Interlude 

Little Baekhyun never understood why there were always familiar adults -- sometimes two parents to a kid -- to greet the other kindergarteners at the front of the building whenever the last bell rings. He would stand at the front porch with tiny hands on the straps of his latest edition Pororo bag pack and watch as the other kids run into the awaiting arms of a pretty mummy or a smiling daddy. As for him, his wait would drag into an hour and he'd be back in the classroom with the homeroom teacher, sitting at one of the mini tables and using his own expensive crayons to colour into books. Only then a group of men in suits and sunglasses (no matter rain or shine outside) would enter the room and beckon for him to follow them. Little Baekhyun wouldn't have did as they told since Ms Sooyoung often reminds the class about Stranger Danger but Baekhyun recognizes one of them to be Xiumin, the short man who is always entering and leaving Father's study, so he'd pack his things and slip his hand into Umin hyung's before they would set off for home.  

On the rare nights when Father would tuck him into bed, Baekhyun would ask, "Why does Jonginnie have a daddy and a mummy? Why don't I have a pretty mummy?" 

Father would always reply with a stern, "You're too young to know why." 

And when Baekhyun, seemingly unsatisfied with the answer given, would ask another, "Then why don't you come and get me from kindergarten?" 

The answer is always the same, curt, "I'm busy." No matter how many times Father says it, Baekhyun knew it would always hurt the same as the last. 

+ 

Baekhyun was ten when he finally understood the vocabulary meaning of death, though he grappled with the concept of it. 

All he was certain, though, was the fact that his mother wasn't here with them anymore, isn't reading bedtime stories to him just like Kyungsoo's mum does for him right before he goes to sleep. Father takes him to a place with stones protruding from the ground and it is there that he learns his mother is in the heavens -- have been ever since he came into the world -- and that the place is called a cemetery where people go to visit those who's time on earth is up. 

Right after that first visit, he spent sleepless nights picturing a life with a mother in it. 

It's not when he's bold enough to creep outside Father's study that he finally discovers the reason behind every I'm busy, missed recitals and heaps and heaps of gifts under the Christmas tree but an absent father. 

"Master Byun, please. He's been terrorizing the kids at school again. Doctor Jun believes he's pining for affection." 

"I can't. That boy... he took away the only thing I'd ever loved." 

If Baekhyun could bring her back, he would in a heartbeat. But he couldn't, and he knew he has to live with the weight of it for the rest of his life. 

+

A/N: Just a tiny interlude about Baekhyun's sorta backstory. Will have the final part up tmr. Thanks for the support so far xxx