Parents live through their children.

Children live through their parents.

Families exist to remember and preserve memories.

When the world no longer has the need for someone, and they are forgotten, they fade away.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol had different plans. They would be forever, always remembering, always existing; together.

Monday 08:32

“You’re going to get hurt if you keep this up, you know?” Baekhyun says as he opens the door for Chanyeol, more than a little reluctantly. Chanyeol had a bad habit of walking the streets at night. They didn't live in the best neighborhood, and the wandering always had the boy worried. He always said he was looking for something, though he never seemed to be quite sure what that something was. A short while after the sun began to creep over the horizon; Baekhyun would be faced with an exhausted giant at his front door. It wasn’t really a door; it more resembled a worn sheet of plywood… with a handle. Regardless of the inconvenience of the visits, Baekhyun had learned to sleep right by the door. Chanyeol steps in.

"So far so good." comes the reply, followed by a hearty yawn. He walks straight to the futon, collapsing and curling into the remaining warmth. All Baekhyun can do is watch as he falls into an instant deep sleep. How Baekhyun envies his friend, so carefree and happy; he's living the simple life, leaving poor Baekhyun to do all the worrying. 

Monday 13:40

"I'll be back soon," Chanyeol says.

"Take care." Baekhyun gives him a warm hug and nods, as though granting permission. He leaves, and Baekhyun is left to tidy up; and to think. He thinks about his relationship with Chanyeol, and how they were unofficially, officially together. Chanyeol didn't like the term 'boyfriend'; it didn't seem serious to him. They were an item, but they didn't need to announce it to the world; the world didn't care to know. 

It's summer, hot and humid. The pavement scorching, melting the soles of cheap shoes and with them, the souls of their owners. 

Chanyeol walks on that pavement.

Baekhyun waits.

Monday 20:16

"Where are you, Chanyeol?" Baekhyun worries. He's been sitting around all day, waiting, heart pounding. He goes to lay out the futon for the night, opting for the larger one, Chanyeol needed lots of sleeping space. With the pillows fluffed and blanket folded, all that was left to do was to call Chanyeol. Baekhyun pulls the phone out of his pocket and looks at it for a moment.

Something is wrong.

Something is very wrong.

And then it hits him.

He's holding the phone, but he can't see his hand. His fingers are transluscent, the phone seems to be floating, and immidiately he shoves it back into his pocket and runs.

He runs all over their small city, frantically searching Chanyeol's usual paths, his usual places; but Chanyeol was nowhere to be found. Baekhyun is screaming "Chanyeol!" at the top of his lungs, tears freely flowing from his eyes, soaking his shirt and flying behind him. "Park Chanyeol!"

He gets no response, as he makes his way home, silently hoping to whatever may be out there that Chanyeol was safe.

The tears never stop.

tuesday 08:30

There's a knock at the door and Baekhyun rushes to it, opening it quickly. "Chan--" His voice trails off as he sees two officers standing in his doorway. 

"Byun Baekhyun?" One of them asks.

"Y-yes.." Comes the hesitant answer.

"We have bad news."

tuesday 23:45

Baekhyun's on his fifth glass of Vodka; no point in taking shots now. The officers had informed him that Chanyeol was dead. Baekhyun had foolishly wished to know why, to which they replied that he had been "Mugged and beaten to death." 

He cried right then and there, the transparency spread to his arm and started to take his other fingers as well. He had no family, no siblings, no friends. Only Chanyeol, and now with Chanyeol gone... He would be too. 

"How dare you.." Baekhyun yelled at noone. "How dare you leave me all alone! It's not fair.. It's not fair, I hate you, Park Chanyeol!" he screamed, kicking a shoe through a window. His toes were going, too. He'd heard rumors, that it gets more painful as the days went by. He only had five left; everyone knows you vanish after a week.

He collapsed on the futon, murmuring Chanyeol's name and cursing it as he fell asleep.

wednesday 09:50

Baekhyun slept in for the first time in years, but it came with a headache. He was vanishing, yet the headaches refused to. 

He didn't do much that day, other than crying and losing his breath, falling into an exhaisted sleep multiple times. 

He didn't need to eat anymore.

Maybe that was a good thing.

thursday 10:00

It's less humid today, and Baekhyun says 'thank you' to whomever happens to be listening. He walks around his favorite streets, the older streets; the ones with crumbling red brick buildings, and sidewalks with cracks so wide you could fall through them. He finds himself on Chanyeol's favote street. It's sudden. He doesn't know how he got here. 

"Baek."

His head turns around in a flash at Chanyeol's voice. "Chan?" But there's noone there. 

He's gone. 

Baekhyun constantly has to remind himself of that. He's gone forever, and there's no chance of seeing him again. 

Baekhyun wonders what happens to people once they fade completely. He wonders if they're still here, just invisible. Maybe they go to some nice place, like heaven. He scoffed. Baekhyun hadn't believed in heaven ever since Chanyeol came around. Heaven happened right then and there, and anything without him, was, by default, hell.

Baekhyun didn't want to stay in hell.

thursday 22:19

A day of walking had rendered him exhausted. He fell face first into the softness of his futon, stretching his now invisible legs and muttering an "I hate you, Chanyeol." Before falling into a dreamless sleep.

Baekhyun's watch is broken, but his calendar tells him it's friday.

The sun's got a head start this morning, or maybe it was the afternoon. He walks around his room, finally taking the time to gather Chayeol's things, and pile them up on his side of the futon. "I hate you." he mumbles again. 

Hate is a strong word; but so is pain. Baekhyun was in pain and with each object he picked up, he felt more of it. His heart was cracking into a thousand tiny pieces and he didn't know how to stop it. He wanted it to stop. He wanted to be able to see more than just his face again, he wanted to be loved again. 

He wanted Chanyeol to come back. He wanted Chanyeol to come back and the second that idiot stepped through that door Baekhyun would smack him across the face and scold him for dying in such an undramatic manner. This had to be bad for him.

He can't see the sun anymore.

"Baekhyun."

He didn't look this time. 

"You're not here. You're not here, and I'm alone. Go away!" He screamed, throwing his pillow in the direction of the voice. He just wanted this to end. 

"Let me go..." he cried, as he shut down, and once again, fell asleep.

Baekhyun wakes up on a bridge.

It's a long sort of bridge, pretty, too, like the ones at the Japanese gardens. Though this one was a bit strange. One end very clearly protruded from his room, but he couldn't quite make out where the other end led to. He stood and took a step towards his room, and just the same, the room moved back; as if telling him he wasn't allowed back. 'So now it has a mind of its own. Great.' He thought to himself, as he reluctantly took a step toward the foggy end. 

He walked for what seemed to be a few hours, then a few days, but he wasn't tired, and he was almost certain he could see the end of the bridge close by. 

He was thirsty though. He ran across the wooden boards, ignoring their eerie, hollow sound as his unseen feet connected with them. 

He ran for what seemed like an eternity.