If there was one thing Baekhyun was certain of, it was that in order for Chanyeol to continue to smile, he was going to have to try his absolute hardest to make friends with the nine others who had come to spend the week with him.

Baekhyun wanted nothing more than to see Chanyeol smile down at him, or to be scooped up in one hand and snuggled.  He missed the days where Chanyeol would sigh, a small smile twisting the corners of his lips upwards into a sweet smile.

“Oh, Baek,” he would laugh.

Chanyeol’s laugh. Baekhyun missed that, too.

Fidgeting with the fraying hem of his cape, Baekhyun nodded to himself. He had made up his mind. Surely he would get along better with them all if they shared a common interest? Maybe they would be interested in joining the Cape Crew? This thought alone filled Baekhyun with happiness. Of course they would want to! It was a brilliant idea!

He would ask them, and they would – of course – want to be in the Cape Crew. After all, Baekhyun decided, who wouldn’t want to be in the Cape Crew? His eyes fell onto Jongin who was absentmindedly running his fingers through Kyungsoo’s hair while the other sculpted tiny puppies out of Play-Doh.

Maybe Jongin won’t want to join, Baekhyun thought silently. But eight out of nine new recruits was a good number to aim for. Much more realistic.

Jongdae lay flat on his stomach, his tiny legs kicking the air behind him, his hands supporting his face a short distance away, intrigued by Kyungsoo’s creations. Perhaps Jongdae would be a good start. Drawing in quiet breath, Baekhyun made his way slowly across the lounge room to where the three sat. Clearing his voice, Baekhyun shifted from one foot to the other nervously.

“Jongdae?” he asked, doing his best to sound confident, although his voice was no more than a whisper.

Jongdae broke his gaze away from the Play-Doh puppies and blinked, confused, up at Baekhyun.

“Yes?”

“Would you, um …” he trailed off, looking at his feet. Making friends was difficult, but if this is what he had to do to see Chanyeol smile, Baekhyun was more than willing to do it. “Would you like to be a part of the Cape Crew?”

Jongin snorted quietly, earning a disapproving look from Kyungsoo.

“Cape Crew?” Jongdae asked, brows arched. “Do I get to wear a cape like yours?”

Baekhyun couldn’t believe it! Jongdae wanted to join? He nodded eagerly. “Yes! And we can have meetings, and-”

Jongdae held up a hand, disinterested. Immediately, Baekhyun fell silent. “What colour would my cape be if I was to join this, er, crew?”

“Whatever colour you want it to be!”

“Pink,” Jongdae said simply, getting to his feet. He dusted off the front of his pants and straightened out his cardigan. “It has to be pink. And bejeweled.”

Baekhyun’s mouth fell open. What? A cape covered in jewels was not a cape at all!

“But that would be too heavy for flying!” Baekhyun said, trying his best to reason with Jongdae.

With a shake of his head, Jongdae stuffed his hands into the pockets of his cardigan.

“My cape needs to be pink and bejeweled, or else I won’t join.”

“But, I-”

“Come see me when you’ve made it.”

Baekhyun watched him leave, disappearing behind the corner of the couch and down the hallway. Sinking to his knees, Baekhyun exhaled quietly, grabbing tiny fistfuls of carpet. He felt embarrassed, absolutely humiliated.

Jongin snorted with amusement once again and Baekhyun felt his heart sink. Great, this was exactly what he needed – Jongin was going to make fun of him again.

“Pink,” Jongin scoffed, doing his best to hold back his laughter. “What a diva. What kind of guy wears a cardigan?”

Kyungsoo wiggled forward, placing a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder comfortingly. He leaned forward, a kind smile on his face.

“Do you like puppies, Baek?” he asked and Baekhyun nodded, doing his best not to cry.

“Yes,” he replied quietly. “They’re my favourite animal.”

Kyungsoo nodded, helping Baekhyun to his feet. “Come,” he urged, “you can help me make puppies out of Play-Doh, then.”

“Yeah,” Jongin joked casually, “he’s making an army of puppies to unleash on Jongdae.”

This made Baekhyun laugh softly. “Okay.”

“Tell me, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo asked, passing a piece of Play-Doh to him. Baekhyun rolled it in the palm of his hand – it was a strange feeling, but it was fun. “Have you ever seen a puppy before?”

Baekhyun shook his head, wondering how Kyungsoo was able to make anything at all out of the dough. All he could manage was wonky circles and colourful pancakes. “No, but I want to see one! I bet they’re cute!”

“Yes, they are,” Kyungsoo smiled warmly, passing one of his creations to Baekhyun. He gestured to one of the pancake like shapes that Baekhyun had managed to make. “But I think this puppy needs a cape.”

“A cape?” Baekhyun asked uncertainly.

“Of course,” Jongin added, his friendly grin coming as quite a shock to Baekhyun. “He can’t join the Cape Crew without one!”

Kyungsoo and Jongin had told everyone about the Cape Crew and the incident with Jongdae, and much to Baekhyun’s surprise, Zitao, Kris, Yixing, Sehun, Luhan and Minseok had all approached him over the course of the morning, offering to join, small off cuts of fabric tied messily around their necks.

Baekhyun wasn’t sure whether to be thankful or embarrassed, although he was sure that they were only offering to join out of pity. Why else would they? Deep down, Baekhyun had expected them to react much the same way as Jongdae – or worse.

“Baekhyun,” Kris asked, pulling at the fabric knotted around his neck. It seemed to be more Zitao’s idea to join than his own, but he was willing to allow himself to be roped into it. Giving up on the tight double knot, he folded his arms across his chest. “Can you fly?”

“Fly?” Baekhyun asked, unsurely. “I had a dream once where Mister Giant and I were flying through the sky. It was wonderful!”

“Right,” Kris sighed, nodding once. “Would you like to fly?”

Baekhyun’s eyes lit up immediately. “Oh yes! I’ve always wanted to!”

Tao and Sehun set about, organizing (or rather, heaving) cushions from the couch onto the carpet; four of them formed a large square – perfect.

Wrapping his arms tightly around Baekhyun’s waist, Kris lifted him up. Being a good deal taller than the others (albeit still tiny) was always something Kris had liked. He turned to face the cushions, his arms still holding Baekhyun firmly.

“Are you ready?” he asked. “You’re about to be a real super hero!”

(Sehun clapped his hands together excitedly. “Oh, oh!” he exclaimed eagerly. “Me next, please! Me next!”)

Baekhyun nodded nervously. Pinching his eyes shut tightly, he waited. The rushing sensation only lasted for a few seconds; the moment he felt Kris throw him into the air, Baekhyun flapped his arms about wildly, determined to stay airborne for as long as he possibly could.

Landing onto the pile of cushions with a gentle thud, Baekhyun couldn’t hide the broad smile that reached his eyes.

He had done it. He was finally a true super hero.

What was a super hero without a logo to identify him? A logo so fierce, so menacing that it would strike fear into the hearts of all evil. Baekhyun puffed out his cheeks as he sketched design after design. He wanted it to be perfect.

He wanted Chanyeol to come home from work and be proud of everything he had accomplished that day. He wanted to see that wonderful smile that he missed so much.

Baekhyun was in a daze; everything around him was a blur. In that moment, the only thing that mattered to him was to design a logo so wonderful; something that he could show to Chanyeol. The logo of a true super hero.

Again and again, he re-drew his design. Until finally, he was satisfied with the result. What mildly resembled a puppy – the most fearsome puppy of all – wearing a cape. The letter B was in the center of the crest-like logo.

There! It was perfect! Baekhyun was absolutely certain that nobody would have the same logo as he! Dropping the crayon to the floor, he dusted his hands, triumphantly.

The breath caught in his throat and Baekhyun felt a wave of panic wash over him. He had been so caught up in designing the perfect super hero logo that he hadn’t paid attention to what was around him.

After starting his designs on scrap pieces of paper, he had moved to scrawling on the walls, the cupboards, the chair legs – everything. Chanyeol was going to be furious.

The front door swung open with a sickening creak, and Baekhyun’s face drained of colour. He felt as though his heart had stopped, his legs shaking in fright.

“Baek … Hyun …?” came Chanyeol’s voice as he walked into the hallway. Baekhyun stood, guiltily, next to his final design, crayons scattered at his feet. Chanyeol didn’t sound angry, not in the slightest. His voice was calm, and that scared Baekhyun far more than had Chanyeol of been furious with him.

“What …. What have you done?”

Baekhyun looked at his feet; he couldn’t bring himself to look at Chanyeol in the eye. He wanted to see Chanyeol smile. He wanted Chanyeol to be proud. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

“I …” Baekhyun began. He had no idea as to what he was going to say. “I just … “

“I was helping him design ideas for his super hero logo,” Jongdae intervened, staring up at Chanyeol; a bright pink, spotted piece of fabric fastened tightly around his neck. He huffed, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his cardigan. “He told me what he wanted and I drew it for him. Baekhyun didn’t make this mess, I did.”

Baekhyun was absolutely speechless, his eyes filling with tears. This wasn’t right. Jongdae shouldn’t have to take the blame, not after what he said earlier. Dashing forward, Baekhyun wrapped his tiny arms around Chanyeol’s leg, burying his face into his jeans.

“No,” Baekhyun sobbed, “it’s my fault! I just wanted you to be proud of me and … And … “ he trailed off, another loud sob escaping his lips.

Chanyeol sighed quietly. Kneeling down, he scooped Baekhyun up in one hand placing him on his knee. The drawings were far clearer from this level and it was plain to see that Baekhyun had put a lot of effort into his designs - just as Chanyeol would have to put in effort to scrub them from the walls.

“But I am proud of you,” he said simply. “Maybe not the mess you’ve created, but I am proud of you. Don’t think that I’m not.”

Baekhyun sniffed, wiping his tear stained face roughly with the back of his sleeve.

“Kris helped me fly today, I’m a real super hero now! So, I had to make a logo. I’m sorry I drew all over your walls, Mister Giant,” he finished, hanging his head in shame.

Chanyeol glanced over the crude crayon drawings with a sweeping gaze. Oh, so that’s what they were. To Chanyeol, it seemed as though Baekhyun had suffered enough, there was no use getting angry at him.

“And what logo did you decide?” he asked. Raising one hand, Baekhyun pointed towards his most recent masterpiece, the fierce puppy.

“That one! Mister Giant?”

“Mmm?”

“I thought up a super hero name for you, too.”

Chanyeol arched his eyebrows. “Oh really?” he asked. “And what would that be?”

“Superman,” Baekhyun responded shyly, wrapping himself tightly in his cape; his cheeks were burning.

Chanyeol chuckled softly. “Superman already exists, though.”

“I know that,” Baekhyun said softly. “But to me, you’re Superman.”

Chanyeol strained his ears. Baekhyun had such a quiet voice.

“Pardon?”

Baekhyun looked up at his Mister Giant, his Superman, and offered him a watery smile.

“Oh, it was nothing.”

So Kira sent me this gif on facebook and said she wanted Baek to fly.
So be it~

Thank you to MissKizzy, NeverlastingEverland,
and SleeplessBeauty9 for this chapters plotses/reminders.
 

Because a lot of you keep asking, yes Baek will grow. ^^
In the most angsty way possible.

I mean, what?
Happy ending, I promise!
 

If you haven't already, I highly recommend you check out Don't Tease Me by SPEED.
This song really helps me with the mood of this fic~
It's so fun, upbeat and wonderful.
Plus Yuhwan. <3
And those acrobatics.
 

Thanks for stopping by you~