Park Chanyeol never thought that having a star would be so complicated as the thing going on right now. However, Baekhyun was a certain star, literally. So what did it mean? It meant that Baekhyun didn’t live a human life, like Chanyeol or Sehun, or anyone for that matter. Speaking of Baekhyun, Chanyeol found no limit in the difference between them two.

Baekhyun didn’t eat human food. Instead, he ate… light.

 

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow. “Light?”

“Uh huh… I aint’ human. I eat light only, but not much, once a week is enough.”

“Tell me, where can I get light for you?”

“Well, just take me to the curb roof is okay.”

Park Chanyeol swore, when he heard that sentece, he completely had no idea what Baekhyun was talking about.

 

Finally, that day came. Park Chanyeol figured out at last. In the middle of the night, Baekhyun patted on his back, saying that he was hungry. Chanyeol groused few words but still left bed and took Baekhyun to the curb roof. Chanyeol felt wrong about “midnight”. It wasn’t that late, all because Chanyeol went to bed early. The suburb street was quiet and brightened up with street lights.

“Chanyeol can you step back a little?” asked Baekhyun, Chanyeol followed.

 

Perhaps, what happened after that was one of the most unforgetable images that Chanyeol ever experienced. Chanyeol was hardly be amazed by the miraculous and unreasonable things but right now, watching by eyes a star glowing and absorbing all the light around, Chanyeol felt his head shaking, and he started to distrust his vision.

As Baekhyun closed his eyes, gently flying into the night sky, Chanyeol could see Baekhyun was glowing, wrapped up by a striking source of brightness, as it formed a round ball. A strip of red light radiated from Baekhyun’s chest, wandering around his body. Baekhyun moved slightly, istantly one become hundreds. Hundreds threads of red light fired off and connected to every street light near and far. Chanyeol heard a sound breath, the small mouth slowly opened. In a jiff, all those street lights were flickering on and off, on and off, unstably – nothing more like a pathetic withstand towards the strong energy that trying to swallow everything and leave behind nothing. Everytime a street light went off, the light ball that embracing Baekhyun glowed brighter. Until the last one turned off, that light ball stared to spin and exploded. There was no more shell. Chanyeol tried really hard to keep himself from being shocked, his eyes were full of confusing thoughts. When Baekhyun landed on the curb roof, his entire body remained translucent. Chanyeol saw, or he thought he see, glittering blood veins inside that extreterrestrial body.

“So…” Chanyeol coughed, “…this is it?” His voice was drifted somewhere.

“Ah… sorry…. I hope it wasn’t too-“

“Destructive?” Chanyeol jumped into conclusion, turned his head to the direction of noises that came from neighborhood, they were asking themselves what was wrong with the electricity system.

Baekhyun laughed. “If you want to make it that way.” His laughed was so innocent, just like he wasn’t the cause of that trouble.

 

Baekhyun only ate light – Chanyeol thought. Or to understand simpler, because of Baekhyun, from now on his tiny world would be drowned into darkness sometimes.

 

*

*        *

 

Nontheless, that eating thing was not Chanyeol’s only concern. Chanyeol found out that Baekhyun has a dour affection for light, plus the incurable curiousity.

Chanyeol’s room has a ceiling that opened up to the sky so it didn’t have much light bulb. But in other rooms, there are a lot, since Sehun didn’t like the place he lived swallowed by darkness.

And that was the problem.

“Hyung… this bulb isn’t working.” Sehun pointed at the one in the living room.

“Okay, I will changed it later.”

 

One day later.

“Hyung… The kitchen’s bulb is not working.” Sehun grizzled.

“Okay, leave it till tomorrow.”

 

Two days after.

“HYUNG!!! WHY DID ALL THE BULBS IN LIVING ROOM, KITCHEN, BATHROOM AND MY ROOM ALL BURN???”

Let just say that Sehun’s voice was never less grating whenever he shouted.

 

At first, the two brothers didn’t know why it happened. The hell ghost haunted, Chanyeol knocked on Sehun’s head. But he himself couldn’t come up with the explanation of how come the light continually changed but still broken days after.

Until one day, when Chanyeol got home, he saw Baekhyun in his room. The little one was standing on a chair, hand tapping at the light bulb. Chanyeol was about to call him to come down, but before that, Baekhyun used a finger and poked the bulb nonstop.

So it was because of Baekhyun.

The more times Baekhyun poked at the bulb, the weaker the light was. “Buff!” – it was completely burned. Chanyeol felt quite annoyed, almost yelled at Baekhyun. But then he saw Baekhyun’s face, he just couldn’t.

 

“What are you doing?” asked Chanyeol.

“Hey, Chanyeol, this bulb is interesting! It went off when I touched it..” Aishh, that innocent voice could choke Chanyeol to death.

Weren’t you the one who broke them?

 

*

*        *

 

Chanyeol told Sehun what really happened. From observing the changes on his little brother’s face, Chanyeol was speechless, maybe because Sehun was speechless too. Chanyeol catched sound of muttering words came from Sehun’s mouth, and few days after, it wasn’t too hard to realize something was going on. Baekhyun’s face is full of sadness, he crouched at one corner saying nothing. To be honest, this made Chanyeol feel bad.

“What’s wrong with Baekhyun?” Chanyeol grabbed Sehun to another corner.

“I thought you didn’t care.”

Chanyeol ignored the answer, glared at Sehun.

“Okay… fine. I said a few things, no big deal.”

“Things like what?”

“Like…” The accent of Chanyeol’s voice paused him abit. “You are not like us, stop messing thing up.” Sehun raised his voice at the end, which turn the statement into a question, “Sort of.”

 

Sort of – Damn this little brat. Who know what the hell did he say?

 

*

*        *

 

Days after that, Baekhyun still remained silence, didn’t run wild and talk to Sehun. Sehun seemed didn’t care, and Chanyeol was… Chanyeol. Chanyeol didn’t say anything, because he didn’t feel like doing so, but he tried to leave the two space so they could make up. Actually, this wasn’t a real quarrel, it just Sehun had quite awkward characters so it was hard to make him normal again.

But, like they said, life never turned terribly bad. One day, when Chanyeol was off duty at the coffee shop, it rained very hard. Damn, why now, Chanyeol thought. He hadn’t have anything since breakfast yet. And Chanyeol wasn’t the type of careful person that always brought an unbrella though it was shiny.

 

“Sehun? I am at the shop.”

 The voice sounds annoyed through phone.

“Guess I have to wait until… What? Which one? Oh, need one more??” said Chanyeol.

 

How forgetful he was these days. Sehun just called to tell him that they needed one more bulb in the kitchen. How will I eat when you are not at home, Sehun muttered via phone. Sehun was mad, but why did Chanyeol have to be responsible for that? When he was about to explain, that little pale brat hung up all of sudden. Sehun’s style of rudeness had ever feel so unchangable.

“Better don’t vent the rage on that star.”

 

*

*        *

 

 

“Need some help?” A shy voice in small volume asked.

Sehun turned around and realized Baekhyun was no longer sitting on the sofa.

“No. Leave me be.”

But series of crashing objects falling on the floor went agains what he just said. Because there was no light in the kitchen, when Sehun took things out of the fridge, he slipped. Sehun stood up, tried to be as calm as possible when fixing hair, which was conflict to the expression on his face.

“!” Sehun frustrated to someone as someone was Baekhyun. “I’m starve to death!”

Baekhyun reacted by stepped three steeps back, hiding behind the kitchen door. He didn’t have nerve to come near Sehun. This kid was a real ticking boom, unlike Chanyeol.

“Don’t… don’t be like that..” Baekhyun’s voice was shaking. “Let’s wait until Chanyeol get back…”

“The hell get back!! My brother is stucked with the pouring rain, and I am starving like hell. If you can help both, stay. If not, get away from my sight!”

The more angry Sehun got, the more scared Baekhyun was. Competely hide himself behind the door, Baekhyun could still hear Sehun’s bad tempered words. Sehun got so angry and nonstop kicking the table. Such a scary kid.

“AARRGHHH!!” Sehun really wanted to hit someone right now.

 

All of sudden, the rage was blurred and Sehun caught sight of a floating blip. The blip grew bigger, spinning in the air giving light back to the kitchen. Sehun focused on that white bright spot, there is something came up in mind.

“Alright, you can come out now.” Sehun tried to keep his voice as normal as possible. But the one who was called still scared of him.

“Come out here. I won’t yell at you, I promise.”

Step by step, Baekhyun came out of shelter and got to where Sehun was standing. Baekhyun looked down, two hands grabbed tightly and didn’t say a word.

“Come closer.”

Baekhyun obeyed.

Sehun inhaled a long breath. “ I’m sorry about what happened earlier. You helped. Don’t be sad.”

Baekhyun didn’t moved an inch.

“C’mon… I don’t need anymore light bulb, so one..” Sehun pointed at the strange blit, “.. each room is okay.”

Baekhyun just nodded.

“Say something!” Sehun bursted into laughter, lightly patted Baekhyun’s cheek. “Do you want to cook dinner with me?”

“Really?” Baekhyun looked up instantly. Sehun felt relief, finally that joy and excitement cameback to those full of stardust eyes.

 

*

*        *

 

“How did you do that?” ask Sehun, as taking a frozen beef pack from Baekhyun.

“Do what?”

“That… thing. The light balls. Do you have supernatural power?”

“Oh no…” Baekhyun laughed. “Just… gifted since I was born somehow. I think and my instinct does all my thoughts.”

“Psychopath, something like that?”

“What is psychopath?”

“Nothing. Hand me the knife please.”

Baekhyun reached for a knife in the cupboard. He almost startled his heart out when Sehun screamed in the tone that no less startling. “No holding like that. You will get hurt.”

“Hurt?”

While Baekhyun was cluecless, Sehun took away the sharp knife and started to explain. “This is how we should hold knife, and other sharp objects. Hurt is what you feel when you are affected or impacted or hitted by surroundings. We, no, humans often bleed when they are hurted and bleeding hurts, like vice versa.” Sehun knew he didn’t good at giving definition, but he tried his  best to make Baekhyun understand.

“Bleeding means hurting?” Baekhyun repeated.

“In simple way, yes. But there are two kinds of hurting: physical hurt and mental hurt. What I just told you is the first kind.”

“Then what’s about the second?”

“Ahhh~ It’s enough for now. The noodles!! Hand me the spoon please.”

Sehun ignored Baekhyun’s question. Because he knew that Baekhyun wouldn’t understand it anyway. Sehun recalled Chanyeol had said, for once, that only love could lead to mental hurt. About the reason why Chanyeol suddenly said something rarely hearful meaning in thousands of heartlessly gruff sayings, Sehun could not remember.

 

*

*        *

 

Chanyeol got home late. Rubbing his hair, why the hell it rained so hard. Chanyeol glanced at the watch, 11 p.m and still empty stomach. Chanyeol went into the kitchen in order to find something, anything, that could satisfied his hunger.

When Chanyeol acrossed the living room, he stopped.

His brother, and the star – Baekhyun, leaning at each other and back against the sofa legs. The floor was sparsed with messy bunch of paper and pens. Chanyeol turned forward, facing the two boys who were sleep sitting. As Chanyeol kneeled down, he noticed the piece of paper that Baekhyun was clamping in right palm.

Chanyeol carefully took it out and opened it. He was so surprised at what he saw.

The rough and tumble handwriting, bold and italic; the hand writings that only by one look Chanyeol could tell it wasn’t Sehun’s, or taken from his old school records.

 

The clumsy handwriting that magically draw a tender smile on Chanyeol’s wet lips.

 

“Chanyeol’s dinner.”

 

On the white paper, Baekhyun wrote.