*Final Chapter;

Baekhyun opened his mouth to say something but the words escaped his head, sort of like how people would eventually forget bits and pieces of their speech during oral presentations. His mind was a blank slate now, running on what little fragments of memories he had to say something worthwhile to Chanyeol.

He looked to his side and saw his brother tending to the flowers and paying him no attention, like always. There was a tenderness in his touch that calmed Baekhyun too, as if those flowers were him and Chanyeol was making sure every leaf and petal was tucked into place. He had even brought a watering can from somewhere and proceeded to nurse the flowers that had gone on a long trip from the back of the flower shop where the sun hardly shined to here. Baekhyun smiled when Chanyeol smiled.

"Chanyeol," he called his brother again, hoping Chanyeol's attention wouldn't stray to something else within seconds.

"Thanks," Baekhyun said after a brief pause, "I don't really know what else to say but thanks. I feel like... everything's been said without me knowing... and we've gone through so much. You've always been there beside me, always. I guess sometimes I felt like I wasn't doing enough for you because you've always supported me no matter what. I..." He turned to see what Chanyeol was doing and sighed dramatically when he saw Chanyeol stooped over the dirt, shoveling the pebbles aside.

He wasn't listening.

"Chanyeol!" he yelled, "I'm pouring my heart out to you and you're not listening!"

Chanyeol grinned as if to say sorry and stood beside Baekhyun again, his gaze trained on his brother who was suddenly regretting that he ever said that. Maybe it was better that Chanyeol hadn't been listening because the pressure was worse when he was literally staring him down the whole time.

Baekhyun cleared his throat and thought of what else to say. Something less cheesy. "You know... I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry for calling you stupid all the time and I'm really sorry for..." He glanced at Chanyeol and saw his brother beaming brightly at him. He couldn't just point out that he was retarded right in front of his face so he sort of swallowed the words and figured Chanyeol knew what he was insinuating. "I'm sorry for hurting you." There. That sounded a little nicer and more appropriate.

"That's okay." Chanyeol smiled, "I'm happy I get to be with you."

Baekhyun thought it was strange how those words had the power to make his heart flutter now, and he wasn't sure why. He turned his head away to hide the blush that bloomed across his cheeks and nodded a few times. "You said I'm," he said, chuckling, "You always used to refer to yourself as Chanyeol, and now you're your own person?"

"Baekhyun's person!" Chanyeol beamed with a smile that could power thousands of cities.

Even after his friends left saying they would see him at school again, Baekhyun spent time with Chanyeol, mostly catching up. Unfortunately, there weren't very many things to do when he was wheelchair-bound, so he stayed in the living room with Chanyeol while his brother some afternoon cartoons. Eventually, the both of them got a bit bored and Baekhyun flipped it to the sports channel.

He sighed when re-runs of soccer was the first thing that came on.

Chanyeol seemed to have noticed his distress because he suddenly got up and pointed outside. "Let's go outside, Baekhyun!" he chimed and it was obvious he wasn't taking no for an answer.

Funny thing was that Chanyeol put on soccer cleats for him and despite his mother having said not to go outside, Chanyeol pushed Baekhyun's wheelchair out of the front door. It was different seeing everything from a handicap's point of view. The anguish of not being able to walk himself was painful, of course, but nothing really came close to the security he felt having Chanyeol push him from behind.

On its way out, the wheelchair bumped into the door's threshhold, but they safely made it over the crack and Chanyeol made sure to stick to one side of the street far away from racing cars and motorcycles. He probably knew the best how dangerous one accident could be.

Baekhyun had a chance to see the quaint neighborhood passing him in vivid colors, each and every sight so new to him despite him having taken the same route so many times before. Chanyeol stopped whenever he wanted to stop, he went whenever he told him to go. After a few minutes, they came to a grassy field most kids their age would use as a soccer field. The ground was slightly muddy due to the sprinklers going off, but the field was mostly unoccupied spare the few kids playing rugby a distance away.

He admired them for a long time and wondered what it would be like getting to run again, but he tried not to make the disappointment so obvious on his expression.

Unfortunately, Chanyeol caught it just in time.

"Here, I'll help you," Chanyeol smiled and extended a hand to Baekhyun.

"Are you crazy? If I fall, I'll probably snap my legs in two."

"I won't let you fall!" Chanyeol promised and reached forward to take Baekhyun's hand gingerly in his. Now holding both hands, he gently led Baekhyun out of his wheelchair.

Surprisingly, the pain wasn't so bad when he stood still with his balance distributed in Chanyeol's hands, but he still felt a little weak. He was swaying out of balance since his legs couldn't support his body anymore but Chanyeol held him upright whenever he was teetering back. When Chanyeol moved one step back, he moved one step forward like a baby just learning how to walk. "Don't let me fall or I'll kill you, Park Chanyeol!" he whined, grabbing Chanyeol's hands hard and clumsily walking forward. It wasn't like he didn't know how to walk, it was just his legs not knowing how to function.

"I'm not!" Chanyeol smiled, "You're walking, you're walking!"

"Don't let me go!" Baekhyun shrieked. "I'll kill you, I swear!"

Even when Chanyeol tried to pull his hands away, Baekhyun grabbed tightly and refused to let Chanyeol go. When they had covered nearly a few feet, Baekhyun started to feel the strength in his legs give way and he fell forward, right into Chanyeol's arms.

Chanyeol grinned despite the dark blush that crept across Baekhyun's cheeks and held his brother tightly. "I told you I won't let you fall, Baekhyun!" he said and erected Baekhyun so he wasn't leaning against him at such an odd angle.

The "practice" came to a successful close and Baekhyun had managed to walk on his own for a few steps before he collapsed in Chanyeol's arms again. The two called it a day and Baekhyun was strangely proud of himself, after hearing Chanyeol praise him so much about something so simple. Perhaps it had gotten to his head because he felt in a very festive mood and offered to buy hot cakes selling on the streets to celebrate his little accomplishment.

It got dark fairly quickly and by the time they arrived in their quiet neighborhood, the dim lampposts were the only things lighting the way with the occasional headlights whizzing by.

"We should go to the arcade tomorrow, it'll be fun. I'll still beat you even if I'm in a wheelchair." Baekhyun joked, already anxious with the thought of going.

Chanyeol nodded and grinned, glancing up briefly to see that the lamp in front of their door was out, making their home look eerily like a part of the shadows. He had to the wall for a bit to find the gate, which he then opened carefully and pushed Baekhyun's wheelchair over the bothersome bump on the ground.

"That light's been out since you've been gone. I kept tripping over it, the last time I ended up with a huge scrape on my right knee tripping over the dumb door." Baekhyun chuckled.

When the two got inside, Chanyeol helped Baekhyun to the restroom so they could both get ready for bed, and before Chanyeol could bring his pajamas to the bed, Baekhyun had already fallen asleep, exhausted after the day's events. The sight was so endearing to see that Chanyeol admired him for a while, then pulled the sheets up to Baekhyun's shoulders so he wouldn't get a cold. After all, he had seen Baekhyun's mother do it plenty of times before when Baekhyun used to stay up all night studying. She always patted his head and kissed his forehead, which Chanyeol did as well (leaving some hot cake crumbs on his forehead as a bonus).

The world was strangely quiet without Baekhyun so Chanyeol tried to occupy himself, clacking his teeth and humming some off-key tune to shatter the silence.

He remembered something and dug through Baekhyun's drawers for a small toolbox, then carried it under his arm as he went out to the front door. The lamp with the broken lightbulb was easily within his reach, so he carefully unscrewed the bulb and pulled out a new one from the toolbox, squinting as he tried to screw the lightbulb in place. There was a quiet zap and a hum before the disc-shaped lamp shone brightly with the bulb in the middle, illuminating the dark streets and Chanyeol's face.

'Now Baekhyun won't fall,' he thought, and looked away so he won't have to stare directly into the light. Pleased, he went back inside with the toolbox under his arm. Their home shone brighter than any in the neighborhood that night.

He scurried back inside before the draft could nip at his heels, shivering when he closed the door behind him. When he slipped into the bedroom again, Baekhyun was just as he left him, sleeping the night away with a pleasant smile curled at his lips. The sight made Chanyeol smile as well, his shoulders drooping a bit.

Carefully, he set the toolbox down and slipped into bed beside Baekhyun, making sure not to make any loud sounds as he lied beside him. He tucked his hand under the pillow and found that his fingers brushed against something hard. Slowly, he pulled out what looked like a journal, the very same notebook he had given Baekhyun when he had left for the institution months ago.

The pages were worn-out and the corners a little dog-eared and torn, probably because Baekhyun had opened it so many times to read it before bed. Chanyeol lied on his back and held the notebook out so he can try and read the pages which were a little clearer now that his eyes had adjusted to the dark.

Everything was intact, the pencil lines just a little smeared and pages slightly waterlogged. Towards the end of the notebook, he saw a page that was cleaner than the rest, a page just filled with the poem he had neatly copied down from the booklet at the hospital. He read it quietly, the words processing easier in his head when there was a voice ringing in his ears.

He stumbled a bit with the words but more or less it was a poem he recognized and memorized by heart so it wasn't so bad.

When he reached the end of the notebook, he saw that most of the pages had been filled but there were some words on the last remaining page he couldn't remember writing down. It was Baekhyun's handwriting too, printed in small letters:

"In the next world, let's be reborn as brothers.

Let's be reborn as friends.

Let's be reborn as lovers.

Let's be reborn as flowers.

Let's be reborn together."

Author's Note: Wow, I don't remember being this emotional about a fanfiction ending since Pleasing Master L. ; A ; Well, this is the end, guys! I've extended the ending for you when people said they wanted more out of the first ending so this is the official ending! Thank you guys so much for all of your supportive comments! ^^ I know this fanfiction is lacking compared to all of the great ones on LJ and even on AFF but I've had fun writing this and hope you guys had fun reading along too.

I probably won't do this ever again because God knows how much time this took, but I will be selling hard copies (not published books) of Baby's Breath to save up for an important cause. Lots of people have been asking for this, so here's my response to you! I've finally worked hours on end making something worth the wait. If you're not interested, that's perfectly fine! I'm really happy you've come this far with me. If you're interested in having a hard copy to keep (there's a bonus epilogue for you as an extra thanks!) or if you just wanna help me out, please direct yourselves here!

Again, thank you for helping out! Thank you for reading! See you on the flip side!

- Jindeul