• Prompted by anon on tumblr : chanbaek - "I'm lost"
• Timing: 00:54:03

Chanyeol looked down at the map in hands, the thin paper crinkling as he clutched it a little tighter and glare at the little trail leading east. His eyes glanced between it and his wildly spinning compass, holding the little device out and spinning in a slow circle to try and escape whatever force was making it to haywire.

It didn't help at all - if anything, it just threw the little needle into a more intense death spin. He huffed, knocking on the little glass with his knuckle and shaking it - as it that'd help any. (It didn't.)

He had no idea where he was. No ing clue. He was supposed to be headed west, but after hoisting himself over a small hill, he somehow got turned around and realized he was headed south - so then he turned around and went back the way he came, and now he had no ing idea what happened or how he got so off track. The last his compass worked, it showed him face east, and now it just wasn't working at all.

Something in the air, or something nearby, or just something was throwing off his compass.

Chanyeol growled in frustration, cocking his hand back and slamming the compass into a large boulder bordering the trail, shattering it into pieces. His eyes widened to saucers, “!” and he scrambled to pick up the pieces.

“, , , , !” Springs and nuts and tiny bolts rolled in his palms, slipping from his fumbling fingers as he tried to force them back into the cracked back of the compass - to no avail. It was busted beyond quick, and now his had no source of direction at all.

Great. Fantastic. ing fabulous.

He chucked the useless heap of metal into the tall grass off to the side, crumpling the map as he fisted his hands in his hair. He was royally ed.

“Goddammit…” He was stranded, in the middle of countryside wilderness - with ni phone, no compass, and a ty map probably from 1912. Why did he think this would be fun, again? He was a damn idiot.

He sighed deeply, in and out, in and out, until his head stopped pounding and looked at his surroundings. He could follow the trail he was on, but he had no idea where it lead, or even which trail he was on. There were broad open fields to his right, and heavily wooded forests to his left. Hm.

He eyed the forest - thought of bears or tigers or escaped mutant gorillas, and figured he ought to steer clear of that . Forests were never a safe place, especially not at night - and the impending sunset was making him anxious.

Chanyeol set out towards the open fields after weighing his luck. The worst thing that he could stumbled upon in a bit field was maybe a rattlesnake, and he'd battle that over the Blair Witch any day.

The sun was sinking over the distant valleys by the time Chanyeol found any sign of human life. It was a quaint little barn house, with a horse stable and a coop full of clucking chickens. Light shown through the big windows - someone must be there. Chanyeol could only hope it wasn't some sort psycho axe murderer.

He quietly crept across the front lawn, bracing the wooden raiding as he stepped up the creaking stairs. The paint was crisp and new, not a crack or chip in sight. Freshly painted, so it seemed.

He hesitated before rapping his knuckles against the screen door, feeling his heart fall into his as he waited for the (hopefully) friendly old homeowner. Or the psycho axe murderer. Either one.

The lights shifted in the window as someone - or something - approached the door, and Chanyeol could faintly make out the shape of a short figure. Their movements were smooth and easy - definitely not an old man.

He caught sight of a long read axe stabbed into a tree stump, and the rational part of Chanyeol knew it was just for chopping firewood, but the nervous, suspicious part of Chanyeol just knew that was where they beheaded innocent travelers that stumbled onto their property.

The door creaked as it was opened, the eerie sound causing Chanyeol to jump in surprise. A face appeared behind the screen door, sharp eyes sizing him up with suspicious hesitance.

It was a man, a short man, with downturned lips and a messy heap of brown hair. He was young - probably no older than Chanyeol, and very handsome. He didn't look much like a psycho ax murderer. Or at least, he was a very nice looking one. Chanyeol almost wouldn't mind getting chopped up by such pretty hands.

“...Yes?” The man mumbled, an air of annoyance on his voice.

Chanyeol blinked rapidly, embarrassed upon realizing he'd just be rudely staring for almost a minute. “Oh! Uh--” he wrinkled his abused map in his hands, “I'm sorry to bother you, but, um… I think I'm lost.”

The man eyed his crumpled map, obviously sizing him up as he slowly sighed. “You're a traveler?”

Chanyeol quickly nodded his head.

“Do you have a compass?”

“Um,” Chanyeol rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, “I lost it.”

The man sighed again, shifting his weight to one hip as he leaned into the doorframe. His expression wasn't quite as unwelcoming, but no less hesitant. “Name?”

“Uh- Park Chanyeol. I was headed east on a hiking trail, but I think got turned around before I realized where I was going.” He chuckled sheepishly, blushed in embarrassment, and something in the man's demeanor shifted. He cocked a brow as a corner of his lips twitched upward, rolling his eyes.

“This happens every time someone goes on that damn trail,” the man mumbled more to himself than to Chanyeol. He pushes his weight off the door frame, arm reaching out to push open the screen door. “Come on in, I get you some water and point you I the right direction.

Chanyeol obviously hesitated, craning his neck to look for any sign of a weapon or ax inside the house.

The man chuckled softly, catching on to Chanyeol’s weary expression. “I promise I'm not a psycho ax murderer. My name’s Byun Baekhyun. I'm just a farmer.”

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes in mock suspicious. “That’s exactly what a psycho ax murderer would say.” Regardless, Chanyeol still stepped up into the little barn house.

“Touché.” Baekhyun snickered, holding the door open as he let the tall traveler inside.