Kyungsoo’s forehead crinkled, his eyes blinking repeatedly at the morning light streaming in from the windows. 

His surroundings looked unfamiliar, his mind hazily trying to figure out where in the world he was right now.

Istanbul. 

He turned to gaze at Chanyeol’s back, which his cheek had slept on. His alpha was still motionless, save for Chanyeol’s steady breathing that caused his upper torso to expand and collapse into relaxation.

Jamkamman… 

Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes in curiosity as he stared intently at Chanyeol’s entire upper posterior, the sunlight giving him broadened illumination.  He delicately traced some faint, elevated markings on the surface of his shoulder blades.  They were almost the same color of his skin.  Had they been there for years?

They weren’t that visible, but Kyungsoo could feel them beneath his fingertips. 

Chanyeol had… several of them.

Scars.

His fingers trailed to his alpha’s right scapula, and he had to repress a gasp. 

There was a deep puncture that had healed in time, but still…

Had it been from…

Kyungsoo lifted his head to look closely.

A nail?

Chanyeol’s body went rigid.

Kyungsoo withdrew his hand in an instant.

His alpha was awake.

Chanyeol slowly—almost creepily that Kyungsoo held his breath—turned around to face him.

Kyungsoo couldn’t read his expression.  His heavy lids kept themselves low, as if the taller one’s eyes were still closed and yet they weren’t.

Was Chanyeol angry?

He looked into the smaller one’s eyes finally.  His omega appeared shaken, perplexed and worried at the same time. 

Chanyeol gulped, whispering,  “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Kyungsoo echoed, trying a small smile to lighten the mood.  “You fell asleep on me.”

His handsome face cracked into a grin.  “Mian-hae.”  Chanyeol sighed, propping himself on one elbow. 

Kyungsoo’s heart pounded as his alpha landed on the other elbow on his other side until Chanyeol’s hard, flat stomach was resting on his, his face hovering a few inches above until he was all Kyungsoo could see.

“I didn’t realize how tired I’d been,” Chanyeol murmured softly, his eyes couldn’t help grazing that beautiful bare face.  

Kyungsoo’s gaze began to fill with concern again, and Chanyeol was almost certain the smaller one was itching to ask about the scars, but he didn’t have to know.

It was ancient history, therefore, irrelevant.

“We don’t have to go out today if you need more rest,” Kyungsoo told him softly, brushing Chanyeol’s fluffy, messed up hair from his temple.

“Ani, jagiya, we should,” he insisted, dipping his head finally to sample Kyungsoo’s heart-shaped lips and giving him light pecks all over his pretty face and his neck.  “So many things to see in Istanbul.” His lips moved down to his collarbone, the perfumed oil on his skin was sending Chanyeol’s brainwaves into sweet, heavenly chaos.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes, surrendering himself to his alpha’s affections, and wrapped his arms around his back, his warm touch unconsciously sliding up to his shoulder blades.

AISH!

Chanyeol abruptly lifted his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

When he opened them, Kyungsoo’s own were round with distress.  “W-What’s wrong?”

Suddenly, he was seventeen years old again and holding a terror-stricken twelve-year-old Kyungsoo underneath him.  The weight of the heavy plank that had befallen him only impacted him much, much later.

“Nampyeon?” Kyungsoo whispered, nearly imploring.  Chanyeol looked like he was in great pain.  Was it something he did?  “Gwaenchanah?” 

The taller one nodded and tried to silence his omega’s anxieties by kissing him again.

Kyungsoo wasn’t lost to the half-heartedness behind it as Chanyeol deflected his strange coldness just then by excusing himself to go to the toilet.

Goddamnit! Chanyeol cursed inwardly once hidden in the confines of the bathroom.

He had been undergoing skin grafting for his back for the last five years.  His surgeons, the best in their field, had told him that he only had about three more treatments to go before the scars completely vanished.  The doctors themselves had commented on the severity of the damage, but they were hopeful. 

Him seeking treatment wasn’t so much for vanity purposes.

It was to erase every reminder of that tragic year.  

It had been thirteen long, excruciating years and he was nowhere near over it.

He took off his sweatpants and stepped into the shower, berating himself for how confused he just made Kyungsoo by leaving his side so suddenly.  He resolved to make it up to his omega, and soon.

Nothing that happened in the past was the smaller one’s fault, he knew that much.

By the time he was done, he saw Kyungsoo quietly arranging their clothes inside the closet. <