Things get easier when Chanyeol starts lying to himself.

He lies that Baekhyun wanting to leave is okay, that the sun apparently "choosing" him is okay, and, most importantly, he lies that nothing happened between him and Baekhyun. 

Things don't change between them. Since that night, Baekhyun sleeps in bed with him, no questions asked. He sleeps facing the wall now, though, and Chanyeol is too scared for him to turn around.

Baekhyun still clings to his sleeve if they're in a situation he's unfamiliar with, but recently the shorter boy had been getting more independent and confident. It made Chanyeol proud. Watching Baekhyun excel in class and finally come to the cafeteria to eat with others gave him the illusion that Baekhyun was happy here, with him.

He keeps having to remind himself that, yeah, it is an illusion. Baekhyun's ultimate goal is to go home, and he's determined to make Baekhyun happy, even if it means he will leave one day.

Days pass. The longer he mulls over Baekhyun's secret, the more everything clicks into place. He trusts him; he knows that Baekhyun wouldn't lie. But something about him and Baekhyun being chosen rubs him the wrong way -- why them? 

He ponders this out loud one day on the walk to school and Baekhyun shrugs, saying only, "I don't know. I just woke up one day and I was here." 

"Are there others like you? Like, still alive?" Chanyeol questions as they walk into the bitter, early December wind. Baekhyun pulls his -- well, not really, it's Chanyeol's -- scarf tighter around his face. 

Baekhyun looks up, almost offended, and nods incredulously. 

"Of course. Eclipses happen a couple times a year, all across the world," Baekhyun's already soft voice is muffled by the scarf and he huffs in annoyance. "There has to be hundreds of fallen stars from the past years still here." 

"Can we find any of them, you think?" 

Baekhyun looks up in shock, suddenly, as if the thought had never occured to him. He nods slowly before spinning on his heel to face Chanyeol. There, on his tiptoes, he grabs Chanyeol by the scarf, shaking him in happiness. 

"We can use your . . ." he trails off, thinking for a second. "Laptop. Let's use your laptop. Wait, no. Use your phone. Get it out!" 

Chanyeol chuckles and pulls his phone out with numb hands. He frowns, unsure of what to type. 

"What would I look up? They can't just have a . . . website or something," Chanyeol is sure this plan won't pan out as well as Baekhyun assumed it would. The shorter nods resolutely, sighing. 

"I guess you're right," the disappointment in Baekhyun's voice is evident. This prompts Chanyeol to smile at him brightly in an attempt to raise his spirits. 

"We can search more tonight," he promises. "But we're almost late for school." 

Baekhyun looks down at the phone in Chanyeol's hand, his eyes searching for the time. 7:25, it reads. Baekhyun nods, grabbing Chanyeol's cold, free hand and walking them faster down the street. Chanyeol watches Baekhyun's soft black hair fly around in the wind and pale hand intertwined with his own and thinks to himself that, sure, he could get used to this. But he shouldn't, he reminds himself. 

--

Baekhyun had started school again three days ago, but he was nowhere near caught up. He was good at what they did in class, but he couldn't find the motivation to do any work outside of school. Chanyeol was some kind of super student who finished everything in class, so he'd go home and be free to do what he wanted. And even though he had assigned work, Baekhyun tagged along in doing nothing. 

It finally caught up to him on the fourth day, when Do Kyungsoo, probably the scariest student council president in the world, came up to his desk with angry eyes. 

"Byun Baekhyun," he starts, and said boy can feel the anger radiating off of him. It's terrifying. "When you were gone, I searched for an address to get you your make-up work, but there was none. And then you come back to school and pick it up and apologize, but you don't do it? Is school a game to you?" 

Baekhyun sits there, eyes wide, feeling guilt pool in his stomach. He can feel the entire class's eyes on him. 

"Kyungsoo," a voice whispers suddenly and sternly, having just appeared behind the student council president. Baekhyun watches a tan hand wrap around the boy's slim waist. The voice, which Baekhyun now recognizes is Jongin, is calm when he speaks again, "Why are you yelling at him like that?" 

Kyungsoo turns around angrily, shrugging the hand around his waist off. 

"Jongin, I don't care that he's your friend. I'm the connection between the students and the teachers, and I want to do my job correctly." 

Jongin smiles at him, eyes turning into soft crescents, and his hand reclaims the waist comfortably, naturally. 

"He was sick, right Chanyeol?" the tallest boy looks over at his name, nodding enthusiastically. "See, Kyungsoo? He's still recovering. Chill out." 

Kyungsoo seems to fume more at being told to relax, but Jongin doesn't seem too scared. If anything, he smiles wider, winking at Baekhyun in a playful manner. 

"Don't ever tell me to chill out," Kyungsoo enunciates his words menacingly, but there's no real bite to them, at least not when he's facing Jongin. "Are you at least caught up in your work?" 

Jongin giggles in a way that answers no, and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, allowing himself to be lead away by the hand on his waist. Baekhyun watches after them, mind still in shock over the scene Kyungsoo almost caused and the way Jongin had saved him so easily. 

His mind trails, thinking of what he and Chanyeol might look like, joined at the waist like that. He can feel blood rushing to his cheeks and he convinces himself, no, that's not something to wonder about. 

"Have you not been doing your homework?" Chanyeol's voice breaks him out of his reverie. He jumps, startled, and shakes his head no bashfully. 

It's not like he can explain to him that he had no interest in doing work while Chanyeol was sleeping or playing video games. He couldn't explain that the need to be with Chanyeol had distracted him the most.

"It's boring," is his only answer. Sehun laughs out loud, spinning around to show the glee on his face properly to Chanyeol. 

"It's boring!" he mimics Baekhyun, cackling. Baekhyun smiles a little, although Sehun sometimes scares him. The boy is just so loud and touchy and is always with Chanyeol, smiling and laughing. It irks him. 

"I'll help you finish it tonight," Chanyeol says it like it's a command, and Baekhyun nods softly, blushing at the thought of how that must've sounded to his classmates. 

"Oh? Tonight?" Sehun's moved to sit on Chanyeol's desk, long legs almost in Chanyeol's lap. He wiggles his eyebrows as much as he possibly can. "Study date? Am I invited?" 

Baekhyun watches Chanyeol push his younger friend off the desk violently, smacking his stomach. 

"No." 

Baekhyun smiles, something deep inside him satisfied with the thought of Chanyeol denying Sehun access to their study date. He's not entirely sure what a date is, he's never been on one, but he can tell it's something that involves a couple, something intimate. 

No. Baekhyun stops himself angrily. Focus on going home. You can't burden Chanyeol all your life; he said he'd help you. 

Conflicted inside, Baekhyun sets to work on the math problems in front of him. His mind is jumbled, thoughts of Chanyeol holding his waist, and even more urgent thoughts of stop it stop it stop it. 

--

That night, Chanyeol sits them down on the floor of his room and pulls out a small table, the perfect height to do paperwork on from the floor. Chanyeol smiles and pulls out his laptop, set on looking for other fallen stars. Baekhyun distractedly stares at his books, unfocused, mostly just watching Chanyeol from across the small table. 

The taller has on wide-rimmed glasses that he only pulls out for two reasons: reading a book or using his laptop. With his hair wet from a shower and the glasses on, Baekhyun finds it hard to focus on derivatives. It's not like I need math. 

A few quiet minutes pass, Chanyeol's typing keeping the room from getting too silent. Baekhyun successfully survives one worksheet and he's on to the next before his mind can protest. 

"Baekhyun, do you know Kim Minseok?" 

The question breaks the peacefulness of the room, and Baekhyun's head snaps up. 

"No," Baekhyun sounds excited, intrigued. 

"I don't know if it's the same, but I found an article on this couple that met, and they say it was fate -- that it was the sun and the moon who put them together. Apparently, they opened up an orphanage? That's why they were interviewed," Chanyeol squints, despite his glasses, and Baekhyun's heart squeezes a little. "And this Kim Minseok guy, he's in the video, and he kind of glows like you, I don't know --" 

Baekhyun blushes. He didn't know he glowed, or that Chanyeol had noticed. Ignoring the fluttering in his stomach, he scoots to the other side of the table, crowding next to Chanyeol to watch the blurry video. 

"When we first met, I knew it was something like fate. I was attracted to her the second I saw her; she said my voice sounded familiar. We always say it's the sun and the moon who worked together to build our relationship," Minseok laughs, and Baekhyun can see what Chanyeol meant by glow. "And here we are now. We both love kids, and this is our dream job. I spend the entire day with the one I love, helping those who need it." 

Chanyeol chances a glance over to Baekhyun, watches the light in his eyes flicker. This is an actual lead. 

"I'd like to thank the moon, I guess," Minseok laughs again, and Baekhyun shrieks a little, pointing at the laptop. Chanyeol pauses immediately, heart frozen in his chest. This wasn't a lead, this was a goldmine. 

"You heard that, right? The moon! He's the one that glows, and he thanks the moon!" Baekhyun turns as quickly as possible, arms snaking around Chanyeol's wide shoulders. 

Chanyeol smiles because, really, Baekhyun's happiness is contagious. That, and he's secretly happy that the only pair they know of fell in love. It gives him a glimmer of hope, a ray of light to grasp onto. 

They hug and jump from their seats on the floor, Baekhyun squealing, until they finally pull back to examine the laptop again. 

"Can we contact them?" Baekhyun asks, and now it's his turn to squint at the computer. Reading came easily, but the technology aspect of it all still trips him up sometimes. 

Chanyeol scrolls at lightning speed, spotting a link to the foster home's website. He can feel Baekhyun tense next to him, excitement palpable. 

"I can email them right here. Should I?" 

Baekhyun's nod is immediate and he's practically sitting in Chanyeol's lap, studying the keys, ready to type. Chanyeol smiles fondly to himself as he watches the smaller boy adjust to fit in the space between Chanyeol and the laptop. 

Baekhyun reads out what he wants to say, then rethinks, and then he panics and deletes it all before finally deciding on a message. When the paragraph is Chanyeol approved, they hit send. 

to: [email protected]

Hello, this is Byun Baekhyun and Park Chanyeol. We believe that you and your wife had the same experience as us, but we have only just met and are very confused. I immediately knew that Chanyeol was someone I could trust, and Chanyeol had dreamt of my face for years. We saw the article about you and your wife, and think it would be amazing if we ended up being in the same situation. If you know what we mean, please contact us!!! 

Chanyeol can feel Baekhyun vibrating with energy, overly excited at the prospect of meeting someone who has been through the same experience. 

Baekhyun is shaking. He can't even imagine what he would ask first. Does he know any other fallen stars? What are their relationships to the people the moon chose for them? Has anyone ever gone back? He's so scared that this is a false lead, but something about the smile on Minseok's face and the glow of his pale skin tells Baekhyun there's no other explanation. 

Chanyeol softly taps Baekhyun's back, effecitvely getting him out of his thoughts, and nods back towards the homework he needs to do. Baekhyun nods, a shy smile spreading as he climbs away from Chanyeol's figure. He hadn't realized they were so close. 

Twenty minutes later, as Chanyeol plays some game on his computer and Baekhyun finishes up a worksheet for his history class, they hear a ding. The pair make eye contact, stomachs fluttering nervously. 

Chanyeol takes a gulp and clicks on the email icon, fearing for any answer they could receive. Baekhyun is back in his lap, unashamed this time, and Chanyeol can smell the shampoo from last night's shower wafting from his sleek hair. He could reach out and touch it and kiss his head and -- 

from: [email protected]

I think I know exactly what you two experienced. I assume that Chanyeol is of the sun? You two should stop by the orphanage whenever you can. We would be delighted to meet others like us!

Baekhyun screams and lunges fully into Chanyeol's lap, arms twined so tightly around his neck that he can barely breathe. He's crying and Chanyeol is holding him, scratching his back and whispering "I'm so happy for you." 

Baekhyun pulls away, joyful tears in his eyes, before he whispers, "you are of the sun!" 

And then he kisses him, straight on the lips, in such a blissful way that Chanyeol closes his eyes immediately. They rock back and forth, tears and whispers and hugs covered by the gentle movements of their lips against the other's.

It's only when Baekhyun pulls back, obviously shocked at himself, that Chanyeol closes the distance again, whispering, "you are of the moon" against his lips. 

----

hahahahha i love them being happy dorks @ school and also them finding out more and more abt the situation!!!!

yay for major plot development and kissing and extremely lowkey implied kaisoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hehehe i love u guys bye pls leave comments .... i love feedback :"''') gnight