopefully nothing will happen to him while he's sleeping, he got the four cats here and Chanyeol will come back shortly. He's safe.

***

~”Oh, isn't it the tough human? Welcome! You sure took your time to go to sleep.”

Baekhyun stares at the shadow in front of him. Wait, where is he? He quickly looks around the room to find himself standing in the middle of a big empty room that is gray-white. There are only two persons in this room; Baekhyun himself and the shadow man in front of him. The man takes a step closer to him and slowly forms a solid body and then a face.

Baekhyun stumbles backwards when he sees the demon man in front of him. He's the man who can stop the time and the one who nearly killed him. He's the one who hurt him and put him in the state he is in. The demon man smirks happily as he walks closer to Baekhyun who struggles to move, but his body is frozen.

“Now, let's talk a little. It's just you and me here anyway. And if I were you, I would stop struggling, you won't get anywhere anyway. Here I'm the boss, I can even control your body and your movements from here.”
“L-Let me go! Whatever you're doing, stop doing it!”
“You still haven't learned your lesson? I hate humans like you, you're so ignorant and act like you're smart and strong. If I really wanted you to be dead, you wouldn't be here right now. Think about it, why do you think you could move when no one else could? Why do you think I never used my full power to kill you? I'm a demon, I'm pretty sure that you have understood by now how dangerous we truly are.”
“T-This is just a dream-”
“No, it's not JUST a dream. If you don't believe me, shall I hit you and see how much pain you will feel in the real world?”
“S-Stop messing with me!”
“Oh I'm not just messing with you, I'm using you. I want you to listen very carefully to me, else I will come and kill you for real. The only reason why I actually came after you was because my so called brothers are trying to kill you. You can say I just wanted to test you and I wanted to see this guardian of yours without him seeing me. With other words, you can say that I came to see what kind of game tools my brothers have gotten themselves.”

Baekhyun stares at the demon in front of him as he walks around the room. Suddenly a chess table appears with two chairs. He sits down on one of the chairs and gestures for Baekhyun to sit down in front of him. At first Baekhyun refuses to do as he says, but the man only needs to make a gesture with his hand to force Baekhyun to walk over to the chair. No matter how much he struggles against the man, his body is moving on its own over to the chair and sits down on it.

“Good boy, do as I say or else it will become worse for you. Now, shall we play a game? You're white and I'm black, okay? You start, since you're white.”
“I don't want to play any games with you! Let me out of this place!”
“Not until you play a game with me. Let's play just once, then I will let you go.”
“I don't care! As fast Chanyeol comes back, I will wake up and you won't be able to stop me!”
“That's true, but he won't be coming back for another hour or two. While we wait for you to wake up, shall we play? Oh I know, if you win I will tell you a promising secret that will be off help for you against my brothers.”
“W-What are you talking about?”
“I will keep telling you what you want to hear and answer your questions for you, but then you have to play with me. It's your choice, make your decision.”

Baekhyun stares at the demon man in front of him and then at the chess table. Why does he want to play chess so badly? Baekhyun doesn't like the feeling he gets from this man, but he's stuck here until Chanyeol comes back. He has already tried to wake up on his own, but it feels like something is keeping him here. He has no choice but to wait for Chanyeol.

Baekhyun stares at the chess table in front of him before he lets out a small sigh. Fine, he will play this demon's dumb game. If he wins, he has a chance to get out of here earlier. The faster he gets away from here, the better.

“If I win... You promise to let me go and leave me alone?”
“Only if you win that is. I will give you a bonus on top of that. If you play, I will answer all your questions you have. I happen to know that your precious guardian is refusing to answer your questions about demons, but I'm not like him. I can tell you whatever you want, but only if you play. You really should take up on that offer, I'm not this generous very often.”

Baekhyun hesitates before he reaches his hand out to the chess table and grabs a chess piece. He has no idea how to play against this demon, but he's not that stupid. He used to play chess a lot with his grandpa, he might be able to beat this guy if he thinks carefully before he makes a move. Baekhyun moves one of the chess pieces one step and then looks up at the demon man who smirks happily.

“Good choice, let's have a good game. Besides, this is much more fun for both of us, don't you agree?”

The man moves a chess piece and Baekhyun follows him. As fast he has moved the chess piece, Baekhyun decides to ask the demon a question. If he has to be stuck here and play chess with him, then he's going to use this opportunity to find out more about demons.

“So... You said you were a high ranked demon, right? What does that actually mean?”
“It means that I'm one of the most well-made demons that exist. The demon king, the first demon king, created exactly 50 sons, and from them came more demons who are slightly weaker. I'm one of those demons.”
“My guardian, he said that there are 10 levels of demons. Which one do you belong in?”
“There are more than 10 levels, but the last two levels are extinct by now. I'm a level 10 demon if you're so curious and my brothers are level 10 as well. Your guardian is only one level lower than me, but one level can be a huge difference. The demon king, the original one, was usually called a level 12 and his 50 sons became level 11, but they got destroyed when all the demons revolted against them. It was a pure pleasure to kill my own father who had kept me and my other brothers locked away in dirt and trash only so he could live a better life. You can say the 50 demon sons were slightly like humans, they wanted to live a comfortable life without having to kill humans over and over again only to waste energy.”
“So... Y-You just killed your own father?”
“Of course, he was being in the way and he never loved anyone of us anyway. He created us, but he never loved us. We're demons, it's not weird that he never loved us. He taught us hatred and I used that against him. It's his own fault for dying. It's your move.”

Baekhyun stares at the chess table for a while before he moves another chess piece. He watches the demon man smirk as he moves the pieces accordingly to his plan he already has made up. Baekhyun sighs silently as he shakes his head lightly, he will definitely lose this game against this man. He's smart, a lot smarter than what he looks like.

“Well, I don't know if you can answer this question, but I will ask anyway. How does it come that after you tried to kill, I can suddenly hear the four cats talking? The familiars to the demons I'm currently living with, why can I hear them?”
“It's because I decided to make things more interesting. I planted something inside of you, see it as a small gift from me. When I tried to 'kill you', I actually planted something into your chest. You will shortly notice that there is something there and it will effect you differently depending on your heart.”
“M-My heart...? W-What have you done to me?!”
“Don't worry, I'm not trying to kill you. Like I said, I'm not interested in killing you. I just wanted to see my brothers' new game tool, that's all. Also, I wanted to mess with them. They're being annoying and I admit that I usually aren't interested in human business.”
“T-Then... What are you interested in?”
“I don't want to kill humans, but I don't mind if they die. You can say that I'm slightly like normal demons, but slightly like your guardian. I only play with humans when I'm bored, but I don't kill them. Who get rid of toys they can use over and over again? I know that some people get rid of old toys, but the humans are needed for us to have something to do and to entertain ourselves. I think that's why my father and his brothers never erased the whole human race and I won't let it happen as well. Once again, it's your move.”

Baekhyun stares at the chess table that is becoming more and more empty. The game has been going on for a while now and he has managed to play a little better than what he thought he could do, but if he doesn't think through his moves carefully from now and on, he will definitely lose. Baekhyun takes his time to look at the chess table before he makes a move. He's quite satisfied with himself, even if he will lose this game.

“Not bad, you're not the dumbest human I have played with. You should feel honored, I have played with quite many, but you're one of the few who can keep up with my game.”
“Thank you, I guess...”
“So, anything else you want to ask? Remember, I can answer nearly anything you want.”
“Then... Can you tell me more about... my guardian? I mean, more about his... demonic side? Like his power, where he gets it from and... And if there is something special he needs. I heard that some demons eats souls to gain power, so I'm wondering if he needs anything like that as well.”
“That's a very good questions, I have waited for you to ask. Your guardian is a level 9 demon, with other word they're powerful creatures who look a lot like humans. They can't change form like I can do, but they have other powers that are alike level 10 demons' powers. Your guardian in particular are quite powerful, but lately it looks like he has begun to lose power. I don't know why he has begun to lose power, he hasn't stopped consuming dark energy to use his powers, so that's not the problem. Level 9 demons uses dark matter and dark energy around them to power themselves, like you may have figured out by now. In short you can say that their surrounding are powering them, either if they like it or not.”
“D-Dark matter... Dark energy... Where does that come from?”
“It's everywhere, just like the power the angels use. If you think about it, this world isn't only dark nor light. It has a day and a night, good people and bad people and even dark and light energy.”
“When you put it like that... It does somehow make sense.”
“Think of the yin-yang model, how does it look like? It has a white part with a dark dot and the other part is black with a white dot. With that being said, it's probably obvious for you to understand what it's standing for.”
“Everything light has something dark and something dark has something light... And combined, they create balance.”
“Exactly. All angels have something dark inside of them, just like we demons have something light in us. You humans are something in between, though some of you are slightly lighter or slightly darker than others. That's why you have murders for an example. There are much more examples in your world that I could keep babbling about, but I think you get it. There is no point in babbling about the same old thing you already understand.”

Baekhyun nods slowly as he stares at the chess table. To his surprise he's still doing quite well. Though, it won't be very long before he will lose this game. Baekhyun stares silently at the chess table until a new thought hits him. There is something he has forgotten to ask this demon man in front of him.

“I got one more question for you.”
“Please go ahead and amuse me with another silly question.”
“What are you going to do after I wake up from this dream?”
“Me? I don't know, I might wait for you to fall asleep again to have another chat with you. Or I might find something else to do. It all depends on my mood.”
“Are you going to middle even more in your brothers' game? Is that what you're saying?”
“What do you want me to do? I would like to hear your opinion.”
“My opinion? Well... If you become an ally, then I don't mind if you meddle around even more with your brothers' business. But if you're going to make things worse, then you can literally go to hell and stay there.”
“How amusing of you to use such an expression.”

Baekhyun watches the man in front of him smirk slightly before he makes another move on the chess table. Baekhyun takes a good look at the table and sighs mentally, he's definitely losing now. If he doesn't make the right move this time, he will lose. Baekhyun lifts his hand and is about to make a move when the demon begins to laugh silently.

“Think carefully before you make your move, else you will lose. The same goes with your words, think through them more carefully the next time you open your mouth.”

The cold voice makes Baekhyun shiver slightly, but he tries to not freak out. He stares at the table and makes up his mind to make a move. As fast he moves one of his few pieces that are left, the demon smirks and sits up straight. He only needs to make one more move before it's all over.

“Checkmate.”

Baekhyun sighs in defeat and is about to say something, but then the whole chess table disappears and the demon man stands up slowly. He looks rather disappointed as he walks over to Baekhyun and stares down at him.

“You and I won't have much more time left together. Before you leave, let me answer your last question you had for me. I can't promise if I will meddle around in my brothers' game or not, and if I do I won't be on your side nor on my brothers' side. There is no point in you asking me about it, I won't know what I will do myself and I would never promise a mere human what to do. Now, you have been here for a rather long time. Do you know what time it is in the reality? It's morning, which means that you will soon wake up. Though, you won't remember this when you wake up. Don't worry, I will let you come back to me soon again, but until then, I can't let you remember anything of this. Goodbye Byun Baekhyun, it was nice to play with you. Though, the next time we see each other, I'm quite sure that we won't have such a pleasant conversation like this one.”

Baekhyun is about to say something to respond to the demon, but everything around him suddenly becomes blurry. The man becomes a shadow that melts in among the darkening room and before Baekhyun knows it, his body is falling.~

Baekhyun opens his eyes quickly and gasps loudly. He tries to sit up, but his body stops him from moving. Chanyeol mumbles something besides him as Baekhyun glances over at the giant. When did he come back? Baekhyun looks around the room and feels a strange wave of relief wash over him. Why is he so relieved? He can't remember why, but something deep inside of him is telling him that he should feel relieved.

“Baekhyun... Are you already awake? Are you feeling alright?”

Baekhyun looks over at Chanyeol who seems to have woken up. The giant sits up quickly and scratches the back of his head messily. His hair is standing out everywhere, he got a really nice morning hair if you ask Baekhyun. Chanyeol yawns tired as Baekhyun sits up slowly and carefully. His wounds are still hurting, but he does feel better today.

“Chanyeol... Did you come back late last night?”
“Not that late... Okay, quite late, but I'm alright with sleeping only a few hours.”
“You should rest a little longer, I don't think we're in a hurry.”
“Mm... What about you? I can't sleep without knowing that you're alright.”
“I can stay right here with you if it makes you sleep better.”

Chanyeol smiles as he nods slowly. Baekhyun can't help but to smile back. Yesterday feels like a dream, even though Baekhyun's body is covered in bruises and small wounds. Chanyeol carefully helps Baekhyun to lie down onto the bed again before he gently wraps his arms around Baekhyun. He's so warm, it feels strange but cozy at the same time.

“Let's sleep for another hour or two, I think it will be good for you as well.”

Baekhyun nods with a smile before he closes his eyes. He will make sure to rest a lot and become better, that way he won't bother Chanyeol as much as he's doing right now. Baekhyun lets himself slowly drift into sleep, even though he's not even tired. At the moment he doesn't really care, as long Chanyeol is besides him.

Ayo guys! How you doing? ^.^

So, I finally managed to update today! I'm sorry for being quite late, but a lot of things have happened (school work, being sick, my birthday came up and a lot of other small things). I hope you endured the wait and enjoyed the chapter! ^.^

I want to thank you all for the wonderful support you have been showing me. I love you guys a lot and I hope you will continue to support me. Please feel free to comment and share the story with your friends if you liked it! ^.^

Peace and love to you all! <3