Scars

It’s not that Hei’s never noticed—it’s just that she’s never really thought to ask. Baekhyun has a lot of scars, though, and apparently a story behind each.

Set: Around 2 weeks after Cutlass ends (Aesta trip)

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The only reason Hei noticed in the first place was because of the sudden realization that there was no mark on the left side of Baekhyun’s chest, right below his heart, where his father had pierced through with his cutlass.

He had slipped out of bed to grab her the glass of water still on his desk, and when he was handing it to her, the thought occurred.

Previous exhaustion slipping away, she sat up fully against the backboard, pulling the duvet up to her chest. It wasn’t the least bit surprising, given that she’d turned back time on him, so it wouldn’t show up like a regular healed wound. Still, the fact that there was absolutely nothing felt a bit disconcerting, especially when he had so many other scars.

Baekhyun, ever perceptive, followed her gaze. “You just had more than enough time to admire my chest,” he joked as he slipped under the covers so he was sitting next to her. “But if you think that wasn’t enough, we can—”

Her face warmed. “Shut up.”

He complied, surprisingly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she replied. Finishing the glass, Hei reached over to set it on the nightstand. “It’s just… it never hit me that you had so many scars.”

He blinked at the comment, looking slightly surprised. “Workplace hazard?”

Hei brushed her fingers over the spot where the cutlass had gone through. Baekhyun’s skin was warm, but the area was still strangely unblemished. “But not here.”

Baekhyun followed her gaze. “No,” he agreed quietly. “Not there.”

Hei wasn’t even sure why the thought didn’t sit well with her. It wasn’t as if having another scar was a good thing. It just felt like a contrast against her memories, because she could still so vividly see the way the Byun family leader had driven the blade forward, and how Baekhyun’s blood had flowed through both his and her fingers. How he’d bled out from that wound until she was left with a still, unbreathing body. Now there was nothing at all, like it hadn’t happened.

Baekhyun picked up her hand gently and brought it lower, to his abdomen. “Here,” he said, and Hei could see a silver line. “This was from Hua, when I broke in to kidnap you. It wasn’t too bad because the man didn’t manage to cut deep, but I guess it still scarred.”

She could remember that, even if she had trouble connecting the same man back then with Baekhyun right now. “I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen so much blood in my life until that day,” Hei muttered.

His chest shook when he laughed. “It wasn’t mine.”

Hei traced a finger up. There was another under his ribcage, much shorter than the cut from Hua. It was also much fainter. “This?”

“From when we clashed with the Lu family… was it half a year ago? I don’t scar as much if I’m allowed to heal immediately in water, so that wound was actually a lot worse than it looks now. Someone stabbed me pretty deep.”

Hei shuddered. “How many times have you been stabbed?”

Baekhyun had to think for a couple seconds. “Five? Six, if you count my father. Most of the time they’re just… well, I don’t get stabbed as much as I get…” He seemed to struggle with the word a bit. Then, “sliced?”

Hei frowned. “That makes you sound like a loaf of bread.”

He burst out laughing. “Most are wounds from being cut, and that tends to be less deep and less dangerous. I’ve technically only been stabbed twice in the chest. The rest were very much nonvital parts.”

“It’s a miracle you’re still alive.”

Baekhyun quieted for a moment. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Yeah, it really is.”

Hei wondered if she could even count the amount of times she had wondered if he would make it out alive. Not wanting to dwell on the possibility of what-ifs for any longer, Hei pointed at the line that ran almost parallel above the one from Hua. “This is from when we went to Vasileia, right?”

He nodded. “That honestly didn’t hurt too much. I think the adrenaline helped. Guess which one was from Luhan?”

“Luhan?” Hei echoed. “He gave you a scar?”

“Can’t really say I had smooth meetings for most of the crew. Except Jongin. Yixing didn’t try to kill me, but I was half dead when he found me. Chanyeol tried to burn me alive but it didn’t work. Kyungsoo…well, that was a weird one. Anyway, guess which one was from Luhan.”

There were quite honestly too many options, and Hei didn’t even know the specifics of how they met. She knew that Baekhyun had thought Luhan was sent by the Lu family to kill him until the Lu family had actually turne