Disclaimer:

I am in no way close with EXO. However, everything written here belongs to me. Please don't copy or repost and translate anywhere else without asking.

[listen to – when you can't sleep at night playlist on youtube / link in external link]

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» Chapter THREE; The End of a Dead-End.

There are times when things take an unexpected turn. There are times when things are not meant to be. Sometimes Baekhyun starts second guessing every wrong turn that happened in his life. What if it was for the better? He even starts to second guess how this whole situation with Soo Ah is not meant to be. Perhaps Baekhyun and Soo Ah were like parallel lines; they were not meant to meet.

He could remember the time he took a wrong turn while driving and ended up in a huge field of trees, grass, and flowers. Ever since, he started second guessing every wrong turn in his life. Every wrong turn turned him into how and where he is, and there are times were he was happy more than he can imagine. So, why are they considered wrong turns?

Baekhyun felt his heart quicken, as he looked up at the sky. It was one of the most beautiful moment in life. There was a splash of calming colors everywhere, as the sun was going down, saying goodbye. In a couple of minutes, the moon would come out and instead of colors, it would be greeted by darkness with spots of white. They were stars who kept the night company in the dark.

He could hear Yubin shift underneath him before she stopped. The two went out for a small trip to get their minds off things, and he has to admit, he did have fun. He was laying on top of his car while Yubin was inside. Baekhyun wasn't the type of person to watch the sun set nor the sun rise, but he could tell why people enjoy such silent moments.

"We should go back home before it's too late," said Yubin while she was looking at a new code she discovered.

'AHE SCAYO KNL'

She could feel herself sigh, as she put in a folder that contained a lot secret codes. It was unbelievable that there was over ten codes to decode. Of course, they could've given it to the police, but do you think they would decode it that easily? Yubin hardly decoded one, and trust me, it took her a long time to do so.

'NKJKP VUG ' is related to '2← | ⇆ | L→E' somehow. If you follow the rules, you'd be able to decode the code. It's a matter of shifting the original alphabet two letters forward. For example, A would become C, B would become D, and C would become E. After you do so, you'd get 'LIHINTSE' and what on Earth would that mean?

Simple.

Follow the second rule -- which is reversing the text -- and you'd get ESTNIHIL. If you know a lot of languages, you'd probably find out that it's in Latin. Translate it, and you'd get Nothing. There is no use, and there is nothing.

Baekhyun knocking on the window beside Yubin made her snap out of her thoughts and quickly close the folder. He gave her a small smile before he entered from the other side of the car. Soon, the two were going back home.

"So, have you found anything new?" he asked her once they got inside his apartment. He felt himself stop thinking about Soo Ah — and the whole situation in general — for some reason. Yubin's company has become his medicine and cure. It's not like he has feelings towards her, but it felt nice having someone to lean on.

"Yeah, a couple of stuff. I decoded one of them, but it's best if you read them all at once later on." Yubin knew what the codes were and how to exactly decode them. The only thing that's stopping her from telling him is how surprising the notes are.

"Oh, okay."

"Anyways, don't you want to hang out with your old friends?"

Baekhyun let out a sigh and waited in front of the café he meant Chanyeol about a week ago. He expected that he wouldn't come after what happened, but such thing gave him hope.

It felt as if the same cold wind blew against his face and body, causing him to squint his eyes slightly. There wasn't a lot of snow like last time, but it felt as if it was colder due to the cold air. Suddenly, he felt someone wrap their arm around his shoulder and engulf him in a hug, warming him slightly. Baekhyun immediately knew who it was.

He felt his cheeks slightly turn red and the corners of his lips turn up, as he turned his head a bit to see Chanyeol.

"I knew that you'd come back," the giant ruffled his hair while walking down the sidewalk rather than entering the café. Baekhyun let out a small laugh and walked side by side with Chanyeol, not bothering to get the latter's arm from his shoulder. "What happened? You look much better now."

"It's a long story," he let out a small breath, which immediately showed in front of him due to the cold weather. "To make things short, I'm slowly accepting what has happened... and I think that I'm finally moving on."

Chanyeol's smile never left his face. He was happy for his short friend, and seeing his Baekhyun being happy caused him eternal happiness. It wasn't the type of happiness that only a boyfriend or a girlfriend can cause to you. Friends can give you happiness as much as your significant other, or sometimes even more.

People are always looking for someone who will love them, but that's not the most important thing you could hope for. Find someone who isn't afraid of you; someone who plays with your fire instead of running from it. Be with the person that walks in your darkness without searching for a light - they know there isn't one. Accept nothing less than someone who embraces your evils and ugliness. The thing about this person is you won't have to wonder if they love you or not. You'll know when they look at you with amazement and curiosity, not fear. And sometimes, it could be a friend.

"Chanyeol-ah," Baekhyun first started off, playing with his fingers while looking at the melting snow in the midst of grass and trees. "I'm really sorry. I missed you." He could feel himself choke internally as he said those words. They were hard to say -- he had to admit -- despite them being friends. He was destruction to the architecture of their friendship, he was the violence to their silence, and he was the drop of blood in their clear water. Of course, he would feel like it would be too hard to get back to the old times.

"It's okay, hyung, its okay," Chanyeol reassured him, slightly patting Baekhyun's back. "You have to stop paddling." he said, out of the blue.

"Huh?" Baekhyun raised his right eyebrow, confusion on written on his face.

"You think you're drowning, but the truth is, you're just meters away from the seashore."

He furrowed his brows, still unsure what Chanyeol was talking about.

Chanyeol sighed, "Look, you're on shallow waters and all you really need to do is to stand. You don't need anyone, especially her, to save you. You got bones for a reason, and that reason is for you to save yourself."

Baekhyun glanced at his silver haired friend then let out a small breath. He is trying, he really is.

Baekhyun looked at the piece of writing in front of him before closing his notebook. It was filled with writings from his previous year. It contained his emotions, suffering, actions, and basically everything. He poured his heart out in his notebook in case someone else finds it.

It was hidden between his school books and notebooks in his drawers, so someone finding it is very low because who would search through these stuff? However, it's been a while since he checked his older entries. It was filled with haunting emotions and events that he doesn't want to witness and relive once again.

Deciding to put away his notebook, he found Yubin's file resting on top of his desk, filled with loads of papers and sticky notes. He didn't know whether to check it right now or not, but since Yubin was out at the moment, he decided to open it.

His fingers touched the ink filled papers, as it slowly and gradually started shaking.

[NOTE #1]

EDICI US

Edici which the present passive infinitive for the verb edico in Latin. Edico means explain in Late Latin. Put that beside us, it will turn into explain us.

--

[NOTE #2]

'NKJKP VUG ' is related to '2← | ⇆ | L→E' somehow. If you follow the rules, you'd be able to decode the code. It's a matter of shifting the original alphabet two letters forward. For example, A would become C, B would become D, and C would become E. After you do so, you'd get 'LIHINTSE' . Follow the second rule -- which is reversing the text -- and you'd get ESTNIHIL. If you know a lot of languages, you'd probably find out that it's in Latin. Translate it, and you'd get Nothing. There is no use, and there is nothing.

--

[NOTE #3]

136.0

This is Soo Ah's apartment number. It also means the exact time to reach her apartment. 13 minutes and 60 seconds, which means 14 minutes.

--

[NOTE #4]

AHE SCAYO KNL

Place the words beneath each other and space them.

AHE

SCAYO

KNL

If you read it in this way ↘↗ then you will get Ask Chanyeol.

--

[NOTE #5]

FEIOLCYRMWHIEH

Use a Caesar Cipher Decoder.

--

He furrowed his eyebrows and quickly opened his phone to search for a Caesar Cipher Decoder. There was this one site that appeared and seemed simple to use. Once he was done, he felt his breath suddenly stop at the hidden message. It didn't make sense at first, till he remembered.

"Oh, my God," he heard someone gasp and drop whatever they were holding on the ground. It was Yubin, and unfortunately, Baekhyun was too deep in his thoughts to even acknowledge that there is a person in his room.

He quickly stood up from his bed and threw away the file, making the papers fly all around the place. His eyes were bloodshot, as his breath was shorten again and again. It made him feel dizzy and almost see sparks and colored dots everywhere.

"This isn't true. It's not," he let out a sob and ran his fingers through his hair. Suddenly, his body dropped the floor.

Baekhyun is dead.

The Beginning of a Mystery. | The Beginning of Questions and Confusion. | The End of a Dead-End.

[» Let me tell you a secret. «]

He opened his eyes. All around him, the snow-covered landscape stretches for miles and miles as far as his eyes can see. The café nor apartments were nowhere to be seen. Neither is the raging sea that was his purgatory.

A girl stood before him, her face as white and featureless as the land around them, like a mask.

"Where is she? Where is Soo Ah?" he asked the masked-face girl. "I want to see her."

A few moments pass before the girl replies. "I'm sorry. There's no version of this where you get to see her again. There's no going back."

"Then... why am I here?" Baekhyun asks, despair evident in his trembling voice.

"You made a promise that can never be kept. Now you're here to learn the final lesson."

"Wh- what's that?"

"Acceptance."

[» Letting go is the best option. «]

Yubin let out a sigh, staring at the pale boy on his bed. His body and mind was there for months, but his soul wasn't. She talked with his soul a couple of times, convincing him to move on from this empty world, yet he wouldn't listen. He held onto his life for so long for a girl that didn't even exist in the first place.

Baekhyun was in a coma for about a year now, leaving his family to suffer. Chanyeol died everyday due to his best friend's state. Soo Ah was the cause, and she wasn't there. Yubin, however, was the angel sent to teach him acceptance and moving on. Sadly, she's a piece of his imagination in a life that never stops repeating to him.

His notebook was in her hands, but she never dared to open it.

It's the fifth time she would have to meet him again.

"Yubin-ah..." she heard the familiar voice, causing her to stand up and turn to face him."I'm ready to let go."

[» Not moving on is death. Do you want to die for someone who doesn't care about you? «]