1 |  They Are Beautiful Tonight

Space is Chanyeol’s hobby. His obsession, really.

But more specifically, the stars.

There are stars everywhere- in his mind and in his dreams. The stars hold so much promise for the restless boy when this small town confines him and threatens to stamp out any potential he might have.

The tall teenager strolls along the dirt path he takes to and from the school. The leather bag in his hand is heavier than usual, but he doesn’t mind the heftier homework load and the numerous books needed to complete it. He welcomes it, actually. This is his last year in school because no one from his family has ever attended college. They don’t need to, they learn what they need from their fathers. Besides, even if he wanted to go to college (which he desperately does), he’d never be able to front the costs, and he’d never be able to leave his mother by herself.

When he finally arrives home, his mother is in the garden with her watering can bent over her favorite patch of flowers. She greets her son with an affectionate ruffle of his dark auburn hair, having to stand on her toes to reach the curls.

Chanyeol rests his chin on her head, attempting to pry the baby-blue watering can from her hand. “Mum, your back,” he pleads softly, but she just swats his hand away in response.

“I can at least take care of my own garden,” the small woman says with a grin. “Now hurry and get some work done before your shift. I have something in the kitchen for you while you do.”

Chanyeol hesitantly retreats back into the house, still skeptical that his mother is feeling as well as she claims to be. But a huge grin breaks out on his face when the sweet aroma of a fresh pie wafts through the kitchen and makes his stomach rumble. His bag is slung on a chair, work long forgotten as he proceeds to wolf down a few slices of the warm dessert. His mother’s pies never fail to make him melt like the sweet, warm cherries in his mouth and conjure up precious memories of hot summer afternoons spent with his parents.

They live a simple life, Chanyeol and his mother. Their small house with its peeling white paint is nothing to brag about, and their kitchen is perhaps a bit too chicken-themed for Chanyeol’s taste, but it is comfortable.

Comfortable yet…lacking.

Chanyeol makes his way to his room with his heavy bag and the untouched assignments in it. His room is his haven. The walls are littered with numerous photos of outer space and maps of constellations. Posters of galaxies and other planets remind him of the infinite possibilities, and a large bookshelf in the corner of the room is filled with books on universe patterns and star-gazing that are often opened to lull him into dreamland. A telescope, a wonderful gift from his mother for which he’d scolded her for spending such a considerable sum on, is positioned at the window for those sleepless nights in which he wishes to gaze up at the heavens when it is too cold to venture outdoors.

Perhaps this categorizes him as antisocial, to rather spend quiet nights alone in his room instead of seeing a movie with fellow students from school. But those nights spent in comfortable and contemplative silence are the times Chanyeol’s head is the most clear, just staring up at his ceiling that is dotted with little glow-in-the-dark stars, painstakingly arranged in correct constellation order. These nights are second only to those spent out in the meadow.

He likes to think of it as his meadow, just on the outskirts of town. It is always a treat when Chanyeol can get his chores and other work done early enough, and this trek out to the meadow is perhaps the thing he looks forward to the most all week. This is when a true, genuine smile reaches his eyes and makes his nose crinkle a little in excitement.

But now isn’t the time for that. Now is the time for responsibility.

The teenager kisses his mother’s cheek like the good son he is and makes his way back into town to the general store.

“Come on, man. Live a little!”

Chanyeol snorts as he reaches up to tip the last of the boxes of rat poison in place on the topmost shelf. His friend Jongdae pops open a can of beer he's snagged from the little refrigerated section behind the counter, which is his idea of “living a little.” He holds one out in Chanyeol's direction, who smiles and waves him off.

"We're going out to the diner tonight if you want to join."

The tall boy frowns. He isn't the biggest fan of these large group hangouts. He'd rather spend time with just Jongdae, to be honest. Chanyeol is a bit awkward. Not the kind of awkward that repels others. Quite the contrary in fact; his warm and friendly disposition draws others in. He is the kind of awkward that makes it difficult to really connect with others on a deeper level. He has many friends but finds almost all of them to be superficial and will surely fade over time. Even Jongdae, his closest friend, is one he cannot see truly understanding his passions and desires for what lies beyond the limits of their town.

Chanyeol's not about to waste a perfectly clear night on a mediocre meal at the diner with people he doesn't much care for, and decides he can be selfish just this once.

“You know I don’t like that place,” the tall teenager replies, and he leans a hip against the counter where Jongdae stands. They often have the same shift, Jongdae manning the register while Chanyeol restocks shelves because he’s the only one able to reach the top shelves without the rickety old ladder collapsed in the corner. Jongdae is nice. Jongdae puts up with his occasional antisocial and still genuinely enjoys Chanyeol’s company when he can get it outside of class and the store.

The other boy shakes the tip jar a bit out of pure boredom. “Doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. I’ll be there!” He shoots Chanyeol an excited, open-mouthed smile to entice the taller one further.

“Wrapped up in a certain someone's attention, no doubt,” the tall boy replies, his loud, baritone laugh filling the store. "Besides, it's a nice night. I haven't been out to my spot in a while."

Jongdae chuckles, but doesn't deny the accusation. He has been vying for time with the current object of his affections. He takes a big gulp of beer and swallows noisily, smacking his lips a bit. "What do you even do out there?"

Chanyeol nibbles at his lip and rearranges the candy at the counter.

"You romancing ladies without telling me?" This draws another booming laugh from the tall teenager again.

Jongdae hops up on the counter, and Chanyeol joins him. It’s been a good hour and no one has set foot in the store. They sit back-to-back, and Chanyeol sighs and feels Jongdae put a bit more pressure against his back almost in response to said heavy sigh. It’s times like this Chanyeol thinks maybe his friend understands him without him ever needing to say a word about his questions and troubles. He wishes it were that simple.

“We could find you a nice girl." Chanyeol shoots him a look. "A nice boy?” Jongdae says unsurely in a last attempt to get his friend to the diner.

“Sure, sure,” Chanyeol laughs. “Right after you’re done with him, huh?”

The other male shoves him off the counter. They both laugh and Jongdae manages to look scandalized.

Chanyeol watches the clock until it finally hits 8 PM and all but rips his uniform apron off. Jongdae calls after him that a seat at the diner will have his name on it, but Chanyeol’s out the door and his mind is already in the stars. All this gloomy weather has made him anxious. He wants to feel the meadow grass beneath his bare toes and get away from the lights in town to enjoy the universe in its rawest, most beautiful form. He can hardly wait.

“Going out again?” his mother calls after Chanyeol’s retreating back just as he's about to escape through the back door. He halts in the kitchen, red checked blanket thrown over his shoulder. The tall boy is briefly worried she’ll ask about the remaining schoolwork he’s most certainly not completed yet. He blames that pesky bug “senioritis” just as much as the stars that beckon him.

“Just for a bit,” he replies with a sheepish smile. He wants this, needs this so much. Just a bit of quiet. Just a bit of not caring, not worrying. Time to think about all the things he can't admit to others.

“Be safe.”

Chanyeol grabs a cookie off of the platter on the kitchen counter, gives his mother a kiss and pockets two more. The tall boy is out the door before she can protest his bad snacking habits (she’s the facilitator, he argues, with all the baking she does).

Chanyeol doesn’t even savor the trek out to the meadow this time. He’s so anxious and excited to get out there he ends up running the whole way, darting through the wheat fields with golden stalks taller than he is and hopping the fence into the little forest. From there it’s just a short sprint down a path that’s long since been cleared into a Chanyeol-sized hole in the vegetation. And there it is, his meadow.

It’s a hidden gem, an open field of overgrown grass and wildflowers dotted with a single pristine pond. The auburn-haired boy rolls up the sleeves of his green plaid shirt and his faded jeans. He spreads out his checked blanket and sprawls out on his back, eager to simply enjoy the heavens at their most lovely. The breathtaking sight always leaves one question in his mind.

What else is out there for me?

Stars dot the sky, mere twinkling lights and streaks of white. They glitter and glimmer and he so wishes he could shoot off just like those heavenly bodies and explore the vast universe. When he lies out beneath the stars like this he often finds himself wondering what really lies beyond their atmosphere. What else is out there waiting?

He’s yet to do something important, make something of himself. Everyone in this town knows him. They know more about him than he would probably like and are already steadfast in their assumptions of what he will do and achieve. Chanyeol knows he has potential. He wants to prove them wrong. But with his obligation to everything in this town, and especially to his dear mother, it seems he might never get the chance to do so.

So he looks to the stars. It is the promise of more, of much better, that fascinates him and him into these fantasies and beckons him out here to the meadow to gaze up at the heavens. He wants to be remembered. His greatest fear is departing this world with nothing to show for it, his name unrecorded and unspoken.

He wants to make a difference. To accomplish. To live.

And he will do none of that if he stays here as he is. Motionless in a timeline not his own, while the one fated for him remains completely untouched. How does he break out of it?

I want to matter. I want to feel like I matter. I wish I knew how.

Chanyeol shakes his head suddenly and laughs at himself. The moisture in his eyes makes him feel self-conscious, even while alone, and he quickly swipes it away. How silly, crying at the stars. Isn’t that a bit cliché?

But they are beautiful, especially tonight. He doesn’t know if it’s just the sentiments he’d admitted, but they look particularly vivid this evening. Their faint lighting makes his wide eyes sparkle as he stares at the heavenly bodies in wonder. Such sights always manage to take his breath away.

A particularly bright light catches his eye and he turns to see a star that seems much closer than the rest. Strange, he thinks, I’ve never seen that one before. He stares at it, completely entranced at its brilliance.

It flickers and grows brighter and brighter, almost too bright, and too late Chanyeol realizes it’s falling from the sky. He scrambles back to run to take shelter, but the object is falling much too quickly, and before he knows it the blinding ball of light smashes into the pond and is entirely engulfed. Waves splash high and lap at the bank and Chanyeol stares at the fading light in the water, watching as it disappears beneath the surface. The glow grows fainter and fainter as it sinks.

Chanyeol crouches and plops down on the soft grass of the bank rather ungracefully, staring at the spot of impact. His mind races with guesses of what it could have been. Space debris? A meteor?

He stares with bated breath for what seems like minutes, and just as he’s about to stand to leave, the light suddenly appears again. A stream of bubbles breaks the surface of the water, and the once-placid, perfect reflection of the night sky ripples and shakes in turbulence. Chanyeol stares wide-eyed at the lake, knowing he should get up and get out of there, but his eyes stay glued to the soft glow that is making its way up from the depths.

The light disappears as soon as it breaks the surface, and a boy flings his wet hair away from his face and gasps for air as if breathing for the first time. The boy looks around frantically and flails his limbs in panic. It doesn’t dawn on Chanyeol that the boy can’t swim until the small figure disappears into the water once again. He’s more than a little stunned, but upon realization of the boy floundering helplessly he leaps into action and runs. His feet sink into the muddy banks, but he surges forward desperately, dread shooting through his veins when flailing arms sink below again and do not resurface. Once Chanyeol reaches water deep enough, he dives where the figure disappeared and moments later emerges with said boy in his arms.

It's a difficult swim back to shore, what with the limp body in his arms and his soaked jeans and shirt weighing him down. But he manages to make it, stumbling up onto the muddy bank and struggling through the mud once more to place the boy onto his checked blanket.

The boy is barely conscious, muttering nonsense and non-words, but then he clutches the material under him and whimpers almost inaudibly that he needs warmth. It's so cold. Chanyeol wraps him up in the checked blanket, but the spring air is chilly around them and the drenched boy shivers violently in his arms. Chanyeol cradles him close. He knows he must take this strange boy back to his home for help if he wants a chance at pulling through.

Chanyeol curses under his breath all the way home. All he had wanted was a quiet evening with the stars. The boy goes limp in his arms, limbs dangling uselessly like a rag doll, and Chanyeol shakes him violently.

“You are not dying on me, you hear me?!” Chanyeol shrieks in a voice much higher than his usual baritone. He shakes him again despite this probably doing more damage than good.

He races on, crashing through the forest path and getting little twigs and leaves stuck in his hair. The fence running the perimeter of the fields proves a bit more difficult with a body in his arms. The boy presses his cheek to Chanyeol's chest as they crash blindly through the towering stalks of wheat. Chanyeol's legs pump harder than he thinks they ever have, and they threaten to give out and send him tipping forward.

Quivering fingers find their way under the hem of the tall male's shirt, nearly causing him to stumble in surprise. Instead he surges forward faster, determined to save this boy whose fate he seems to hold in his hands.

Nearly there, he thinks in relief when they burst out of the maze of wheat, and for a moment swears he hears the boy whimper his name.

/collapses

Finally! I've reworked this so many times I'm just kind of staring at it like @_@ so please forgive any errors I might've made.

The next updates should be much more frequent.

As always, feedback is appreciated! >u<

<3