It was a total mess.

 

People were pushing and pulling, screaming, cursing. If it wasn’t for Chanyeol’s hand around your shoulders, you would’ve been carried away by the wave of humans. Flashes from the camera started to blind your eyes. The cap was not enough to block them away. Some even shoved their camera right in front of your face, the bright light preventing you from seeing literally anything.

With a sudden pull, Chanyeol stopped both of you in the middle of the mass, causing shock to you and the crowd. Still refusing to lift your face, you saw in front of you a pair of glasses, Chanyeol’s glasses. You were about to lift your head to look at him before you feel his palm against the back of your head, not wanting you to expose yourself before covering your eyes with his glasses. He shook his glasses in front of your eyes again and this time you took it and put it on. Finally your eyes are able to look somewhere beside your feet. You looked at him, seeing him smile and ruffled your hair.

It’s another advantage to wear the glasses because he can't see the tear that gathered at the corner of your eyes.

How can he be so kind? How would he deal with this? What would his fans say? Knowing all the risk, yet he still show his affection for me, showing he care, showing he wants to protect me. He is too kind. Why is he doing this to me? He could easily lose his popularity. Why for me?

 

 

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Chanyeol’s POV

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(a/n: All that Chanyeol said and heard is in Korean, excepet marked blue is in english)

 

 

“Move away from him, you !”

 

“Who’s the , you little ,” I think to myself, glaring at the source of the hateful words behind my sunglasses, praying that (Y/N) didn’t understand what that girl has just shouted right beside her ears.

I kept in walking, putting a fake smile on my lips, closing my ears to any curses they throw at me and her, pulling her along, keeping her away from the hands of those freaks that tried to separate us. That’s when I noticed her walking become unsteady; she kept her hands beside her eyes, blocking the camera flashes. Those lights are blinding her.

I don’t care what they would say, I have to protect her. I don’t care if I get scolded later for doing this. I don’t care how much hate I would receive for showing a special affection to a girl. I don’t care if I lose my fans. I don’t care at all. All that matters for me now is her. I will never forgive myself if she was hurt because of me.  Not ever.

I stopped myself, forcing her to stand still beside me. Took off my glasses and shove it in front of her eyes that have never left the ground. I could hear shouts; some supportive ones, but mostly furious ones. She must’ve been confused, but I insisted on her wearing it, so she finally wore it. Only after she is shielded from the blinding flash and after I’m sure no one will recognize her that I let her lift her face up. I mess with her hair and smiled. This is better. She is all covered up, the chances of them finding her identity is smaller.

I pulled her to start walking again.

 

---

“I’m prettier than her!”

“Yeah right, go find yourself a mirror. Even after living in the jungle she is more beautiful than you”

 

“She doesn’t deserve you!”

“Maybe she doesn’t. She deserves someone better”

 

“Get lost, you low girl!”

“Oh, we were lost already. What else would you throw at us?”

 

“Take your hands off her, oppa!”

“I’d rather let go of my idol title than to let her go here”

 

How much their words burn my ears. I can only be thankful that (Y/N) doesn’t seem to understand them. I really wanted to reply each of them aloud. Those accusations they threw at her are just too much. How can they be so mean? How can they not use their brains before speaking? I can do nothing but reply them in my mind, my eyes never left my bunny, my arms still around her, protecting her, keeping her close. Oh, hyung will definitely scold me later for this.

“YA, WATCH YOUR MOUTH!”

Hm?

I chuckle to myself. Now, I don’t think I will get scolded, for that was hyung’s voice. Blaring through the crowd, silencing those near him and I could actually feel (Y/N) startle under my arms. Well, it seems like hyung too had enough of those foul words they sent us. I put one hand on his shoulders, my silent thank you for him.

Step after step we took, until what seemed like endless walk to the airport gate finally comes to an end. Inside the airport, those freaks had finally put some space away from us. Hyung gave us our plane tickets and we kept on walking side by side until we passed through immigration, where we gather back with our parents. I have to admit, (Y/N) looked much like her father, which explained her boyish side. But her eyes were definitely her mother’s. I am so thankful for her parents for bringing her into this world, giving my world a bright sunshine.

I asked my parents and my manager permission to accompany (Y/N) until as far as I can go, and thankfully, since the airport is not that big, the waiting room is not separated per boarding gate. I was aware that we were still the centre of attention, which means my every movement is still under the eyes of my so called ‘fans’.

My family and I sat a little bit far from her family, letting her family have their own personal space. I’m sorry for my parents that I have to drag them into this. See all these girls right in front of me, taking picture, recording me and my family. I have accepted this as part of my job, but I really hope they would leave my family and (Y/N)’s family alone.

The girls were talking to me and I was merely trying to be polite for the sake of EXO’s name. Replying their questions that I am allowed to answer, mostly assuring them that I’m okay. I stole a few glances at (Y/N) every now and then. She sat with her back to me, her parents to her left and right. Her parents kept talking to her, distracting her, keeping her away from getting any attention, or asking politely a few that dares to take picture of her to go away.

“Oppa, why are you looking at her again? Do you really like her?” that young girl’s question caught my breath.

, I guess I was being too obvious.

“Ah, I…” my brain seemed like it had just stopped working. What should I say? How can I make myself sound neutral? “Ah, it’s ju-”

“Ya, stop asking questions, don’t you think he needed some rest?” again, hyung saved me. “Go away! Go! Shoo! Leave him alone and don’t even try to bother the girl!” he warned the girls.

They were disappointed, but in the end they started to move away. I sighed in relief. I can finally have a little space to breathe.

 

“Waaah, you really like her, don’t you Chanyeol?” my manager teased me as he sat on the seat front of me.

“Hmph,” I can only chuckle and hung my head, blood start flowing to my face as I feel my face getting warmer.

Why am I so embarrassed? How much do I actually like her?

Seriously, my eyes won’t go anywhere but her direction. I watched as she slumped her shoulders. What is she thinking? Was she sad? How can I cheer her up?

My mind started rewinding every moment I had with her.

When her friend caught my attention first before she slap the back of her head, giving me a hint that she wasn’t a fan. The moment I opened my eyes at the wrecked airplane. When I finally found someone breathing and not heavily wounded. When she finally opened her eyes, those beautiful eyes, the way they looked at me, drilling a hole through my soul. When she bravely treated my bleeding arm. Then, when she jumped over that huge log and ended up on her ; the reason i started calling her my bunny. Hehe... Then when she sang EXO’s songs, the way she-...

“Ya!” a flick on my forehead snap my thought back to reality. “Smiling to yourself like that while looking at her. What are you thinking, huh, Chanyeol?” hyung asked, obviously teasing me.

“Hyung, don’t you think she’s cute?” I pointed my chin at her.

“She kind of does, actually,” he looked at her. “Ya, what happened between the two of you actually, I need to know, okay? Not the public story, the TRUE story! You owed me, remember?” he patted my shoulders.

“I will, hyung! hehehe” I replied. Well, I do owe him twice today; I guess he had the rights to know.

Without realizing, my eyes fixed themselves at my bunny again. My mind rewinding our precious memories, memories that had probably changed my life.

___

 

She stood up.

Damn, it must’ve been her flight.

Without much thought, I ran to her. Pretty sure my manager is face-palming himself back there. Sorry hyung, cover for me once more please.

I stopped a few steps in front of her.

“This is it,” I think. “The last time I would see her,”

“No, you will meet her again, Chanyeol. Even if it took 5, 10, 15 years, you will find her again,” I convinced myself as I approached her one last time.

“Bunny…” I called out. She lifted her head, still covered in hat, glasses and mask. Even under all those, knowing that behind those glasses, those eyes were looking at me had already sent my heart beating faster than it should.

“Chanyeol…” I can faintly hear her. I took another step forward, closing the distance between us.

She stood right in front of me, about to take off my sunglasses. I put my hand to stop her, “for you,” I managed to say in English. She hesitates for a moment but then put it back on, giving me a small nod and a quiet “Thank you, giant.”

I will miss that voice of hers. I will miss her calling my name. I will miss her calling me ‘giant baby’. I will miss her smile, her laugh, her everything.

DAMN IT. I hate my job at times like this. No relationship allowed, hate from here and there, no privacy at all.

(Y/N)’s mom said something to her, and I somewhat understand that it’s time for them to go.

“So this is it, huh giant?” she didn’t lift her face, but her voice is shaky. She was about to cry, I knew it.

“Ne…” I am also at loss of words. Why is this so depressing? Why is this so sad? Why is it so hard to let her go?

“It was nice meeting you, Chanyeol,” my heart almost broke when she handed me her hand as a goodbye. After all that we’ve been through, parting with her with just a handshake is not enough for me. No, I definitely need more than that to end my adventure with her.

I don’t care if anyone recorded this, I don’t care if anyone got angry. I don’t ing care.

I grab her hand then pulled her in, wrapping her petite body around my arms, arching my back and bending my knees a little to match her height.

“Chanyeol!” she gasps and struggled free. She said something else about people seeing us. She must’ve been afraid of the girls.

“Once (한 번). One last time (마지막으로 한 번)” I whispered I her ears. “Please..”

She relaxed a bit and I can slightly feel her hand wraps around me, before slowly tightening her hug on me.

Finally, a proper hug with her. A warm, endearing hug. I wish time could stop like this. Her hands wrapped tightly around me, her head resting against my shoulders, her breath against my neck. Right now, all that matter is her in my embrace, her smiling against my chest, her fingers drawing patterns on my back. I was at total peace. Everything seemed so right, all at the right time, at the right place. It felt like heaven.

I could hear a girl screamed behind me. Followed by a few gasps and more shouts. Ignore them. Let them be. Don’t listen to them.

No, any more longer than this is harming her.

“Thank you, bunny, for everything. Don’t disappear(사라지지 않아), please…” I quickly said before letting her go. I swear I could see tears in her eyes even behind the tinted glasses.

I tuck my thumb behind the glasses and wiped her eyes. One last time; “Don’t cry (울지 마)...”

Her breath hitched once and she nodded, wiping her own eyes.

“Take care, Park Chan Yeol. Thank you for everything,” she said and pulled back.

Slowly, she took a step back. I still had my hands wrapped on hers.

 

Another step back, I have to extend my arms to keep our contact.

 

Another one, she let go of her grip on mine. Slowly, I let her go too. Our fingers touched for one last time.

 

As soon as she was out of my fingers’ reach, she quickly turned her back and I turn mine.

 

* * *

 

Why is this so hard? Why does letting go hurt so badly? I haven’t even told her my feeling. There’s no way this pain i felt was anything else but … love. Yes, love.

They say, only when you lose something, you realize how much it meant to you.

Only after I turned my back on her, I realize that this is ‘love’, that I would not find another girl like her, that she might be the one for me. The emptiness I felt, the hole in my heart, the darkness that clouded my eyes had proved it all.

Why was I a coward, can’t even confess to a girl? Why was I so timid, when every day I say ‘I love you’s to many other girls I called ‘fans’? Why am I such a loser? Why can’t I say it to her?

 

ParkChanYeol you idiot!! Go and tell her! Look what she meant to you. You’ve just lost your sunshine, your world! What kind of a man are you?! GO TELL HER NOW!!

 

I have to tell her. I have to tell her NOW.

I turned back, about to run to her and confess my feelings.

 

Too late.

 

She had entered the plane with her parents wrapping their arms on her shoulders.

 

Too late.

 

*   *   *

 

“(Y/N)…” I slumped and hug myself, turning around to walk back to my parents.

Idiot!! Chanyeol you idiot!! You’ve lost her!!

I can’t help but scold myself. Well, I deserve every curse words a man could ever think of. Throw it all at me. Yeah, I'm THAT stupid. Ugh.

 

 

I watched from afar as she board her plane. Eventually, the plane’s door closes.

I let out a long sigh.

There goes my everything, away without her knowing that she is my everything.

There she goes. Just like that…

 

 

I didn’t even realize I was crying until I saw my mom’s hand in front of me, offering me a tissue.

“Chanyeol-ah, don’t cry please,” mom sounded so heartbroken. Quickly, I wipe my tears away and pull her to a hug.

“Mom, I think I love her,” I confessed to my mom. She had always been my comfort, my strength, she always know what to do to help me.

“Then, do everything you can to find her again and protect her,” she patted my back.

 

Just then, I heard my name being called from the direction of the plane.

“Chanyeol!!” it was (Y/N)’s dad. He looked panicked, scared, running out to me.

, what happened to her?!

 

“Dad, why (아버지, 왜)?!?” I ran to get him midway.

He started talking and all I can understand is that (Y/N) needed my help; she needed me and she needed me right now.

After a quick excuse to the stewardess, I followed her dad through the airplane’s hallway.

Horrific images of the wrecked airplane I boarded a few days ago start seeping in my head. Pictures of people bleeding, injured, dead, started flashing on my eyes. No, no, no! I’m here for her, I’m here for (Y/N) that is still alive and well.

Arriving at her seat, I found her there, on the window side of the seat, one hand wrapping her folded knees on her chest, the other clenching the armrest so tight that her arm were shaking. No, not just her hand, her whole body is shaking. She was sobbing, her hat preventing me from looking at her face. She was muttering something about plane, flights, and a bunch of ‘no’s. Her mom was beside her, trying to calm her down, but she doesn’t seem to listen to her.

She was scared. She must’ve also had the dreadful images in her head.

I asked her mom’s permission to sit beside her and she gladly step out to let me sat at her place.

Gently, I pull open her cap. She didn’t wear her glasses and her mask anymore. “Bunny…” I muttered, tucking her beautiful black hair behind her ears.

Upon hearing my voice, she raised her head. Surprised to see me there for sure.

“Chanyeol?” she said under her breath.

“Yes, Chanyeol.”

“Chanyeol! Chanyeol! I can’t do this! I can’t get to another flight! What if I get to another accident? What if my parents died? I can’t do this, Chanyeol. Please. I can’t! Get me off of here! I can’t lose anybody else!” she threw her arms around me and wept on my shoulders. I don’t need a translator to understand that she was scared to death.

"Those people, they were bleeding! They're dying, Chanyeol-ah! They're dead!" I could feel her trembling under my body.

She was scared, so scared, terrified to her core. I was scared too, but for her, I have to be stronger. For you, (Y/N). Only for you.

“Bunny(토끼)… It’s gonna be okay (괜챦을거야)…”

“No! It’s not okay!” she shook her head. “I’m going to bring disaster to this flight!”

"Listen to me, (Y/N)-ah. We've faced death once before, together. Nothing is harder than that. You have to do this, bunny. Be strong," I don't care if she didn't understand me. I need her strong, not breaking down like this. My heart hurts so bad seeing her so terrified. How much I want to shelter her, protect her from any danger in the world.

She kept on shaking her head, saying she can't do this, asking to get off the plane.

"(Y/N). (Y/N)! Please, look at me," I cupped her face between my palms and press our foreheads together, forcing her eyes to focus on mine.

"Hey, listen to me, okay? You can do this, bunny. You need to be in this flight. Be strong. For Kate, for your parents, for yourself..." I tried my best to sound calm and strong, but inside, I'm crumbling to pieces seeing my sunshine shattered like this. She shut her eyes up again, tearing up, and kept on shaking her head, muttering another series of 'no's.

"For me..." I caressed her cheeks with my thumb, muttering my last words.

She stopped shaking her head. Slowly, ever so slowly, she opened her eyes again. I can't help but smile. Her beautiful eyes just an inch in front of mine. Those mesmerizing eyes I would always dream of.

"Be strong for me, (Y/N)-ah," I repeated. A little bit unsure at first, but she finally nodded.

That's my girl. That's my bunny. That's my sunshine. That's my love.

"Thank you, bunny," I muttered and I felt her nodded against my forehead.

 

With my palms still on her cheek, I inch closer to her face, closing my eyes; attempting to do what I was so close to doing just a little over 48 hours ago.

My heartbeat is faster than it has ever been in my entire life. Screw her boyfriend. Screw her parents that were looking, screw ANYONE that was looking. I don't care. I must've been out of my mind. I must've been mad. I must've been crazy to do this. Well, I'm crazy for her.

I pressed my lips gently against hers. I could feel her soft, pale, trembling lips between mine, frozen by my unplanned action.

Finally.

I moved my lips once, kneading her bottom lip, hoping she would reply me, hoping that she had the same feeling I had for her. With our lips still against each other, I paused. Then, again, I nib on her lips. She still hadn't move her lips, she’s still frozen.

Maybe I was just being too selfish. Maybe I was too confident. Maybe I was too greedy. Maybe she doesn’t have the same feeling for me. Maybe she doesn’t love me.

I was about to pull away, giving up on her, but I suddenly felt her lips moved against mine. Is she….

YES!! She's replying my kiss!! SHE'S KISSING ME BACK! YEEEESSSS!!

Wait.

Does this mean she accepted me? Does this mean she replied my feelings for her? Does this mean she loved me too?

Heh, I don't care. She's kissing me back! Woohoo!! I smiled against her lips, deepening the kiss.

 

I don’t know how long the kiss was, but it just seems so short, too short. I regain control of myself and pulled away; I have to say what I need to say. There would be no more chances. I was given a chance and I wasted it. Now, I don’t want to regret anything. I simply have to say it.

 

“I love you (사랑해)....”

 

There. I confessed my feelings for her.

It felt like I have let go of a ton of burden I had been keeping on my shoulders. How easy those words finally flow out of my lips. How right it felt to say those words to her. How right it felt to confess my feelings for her. How right it felt to kiss her. How right it felt to just BE WITH her.

Not expecting her to answer my sudden confession, I let go of her lovely face and straighten myself back. I haven’t gone further than 5 inches from her when I felt her palms against the back of my neck, stopping me from going any further.

 

“Me too...”

 

------------

 

Simply said, I went to the 7th layer of heaven and back. I am officially the happiest man on earth.

SHE SAID SHE LOVED ME TOO!! BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! YESSSSSSSSS!! I wanted to scream out of happiness right here right now, but I guess my self-control has the best of me, so I just smiled back at her. This is not the time to celebrate because she needs to leave soon.

“We will meet again (우리는 다시 만날 것),” I kissed her forehead, saying what I had said in the helicopter, this time promising her for sure that I will find her again, no matter how long it takes, no matter how hard it is. I WILL find her again.

I know I shouldn’t and I can’t stay there any longer, so as soon as she nodded, I ruffled her hair and took a step back. I bowed to her parents and walked (perhaps skipped my way because I’m too happy) out of the plane.

 

___

 

Out of her plane, I saw my worried mom waiting for me right outside the boarding gate between a few curious girls. I ran to her and pulled her into a hug, spinning her again like how I did this morning, spinning her out of pure happiness. She was of course surprised, but otherwise was also happy seeing me so euphoric. She too may have guessed correctly what happened inside the plane.

“Mom, I will find her again, won’t I?” I finally asked, whispering in her ears, biting my lips to hide perhaps the widest smile ever seen shown by a man.

“Love will find a way, my child. Don’t you ever lose faith in love,” she ruffled my hair.

And with that, we joined dad and my manager to our own boarding gate, leaving Micronesia, leaving the place that’s full of memories, leaving the place where I met the most beautiful girl, the girl that I love.

 

Love will find a way.

 

Love.

What is love anyway?

 

 

At least for me; love is her, love is (Y/N), love is you.

 

 

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End of Chanyeol’s POV

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With that, you end your fight for survival in the jungle with EXO’s Park ChanYeol.