[Home]

 

“I love the meadow, Mother. Please let me go out.” Baekhyun peered out the windows.

 

Rain. The rain was all Baekhyun could ever see. It was a non-stop cycle. Baekhyun was always surprised to see the rain stop. When it did, he couldn’t leave. He was sick.

Baekhyun had a tenderness to see the water lilies float bobbing in the pond, the purple Opal Cups veiling the hills, sky flowers bunched into gossiping groups in the field, especially the Carolina Jessamine that falls from his window in the spring.

“Gelsemium Sempervirens, Nymphaea Caerulea, Narcissus Hillstar, Anoda Cristata, Duranta Erecta.” He repeated a mantra, watching rain droplets fall and race the window, “Those are the best ones.”

 

Baekhyun felt belittled to stay inside when he could be taking a stroll through such peaceful weather. His mother wasn’t there. So, he took all his strength and stood up. He’ll go outside for the first time in years. Baekhyun put on a light-yellow button up and a faded pair of jeans, the shade of the Carolina Jessamine that dropped down his window.

 

Making sure his mother wasn’t home he steps out and feels the light breeze blowing through the wind chimes and the sun rays beaming onto his pale skin. Baekhyun takes a deep breath in and walks out to a stone path towards the meadow.

Letting his hands flow over the groups of varying Anemone. He whispered, “Anemone Coronaria!” and a smile ensued after.

 

Baekhyun stopped at a patch of Fremontia and smiled, “Fremontodend- “

“Hey! Who are you?”

Baekhyun was taken aback at the sudden notion from the stranger. He didn’t even know someone was there. He didn’t even know someone lived in the field.

“Do you know what these are?” The stranger asked.

“Yes, they are Fremontodendron Californicum. They are native to Southern North America and Southern California.” Baekhyun was trying not to focus on the latter and more about his overflowing knowledge about flowers.

“Oh, I know,” the latter chuckled, “I was honestly only wondering what you were doing here. Are you out because the rain stopped too?” The stranger picked up a Fremontia and placed it in Baekhyun’s hair.

The newly found stranger wasn’t too bad on the eyes. He had bright brown eyes and was way taller than Baekhyun. He was covered in dirt, assuming he was rolling in mud or fell in a puddle. The stranger was always smiling, particularly attractive in Baekhyun’s mind.

“I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself, I’m Park Chanyeol. My father tends to these flower fields, but he’s sick today, so he recruited me to go out and make sure nothing is eating the flowers away.” Chanyeol waved and bowed to Baekhyun. Baekhyun thought about how nice Chanyeol was being and bowed back to Chanyeol.

“Hello, I’m Byun Baekhyun. I live on the border of the field, just down the stone pathway.” Baekhyun points towards the faded rocks and smiles, “I’ve always admired the fields, but my mother never lets me go outside unless she was out too. She wasn’t home when the rain stopped so I wanted to go out and explore before the rain came back.”

Chanyeol nods, “Would you like a personal tour of the field?”

Baekhyun was overjoyed with the offer, “Oh yes, please!”

“Follow me.”

 

[The Field]

 

“And these are the Skyflowers; they’re one of my favorite here.” Chanyeol picks up a bushel of Skyflowers and puts them in Baekhyun’s hair. Chanyeol doesn’t understand why he’s putting the flowers in Baekhyun’s hair. It just feels right. He looks beautiful with them anyway.

“Oh! I see these from my room every day. It’s Duranta Erecta, right?” Baekhyun is overly pleased to be shown the flowers up close, “Their blue is a beautiful sky color, I admire it every time I grasp a glimpse.” Baekhyun’s eyes showed life and Chanyeol was charmed at his affection towards nature.

“You are correct, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol gives a thumbs-up, “I have yet to show you the best ones.” Chanyeol takes Baekhyun’s wrist gently and motions him to follow.

 

It was a walk for Baekhyun, but he trotted through the mounds of flowers just to see a single bulb of flowers in the center of the field.

“What kind are these? I’ve never seen them before.” Baekhyun crouches and examines the flower. It’s a purple-ish blue that compliments the green around it.

“Do you not know what it is?” Chanyeol grins, “It’s Lily of the Nile or also known as…?”

“Agapanthus Praecox! I thought these were only native to Africa!” Oh, how Baekhyun loved where he was. He wished he could just live in the ground and pop out whenever he wanted to see the flowers bloom.

“They are. My father traded different bulbs just for this one. I planted this when I was in grade school, and I took care of it ever since. It’s my favorite.” Chanyeol was beaming when he was talking about the flower. It was almost as if he had the same infatuation as Baekhyun.

“They’re your favorite? The Carolina Jessamine are my favorite out of everything planted.” Baekhyun looks down and kicks the dirt, embarrassed he told someone who’s not his mother about something he likes.

“I know, your button up matches their hue.” Chanyeol tugs on Baekhyun’s sleeve, “Where are they planted? I haven’t seen them in years.”

“They’re planted at my home if we happen to go back around to where I live I can show you where they are.”

“I would love that.”

 

[Home]

 

Everything was perfect for Baekhyun. He hadn’t had any episodes, and he found unimaginable parts of the meadow that he would have never seen if he hadn’t left his room. He doesn’t know how he could thank Chanyeol for showing him everything in a different perspective. Being able to visit a dream land that his mother told him not to go to led to Baekhyun feel a spark within him to go back out again when the rain was gone.

“Thank you, Chanyeol. I can’t thank you enough.” Baekhyun gave a deep bow, deeper than what he's used to but he wants to give loads of respect to Chanyeol for taking time out to show him everything.

“It’s nothing Baekhyun. The rain will start up again soon, so I should leave now. It was nice meeting you! Until next time Byun.” Chanyeol smiled and strutted away, back to his home.

Baekhyun turned around to his mother whom he knew was disgusted at him for leaving the house without parent supervision. Deep inside he felt upset that he disobeyed his mother's rules, but realized what he was missing and did not want to let go of it anytime soon.

“Byun Baekhyun, get inside right now. You’ve missed your studies, and I've been worried about you. Where have you been? Did I not tell you that you're not allowed to be outside? How dare you go against me!” His mother ranted for hours to Baekhyun, scolding and nagging about how he disobeyed her and that he’ll be punished, “You're never going back outside again if anything look outside the window and let your imagination run wild. Now, go and finish up your lessons and come and eat. Dinner is ready.” She walked away, and Baekhyun felt like he wanted to cry. But he wouldn’t let such an emotion crawl over his body.

 

[Next Morning]

 

“Mom! It’s not raining, so I'm going to the field to finish what I didn’t get to, okay?” Chanyeol grabbed a piece of toast and walked out the door, “Love you.”

His mother chuckled. It was sweet and light-hearted. “Okay but if it starts to mist come back because when it starts it- “

“Never stops, thanks, Mom.” Chanyeol took a deep breath when he hit the edge of the field and picked out some blue Hydrangeas.

He reminds me of the sky; he can be whatever color he wants, and I’ll still admire him.

“Mop-Head Hydrangea, also known as-,” Chanyeol lets Baekhyun’s voice play in his head, “Hydrangea Macrophylla!”

The way his voice would go higher when he would say the scientific name and then go on and on about the facts and where they descended from. How cute Chanyeol thought.

 

Gently placing the flowers in a pot, he makes a journey to Baekhyun’s home.

                                                                                                    

[Home]

 

“Mother please, I’ve apologized already please don’t hurt me. I won’t go back outside again!” Baekhyun cowers out of fear and pushes himself into a corner. Please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me, he begs in his mind.

Baekhyun’s mother walks over and moves Baekhyun’s arms out of the way, “Every day I remind you not to go outside and what did you do yesterday? You’ve disrespected the rules, and you must have a lesson taught to you about disobeying my rules.”

Before he could move his arms back, he hears a loud pop and a sting on his cheek.

 

[Home]

 

Frozen. Scared? A statue is how Chanyeol felt. Wrong place at the wrong time? That’s how Chanyeol felt. Quietly putting the pot down at the doorstep Chanyeol makes his way back out to the field.

 

[Home]

 

Quietly Baekhyun stood there. Not knowing what to do.

“Sit down, I’m going to trust that you will not leave this house again or else the punishment will be more severe.” Baekhyun’s mother picked up her gloves and purse and walked out the door.

The emptiness in the house is unbearable.

The stinging is intolerable.

So Baekhyun abandons his home and goes outside.

 

[The Field]

“It’s not raining; I wonder if Byun will come back out again.” Chanyeol thought out loud. Maybe if he says it loud, enough Baekhyun will come. I hope he’s okay; it sounded like it hurt.

“Chanyeol!” Chanyeol lifts his head up when he hears his name being beckoned by a familiar voice.

“Baekhyun?”

“It’s not raining! Isn’t that amazing?” Baekhyun lifts the pot in the air, “Also, did you leave this at my doorstep?” Baekhyun holds up the container to Chanyeol and Chanyeol nods.

“We had too many Hydrangea flowers, so I wanted to give you to you.”

“I’ve never seen these before. How do you have too many when there are none in the field?”

“Surprise.” Chanyeol smiled.

Baekhyun laughs, and Chanyeol follows soon after.

 

It’s getting darker outside, and Baekhyun is on high alert for when his mother comes home. The last thing he needs to end such a beautiful day is for his mother to lock him up away from the windows. From Chanyeol.

“It’s crazy how not a single drop of water fell from the sky today and yesterday; it’s as if the world is ending,” Chanyeol laughs, “But I've never been in the field for such a long time, even as a kid.” Chanyeol recalls his childhood, flooded with memories of his father and mother dancing in the rain while planting their permanent work. How he wished he could do that with someone he loved.

Baekhyun lays down on the ground, exhausted from what the day brought him. Rolling around next to Chanyeol and staring at the stars. Everything he could dream about, playing out in front of him. Chanyeol, playing around with Baekhyun, rolled to his left and spotted a Carolina Jessamine. The flower that reminded him of Baekhyun the most. He plucked it from the stem and turned to Baekhyun.

“Baekhyun, look,” Chanyeol holds up the flower close to Baekhyun’s eyes, “It’s a Carolina Jessamine, you said they were your favorite, right?” Chanyeol places it in Baekhyun’s hand and waits for his reaction.

“No way! It’s beautiful,” Baekhyun touches the petals gently and admiring the color, “I see it hanging off my window, but I never had the guts to pick them, they were too pretty for me to touch.”

“What are your favorites again?” Chanyeol only knew of the Jessamine species, but with Baekhyun’s vast knowledge of flowers, there was bound to be more than one.

“Gelsemium Sempervirens, Nymphaea Caerulea, Narcissus Hillstar, Anoda Cristata, Duranta Erecta” Baekhyun let the words flow out of his mouth, “those are the best ones.”

 

Everything was well, he and Baekhyun were sprawled across the patch of grass where you could see the most constellations. Baekhyun explaining his infatuation with the scientific names of the flowers and everything he knew about them. And then the flower blew out of Baekhyun’s hand. Out of reaction, he ran after it. Chanyeol ran after him too.

“I caught it!” Baekhyun yelled, exhausted and out of breath, “Chanyeollie! I got it!”

Baekhyun was walking back, and he collapsed.

Then the world collapsed.

 

[Home]

 

“Ma’am, I’m sorry,” Chanyeol started out, “he was running, and then he collapsed. If I knew about his condition, then I wouldn’t have let him do such a thing. I apologize.” Chanyeol went down on his knees.

“Please stop apologizing. You didn’t know, and I tell Baekhyun not to go outside but he does it anyway, I don’t understand what attracts him to the outside. He wasn’t always like this. I got him books and activities. Anything to stimulate the outside.” Baekhyun’s mother starts to tear up.

Chanyeol quickly gets back and holds his hand out towards Baekhyun’s mother, “I’m sorry such a thing had to happen, but you can't keep nature inside, it’s meant to cover the entire world. That’s how Baekhyun is. From what I saw he was gentle with everything he touched but admired all that was within his vision, never have I seen someone with such tenderness to a plant, not even my father acts that way. Ms. Byun, I believe that you can't stimulate the outside with books, it’s an exciting activity that must be experienced by feeling and breathing.” Chanyeol breathes out.

“I understand what you're trying to tell me Chanyeol but please, don’t expect to see Baekhyun for a long time. Please go home, I can feel the rain cloud approaching.” She directs Chanyeol to the front door and bids him a good night.

 

[Next Day; Home]

 

“I’m sorry Chanyeol, but it’s raining, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Chanyeol’s mother voicing her worries to Chanyeol only made him more irritated. “Mom, please. He collapsed on the field yesterday, only from running. I want to know if he’s okay! I’d do anything.” Chanyeol frowned, but the action didn’t stop his mother.

“It’s a no, and that’s final Chanyeol, now go be useful and help your sister with the firewood. The temperature is dropping, and we need some warmth in the house.” Chanyeol’s mother turns her back to Chanyeol and continues making lunch.

It’s dangerous to go outside during the rain; maybe you’ll be washed away by the occasional river that appears or be pelted by raindrops. But whatever it takes to see Baekhyun, Chanyeol will do anything.

 

[Home]

 

“I’m sorry for coming back again; I know the rain won’t stop now, but I must give this to Baekhyun. My condolences to his condition,” Chanyeol looks down at the Blue Orchid, “It’s something my father grew himself with lots of care, so I want Baekhyun to remind himself to keep his health in shape.” Chanyeol touches a petal. Is he awake?

Baekhyun’s mother opens the door and lets Chanyeol walk in.

“Hey Byun, it’s raining outside,” Chanyeol suddenly feel overwhelmed seeing Baekhyun in such a sad condition, “and I have a flower for you. My father grew this one with much care, and I want it to remind you to take care of yourself.” Trying not to cry Chanyeol places the pot on Baekhyun’s side table.

Baekhyun opens his eyes and follows where he heard the clack where the pot met the table, “Vanda Coerulea? How?” Baekhyun sits up and brings the pot into his lap, “It’s a hybrid Orchid, they're so rare.”

“I know. I wanted you to take care of it, which means no running. If you get hurt, this gets hurt too.” Chanyeol laughs and pats Baekhyun’s head.

“Thank you for coming and visiting me Chanyeol, I haven’t had anyone visit me before. It’s a nice feeling as if someone cares.” Baekhyun gives a light chuckle. It gives Chanyeol a warm, renewing feeling inside.

Chanyeol pushes some of Baekhyun’s hair back and gets up, “I should hurry back before my sister rats me out on not helping her get firewood.” Chanyeol already regrets leaving when he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket, “I think my mom found out I snuck out, I’ll see you later Baekkie.” Chanyeol swiftly exits Baekhyun’s room and thanks, Baekhyun’s mother.

Baekhyun doesn’t want to be sick anymore; he wants to be free to run around with Chanyeol and lift things with Chanyeol and laugh and sing and smile and love.

 

[Weeks Later; The Field]

 

“Chanyeol, I trust that you won’t be silly and run off with your father’s plants again. He was so upset when he found out you gave that Orchid away.” Chanyeol’s mother was talking to Chanyeol through the kitchen window, “And while you’re outside, make sure you don’t squish any of the Skyflowers, a few weeks ago, they were trampled on, and they looked so messy.”

“Yes mom,” Chanyeol said in a playful tone, “I’ll see you at the end of the day. I love you.” Chanyeol waved at her and went out into the meadow to tend to the flowers. Never has there been so many dry days within a month, but the more dry days, the more he can see Baekhyun.

“Gelsemium Sempervirens, Nymphaea Caerulea, Narcissus Hillstar, Anoda Cristata, Duranta Erecta,” Chanyeol chanted in the field and mocked Baekhyun, “those are th- “

“-the best ones.”

Chanyeol whipped around to Baekhyun’s voice and almost jumped for joy when he saw the latter.

“Chanyeollie,” Baekhyun started out, “I’m all better now. My sickness is gone.” Baekhyun plastered the goofiest smile he could come up with. To hide.

“No way.” Chanyeol held Baekhyun’s hand and looked at him.

“Yes way,” Baekhyun squeezed Chanyeol’s hand, “the Orchid helped me get better, it’s full on blossoming. Alive with color.” It was dead.

“See? It’s inspiring on how you should take care of yourself. I got in lots of trouble with my dad ca- “

Baekhyun kissed Chanyeol. Then Chanyeol kissed Baekhyun back.

“I love you so much, Chanyeol. You brought a whole other meaning into my world. You helped me explore something unknown to me and helped me realize that everything loves something else.”

“I love you too Baekhyun.” Chanyeol placed a petal in Baekhyun’s hair.

“Come run with me Chanyeol. Come and experience a whole other feeling with me.” And Baekhyun ran. As fast as his legs could take him. Chanyeol followed after Baekhyun.

After what seemed like hours of running Baekhyun laid down on the patch of grass that was planted on the ground. Heart beating too fast for it to calm down anytime soon. He couldn’t breathe. But that was okay.

Baekhyun pulled himself into Chanyeol’s embrace and asked, “Can you repeat to me the series of flowers that I love?” Baekhyun could barely squeak out his question. His body hurt.

“Gelsemium Sempervirens, Nymphaea Caerulea, Narcissus Hillstar, Anoda Cristata, Duranta Erecta?” Chanyeol fluently sang out.

Baekhyun nodded, “K-keep saying it for me.” His breath was running out.

So Chanyeol did, on and on he said it.

Chanyeol placed a Carolina Jessamine in Baekhyun’s hair. And Baekhyun closed his eyes.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

It ran out.

 

[Years Later; The Field]

 

“Gelsemium Sempervirens, Nymphaea Caerulea, Narcissus Hillstar, Anoda Cristata, Duranta Erecta.”

“Especially Gelsemium Sempervirens.”

 

 

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Thank you for reading this! I poured my heart and soul into this and I hope you were about to connect with me through this piece. I love what I did with the piece and I hope to get great feedback after being gone for so long. Please comment and subscribe! I will reply to all comments. I am uploading this to my LJ, Ao3, and Dreamwidth, too. Thank you <3