Daeon stares down at the glass of water in her hands but her head is not with her. The glass glitters with the soft condensation of the cold water and she rotated the glass in her pale hand, thinking. What is Baekhyun doing right now, is he swallowed by his tense emotions and unable to pull his head from the clouds like her? Is he so wrapped up in his feelings and his thoughts of the shape of her lips and the glint in her eyes that it takes sleep out of his eyes? Is he going through the same misery that she’s going through? Or is he feeling a whole lot better and simply doesn’t care?

She lifts her head from the sight of the frozen glass freezing her hands with it and looks up at the flashing moon peering at her from the window, curtains drawn aside so she can have a full view of the cold yet beautiful night, full of loneliness and isolation; the color black that glimmer against the glass so similar to the warped void in her heart. 

She takes a whole lot of time these days staring at emptiness, thinking about everything and nothing all at once. She just forgets about the existence of sleep and comfort and rest; the sole thing she just aches to have is Baekhyun. And it’s ludicrous, because she’s not lonely to the point of needing him, or empty to the point of wanting him. She has Chanyeol, and she loves him so much, and he fills her in places that she hasn’t known existed within her before his presence. Now Baekhyun’s doing it all again, opening holes that unlike Chanyeol; he doesn’t fill, leaving them vacant and destroyed. 

She rises to her legs and puts the full glass on the desk of the table, sighing heavily and hoping that the swirling storm that’s growing and growing endlessly would finally fade away. But it doesn’t happen. It seems to be that it would never happen, not when things between them has ended in loose tatters; ends open and untied. So, she does what she does best when she feels this endangered; she goes to seek the warmth that momentarily blinds her from any other misery. 

She walks towards Chanyeol’s room with the pads of her bare feet softly touching his ceramic floors, and she closes his door behind her with a gentle intensity. She crawls over his large bed and hovers herself over him, watching his curled body rising up and down at the soft flow of his breathing. He’s lying on his side and his lips are naturally zipped into an adorable pout, his black hair falling in curling mess over his forehead; touching his eyelashes. She leans down and presses a tender kiss on his cheek.

He stirs right away at the soft touch of her moist lips against his skin, and blinks his eyes awake. He turns his head towards her, squinting his eyes as if trying to gather his memory and his vision all together to understand what is actually going on and who it is that’s staring down at him so lovingly. 

Once he does gather himself, he asks. “What time is it?”

“Still late,” she whispers, so not to break the serenity of the quiet atmosphere and the dark surroundings of Chanyeol’s dark bedroom. She leans down again and brushes her lips against his lips this time. “Go back to sleep, baby.”

“Why are you awake?” He asks instead of actually going to sleep; his tone husky and full to the prim with tangled exhaustion. His eyes are still half closed and his fluffy hair gives him a sight to the sore eyes. Daeon can’t help but smile gently at how gracious he looks, even when he just woke up with his cheeks looking plumb and inviting; his eyes half swollen due to the lack of sleep. 

She shrugs. “Couldn’t sleep. I’ve been having nightmares lately.”

He entirely twists so he’s lying on his back, reaching for her and bringing her down on him so she’d lie against him, a frown taking over the delicate cranes of his face. “It’s because of Baekhyun, isn’t it? That selfish bastard. I swear I will punch him in the face the second time I see him, and you won’t be able to stop me.”

She wonders where he has such devious urge to murder the boy and plan atrociously for violence when he looks so tired. She kisses him on the lips again, kiss tender and fragile; her eyes seeping with emotions and her heart pouring with love. She whispers against his mouth. “I love you so much. I don’t know what would have befallen me if you weren’t around.”

“Yes, baby, give me more love,” he says quite happily, wrapping his strong arms around her smaller body and squeezing her to him; chin over the crown of her head. “Give me all of it.” 

She smiles against his collarbone and he feels the shape of her sizzling mouth against his skin, making him shudder. “Go back to sleep, Yeol.”

“Sleep with me,” Chanyeol says softly over her head, rubbing his large hand over her back up and down, sending a soothing wave of warmth down her body. She breaks into a tender sigh. “He doesn’t deserve this.”

She curls against him like he’s a self made cushion, and she feels the soft ripples of his body below hers, like an airplane cranes softly landing. She nudges his chin with her nose and closes her eyes, savoring the warmth of her soulmate and relishing in the affectionate air that surrounds them. They stay silent for a while and Daeon hears Chanyeol’s soothing rhythmic heartbeats ringing in a soft patter against her ears. She traces the sounds in her head, thump thump thump, and relinquish the tittering vulnerability that evokes out of it. If there’s a place that is warmth in itself then its in Chanyeol’s arms.

“Sleep, baby,” Chanyeol’s baritone echoes in the silence that entraps them, having known that her eyes are wide open all along. The hand that leaves scorches on her body travels to the back of her head; she shudders at the contrasting heat that attacks her previously cold abode. “You have university tomorrow and you have to wake up early for your classes.”

She hums in response, her eyes wide opened still.

Chanyeol cranes his head down and peeks at her with half-lided eyes. “Close your eyes.” He pushes a hand up her face and closes her eyes for her. “Now sleep. Or try to. You’ve been having the worst sleep pattern ever the past few days and it’s unhealthy. Please try to sleep,” his pleading sound filled to the prim with emotions shake her core. “Please. For me.”

Daeon feels bad that she can’t really sleep or close her eyes to feel the slightest thrums of tiredness; and she also feels completely inapt as a girlfriend to Chanyeol, stressing him out more than he needs considering his very demanding job. She crawls against him until she’s side to side to him, bringing a warm hand up his cheek so she could cradle his face softly. His eyes are wide by now; his while demeanor awake and sensible. 

“I can’t sleep, Yeol,” she begins to speak softly, her voice not louder than a whisper. “Every time I close my eyes I see him. My body longs for him— my soul. I just... It’s like I’m not yet registering the rejection and everything within me is aching for him; wanting him here in my arms.”

Chanyeol’s at loss with words, so he just stares at her silently, feeling an emotion akin to anger bubble inside of him at the stupid soulmate of hers and wanting so badly to have an ability to change how things turned out so Daeon wouldn’t look so miserable. 

“It’s so strange,” she whispers, eyes vacant and zoned out on him, like she’s thinking of the man’s face, “I’ve been living my life without you guys just fine. No dreams. No longing. No desires to be with you. But now you’re here and it’s like there’s suddenly a reason for my life. When he’s not here—Baekhyun, It’s like I’ve lost a limp, my body suddenly non-functioning. My heart..— it just..— I can’t breathe sometimes when I think of him, and it’s like I’m going through a panic attack, but the panic hasn’t really hit in yet. I have such severe emotions for him and they’re buzzing, all over my body,” she swallows. “They don’t let me sleep.”

“I hate him so much.” Chanyeol growls, his arms self-consciously tightening around her body due to his wave of emotions. Daeon’s hand against his cheek draws a warm circle, soothing him instantly. 

“No, baby, don’t hate him,” Chanyeol breathes through his nose and deflates at her gentle tone. “You haven’t seen his face when he found out we are soulmates. He looked so scared, frightened of his own skin. I don’t know what he has gone through, but his reaction stunned me. I just wish I had the chance to placate his fears before he ran; I wish I had held his hands and stopped him from leaving.”

“.. I’m sorry..” Chanyeol mumbles, having no other thing to say beside his apology.

“I don’t know anything about him, Chanyeol,” she pokes Chanyeol’s cheek one, then again, a small smile flowering over her face and making him go breathless for a second. “And I don’t even know his last name. But my feelings for him are positive; instantaneous; and I have this deep affection for him. I..” she breaks into a sigh. She removes her hand from his cheeks and clutches on his cotton T-shirt harshly in between her fingers. “I’m sorry you have to go through this with me. I must be draining, huh?”

“Are you kidding me?” Chanyeol widens his eyes in disbelief. “You’re the best person in the world. You’re not draining at all. You’re just going through a bad time and I still love you.”

Her heart flutter in fondness. “I love you so much, Yeol. I’m so glad you’re here with me right now.”

He smirks. “Told you I’m the best. I’m one awesome lad.”

She giggles. “You’re one awesome dork, you mean.”

He engulfs her in his arms and squeezes her, her head under his chin and her whole body parts entangled together. Chanyeol leans against her hair and takes a deep whiff from it, savoring the scent of dried blueberries and vanilla that comes from her, placating his running shudders. 

She yawns, feeling tremendously warm and secure in between Chanyeol’s arms. She squeezes herself against him and murmurs. “I’m sleepy.”

“Great!” Chanyeol yips happily, a wide smile going on his face at being finally tired enough to sleep. “Sleep. Please sleep. You need all of what you can get of that.”

“Okay.” She agrees quietly.

“G’night baby.”

-

Things don’t become good or natural the next few days. She still feels as if there’s a void in her heart, a hole that’s never going to be filled and that it’s one that needs to be acquainted with instead of ignoring its presence away. But with Chanyeol around, it’s better than expected. He’s warm and playful and happy around her that he gives her the same positive vibes that he’s radiating, and she feels a whole less sad about the whole matter. 

She rushes downstairs her parents’ home with thundering footsteps, having been late the past couple of minutes to Uni and