The kitchen had fallen silent. All eyes were upon Baekhyun who shrank back into his chair, wishing that he could just disappear at any moment to escape the anxiety that churned in the pit of his stomach.  Nervously, his eyes darted around the kitchen, meeting those that watched him carefully. With a small whimper, he extended his hand, entwining his fingers with Chanyeol’s.

“Did I do something wrong?” Baekhyun asked quietly, hanging his head in shame. “I am very sorry. I didn’t mean to upset anybody.”

Chanyeol gave his hand a small, reassuring squeeze.  “You didn’t do anything wrong, Bunny. You did not upset anyone.”

Furrowing his brow, Baekhyun lifted his head slowly. “I don’t understand then,” he breathed, his attention solely on his Giant. “Why are we here? Why is everyone so … Quiet?”

Offering Baekhyun a small smile, Joonmyeon cleared his throat. “Well, Baekhyun,” he said kindly. “Chanyeol and I thought that it had been quite a long time since you last saw your friends. Did you not want to see them?”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, no,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean it like that – of course I want to see my friends, it’s just – “ he trailed off, looking down at his lap.

Joonmyeon’s lips twisted into an anxious frown and he shot Chanyeol a sharp glance. Allowing his shoulders to slump in defeat, Chanyeol exhaled, picking up Baekhyun’s free hand, his thumb gliding over the back of Baekhyun’s knuckles gently.

“Bunny,” he breathed, tracing circles around Baekhyun’s knuckles in an attempt to prolong what was to come. When Baekhyun lifted his head once more, his eyes full of trust and adoration, Chanyeol felt his heart sink. “Joonmyeon – “ Chanyeol paused, shooting his friend a pleading glance. “– and I have thought of a way that might help you remember everything.”

“Remember?” Baekhyun asked, looking first at Joonmyeon and then to his Giant. “I remember lots of things! Purple underw – “

 “When we were on break today,” Kris interrupted smoothly, sparing Chanyeol the embarrassment of nine others knowing what colour underwear he wore. It was the first time all afternoon that he had spoken; his other tiny friends remained silent. “Baekhyun reminded me that we used to share sweet bread together. I asked him when that time was, but he wasn’t sure.”

Baekhyun beamed happily, his legs swinging back and forth under the kitchen chair. “Oh yes!” he exclaimed happily. “Kris loves sweet bread. We used to share it all the time! Every Tuesday for afternoon tea!”

‘See?’ Kris mouthed, inclining his head towards Baekhyun.

“It seems,” Joonmyeon mused quietly. “That you remember a lot more than we thought, Baekhyun.” He paused for a moment to take a sip of tea before continuing. “Do you remember where you came from? Do you remember your past? Remember - it’s okay if you don’t.”

With his brow furrowed in determination, Baekhyun thought very hard about Joonmyeon’s questions. “I remember,” he began slowly. “That I used to share sweet bread with Kris. So that must mean that I have known him for a while, right? From when we were both still very small.” He paused again as something dawned upon him. “But we didn’t have any sweet bread when he came to stay with Mister Giant and I!”

“Exactly,” Joonmyeon said, offering Baekhyun an encouraging smile. “What does that mean?”

Again, Baekhyun thought. “I’ve known Kris for a long time, haven’t I?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper. From his side, Chanyeol gave his hands a reassuring squeeze.

“That’s right,” Joonmyeon said, choosing his words carefully. “You have known the others for just as long, too. Do you want to know what else, Baekhyun? You have known Chanyeol for just as long.”

Baekhyun’s eyes went wide and he shook his head. “No, no!” he said as firmly as possible, finding his voice at last. “Before I met Mister Giant – there was nothing! Nothing but darkness; a box!”

Chanyeol’s lips curled into a small smile. “Actually, Baekhyun,” he said quietly. “Joonmyeon is right. You have known me for a very long time. You knew the others before you came to live with me, but you have known me for just as long.”

Giving Joonmyeon a small nod, Chanyeol focused his attention back on Baekhyun, his eyes watching his Bunny carefully; desperately trying to read the others expression.

“The reason why you forgot, Bunny, is because when you – or anyone like you, for that matter – are separated from the ones you love, you lose your memory.”

Baekhyun’s mind span. “But I’ve always loved Mister Giant!” he exclaimed

“Right,” Chanyeol agreed. “You have always loved me. Does it make sense now? Do you know why you were sent to me?”

Baekhyun shook his head slowly. “Because,” he tried. “I love you?”

Chanyeol swallowed the lump in his throat. “Because I left,” he explained. “Baekhyun, I’ve known you for a very long time.”

Baekhyun wiggled his hands out of Chanyeol’s grip. “But whenever Mister Giant leaves, he always comes back! Grocery shopping or paint shopping – always! Mister Giant always comes home!”

“But this time,” Chanyeol said quietly. “I didn’t come home. I couldn’t. Don’t you see, Baekhyun? I’m the reason why you lost your memory. I, too, lost somebody I loved dearly. And when that happened, I lost my memory – just like you. Do you understand now, Bunny? I’m just like you. I was small, too.”

It was as though Baekhyun’s whole world had crumbled from under his feet. Chanyeol was just like him – he had been small, just as his friends were. Chanyeol had grown, just as he had. But Chanyeol …

“Who was it that you lost?” Baekhyun managed to whisper, trying his hardest to hold back his tears. “Who was it that you loved, Mister Giant?”

Chanyeol shook his head, shooting a pleading glance towards Joonmyeon who sat, wordlessly, on the other side of the kitchen table; his tea cup was clutched tightly in his hands but he did not dare speak.

“Joonmyeon was very young when we were first sent to his house, Bunny,” Chanyeol explained. “His father was extremely unwell and he couldn’t give Joonmyeon or Jisoo the life that they deserved – he couldn’t take them to the park or play with them. Mister Kim barely had enough strength to stand. But he wasn’t just a father to Joonmyeon and Jisoo, he was a father to all of us and we all loved him as such.”

Chanyeol paused, drawing in a sharp breath. “We stayed in that house for many years.  Joonmyeon had only just moved out of home when Mister Kim – Well, I was there in the room when he passed away. Nobody else was. Right before he passed away, Mister Kim told me how much he loved us all, Bunny. Every single one of us. He told me about how thankful he was that we had been there for his children, about how happy he had been in his final years.”

Studying Baekhyun’s face closely, Chanyeol continued. “Right before Mister Kim died, when he told me how thankful he was for all of us being there, that was when I grew. I was the first, it hadn’t happened before. I didn’t know what was happening to me, nor did I know what death was at the time. But when Mister Kim shut his eyes, I locked the bedroom door, called Joonmyeon and cried. The only other time I have ever cried that much was when I thought that I had lost you, too, Baek.”

Reaching for Baekhyun’s hands once more, Chanyeol exhaled quietly.

“I had to leave,” he explained. “I couldn’t stay in that house any longer. Sure, Jisoo was still there, but - I just had to get out. After I left, I forgot – I forgot everything. “

“What about Yoora?” Baekhyun asked, his voice breaking. He wasn’t sure exactly when, but he had started to cry. With each word that Chanyeol spoke, Baekhyun remembered. “She’s your sister.”

“Yoora is a very good friend of Jisoo’s,” Chanyeol explained. “She was able to convince Yoora to let me stay with her for a few months, just until I found my feet. Whilst she is not related by blood, she is still family to me.”

It took quite a long time before Baekhyun was able to speak once more. Closing his eyes, he drew in a deep breath, focusing on the warmth of Chanyeol’s hands. When they were separated from the one they loved, they lost their memory. Chanyeol was the reason why Baekhyun lost his, but why did Chanyeol forget, too?

“Mister Giant,” Baekhyun said slowly. If Chanyeol had been small, just as he had, it felt strange for Baekhyun to be calling him Mister Giant, but at the same time, it felt even stranger to call him by his name. “Who was it that you loved?”

A small smile played across Chanyeol’s lips. Circling Baekhyun’s knuckles lightly once more with his thumb, he tilted his head to the side. “Do you remember my bear, Mister Byun?”

“Yes,” Baekhyun replied, uncertain of how a stuffed animal could possibly be the appropriate answer. “He is a part of Cape Crew, too.”

Chanyeol’s smile widened. “I forgot, Bunny. Byun. That was the only thing I could remember about the one that I loved, so that is what I called the bear. Those first couple of months were the hardest, but whenever I cuddled Mister Byun, I felt happy. Do you understand now?”

Baekhyun cast his gaze down to their interlaced fingers, his eyes following every circle that Chanyeol’s thumb traced around his knuckles, every pattern it drew on the back of his hand.

“It means,” Chanyeol supplied in his silence, “that the one that I loved was you, Baekhyun. The reason why you forgot was because I left. For so long, the reason why I believed that I had forgotten was because Mister Kim, the person who I thought of as a father, had died. But that was not the case. The reason why I forgot was because I had left you.”

Lifting his gaze from their entwined fingers, Baekhyun’s eyes met with Chanyeol’s once more; eyes filled with such sincerity, such kindness that Baekhyun knew that he trusted Chanyeol – he believed every single thing that the other said. His mind was spinning from the amount of information he was trying to take in; from the amount of memories that now no longer lay dormant.

“Why was I sent to you?” Baekhyun asked. “Why didn’t you remember me when I first saw you?”

With a small chuckle, Chanyeol shot a quick glance in Joonmyeon’s direction before shaking his head. “He sent you to me,” Chanyeol explained. “I barely left my apartment before Joonmyeon sent you to me. I didn’t smile. I just felt … Empty. I’m not entirely sure why I did not remember you when I first saw you, but you didn’t seem to know who I was, either. It was only after Joonmyeon had asked me to babysit and we sent you all off to go play together did he explain everything to me. That was when I remembered.”

Baekhyun was only half listening. His mind was repeating what Chanyeol had said just moments ago.

“Oh.”

Letting go of Baekhyun’s hands, Chanyeol relaxed his shoulders. He wasn’t sure if Baekhyun had accepted what he had just said or whether his Bunny was hurting. But in the end, Chanyeol had decided that it was much better for Baekhyun if he knew the truth.

“Bunny,” he breathed quietly. “Please know that hurting you was never my intention – I did not know that you would forget everything, and for that, I am so, so sorry.”

“Mister Byun,” Baekhyun mused quietly. “Mister Giant, you just said that you loved me…”

“I do love you,” Chanyeol replied without hesitation. “But, until you remembered, I didn’t want –“

Baekhyun leaned across in his chair, wrapping his arms around Chanyeol’s waist, placing a quick kiss on his Giant’s lips.

“I love you too, Mister Giant. I always have and I always will.”

Baekhyun’s world, all that he knew - it was no longer black and white. It was colourful. Beautiful. Picturesque. It was filled with love and happiness, friends and contentment.

It was he and Chanyeol -together. Just as they always had been.

Baekhyun finally remembered.

So. Much. Dialogue.
Guhhhh. *pulls out hair*
But it had to be done. 
Sorry in advance!

Does this make sense? I don't go over/re-read my stuff.
If that was the case, I wouldn't post anything and spend forever in my box of shame.
I mentioned in chapter four about 'The Third'. Do you guys remember?


Since 99% of you asked for option two (that makes me happy because 
I’m lazy and therefore get to write less~), here are your answers.
Some? Most? Hopefully all? I have no idea.
This has been planned since before Baek in a Box ended.
Yay for forward planning? c:

On another note, after this is finished I have plans for a BaekYeol fluff oneshot,
an angst oneshot and a JaeYong chaptered fic.
But these will more thank likely have to wait until I get back from Europe.
(Plus I have my Kaisoo psychological horror fic to work on still... So there's that, I guess?)

PS:
I actually don't know what creature/species they are. 
A nymph, maybe? A fairy? A hobbit?
No clue. So I'll leave that to your imagination.
 

To recap the chapter if this didn't make sense:

- Chanyeol used to be small, is the same as what Baekhyun is.
- All mini EXO was sent to live with Joonmyeon's dad because he was dying and couldn't play with/look after his kids.
- Mister Kim loved them all like his own children, so when he died (and Chanyeol was the only one there with him),
Chanyeol grew and was heartbroken. Wanted to get away from the house.
- Stayed with Yoora, Jisoo's friend until he could get his own apartment.
- Chanyeol forgot his past because he was away from the one he loved. But that person wasn't Mister Kim dying, it was being away from Baekhyun.
- Baekhyun forgot because Chanyeol wasn't there. It's something that whatever they are (haha hobbits~) do.
- Chanyeol was depressed so Joonmyeon sent Baek to live with him (even though neither remembered each other).
- Joon told Chanyeol everything. Chanyeol then told Baek.

- Mister Byun ♡

- Baekhyun remembered.
- KISSES. c: