Baekhyun was slowly waking up, he still had his eyes closed and all he could feel was comfort. When he slowly blinked his sleep away he was greeted by warm eyes and a soft smile belonging to his new friend.

“Good morning, Baek.”

“Good morning. Did you stay here the entire night?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t have to, it’s not like I wanted you to be bored all night.”

“It’s ok, I wasn’t bored. I was thinking about everything that happened, trying to figure out what I remember and what not. It’s not as easy as I thought.”

“Patience, Chanyeol,” the smaller smiled.

The boys got up and after a quick shower, Baekhyun headed to his small kitchen to prepare himself a breakfast while Chanyeol was calmly watching him move around the stove.

Just when the table was set, the ringing of Baekhyun’s phone startled both of them.

“Don’t you want to answer it?”

A frown appeared on Baekhyun’s face. “I’ll call back, although I really don’t want to. There are only 3 people who actually have my number. 1) My boss from work who wouldn’t call me on a Sunday, 2) Kyungsoo since yesterday and 3) my parents. So, it must be them calling.”

“You don’t want to talk to them?”

“They don’t like me, they think I’m creepy and a liar. I think they were relieved when I moved out last year. They call me from time to time though, I guess they just do it to make themselves feel better, you know, acting like actual parents.”

“You said they don’t like you. What about you, do you wish you had a different relationship?”

Baekhyun sighed loudly. “I haven’t thought about it in a long time. I gave up on them, on being a family to be honest.”

Once he was done eating and washed the dishes, he called back. Chanyeol couldn’t really figure out what was being said since his friend only answered with ‘yes’ and ‘no’ mostly.

The phone call was followed by another series of sighs coming from the smaller. “Chanyeol, I’m so sorry but they want me to come home today. My mother was guilt tripping me and said I should at least come over for lunch since I haven’t been there forever. She insisted to come today.”

“It’s ok, Baek. I’ll wait, I won’t run away.”

“Do you maybe want to come with me?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, please! We don’t have to stay long and once we get home we’ll continue with our research. I’d feel more comfortable with you by side I think,” he almost whispered the last part.

“I’ll join you, no problem.”

It was a one and half hour ride with the train. When they arrived at the small town and walked toward the parents’ house, Baekhyun felt more and more uncomfortable, almost suffocating.

“Relax, Baek, breathe calmly. As you said, we’ll only stay there as long as we have to.”

“I know. It’s just that I always feel lost and out of place whenever I’m there.”

He took a few more deep breaths as he stood in front of their door and rang the bell.”

“Baekhyun! You finally made it. Come in,” his mother greeted him.

The first thing that Chanyeol noticed was that the mother didn’t even hug Baekhyun as you would imagine a mother to do after not having seen her son for such a long time.

“Your father is already waiting in the living room. The table is set, we’re good to go.”

Baekhyun only nodded and mumbled a thank you. His father greeted him in a similar awkward fashion, it was clear to see, even for an outsider as Chanyeol, that they weren’t on best terms. He knew that his friend was a loner and during those few days he had been following him around he indeed had noticed that he was more of an introvert. However, it never seemed like he was bothered by it. Now that he was together with his family he seemed intimidated and even smaller, like he wanted to make himself disappear.

Chanyeol wondered why they even invited him after some time because there was no conversation going on beyond obligatory questions such as ‘are you doing well?’ ‘are you eating well?’ but no real interest in their son. No questions whether he had friends, a partner, what he spent his time with -nothing.

Unexpectedly, the silence got interrupted by a loud female voice. “Oh my, oh my, oh my! My boy is back, you’ve grown up well, it’s been such a long time!” She startled both of the friends, however, the parents only saw how their son almost jumped up in surprise.

Baekhyun hadn’t expected the ‘auntie’ to show up again. Actually he should have, it’s not like she was ever gone, she always wandered around the house, the garden and the close neighborhood. Maybe because he had started speaking to Chanyeol he was caught off guard and forgot about ignoring and reacting to her like he done since his childhood.

“Oh my, oh my! Boy, can you hear me, can you see me? I missed you so much,” auntie shouted excitedly. In her excitement she didn’t notice that Chanyeol was just sitting at the table with no plate in front of him, neither was he eating nor had he said a word. Then again, nobody spoke really, maybe that’s why it didn’t seem odd to her.

“Not now,” Baekhyun mumbled and looked directly at her to make her understand.

The odd behavior didn’t go unnoticed by the parents but they didn’t comment on it.

“Mom, Dad, thank you for the food. Is it ok if I go upstairs to my room and look for some things I wanted to bring along with me before I leave?”

“I’m afraid you won’t find anything there, Baekhyun, not upstairs,” his mother replied with an expressionless face. “We redesigned the room, we turned it into a small office now. If you’re looking for anything you left behind you need to go downstairs to the basement. There are some boxes with your belongings.”

“Ummh, sure, I’ll go downstairs. Excuse me,” he said and got up followed by Chanyeol right behind him.

Baekhyun felt relief as soon as the door to the basement closed behind him. He didn’t really need anything, he just wanted to get away from his parents and have the opportunity to speak to auntie. He would have felt bad to leave her behind without saying goodbye since he hadn’t ignored her earlier.

“Oh my, oh my, oh my! Boy, I’m so happy! You can finally see me again, I know you just did!” Auntie was circling around him happily.

“Yes, auntie. It’s good to see you again.”

“My boy, you remember me, don’t you! How have you been?” she said, finally in a calmer voice slowly his soft hair like he was still a child.

“How could I forget you,” he replied with a soft smile. “I moved out, I live in the city now. I’m doing well, you don’t have to worry about me.”

“My boy, I’m glad you’re doing well. I’m so proud of you!”

“Auntie, can I ask you something?”

“Oh my, oh my, my boy, sure you can.”

“Why are you still here?”

The expression on her face changed, she examined Baekhyun’s face, almost like she was trying to figure out what he might know or what to answer. And finally she looked right behind Baekhyun and payed attention to the tall young man standing behind him.

“What are you doing here?”

“He’s my friend auntie, it’s ok.”

“No, no, no, no, no. Oh my, oh my, oh my!”

“Don’t worry, auntie, I know. I know he’s on the other side, same as you are. That’s why I was asking you why you’re still here.”

“He shouldn’t be here,” she said stubbornly without answering Baekhyun’s question.

Baekhyun was a little dumbfounded, he didn’t know what to say or why auntie was acting the way she did. He tried again. “Auntie, that’s Chanyeol and he’s my friend. He came with me and will go back home with me. You don’t have to worry.”

This time around, she didn’t answer, she mustered Chanyeol from head to toe and it seemed like she was lost in thought.

“No, no, no, no, no. You don’t belong here. What are you doing here?”

“Uhhmh, it’s as Baekhyun said, ma’am, we’re friends and I would never harm him. He’s actually helping me…”

“Helping you with what?”

“I want to find out why I stayed behind, ma’am. And he’s helping me with it.”

She nodded knowingly, understanding exactly that he had no memories, which could only mean one thing. Something was off though, something didn’t seem right.

“Like I said, you don’t belong here. I don’t know what you’re doing here.”

“Ma’am, I don’t even know what you mean by that.”

“You should leave.”

“Auntie, we’ll leave now, I’ll see you next time around.” Baekhyun was confused, more than anything though he felt protective of his friend.

“Oh my, oh my, oh my, my boy! Please take care of yourself. Please watch out for yourself.” She patted the top of his head one last time before she disappeared.

None of the boys spoke a word, both were confused and wondered what had just happened. Baekhyun just wanted to go home now so he quickly looked through the boxes and took nothing but one of his old diaries with him. When he opened up the door he could hear his parents’ voices.

“See?! I told you, he’s still acting strange! Talking to himself again. Why can’t we have a normal son?!”

Baekhyun took a deep breath and shut the door a little louder so they could hear him coming.

“Mom, Dad, I’m leaving.”

“Ok, Baekhyun, have a safe trip home.”

He put a polite smile on and waved them goodbye.

They rode the train home quietly. Once they entered Baekhyun’s small apartment, the boys sat down next to each other on the couch. Chanyeol gently brushed Baekhyun’s bangs out of his face, the smaller’s head was leaning on his shoulder. “What’s on your mind, Baek?”

“What an afternoon that was. I… I feel drained. Being with my parents robs me off my energy. Well, you saw for yourself now. That’s how they always are. I wish they’d just leave me alone.”

“Yeah, that was… - they were really cold towards you.”

“And then auntie…”

Chanyeol chuckled.

“What, why you’re laughing?”

“It was funny, just too weird, like a scene out of a movie or something. First the awkward silence during lunch and all of sudden she appeared, shouting and running around all excited.”

“Yeah, she’s really something,” the smaller smiled. He moved his head to look directly at his friend’s face. “I’ve never seen here like that though. I mean her reaction towards you. It was so strange!”

“She clearly cares about you, Baek. I guess she’d prefer if you had normal friends and not someone like me. She must be worried about you.”

“But Chanyeol, the things she said, the way she looked at you…”

“Are you scared now?”

“Scared of what?”

“Of me. Maybe she thinks I’m evil or something.”

“Who knows what she was thinking but I don’t care. I’m not scared of you and I’m not having someone tell you that you don’t belong here.”

The taller couldn’t help but smile, he had been worried all along that maybe Baekhyun wouldn’t want him around anymore.

“Thank you, Baek.”

“No need to thank me,” he smiled back. “Aah, isn’t it good to be home? I feel much better now.”

“It is,” Chanyeol replied. ‘Home’ he thought.