~ Chanyeol's POV

How did we end up here?

We're both lying in my bed, underneath the blankets, and I can see Baekhyun's messy black hair right below my chin. He's buried his face into my chest and his slow breaths indicate that he's probably fast asleep. My arms are wrapped around him to hold him close to me, and damn it just feels so right. His small body (he should eat more, if you ask me) feels warm and fits perfectly into mine, like that's where the universe meant it. I smile a little when Baekhyun shuffles in my arms; I can see his face well even in the dark bedroom. A warm feeling grows in my chest, like it's coming from within, like someone turned up the battery in my heart. I close my eyes and yawn without making a sound.

I must've fallen asleep quite soon because when I open my eyes, the sunlight peeking into the room caresses Baekhuyn's face. He's awake, and looking at me. His eyes seem to glow, he looks happy even though there is no smile on his face. He just radiates happiness. ”I'm hungry”, he informs and gets up slowly as I stretch and pull on a pair of sweats. I straighten my gray t-shirt and walk to the other side of the bed to follow Baekhyun into the kitchen.

He sits down by the counter and I start to take out breakfast supplies. He leans on the counter with his elbows and looks out the window, where the sunrise lights up the whole room in a pretty glow. There's something different about him today, I swear. His eyes are brighter, the worry and the fear are gone from his face, and I can finally see what he truly looks like. He's even more beautiful than I could've even imagined.

He turns to look at me with curious eyes. ”What?” he asks with a calm voice and smiles a little. My heart bounces and my hands keep working quickly. ”Nothing, just thinking about stuff”, I mumble and look down. Baekhyun keeps smiling when he looks out the window. ”Stay there for a moment”, I blurt out and run back to the bedroom, grab something from the drawer where I temporarily have been keeping my laptop and hurry back. Baekhyun an eyebrow at me.

”A camera?”

I smile and return to my position, where the sun lights up Baekhyun's face. ”Smile!” I say with an idiotic smirk as I lift the camera. ”Noooo... Chanyeol”, Baekhyun says, but smiles anyway, and doesn't look away or cover his face. He tries to smooth out his hair but I'm quicker when I grab his hand and hold it while I snap a picture. Baekhyun's teeth are showing from between his pink, smooth lips and there are small wrinkles around his eyes. ”Okay selfie time”, I say, still rocking the idiotic smirk when I walk over and sit down next to Baekhyun. I flip the screen of the camera and point it to us, pulling Baekhyun closer by the waist. He smiles a little and looks at the camera, but my eyes are pointed at him when I take the picture and set the camera down softly. Baekhyun looks at me and sighs a little. ”Why do you make me want to smile?” he whispers. My eyes widen with excitement. ”What?”

”Nothing! Nothing. We should keep making breakfast”, he says quickly and glances at the abandoned breakfast supplies. I leave the camera at the counter and keep making breakfast in the room bathed by warm morning sunlight.

After breakfast Baekhyun looks at me for an oddly long moment.

”I want to do something fun today”, he says with a quiet voice and looks down. I look at him with curious eyes and smile. ”Sure. Is there anything special you have in mind?” I ask and lean on the table with my elbows. Baekhyun looks up at me again and I smile a little wider. ”I don't know. Coffee and a movie?” he suggests and looks down again. Is he... Blushing? ”Sounds great”, I say softly and reach my hand out across the small table to lift his face up again. He smiles a little and gets up. ”I'm going to go shower”, he says and heads to the bathroom as I start cleaning up the kitchen.

Baekhyun looks different today, I wonder as I watch the soap bubbles in the sink. He looks better, healthier, and something even more than that. He looks prettier, my mind suggests and my hands stop in their tracks. My heart thumps a little at the sudden realization. Am I really in-

I jump at the sharp sound of glass breaking against metal. , did I drop a mug? I feel the bottom of the sink that's surface is covered in foam and wince when a sharp edge slices my fingers. I quickly pull away my hand and look at the small cuts on my hands. I hiss and look at the pretty deep cuts. Blood drips down my fingers and back into the sink. It's actually quite mesmerizing to watch.

…

Dara is amazing. I can't believe how much she's willing to sacrifice to make me feel better.

Yixing was declared dead after he had been gone for three weeks. And all that time, Dara was there for me. Whenever I called her, she'd rush right over, doesn't matter if it was 2am or she had to miss work, because she knows how much she matters to me. I can hear her making coffee in the kitchen.

”What's your dream?” I ask her when she hands me a cup of coffee. She sits down on the couch next to me and smiles. ”I don't know. I guess... I want to make a difference. I don't want to die after a life lived for nothing”, she says softly and takes a long sip. ”What about yours? What's your dream?” she asks and looks at me. I think about it for a moment. What do I want from life? ”I want to live”, I answer simply and look at my coffee. Dara nods and we sit in the silence, curled up against each other, slowly drifting to sleep.

When I wake up, Dara isn't next to me. I grab the coffee cups and from the table in front of us and glance over my shoulder. The bathroom door is locked. I yawn and take the cups to the kitchen before returning to the living room and looking out the windows. The sun is down by now, and the lights of the city shine bright across the dark blue skies. The apartment is quiet.

It's been too quiet for too long.

I get up and look at the bathroom door. ”Dara?” I ask. ”Ch... Chanyeol...” I can hear a weak voice reply. Something's definitely wrong. ”Dara?” I ask again in horror. ”Get back”, I say, in case she's right behind the door. I start kicking the door, and soon the lock cracks and the door swings open.

I only manage to take two steps into the bathroom, when my body freezes. Dara is lying in the bathtub. But there's no water, no smell of her favorite lavender soap floating around the room. Instead, there's an iron-filled stench of blood and a small pool of red liquid on the floor, growing from the slit on her wrist. She's pale. Her eyes are closed. ”!” I shout out as I regain control over my body and rush to her. I lift her body slightly up from the bathtub, and I can see another cut on her other wrist. I dig my phone out with my free hand. ”Dara? Are you with me?” I ask as my eyes fill with tears. Her breathing seems difficult. ”Yeol...” she whispers. ”I'm here, I'm here. Please. Stay awake”, I whisper to her. ”I got my dream. I made a difference, to you. Now, promise me... You'll follow your... Dream. Keep living”, she whispers. My voice cracks when I try to answer, but I'm interrupted when voice on the line asks formally: ”What's your emergency?” I take a deep breath.

”I-I'm Park Chanyeol, and... M-my girlfriend... We're in our apartment, and I found her... She slit her wrists... She's... I think she's dying”, I stutter, and I just barely see Dara's troubled breathing. ”Sir, what's your address? I'll send and ambulance right away.” My throat is too dry to answer. Her chest stops rising. Her body goes limp and falls deeper into the tub. ”Dara!” I scream out and drop the phone. I drag her up with both arms and hold her tight. ”Please! You can't die! I... I...” my voice breaks mid-sentence. Tears keep falling. ”Sir? Are you still there?” the voice asks from my cellphone. I cry silently against her skin, which is getting colder every second. ”I've located your cellphone, sir. An ambulance is on it's way”, the voice says and there's a short pause when my sobs echo in the bathroom. ”You may hang up now, if you ha...” I end the phone with one hand and keep holding Dara's lifeless body in my arms. ”I love you”, I whisper to her ear, even though by now she probably can't hear me. ”I'll keep living. I promise, Dara... I promise...”

I don't know how long I sat there, but suddenly I felt a pair of strong hands pry me off her. ”No...” I resist quietly, but I let them drag me away from the room, into our living room. A man in a bright yellow outfit appears and looks me in the eyes. I can see the pity, and that's more than enough to confirm my nightmare. I keep crying softly. The man rubs my back soothingly. ”I'm sorry”, he says calmly. As if words so meaningless could repair the loss of something so meaningful.

But I made a promise.

…

I take a deep breath and open my eyes. I'm still standing up, but my entire body is shaking so violently that when I let go of the counter's edge, I fall to the floor and stain the tiles with blood from my fingertips. A teardrop falls to the cut and burns the cut slightly, and I hiss as I get back up on my feet and quickly wipe away the blood from the floor and the tears away from my eyes.

Baekhyun comes out of the bathroom and his head appears from the hallway. ”Is everything o... Did you cut yourself?” he asks with concern and looks at me holding my fingertips. I look at him and try to collect myself. ”It's nothing, don't worry. I dropped a mug”, I say quickly and smile. ”Go get dressed. I'm sure this'll stop soon”, I mumble and press the cut gently. Baekhyun nods slowly and leaves the room. I take a deep breath and finish cleaning up quickly. By the time I get to the shower, the cut has stopped bleeding.

~ Baekhyun's POV

I slip into a pair of black jeans and a large t-shirt. It could be my own, or it could be Chanyeol's, but I've learned not to give a . I look at the freshly changed bandages that still cover my deepest cuts, but most of the skin on my forearms is healed, just scarred. I frown a little and pull a leather jacket on. I'll never be able to go swimming, people would stare at me like I'm a freak. I sigh and leave the bedroom.

The shower is running in the bathroom, so I choose not to interrupt Chanyeol's shower to dry my hair. Instead I walk to our... I mean Chanyeol's bedroom and check the movies that are playing today. I hum quietly and flick through the page. Our bedroom, that's ridiculous. We don't share it.

I mean yeah we shared the bed last night but that's only because I had a nightmare, it's not like we had or slept completely pressed against each other. Well he did hug me but it's different, I tell myself and shake my head quickly. A knock on the door behind me catches my attention and I turn around. Chanyeol enters the room, dripping wet with a towel around his waist. I do my best to keep eye contact. No I'm not staring at his abs or anything, of course not.

”I need to change”, Chanyeol says and peeks over at the computer screen. ”Did you find a good movie?” he asks and walks closer, one hand holding the towel in place. He bends slightly forward over my shoulder, so close I can smell the shampoo he used. I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a second before opening them and looking at the website again. ”Not really. I don't know anything about these movies, you should decide”, I say quickly and get up from the chair. Chanyeol nods a little and smiles. ”We can leave as soon as I get dressed”, he says and I nod a couple of times. ”Yeah, okay. Sounds good”, I say and smile quickly before hurrying out of the room.

No I don't love him, he's just hot, that does not equal love. Even though he's amazing as a person too... I shake my head and sit down on one of the armchairs in the living room. I don't love Chanyeol.

I'm about 50% sure.

...okay maybe like 49%. Or 39%. Or whatever.

We arrive at the café soon after we bought the movie tickets. I know absolutely nothing about the coffee they serve here, so I let Chanyeol make my order as I investigate the small cupcakes and cookies on display. Chanyeol takes my hand and looks at the pastries. ”Do you want anything from here?” he says and smiles a little. I shake my head and look up at Chanyeol. He starts to walk towards a table for two by the windows. We sit down across each other and I take off my jacket to rest it on the backrest. Chanyeol hangs his long coat on the coat rack right behind him. He turns to me and smiles a little, not breaking eye contact. Why must he be like this? I smile a little and look down to my lap. ”Is this your favorite café or something?” I ask shyly and look up again. Chanyeol shrugs and I can't help but notice how broad his shoulders are, then again he's a fireman and probably needs to stay in good shape. ”I come here often, if that's what you mean”, he says and smirks a little. A young woman comes over with a tray and places two cups of hot coffee on the dark gray table in front of us. ”Here you go, two strawberry lattes. Enjoy”, she says with a kind smile and heads back after Chanyeol thanked her. I look at the heart in the foam of the coffee and look at Chanyeol's cup to see the same design. The barista probably thinks you're dating. Stupid brain making assumptions.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. ”Yuck, that smells really sweet”, I say and cover my nose for a moment with a smile on my lips. ”I know, I think this is enough sugar to get drunk on but that's why the cups are small”, Chanyeol says with a smile showing his teeth. He's looking at me. I feel my cheeks burning. ”Okay let's taste it”, I say quietly and lay my hands gently on the cup. I lift it up to my lips and take a tiny tiny sip, breaking a part of the foam heart. I let the hot liquid roll on my tongue for a moment before swallowing.

”Oh boy that's really sweet”, I say and laugh a little when I place the cup back down. ”You'll get used to it”, Chanyeol says and mixes his coffee with the tiny spoon. The heart disappears and the foam turns into one, smooth white cover like fluffy snow. I smile when a small bit of the foam gets stuck on his upper lip and he quickly it off. He's adorable.

~ Chanyeol's POV

Baekhyun's smiles are getting more and more genuine, more and more beautiful every day, every hour. Sometimes the smile reaches his eyes and he even lets out a small laugh that can probably revive a puppy. I notice these things because instead of paying attention to the big screen where a comedy flick is playing, I care more about the man sitting next to me, the one enjoying the first movie he's seen (legally, at least) in what I assume is years. He turns to look at me at one point and our eyes meet for a few seconds. The movie steals Baekhyun's attention when another joke makes the audience laugh. I turn to look too and laugh a little at the clever joke myself.

The credits begin to roll on the screen and I can feel Baekhyun lean on my shoulder with a content sigh. ”It was great”, he says softly and closes his eyes. Pet him. No way, I... My hand reaches out and brushes away a small tuft of black hair away from Baekhuyn's face. He gets up and looks at me with a smile. The corners of my mouth tug up, and I get up quickly. ”What do you want to do next?”

We're sitting together on a bench in the park, Baekhyun holding a take away cup of just normal coffee this time. I don't want him to overdose on sugary strawberry drinks. He's humming a tune silently in between sips.

”Can you sing?”

Baekhyun turns his head to me for a moment. ”I- Well, not really”, he says and takes a long sip. ”If I asked you to sing, would you?” I ask and smile a little. Baekhyun looks at me again and a small smile rises to his lips. The sun is hiding behind thick clouds and the whole park seems gray and dull, and Baekhyun's amazing smile seems out of place. ”Good morning, my love...” Baekhyun starts singing a song in English. His voice is quiet and small, but beautiful. ”You have changed, for better or worse is yet to determine...” His clear voice carries even the highest notes well, and a young girl walking by with his mother turns to look at Baekhyun, who has closed his eyes and doesn't notice. Much like he doesn't notice how much you love him. I'm starting to agree with my brain more and more.

He opens his eyes and smiles a little. I smile and shake my head. ”I can't believe it. You can sing really well", I say quietly and Baekhyun laughs, and another puppy is revived somewhere nearby. ”I'm serious. Your voice is beautiful”, I say and look at Baekhyun. Our eyes meet again. The clouds start breaking and a few rays of sun shine down. ”Thanks”, Baekhyun whispers and looks up at the sky. I love him.

---

A/N: Sorry it took a while, I've been busy with another annoying ideas for fics. D: