[title song: eternity - vixx]

chapter 11;

“Where are we going?” Hyemi asks for the sixth time.

Everyone in the carriage ignores her. For the sixth time. She glares at each cloaked figure and Suho before turning to Baekhyun, who still has his face hidden. Without another word, she grabs his arm and shakes him.

Finally, finally, he responds, his tone indignantly. “Ow, Hyemi! What the hell?”

“Answer me, goddammit.” Hyemi admittedly whines, still clutching his arm. “Where are we going? What’s happening? Say something! Please.”

She catches a glimpse of Baekhyun’s pink mouth, turned down in a frown, but he doesn’t respond. Instead Suho speaks, in an authoritative voice. “Chen.” Suho snaps, irritably.

Hyemi furrows her eyebrows in confusion. Chen? Who the hell is Chen? She turns her head and she sees one of the cloaked figures getting up, almost hesitantly.

Baekhyun speaks up then, tone clipped, as his fingers find Hyemi’s wrist and pulls back on it. “Chen, don’t you ing dare.”

Suho narrows his eyes at Baekhyun, “Baekhyun, are you disobeying—”

“Yes.” Baekhyun interrupts, his grip on Hyemi’s wrist tightening, making her wince a little.

Suho just sighs, tiredly, before glancing away. He speaks softly. “Both of them, then.”

Before she can question what the hell they’re talking about she feels a jolt of energy run through her spine and straight to her toes and even the tips of her ears. Her eyes begin to droop, against her will, and Hyemi vaguely registers a pressure on her right shoulder. Before she knows it her whole world goes black.

~.~.~.~.~

Hyemi wakes up to darkness and a pressure along her back. She fumbles a bit as she tries to sit up and groans because she feels too slow. What the hell happened? Hyemi tosses to the side and finds herself face to face with Byun Baekhyun.

She glares at him and raises her hands (to smack him or push him off the bed, she’s not entirely sure) but then she pauses, her eyes focusing on his sleeping face, the long lashes and pink lips and the fact that he very much resembles a sleeping puppy completely throws her off. Her anger dissipates as she’s suddenly hit with memories from so long ago, memories she’s tried to keep locked away at the back of her mind for years now.

She remembers the time her father had brought home his first serious girlfriend and even though she knew she should be happy for her father, because he’s finally moving on and he’s genuinely laughing downstairs with this other woman, the happiness in his voice apparent even with a whole floor separating Hyemi and her father, Hyemi had felt almost sick. She remembers crawling out her bedroom window and making the trek to Baekhyun’s house, she remembers calling him, his voice sleepy, and she remembers the way he had stuck his head out the window, hair ruffled, and frown apparent. She had had to serenade him from beneath his window for nearly twenty minutes before he had let her in through the front door, declaring that she deserved that since she had woken him up.

She remembers those other times, when she’d stay over at his house, his parents gone every time since apparently they had a penchant for traveling constantly. She remembers waking up before him and rolling her eyes at the way his mouth would hang wide open and the way his legs would somehow always end up sprawled across her stomach, much to her annoyance and his amusement.

Hyemi blinks, quickly shaking her head to expel those thoughts. She’s missed Baekhyun so much, she’s missed her best friend so much, and it’s terrifying to realize that all those memories and moments she’s shared with him might not even be real. He could have been lying to her from way back then; he could be lying to her now. It scares her to know that she’s in a strange world full of magical people who want to see her suffer and she can’t trust anyone, not even Baekhyun.

So she promptly shoves him off the bed. He rolls off the edge and hits the ground with a loud thrash and a girlish squeal. Hyemi lies on her side and crosses her arms, waiting as she hears a loud groan before Baekhyun’s head pops up into her line of sight, his face twisted into an irritated scowl.

“Good morning.” She says, sarcastically, glaring right back at him.

“What the hell was that for?” Baekhyun hisses, eyes narrowed and dark hair resembling a nest. He pouts slightly and Hyemi rolls her eyes.

She reaches out and he lowers his guard, probably assuming Hyemi’s going to comfort him or something. She just pushes him again and he yelps, falling back on his . Then she points at him, glaring. “How about you finally tell me what the is going on?” Hyemi says, menacingly.

Baekhyun slowly gets to his feet, making a show of how in pain he is from Hyemi’s shoves. “You already know—”

Hyemi cuts him off quickly, crossing her arms as she sits on the bed and looks up at him. He’s standing now and it’s slightly intimidating since he’s practically towering over her, but she’s done with these secrets. She’s done with Byun Baekhyun’s mysterious bull. “Don’t you dare tell me I already know everything. I was supposed to go back to the dungeons with Minseok after the tree thing. Speaking of which, you never even told me I was going to get arrested and end up in a goddamn dungeon in the first place, so thanks. Now, I’m in some ing room with your lying, conniving just because I was asking for answers. I’m sick of this, Byun Baekhyun. I want to know everything right now. Tell me everything.” By the end of Hyemi’s rant, she finds that she has to work to control the volume of her voice, frustration and anger bubbling up inside of her.

“Lying, conniving ?” Baekhyun asks, in a slightly offended voice, and Hyemi actually groans in frustration, throwing the pillow next to her knees at Baekhyun’s stupid face.

“Is that all you got out of that?” She mutters, angrily.

Baekhyun bristles at that, swiping the pillow away from his before he crosses his arms, and for a second Hyemi is very intimidated by Byun Baekhyun. He’s always had this aura about him that demanded some sort of respect and Hyemi’s only seen him get angry once. He could easily tear someone apart with his words alone and that fact has always scared Hyemi.

“First of all, I never even knew you’d get arrested so do not blame that on me. My job is to protect you, Hyemi.” Baekhyun says, coldly, his tone hard.

“Well, you’re doing a ty job at it.” Hyemi retorts, thinking of her visions from the tree. And he’s going to be doing a ty job in the future if my visions do end up becoming true, she thinks, her stomach churning uncomfortably.

There’s a noise and she blinks rapidly when Baekhyun suddenly kneels on the bed, right in front of her, his face centimeters from hers. Her eyes widen in surprise and she tries to scramble back, but he grabs her forearms, and she’s only able to lean her face away, allowing herself some room to breathe. Baekhyun’s eyes are dark and serious and way too close. “What else did you see?”

“Excuse me.” Hyemi snaps, frowning at Baekhyun and his excessive touchiness.

Baekhyun bites out every word and Hyemi watches his lips move slowly, enunciating each word. “What else did you see when you visited the tree?” When she doesn’t answer, he continues speaking, his round nose too close to hers and his grip on her forearms tightening. “I’m not stupid, Hyemi. You’re throwing another fit and you only do that when there’s something on your mind.” Baekhyun closes his eyes for a moment, his thumbs brushing along the tops of her wrists, as his tone suddenly becomes incredibly soft. “You’re looking at me differently.”

Hyemi flinches at that. She can’t help it. “I—I…I want you to tell me who you are first.” Hyemi stutters, eyes fixed on Baekhyun’s long eyelashes and the way they curl against his cheeks, almost delicately.

“Who am I?” Baekhyun asks, curiously, without ever opening his eyes. Despite his eyes being closed, it still feels like Baekhyun is seeing straight into Hyemi’s soul and it’s unsettling. “It’s a little early for an existential crisis, isn’t it?”

“Don’t be a smartass.” Hyemi mutters and Baekhyun chuckles, the humor in his tone sounding a bit forceful.

Baekhyun speaks in a distant tone, his pink lips moving slowly and his eyes closed, his fringe brushing against the tops of his eyes whenever he moves his head. His fingers are still gripping Hyemi’s wrists and Hyemi thinks something about this is strangely intimate and it makes her stomach churn.

“EXO Planet has two moons, one of which is a constant in the sky, much like Earth’s. But nobody ever knows when the second moon will appear in the sky. The second moon is a strange little thing. It creates shifts in the weather, changes the color of the sky, brings The Tree a surge of power, and, more importantly, if a child is born on a day of the second moon, they’re born with powers.”

“Powers?” Hyemi interrupts, thinking of all the boys she’s met so far. Now that she thinks about it, she never really saw Baekhyun’s powers.

Hyemi watches as a little crease forms between Baekhyun’s eyebrows and he purses his lips, his bottom lip jutting out. “Yes, that’s what I said. Don’t interrupt.” Baekhyun says, wrinkling his nose before continuing. “I was born on May 6^th, according to Earth’s calendar, and I have the power of Light control. So—”

“Oh, show me!” Hyemi cuts him off, loudly, momentarily forgetting that she was supposed to be getting answers from him.

Baekhyun actually opens his eyes and narrows them, screwing up his face in annoyance. “Later.” Baekhyun says, scowling, before furrowing his eyebrows, no doubt trying to remember what he was saying before Hyemi interrupted. “Anyways, fast forward a couple of years, and I began studying at The Academy and learning to control my powers. The Tree used to be our main source of power but since it’s weak we had to learn to find our own source of power from within ourselves. And it took a long time. Somewhere along the way, I decided to join The Brotherhood.” Baekhyun sighs, then, as he looks Hyemi right in the eyes and holds her there. “It was either The Brotherhood or the military. Some of my friends chose the military and some of them…” Baekhyun shakes his head before continuing, tone almost clinical, “But I chose the Brotherhood. And they gave me a mission almost immediately.”

Hyemi eyes Baekhyun a little warily. “Does this mission have to do with me?”

Baekhyun nods, sighing again. But this time he averts his eyes and doesn’t meet her eyes even once as he speaks. “I was sent to Earth to find the vessel to the tree. I…They…My orders were to get as close to the vessel as possible and gather as much information as I could.”

Hyemi’s blood runs cold, then, and she tries to pull her hands away from him. Baekhyun’s grip tightens and she pulls even more, her eyes stinging a little because she was right. And it hurts. “So you only made friends with me because of a mission.” Hyemi states rather than questions, blinking rapidly.

“No, Hyemi. Listen.” Baekhyun says, calmly, even as she shakes her head a little franticly.

“No.” Hyemi practically shouts and she hates this so much. How much of their friendship had been a lie? There’s a struggle of tugging and Hyemi trying to shove him away before Hyemi is on her back, a loud gasp leaving , and Baekhyun has both of her wrists pinned above her head and his legs straddling her hips. A few tears escape from the corners of her eyes and she tries to blink them away. Baekhyun lets go of her hands, then, and gently swipes at her cheeks with his thumbs, wiping away the tears, and she hates how nice it makes her feel.

“I wasn’t supposed to get so close to you.” Baekhyun murmurs, his tone soft; caressing. Hyemi closes her eyes because she doesn’t want to see the pity in his eyes. She doesn’t want to see his face. She just lies limp beneath him, her hands stretched above her head as she tries to keep the emotions at bay. Baekhyun continues teeny tiny circles into her cheeks with the pads of his fingers as he speaks, his tone feather soft. “I never meant to care about you; it’s not in my people’s nature to care about humans. Not even half humans. I was never supposed to care about you, but it just happened, sometime between all those lunches and late night fast food runs. So when it was time for me to leave, I was supposed to make sure you forgot me, too, along with the rest of the world. And I tried, I really did, but I think we were too close at that point. It didn’t work and I regret it so much. I wish you didn’t have to remember me, Hye. I’m really sorry. I never wanted to hurt you.”

“Then why did you come back?” Hyemi asks, her tone just as soft and a little hoarse. She keeps her eyes squeezed shut. Baekhyun’s fingers stop trailing along her cheeks. “Why are you telling me all this if you don’t want to hurt me?” Hyemi mumbles.

His soft nimble fingers brush away a few strands of hair from her forehead, “Because you deserve to know everything. You deserve to know that I came back because they need you to fix The Tree. We need The Tree fixed because something evil is coming, Hyemi. You already saw a glimpse of it back on Earth. The Tree is a source of power and it protects EXO Planet and, by extension, it protects the other planets as well. It protects Earth, too.” Baekhyun sighs and Hyemi can feel his breath on her face. He brushes her hair away from her face before she feels a soft pressure on her forehead. “Cheesy as it sounds; I’m the light to guide you through this. So I will. Even if you don’t trust me anymore.”

Hyemi opens her eyes and stares at Baekhyun, hovering over her, his hair falling into his eyes and making him seem so, so young. “How did you do all that before you met me? We were only nine.” Hyemi blurts out, as she stares up at him.

His eyes twinkle and he sighs, shrugging, “Time runs differently here than it does on Earth. Earth years pass by at a blink of an eye.”

Hyemi just stares at Baekhyun, her mind reeling. He stares at her expectantly. He told her who he was and now she was obligated to tell him what she saw. “Do you want to know what else I saw?” Hyemi asks, not waiting for an answer. “I saw death. There was so much blood. And I saw Chanyeol and Kris and Yixing, I saw everybody.”

Baekhyun is looking at her again, his expression unreadable, “What else did you see?”

She knows he’s asking her what she saw regarding him, she knows him well enough to figure that out at least.

She just stares straight into his eyes, her mind racing with the image of Baekhyun’s fingers pushing her into the tree, allowing her to get swallowed right up and bleed out. “You’re right, Baek. I don’t trust you anymore.” She murmurs, as she fists the bed sheets above her head.

He tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear before his fingers caress her cheek. He cups her face, gently, face slowly inching closer. She knows this is a messed up situation but she lets her eyelashes flutter against her cheeks as he leans closer and murmurs a soft, “I know, Hye. I’m sorry.” She leans up a bit so her lips will meet his faster, because the anticipation of his touch is strangely reassuring. His pink lips are a hairsbreadth away and her heart is slamming against her ribs, his fingers soft against her cheeks.

That’s when there’s a loud slam.

Baekhyun pulls back quickly, muttering something along the lines of ‘every ing time’.

Hyemi looks up to find Kim Jongdae standing at the door, eyes bright and smirk apparent. “Woops. I didn’t know I was interrupting something.” He says, with a catlike grin. Baekhyun slowly climbs off of Hyemi, one leg at a time, and she sits up on her elbows, frowning, her face on fire. “Anyways, I’m here to tell you that Chanyeol and Kris are here because apparently Kris is an impatient and Chanyeol’s got that ing ridiculous King’s Mark controlling his every—”

“You’re rambling, Chen.” Baekhyun interrupts with a snort as he uses a mocking tone to emphasize the last word. You recognize the word and you figure it's Jongdae's nickname like Suho was Joonmyun's nickname.

Jongdae rolls his eyes, “Don’t call me that. And Joonmyun wants the two of you downstairs immediately. So no making out.” Jongdae says, throwing Baekhyun a pointed, almost warning, look before turning on his heels. Hyemi blushes again but Baekhyun just furrows his eyebrows as he watches Jongdae walk away.

Baekhyun holds out a hand to Hyemi and smiles, his teeth showing and his eyes forming soft crescent moons. “C’mon, let’s see what His Highness wants.” He says, a little snarkily.

Hyemi stares at Baekhyun’s hand and half of her wants to take it but the other half knows she should ignore it. Baekhyun just sighs for the billionth time and drops his hand; the hurt flashing through his eyes making Hyemi’s gut twist. He walks out and she follows after him, knowing that she needs to do this. She needs to stop relying on other people, just like her mother had advised her.

She needs to start relying on herself.

a/n: Sorry for the long wait!!! I hope this is good I'm feeling a lil iffy about this. Anyways, you get Baekhyun backstory!!! heck yeah!!!

Kris will still be in this fic because he's actually a really important character so yeahhh

And regarding the new fic after Good Girls, I've decided I'm going to write a Chen/OC fic (with lots of Xiumin) (because there is not enough Chen & Xiumin fics & i love them sooo much). It's going to basically be a Thieves/Bonnie and Clyde AU. Please check it out! I won't start updating it until Good Girls is done. Here's the link: this world is gonna burn (baby you should stick around) and I'm super excited to write it!!

PS BAEKHYUN HAS BEEN LOOKING SO GOOD RECENTLY WOW WHO WANTS TO TALK ABOUT  THAT?? omg

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love you all!

xoxo