“I’m sorry.”

Those were the last words the boy heard from his ex-lover. Five years of dating, loving and sharing memories together ended with her cheating and those two simple words. She said their love had withered, that they were no longer the two youths that were madly in love with each other anymore. They both needed something- or someone- new, she had told him. She said that it was time for them to go on their separate ways. And she left him, sitting alone in the café.

He hadn’t realized love could end so quickly.

Taking a sip from his iced coffee, he didn’t think about where he went wrong. He didn’t even think about how he was cheated on, lied to, and then thrown away. No, he didn’t think about that. Instead, he thought about how he would be cold at night, no longer having a warm body sleeping beside him to keep him warm; he would no longer have to make two cups of coffee in the morning; he would no longer have those simple, meaningless everyday conversations to share with someone.

Yes, she was right. They weren’t lovers anymore. They were just simple companions keeping loneliness away.

Baekhyun stood up and threw his empty cup away, walking out of the cozy café and into the blazing sun. It was a hot summer this year, with each day full of humidity and sweat. He used to love the summer, back when he had a long break off from school and spent time with his crazy friends. Now it was just like any other time of the year, filled with him working and the occasional day off. The time he had spent planning outings to the beach was now used for planning projects; instead of staying out late at night playing with fireworks he stayed inside, enjoying a quiet dinner while watching the television.

It was sad to say, but he had grown up. Gone were the days where every day was a high energy, crazy non-stop day, now replaced with the normal nine to five work schedule most everyone built their lives around. His childhood had ended when he had graduated from college. The hard-cold truth that he could no longer afford to have fun everyday sank in quickly, and soon he picked up his scheduled life. He didn’t hate his life- having a well-paid job had its benefits. But he couldn’t remember the last time he had fun. The all out, crazy fun of his youth.

He was only twenty-three, but god, he was living like a middle-aged man, he realized. Glancing up at the sky, he wondered how he could change back into a semblance of his youthful self. Was it even possible to turn away from reality, away from the bills and money, and return to the time where the day only ended when he ran out of energy? To the time he didn’t have such overwhelming responsibilities? To the days of his childhood?

It’s impossible, he thought, shaking his head tiredly.

He made his way into his apartment building, heading to his individual mail box like he did routinely every day. The contents were the same as any day- bills, advertisements and- he stopped, and stared at the tattered, hand-written letter, the return address from his parents. He couldn’t remember the last time he received a written letter and couldn’t figure out why his parents would send him one. It was much easier to send a quick email, especially since it would never get lost on the way.

He rode the elevator to the seventh floor and entered into his small but cozy apartment. His ex had already taken her things with her. He realized that over the past few weeks her things had slowly started disappearing, until the last one, herself, left. Throwing the bills on the counter to look at later, he plopped on his couch and examined the letter. His parents rarely sent him anything; they much preferred him to visit and give him items then.

Opening the envelope, he found another letter inside. Now this is definitely different, he thought. It was obviously not sent recently, as the paper envelope had yellowed and the stamp had the year from fifteen years ago. It didn’t have a return address and the hand-written address was nearly impossible to make out, as if it were written by a child. He shrugged and opened the envelope.

Inside was a letter. Unfolding the badly folded paper, he found what he had only just that day wished for. A return to his childhood. The letter was written by his eight year old self and sent to his future self fifteen years from when it was written. A letter from his youthful self to his currently worn out self.

He tried to remember when he had written it. He didn’t have many distinct memories from when he was eight years old. Back then, the days morphed into each other, full of fun and adventures that always ended with him injured or in trouble, just like any kid his age. The only distinct memory was of the person that always followed him around- his best friend Chanyeol. The two of them were inseparable and the biggest trouble makers in the entire town, forever getting in trouble with their parents and the adults. They were famous for their crazy pranks and tricks, setting everyone as their target and themselves as the masterminds. Those were the days when the biggest worry was whether or not they had enough money for ice cream.

He hadn’t talked to his childhood friend since they graduated from high school. They had been inseparable until then- it was a school joke that it was impossible to have only bacon or egg; they only came together. After graduation, the two went to different colleges. Baekhyun went to a school to major in architecture, Chanyeol to one that had a good engineering program. It was almost funny how their childhood had shaped their careers without much effort- Baekhyun always had skill in drawing out traps, and Chanyeol always had the skill in building and working them.

 Glancing at the letter in his hands, Baekhyun noticed a picture in the lower left-hand corner. A picture of a goldfish with the name ‘Omelet’ written underneath it. He remembered when he wrote this. He could remember it as if it were yesterday.

“Yah! Chanyeol! Go away!” Eight year old Baekhyun shouted, swatting the giant monkey on his back away.

Dodging his friend’s hand, Chanyeol grinned and peaked over his shoulder. “Whatcha’ writing?”

The smaller boy leaned over his paper, shielding it from the curious eyes of the taller. “None of your business! This is for the future me to read only, not for you!” he grumbled. “Don’t you have your own letter to write?”

Chanyeol pointed to the counter, where his letter sat, folded and already placed in the labeled envelope. His smile grew larger as Baekhyun stared in shock at the finished letter.

“What?! We started at the same time! How could you finish before me!”

Chanyeol shrugged. “It’s not my fault you can’t write.” Baekhyun stepped forward to hit him, but Chanyeol dodged and snuck in front of him to read his letter.

“No! Stop!” The shorter yelled, attempting to push the other away and failing miserably. He watched as his friend read the letter, his face growing red as the seconds passed by.

Chanyeol glanced up to him after he finished, grinning at the other’s tomato red face. “It’s not that bad.” He remarked, ruffling the shorter’s hair.

“I didn’t ask.” He grumbled, snatching his letter away.

“I’ll help you write the rest.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“You haven’t even finished half of the page. You won’t finish in time for us to watch the fireworks.”

Baekhyun gasped, realizing that Chanyeol, was in fact, correct. The fireworks were going to start in five minutes, and it had taken him ten minutes to write the five lines of his letter so far.

“Fine. But only write what I tell you.” He huffed, giving Chanyeol a glare.

“Ay ay captain!” He grinned back and grabbed the pen from the counter.

“Okay...Future me, do I have a dog yet? Mom said that when I get older I can have one, but I think she’s lying.” He paused, waiting for Chanyeol to finish writing. When he glanced up to show he was ready, Baekhyun continued. “Um…We’ll be done with college, right?” he asked, to which Chanyeol nodded in agreement. “Okay. Make sure you have an awesome job, okay? I don’t want to be someone boring when I grow up. Make sure I have lots of fun. And ice cream. Make sure I have an unlimited supply of it. Or better yet! I hope I have an ice cream shop! Yeah, that way I won’t run out of any! And-”

“Slow down!” Chanyeol exclaimed, trying to catch everything the excited boy beside him said. Baekhyun paused while the other boy furiously wrote everything he said. Looking up from the paper, he smiled up at Baekhyun. Baekhyun froze.

“What else?” The taller asked expectantly. Baekhyun stared at him, his face starting to turn red.

“That’s all.” He squeaked out.

“You sure?” Chanyeol asked, glancing down at the letter and the large empty space near the bottom.

“Yeah…Oh! I’ll draw a picture of Orangie to make sure I remember that I won him tonight!” He exclaimed, snatching the pen from Chanyeol and quickly drawing an oval shaped fish. Chanyeol watched as he worked on the drawing, his tongue between his teeth in concentration. Baekhyun was an amazing closet artist, though only Chanyeol knew, so the end result actually looked similar to the fish in the bag that was staring at them on the counter.

“There! Now I just have to sign it!” He exclaimed, signing his letter with a flourish.

Chanyeol looked at the letter, and frowned slightly. “What?” Baekhyun asked, worried that he forgot something. Chanyeol snatched the pen and quickly scribbled something under the fish drawing. “So you remember his name.” He grinned.

Baekhyun glanced back down at his drawing to see the name ‘Omelet’ written under it. “What! No! His name is Orangie, not Omelet!” He exclaimed, turning to glare at his friend.

“Omelet sounds better. Orangie is too simple.” He stated matter-of-factly.

“But I won him so I name him!” Baekhyun pouted.

“But you used my ticket, so I name him.” Chanyeol flashed him a triumphant grin. Baekhyun huffed in defeat.

Suddenly a loud bang sounded, causing the two boys to jump in fright. Colored lights flew around the stand, causing them to look up in shock. “Fireworks! The fireworks started! Hurry up!” Chanyeol shouted over the noise, tugging at Baekhyun’s arm.

“Just a minute! Go to our spot and I’ll meet you there!” Baekhyun yelled back. Chanyeol nodded his head and ran off to their spot, the best one for viewing the fireworks.

Baekhyun turned to his letter one last time and quickly wrote the last thing he wanted to tell his future self. Something he definitely didn’t want Chanyeol to see.

‘Make sure you’re still the bestest friends with Chanyeol.’

Baekhyun looked at the letter with a faint frown. His eight year old self would probably beat him up right now. First, his freezer didn’t have any ice cream in it. Second, he never did get a dog, just like he had guessed. Thirdly, he definitely wasn’t having the time of his life like he did back then. In fact, he was having trouble trying to figure out where all the fun went to. And the biggest reason why he would be beaten to a pulp by his younger self was because he definitely wasn’t bestest friends with Chanyeol at the moment. They hadn’t even really spoken to each other in seven years, save for the occasional chat on facebook. His younger self would be so embarrassed right now.

Sighing, Baekhyun threw his head back to rest on the couch’s cushions. He was happy that he had received a memory from the past, extremely happy. But it wasn’t enough to throw away the cold, monotone feeling of the present. None of his childish dreams could fit within the tight rules of reality. Life and he couldn’t do anything to change it.

Wallowing in his temporary moment of self pity did nothing to help Baekhyun’s mood. It only dragged him deeper and deeper into the dark abyss of reality. His life was becoming similar to a robot’s systematic life and the only way he could think of changing it was if something big happened. Something that came with a bang.

Baekhyun froze, his eyes widening at the sudden thought. A bang, he thought, I need a bang. Jumping up from the sofa, he ran to the calendar on the wall of his kitchen, glancing at the date. The twentieth. Today was the twentieth. The day the festival was held every year. He jumped up in excitement. What better way to start off than with the festival that had fireworks!

Running to the phone, Baekhyun picked it up to quickly make plans, only to realize that he didn’t have the number of the one person he had planned to go with. Chanyeol. He didn’t have his number and he didn’t know where he lived. Facebook wasn’t fast enough to make last minute plans.

Changing tactics, he quickly dialed his parent’s number, hoping they hadn’t already left for the festival. On the fourth ring, his mother answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi Mom! I need your help!”

“Baekhyun! It’s been so long since you last called! Did you get the letter I sent you?”

“Yes! I just got it today! And I need your help! Do you have Chanyeol’s phone number?” He crossed his fingers, hoping to God that she did. He didn’t know what he would do if his sudden spur of the moment plan failed. And it had a great chance of doing just that.

“Chanyeol’s? Why yes, I do! Just a moment while I go and look it up.”

Scribbling down the number his mother told him, he quickly thanked her, promised he would call her again soon and hung up. Pausing to catch his breath, he looked at the number. He was excited, but what if the person himself was too busy. And what if he wasn’t willing to hang out? The small conversations they did have over the years weren’t very deep and a lot could have changed over the past years.

Baekhyun stopped his thoughts before they got the better of him and quickly dialed the number. It was now or never. Luckily the phone was picked up on the fourth ring. Baekhyun doubted his heart could last for the fifth.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this Chanyeol?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes…is the Baekhyun?!”

“Yeah, it’s me!” Baekhyun grinned, pleasantly surprised that Chanyeol could still recognize his voice after all of these years.

“Holy cow! Dude, it’s been forever! Oh my gosh, you don’t know how much I missed you!”

Baekhyun could feel his face growing hotter, feeling glad that he wasn’t talking face to face with his friend at the moment. “Yeah, it’s been too long. I was wondering if you’re free tonight?” He waited as the other end became silent for a moment, his heart beating loudly in his ears.

“Mmmh. Yep, I’m free! What’s going on?”

The strain in his heart from nervousness disappeared and was quickly replaced with excitement. “Great! Did you know today is the festival?! Do you want to go together?” He tried to contain his excitement, but from the soft laughter on the other end of the phone, he guessed that he had failed miserably.

“Yeah, sure! It’ll be fun to hang out like old times.” Baekhyun could hear the smile in his voice. The smile he loved so much.

“Great! Then I’ll meet you at the gates at seven!”

“Can’t wait! I’ll see you then!”

“Okay! And Chanyeol…” He paused, not sure whether or not he should continue.

“Yeah?”

“…I’m sorry.” The other end was silent for a moment, and Baekhyun wondered if Chanyeol had understood what he was apologizing for.

“It’s alright, Bacon.” He smiled at the nickname, realizing that Chanyeol had already forgiven him for losing contact. “You’ll just have to make up for all of our lost time and fun with tonight.” Baekhyun caught the devilish tone in his voice and grinned.

Tonight was going to be full of crazy fun.