"B-Byun....Baekhyun?"


Baekhyun's mouth was agape, and his eyes were as wide as saucers. "K-K-Kim...J-Jongin... J-Jon-Jongin, is that....really you...?"


Jongin took a step forward, a source of strong sorrow formed into his eyes, "I... I should be asking you that, Byun Baekhyun. Am... Am I dreaming? Or is it really you?"


"J-Jongin! Of... Of course it-..." Baekhyun took a deep breath and let out, "Of course it's me!" Baekhyun ran up to him and hugged him, "Where did you come from? Where were you? Oh God, Jongin, I missed you so much! How could you abandon me? Is this what Chanyeol was talking about? On your birthday? Where there was some crash and-" Baekhyun pulled away and shook his head, "W-what- What did he mean? I thought...that you were...dead!"


"D-dead? Me?" Jongin shook his head with wide eyes, "Byun Baekhyun... It's... It's not me whose dead. It's... It's y-you."


Baekhyun's lips parted and he punched Jongin's arms lightly, "Kim Jongin, don't say things like that! H-how can I be....dead?! I've been here for so long! I ran in the woods! I stayed in this house for days! And you didn't even..."


"Byun Baekhyun, you need to listen to me." Jongin stared at him and he put his hands on his shoulders, "You...you died four years ago. You were...in a car crash...with Chanyeol."


A dark and hard bullet shot through Baekhyun and he clutched his chest, "I-" His legs gave out and the pain in his back only worsened. "I..." His eyeballs looked around, not believing what he was hearing.


'Chanyeol?' He covered his mouth and he asked, "Chanyeol...is dead? That... That really can't be, Kim Jongin! I- I saw him! He came by here and called me almost everyday! He- He- H- Pa-Park Chanyeol! He- He is alive! Kim Jongin, what are you playing at?!"


"Jjong, what is all that-"


The sound of glass dropping to the ground made Baekhyun look up and behind Jongin, to see a wide-eyed Kyungsoo who dropped a glass cup.


Do Kyungsoo, Chanyeol's ex-boyfriend. There was no real reason to why they separated, Baekhyun just remembered Chanyeol telling him they weren't "seeing each other anymore." Kyungsoo was everything Baekhyun was not, and Baekhyun always suspected that Jongin had always loved him. Just the exact same way Baekhyun loved Chanyeol, he was sure Jongin only loved Baekhyun because he was willing to cooperate in having a substantial relationship.


Kyungsoo covered his mouth and he yelped, "Baekhyun?!"


Baekhyun looked back up at Jongin and asked, "You... You left me for him?"


Jongin shook his head in panic, "N-no! Baekhyun, it's not what it looks like-"


Baekhyun looked down and he stared at his hands, "What's... What is going on? Why is this happening?" His hands were almost translucent, he could see the floorboards through them. He looked up at Jongin and tried standing, "J-Jongin... Why? Why didn't you... Come see me?"


"Byun Baekhyun, you really died! You disappeared that day, of my birthday. You and Chanyeol... I think you two were probably fighting or something-"


Baekhyun clenched his eyes shut, "No! No! That's not true! We never fight! I love him, I could never do that! I wouldn't put our lives in danger like that, Kim Jongin!" Baekhyun leaned against a wall and looked around, "I would never... I won't believe it! I refuse!"


"But, Baekhyun-"


"No! I won't believe you!" Baekhyun screamed, "Chanyeol! Chanyeol, please! Where did you go?! Come back! I don't want to be here!"

 

Baekhyun woke up, for the many times that he had unexpectedly slept, except this time he woke up in pure whiteness. He leaned up from the ground, which was also white. He scanned left and right, calling, "Chanyeol?"


"Baekhyun."


Baekhyun jumped at his voice and he stood on his feet, "Chanyeol! What's going on?! I thought... You said..."


"I said if you remembered anything, you assumed something different." Chanyeol touched his face, which was also turning invisible. Baekhyun could see the white shining through his diaphanous body. "You... You have to go, before it is too late. I already told you enough, now all you have to do is tell Jongin and Kyungsoo to find your body or else-"


"What?!" Baekhyun's hands pulled at his hair and he groaned, "Park Chanyeol! Stop that! Tell me the truth! What is going on-"


"Byun Baekhyun! You have to listen to me! You must go to Jongin and Kyungsoo, and tell them where your body is. You don't remember, because it's been years."


Baekhyun felt tears fall from his eyes when he whispered, "P-please, Chanyeol... Tell me what happened. I need to know...."


Chanyeol watched him in pity before he turned his head and started, "It was Jongin's 21st birthday, and you were picking me up from the airport. Kyungsoo was sick, and you offered him a room at your place so you and Jongin can tend to him... But... During that time, Kyungsoo and I drifted apart, and I was sure Kyungsoo and...Jongin would only fall for each other more."


The things Chanyeol said created a mental-movie image for Baekhyun, which only made him more shaky.


"While we were in the car, I told you Jongin didn't love you anymore, because Kyungsoo left me to be with him. I knew then....that Jongin was going to breakup with you. We started arguing, and then I told you I loved you..."


Baekhyun grabbed at his chest, letting out a small yelp.


"You swerved left and right after what I said, and other cars were honking at how fast you were going." Chanyeol looked up and he forced himself to say, "We drove off a cliff... And I... I tried shielding you with my body by taking my seat belt off and standing up. I died first, you died later. Your back was contorted, and your feet were crushed into the car. You knew I was dead, while you were stuck in that car for maybe minutes to hours. You tried finding a phone, but it was no use."


Baekhyun held his breath.


"There is an in between world before this world we are in now. Even though Kyungsoo was depressed over my death, his feeling of being in love were already moved to Jongin. Jongin however, was still in love with you, and he didn't want to move on or let you go. It took him years, and when he did, you woke up that day when you broke the picture frame."


Baekhyun knew that on that day he woke up, he wasn't himself. Albeit what Chanyeol was telling him was beyond everything he believed in.



"I wasn't supposed to stay here long, my body had already drowned within the rain and all, but your body..." Chanyeol looked into his eyes, "Your body is still there. My body lunged forward and out into the air, while your body was secured within the cars oxygen. The reason why you are still in this world is because your body was never rested properly. That's the last step, and you can be set free. But if your body dissolves without burial, then you stay here."


Baekhyun asked after a few seconds of thinking, "What if... What if I don't want to leave?"


Chanyeol answered firmly, "Then you stay in this world, forever. You can never feel anything but pain and sorrow from the day. You will never move on from that day, it will be as if your body and soul relives the same feelings and emotions it did on that day. You will live in this world, and even when Jongin and Kyungsoo leave the world below, you will never leave this one."


"H-how do I know though? When I am too late?"


"You know you're getting close to being too late when you are able to contact those in the world below, Earth. If you are able to hear or see them, as same with them to you, it means you are running out of time. If you can leave your house and go into the city or whatnot, you are passed too late. Though once they find your body, you won't be able to speak to them, but you will be able to watch them until your body is buried."


Baekhyun!


Byun Baekhyun,
Where are you?


Chanyeol took a few steps back, his see-through body blending in with the white, "Don't make the same mistake I did, Baekhyun."


Baekhyun!


 

It was the last thing Baekhyun heard from Chanyeol when he awoke in his bed, white sheets and sun blaring into the room and all.


But then...there was Jongin and Kyungsoo.


"Holy ! It worked!"


Baekhyun jumped and he covered himself, "Wh-what worked?"


"I called you, like I always did. See, Kyungsoo, I told you he was around when I called him."


'If you are able to hear or see them, as same with them to you, it means you are running out of time.'


Baekhyun blurted, "P-prove to me! That I died! And how would you know if I crashed! You never found my body..."


Jongin and Kyungsoo stared at Baekhyun in shock, and Kyungsoo spoke, "You're right, but we...we knew. The model of your car that year was off the market, because everyone that bought it had steering and brake problems. We sent in missing posters and all, but no one saw you guys. And we knew the car had crashed but...we don't know where."


Jongin reluctantly went into Baekhyun's closet to pull out the box Baekhyun had ignored earlier. Jongin pulled out newspapers and pictures. He handed them to Baekhyun, mumbling, "Please be calm."


Baekhyun hesitated, but took the things quietly, his hands transparent and light. He saw the newspapers, he and Chanyeol's pictures and information. He read that he and Chanyeol went missing the day of Jongin's birthday. He picked through the stack, and saw theories about them being in a car crash. And he saw pictures of the car, the car that he drove off the cliff.


And he saw it, the view he was in when the car fell down.


"Baekhyun!" Chanyeol took his seat belt off to cover Baekhyun.


"Chanye-"


His voice was cut off when the car collided with the ground and Baekhyun screamed when Chanyeol flew out of the car and onto the grounds, body scraping onto the dirt in a bloody mess. Baekhyun felt his spine snap and he screamed, not being able to feel his legs. He saw the front of the car pushing his legs in between where the brakes and gas pedals were. He screamed and moaned in agony, trying to move himself to find his cell phone. But he was stuck, and he couldn't move any of his arms or legs.


All he could do was see Chanyeol's lifeless and pulled limb-by-limb splattered body all over the grounds. And Baekhyun had a hard time trying to move, he tried and tried, but he couldn't.


"Chanyeol... Park Chanyeol..." He whimpered, "I'm sorry... I love you too, Park Chanyeol..." His head leaned down, "I love you too..."


Baekhyun in a large and life-threatening gasp, his fingers squeezed so hard onto the stacks of papers that his nails ripped through them. His eyelids were so extended from each other that he almost felt his eyeballs popping out of its sockets. His body was shaking and emitting hot drops of tears. His throat was dry and he had some sort of insipid taste in his mouth.


"Chanyeol! Park Chanyeol!"


He was running out of air and he couldn't breathe, making Kyungsoo and Jongin hold him closely, trying to get him to calm down.


"Chanyeol! No! There- Jongin, there was blood- His body- Kyungsoo, I saw it, his limbs were torn everywhere! Oh God, Jongin!" Baekhyun was trembling terribly and he was perspiring profusely with dreadful misery. The visual images and things he saw and felt was overwhelming. "And my spine- Legs were crushed- It explains everything- I can't, Jongin- I don't want to keep doing this! I can't live like this anymore!"


"It's okay, Baek, you won't have to live like this anymore."


Kyungsoo cooed, "Just tell us what to do to help? Is there anything you know that could help you from this?"


'You must go to Jongin and Kyungsoo, and tell them where your body is.'


'Once they find your body, you won't be able to speak to them, but you will be able to watch them until your body is buried.'


"Th-th-the cliff!" Baekhyun blinked when he remembered a sign, with an arrow pointing towards... "Jeonju! There was a sign saying four miles ahead of Jeonju. I saw it right before I swerved off the cliff..." Baekhyun wiped his tears and sniffled, "I know it's there, I know it. I just don't remember how to get there..."


Jongin asked, "Are you sure? Can you leave the house?"


Baekhyun shook his head, "I... I don't think I can leave the house, but I'm sure it's there. Chanyeol said-" Baekhyun noticed the way Kyungsoo's eyes widened in hope, "I-I mean... I was told my body was still there..."



Kyungsoo stood up and walked towards the threshold. Pausing from leaving, he turned and asked, "Is...is Chanyeol still...there?"


'I wasn't supposed to stay here long, my body had already drowned within the rain and all...'


Baekhyun bitterly answered Kyungsoo with, "No, Kyungsoo... He's gone. His body...it dissolved."


Kyungsoo pursed his lips before wiping his eyes, "Oh, I-I see... Well, I'll...be in the car. Don't take too long, kay, Jongin? We have a body to find."


Kyungsoo hurriedly left and the sound of the front door shutting made the two wince. Jongin turned to Baekhyun and he forced a smile, "Are...are you all right, Baek?"


He answered softly, "How can I be all right? Chanyeol can't be rested properly, I have to make you guys find my body, and I could be gone in seconds." Baekhyun looked at his imperceptible hands and transparent elbows. He knew his body was fusing at the same time his soul was. "I really don't know what's going to happen... What if... What if you never find the body in time? And I-"


Jongin leaned forward and kissed him, making Baekhyun tear up again. When Jongin pulled away, his eyes were red and leaking with tears. "Baekhyun, I love you, and I've always loved you. I may have moved on, but there is no way I'm going to leave you this way. I never had the chance to tell you goodbye. I tried and tried thinking of you, dreaming of you, but you never came to me."


Jongin pushed back Baekhyun's bangs and wept with a smile, "If you weren't here with me now, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I know that if we're together like this, I have to say goodbye, and see you off to a better place than this." Jongin wanted to hold Baekhyun's hands, but he wasn't able to grab them. So he settled for Baekhyun's chin and he whispered, "We're going to find your body, Baekhyun. I promise."


"You promise me that? And...you'll be there to tell me goodbye?"


"I promise you exactly that, Baekhyun."


 

The drive was long and silent, full of Is it this turn, Do we stop here, What does that sign say and much more difficult questions. The two were thinking the same thing, 'What if we didn't find the body in time?' But they tried focusing and not arguing, having one or two fusses over directions.


But when Jongin spotted the old and rusty sign, almost covered by a tree branch, that read Jeonju - 4 Miles Ahead, he cried out, "There! That's it! Kyungsoo, I think we found the sign!"


"Oh my God!" Kyungsoo parked to the curb rather dangerously but the two jumped out of the car, not thinking about their own lives. Kyungsoo stopped short, along with Jongin. The two looked at each other, unsure if they wanted to look. What if they were wrong? What if they were right? They had to make sure, they were doing it for their friend...


Kyungsoo looked first, and he turned away with a squeak, "Oh my God..."


Jongin peaked also, to see the white and silver Bugatti Veyron, now totaled and rusted dry. Jongin remembered reading in a newspaper years ago that the exact car that Baekhyun owned had to be tested again in late 2010, due to multiple lethal accidents on the road. He reminisced when he and Baekhyun went car shopping, and Baekhyun wanted a BMW but Jongin really wanted the Veyron, even though Baekhyun begged and begged...


He begged, saying the BMW was safer, lighter, quicker, didn't use up too much gas.


But Jongin told him that the Bugatti Veyron was in, that it was the next big thing...


Jongin covered his mouth to keep a sob and he hugged Kyungsoo, "I can't believe it..."


"Jongin, we found it... We found it!"


Jongin looked back down at the car, tears falling down from his eyes, "Yeah, we did find it... Baekhyun... We found you, buddy..."


 

Baekhyun was pacing back and forth, checking the time on the kitchen clock. His feet had become invisible, and it looked like he was floating around the room. His back was completely transparent, but he didn't have time to worry about that. It had been hours since Kyungsoo and Jongin left, and he was worried for them.


'What if they crashed?'


Baekhyun ran to the phone when it rang but when he tried grabbing it, he saw his imperceptible hand swing through it. He groaned in despair before desperately knocking the telephone down from its post. He went to the ground and asked, "Hello?"


"Baekhyun!"


Baekhyun piped up, "Yes?! Kyungsoo?! Jongin?! Are you all right?!"


"W-we're fine!" Kyungsoo cried, "Your body! We found your body- Oh God, Jongin, I really can't believe it!"


Jongin spoke, "Baekhyun, we found the car, and we called the police and anyone else we knew. They carefully broke off the car, piece by piece, and... Your body really is here. Your bones of the legs are dust, and they said some of your back bones and spine is missing, but... But, Goddammit, we found you!"


Baekhyun bit his lip and wept, shaking his head with a grateful smile, "Oh God..."


"Baekhyun, they said they'll pay for the ceremony immediately! You'll be able to move on now!"


Baekhyun sat on the ground and cried, loud and messily, "Jongin, Kyungsoo, I love you guys! You guys... I don't even know where to be-begin! You're the best! You've never l-let me down! Thank you!" Baekhyun said into the phone, "Th-thank you so much..."


 

Baekhyun watched as they lowered his black coffin into the ground, trying to hold back his tears. He saw his parents, who were older than he remembered. He even saw Chanyeol's parents, who cried a lot more than anyone else. He didn't blame them, they found his body but they couldn't even see their own son's soon enough. His brothers and cousins and relatives, all grown up and with kids and grandchildren... He couldn't register it all enough, it was incredible to see them. And of course, his friends.


Happily married, with kids, and their kids were in relationships and talented. Beautiful children, children he'd always dreamed of having with...


With Chanyeol.


He saw Jongin holding onto Kyungsoo tightly when Kyungsoo cried freely, "We did it, Jongin... It's sad, but it's amazing..."


Jongin looked in front of him, and nodded, "Yes, it is."


Baekhyun gazed back at Jongin, invisible to the rest of the crowd, and only seen by Jongin. He took a step forward, walking passed his parents, and he smiled sadly. "Thank you..."


Jongin hiccupped and mouthed, "I love you, Byun Baekhyun." He dropped a rose into the hole and added, "Goodbye..."

 

Baekhyun looked around himself, recognizing the white walls and white ground. He called out tenderly, "Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol."


In seconds, he heard him walking behind him. Baekhyun turned around and let out a sigh of relief, he ran up to him with a big smile. "Chanyeol, thank you! It- I mean... I don't know how to thank you or repay you, it means so much to me-"


Chanyeol plastered a grin to cut him off, "No, Baekhyun. The only thing you can do to repay me...is...," he looked away, "to live happily without me."


Baekhyun's smile fell and he asked, confused and bewildered, "B-but... Chanyeol, what are you saying? Can't you leave with me? Rest with me? Be with me for the rest of my living soul?"


Chanyeol shook his head adversely before informing, "My body will never be able to rest anymore, Baekhyun. I..." He took a step forward, his transparent body becoming solid and visible, "I love you. I waited for you...so I could help you. I wanted to see you off, to a world much better than this. I wouldn't have been able to move on anyway...if I knew you wouldn't be at rest."


Baekhyun then remembered what Chanyeol said, 'Don't make the same mistake I did, Baekhyun.'


Baekhyun refused to take what he said and he protested, "N-no! Chanyeol, I'm not leaving you after what I went through, after what you went through. I don't want to be without you, Chanyeol-"


Chanyeol leaned forward, and whispered gently, "You have to go, Baek, for the both of us. I'd rather...you be calm and content with yourself, than selfishly be lying without you while you disappear and stay here. I won't have that, Baekhyun." Chanyeol tried fighting back, but he pressed his lips against Baekhyun, and he held it.


Baekhyun wrapped his arms around him and clenched onto his shirt. When they pulled away, Baekhyun whimpered, "I love you, Park Chanyeol..."


Chanyeol let a tear slip before he muttered, "I know, Byun Baekhyun. And I love you too." He took a step back and nodded, "You have to go, it's time."


Baekhyun unwillingly released his grip on Chanyeol's shirt and let out a stifled weep before whispering, "I love you, Park Chanyeol."


Chanyeol gulped and his vision was blurred with his tears, "I love you too, Byun Baekhyun."


A blaring light appeared behind Baekhyun and he looked down, "I love you, Park Chanyeol..."


"I...," Chanyeol watched the light take him and away, and he finished solemnly, "love you too... Byun Baekhyun..."