CHAPTER THREE

Baekhyun is perfectly alright when Chanyeol appears right behind him. With the petite brunette’s back him, Chanyeol makes an irked face as his eardrums continues to be assaulted by the banshee-like screaming of the other. Baekhyun is alone and he looks completely unharmed save for the completely trashed walk-in closet, so Chanyeol does not really understand why he is acting like he is being tortured. Baekhyun starts to yell Chanyeol’s name so the said man decides to finally make his presence known by tapping the other’s exposed shoulder with his pointer finger. Unfortunately, this seems to cause even more distress to Baekhyun who whips around and suddenly, Chanyeol’s forehead is being brutally hit by an unidentified object. Chanyeol bellows both in pain and shock while the violence continues for a few more horrible moments until he finally manages to take ahold of Baekhyun’s wrists.

“STOP HITTING ME!” Chanyeol cries out, shaking Baekhyun in the hopes of getting him back to his senses.

The screaming banshee slash midget stops and Chanyeol miserably realizes that the thing Baekhyun used to hit his forehead with is an disgusting old shoe. There is a split second of dramatic silence that ensues before Baekhyun gasps upon feeling the white towel around hips coming undone while Chanyeol hears the soft sound of it falling on the floor. When both of them look down, they are greeted by Baekhyun’s glorious ness, plump pale thighs and everything on display for the world to see. Baekhyun resumes his screaming, trying to free his wrists from Chanyeol’s large hands so he could cover himself once again but the taller male is rooted on the spot, mouth wide open as his equally wide eyes try to process what he is seeing.

“LET GO! CHANYEOL-SHI, YOU ERTED !”

Baekhyun knees him right in the groin, making him double over in pain with a yell and finally letting Baekhyun’s wrists go. He hastily picks up the towel and covers himself in an attempt to salvage his remaining dignity. As Chanyeol reels from the excruciating pain in his balls, he wonders why his efforts to come to the petite man’s rescue has to be retributed like this. When he decided to come over, all he wanted to do was to make sure that nothing bad was happening and yet, he ends up here on the ground, pathetically trying to nurse his crushed nuts.

If this is what he has to endure while helping Baekhyun, the Emperor’s ultimatum seems to become more tempting.

-----

While waiting for the tea water to finish boiling, Baekhyun busies himself in preparing the ice packs for Chanyeol’s forehead and...well...his crotch. As he tries to free the ice cubes from the tray, he looks over his shoulder and sees Chanyeol sitting on the couch in his living room. His mile long legs are sprawled out in front of him, a pillow resting on his front while one of his calloused hands is gently feeling the forming bump on his forehead. When the ice cubes fall on the sink with a loud clatter, Chanyeol sharply opens his eyes to look at him causing Baekhyun to avert his stare with a soft wince as if he made eye contact with Medusa.

“Here…” Baekhyun gingerly places the ice packs on the coffee table in front of Chanyeol.

He turns around to prepare the tea but Chanyeol’s booming voice stops him.

“Do you think I could easily move around after what you did?” Chanyeol sternly says.

Baekhyun fearfully turns around only to see Chanyeol’s outstretched hand. He stupidly blinks, earning himself an impatient scoff.

“Give the ice packs to me.”

“O-oh!”

With quivering hands, Baekhyun gives what Chanyeol wants before quickly scampering back in the kitchen. He pours the boiling water in a pot and clumsily prepares the tea. He wants to prolong the process just to avoid being near Chanyeol once again but at the same time, he also wants to quickly apologize for what happened so they could move on and not think about it anymore. In the end, Baekhyun quickly finishes up the tea and walks back into the living room with two teacups in hand.

“Tea…” Baekhyun awkwardly announces as he pours some into Chanyeol’s cup, spilling some on the shell coasters every now and then due to his shaking hand.

He sits on his heels on the carpeted floor, head bowed down while he sips from his own. Even though Baekhyun is completely clothed now, knowing that Chanyeol’s eyes are directed on him makes him feel extremely self-conscious. He tugs at the hem of his shirt and tucks his feet further under his thighs in an attempt to keep them out of sight.

“I...I’m sorry for what happened,” Baekhyun finally stammers out after gathering enough courage.

“You’re insufferable. I hope you know that,” Chanyeol almost immediately replies after the apology as if he is just waiting for the opportunity to say something snarky towards him.

Baekhyun looks up at him with a pout before hiding his face behind the teacup once again.

“I’m truly sorry, Chanyeol-shi. It wasn’t my intention to...to hit you with a shoe and knee your...b-balls. I just wanted to cover myself...but you were preventing me.”

Both of them flush red at that but Chanyeol is quick to clear his throat and change the subject.

“Why were you even screaming like that?” Chanyeol inquires, pretending to be annoyed even though images of Baekhyun’s ness start to flood his mind once again.

Baekhyun relaxes a little, grateful for the change of topic.

“Well, you saw how ruined the walk-in closet is, right?” Baekhyun begins and Chanyeol impatiently nods in reply. “I’m thinking that Kim Jonghyun had been here and he was the one who did that. He was trying to find the flash drive.”

Chanyeol frowns and discards the ice packs (now watery after the ice melted) on the table in front of him. He picks up his tea and takes a sip, letting himself ravel at the immediate relief that it brings his nerves. His eyes are heavy and his spirit is run down after the conversation with the Emperor and more importantly, after what the petite brunette had put him through. He wants nothing more than to collapse on his bed to clear his mind from any stress-inducing thoughts but the frightened look on Baekhyun’s face makes him want to stay a little longer.

“You saw him in the closet?” Chanyeol asks.

Baekhyun shakes his head in reply. “But I saw someone, Chanyeol-shi. It was weird and I don’t know how he made it in front of me without making any sound. I was horrified that an unknown man was there and my first instinct was to scream for help.”

Chanyeol sits up in alert, repressing the urge to groan as his lower regions slightly throbbed in protest.

“There was a stranger here and you didn’t tell me?!” Chanyeol hisses. “What if that stranger is still in here somewhere?! Did he hurt you?!”

Baekhyun blinks as Chanyeol regards him with first, a pissed off expression then an alarmed one that quickly transforms into something akin to concern. He cannot help but flash him a small smile, grateful that Chanyeol obviously cares for his wellbeing.

“Don’t worry, he didn’t hurt me. If anything, the stranger looked as terrified as me when I started screaming and he just...disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” Chanyeol repeats with a frown.

“Well, I don’t know exactly but he moved back in the shadows of the closet and he kind of just vanished. He looks completely harmless, though. Maybe it was just a lost spirit?”

    That causes Chanyeol to burst out in a fit of laughter. He shakes his head and clasps Baekhyun’s shoulder with his heavy hand. The smaller keeps a straight face on and even though he is amused to see Park Chanyeol laughing, it still annoys him how his belief is being made fun of.

    “There is no such thing as spirits, Baekhyun-ah. Perhaps it was just a figment of your paranoia during that moment? A hallucination, maybe?” Chanyeol says after finally suppressing his laughs.

    Baekhyun rolls his eyes and scoffs, deciding to drop the topic.

    “Whatever, Chanyeol-shi. If you don’t believe that it was just a lost spirit, then spend the night here so if that man shows up again, you could help me drag his to the cops,” Baekhyun retorts.

    Yet again, there is a stretch of silence between them as Chanyeol stares at him before finishing the rest of his tea. He puts it back down on the coffee table and turns to Baekhyun once again, his mind going back to his conversation with the Emperor once again. If Baekhyun is claiming that there was another man around here a while back, then that person could possibly be another infiltrator, right? That could be the person from the other universe that helped his brothers perform the union between the parallel universes and if Chanyeol manages to catch that person, there would be no need to turn Baekhyun in and his brothers would be out of trouble as well.

    “He could also be one of Kim Jonghyun’s hooligans, Chanyeol-shi. I’m really afraid, so pretty please? Just stay here with me for the night?” Baekhyun interrupts as if he has been following Chanyeol’s train of thoughts.

    Baekhyun is right. It is more feasible that that man is one of Kim Jonghyun’s men tasked to go after Baekhyun to eliminate him. If there had been two infiltrators, the Emperor would have certainly told him, right? Chanyeol groans in frustration. He really hates it that aside from the government of Juno, there is also Kim Jonghyun coming after Baekhyun. This guy is just making everything a lot more complicated and confusing.

Chanyeol knows of the man’s murders and he witnessed the death of Shin Sekyung when he came to rescue a very drunk Baekhyun that fateful night so he knows what the man is capable of. He is sneaky and manipulative. Before you know it, you are dying while watching that sinister smile on his face and the world will never know what truly happened for your passing would be carelessly ruled out an accident or a suicide.

“Chanyeol-shi,” Baekhyun calls out when Chanyeol continues to stay quiet.

The taller looks up and sees Baekhyun’s delicate features marred with a mixture of anxiety and confusion. Right there and then, Chanyeol decides that he would not let Kim Jonghyun run free anymore. Chanyeol has kept mum about what he knew of the man because he believed that meddling with the affairs of these foolish human beings would give him nothing but a headache. However, it is too late and the safety of someone he deeply cares about is being threatened.

Yes, Chanyeol begrudgingly admits to himself, Baekhyun is someone that he has grown to care about and yes, he would break his initial principle of not meddling with human affairs just to ensure that Baekhyun would not be harmed.

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol begins, “I can’t stay here with you tonight. If you see the stranger again, just call out my name and I would be here in a heartbeat.”

“What? But can’t you just stay here? Can’t I go with you? Chanyeol-shi…” Baekhyun protests, looking at him pleadingly.

Chanyeol shakes his head firmly; he has to accomplish something in order to put Kim Jonghyun in his place and Baekhyun should be kept out of the way. If he does this correctly, he just has to deal with the government of Juno and then, Baekhyun could safely return to his universe.

“You can’t. I promise you, after I’m done, Kim Jonghyun would no longer be a threat to you.”

    Baekhyun looks at him and feels worry abruptly flooding him. Even if Chanyeol is an alien with supernatural abilities, he has seen through the four corners of his small TV the things that Kim Jonghyun is capable of doing and how sinister his brain could be. There is just no way that Baekhyun is going to let Chanyeol face that psychopath alone.

“Chanyeol-shi, whatever it is that you’re planning to do I hope it involves going to the cops and reporting him,” Baekhyun says.

Chanyeol does not answer, he presses his mouth into a thin line and turns away from Baekhyun.

“Do not leave this apartment no matter what,” Chanyeol says in a low voice.

“Chanyeol, I want to come with you. I can provide more evidence against him,” Baekhyun insists, catching Chanyeol’s hand in his.

“Stay here,” Chanyeol growls, the hold on his hand, dangerously tightening.

“But--”

“Baekhyun, do you understand?”

The smaller wants to throw a fit because Chanyeol is treating him like he is some kind of an immature little kindergarten student when he actually knows more about Kim Jonghyun’s crimes than Chanyeol. However, the look that the taller gives him makes him shut his mouth and nod without another word or protest.

“Be safe…” Baekhyun whispers.

And just like that, Chanyeol disappears.  

    Author's Notes: I'm sorry if this is a slow burn~ I'm just trying to establish their relationship for now! Thanks for subscribing ^0^ see you guys in the next update! Tell me what you think about the storyline so far~

Oh oh! Who do you think was the man in the closet with Baekhyun?