Chapter Four

Baekhyun lay on the sand for what felt like hours until the stranger pulled him out of his reverie. He looked at the man’s face and recognized him as the bartender at the bar he went to earlier. Another human being who doesn’t have anything to do with his life that he has to meddle in someone else’s existence.

But what shocked Baekhyun the most were the words he said to the man. He must be out of his mind or totally drunk. Oh alcohol, what does a man do without you? Then again it wasn’t as crazy compared to what the man did after he heard what Baekhyun said. The world has become a strange place indeed.

The stranger sat there beside him without saying anything. He just stared at the ocean and felt the wind on his face. There is a certain calmness in the way he just sat there as if it’s totally normal to grant a crazy request from a total stranger.

“So, do you want to talk about it?” the man said after a few minutes.

“Talk about what?” Baekhyun replied.

“Why you are broken-hearted?” The stranger uttered the words with gentleness. This man really knew how to shock people.

“No. I’d rather not.” Baekhyun automatically replied. For as long as he lost Yeol that was his standard response. He’d rather not talk about it because he doesn’t want to retell that tale again especially if people will just give him a look of pity. It’s enough that he’d lived through it once.

“Okay.”

The man didn’t say anything after that which Baekhyun was thankful for. He just wants the warmth of a human being beside him without having to explain why.

“Do you believe that there’s life after this one we are living right now?” Baekhyun asked out of nowhere.

The man glanced at Baekhyun with a strange look on his face.

“I guess so,” the man replied.

More silence.

“What I do believe is that once a person bid goodbye to this world, he or she becomes a star.

“It’s what my Halmoni once told me… that our dead loved ones became stars in the sky. They are watching over us from above and keeping us safe.” He continued.

“Hmmmm…” is Baekhyun’s only reply.

“It’s comforting that way, don’t you think?” the man asked and then glanced at him with a smile.

Baekhyun looked up and noticed for the first time the thousands of stars scattered in the sky. If what the man told him is true, one of these stars is his Yeol looking down on him and watching him from afar. He bet Yeol is that twinkling star right above him. He smiled a sad smile at it.

It did comfort him knowing that somewhere out there in the vastness of the galaxy, his Yeol still exists.

“I guess so,” Baekhyun replied.

The man laughed. Not the laugh-out-loud kind of laugh, just a soft one but a laugh nonetheless.

“What?” Baekhyun threw an annoyed look at the man.

“Nothing.”

“Just spill it.” He barked.

‘You smiled just now so I guess you believed me,” the man smirked.

Baekhyun didn’t reply to that but deep down inside he believed it. The thought of Yeol watching over him even from afar has made him feel better. Better than the drunken stupor he was in lately.

He didn’t know how much time passed by until he stood up and brushed away the sand clinging to his clothes.

“I’m going in now. Thanks for the company.” He said to the man and walked towards his rented cottage without so much a glance at the man who stayed with him during that particularly lonely night.

What he didn’t know was that the man followed him from behind until he reached his cottage.

---

For the second time that week, Baekhyun woke up with the sunlight on his face but this time around he’s head did not hurt that much. He rolled on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Then he heard the knock on his door.

He wondered who could be knocking that early in the morning but he stood up anyway. Without checking his appearance, he walked the short distance between the bed and the door.

Baekhyun opened the door and found a man standing in his doorstep. The man was holding a paper bag. He squinted at the man’s face and recognition struck him at once.

He was the man he talked to last night at the beach.

“I brought you some bread. I thought you might want some.” The man smiled and offered the paper bag he was holding.

“K-Kamsahamnida.” Baekhyun stuttered and accepted the paper bag.

An awkward silence followed the exchange. Baekhyun doesn’t know what to say and so does the man.

“Ummm... So, I’ll go ahead. Enjoy the bread!” The man smiled before walking away.

Baekhyun watched the man’s retreating back until he turned the corner and disappeared from sight.