{ CHANYEOL }

Chanyeol opened his eyes. “Ah, so bright,” he murmured, shielding his eyes with his arm. He still couldn’t get used to it.

The bright lights reminded him of the headlights he had seen last… When was that again?
It felt like it was such a long time ago. He had been trying to get to the store before it closed so he could buy a new bag for himself – in a green color, since it was Joori’s favorite. Maybe she might have noticed him.
He sighed. But she’d never know he even existed now.

He gently patted his chest with the heel of his palm. I thought there was no sadness in heaven, he thought with a grumble.

He had been keeping an eye on his friends – and Joori – for a few days now. He put in a few requests here and there, like when Joori forgot her pencilcase at home when she had a quiz – he put in a favor with some of the angels to bring her it. She had been pleasantly surprised when she found it deep inside her bag.
And he had “magically” fixed her broken umbrella on that rainy day.

But she would never know it was him… She’d never know how much he cared.

And today… today was the day of his funeral. He wondered if he even wanted to watch – did he really want to see his mother bawling her eyes out for hours? It would just break his own heart.

He sighed, ultimately giving in to the temptation to take a look. He felt touched that so many people showed up. He could see his closest friends standing at the side, dressed in black suits. Spiffy, he thought with a bitter smile. Their heads were down, Jongin gently patted the inner corners of his eyes while Joonmyeon sobbed into his shoulder. Sehun and Kyungsoo were better at holding in their emotions…

But one person was missing – the most important person, if he had to rank them. Where’s Baekhyun? He would have expected Baekhyun to be standing right there, with his mother and his friends. He easily scanned through the funeral room, but no faces belonged to his best friend.
He felt extremely hurt for a few moments before he noticed a young man and lady barge into the room. The young man was unmistakable – Baekhyun! He was panting – probably from being late, and … the young lady with him?
Joo…Joori.

If he had been alive, his heart would have probably stopped. She was at his funeral… How did it happen? How had Baekhyun gotten her to come? He had so many questions, and he couldn’t ask a single one. He could always go to God – since God always had the answers – but he knew he shouldn’t ask such trivial questions to the almighty Lord.

But he patiently watched as his mother gave away his journal. His eyes opened in horror. N-No… His secrets, his love professions – they were all written down in detail in that very book. It would be more accurate to call it his diary, but he thought that sounded too sissy-like, so it was his journal.
… And now Joori was going to read it.

He immediately knew how she would react – in disgust for sure. She would probably hate him, despise him – when she didn’t even know him.

And his heart sank when he discovered he was right. He gulped as he watched her squat on the corner near Baekhyun’s house, holding a lighter in her hand and his journal in the other. Of course, he thought miserably. What else could he have expected?

But then within a few seconds, his best friend came to the rescue, taking his journal from her hand and taking it home. He could see the relief and sadness on Baekhyun’s face, and his heart ached to be there with him.
He still didn’t know how Baekhyun and Joori came to know each other – had they always known each other and had he just been oblivious? No, that was impossible…

But within a matter of a day or so, he watched Baekhyun running around school like crazy, searching for Joori. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously – did they have something going on?
Nonetheless, he gave his best friend a little boost as Baekhyun was about to trip on a crack, saving the attractive face not-enough girls appreciated.

And when he saw him look up to the sky, it was almost like their eyes met. Chanyeol smiled sadly, wishing he could tell Baekhyun he was watching – he was listening.
‘You’re watching right, Yeol? I got your back.’

Chanyeol jumped back in surprise – was that Baekhyun speaking to him? He hadn’t known mental messages could come through to heaven like this.
He watched intently as he saw Baekhyun approach Joori on the library steps, get in the car together, and drive to her home. They seemed closer than he remembered them ever being when he was around. He couldn’t help but think it was suspicious.
He could hear them have a sort of argument, Joori unappreciative of how Baekhyun was acting like they shared a closer relationship than they actually had. Al