His light

It was another of those snowy day where Yeori would simply walk after college without a real destination.  It wasn’t like she didn’t have stuff to do but she was so deeply lost in her thought that she completely forgot about everything else –like for example the fact that she had to see her friend, Baekhyun-.

It has been three years since she met Byun Baekhyun and for the past three years many things happened. They strangely became friends despite the fact that they seemed so different from each other. But if only it stayed this way, Yeori wouldn’t mind but of course nothing happened like she firstly planned it. After one year of friendship she slowly noticed that her feelings for her friend changed, she didn’t see him like the noisy yet funny friend anymore and she could only blame him for that. Byun Baekhyun was just too caring, he would do everything to make her happy and he would try to protect her from everything and everybody. At first, it bothered her, it was an annoying attitude in a way but slowly she started liking it. Whenever she was sad he would be the first to notice it. Whenever she needed someone to talk she could always rely on him. Whenever she wanted someone to hang around he would always take her to nice places. He was just the perfect friend. Or something more.

But once again, things didn’t happen like she expected it to be.

Byun Baekhyun was one of those guys at who you would stare for hours or even admire and yet because of the dangerous aura around him nobody tried to approach him, except his friends who were just like him. For most of people in the college, they were a dangerous band and of course crazy rumors spread like fire about them but Yeori never believed those stupid rumors because she knew them. They looked dangerous, she couldn’t deny it as she thought the same thing when she met them for the first time but she changed her mind quite quickly as she started hanging around them. There was one perfect word to describe all of them: dumb. When she was with them they would always be playful, funny and would always whine like babies when something would go wrong for them. Sometimes it was annoying as hell and yet she completely loved their presence, it made her life a little better. At this thought, she couldn’t help but smile. They were her friends and she had no regret, except maybe one: not being able to be more than friends with Baekhyun.

When she met Baekhyun for the first time, she already knew that something was wrong about him, that she should be suspicious about him but again she ignored the wrong feeling.

This day Yeori stayed late at her college to work on one of her project, most of the students had already left the place so it seemed like a haunted college but Yeori didn’t mind as long as the light was switched on. When she arrived at the second floor, a very nice melody echoed in the whole hall. She stopped walking, remembering that it was the floor with music classes, and concentrated on the melody. It wasn’t just the melody that grabbed her attention but the voice. She didn’t know to who this voice belong to but one thing was sure: this voice was beautiful.

“Have you, you, you lost your way again

The night air is still cold, get up

So, baby, hold on I’m worried of leaving you alone

I leave the road and follow behind you”

Her heart started beating fast in her chest, tightening from time to time. This voice was so charming, it felt like the person was trying to bewitch her and it definitely worked.

“A place where I can’t touch you and can’t even hold you

What’s shining under surface is not that person

Your sad story that can’t come true

The closer you go, the more you’ll hurt, so

Just that love stop, stop, stop, stop, yeah”

Without realizing it she got closer to the door, attracted by the voice, she couldn’t stop herself anymore, she wanted to hear more of the song, she wanted to see the person to who belonged the beautiful voice.  She pushed the door lightly but because she was a clumsy person, instead of sneaking discretely inside the room she fell on the floor with a loud scream which startled the person inside. Another scream echoed in the room and before Yeori could even realize what was going on around her, all lights exploded making the pieces of glass fell on the ground all around the room.

The darkness invaded the room and if there was one thing that scared Yeori to death it was definitely the dark. Since she was a kid it always made her scream in fear, she couldn’t stay in a room without light at all and right now she felt like she was about to die. She shut her eyes tightly, her arms around her body, she felt so terrified at the idea of being in the dark to the point that she had completely forgotten that she wasn’t alone in the room. She felt her eyes getting teary, she wanted to get out of this place, she couldn’t take it anymore.

For once it looked like someone had heard her prayers.

“Hey, are you ok?” Someone’s voice echoed in the room

She shook her head forgetting the fact that he couldn’t see her either. She heard steps, getting closer and closer until it stopped next to her. Someone finally grabbed gently her shoulders and helped her to straighten herself. Just the moment she opened to protest and to yell, the light switched on. Her eyes widened in shock when she realized who was helping her: it was Byun Baekhyun, one of the most dangerous people from her college according to what some people said. But right now, she couldn’t believe any of those damn rumors. How could someone with such a marvelous voice be dangerous? How could someone with such beautiful eyes be dangerous? It didn’t make sense at all and Yeori realized how dumb people were in this college.

“Hey, easy there. Let me help you to get up.” Baekhyun said as a cute smile spread on his face. He wrapped gently his arms around her body and helped her to get up slowly. “Are you ok now?”

“Yeah. I-I’m sorry. I just really hate being in the dark.” Yeori admitted without looking at him or else she would lost her mind once again and this time only because he was so close to her. How someone’s proximity could had such a strong effect on her? Especially when this person was just a stranger to her? It didn’t make sense and she blamed her stupid heart for reacting this way.

“I noticed that. What are you still doing that late in college?” He let her go and stepped back to make her feel more comfortable around him. He couldn’t help but observe her from head to toe. It wasn’t the first time that he met her but it was definitely the first time that he had the chance to talk to her. Compare to others students she didn’t seem afraid of him but then again it was probably due to the shock she received a moment ago. Or at least he thought so.

“You have a really beautiful voice, Baekhyun.” She said without answering to his question which definitely surprised him. He blinked few time, proceeding what she had just said before his smile grew even wider. “Thank you. I usually don’t sing when people are around but I guess there is a first for everything, right?”

“You should definitely sing more.”

“Uh, uh. It will definitely ruin my reputation.” And in a way he didn’t lie. He couldn’t allow himself to get closer to people. He didn’t like how they were all scared of him but it would make things so more complicated if suddenly he showed his true self to everybody. “Are you scared of me?”

It was Yeori’s turn to blink few times but not because she needed to proceed what he had just said but more because she didn’t understand his question. Why the hell should she be scared? “Oh right, he’s supposed to be dangerous.”  A chuckle escaped her lips before she finally dared to look into his eyes. “Nope, am not. You look more like a cute puppy then a gangster to be honest.” She realized what she had said only after actually saying it. “A cute puppy?! What the Yeori!”

He stared at her for a moment, incredulous. “Did you just call me a cute puppy?”

“I-I did.” She hated herself for stuttering but there was no way for her to deny it, what said is said and she was ready to face the consequences.

“A cute puppy…Ya! You could have chosen a better comparison!” He whined like a kid

“What the hell…” And it was supposed to be the scary Byun Baekhyun? “What a joke.”

“I think you just ruined your own reputation, Baekhyun.” Yeori laughed, she just couldn’t stop herself anymore because he was acting so cute.

“Well, as long as it stays between us, I guess I don’t mind? You already heard me singing so…Don’t tell to others.”

“I don’t like sharing my discoveries so you don’t need to worry. As long as you sing for me once again. By the way I’m Yeori.”

“I know.”

“Huh?”

“I stalked you.”

“What?!”

“Joking.” He poked her arm and laughed at her expression.

This day Yeori discovered that Byun Baekhyun was a tease, a very cute one. But she remembered one more thing about this day: all the light exploded and yet everything was so clear in the room. It didn’t make sense at all.

At first Yeori didn’t know that after this encounter with him she would see him again, she didn’t even expect him to talk to her but he did. It looked like Byun Baekhyun wanted to surprise her every time and of course every time he succeeded. Oddly, it didn’t take her long to get used to his presence so when he introduced her to his friends she felt completely at ease because she was convinced that if Baekhyun was so nice then the others were too. And she was right. Chanyeol was a dork, he would spend most of his time cracking lame jokes and would always smile in a very creepy way. Fortunately for all of them Kyungsoo was always here to snap some sense in his head as he could act like a scary little . Nobody dared to go against Kyungsoo – despite the fact that he wasn’t tall, they were still afraid of him-. Jongin and Sehun were the youngest of the band, Jongin looked like a playboy material even if he wasn’t while Sehun looked like a cold, heartless boy when in reality he was a cute little boy. And the last one of the band was Joonmyun who was probably the most reasonable and wisest person among them all. To summarize: Yeori loved all of them and had no regret befriending them.

Just as she became friends with them, some students –especially girls- had fun spreading rumors once again about all of them. Some who didn’t obviously hate Yeori said that she had no other choice but stay with them. Some were convinced that Yeori was selling her body to them. But Yeori didn’t care about any of those rumors because as long as she and the others knew the truth it didn’t matter.

But of course, the day when Yeori wouldn’t be able to take it anymore was meant to happen. 

As Yeori grew really fond of them, she couldn’t tolerate the rumors and the whispers, it was just too hard to deal with. She wished people would realize how wrong they were but she couldn’t stop any of them mainly because Baekhyun and the others didn’t want to get close to people.

It was a normal day of college, Yeori was heading to her next class, humming a song, she was in a very good mood as for once everything was going just like she planned. Almost. When she passed through a group of people she heard them whispering about her.

“Look at her all happy, I’m sure she hooked with them last night.”

“I heard that they got into a fight last night and that they injured someone pretty badly! I’m sure they can kill people.”

Yeori squeezed her book tightly. She wished she could ignore her anger but those accusation were just so unfair, she couldn’t deal with it anymore. She stopped and turned around suddenly and approach the group of people. “If you have a problem tell it now instead of whispering and then spreading stupid rumors!”

“Watch your mouth, .” One of the girl said and snickered

“? Look who’s talking. I don’t know why you assumed that I’m a when obviously you’re the one sleeping around with different guys.”

“What-“ But she didn’t have time to reply as her boy friend cut her. “Aren’t you indebted or something like that? Why would you be friend with them?”

“Because they’re good people compare to all of you! Just look at you! You’re being so arrogant, pretending that you’re all so ing perfect when you’re not. You’re all just so disgusting.”

“Bull. I saw them fighting last night.”

“Did you?” Yeori was skeptical because of course she knew where they were last night: with her. They were being all lazy so they spent the whole night at Baekhyun’s place, watching movies and eating junky food just like they liked to do.

“Y-yes.”

“It’s bad to lie. You’re all so pathetic.”

“Who do you think you are to tell us that? Tsk, you’re just trying to defend them, hiding the truth. You’re the one pathetic.”

Yeori closed her eyes for a moment, trying to breath and not let her anger take control of her body but it was useless. Without thinking twice she grabbed one of the guy by the collar and looked straight into his eyes. “Listen to me you er, if I hear you spreading rumors once again, I’m going to make you pay for it, trust me.” But of course it didn’t happen like she planned. At first he was surprised by her outburst but then he just pushed her harshly to the point that if it wasn’t for the person behind her, she would have fallen on the floor. Arms wrapped around her body prevented her from falling on the floor. The embrace was warm, maybe too warm for a normal body temperature. She glanced behind her only to see a very angry Chanyeol. It was the first time that she saw him so upset, it didn’t suit him at all. She noticed quickly that he wasn’t the only one to not be pleased; all of them were here and the one who looked the angriest was definitely Baekhyun. She wanted to say that she was okay, that they didn’t need to help her but the pain that shot through her body made her forget about everything. Chanyeol’s arms seemed so warm, so scalding, it was as if she was surrounded by fire and it hurt. A small whimper escaped her lips but Chanyeol didn’t seem to hear it. Fortunately for her Baekhyun grabbed gently her arm and pulled her against him. Baekhyun was too quiet, something was definitely wrong and Yeori noticed it.

“Touch her again and you’re dead.” Baekhyun said without looking at Yeori but he felt her flinch against him.

“Dammit Baek.” She whispered.

“Chan, stop that.” Suho ordered from behind. Nobody understood what he was supposed to stop but Yeori noticed that the heat suddenly decreased.

“Something is off with all of them.”

And yet instead of being careful the bond between them got even stronger to the point that without even realizing it, Yeori slowly fell in love with the wrong person: Baekhyun. In a way it was meant to happen, they were close, maybe too close but neither Baekhyun nor Yeori really minded it until one day, the day when Yeori realized that she couldn’t expect anything from Baekhyun. It wasn’t like he was a bad friend, no, it wasn’t the case at all, but Byun Baekhyun swore to never fall in love, to never date anybody because according to him it would only bring troubles. So Yeori stayed quiet about her feelings, she pretended like nothing changed, like they were still friends but deep inside it hurt. How can you face every single day of your life a person for who you had such deep feelings and yet you had to pretend like it wasn’t the case? How can you still smile when you couldn’t even be with the person you loved? It hurt and Yeori could do nothing about it. There was days easier than others but there was as well days when she just wanted to yell at him, tell him how dumb he was and how much she actually loved him. But the truth was that she couldn’t. She couldn’t take the risk to ruin everything. No, Yeori couldn’t do it.

But she didn’t know her own heart. She didn’t know how hurt she was deep inside until the day she couldn’t take it anymore.

There were some days in life when we would rather stay in our bed instead of going to college or going to work. Today was one of those days when Yeori would rather have stayed in her bed, watching a drama or something more entertaining than going to college and failing her test. It was definitely a bad day. If only it was just about the test she failed, but no, before even leaving her home she managed to argue with her parents, then she slipped in the street because of the ice, then she failed her test and then of course she had to stay after class, working on her projects. It seemed like this day would never end and she definitely hated this feeling.

On her way to home, she was furious, mumbling incoherent words, she looked like a mad woman and probably because of that people were glancing at her from time to time. But who cared? Yeori definitely didn’t. She just wanted to go home, to get in her comfy bed and forget about everything else.

And yet it didn’t happen like she planned. Again.

Just when she was about to turn left she spotted a person that she didn’t want to see right now. She froze on the spot and stared at him for some seconds, trying to understand what he was doing here and what she was supposed to do. “Run. I don’t want to talk to him right now.” And so she did. She ran, hoping that Baekhyun wouldn’t follow her but seriously who wouldn’t? She looked so specious and running away from a friend wasn’t really a good way not to worry him.

“Yeori! Stop running!” Baekhyun yelled but she didn’t stop, it was even the opposite, she speeded up drawing from her last strength.

But it didn’t work. Just when she thought about glancing behind her, his arms wrapped around her as he pulled her against him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Why would you run away from me, Yeori?”

“Let me go!” She struggled in his arms, trying to fight him but it was useless as his grip only tightened. “God dammit Baekhyun! Let me go!”

“Not before you told me why the would you run away from me?!”

“Because I had enough of bull for today!”

He didn’t expect her to say that, under shock he let her go. Why was she suddenly so angry? Had he done something to upset her so badly? He thought about everything he told her, about what he had done but nothing came on mind. “Did I really upset her?”

“I’m tired Baek. I’m so damn tired. Today is just such a ty day so please, just let me go before I would say something that I will regret later.” Suddenly Yeori looked so exhausted, her face was even paler than usually and her eyes were teary.

“What happened?”

“Does it really matter? I want to go home, Baek.”

“Yeori, you know that you can tell me everything? Talk to me.”

“But I’m talking to you! You’re the one who never listen!”

This time Baekhyun was clueless. What was she talking about? He didn’t remember not listening to her, everything she told him stayed between them, he didn’t want to share those pieces of information with others and none of them really minded because they knew what Yeori represented to him. He tried to get closer, his hand on her shoulder, he wanted her to look at him. “Yeori, please, tell me what’s wrong? I got it that you spent a bad day but why would you suddenly try to ignore me? You know that we can just talk about your problems and find a solution to make you feel better.”

“A solution?” Yeori laughed coldly and looked at him. “The problem is that there is no solution to it, Baek.”

“Of course there is. You should have a little faith on me.”

“Ridiculous.” She muttered and lowered her head. Oh how much she wanted to slap him and tell him what was really wrong. For the first time she realized how heavy her heart was. How could she not realize earlier that her heart was yearning for Baekhyun so much? “You want to know the damn problem? The problem is that I fell in love with you Baekhyun and I just can’t keep pretending that I’m fine with only being friend with you. Do you know how hard it is for me to be by your side every day? Do you know how hard it is for me to not tell you about my feelings when you’re being so touchy with me? Did you really think that I would stay indifferent to you after all you had done for me? Every time you hugged me I wanted to cry, Baekhyun, because I knew that I was just a friend to you. Every time you fought for me, my heart couldn’t stop beating. It hurts. I can’t continue this way.”

In a way, she regretted telling him everything but at the other hand she was happy that finally he knew how she felt about him. Of course it was a huge risk for their friendship but it wasn’t fair for her to keep torturing herself, she didn’t deserve it. She looked at him and smiled sadly. Now that the truth was revealed, there was no turning back. She had to leave. Slowly, she stepped back, walking away from where Baekhyun stood. Her heart was aching so badly, screaming, telling her to go back and listen to him but she had no more courage left.

Until the moment Baekhyun stopped her and abruptly turned her around, crashing his lips on her. She didn’t react first, proceeding what was happening to her. “It’s a dream, isn’t it?” But even if it was a dream she wanted to enjoy it till the end, she wanted to never wake up. Yeori wrapped grabbed the collar of his coat tightly, pressing her body against his, she kissed him back as if he was the only thing that could save her and stop her from going mad.

But despite this passionate kiss, they still weren’t together. She still remembered the ton of his voice and how he apologized.

“I’m sorry, Yeori. I’m so sorry. I wish I could do something about this situation but I can’t. I can’t love you, I’m not allowed.”

“What are you even talking about, Baek. How come you’re not allowed? It doesn’t make sense.”

“For now it doesn’t make sense but trust me, only bad thing would happen to you if somehow you finish with me.”

“Baek-“

“I love you. I really do. I wish I could show it to the whole world. I wish I could hold you whenever I want and not only when nobody is looking around. I wish I could kiss you every damn time you try to be upset with me because you look just so tempting. I’ve been trying to restrain myself so badly around you, Yeori. So please, don’t think that I don’t love you, it’s just complicated for the moment.”

And in a way it was enough for Yeori. It wasn’t a rejection, far from that. He loved her. No needed to be a genius to see how sincere he was. The way he talked about his wishes, about his desire, the way he was gazing at her, it was filled with love and gentleness and so much more. In a way, his words were a promise. A promise of a better future. A promise of love and passion. Nothing was lost.

It all happened one year ago. She smiled at this thought and stopped walking. Yeori looked at the sky, her eyes closed, she let the snow fall on her face. It was cold and yet she didn’t mind it because she felt butterflies in her stomach. Love was a bless and a curse at the same time. It hurt but at the same time it made her so damn happy. It was worth the sorrow, the pain, the tears because Baekhyun would be always here to remind her how much he cared for her, how much he loved her.

“Yeori!” The voice that she loved so much brought her back to earth. She turned around and a huge smile spread on her face. Here he was, all adorable with his messy hair, his cute smile and shiny eyes. “God I love him.” She waved her hand cutely and excitedly but before she could join him she felt something behind her.

And everything went black. The last thing that she actually remembered was Baekhyun screaming her name.

Baekhyun tried to reach for her before it was too late, he really tried but it wasn’t enough. He tried so hard for the past three years not to get too close to her but it was impossible, how could he stay away from his soulmate? Byun Baekhyun and his friends weren’t completely human and it was the secret they were trying to hide so badly from Yeori. There was days when Baekhyun wanted to tell her the whole truth of who they were, who he was and how they were all in danger. He thought that if he hid the truth from her, he would be able to spare her from trouble. Oh how wrong he was. The moment the darkness wrapped around her, he felt like his world fell down with her disappearance. No, it wasn’t supposed to happen like that.

“Yeori! Yeori! No. Damn, no! It wasn’t supposed to happen!”

He stayed at the spot where she was standing some minutes ago, he couldn’t move, his body refused to move. He bit his lips harshly as if it could prevent him from exploding but for once in his life he just wanted to lose control on his power so before he could even open his eyes again, the whole Seoul was plunged into the darkness.

“Byun Baekhyun, what do you think you’re doing?” Joonmyun’s voice echoed from behind. Of course as soon as all the light disappeared in the whole city, boys knew who was behind it and without waiting any longer Jongin brought them to him. “Are you nuts?”

“They took her.” Baekhyun whispered without looking at his friends, he couldn’t face them because of the pain, because of the feel of despair inside his chest. He needed to get her back, he was just terrified at the thought of never seeing her again.

“Took her…Who? Yeori?!” Chanyeol exclaimed

“Baek, when?” Jongin said more calmly

“Not long ago. Guys, I need to bring her back. I can’t let them take her from me.”

It was a bad idea, they knew it better but they were his friends and they understood his feelings, his attachment for Yeori, it wasn’t hard, after all they knew exactly how it felt once they found their soulmate. 

“We can’t win against shadows.” Sehun muttered. He hated those shadows, they would always appear when they expected the less and they would bring darkness with them every time.

“I just need time, once I find her we leave.” Baekhyun said. He had no time to feel depressed. He had no time to feel scared, he had to find her no matter what.

But finding Yeori in the darkness wasn’t that easy. Fortunately for Baekhyun, Jongin managed to find her trail despite the shadows trying to block him the way. Just like they promised, they made a ruckus to gain some time for Baekhyun.

Despite what they thought, the shadows were hiding in a castle, a ruined one and full with darkness. Baekhyun could only imagine how scared and confused Yeori was at this moment. She had nothing to do with this story and yet she got involved without even knowing it. He speeded up, running through the different halls he tried to find her.

He stopped running when from afar he heard some sobs, the one he could recognize among hundreds of people.   It was her, he just knew it. So without thinking twice he opened the door of a room and stepped inside. It was dark, so so dark, but he knew she was here, in the corner, her legs pressed hard against her chest, she was trying to protect herself, she was trying to not cry, to not shake but her fear was eating her alive.

“Yeori…Oh god, I’m so sorry.”

“Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun didn’t wait anymore and approached her, gently placing one arm under her legs and one around her back, he gently lifted her and pressed her against his chest. “I’m here now.” But he got no reply for her. He got this bad feeling inside him, something told him that the shadows talked to her and he didn’t like it.

“They said you lied to me.” She whispered while he was caring her out of the room.

“Only to protect you. Yeori, open your eyes and you will understand everything.”

Should she? Despite the fact that she was still scared and angry she decided to believe him. Slowly, she opened her eyes only to see something unexpected. They were all here for her, Chanyeol, Jongin, Sehun, Joonmyun and Kyungsoo, they all came to save her. But what surprised her the most was probably the fact that fire surrounded Chanyeol. She pressed herself a little harder against Baekhyun without realizing it.

“Don’t be scared of us, please. We’re here to save you.”

“Baek, you…” Her voice was stuck in . They were special and she realized that she knew it since the beginning. It seemed unreal and yet it was the reality.

“Let’s go home.”

Jongin brought them all at Yeori’s flat but they didn’t stay long, they just made sure that she was okay and then they left, leaving Baekhyun and Yeori alone, after all they had a lot to talk about.

“They didn’t hurt you, did they?” He put her gently on the couch and sat beside her. “I was so scared when they took you away.”

“I’m fine. But what are they?”

“Shadows. I’m not really sure what they are and why they are after us, probably because they want to absorb our power and bring darkness in this word but we won’t let them do it.”

“It must be hard.”

“Not really. For me the hardest was not being able to be with you but now that you know the truth I guess I don’t need to hold back anymore.”

Yeori couldn’t help but blush madly. Was it real? Could they really be together now? Her heart was ready to jump out of her chest because of happiness.

“Can we really?”

A cute smile slowly appeared on Baekhyun’s face, he wrapped once again his warms around her and brought her on his laps. “Yes. Because no matter what the future reserves us, I will fight for you, I will love you. Nobody can stop me now. As long as you want me.”

“Of course I want you.”

It was a promise that they would keep till the end, no matter what would happen.