Baekhyun's Home
May 2014.

"I don't think I know a Sarang from our uni," Chanyeol said, thinking of the girls in their school. 

"She goes to the uni next to ours," Baekhyun said, "Or I mean, I guess, she went to the uni next to ours."

"She seems like a nice girl," Chanyeol offered, "Most people would've ran away or avoided you if they knew you were the supposed cause of their childhood friend's death."

"I should've never let her in," Baekhyun said, shaking his head. 

"But you did," Chanyeol said, "Why?"

"Because I was stupid," He muttered, "But, you don't know how much I changed my mind. One day, I would open up everything about me to her, the next, I would run away out of fear."

"And how did she handle that?" He asked. 

"Too well."

Baekhyun's Home
December 2011.

"Sarang, what are you," Baekhyun asked in shock as he opened his door to Sarang. Sarang beamed at him brightly. 

"Good Morning, Baekhyun," She said. 

"It's 8am in the morning! What are you doing here?" He asked in confusion. 

"I thought we could go on a picnic," Sarang said, holding up a picnic basket, "That's what friends do, no?" Baekhyun just looked at her, aghast. 

"No, I don't think so, pretty sure friends don't go on picnics," Baekhyun said. Sarang pouted, Baekhyun couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. 

"But I guess we could if you wanted?" Baekhyun said, hoping she would change her mind. 

That was not the case. 

"Really?" She squealed, her face brightening up again, "Then let's go!" She grabbed his arm and started to dragging him. She would look back once in a while to make sure Baekhyun was following willingly. He tried to smile back at her, but all he could think was What am I getting myself into? 

- - -

After about fifteen minutes of walking, they finally settled down on a tiny hill in the park. It was a weekday, so there weren't that many people. Sarang immediately set down the blanket and sat down on it. She looked at Baekhyun. 

"Well, you're going to sit, right?" She asked. Baekhyun looked around, nervous. He was getting too close to her. He was still having second thoughts about this whole friend thing. He still wasn't sure why he had chased after her. He wasn't sure if he would ever be sure. However, looking at Sarang's eyes, he couldn't reject her. He reluctantly sat down on the blanket, leaving a wide space in between the two. Sarang frowned. 

"I'm not going to eat you alive, Baekhyun," She said and scooted next to him. "Here," She said, offering him a sandwich. He took it warily and took a bite out of it. Sarang, satisfied, got out her own and ate it as well. 

"Sarang," Baekhyun asked, "Why do you insist on being friends with me? You already know my backstory. It's too dangerous for us to hang out together." 

"Then why did you chase after me yesterday?" She asked, smiling. Baekhyun looked away, unable to give an answer. 

"Because I know why," She said, simply, taking another bite of her sandwich. 

"Oh really?" He asked, "And how would you know when I don't even know?"

"I'm not sure why you don't know," She said, "It's quite obvious."

"So why?" He asked. Sarang grinned. 

"Because you wanted a friend," She said. Baekhyun thought about it. 

"That's absurd," Baekhyun said, "Do you know how many years I have promised myself that I won't put anyone in harm's way? And people usually complied with it, that's why it worked out. Of course, until you had to show up at my home."

"Yes, but that promise was stupid," She said. Baekhyun looked at her in shock. 

"What?" She said, "It is stupid. Baekhyun, you cannot believe that you are actually cursed." 

"But I am," He said, "All those people."

"But after that?" She asked, "What happened after that? You never met people. You blocked them out. So, you never got to find out if that curse is real or not."

"You do realize that then if the curse is true, you would have to die, right?" Baekhyun said, quite harshly, however Sarang just nodded. 

"Yes, but I'm not going to die," She said, "I have too much to live for." Baekhyun scoffed. 

"And Jaehee didn't?" He asked. Sarang paused. Baekhyun immediately felt guilty at what he just said. Sure, Sarang and Jaehee didn't have a long friendship, but he could tell they had a deep one. 

"Hey, Sarang are you," He asked gently, tapping her shoulder. 

"What happened with Jaehee was an accident," She said quietly, "Her father and uncle both had hemophilia, but they never thought of it to get Jaehee tested because she was a girl and hemophilia is more prominent in men. If her family had known, it could've been prevented. What happened to Jaehee was a tragedy. But it's not something you can control Byun Baekhyun. She would've had an accident sooner or later, it just had to be with you at that time. It's not your fault, okay? Nor is it your fault that your parents were in a fatal car accident, or that your aunt suffered from a . And a quick Google search told me that an idiotic drunk driver took the lives of your roommates. Were you that drunk driver? I doubt it, Baekhyun. You were not the cause of any of those deaths. And look at me, here. I'm still alive, partly thanks to you. I don't know how many times I need to tell you this, but I will tell it to you 100 times if I need to. Why? Because I am now your friend. And that's what friends do."

Baekhyun started to tear up halfway through her speech. All the guilt that he had from killing those people had piled up and he had suppressed it for all these years. But to finally face them head on with someone brought back all the guilt and pain he had suffered. He cried into Sarang's shoulders, finally accepting the deaths of his close ones and the guilt that they had brought to him. Sarang simply hugged him, patting his back. And while Baekhyun cried he realized that maybe, just maybe, he could rid himself of that guilt, step by step, with the help of Sarang. 

- - -

After one week, Sarang was sitting on Baekhyun's coach again, very much alive. Although Baekhyun still very much felt guilty for the deaths, the fact that Sarang was still alive eased his guilt day by day. He started to think that maybe the curse had at least died throughout the years he had avoided people.

And now, Sarang made it a daily occurence to drop by Baekhyun's home. Today, she was painting a so-called masterpiece to add to Baekhyun's collection. Baekhyun's parents had been avid lovers of the arts and once Baekhyun turned 18, he inherited not only their home, but their hundred paintings they had collected around the world as well. They were hung up all around Baekhyun's mansion, and Sarang wanted to leave her mark. 

"What did your parents do?" Sarang asked, "Paintings aren't cheap and having a hundred of them must have been pretty expensive."

"Well, according to what people had told me and what I can remember, my mother was a fashion designer and my father was an owner of a law firm. They loved art too much," Baekhyun chuckled, "But, at least it gives me a glimsp on their personalities."

"You know it kind of fascinates me," Sarang said, still working on her art.

"What does?" Baekhyun said, "How terrible your art skills are?" He said, teasing, trying to glimsp of her work. 

"No," Sarang scolded, "You can't see until I finish my masterpiece." Baekhyun pouted and sat back in his spot. 

"Anyways, what fascinates you again?" Baekhyun asked. 

"The fact that you're still alive," Sarang said, not even giving a glance to Baekhyun. And there she did it again. No one like Sarang actually understood Baekhyun so well. Baekhyun felt frozen. Sarang noticed he had become extremely tense. 

"What?" She asked, "I mean you get what I'm saying though, right?"

"What do you mean," He asked, calmly, "It fascinates you that I'm still alive?"

"Well, think about it," She explained, "You lived and are still kind of living with the guilt that you supposedly were the cause of the deaths of your friends and family. I'm sure you may have attemped-" Sarang stopped, unable to say the terrible word. Baekhyun sighed. 

"Sometimes I feel like you know me better than I know myself," Baekhyun lightly chuckled. 

"So it's true, isn't it?" Sarang said, putting down her artwork, "How are you still-" She stopped mid-sentence again.

"Here?" Baekhyun finished her question for her. Sarang nodded, looking back down at her painting. 

"Trust me," He said, "It's not like I haven't tried." Sarang looked up at him in surprise. 

"Pills. Drugs. Cutting. Drowning," Baekhyun listed, "Even car accidents. I've tried them all. But, I guess there was another twist in my curse. Everyone I let in gets killed, but I myself cannot be killed." 

He laughed sadistically. "I think it was really the perfect curse," He said, shaking his head. Sarang sat next to him. 

"So, those attempts all didn't work?" She asked softly. 

"Yeah, the doctors always saved me in time," He said, "They said it was a miracle," He scoffed, "Imagine thinking you would never wake up again just to find that the doctors gave you your life back." 

"You're a lucky guy, Baekhyun," She said, slightly nudging his shoulder. He chuckled. 

"I guess," Baekhyun said, "A week has gone by and you're still here. That counts for something, right?" 

"Of course," Sarang enthusiastically said back. 

"Or maybe you're just special," He grinned at her. At that moment, Sarang's heart seemed to skip a beat. What's going on? She thought, but quickly shook it off. 

"Anyways, I finished my artwork," She said, holding the canvas, the painting towards her chest, "Want to see?"

"Of course," He said, "Show me." 

"Ta-dah," She said, flipping the canvas so he could see the painting, "You like it?" Baekhyun stared in awe for a few moments. 

(art creds to f0rgottin on tumblr)

"This is me?" He asked. 

"Of course," Sarang grinned, "Who else would it be?" 

"I love it," He said, taking the canvas and placing it beside the last one in his parent's collection. "My parents would love it, too."

"Really?" She said, flattered. 

"Yes, really," Baekhyun said, going back to her spot and hugging her. And as they got closer to each other, understanding their feelings and personalities, their realtionship grew, as they took another step forward in progress. 

- - -

That is, of course until Baekhyun took two steps back. 

"I'm not spending New Years Eve with you, Sarang," Baekhyun said into the phone. He was trying to multitask as he cooked ramyun and talked to Sarang on the phone. It was a bit hard though because Baekhyun didn't have a smart phone due to his lack of a social life, aka no social life, so he used an old landline that still had a cord plugged to the wall and everything. He was juggling between getting himself tangled in the phone cord and burning himself with ramyun.

"Please," Sarang begged through the phone, "I don't want to be lonely from the beginning of 2012." Baekhyun could practically hear her pouting through the phone. 

"You need to spend it with family, okay?" Baekhyun tried to make an excuse up. However to be honest, he was always having second thoughts on being friends. He wanted to be friends with her, but at the same time, wanted to keep a distance because who knew when the curse would show up again. He still believed that he was cursed, but felt like since he had kept his distance from people for so long, it was having kind of a delay. It was silly, but his superstitions made him paranoid as he couldn't live with the guilt of Sarang's death as well. 

"Dad is going on a business trip," Sarang huffed, "He says it's his only chance to go as it's vacation because of school."

"Well, that is true," Baekhyun said, "How about your mother?" There was an awkward pause. Baekhyun looked at his phone to make sure it was okay. 

"Sarang?" He asked. 

"Oh yeah," She said, "Um, my mother yeah, um she's not here."

"Oh, okay," He said, slightly confused at Sarang's hesitation. 

"So, I'm all alone," Sarang resumed her begging, "Please Baek?" Baekhyun sighed and finally gave in. 

"Alright," He said, "Where to?" 

"Yes!" She squealed, "I actually wanted to go to the new observatory! I heard they have this new room where you lay down in a chair and they show you mock constellations of stars."

"Oh, you're such a nerd, Sarang," Baekhyun chuckled. 

"Oh, c'mon, it sounds like a lot of fun!" She exclaimed. 

"Alright, alright," Baekhyun said, "It's open on New Years Eve?"

"Yeah! They're having a special couple discount for couples who go on that day!" She exclaimed with excitement. Baekhyun paused at her words. 

"Couple?" He asked. Sarang then realized what she just said. 

"I mean, not that we're a couple or anything," She said, flustered, "But what are they to know?" She nervously laughed. "Anyways, see you on New Years Eve Baekhyun!" She quickly hung up. 

Baekhyun hung up the phone as well. I hope she doesn't think that we're something more than friends. Even being friends is too close to me sometimes. He shook his head.  Nah, she probably just mentioned it because of the discount. He tried to convince himself. 

 a/n; i WANTED TO MAKE IT LONGER BUT THE NEXT SCENE IS PRETTY INTENSE & ITS ONLY THE THIRD CHAPTER LMAO. HOW DO YOU GUYS LIKE IT SO FAR?? I REALLY LIKE CRITIQUE & GUESSES YOU GUYS MAKE : ) SO KEEP THEM COMING PL S & THANK < 3 SUBSCRIBE & COMMENT PL S