Leaning heavily against the kitchen bench, Chanyeol watched as Baekhyun swung his legs back and forth happily as he sat at the table with his head bowed in concentration, humming a quiet tune. Oblivious to Chanyeol’s constant stare, Baekhyun straightened himself up, glancing down at the piece of paper in which he was scribbling on, various crayons littering the surface of the tabletop.

With his brow furrowed, Baekhyun puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. Chanyeol had asked him to write a list of things he would like to do now that he had grown, something to make up for missed (or unknown) birthdays. But something was off about it, and that was bothering Baekhyun.

Placing the orange crayon he had been using on the table, Baekhyun scrunched his nose in thought. Chanyeol had asked him to do something and he was determined to finish it.  Seeing Baekhyun’s annoyance, Chanyeol’s lips tugged up into a small smile.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, placing his cup of tea on the counter. Baekhyun froze at the sound of Chanyeol’s voice.

“M-Mister Giant? Erm,” he began, shooting a quick glance up at Chanyeol before dropping his gaze once more. “Yes.”

Sensing that Chanyeol didn’t believe him, Baekhyun lifted his head slowly, his cheeks, now tinted red, were still puffed out in frustration.

“No,” he said quietly, focusing his attention of Chanyeol’s cup of tea. “I don’t know how.”

Arching his eyebrows, Chanyeol moved around the kitchen counter to Baekhyun’s side.

“What don’t you know?” he asked. Baekhyun shook his head, dropping his gaze back down to the list in front of him.

“Everything,” he said, embarrassed, his ears beginning to turn pink. “Mister Giant? I’m sorry I’m so useless.”

Chanyeol felt his chest tighten at Baekhyun’s words. Baekhyun wasn’t useless, he was far from that. But where was this coming from? Following Baekhyun’s gaze, Chanyeol ran his eyes over the list that Baekhyun had created.

Scrawled messily on the paper were the words ‘To be with you,’ and that was it. The only thing on Baekhyun’s list of things he wanted for his birthday was to be with him.

Wrapping his arms around Baekhyun’s shoulders, Chanyeol sighed, closing his eyes.

“Why do you think you’re useless?” he asked softly. Almost as soon as he was in Chanyeol’s arms, Baekhyun relaxed. He couldn’t think of anywhere else he would rather be. Baekhyun’s mind went blank and it wasn’t until Chanyeol repeated his question did Baekhyun realise he had even spoken at all.

“Er,” said Baekhyun uncertainly, shifting on his chair. He dropped his gaze once more, reading over what he had written. “You asked me to write what I wanted to do for my birthday,” he trailed off, twisting his fingers together tightly. “I don’t know when my birthday is, or what I want to do.”

“What makes you happy?” Chanyeol asked. “We can do what makes you happy.”

“Being with you makes me happy.”

After calming Baekhyun down, Chanyeol had decided they would have lunch out on the small balcony of their apartment. After gathering a few ingredients from the fridge, Chanyeol paused as the door swung shut, his eyes fixed on a single piece of paper that had been stuck to the fridge with a magnet.

His eyes scanned over it and Chanyeol sighed thoughtfully. It was a flyer for an education center – a place of learning for those who had dropped out of school. Did the doctor think Baekhyun was in his late teens? Chanyeol allowed his shoulders to slump – the doctor must have thought Baekhyun had knocked his head during his dog attack and lost a significant portion of his memory.

A grim smile tugged the corners of Chanyeol’s lips upwards. He knew that it would take a lot more than a knock on the head to forget that much, but it certainly made it easier than explaining Baekhyun’s past.

Perhaps if Baekhyun went to the education center for a few hours a week, he would be able to make other friends. Some people other than himself that Baekhyun could open up to and spend time with. Being cooped up in the apartment with only Chanyeol to talk to would be bad for him in the long run.

And Chanyeol wanted what was best for his Baekhyun. 

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol whispered as he held the other close to him in an attempt to stop his tears. “We’re just going to have a look. If you don’t like it, we’ll come straight home, okay?”

“Do you want to get rid of me?” Baekhyun sniffed, his fists balling around the fabric of Chanyeol’s shirt, burying his face into Chanyeol’s chest.

“I wouldn’t ever want to be rid of you,” Chanyeol soothed. “Where on earth did you get that idea from?”

Baekhyun shook his head, his grip on Chanyeol’s shirt tightening. “I don’t want to leave you!”

Chanyeol’s arms tightened around Baekhyun protectively as he waited for Baekhyun to calm down long enough for him to explain properly. As Baekhyun’s sobbing slowly subsided, Chanyeol let go of him and stopped down so that he could meet Baekhyun’s eye. Gently wiping away Baekhyun’s tears with his fingertips, Chanyeol offered him a gentle smile.

“I’ll be with you all today,” he soothed. “Remember, we’re just going to have a look. You don’t need to go if you don’t want to.”

Baekhyun rubbed his watery eyes with the back of his sleeve roughly. “Really?” he asked.

Chanyeol nodded, resting his forehead against Baekhyun’s. “Yes,” he breathed. “I promise. You can wear your cape if you’d like.”

Baekhyun shook his head, his lips twisting upwards into a small smile.

“Mister Giant is the only cape I like.”

Chanyeol set about tidying the house before they left; he had packed a small bag with snacks, just in case Baekhyun got hungry, a notebook and some pens just in case he had to write – or felt like drawing …

Perfect.

A quiet, agonized groan echoed down the hallway and Chanyeol furrowed his brow. Placing the bag on the kitchen table, he started slowly towards the bedroom.

“Baekhyun?”

Stopping in the doorway, Chanyeol shot a sweeping glance across the room, his eyes falling onto Baekhyun who sat, curled up in a ball next to the bed, rocking from side to side. Immediately, Chanyeol closed the distance between them, crouching at Baekhyun’s side.

“Baekhyun?” he repeated quickly as a wave of panic washed over him. “What’s wrong?”

Slowly, Baekhyun lifted his head, a thick coating of brown smeared around his pale face. His eyes were out of focus as yet another groan escaped Baekhyun’s lips and he wrapped arms around his stomach.

“I don’t want to go,” Baekhyun managed to croak, his nose crinkled in pain. “I don’t want to leave Mister Giant.”

“What did you do?” Chanyeol murmured, eyeing the brown that was smeared across Baekhyun’s face.

With a shake of his head, Baekhyun raised one of his hands out to Chanyeol, his fingertips dyed with a bright mix of blues and reds.

“I don’t want to go,” he repeated. “So, I ate all the Smarties under Mister Giants bed. Now I’m smart and- urgh,” he winced in pain before quickly wrapping his dyed hand around his stomach once more. “And now I don’t have to leave you.”

To his left sat an empty tub of what was once filled to the brim with tiny, brightly coloured chocolate Smarties. Glancing from the tub to Baekhyun’s chocolate covered face, Chanyeol couldn’t hold back his chuckle.

“Oh, Baek,” he sighed as he gently helped Baekhyun to his feet. “You’ve given yourself a stomach ache.”

Guiding Baekhyun down the hallway, Chanyeol helped him onto the couch and propped him up on a pillow.

“Stay here, I’ll go make you some tea to help settle your stomach.”

Reaching out, Baekhyun caught hold of Chanyeol’s hand before he had a chance to leave his side.

“I’m smart now,” he said quietly. “Please don’t make me go to that …. That place.”

Giving Baekhyun’s hand a reassuring squeeze, Chanyeol gave him a warm smile. “I won’t.”

Despite his stomach ache, Baekhyun beamed. “And since I ate all of your Smarties,” he began hopefully, “does this mean that I’m now smarter than you?”

“I’ll go make your tea now.”

I've left you all waiting for long enough. ^^'
Finished one of my essays last night and
World of Warcraft is currently updating, so I thought
I'd spend my night off, well, doing this.

I was going to use this idea much later, but eh.
Big thank you to IsabelleShion for the smartie idea!

On an unrelated note, I've planned what I'm making/wearing to 
the first con of next year. Pokemon - Star Wars mash up, anyone?

PS:
Sorry the update is so short. I've had around
six hours of sleep over a three day period.
That being said, excuse any typos.
I'm going to go pass out now.
x___x

PPS:
I'm planning on dropping a bombshell in one of the later chapters.
It'll answer most, if not all of your questions, promise.
(;