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Chanyeol sits in his meadow on a warm, sunny day, and despite being alone he doesn't feel lonely. Even though the sun is high in the sky, he can still see the stars against the pristine blue expanse. How curious, he thinks as he sprawls back on his checkered blanket, but doesn't linger long on the thought because the sunlight kissing his skin only adds to the beauty of the moment. He can see his favorite twinkling lights and make out constellations while feeling embraced by the sun's rays like he used to on hot summer afternoons with his family.

And then he feels another embrace - a real embrace that doesn't come from the sunlight. It's familiar and loving, and the hands that caress the sides of his face kick up a cloud of emotion in his stomach. A high-pitched beeping gives him a start and yanks him forcefully from the comfort of the person's strong arms before he can take a look at their face.

When he wakes he finds he is still wrapped in a pair of arms, but this embrace is different. It is not familiar, yet somehow much more reassuring than the last and promises more, if a single hug can say as much. When his eyes finally flutter open, there's a head of brunette hair beneath his chin and thin arms wrapped firmly around his middle. It takes a moment for his brain to catch up and register whom they belong to.

The alarm is somehow tuned out as Chanyeol stares down at the still-sleeping Baekhyun. And when the star stirs and moves his hand to Chanyeol's chest, heat blooms under his fingertips there as well, and Chanyeol doesn't have to guess why he'd managed to breeze through his daily internal alarm.

Baekhyun stirs again, obviously annoyed by the alarm still sounding, face pulling away from its place snuggled against the other's chest.

"Channie?" he mumbles blearily, and Chanyeol tries his best to squirm away from the strange boy to stick an arm out and blindly search for his phone. He manages to silence the awful noise, but the digital numbers blink at him mockingly on the screen and let him know he’s already late for his first class. His homework is still unfinished, though, and he reeks of pond water, so there’s really no hope in making it now. After such a peaceful slumber, it’s more than a startling wake-up.

"Oh god," the teen mumbles and rubs his palms over his face.

"Chanyeol," the star still clinging to him whines drowsily. "Go back to sleep."

"I can't. I have to..." His eyes narrow down at the star's sleepy, smiling face. "How do you know my name?" Everything had been so chaotic last night he hadn’t even found it odd Baekhyun had already chosen a nickname for him.

Baekhyun chuckles lightly. "You told me last night.” He stares up at the auburn-haired boy. “Right after you saved my life."

Chanyeol stops struggling. This feels way too intimate already. He’s not used to people getting so close to him, and he’s definitely not used to people looking at him like that. Like he’s more than just plain old Chanyeol. Before he can begin to try to place what emotions linger in Baekhyun’s eyes, the star laughs again, and Chanyeol finds himself flat on his back with Baekhyun nuzzled against his side once more. Way too intimate, Chanyeol’s mind screams, and when Baekhyun suggests they go back to bed again, he scrambles up and distracts himself by flitting from one corner of his room to another. He’s not accomplishing much of anything except creating a flimsy cover for his own embarrassment and sending the thoughts in his head spiraling out of control, but it’s better than snuggling up to someone he barely knows.

Baekhyun pouts, and his glowing skin flares a little brighter than normal, but Chanyeol doesn’t notice. He’s too busy scrambling around his room searching for everything he needs to start the day. Baekhyun only wants the other boy’s full attention. It’s just proving to be so much harder than he thought when Chanyeol still thinks he has a head full of injuries and disillusionment and won’t take him seriously. Baekhyun doesn’t know what more he can say to convince Chanyeol fully of his celestial origins, but he’s determined not to give up. So the star just hops up, follows the taller boy and shadows each step until Chanyeol halts him at the doorframe.

"Stay here," he says firmly. The star pouts again. "Look, um, Baekhyun? I know you're scared. It must be so scary for you right now, but I need you to stay here for me. Just for a minute."

Chanyeol peeks his head out of his room and creeps into the kitchen, making sure the coast is clear and his mother has gone for the day. She always leaves before the sun’s up and doesn’t return until late afternoon, but wouldn’t it be his luck if she decided to make a quick run home today of all days. Luck is often funny in that way.

He heaves a heavy sigh and makes himself a mug of instant coffee, trying to calm himself down, much like the previous night. He takes a minute to lean back on his elbows against the counter and just think about everything he has to do. One more thing to be responsible for, he thinks, but he can’t bring himself to blame Baekhyun for any of it. Chanyeol's always more than happy and willing to help or take action when the situation calls for it, but this boy is acting so very odd, and Chanyeol’s definitely not used to this much skinship between friends (except for Jongdae, who clearly only does it to annoy him). He just hadn’t anticipated Baekhyun to be so needy. Clingy, even. But he supposes that attachment might come with being plucked from the clutches of dark, cold water and nearly drowning.

So he decides to stay home with Baekhyun to keep an eye on him. School is a lost cause at this point, what with needing to finish his assignments, make himself presentable and figure out what to do with that boy in his room. He never thought he’d have to sneak anyone out of his house (again, that’s Jongdae’s field of expertise). And as much as he hates to miss class, one day won’t hurt. Baekhyun needs him now, and he thinks that far outweighs one day of school.

He sighs again and blows weakly on the scalding coffee. It’s nice to be able to take his time in the morning for once.

“Channie? Can I come out?”

Baekhyun peeks his head out of Chanyeol’s bedroom with big, excited eyes.

“Gotta stop with that nickname,” Chanyeol mutters into his mug but waves the star into the room nonetheless.

“You told me to stay, but I got lonely.”

The teenager has to smile a little at that. And then Baekhyun looks at him like that again, like Chanyeol is everything, and he has to hide his embarrassment in a sip of coffee.

“What exactly are these?” Baekhyun asks as he tours the kitchen and stops to marvel at the shelf of rooster and hen figurines and statuettes, his head tilting back and forth a few times.

Chanyeol rolls his eyes blatantly. “Those would be called chickens, and they make these things you’re about to eat.” He completely misses the horrified expression on the star’s face and starts buttering up a pan to fry some eggs and bacon.

The star takes a seat at the table, as per Chanyeol’s request (the star’s pacing was making him nervous) and he looks utterly bewildered when his stomach starts to growl, much to the other’s amusement. But Baekhyun doesn’t mind because Chanyeol’s low, rumbling laugh makes him smile. He decides it’s one of the most pleasant sounds he’s heard since he came to this planet.

Chanyeol hisses when grease splatters on his hand, and a loud scrape of chair legs against the kitchen floor indicate just how attached his house guest has already become to him. Baekhyun is by his side in seconds and takes some soothing and reassuring to sit back down. Chanyeol tries his best to make small talk and diffuse tension in any way he can. Except, it seems he is the only one feeling awkward. The boy who claims to be a star smiles and giggles and voices his approval for Chanyeol's cooking by the smell alone. Chanyeol joins him at the table soon with a plate of crispy bacon, two fried eggs and a few pieces of toast. It's about the only thing he can make, but he makes it well.

"Food," Baekhyun whispers in awe, and Chanyeol has to choke down a laugh. "I've seen it and heard about it, but, well, we don't exactly eat up there."

"I assure you it's very good," the student says with a smile. Just how long is this little charade going to continue? The so-called-star takes a bite of egg and melts in his seat, and Chanyeol thinks he can keep the game up a little while longer. "Good, right?"

"Heavenly," Baekhyun replies with a chuckle.

Chanyeol cleans off their plates (did Baekhyun really need to smear egg yolk everywhere?) and steers the star back to his room. He makes Baekhyun sit down on the edge of his bed while he gathers some clothes for them.

"I'm going to take you to the clinic now, Baekhyun,” he says as a holds up some jeans to judge if they’d be too large for the other. “We just need to make sure you’re OK."

"I told you, Channie, I'm fine. I feel great!"

He lets the nickname slide this time. "I think we need to get you checked out just in case."

The small boy looks worried. "You can't," he says weakly. Chanyeol narrows his eyes a little.

"Why not, Baekhyun? What aren't you telling me?" Several different scenarios run through his head, not excluding him unknowingly harboring a wanted fugitive. Who exactly has he brought into his home?

The star plops down on his bed. "How are you going to explain a glowing boy to the people at the clinic?"

"I have a feeling I need to get my head checked out too. And I think the glowing might stop after I do."

Baekhyun sighs and reaches out for him, and when Chanyeol stays put, he motions the other over. "Please, you can't take me. You just..."

Chanyeol backs away a little, suddenly fearful the crazy scenarios in his head might not be so crazy after all. Baekhyun hops up and closes the distance between them, and the auburn-haired boy jerks away when Baekhyun takes his hand. The star looks hurt, mouth turned down in a deep-set frown, and instead reaches up to put his palms on either side of Chanyeol's head.

"What are you doing?" Chanyeol asks quietly.

"Making you understand.”

Suddenly Chanyeol's head is filled with that same warmth that’d lulled him to sleep and reminded him of simpler times. He moves forward subconsciously, craving more, and then it stops and he realizes his ear is pressed to Baekhyun's chest. His own heart races, but he hears no steady thump from the other boy's chest. Only silence.

"I'm not human, Chanyeol. I'm...empty."

Chanyeol straightens up and grabs his wrist to feel for a pulse. Nothing.

There is a star - or more likely alien - in his home. In his bedroom. And he has no idea what to do. Does he take him to the doctor? To the school? Call the police and have them send in some kind of specialist team for weird paranormal ? He honestly doesn’t know, but that pout Baekhyun seems to keep plastered on his face really isn’t helping matters.

After a morning spent with racing thoughts and a boy trying his best to cuddle up again, Chanyeol suggests with a too-bright smile they do the daily chores, even though Baekhyun clearly doesn’t look the type to often work up a sweat and get things done (he’s much too…perfect-looking). Chanyeol shakes that thought away and shuts his eyes when Baekhyun stares up at him again in pure adoration, hair fanned out on his pillow, cheeks a glowing pink hue. It’s a little unnerving, he has to admit.

He still doesn’t know what he’s going to do with Baekhyun, but working outside always manages to clear his head, be it the stress of school or much deeper worries he doesn’t want to recall right now. Somehow the dull ache in his muscles and the structure of it all just helps. When he’s done and winded, those anxieties and fears are long gone.

“What do you want me to do?” Baekhyun asks in excitement as he follows Chanyeol through the back door.

He hands the smaller boy the watering can and directs him to the garden. “It’d be great it you could do some weed-pulling and watering.” That doesn’t last long, though, when Baekhyun waves at him with a handful of his mother’s flowers (“Look, I’m pulling out all the weeds!”). So instead he has Baekhyun help him carry planks of wood out to mend their fence and hold them in place while he tears out and replaces the broken and rotten posts. It’s hard work, and the sun is beating down on them from high overhead, but it’s doing the job. His head is as clear as it’s been since the ordeal last night, and the only thing that’s going through his mind right now is how stubborn the nail in this particular post is being. He’s been trying to work it out for a few minutes now.

“Almost there!” The auburn-haired boy goes rigid and looks behind him. He may have forgotten Baekhyun was there for just a moment – a testament to how effective his yard work remedy is. “Pull harder! You can do it!” What is this, his own personal cheering section?

His grip on the hammer slackens a bit when sees the other boy, porcelain skin glimmering with sweat and cheeks flushed with exertion. This added to Baekhyun’s natural glow is enough to make him look like he's made of celestial stardust, and Chanyeol thinks for sure his jaw is on the ground because of it. Sooo very distracting, he thinks just as the hammer slips from his fingers.

Chanyeol finishes up the fence himself, since he has to grudgingly admit the star is doing more to distract him than speed the process up. He sends the boy inside with much praise and tells him to reward himself with some pie. And after the delicious breakfast, Baekhyun is more than eager to try this pie Chanyeol speaks of. It smells heavenly, whatever it is, and when he takes the first bite he melts in his seat all over again just as he had that morning.

Chanyeol wipes the sweat from his brow as he finishes up in the garden. The fence is repaired, and now all that needs to be done is the watering. His muscles ache in the best of ways- he’s too tired to even dwell on his troubles right now.

Suddenly there’s a hand on his shoulder, and water sloshes from the can when he jumps. His mother motions for him to keep quiet as she unties the dark scarf around her head to shield her from the harsh sun.

“Darling,” the woman says quietly, eyes wide and fearful. “I don’t want to alarm you, but there is somebody in our house.”

Chanyeol accidentally drowns the pansies when his arm falls slack, taking the watering can with it. He’d completely lost track of time.

“He’s a friend, mom. Don’t worry.”

Relief washes over her face at his words. She leans on him for support and laughs lightly. “Oh my goodness, he gave me such a start when I got home!” Chanyeol can only groan and follow after her when she happily insists he introduce her to the boy. They don't have guests very often, after all.

Baekhyun stares at them with wide, unblinking eyes mid-chew when Ms. Park enters the house. Bits of crumbs cling to his shirt and lips, the cherry pie in front of him already half-eaten.

“Mom, this is Baekhyun.” Chanyeol says hurriedly as he rushes through the open back door. “He’s just passing through. He needed a place to stay, so I offered.”

Chanyeol’s mother nods in understanding. It isn’t uncommon for hitchhikers and wayward teens to wander through their town. “Where are you headed, Baekhyun?” she asks politely.

“I…don’t know…?” he mumbles, mouth still full of pie.

Ms. Park gives him a sympathetic look. “Troubles at home, sweetie?”

Chanyeol just sighs because his mother has always fancied herself quite good at reading people. Baekhyun nods and neatly wipes the crumbs from his lips.

Ms. Park analyzes Baekhyun’s appearance – his cute, boyish features, pretty skin and pouty lips. And those hands, my, he must never have worked a day in his life, she thinks. Baekhyun crosses his legs daintily and looks over at her son, his expression starry-eyed and b with adoration. The woman puts a hand over her heart and ventures a guess.

“Parents having a hard time…coming to terms?”

Chanyeol leans dramatically against the door frame at that little implication. The star just his head and looks at her in confusion, so the tall boy steps in to break the silence. “Mom, I don’t think Baekhyun wants to discuss that right now,” he hisses through gritted teeth.

Baekhyun looks at him strangely. “Mom?”

“Err, yes. My mother?”

Baekhyun looks back and forth between them, confused, before realization noticeably sparks in his eyes. He’s done his fair share of research about Earth, but some things occasionally slip his mind. “Ah yes, the woman who birthed you,” he mutters under his breath. Chanyeol barely picks up on it and stares at him like he’s grown another limb.

Baekhyun stands and bows politely. He knows that custom quite well.

“It’s so nice to meet you. Your son is just wonderful helping me like this.” He smiles warmly, and it’s contagious because Ms. Park beams at him right back, the deep-set worry lines not nearly as noticeable when she’s smiling this much. Chanyeol wishes she would smile like this all the time.

“Oh, he’s always had such a kind heart,” the woman agrees with a nod in her son’s direction.

“He saved my life,” he adds, eyes only on Chanyeol. There’s a seriousness to his tone and gaze that’s in such contrast with the playful and lighthearted nature Chanyeol is used to seeing from him, it gives him goosebumps.

"My boy,” she says and looks at her son, starry-eyed. “My little hero.”

Chanyeol scratches the back of his head sheepishly. “Nothing like that, really."

“Tell you what, stay until you work things out at home, dear. I’ll make up a bed in the den later.”

The star’s eyes crinkle as he smiles happily, and the glow beneath his cheeks flares a soft pink. Chanyeol’s hand slips from the doorframe, and he nearly smacks his head. He loudly announces he’ll take care of the bed as he grabs Baekhyun’s elbow and drags him down the hall before the star can even express his graditude.

“She couldn’t see you were glowing,” Chanyeol mutters as he paces once they’re alone in his room. “How do I know you’re not some strange figment of my imagination? How do I know there’s not something wrong with me?”

Baekhyun fidgets and worries his pink lip between his teeth. “I’m not. And there’s nothing wrong with you. I already showed you proof,” he says and touches his chest where his heart should be.

The other ignores him. “But she couldn’t see you glow! How?!”

“I’m… I don’t know.” Chanyeol continues to pace, so the little star hops up and grabs his hand. A lovely warmth blooms within him instantly and makes him flinch away from Baekhyun. He hasn’t quite gotten used to that yet. “Chanyeol. Is it so bad that you’re the only person who can see me…for what I really am?”

Chanyeol doesn’t give him an answer and instead continues pacing. Baekhyun really needs to stop saying things like that, things he says so light-heartedly but carry a weight to them that is anything but light and imply things Chanyeol can’t even begin to understand yet.

The teenager halts and finally looks at him.

“I guess not,” he replies softly. He averts his gaze and misses Baekhyun’s wide eyes and flickering glow.

awheeeeew finally! I am still alive, despite long periods of being mia. so sorry orz

Hopefully next updates will be a little more frequent, but I have many things/big changes coming up irl so I can't make promises. ;; But your responses to this story always make me smile and I read each and every comment with a big, goofy grin on my face. It means a lot, guys, so thank you. I'm glad you love Star Baek as much as I do.

As always, feedback and upvotes are appreciated! Star Baek hugs all around.

<3