She squealed happily, giggling jubilantly as Chanyeol picked her up and twirled her with her held captive in his muscular arms. The cool air of the spring evening billowed through the locks of her dark hair, curling around her picturesque visage as he continued to spin her. It wasn't until Chanyeol caught his own feet within the mass of his shoelaces that he tumbled onto his back, plummeting into the green grass with Hae RIn following. She stumbled blindly into his chest, a heave of breathless chortles dropping from her lips.

"You're crazy!" she exclaimed elatedly, hugging him close to her. "How can I keep up? You're so full of energy Yeollie!"

Chanyeol laughed his deep bass laugh and smiled cheekily at the redness spreading across the pallor of her cheeks, staining her features with a soft blush. She kissed his cheek suddenly at sat up, giving her limbs a stretch. "Should we head home?" she questioned curiously, glancing at Chanyeol from the corner of her eye. The said male sat up carefully, leaning his head on her shoulder as they stared out at the Han River and the small children playing along the pale shoreline of the murky waters.

"Let's just stay here a bit and play a little more," Chanyeol grinned, lacing their fingers together.

Hae Rin shook her head. "You're crazy; you're not tired?"

"I'm just healthy!"

"Ew!" she giggled, brushing her hair back. "You're not healthy," she teased, pulling at his cheeks, "look at all this baby fat!"

Chanyeol giggled boyishly, pecking her lips before tugging her own cheeks, as well. She grimaced playfully, mocking bitter laughter and trying her best to feign a glare; however, her doe-like eyes proved it to be difficult to do, as they were much too mirthful and innocent to display any type of consternation. "Who said you could pull at my cheeks?" she inquired sharply. She figured she might as well settle with the aegyo act.

"Aw, sorry," Chanyeol cooed, chuckling as he kissed her forehead. "Should I apologize? How can I make it up to you, hm?"

She clapped her hands together, an epiphany striking her immediately after Chanyeol's childish pout. "You can be me apple blossoms," she giggled. Her giggling was only encouraged by the look on Chanyeol's suddenly curious expression. "Oh come on!" she coaxed. "We've been together for two years, and you haven't bought me flowers once! Not even when you asked me out! Please?" She batted her eyelashes, a fervor beam gracing her pretty lips.

Chanyeol pecked them graciously, a hum escaping the back of his throat. "Why apple blossoms?" he inquired, genuinely puzzled with the rather obscure choice. "Not roses?"

"Apple blossoms are my faorite flower," she remarked, a healthy twinkle flashing behind her fascinated irises.

Healthy.

Chanyeol smiled graciously as he viewed her smiling features from the other side of the window, his eyes glazing over the way her fingers tumbled sloppily across the ivory keys of the piano; the sounds emitting the grand instrument were definitely vulgar and almost appalling as she was doing nothing but just slamming her slender fingers onto as many black keys as she could, but the smile gracing the swell of her lips made it almost enjoyable. The melody of an unrecognizable song resonated through his ears, and though he wanted to enter the quaint room and sit with her, he knew he couldn't do it.

Her grins were so zealous, so full of fervor, he couldn't ruin that for her. Hae Rin looked so.. healthy. Chanyeol didn't want to cause a commotion and strain her further than what was already given of the situation.

He tilted his head lightly at the sight of her giggling features lighting up with frivolous fondness, her slim hands running through the wisps of her black hair as she sloppily dropped squirts of laughter from her pale lips. A smirk tugged at his lips at the sounds of her snort -- a bad habit she was not ashamed of. 

He felt his heart wrench and constrict, yearning to reach out for the door handle to enter, but he couldn't do it. He felt numerous stares boring into his back, urging him to finally build enough courage to do it, but he couldn't; he'd be disappointing them yet again, for yet another day. He was tempted, yes, but he had to protect her. She couldn't see him, and he wouldn't be able to bear to see her. There was too much, and it would affect them both too greatly.

He had to protect her.

They lay together in bed, with no lustrous intent for once. Their hands intertwined innocently in between their huddled bodies, noses barely touching. His breath ghosted just barely above her lips as he spoke, "You're really pretty, Hae Rin-ah." She blushed instantly, the pinkish hue running across her cheeks as if it were participating in some marathon. The sensuousness of his smile tugged a grin of her own; she glanced up at him admiringly, a twinkle lurking behind her eyes.

He reflected the amusement in her expression and chortled, guiding her hands around his neck. "What are you thining about?" he inquired curiously, latching his arms at her waist. He pulled her over him so that she was straddling his waist, her palms firmly planted against the plate of his chest as she gazed down at him quietly. A timid smile replaced the mirthful beam that had been there before and she simply shrugged.

"It's just nice," Hae Rin commented plainly, "being with you like this."

Chanyeol pulled her down gently, taking her lips with his, teeth gingerly nibbling on the bottom of her lip. His hands travelled through her hair, running down the spine of her back until she was pressed up against hs chest, their limbs messily tangled with one another's. "Do I make you happy?" he catechized casually, a hopeful tone drenching his deep voice. He pecked her numerous times, across her cheeks, on her lips, cheeks, along her jaw; he peppered her with sensual kisses, flattering her with soft butterflies as his lips cascaded over the mass of her milky skin. "Do I?" he repeated.

Breathlessly, "Yes, you do."

Happy.

The following day was the same. Chanyeol was at his usual spot at the window, watching Hae Rin from the outside. This time, however, she was not at the piano, but at the bed in the corner of the room; her tender fingers caressed the papers in her hands, folding countless cranes as the time passed. She was smiling, but the buoyancy of her fervor was less in amount today; she looked tired, fatigued. Hae Rin looked almost solemn and that made Chanyeol's heart constrict with wrathful gall. 

His hand was just barely on the doorknob, and he could feel the stares on his back intensify, when he saw her smile again. It was just a slip; she couldn't get a fold right, he had noticed. But now that she had fixed it and had finally created yet another perfect crane -- pink in color this time -- she was smiling again. There was an insipid air about her that made her seem naive, something far than what she allegedly is supposed to be. 

He twitched, feeling his mind itch with something, until he had to slump himself back into a chair against the wall. Chanyeol clutched his head and growled bitterly to himself, feeling his body grow taut. His limbs felt paralyzed and he could hardly breathe. No.

He couldn't lose it, he told himself. No. He couldn't. He fought aggressively against his temptation to keep himself grounded, to remain on this current side of the wall. He breathed heavily and squeezed his eyes tight. Hae Rin was so happy now," he reminded himself woefully. He couldn't shot up before her; he knew, by now, that not only would it just affect her, but it would most likely ruin Chanyeol and everything he's made for himself up till now.

She was just so happy.

He couldn't ruin that; Chanyeol had to protect her.

"You promised!"

Her sobs wreaked havoc in Chanyeol's heart and he found himself clutching his head, as if it would help him recompose himself any faster. The brink of insanity was approaching at a hasting pace, but Chanyeol couldn't do anything but lean against the wall for structural support. His knees were buckling and his lips were quivering at the sounds of Hae Rin's distraught weeps coming from the other end of the line. "What happened?" he inquired as calmly as he could. He couldn't piece it together; it was all so jumbled, it was like it'd be impossible to ease the situation at hand.

"You promised," she repeated coarsely, a primitive tone lurking in her bitter voice. 

Chanyeol imagined the tears streaking her face and immediately demanded where she was; it took a while to coax it out of her, but the second he heard the snap of thunder and the beginning pitter-patter of rainfall, he instantaneously rose his voice and squeezed the information out of her, demanding Hae RIn of her location. She whimpered furiously and Chanyeol could barley catch onto the words spewing from like some kind of waterfall stream.

She hung up.

He ran.

He began to sprint.

She was found.

And he couldn't forgive himself.

He couldn't protect her.

Tarnished.

Chanyeol shot up awake, finding himself tucked safely into his couch. He hesitantly picked himself up and a somber sigh escaped the folds of his supple lips, filling the tense silence of the atmosphere with instantaneous grief.