"Ya! Are you sure she come from here?" Chanyeol whispered. Baekhyun was taking a day off from work to go to the department store with Chanyeol. This friend of his said he wanted to find clothes for Areum. He did not mind as he also had something to look for.

"What kind of are you asking?" Baekhyun pushed Chanyeol away. The proximity was uncomfortable. 

"That girl...she never eat ramyun" Chanyeol pointed to Areum who was walking a tad ahead from them. 

The girl was too enthralled with the surrounding. It was the first time she entered a place called department store. She never knew a place could hold many kinds of products! In Quera World, department store was not existed. They have shops, franchise but not a department store. How dull wasn't it? The girl wondered what more was waiting for her.

"You must be joking" Baekhyun's eyes widened.

"I'm stating the truth dude!" Chanyeol chortled as he remembered the surprise impact hit hard on Areum last night. That girl's expression was unbelievably amusing.

Baekhyun averted his gaze towards Areum. He noticed that Areum was different. It was like she was asleep for many years and just woke up from a very long dream. Everything seemed new for her. Baekhyun also noticed how bewildered Areum was in the clinic yesterday. And, Baekhyun could not deny, Areum caught his attention.

"Ya ya! We're here" Chanyeol tugged Baekhyun's arm as they reached clothes section. 

"Almost walk pass it! Areum-ah! Come here" Baekhyun called Areum who was already steps away. Obeying Baekhyun's words, Areum followed him.

Chanyeol held Areum's arm and lead her to casual clothes section, leaving Baekhyun behind. Did not have any idea on what Chanyeol up to, Areum let herself being dragged. The girl swirled her head a few times, checking on Baekhyun. She wondered why Baekhyun did not follow them but kept the thought herself.

"Choose anything you like" Chanyeol said while gesturing towards bountiful clothes hanged in front of them.

Chanyeol could not help but to feel pity. Areum had been wearing the same clothes since yesterday and he presumed Areum was wearing the same dress for a long time already. Her white, short dress was covered with dirt and Chanyeol did not think Areum would fit in his clothes. So, buying her new clothes was the best decision. Money was not a problem for him anyway.

"Choose. It's a gift from me" Chanyeol smiled convincingly as hesitation was shown from Areum's face.

"O-okay" Areum slowly looked through all the clothes in front of her, judging the color and design. 

Using his sense of fashion and his courier as a photographer, Chanyeol recommended some clothes to Areum. The girl seemed taken a long time to decide on one clothes. Chanyeol's choice was proven right when Areum came out from the changing room dazzling and beautiful. 

"I'm done- Wow! Who's this pretty lady?" Baekhyun looked at Areum without blinking. Heat rose to Areum's cheek, reddened it a tad.

"Ya! Close your mouth. Your jaws almost drop" Chanyeol rolled his eyes. 

"You look different and....pretty" Baekhyun could not help but to scan Areum from top to toe. Never he thought, a simple sky blue cardigan, white shirt and jeans would make someone so ethereally beautiful.

"Stop it Baekhyun! Areum is blushing too much" Chanyeol chuckled. As a reflex, Areum cupped her face. Heat could be felt against her hands.

"Sorry Areum" Baekhyun scratched his hair and shifted his eyes to Chanyeol. Areum felt her could breathe again. Didn't she realize she had been holding her breath since Baekhyun came. Gathering her sense, Areum paced towards them.

"So, have you done?" Baekhyun asked.

"A bit more. Just a few more outfit then we're done. You?" Chanyeol asked without looking at Baekyun. Instead, he went through the clothes in front of him, helping Areum choosing more clothes. 

"I'm done" Baekhyun swung a black shopping bag in front of Chanyeol purposely.

"That's for Yejin?" Chanyeol guessed.

"Yes" Baekhyun nodded.

"Yejin?" Areum wondered who was the girl that Baekhyun had mentioned. 

Being a careless girl, Areum accidentally spoke her thought. The girl unconsciously saying it loud, enough for Baekhyun to hear.

"She's my girlfriend"

Areum's heart stopped.

...

Areum could not believe that the fact that Baekhyun already had a girlfriend fell hard on her. The girl did not know why she had to be hurt or down. It was not like Baekhyun was his boyfriend. He was just a friend.  Baekhyun was handsome after all. It did not make sense if he did not have a girl. Right?

"She's pretty right?" Baekhyun showed Areum his girlfriend picture in his phone. Areum nodded nonchalantly as she sipped her coffee. Failed to notice Areum's morphed expression, Baekyun kept looking at the picture.

"Baekhyun, if the picture can talk, I'm sure Yejin will ask you to stop" Chanyeol's threw Baekhyun an irksome gaze, bringing Baekhyun to a chortle.

Areum glanced discreetly at Baekhyun. She could see mirth in the man's eyes. Areum could tell in one glance Baekhyun really loved this girl named Yejin. That girl must be very lucky to have Baekhyun as her man, Areum thought. 

Drowning in her own world, Areum did not notice a man was running towards her in the opposite direction. Their shoulder bumped, causing Areum to lose her balance. Before her body met the floor, Baekhyun managed to grab Areum. His arm around her slim waist. The proximity made Areum gulped in nervousness.

"CATCH THAT MAN!" A middle aged man suddenly appeared, panting.

"!" Areum heard Baekhyun muttered. 

Baekhyun helped Areum to stand properly before passing the shopping bag in his hand to Chanyeol. In the speed of light, Baekhyun already disappeared from Chanyeol and Areum's view, chasing after the man. Areum who was still stunned, gripped Chanyeol's arm as a support of her trembling body.

"Hey Areum, are you okay?" Chanyeol wrapped the shocked girl in his arm. Areum nodded subtly. Her heart was behaving abnormal. She never felt this way and the girl thought she could die anytime.

With Areum leaning to his body, Chanyeol paced towards the panting man. Judging from his outfit, Chanyeol assumed he was a businessman. The man was still having a hard time catching his breath. At his age, Chanyeol knew his stamina was dwindling.

"Ahjussi, are you okay?" Chanyeol asked politely. He could see sweat was trickling down the man's sideburn.

"I'm fine. But..but my-" the man could not complete his sentence. Speaking was almost impossible for him at that moment. 

"It's fine ahjussi. Take your time. My friend is chasing after that punk" Chanyeol smiled reassuringly. Areum did not know what kind of power that Chanyeol possessed because the man automatically flashed a smile. It was like a virus because Areum found herself smiling too.

"Thank you young man" The man's stiffened face had loosened a bit.

"Ahjussi! Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?" Baekhyun suddenly appeared out of nowhere, shocking Chanyeol and Areum. His shirt was drenched with sweat especially the area near his collarbone.

"Yes I'm fine but my-"

"Here is your wallet. Luckily, the guards saw us and helped me" Baekhyun handed the man a posh-looking black leather wallet. The man snatched it right away and checked the content.

"Areum-ah, are you alright?" Baekhyun averted his attention to Areum who was still wrapped in Chanyeol's arm. Baekhyun eyed Areum up and down to make sure the girl did not hurt anywhere.

"I-I'm fine" Areum avoided Baekhyun's gaze. The girl was more comfortable to keep her gaze lowered.

"She's just shock" Chanyeol explained briefly while tapping Areum's shoulder gently.

"It's a relief" Baekhyun sighed.

"Thanks god nothing is missing! Thank you young man. Thank you so much!" The grateful man shook Baekhyun's hand frantically, almost breaking the hand of the younger one.

"Your welcome..emm-"

"Hongbin" 

"Your welcome Hongbin ssi" Baekhyun grinned.

"By the way my name is Baekhyun. These are my friends. This guy is Chanyeol and this lady is Areum" Baekhyun introduced. Chanyeol and I bowed almost simultaneously.

"Aaaa nice to meet all of you. I don't know what will happen if I don't meet all of you. By the way, here is my card. If you need anything, just give me a call. Make sure you call! So I can repay your kindness" Hongbin took out a business card from his wallet and gave it to Baekhyun.

"I need to go now. Glad to see you" Without furthering any conversation, the man known as Hongbin strode away.

"Kim Hongbin. Chairman of KS Group" Baekhyun read out loud. His eyes widened in utter shock.

"What?! Let me see!" Chanyeol grasped the card from Baekhyun.

"It's true..." Chanyeol raised his brow. Both Baekhyun and Chanyeol fell into a deep silence. They had gone speechless.

"Baekhyun-ah, Chanyeol-ah! What-"

"Areum-ah. Do you know who is that man?" Chanyeol asked. His surprised face was so prominent, and so was Baekhyun. Areum shook her head. What's so amazing about that ahjussi?

"He is a chairman. Not any chairman but...." Chanyeol paused for a second before turning his head to Areum. Areum cocked her brow.

"He is the chairman of the biggest company in South Korea"

...

"Let me help you" Baekhyun helped his father holding a pencil and followed the dots on the paper, forming a letter.

Beomseok clapped his hand in gusto, celebrating his success. Amused, Baekhyun let out a chuckle. His father had been ranting about writing lesson since morning but as he had to accompany Chanyeol, Baekhyun deferred the lesson until night. Fortunately, Beomseok did not throw a tantrum or else Baekhyun could not be with Chanyeol.

Baekhyun was making another set of dots when a message arrived. A smile crept to his face as he read the message. It was a message that he had waited for long. It was short but enough to tell Baekhyun that the sender was not busy.

"Dad, I have to make a call. You can do this right?" Beomseok nodded and gave all his focus to the writing. Baekhyun his father's hair before making his way to his room. The man left his door open so that Beomseok did not leave his view.

"Yeoboseyo. Oppa?" A girl voice greeted after a long beep. 

Her voice somehow made Baekhyun breathless for a moment. It had been a while since they talked with each other. Three days without her were a complete torture. Having a busy girlfriend, this kind of thing was inevitable.

"Yejin-ah..." Baekhyun cooed after a brief silence.

"Oppa, are you okay there?" Yejin's concern made the man smiled.

"Yejin-ah, I miss you" Baekhyun muttered. His heart was thumping so loud against his chest.

"I miss you more oppa...how was your three days without me?" Yejin's question made Baekhyun shook his head. Why this girl is asking the obvious?

"Close your eyes" Baekhyun asked.

"Oppa I'm asking you, answer me" Yejin nagged.

"Close your eyes!" Baekhyun demanded. A giddy smile crept to his face.

"Aish, fine!" Yejin complied grudgingly. This man sometimes ticked her off.

"What did you see?" The girl huffed at Baekhyun's obvious question.

"I can't see anything oppa. It's dark. That's an obvious answer" Yejin answered nevertheless with the monotone of hers.

"That was my two days without you" Baekhyun's cheesy line never failed to make Yejin cringed. Cringe in a good way. That was also one of the reasons she fell for this man named Byun Baekhyun. Unwittingly, Yejin smiled.

"How's work?" Baekhyun asked.

"All good. Some clients really got on my nerves, I think I need more days to release my stress" Yejin's complaints were the cutest thing Baekhyun ever heard. He liked the way Yejin muffled her voice so it sounded cuter. The man already imagined her pouting. 

"We should hang out. Maybe it could release your stress....our stress." Baekhyun chuckled. 

"Our stress? What happened to you?" Yejin cocked her brow. In her mind, she was guessing an answer. His father again?

"Your stress is my stress too" Yejin felt like face palming herself. This guy and his cheesy line! 

"It's fine oppa, I think I need some more space, alone" Yejin emphasized the 'alone' part.

"I can't promise you that everything is gonna be alright, but I swear that I'll never leave you alone" Baekhyun assured. 

Yejin rolled her eyes. She heard that line so many times already to the point she lost count of it. She knew she should not complain but the girl felt she was competing with Baekhyun's father. Everytime hardship struck her, everytime she needed someone to talk to, Baekhyun failed to be there for her. Beomseok always there between them. Actually, Yejin was quite surprised when Baekhyun called her.

"Are you still busy with your work after this?" Baekhyun asked when the girl remained silence.

"Babe answer me, I'm planning on a date with you" That drew Yejin's attention. 

"Seriously? Oppa I've been waiting for this for a long time. Days feel like years without you" excited tone could be trace in Yejin's voice. Even though she was quite mad with her boyfriend, Yejin could not deny she missed Baekhyun. Especially a date with him. It had been a while since their last date. Yeah, Baekhyun was busy with Beomseok though.

"So tell me when you are free, I'm preparing something special for you sweetheart" Baekhyun glanced at the wrapped gift on his desk.

"Oppa I'm really really looking forward on this date. Don't let me down later" Yejin warned. The girl did not want to repeat the same thing on their last date. Baekhyun left her in the middle of a movie just because of Beomseok. She knew she sounded selfish but her patience had limit.

"Sure baby, I'll make sure this date will leave you the sweetest memory, anything for you my princess" Baekhyun promised reassuringly. Satisfied, Yejin smiled to the ears. Her mind started to create tons of plans.

"Let's catch a movie then. I'll look up for a great one. How about arcade? Ahhh last time you beat me in the jungle shooting games right? This time I will do my very best and win it all" Baekhyun could not help but laugh at that memory. Yejin sulked for a few days just because she lost!

"But baby you can never win shooting games if you play with me" Baekhyun's assertiveness made Yejin wanted to puke.

"I've improved okay, don't belittle me!" Yejin groaned.

"Tell me how can you win if all you are good at is shooting me right into my heart?" Baekhyun clutched his chest as if a bullet pierced through his heart. Just then, Baekhyun noticed that his father was out of his view. 

"Baekhyun oppa, I'm not kidding! I'll beat you, just wait and see!" Baekhyun hummed. His attention was drifted away. Baekhyun got off his bed and strode out of his room.

"Oh yes and we can have ice cream at the park. Remember when you kissed my lips to remove the dirt and all the old folks gauging at us. You naughty boy! Oh and should we go for..."

"Honey, can you wait for a while...ummm.. I promise I'll call you back later, love you" Baekhyun ended the call. Yejin huffed. What did I expect from him?

...

Shutting her eyes tightly, Areum tried to grab a sleep. It was not this hard yesterday. The lack of sleep and rest allowed her to drift off to dreamland without an ounce of difficulty. But today's case was different. Areum had been rolling on her bed for an hour! 

Being a Quera for 25 years, her body could not accept the change of time easily. Quera usual sleep period was after sunrise until midday. They had to work at night after all. Only certain Quera worked for both day and night and that included Kyungsoo. Since he was a professor, he needed to work during the day. At night, all Quera had the same duty.

"Kyungsoo-ah...." Kyungsoo's name slipped from Areum's lips. The girl could not deny she already missed that man, more than her parents.

Giving up on sleeping attempt, Areum got down from her bed. The girl was on her way checking the time when a siren rang. This was her first time hearing siren in human's world since she missed it yesterday. Curious, the girl paced towards the window and looked outside. Portals appeared everywhere, linking human's world to hers.

"Wow...it's amazing" Areum cupped her eyes, getting a better view below.

Areum then pranced out of the room. The girl was curious on how human's soul leave the body. She wanted to see how Chanyeol's soul made his way to Quera World. Curiosity overtook her. Before this, Areum only saw human's soul entered Skyte but not how their soul left the body.

To Areum's luck, Chanyeol was not in his room. Areum found him in the living room with his laptop, staying still as if he was hypnotized. Waiting for Chanyeol's soul to escape, Areum fixed her gaze to Chanyeol. The girl waited and waited until it dawned to her that something was off. Chanyeol's soul remained in the body. This situation would only happened if.....

Human's soul will stop going to Quera World when they have crashed all five Drowte. Their soul is locked in their body until death separates them. Areum sauntered towards Chanyeol. She had to confirm something. If she was right, she could read Chanyeol's life span. She could not see his life span if his body was soulless.

Slowly, Areum placed her hand on top of Chanyeol's and squeezed it lightly. Taking a lungful of air, Areum began. Her pupil dilated as Chanyeol's life span appeared in front of her. Shock, Areum released Chanyeol's hand. It was true. Chanyeol had crashed all five Drowte. His soul remained in his body. But, it was not the case. 

It was his life span that gave Areum an utter shock.

His life span…

It read…

Less than a month

And...
 

Chanyeol lost the chance to change it

Thanks for reading =) and thanks to my friend who helped me with this chapter =)