“So how was school today?... Did I miss anything important?”

“It was alright… you didn’t miss anything special. I’m right here.”  Chanyeol answers, straightening the collar of his school uniform.

“You’re so dumb...” You laugh, breaking the calm silence. Chanyeol lets out a throaty chuckle.

“But it’s true, isn’t it? I’m the best part of going to school; don’t try to deny it…” He jokes, shaking the girl leaning on his shoulder.

“Haha, sure sure sure… believe what you want.”  Ahri rolls her eyes. “ I’m actually gonna fail every class if you don’t help me though…”

“Well… the answer is simple! Just quit skipping school so often.” Chanyeol replies letting out a sigh.

“It’s not called skipping when I’m-“ Ahri replies, irritated.

“I know, I know… just teasing you okay? Forget I even said that…” He interrupts her with a light tone, lifting his arm and draping it over her shoulders.

                Chanyeol and Ahri let out airy sighs, taking in the peacefulness that surrounded them. The only sounds that could be heard were the rustling of trees and the gentle splashes of the water fountain. There was rarely ever anyone at this small park; it was pristine, untouched by the commotion of the world, unchanged by the years that passed. And that’s what they liked about it, it’s as if it was a separate realm from reality, untouched by the hands of time; it was the only thing that was really constant and still in their lives.

                The sudden rough itch crawled up Ahri’s throat. She grit her teeth and reluctantly let out restrained coughs, covering with the back of her hand.

“Wait. Hang on, let me-“ Chanyeol says as he quickly pulls off his navy blue blazer. He puts it around Ahri before wrapping his arm around her. Ahri continues to cough, but strangely enough, with a smile on her face.

“Yah… You okay?” He asks worriedly, rubbing is hand on her arm, pulling her a little closer. She nods after a couple more coughs.

“Did you just tell me to ‘wait’ and ‘hang on’ while I was coughing?”  She laughs breathily. Chanyeol looks at her with a ‘really? That’s all you have to say?’ look.

“ No.” He quickly rebuts, Ahri looks at him, raising one of her eyebrows.

“… Maybe.” He mumbles after a short pause. “Oh! What I actually meant was, I was talking to myself, out loud. I mean, thinking, out. loud. Aha.” He adds pursing his lips, hiding his smile. Ahri’s expression remains unchanged, clearly amused by Chanyeol’s rambling nonsense.

“OKAY. FINE. I freaked out okay? Sheesh…” He rolls his eyes as he jumps up, slightly embarrassed. “Now stop looking at me like that.” Ahri laughs at him, forgetting all about the incessant scratching feeling of .

“Ahahaha, okay, okay, I get it, you got scared. Haha. Thank you for worrying about me,” She finally manages to say, smiling.

“You’re welcome. And. Since I was so nice and considerate… What’s my reward? A hug, maybe?” Chanyeol nudges Ahri gently.

“Aha, how about no,” She chuckles as she gently pushes him away.

“No? Oh… I get it, you wanna give me a better reward, right?” He continues, his voice and body getting visibly jumpy.

“…?”

“… And you call me dumb. What’s better than a hug?” He asks, slightly annoyed but still excited. He shifts closer to sit beside her.

“…?”

“…” He sighs after the pause. “A kiss. Or better yet, kisses.”  He smiles mischievously, lips pressed tightly together.

“Nononononononononooo.” Ahri jerks away from Chanyeol, pressing her index finger on his incoming lips.

                Chanyeol’s eyes popped wide open; he was so ready to kiss her, and curious as to how she was able to stop him. He was so close and quick, he was sure he’d be able to steal a peck. Ahri laughs at his puppy like expression, keeping her finger on his lips. Uh oh, balance is going to fail me…, Ahri thinks as she glances down at her left arm that was supporting her body weight, not to mention Chanyeol’s head weight on her finger. They stay motionless for a couple moments before Ahri finally breaks the silence.

“Uhh... Hang on, you said it’s a reward right?” Ahri begins, hesitant, nodding slowly, to check if Chanyeol’s mind was still present. Chanyeol responds with a single blink, his eyes still bugging out.

“So… I’ll kiss you… Okay?” She continues, still nodding her head slowly. Questioning the state of mind he was in. Suddenly, Chanyeol’s lips curl up into a smile, still pressed against her finger. He nods once, smiling as if he was a kid who was about to get candy.

“Okay… So, I’m gonna sit up now… You do that too.” She nods slowly, standing up. Chanyeol sits straight up, legs crossed, his big eyes watching her expectantly.

“But you have to close your eyes… Okay?” Chanyeol closes his eyes, still smiling like a fool.

*Snap* *Snap*

                Chanyeol opens his eyes at the odd sound, to see Ahri, metres away from him, snapping photos of him with her phone.

“Why you little! Come here! I’m getting that kiss for sure!” He shouts as he stumbles up from the ground and chases the running Ahri. Unfortunately for Ahri, Chanyeol’s long legs bested her much shorter ones, as he managed to have her in his bear backhug within a matter of minutes. Ahri struggles to escape Chanyeol’s attempts at kissing her cheeks, letting out “ew”’s and “no”’s in between her quiet shrieking.

“What’s the big deal anyways? It’s not like I haven’t kissed you before,” Chanyeol laughs as he keeps her caged in his backhug, giving up on his kisses. Ahri rolls her eyes, unable to hide her smile.

“Besides… I think now is a nice time, just me and you, in our Neverland, the nice breeze, the sound of leaves rustling…”

“Never…land…?”

“Yeah! Like in Peter Pan. Because whenever we’re here, there aren’t any signs that time is ticking, we don’t feel it ticking... We have all the time in the world here.” He explains, pushing a smile through pursed lips. Ahri swallows the lump in . What he’s saying is right… It doesn’t feel like time is ticking here. It doesn’t feel like my time is passing by. I don’t feel weak here.

“Ahem, but anyways! How about that kiss of mine?... It’s the perfect moment, the sunset and all… in our Neverland” Chanyeol chimes in cheerily, breaking Ahri’s train of thought.

“The sunset…?”

“Yeah… Romantic, right?” He smiles, almost sounding proud.

“What time is it?!” Ahri asks worriedly.

“H-huh? Its... 6:00” Chanyeol answers, finally remembering what that meant. He lets go of his grasp and takes Ahri’s hand in his. “Let’s go?”

“Mmm.” Ahri nods.

“If only you brought your meds with you…” Chanyeol mumbles quietly to himself after a couple minutes.

“Hmm?”

“Erm… nothing”

“Hahaha, okay...” Ahri chuckles, “I can’t believe we stayed here for over 3 hours… it honestly only felt like half an hour…”

“What’d I tell you? This is Neverland” Chanyeol whispers, his usual smile plastered on his face.

                Ahri sighs as she took one more look back at their Neverland, then at the boy who was holding her hand. Smiling the same smile that was there since the first time they met years ago, always making her smile and laugh, being her much needed vitamin, Chanyeol was the only thing in her life that was unwaveringly constant. The one thing in her life that helped her forget that her body was weakening, forget that her sickness was growing, and most significantly, forget that time wasn’t on her side. Ahri smiles as Chanyeol gently squeezed her hand, she knew that no matter how bad things got, no matter how fast time was flying by, Chanyeol would make it seem like nothing was happening, stopping time. He was her very own Peter Pan, in their Neverland.