reflections and reality.[Baekyeol]

Sometime's life is so frightening and Chanyeol doesn't know why.

It's the peak hour and as he steps onto the streets, he's instantly overwhelmed with the numerous amount of people squeezing and barging past each other, trying to make their way home. They move past each other quickly, but it seems like slow-motion to Chanyeol as he walks slowly- occasionally jostled by strangers- seeing only vague silhouettes contrasted against the shimmers of sunlight that seeped through the extremely small gaps between these anxious individuals.

Chanyeol doesn't even attempt to move forcefully past this people because according to what he thinks, if people keep squeezing against each other, it just makes it all the more difficult to walk out of this jam-packed bunch of beings, so why make the effort to?

But as a firm and muscular figure approaches him and they accidentally collide against each others shoulders, he finds himself being yelled at- even though he apparently wasn't the one at fault. Chanyeol decides to let it go because first, he wouldn't be able to afford a fight with him given his seemingly strong physique and second, because everyone wants to go home; because sometimes home is the only place anyone can return to when they're in a bad mood, or when something undesirable happened and they just wish to be comforted.

He chuckles in apparent mirth at the thought of this because really, it sounded like the words of a twelve-year-old. Besides, he never really experienced the meaning of being loved by a family- not to mention the fact that he had not even a family.

Maybe that's why he's so fearful of the world. 

Being an orphan, he had once enjoyed the comforts of kinship and had once laid in the embrace of his family, shrouded from the many frightening tragedies that could possibly occur in the world. But it was all taken away from him too quickly, quicker than he could possibly learn to adjust. 

He thinks the reason why he's so traumatised is because, unlike the others who gradually learn to face the horrifying atrocities of the world, he's being forced into abrupt confrontation and this scares him so badly because it's resembles so much of the impact of jet black dye on a magnolia white surface- so sudden, so irrevocable.

As he silently dwelled over his thoughts, he doesn't realise a short, rogue-brown haired man coming towards his direction. Chanyeol continues walking slowly in oblivion, the hurrying pack of people bumping into his shoulders one after another as they pass by, his vision completely obscured by an overpowering feeling- something known as helplessness.

Before he knows it he finds himself colliding into yet another being, and having remembered what precisely occurred a few moments ago when he had bumped into the fearfully harsh man, his lips immediately curved downwards into a frown as he hastily utters, "sorry, sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to."

Much to his surprise, the man whom he had seemingly collided into did not seem to be bothered at all by the incident. Instead of hurling insults or punches at him in an agitated state, the shorter man had remained pretty reticient, in fact, too calm.

"It's okay, I forgive you." The latter stares up into Chanyeol's eyes and smiles slightly.

Although Chanyeol is completely surprised by his reaction, he tries to conceal his astonishment by returning a grin and then muttering, "s-sorry, and thank you." 

Chanyeol thinks it's time for him to go because nobody really stays for long, so he attempts to make a move awkwardly but his intended action is ceased when he feels something soft against his arms. Chanyeol abruptly realises that the other has his hand wrapped around his arm, and that the sudden touch and the look of the long and slender fingers entrailed around his skin seemed to give him a sense of reassurance he could not quite comprehend.

Chanyeol stares intently at said person with a bewildered expression plastered across his face, waiting for a response, or something that could possibly explain the latter's behaviour.

"Chanyeol," the stranger mutters faintly and pauses, making it seem as if he had been distracted by something else, before continuing almost inaudibly, "I've been waiting for you for a long, long time."

Chanyeol is pretty sure he hasn't ever seen this man, and that although there had been a feeling of familiarity lingering around the corners of his mind, it was simply imagination. This could explain why it surprised and slightly frightened him when the words first drifted from the other's lips into his ears, the words that seemingly composed his name, and the name of another.

Someone known as Baekhyun.