(18) PYROPHOBIA

Baekhyun starts working normally again once Kyungsoo becomes a little more familiar with his new surroundings. He’s certainly adapted a lot easier than himself, though he won’t admit to it because there’s this feeling in his mind that tells him that they aren’t exactly supposed to be wonderful friends. His mind tells him that Kyungsoo, although sometimes nice and easy to get along with, is also considered his rival. They’re friends, but he’s competition. For what exactly, he doesn’t know. It’s just a feeling, afterall.

He’s always been a little grumpy and impudent, and his chest sticks out boldly with his head filled with pride, but he’s also nice and compassionate just whenever it is needed. Today though, the scale weighs the darker side of his mood, and every little thing begins to irritate him as a result of yet another sleepless night.

They haven’t happened in a while- the nightmares. For the first couple of weeks he had arrived in town, he spent the nights jolting awake from terrifying visions that clouded his mind. Sometimes, Sunny would have to wake him up whenever he’d be screaming his lungs out. He would always wake up with a sore throat and a dry mouth.

More recently, he wakes up to someone shaking him as sweat rolls down his neck and coats his skin. The nightmares had come back, but this time, they’re much much worse. He lets out another shout before he backs into the wall, and just before he could start crying, he would recognise the situation. His shaky eyes adjust to the dark enough to find Kyungsoo worriedly staring at him, and he always droops his head in defeat while he waits for his heart to calm. Kyungsoo is never awake at the right times to catch Baekhyun with a couple of tears streaking down his face, because it is silent and he does not weep, but the wetness is still there.

He also refuses to talk about the dreams, but Kyungsoo never asks about them, anyways. Probably because certain things are a bit more personal than other things, and if Baekhyun didn’t bring up the subject, neither did he. It’s similar to when Kyungsoo had his nightmare, except that was only once, and Baekhyun guesses that it’s just post-amnesia stress.

But Baekhyun also has amnesia. He doesn’t say it, but he longs to remember his past as well. By this point in time, he believes that he knew Kyungsoo once long ago in his lost memories. He thinks that believing in such a thing is a little too hopeful, though.

Now, Baekhyun stands at the counter of the antique shop with the palm of his hand jabbing into the side of his mouth. He blinks his eyes slowly, staring at the male who only has to stretch his arm up to grab a strange box on the top of one of the store shelves.

“Ooh,” Chanyeol says curiously, setting it onto the counter. “Did you put this here? I don’t remember seeing it before.”

Baekhyun squints his heavy eyelids as he tries his best not to fall asleep standing up. The box isn’t dusty, unlike many of the other items on the shelves that haven't budged an inch since they were listed. But other than that, it is a fairly plain box crafted from swirly dark wood and tiny iron bolts, coated and polished, but also aged.

He pays attention a little harder when Chanyeol is about to open it up, his long fingers clamping over the top and nail tips whitening as he begins to pry it open. He switches the position after a while, pulling at it with more force with his thumb until his fingers begin to cramp. With a sigh, he drops the box onto the counter and stands up straight.

Baekhyun can feel Chanyeol’s sudden procerity by the way he hunched his back to loom over the other, and he’d be lying if he said it didn’t make him feel uncomfortable. Slouched over, Baekhyun traces the design on the box as Chanyeol moves away again to rummage through the items once more.

In all honesty, Baekhyun has no idea why he’s working at a shop that doesn't even get customers. It's a given, though, better than nothing because he's pretty sure that he wasn't supposed to be part of the dome. Part of him wonders if there's anything else out there past the barriers, because there's a possibility that that was once his home. But Sunny insists that outside the dome is nothing but dirt and dead vegetation that goes on for hours.

He thinks to himself for a minute before he rubs his hand on the back of his neck, nudging it with two fingers just in case there actually had been a chip.Maybe this chip is the reason why he lost his memory in the first place- but he loses that thought when nothing special or weird-feeling happens.

He stares at the scar on his left wrist.

"Look! Baek, look'a what I found!" Chanyeol bellows excitedly, fumbling with something shiny in his hands until he forces it onto his wrist.  Baekhyun squints again.

"What's that?"

The grin on Chanyeol's face stretches from ear to ear. "A metal bracelet. Like, you know those bracelets you and Kyungsoo match with?" Chanyeol nods his head proudly, showing the other a little closer than Baekhyun would have liked. He pushes his arm away a little.

"Yeah, yeah," he frowns, putting his head back onto the counter. "Very nice."

Chanyeol looks at the new piece of metal clutching his wrist, twisting it in the sunlight from above. "Right?" He admires how it almost seems to sparkle now that he was wearing it. Though, he was the only one to enjoy it.

Baekhyun doesn't reply.

Putting his arm back down and leaning in towards Baekhyun, Chanyeol smiles. "We can all match now! Right? Don't you think so?"

Baekhyun rubs his face on his forearm, a little irritated by the giant's annoying eagerness and joy. “Yes Chanyeol, now go and dust the shelves or something.”

Chanyeol watches as his friend hunches over the counter top and buries his head into his arms, a bit sad that Baekhyun didn’t look as enthusiastic as he did. He trudged over to a nearby shelf while using the tip of the feather duster to try and clean, though he’s merely pushing the dust around while being distracted by his thoughts.

Lately he had begun to doubt himself due to the lack of attention Baekhyun was giving him. Before Kyungsoo came along, he would always joke around with Baekhyun or be able to talk to him without getting flipped off. Chanyeol wasn’t blaming Kyungsoo, but rather, he was glad they both came into their lives.

He’s always wanted friends ever since the beginning. He had no home and barely remembered his own name, but the lazy shopkeeper still took him in and gave him a job and a place to stay. He’s always been envious of those kids on the holograms that played in the back room, watching as they joked with one another, just having fun. Chanyeol wanted something like that, but he didn’t know anybody and he had no friends.

Until he met Baekhyun.

He was sweeping the leaves that the street cleaners missed after their daily cleaning when he saw a bunch of kids no older than himself walking on the street opposite to him. They were all laughing and looked a bit crude pushing one another around, but none of them were mad. Their smiles and happy grins made him wish that he had people to do that with.

“Uh, dude. Hey? Hey!”

Chanyeol was startled by the sudden voice shouting at him and fumbled around with the broom in his hand, almost whacking himself in the face. Maybe his reflexes were a bit rusty since the tip of the broom just barely missed his face and instead, struck right into his stomach, doubling him over in pain and embarrassment.

The person who had tried getting his attention just laughed at Chanyeol’s mistake. It made him feel a little worse knowing that he probably looked like a fool, but when a hand extended out towards him, he was a bit confused.

“Sorry, that was probably rude, but you’re kind of an idiot. Are you alright?” At that moment, Chanyeol could tell that he was a boy, and a very pretty one at that. Not exactly like a girl, but it rivaled something like an angel with the devil’s personality. After he was helped up, he stared at the boy that was actually very short compared to him.

The boy looked him over and pat his shoulder encouragingly as he peered into the antique shop with slight interest. “So, you work here?”

Chanyeol wasn’t able to speak and just nodded his head slowly. The boy hummed and waltzed in to through the doors, his mysterious presence attracting Chanyeol as he followed close behind. He kept walking until finding the store owner and the boy conversing as if they’d known each other for years.

“Oh, Chanyeol. This kid is working here too from now on, so get along with him or whatever.” The shop owner yawned, heading back to his room to take another nap for the day.

The boy waved happily as he made his leave, spinning around with an outstretched hand once again. “Looks like we’re working together. The name’s Baekhyun and you’re Chanyeol, so skip the introductions. I’m going home now.”

Baekhyun seemed to get to the door at the speed of light and Chanyeol had to run to catch up to him, almost missing him as he walked down the street. “Wait!”

He turned around to see Chanyeol refused to let him leave just yet. “Can we, uh. Can we be friends?” His panting and cold sweat made him more nervous, the feeling of his heart beating a bit too fast almost as exhilarating as it was terrifying.

“Sure? See you tomorrow kid.”

Chanyeol grinned like a madman for the rest of the day, blabbering on to the shop owner who was happy, but pretended not to care so Chanyeol wouldn’t yap his head off.

Once he and Baekhyun became ‘friends’, they were more or less glued at the hip. They talked while Baekhyun teased Chanyeol as he just laughed with everything that he said. Life was good. Now though, Baekhyun seemed like he was in pain all the time. His complexion seemed to be getting better after he and Sunny stopped fighting, but it was getting worse again, almost making him look lifeless.

After staring at the one spot he was dusting for over ten minutes, he deemed it clean and began to play with his bracelet with a small smile on his face. The metal cuff was tight on his skin, but the fact that it wasn’t too loose or cutting off the circulation to his hand made him think it was fate that had given it to him.

He wanted to go and check back in with Baekhyun, but he grew scared again. What if he got mad at him again? He didn’t know whether or not he should since he didn’t want Baekhyun to be mad. Chanyeol and everyone else preferred Baekhyun when he was snappy and full energy, not when he wanted to kill everyone.

A small whimper was all it took to have Chanyeol running back for Baekhyun, his large ears aiding his excellent listening skills. He heard about Baekhyun having nightmares from Kyungsoo, but he didn’t know what to believe until he saw it with his own eyes.

Baekhyun was almost falling off the stool he was sitting on, his weeping growing louder the more Chanyeol just watched. He didn’t think it would be this bad. Tears were dripping down onto the table and onto his arms.

Chanyeol tried shaking him awake, but Baekhyun wasn’t coming to, cries turning into horrid shouts. He didn’t know what to do and just did what his instinct told him to do: take Baekhyun into his arms and try to hush him to sleep like a mother would to her child.

“Baek, calm down. It’s just a dream. Please, don’t cry…” Chanyeol smoothed out Baekhyun’s hair and whispered things to try and calm him down, the boy’s struggles slowing down until they came to a stop. He ho