⠀⠀He remembers the crash, the fire, remembers the soot in his lungs. He remembers coughing up black, thick in his stained hands. He remembers the dizziness in his head as he fell straight from the sky, even though he was too young to remember a thing like that.

⠀⠀But this is a different sort of pain- it's in his eyes as he makes contact with the gleaming Arizona sun. It makes his head sting and his eyes close, but he gets up anyway, even though he almost topples over in pain. But he sits up regardless, looking around him. Somehow, he can sit up and eventually stand up, like a scarecrow in a hayfield.

⠀⠀Except, it's quite literally.

⠀⠀As he stands, three dark birds fly out from where they were in the field, a yellow grain Chanyeol can only assume to be hay. However, he doesn't pay it much mind as he starts walking with a purpose, despite not knowing where to go. But he walks as if he does, which seems to be enough for him.

⠀⠀As the morning transitions into noon and then afternoon, Chanyeol begins to piece together how he got here and why it is here of all places.

⠀⠀The feeling in his chest is the first clue. Though he remembers what it was like then, the fire in his lungs, this feeling is similar, yet different. Instead of the dry cough, it feels like his throat is trying to escape his body, a fiery red to bloom like an invasive species in his otherwise known as pink tissue. Frequently, he is known to cough up black whenever he works, and whenever work is over, black isn't something he is afraid of. He knows one day it'll end in his demise, but it has been thousands of years already. Hence, he wonders if his brothers’ constant worries are anything to really pay attention to.

⠀⠀The fire, the crash, that was something different. The first time Chanyeol felt the black in his lungs.

⠀⠀But when Chanyeol stands on top of a hill, he feels odd nostalgia towards it, he realizes that he coughs up red this time. Chanyeol still stuffs the white handkerchief in his blue jacket pocket and keeps walking.

⠀⠀He makes it to the top of a hill, overlooking an abandoned village, complete with its own half-there buildings.

⠀⠀It almost feels like he's gone thousands of years into the future, as if the civilization he's known is long gone, nowhere in sight. Chanyeol sighs, steam coming from his mouth due to the cold air. He knows he's in Arizona, but when? How? Why? He last remembered being in Barcelona, trying to find... Tao...?

⠀⠀Chanyeol sees a figure in the field he was just in. However, no details could be made other than that it was a human, Chanyeol's legs move without a second thought, but the figure is gone as soon as he sees it. That pretty much confirms just who it is in Chanyeol's mind, so he doesn't give up, continuing to pursue the figure into the nearby forest.

⠀⠀The trees are heavy, and there are too many places to hide, so Chanyeol takes a break as he looks around a small clearing.

⠀⠀"Jongin!" He screams as if the man had ever responded well to when Chanyeol raised his voice. He screams anyway because his voice is hoarse, and tears are suddenly streaming down his face. His knees give out underneath him, and he's on the forest floor. His cheeks are warm, and so are his palms. "Jongin..." He yells again, but it's barely heard as he sobs. Chanyeol felt lonely like there was a pit in his heart. Just how did he manage to feel this way so soon?

⠀⠀Almost like a deer, he steps out from behind a tree, and Chanyeol's head raises. He sees Jongin, shining brightly as he ever did, since the day they first met when Chanyeol was trying to speak to his arrogant ex-wife... Jongin had been there, watching from the shadows, just as he is now.

⠀⠀"Don't leave me..." Chanyeol sobs, hands gripping at his copper hair, he sobs softly into the dirt. Jongin had been something of an anchor for him for years, dealing with his insecurities, with everything. Chanyeol was never perfect, and that was okay to Jongin. Perfection meant nothing to him. But now, as he kneeled at Jongin's feet, the man has not much to say. Chanyeol vaguely hears his feet walk forward, and he sees his shadow. Chanyeol doesn't stop, no, not when his emotions have always gotten the better of him.

⠀⠀"Chanyeol... Where are we?"

-

a/n: just wanna quick mention: this has greek mythology undertones. chanyeol being hephaestus and jongin being aglaea, 1/3 of the charities and hephaestus' wife. i would love to expand on this idea but i'm happy how it came out : )