Awakening from his sleep that was as silent as death itself, he found a sigh escaping his lips as his blurry eyes fixed upon the ceiling littered with eccentric patterns which he had painted on several years ago. Despite the disorientation that covered him from head to toe, his eyes managed to widen just a little before his lips parted very slightly, a soft gasp escaping him as it grated against his throat delicately.

He felt breathless, and disorientated, yet those were not the things he found himself concerned over, it was probably past the time he was meant to awaken since his alarm had been blaring off in the background, but that was also something not of his concern. Every noise in the room, every beat of his heart, everything, was blurred and muffled away to a mute, the only thing he heard was the loud vibration of him exhaling deeply, one word escaping from his lips; Baekhyun.

------

Running fingers through his light brown tresses, Chanyeol dropped the brush upon the table beside him absently, the wooden object clattering against the hard surface, yet his eyes never left the canvas before him as he found himself turning breathless. He examined those monochromatic eyes, down to that smile that still rang perfect despite the lack of colour. Everything about the being was perfect, yet he knew something about it was off.

Ever since that night one week ago, he was constantly purged with the dreams of that one being, who would always leave him in the bleak emptiness at the end. It had come to the desperate point where he found that the new sketchbook he had bought several days ago was littered with picture of no one, but that one being whose name continuously stuck in his mind, day in, day out.

As he raised his vision towards the large, circular bay window, he found his lips parting very slightly as his eyes ran across the patterned glass. Raising himself from the stool, he padded over towards it, eyes casting down to his large, nicely kept lawn, his eyes resting briefly on several things before lifting away to settle on other things. He couldn’t focus, even as he swallowed the dryness in his throat, he couldn’t stop the feelings that began to overwhelm him.

Could people from dreams be true? Could the people one sees be people they’ve seen before, but never really spoke too? As he blinked back the confusion that he knew was clouding over his eyes, he turned back towards his drawing before staring at it wistfully, as if attempting to remember ever feature of a lost loved one.

------

“Chanyeol, are you free to talk or something?” he heard a voice calling behind him as the brunette continued typing on his laptop, nodding slightly in response. “Hyuna was talking to me the other day; do you know she’s returned from the US?”

Blinking just a little, the brunette rapper nodded once more before finally letting his hands slow in its pace before stopping all together, his eyes drifting over to the patterns all over his walls. “Yeah, I recall getting a text message from her last week.”

Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, the black haired boy simply flicked through a stray book he discovered on the table, his face turning blank but the awe was evident in his eyes as he examined the nicely shaded, detailed sketches. “I thought you guys broke up, though.”

“We did.” The older boy stated as he bit his bottom lip in deeper thought, a frown making its way onto his face when the face of the woman he once was obsessed with flooded his mind. “Which was why I was so confused when I received the text… she even sent a heart emoticon.”

Looking towards his friend with surprise written all over his features, the younger boy placed the book down once more, noting to be careful with it as he did so. “Do you think she wants to hook up with you again, or something?”

Shrugging, Chanyeol simply returned to the text on the screen that blared infront of him, yet the muse to continue the song had long been sapped away. “I don’t know, actually, all I know is that if she wants me back, she’s going to have to try harder than she ever did before.”

“…Why are you even letting her have a chance to hook up with you again? Didn’t she use you like a slave, or something?”

Casting his calm, composed gaze to his dark haired friend who regarded him curiously, the taller of the duo simply shrugged as the edge of his lips twitched. “I know she won’t have the patience to try so hard, so basically she’d never get me to love her again, anyway.”

As silence drifted all around him, the brunette returned to his computer whilst the younger boy looked back at the table, his eyes focusing upon the pot of brushes not too far away from the sketchbook. “…Who’s the guy you’re constantly drawing?”

Stiffening visibly, the rapper too, found his eyes drifting over to the sketchbook, causing him to absently grasp ahold of it and drawing it closer, almost as if he didn’t know how it got there. “I uh… I dunno, I just thought he would be interesting to draw seeing as my muse went away…”

“Where did you meet him?”

With his eyes turning vacant as everything around him blurred and stilled, Chanyeol shook his head very briefly. “…That’s the problem, Kyungsoo, I didn’t meet him.”

Evidently confused, the younger boy sat up a little bit more, inching closer to the book. “Wait, then where’d you find him?”

“…In a dream.”

------

An incomprehensible shout shot through his throat as his eyes snapped open, his body rigid as he gazed up at his ceiling with wide eyes, his mind reeling in constantly, his thoughts a complete blur as it never focused on anything. Seconds ticked away before his lips parted, giving way to a thick, audible ragged breath, his eyes fluttering closed as his accelerated heart began to slow to its once calm state. When he raised his arms, he found that his hands had tightly gripped the blanket before him, a thin sheet of sweat upon his skin as he sat up, warm from the sensations that rippled through him.

Casting his eyes next to him, finding the spot empty, he placed his face in his hands, the heavy feeling of weeping ringing through him as he released another sigh, his blood shot eyes cranking open before examining the room all around him, the once familiar domain now looking unfamiliar and gloomy in comparison to the room he lived in within his dreams, despite the fact everything there and here were the same.

Well, almost everything. Like he always did, he grasped the sketchbook under his pillow, fingers running across the smooth surface of the book as his gazed at the picture through the transparent, acrylic cover. Everything about the picture rang so clear as the memories he yearned for so quickly blared through his mind.

Everything in that dream felt so real, the laughter that still rung so clear, the voice that always whispered gentle nothings to him when he felt down, the feeling of slender fingers winding through his hair as warm breath caressed the smooth nape, the pearly smooth skin that felt so right when he trailed his digits along those shapely legs.

As he sat there in absolute remoteness, he was surprised to see droplets of moisture dropping upon the book, soon finding thin streams of tears running down his cheeks. Of all the things he fell in love with, he fell, so hard for a being within his dreams. Clamping his eyes shut, another uneven breath running out from him, he placed the book upon his bed absently before stumbling out of his bed, falling upon the paper white chair before a table not far from him.

Instantly, his hands snapped onto the keyboard of the computer that had been awoken from its sleep, the screen flashing infront of him as he typed upon the bar of the internet search engine. He refused to believe, that everything he saw, was a dream. Maybe the life he lived in there was fake, but there was a bitter flame in him that knew, just knew, that maybe, just maybe, the man he saw was real.

------

“Wow, Chanyeol, you look like crap.” Kyungsoo remarked, eyes widening just a little for surprise as he dumped his bag onto the floor to take his converses off.

There was nothing the brunette could say to deny this fact, his drooping eyes were bloodshot, dark circles positioned under his reddened eyelids as he donned the hoodie he wore two days before.  As he padded over to his friend, the dark haired boy regarded him pitifully. “What’re you doing, Chanyeol, how many days had it been since you slept?”

“…Since you left, has it been a week already?”

Making an expression of absolute horror, the younger boy shook his head with a dishevelled grunt. “Are you in a rush to finish your song or something? Have you gone nuts?”

Dumping his composition book upon the table, among other papers, the brunette placed his laptop upon the coffee table before rubbing his sore, sandy eyes, truly wondering how he even survived that week, awake, yet when he tore his eyes away from the screen, he finally realized how tired he was. “I was researching something…”

“Yeah, and mentally killing yourself, geez damnit, go to bed.” The dark haired boy grumbled as he began gathering the papers, organizing things neatly. “Are you still obsessing over this guy?”

“Isn’t it obvious…?”

Releasing a long, audible sigh the younger singer glanced at the papers absently before frowning. “You know, I always worry about you when you fall in love, you always go to the unhealthy point of adoration, blinded by absolute obsession…”

Eyeing his friend with small curiosity, Chanyeol flopped upon his sofa before burying his face in the pillow there, grunting into it before looking upwards. “Well, it’s fine this time cause he doesn’t freakin’ exist…!”

“What, you didn’t find anything?” Kyungsoo asked, stopping in his tracks as he eyed his friend who stared out of the balcony with the most heart wrenching expression in his eyes as he shook his head slightly. “…Maybe you haven’t searched far enough.”

Closing his eyes with another grunt, the older youth rolled onto his side, absently staring at his screen, the text upon it already turning blurry from sleep. Part of him desperately demanded for him to rest, to let his mind ease into the world of dreams, to see ‘him’, yet the other part within him knew that in the end, it’ll just end up with Baekhyun leaving him.

“I’ve been searching all week, Kyungsoo, I’ve searched Google to the point of one hundred pages, everything is completely fruitless… I’ve tried looking around places; I’ve tried asking people around town if they’ve seen him before…” the brunette murmured slowly before sighing. “And I haven’t found a thing…”

Looking downwards, the younger boy silently placed the papers onto the table before looking at the laptop before him. “Hey Chanyeol, do you believe in witch craft?”

“Why the sudden question?”

“I think I might know someone who can help you.”

------

As he sat before the large canvas before him, his eyes glued to the paper as he found himself surrounded by an array of paints of several different colours, his hand painting gracefully and elegantly. In the end, even though he didn’t believe in magic what so ever, he found himself there anyway, painting in the middle of a pentacle painted with several eccentric colours. He supposed that must have proved just how desperate he was.

Personally, he doubted that this would even work, though he supposed the hole he dug himself was so deep, he didn’t really have very far to fall anymore, he researched to kingdom come, he lost sleep like an insomniac, he ignored his performance life as if it didn’t exist, how his boss still wanted him was something that baffled him. Besides, he supposed that if it really didn’t work, he’d have a nice, life size portrait of the boy of dreams, literally.

He didn’t know how long it took for him to finish it, mixing several colours, editing the colours to be perfect to the point, his hands were shaking from the undeniable ache when he finally stood up to marvel the fantastic painting before him. Blinking several times, he released a ragged breath before his hands absently slipped into his pocket, grasping the small glass vial within it, the glass surface cold to the touch.

Producing the object from his pocket, he gazed at the blue liquid blankly before taking the cap off the bottle, discarding the cork onto the table before he gingerly swirled the end of his brush into it, surprised to find his hands shaking. He knew things like this probably never worked, yet he couldn’t stop the undeniable feeling of hope welling up within him. He knew that when it doesn’t work, he’d be crushed anyway, despite how much he shunned magic.

Without another second of hesitation, he began to cover the painting in a thin coat of the liquid, how he even had enough was something that baffled him. In the end, he simply dumped the vial onto the table aswell before falling gracelessly onto his sofa, he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking, even as he closed his eyes with a low grumble, fingers curling into tight fists.

He couldn’t deny the excitement that welled up in him, he couldn’t stop himself from grinning like an idiot before he rested his head on the pillow, feeling the uncountable waves of exhaust running over him, forcing his eyes to shut as his breathing began to even out. He wanted to stay up, he wanted to see what would happen, he so desperately wanted to see the process of the spell if it even worked. Yet he couldn’t, and this fact made his heart heavy with depression.

When he awoke, disorientation flooded through him when his eyes greeted the ceiling in his room, body covered by the thick blanket as he shivered lightly, as the reality of the situation ebbed into him, his eyes widened very slightly as he sat up suddenly, running fingers through his dark tresses, pretty sure that he had fallen asleep in the living room. Standing up slowly, he sauntered down the corridors, eyes widening briefly from the spotless state of his once messy apartment. All of his drawings and paintings were propped up nicely against the wall, as if they were new wall papers.

Blinking absently, puzzled, his gaze snapped to the doors of the kitchen where he heard the constant clopping of a knife connecting with the chopping board. Someone was chopping something in there. Cautiously, Chanyeol grasped ahold of a standing lamp beside him before he sauntered over to the door silently, slowly taking the brass knob in his hand.

He felt a bead of sweat rolling down the back of his neck, but he steeled his expression, furrowing his brows before he bravely pushed the door open loudly and quickly, brandishing the piece of furniture before stopping when the brunette within the kitchen jumped visibly, turning around to face him with wide, fearful eyes.

Without any thought, or anything else, Chanyeol froze, his own eyes widening when as his vision focused on that face, those questioning, warm honey brown eyes, down to those slightly parted, full lips. Releasing the lamp, letting it clatter to the floor, ignoring the fact that it could have broken, he felt his body shaking as it was continuously assaulted with unexplainable emotion, tears welling in his eyes as he tried to himself.

“Chanyeol?” the soft, gentle tone questioned, the brunette tilting his head curiously, concern them marking his face when he saw the taller boy crying senselessly.

“Baekhyun…”

------

His phone laid on his bedside table, flooded with several missed calls and unnoticed messages, but he didn’t care, as a smile welled on his face, nuzzling the warm nape as he held the smaller boy close to him. It would have been a lie if he said he missed his old life, he was living in absolute bliss the week that passed since he made that life sized painting. He no longer gazed upon those pictures he had drawn, but what need was there?

The boy from his dreams was here, in his arms, and he was all his. Planting a gentle kiss upon the brunette’s forehead, the rapper found himself grinning stupidly as he looked down at his slightly flushed lover who eyed him curiously. “What’s wrong, you’re strangely affectionate today.”

With a dainty laugh, Chanyeol simply released a sigh as he pulled the other closer, tugging the blanket on top of them in the process. “I love you, Bacon.” He mumbled simply, ignoring the previous when his eyes fluttered shut.

Smiling softly, the smaller, younger brunette looped his arms around the others neck before burying his face in the rapper’s chest. “I love you too, what do you want to eat for dinner today?”

Before he could even reply, there was a loud knock upon his door, kicking the younger rapper out of his thoughts as he found a grunt of displeasure escaping his lips before he pulled away from the boy who eyed him questioningly.

“I’ll try making it quick…” Chanyeol murmured before straightening his clothes, barely catching the other telling him to take his time. As he unlocked the door, he had been all to ready to make some sort of curt reply, yet no words escaped his mouth as he was greeted with the sight of a beautiful brunette woman standing before his door.

Her slender, hourglass frame was nicely complimented by her pencil dress that stopped in the middle of her thighs, her long brown hair elegantly curled as she eyed him under thick black lashes, her lips coated in scarlet lipstick smiling.

“Hello, Yeollie, did you miss me?”

Grinning with the smile of an angel, the brunette crossed his arms and tilted his head just a little. “Would you be happy if I said no?”

Her eye twitched but her smile still remained there before she pushed past the taller man, sauntering straight into the room with growing familiarity, yet she stopped in the middle of the hallway, placing hands on her hips. “Wow, you REALLY cleaned up, didn’t you?”

Rolling his eyes as he closed the door, the painter rapper simply flopped upon his couch, sorting out the papers upon the glass surface with growing annoyance as his mind continuously wandered over to the older male currently located in his bedroom, most likely helping him find his lost sock.

“I can’t really say it was me who did all this, but I suppose you can say that.” Chanyeol remarked blankly before leaning back on the couch. “But that’s none of your concern, I assume you’re here to collect the last of your stash, Hyuna?”

With a small nod, she crossed her arms before she glanced around the room, eyes glittering in awe her vision trailed over every wall, though her eyebrows seemed to furrow from a strange emotion before she tore he eyes away from the art lined walls. “Yeah, I was meaning on collecting them earlier though my boss refused to let me come here.”

Standing up swiftly, the brunette mumbled for her to wait before padding over to his room, stopping in his tracks when the lady called after him. “Who is the person you’ve drawn so fondly?”

“…It’s none of your concern too.” And with that, he opened the door and swiftly stepped in, closing the door after him before sinking down on the bed next to the young male who glanced up at him, an eyebrow raised. “I’m sorry, but you’re gonna have to wait a little longer…”

Smiling sweetly, like he always did, Baekhyun gently grabbed his lover’s hand, patting it softly as he tilted his head. “It’s okay, absence makes the heart grow fonder no?”

Laughing softly, the younger, taller male leaned down, raising the other’s face by the chin lightly before pressing a soft kiss on those plush lips, pulling away soon after even though he wished he didn’t have too. Exhaling thickly, Chanyeol felt a grin working onto his face. “I’ll try making it quicker.”

Getting off his bed fully, he dug around his cupboard before producing a wicker box from the very back, previously covered in a mound of dark clothes so it would hide away in the shadows. Glancing at the skin coloured object, the older singer simply tilted his head a tad once more. “What’s that?”

Casting his gaze over to his lover, the younger rapper smiled simply before looking down at the box again. “Just some stuff an old acquaintance left behind when I paid her to be my art model at one point in time.”

Nodding in slight comprehension, Baekhyun lowered his gaze slowly, eyes turning vacant as a hand of his absently rubbed against his chest, face slowly contorting over in discomfort as he clamped his eyes shut. Furrowing his brows in confusion, the rapper dropped the box onto the nearby table before approaching cautiously.

“What’s wrong?”

Shaking his head just a little, the smaller boy simply hunched over with a grunt, his free hand curling around the sheets tightly as his skin started to heat up. “I don’t know, I feel funny, it’s like I’m burning from the inside or something…”

With his eyes widening just a little, the taller boy watched as the older youth pushed past him, stumbling across the room before sinking down to the floor with a sudden scream, eyes suddenly snapping over to his hands that began lighting up at the palms. Casting an incredulous look over to the shocked Chanyeol, the Bacon found a ragged sigh escaping his lips as he blinked rapidly, the skin, starting from his arms, slowly being blotted out by millions of specs of light.

“No… wait a second, no!” stumbling to his feet, everything around him dulled away once more, like the time he shared his first kiss with the being infront of him, every sound that was to be heard fuzzed and was muffled, like the time he finally caressed the brunette, knowing that everything was real.

Everything round them faded away, just like the time he proclaimed his love for the Bacon, yet unlike those times, he was filled to the brim with unexplainable fear, his vision never leaving the brunette who eyed him with a complex emotion.

The rapper could see the soft, sad, distant smile making its way on the older man’s face as his skin was continuously plotted out with the specs of light. Wordlessly, as Chanyeol outstretched is hand to grab upon the smaller boy, Baekhyun felt moisture building at his eyes when the scent of smoke was inhaled.

‘I love you, Chanyeol…’ the brunette mouthed before, as quickly as he had appeared, the light filled him completely, stabbing at the younger boy’s vision before the blob of light burst into a thousand shards that then fell to the floor in a sandy heap, the clear objects shimmering in the low light light crystals as the rapper fell to his knees.

He didn’t want to cry, he knew things like this would happen, witch craft was said to have been made by the devil, and things like those were never absolute. Yet he could not hold the tears that flowed from his eyes rapidly, yet he remained silent, eyes focused on the pile before him. He remained motionless, even when the smell of fire and smoke drifted into his senses, he heard the squeals of a woman panicking, most likely from the inferno she created.

Yet the rapper didn’t care, his eyes slowly closing as a ragged breath grated in his throat. When his eyes opened, he found himself upon his bed. The smell of fire was no more, and the ticking of his clock was more evident than ever. Sitting up slowly, eyes drifting over to the laptop beside him, the page still on the site he had been upon a week ago, a sudden realization struck him hard.

Stumbling to his feet, he dashed out of his room, almost tripping from the t-shirt on the floor but he ignored it and halted in his tracks within his messy hall, light shining down from the round window upon the tall, white canvas located in the middle of the room. Exhaling deeply, he fell upon the couch heavily, eyes drifting onto the sticky note on the table.

‘I hope you get enough sleep, you’ve been constantly saying I LOVE YOU in your sleep, it’s kinda scary, but I think I sort of know how it feels to be disappointed when something you like is only in your dreams. If only magic existed then maybe these things would have been easier. Have some rest, Chanyeol, you look like a zombie, seriously. I tried cleaning your apartment like normal, but seeing as you told me not to touch your paint stuff I couldn’t do much. I’ll call you later. – Kyungsoo.’

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he picked up the papers that were stacked neatly on his table, weight down by his battered sketchbook which he was sure he hadn’t touched for days. At last, he frowned and shut his eyes. “…So it was all a dream, everything was just a dream…?”

When those words left his lips, he could no longer stop the laugh that grated dryly in his throat, and then soon after, like that of a new born baby, he wept long and hard.

------

“What happened to all your paintings and art supplies?” the dark haired boy questioned, slightly surprised as he gazed around the apartment which he hadn’t seen clean for so many months.

“I locked them away, I suppose I lost my muse.” Chanyeol replied as he scratched his chin, eyes still focused on the screen as he continued typing away soon after.

Sitting down next to his friend, the singer sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. It had been at least two weeks since the older brunette had shut up about ‘the man in his dreams’ yet it was clear that the rapper had grown severely distant ever since he called him up, saying he wanted to perform somewhere. Chanyeol had hardly ever spoken to others unless absolutely necessary, always returning home the moment he was finished with his performance, virtually locking himself in a shell of absolute solitude.

He had been inconsolable, even though Kyungsoo had been his friend for at least ten years, he couldn’t pull the older boy out of the shield. No one was capable of bringing the brunette out of his thoughts; even though it was visible he was suffering. His conversations with the younger singer had eventually thinned out to the point where they spoke very rarely, Chanyeol hardly ever picking up his phone now as he took several different routes back to his home, as if he were determined not to be found.

------

Weeks after he had locked away all of his paints and drawings, the brunette rapper found himself walking down the cobble path alone, his duffel bag feeling heavy on his shoulders as he sauntered down the hill of a road, soon turning the corner and entering the remote bookstore, passing several isles till he swerved into the section that held anything and everything music related.

This was his life style, he no longer spoke when he didn’t need too, he always came home swiftly, he always ignored everyone, unless it was strictly to discuss business. Part of him felt severely sad for how encased he had become, yet he gave no effort to change his ways. Looking up the shelf, his eyes locked upon a thick paper back, it’s title being ‘The Music Mambo’, an illustration of a bass guitar positioned under the title. As he reached out to grab it, a soft gasp escaped his lips when his fingertips gently collided with a smaller hand.

Recoiling slightly, Chanyeol glanced down, his mouth opening to release a stream of apologies, yet he froze, his dark brown eyes connecting with warm, honey iris’. Lowering his gaze down those features, the breath he had tried to breath began to escape him as he examined all those perfect, pretty, youthful features fixed on a look of surprise.

He had a dream, of a boy who had the smile of an angel, his laugh was elegant and beautiful, obviously made to compliment his cute baby face as his soft, short brown tresses fell before his eyes that could light up one’s soul. When he saw this being within his mind, he knew he was perfect. Yet now, as he stared down at this smaller being who regarded him curiously, face slightly flushed from the heat in the bookshop, the rapper could only think of how, beyond perfect he was.

Swallowing, he couldn’t stop himself from murmuring the next few words, his eyes slowly collecting moisture as his voice wavered out weakly. “Baekhyun…?”

----------------------------