All narraration in Courier New is Chanyeol's POV

All narraration in Times New Roman is Baekhyun's POV

     I have locked myself inside my two story home for 6 months. I have not seen Baekhyun since the day I dropped out of HongIk and I am beyond the point of anxious, paranoid, and a little bored. I must overcome.

     I almost went back to Bucheon. Almost. I walked to the train station but when I got to the ticketing booth, I stood there for an hour, maybe two. Then I willed myself to walk back nearly 20 miles to my home in the middle of nowhere. There was an advertisement for soju on the ticketing booth which pictured some spring forsythias, even though it's basically winter. Forsythias remind me of the day Junmyun, Kyungsoo, Yixing, and Sehun died. It reminded me that Baekhyun will die too, if I go to him.

     Above all else, Baekhyun must live.

     I live on a small private property by the city of Jinhae which has become a famous tourist attraction over the years. The road to my house isn't very well traveled, in fact usually no one ever comes around this way. I think I've only had 2 or 3 stranglers come upon my humble abode throughout the 185 years that I have lived here. You have to be really, really lost to come upon my house. It's not an easy find. Plus when the weather gets cold, it's hard to even get in or out.

     Jinhae is in the Southern part of Kyungsang Province and it is known for the spectecular view of forsythias in the spring, cherry blossoms in the summer, Yeojwa River, and "Romance Bridge". I could have lived anywhere but I chose this place, and no, I didn't choose it because of "Romance Bridge". I'm pretty sure that thing doesn't even grant romance.

     You could say this small country-side bundle of nature is my place of solitude but also a place of torture. Jinhae was where I first met Junmyun and the last place we visited before his death. Even though I hated it, I also couldn't leave it behind. It's a trap I made for myself.

     It took me about a five years to build this house. Yes, I built it myself. I figured I had all the time and money a man could ever need and so I took up carpentry. I designed the house so it would be large becuase it would take more time to build. I needed something to do since I was always alone. But even without a large design it would have taken me awhile to build because it was hard to transport materials without a car. People in Korea didn't really own cars until the 1960s and I didn't purchase a car until 1976.

     That year also just happened to be the year I met Sehun. I purchased the first car Hyundai ever designed and manufactured single-handedly. The Pony. It was a rather majestic thing but it's a hunk of junk compared to the stuff they have now. I remember when I first drove it out of the lot, I saw Sehun running for his life.

     He had half-done bandages around his wrist and torso and it was hanging out of his shirt. I knew who he was since I had seen him before but I kept my distance. But seeing him hurt and afraid made me stop. Before I even realized it, I had opened my car door and yelled at him to get it. Sehun didn't hesistate to jump in even though he didn't know who I was. We sped away.

     That was probably our most Bonnie and Clyde moment and quite honestly, we had quite a lot of those. Sehun wasn't a bad kid but he got himself into a lot of trouble, whether it was intentional or not. Even still, we had a lot of good memories and many of those were just driving around in The Pony, getting away from the crazy industrialization that was happening at the time.

     I kept the car in good condition and I thought about selling it. I thought that it would help me move on. In the end, I couldn't do it. Those memories were too precious to me and I couldn't imagine someone else owning The Pony. Even if it's a crappy car now, it was my first car after all. I guess people always get attatched to their firsts. Be it their first car or their first love...

     Including the car, nothing I own in this house is really of any monetary value but it is full of sentimental ones. I don't stay in this house consistently because I like to travel all around Korea, but this is where I keep most of my memories. Like the "To-do Vase" that Yixing and I shared, sitting pretty on top of the fireplace.

     Yixing wasn't very talkative but he would always take the initiative to spend time with me, even when he was dead tired or extremely sick. Due to the curse, his illness affected his memories, much like dementia or amnesia. He'd always forget that he wanted to do things with me. He would be so excited about an idea but when it came time to remember, it would vanish in his mind. Yixing would act like it didn't bother him but I could tell it was devastating. It scared me too. I didn't want him to forget me.

     To prevent that, Yixing took a rather large porcelain vase he found and called it the "To-Do Vase". It was a little chipped on the lip but still beautiful. He wrote or drew pictures of things he wanted to do or see on scraps of paper and he filled the vase up with them. He'd pull one out every once in awhile and we would go do or see what he wrote down.

     There were still some things he hadn't done before he passed away. I never threw those scraps of paper out and I haven't read them either, but I remember the last one we did together. Go star gazing on a night when there was no moon.

     We traveled to ChangKong, the cliff where we first met and we laid on the ground at sunset and watched as the stars took over the sky. Back then, there wasn't as many lights so you could see the stars clearly. Without the moon, they shone even more brilliantly and they made Yixing happy. That was all that mattered to me.

     We talked about everything and anything. I remember him writing something into my hand but I couldn't tell what it was, mostly because I was still shaky on Chinese and he had crappy handwriting. But I can still feel his fingers on my skin like if it was burned into my very existence, every now and then. I can actually feel it now.

      I put my hand on the cold window to cool the burning sensation. It was almost December but it had already snowed in my area. The weather has changed so drastically over the years. If people don't believe in global warming, something is wrong with them. I can tell you from experience that the world is definitely hotter and the winters have gotten colder too, but altogether, they are much shorter than they used to be.

      There was a lot of black ice on the ground around my house. For a forest area, it's surprising how icy it gets up here. I could tell by looking at the sky that it was going to snow tonight and it was going snow hard. Maybe I should start a fire in the fireplace...

              It was such a long hike. This was also the longest I have traveled by myself in a while. It was rather exciting... and freezing. My brother thinks I'm at some school retreat and that Seulhye is going with me. Seulhye lied for me and took off on a vacation of her own to convince my brother that we were both gone. She was such a good sport.

             But maybe I should have picked a different day to go on this crazy, half-planned adventure to find Chanyeol. I think it's going to snow tonight. If I picked a later day, I might be dead then. I came this far, I can't regret it now, especially since I'm freezing my off in the middle of nowhere.

              With December nearing, the weather has chilled quickly. In mountainous areas like this, it had already snowed a lot. I really hope I got the right address. I honestly just came here on a gut feeling. I've only been to Jinhae once during the summer with my parents before they passed away. The cherry blossoms are stunning then but not surprisingly enough, it is beautiful now in the winter. There was something so simple and natural about Kyungsang Province where some parts seemed untouched by the advancement of civilization. It was, for lack of better words, beautiful. 

              I didn't know where to look first when I finally made up my mind to go and find Chanyeol. I decided that the census was the best way to try to find him. The most recent census listed several Park Chanyeols but only five that were college student aged. One in Jamsil, one in Incheon, one in Jinhae, one in Jeju, and another in Ansan. He didn't strike me as someone from Jeju Island so I crossed that address off. He also didn't strike me as someone from a big city either, which would cross of Jamsil in Seoul as well as Incheon and Ansan in Gyeonggi Province.

              That only left the address of the Chanyeol in Jinhae of Kyungsang Province. Not that Jinhae is all that small either but there was something about Chanyeol's presense that struck me as a hermit and the address listed was so removed from the city that it could just be considered "middle of nowhere". It really was just a gut feeling but now that I'm here, something about this place seemed familiar. I think I might have seen this path in one of my dreams but I can't put my finger on it.

              I slipped. I didn't see the black ice. Well, you usually don't see black ice but I totally fell straight on my and the force knocked the air right out of me. I let out a yell. The sudden force of the fall made me nauseous and I didn't feel like getting up. I looked at the sky and it looked pretty ominous, like a blizzard was going to hit soon. Even if this place didn't end up being Chanyeol's, I hope the person is kind enough to let me stay if it does snow. I don't think I can make it to town even if I started walking back down now.

              I tried getting up but the shock from the fall still made me feel sick. I really hate vomitting so I took in short breaths to prevent it. Maybe I should just sit for a little while. As I was gathering my strength, I heard quick foot steps on the frozen ground and from the corner of my eye, I saw a tall figure in a long brown coat running out from behind a tree. "Hey! Are you okay?" the man called, his voice slightly muffled by a gust of wind, "It's going to blizzard soon."

      I heard a thud and then the voice of a man yell. My ears were instantly attracted to the sound because it was usually dead silent here. Is someone lost or maybe it's an animal? I pulled on my coat and ran outside and I saw someone in a puffy red coat sitting on the ground. He must have slipped on some black ice. Poor guy.

      I looked up at the sky and it looked like it was going to blizzard anytime now and he probably won't make it down to town at this rate. This time of year is the worst time to get lost in these parts. He's lucky that my house is even in this neck of the woods. I might as well let him stay at my place until the storm passes. Also, I'm pretty bored. A little company wouldn't hurt.

      "Hey! Are you okay?" I asked him loudly. He didn't seem to repond so I added, "It's going to blizzard soon." He finally started turning around but my heart almost stopped when I realized who it was. He seemed just as surprised as I was and then relief washed over his face. No ing way.

      "Park Chanyeol?" Baekhyun asked, amazement in his voice.

      I felt stuck to the ground and my body wouldn't move. The very thing I tried to prevent is panning out in front of me. Fate sure is working hard to screw me over with this lifetime. I feel like no matter what I do, I just can't win. Fate, you sleezy piece of .

             "Thanks for letting me stay at your place until the storm passes," I said as I sat down on the couch that Chanyeol pointed out. I'm relieved that I actually got the right Chanyeol's house in the first try. Fate must be on my side. 

             As I looked around the house, it was very minimalistic with little to no decorations. All the furniture was clean and seemingly untouched. There were no clocks, no mirrors, and no pictures but everything he did have had a vintage look. It didn't seem like a house that a college student lived in.

            "It's no problem," Chanyeol said. He looked like he wanted to ask me something but he in a breath and stopped. He shook his head. "I'll make some tea. Make yourself comfortable."

           Chanyeol shuffled into the kitchen and when I looked out the window, the snow had already started. I'm surprised he hasn't said anything more. Why didn't he aske me why I was here or how I knew where he lived? Wasn't he curious? I could a murderer who set my heart on killing him, for all he knows. When he came outside, he didn't even have a weapon to protect himself if it was a wild animal or a criminal. It looks like he didn't really care about his safety.

           I looked around and there really wasn't anything out of the ordinary except maybe the fireplace. Usually, houses nowadays just have the automatic fireplaces where you just flip a switch. This was a traditional one where you have to stoke a fire using chopped wood. He had some firewood in it but no fire going and atop the fireplace was an expensive-looking porcelain vase which looked really out of place. It was beautiful though, and something about it made me feel nostaligic. I have no idea why because I don't think I've ever seen or owned a vase like that before. I walked up to it to take a better look.

          The vase was all white with an intricate design of flowers and cranes on them in an icy blue color. The icy color almost looked green in some angles and gray in others. There was a small chip at the lip of vase but overall, it looked rather unscathed by time. I'm not an art appraiser or anything but I can tell this vase is fairly old and probably Chinese. The porcelain was shiny and subtley elegant.

          As I stood there, I could feel a stare into my back. I turned around and I saw Chanyeol standing at the entryway to his kitchen, holding a tray with a teapot and tea cups on it. He was watching me, his face curious. His attitude seems so different from the time we first met at HongIk. He still looked like a handsome, brooding teenager but now he looked more at peace. Like he had accepted some kind of fact about himself and he isn't bothered by it anymore. I wasn't really sure of what to make of it but anyway, I shouldn't have gotten up from the couch. I don't know what compelled me to take a closer look at the vase. He must think I'm rude.

          He cleared his throat and walked over to the couch. I sat down quickly, slightly embarassed of my behavior, and he handed me a teacup. The cups were also porcelain. Even though he doesn't have much in his house, he has nice pottery. Maybe he liked porcelain things.

         The tea was Oolong but I could smell some ginger in it. It was spicy but subtley sweet. I could taste rose buds in it too. The tea was really good and if anything, it was expensive. I looked up at Chanyeol from the rim of my cup while drinking and he seemed really on-edge. He seemed really pensive and his eyes were fixated on the teapot.

        "This tea is really good," I lamely said to try to break the awkward silence, "Where'd you get it?"

        Chanyeol gave a small smile with a lot of effort. "I made the blend myself. The recipe was made guy I knew many, many years ago." I rose an eyebrow but I quickly fixed my expression. It might come across as rude. The way Chanyeol said "many, many years ago" made him sound really old but he was only 19. I don't know if he's trying to be funny or he just talks like that. He is such a mysterious character.

        "Aren't you going to ask me why I'm here?" I said after a long moment. He looked surprised at my sudden question but then his face relaxed. "No," he said, "I'm not going to ask you," in a really vague way. It almost looked like he knew the reason why I was here but that doesn't make any sense. We haven't seen each other in six months and we don't even know each other but here we are, awkwardly in his house.

        "Looks like you'll have to stay the night," Chanyeol said as he poured himself more tea. His eyes were looking outside and I could see that the sun has set and the snow was piling up, nice and powdery. I wasn't planning on staying the night at Chanyeol's place at all. I just wanted to thank him and just ask a few other questions. Good going, Baekhyun, now you're just inconveniencing him.

         "You can sleep in my room. I have a guest room but it's kind of dusty in there. I don't want you getting sick here," he said.

         "About that," I quickly said before he could get up, "Thank you for saving me that day, you know, at HongIk. I always wanted to thank you for that."

          Chanyeol looked surprised than quickly composed his face. He smiled sadly and said, "I didn't save you. I can't save you."

          The way he said that made it seem like he was more talking to himself than to me. It was really strange and depressing. I really can't tell what he's thinking. Chanyeol got up and walked up the stairs mumbling to himself. I hope he didn't see how utterly confused my face looked because I am completely dumbfounded by his strange answer. What does he mean by "I can't save you"? I never asked him to...