For Baekhyun, the remainder of the afternoon was spent wrapped up in his cape and teddy bear jumper on the couch, his cheeks still puffy from his allergic reaction. He let out a quiet sniff as he watched his friends play together on the living room floor, occasionally whispering a ‘I’m sorry we had to leave early because of me,’ when they ran close to him.

It was because of him that they had to end the picnic – and they were having so much fun, too. It would have been hard for them to hide their disappointment. Baekhyun exhaled sadly, drawing his legs up to his chest. How many times would he have to apologise before they would forgive him?

“It’s okay,” Minseok said, patting Baekhyun on the head. Heaving a sigh when Baekhyun stared up at him with watery eyes, Minseok sat down next to him. “We’re not mad.”

When Baekhyun remained silent (albeit still sniffling) Minseok bumped into his side playfully.

“Cheer up, Baekhyun,” he said. “Why would we be upset at you over something like this?”

It took Baekhyun a long while before he was able to speak without blubbering incoherently.

“You were all having so much fun,” he said quietly, not daring to look up at Minseok. “And I ruined it.”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Minseok bumped his shoulder into Baekhyun’s once more.

“We were all worried about you, Baek. Don’t think that you ruined it for us.”

“Really?” Baekhyun asked, lifting his head high enough to peer across the living room. Kris sat on the window ledge, his legs folded up against his chest; his back was to them. “Is Kris mad at me?”

Minseok shook his head. “He just misses home. That’s all.”

Baekhyun blinked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. “Home? But he is home.”

At this, Minseok couldn’t help the small smile that played across his face. “No, Baek,” he said gently. “Our home. This is yours. Kris is missing our home – and Joonmyeon.”

“Mister Joonmyeon?” Baekhyun asked. “Why does he miss him?”

Breaking his gaze away from Kris, Minseok offered Baekhyun a warm smile. “Because,” he said simply. “Joonmyeon means to Kris what Chanyeol means to you.”

Baekhyun’s hands flew up to cover his mouth and he nodded slowly in understanding. “And Mister Giant means a lot to me!”

“Exactly,” Minseok said. “Now try living away from your Mister Giant. Would you be able to?”

Baekhyun’s eyes opened in bewilderment and he shook his head quickly. “I would be hurt and scared. I don’t want Mister Giant to leave me! Not ever!”

“Kris is hurting.”

Baekhyun felt as though his heart had just broken. He knew that if Chanyeol had stuffed him into a box and sent him to live with one of his friends for a week, he would be feeling betrayed and hurt. So he could only imagine what Kris must be feeling.

“I know!” Baekhyun said, getting to his feet; he clasped his hands together in enthusiasm. “I will draw Kris a picture of Mister Joonmyeon! Then he will be happy!”

Minseok shook his head as he watched Baekhyun scurry off. Somehow, he didn’t think a simple drawing would be of much help, but Baekhyun’s heart was in the right spot. And sometimes, just having someone to talk to would really help.

Baekhyun hurried around the living room, collecting as many crayons as he could find - Yixing had leant them to Zitao and Sehun of who had forgotten to put them back in the box. He was determined to cheer Kris up, no matter what it took.

His eyes scanned across the living room once more, double checking for the pink crayon before his gaze fell onto Jongdae, Kyungsoo and Jongin who were playing with an object Baekhyun had never seen before. With his brow creased in curiosity, Baekhyun made his way quickly over to them, forgetting about his drawing.

Chewing on the sleeve of his teddy bear hood, Baekhyun inspected the object carefully. It was much bigger than he was, far more rectangular and flat, too.

“What’s that?” Baekhyun asked quietly, gesturing at the strange object. The corners of Jongdae’s lips tugged upwards into a broad grin as he looked from the object to Baekhyun.

“It’s Chanyeol’s mobile phone.”

“Mister Giant’s?” Baekhyun asked in wonder. His first instinct was that they shouldn’t be playing with it; he was sure Chanyeol would be cross if he found out they were. But his curiosity got the better of him. Besides, if it was Chanyeol’s, he wanted to know what it was for.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo added, a wide smile tugging the corners of his lips upwards. “Look at this!”

With a single swipe of his hand, the image displaced on the screen changed. Baekhyun’s eyes widened in shock.

“Is Mister Giant trapped?”

He pushed his way in between Jongdae and Kyungsoo to get a better look, his hands clawing desperately at the screen. “Someone get help, quick!”

“Relax, Baek,” Jongdae teased. “Your Mister Giant has just gone to get you some allergy medicine. He’s fine. This-“ he gestured at the phone screen. “-Is a photo.”

“Oh,” said Baekhyun, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. For the first time, he took in the entire photo.

“Who is that?” he asked, pointing at the screen. There, in the center of the photo was Chanyeol, a bright smile on his face. Next to him was a woman, someone Baekhyun had never seen before, her arm wrapped around Chanyeol’s shoulder. Baekhyun’s heart gave a lurch.

“One of his friends, probably,” Jongin shrugged. Baekhyun couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.

“Is she trapped in the phone at least?” he asked hopefully. Kyungsoo nodded, quickly swiping the screen in a sideways motion; the image changed immediately to one of a puppy.

“She is,” Kyungsoo said, soothingly. “But she’s gone now.”

Baekhyun didn’t listen. He knew that Kyungsoo was talking, but he was too absorbed with the puppy that was now displayed on the phone, staring up at him.

“Puppy!” Baekhyun sang excitedly, hopping from one foot to another. “Puppy! Puppy!”

With a shake of his head, Jongdae stepped on a big, circular button on the base of the phone and the puppy disappeared. Baekhyun couldn’t quite hide the disappointed frown that immediately appeared on his face.

“Where did it go?” Baekhyun asked, his eyes scanning over the brightly lit phone screen, littered with little colourful boxes.

“It went to sleep,” Jongdae said lightly. “We’re going to take selfies. Wanna join?”

“What’s a selfie?” Baekhyun asked, chewing absently on the sleeve of his teddy bear jumper once more.

Kyungsoo’s brow furrowed as he thought of a way to explain it. “You take photos of yourself … Lots of them.”

“Oh,” said Baekhyun. “You mean like standing in front of the mirror and seeing yourself?”

“Not quite,” Jongin laughed. “So, you don’t want to take lots of photos on Chanyeol’s phone?”

Baekhyun shook his head, taking a step backwards. “No thank you. I don’t want Mister Giant to think I got stuck in there with the puppy and his friend. I want to be waiting at the door to welcome him home instead!”

“Suit yourself.”

“Ah, really?” Chanyeol muttered to himself that night as they curled up in bed. His phone was in his hand, a frown on his face. From their little box bed on the other side of the room, Baekhyun could have sworn he heard Jongdae, Kyungsoo and Jongin laughing to themselves.

“Four hundred photos? I don’t believe it.”

Chanyeol sighed heavily, placing the phone on the bedside table and switching off the lamp. Instinctively, Baekhyun snuggled into his side. The swelling and redness from his allergic reaction had gone down considerably – all thanks to the medicine Chanyeol had gotten him – but his cheeks were still puffier than usual.

“Goodnight, Baek,” Chanyeol yawned, tiredly. “I hope you’re feeling better in the morning. Goodnight guys,” he added a little louder.

With his arms folded atop his chest, Baekhyun lay awake, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. He couldn’t fall asleep. Not yet, anyway. His mind was still fixed on Chanyeol’s phone. It had taken Kyungsoo about forty minutes that evening to explain to him what a photo was and that – much to Baekhyun’s dismay- it didn’t actually trap people (mostly Chanyeol’s female friend) in the phone itself.

If Chanyeol happened to have photos of himself and Joonmyeon on there, maybe that would cheer Kris up, too.

“Sel…fie…” he murmured quietly, pushing himself into a sitting position.

Quietly, he clambered over Chanyeol’s sleeping form to the bedside table, where he found the mobile phone. He wanted to preserve himself in the phone – just in case Chanyeol ever forgot about him.

Narrowing his eyes in the dark, Baekhyun searched for the little camera that Jongdae had used.

“Ah,” said Baekhyun quietly. “Found it.”

He watched as a reflection of himself appeared on the phone screen, puffy cheeked but cheerful. Baekhyun flashed his best smile. Now all he had to do was hit the other little camera button at the bottom of the screen and –

“Oh!” Baekhyun squeaked, loosing his grip and falling onto the phone with a soft oof. The screen blinked once before the image of Baekhyun appeared. Never had he felt so horrified at his own reflection.

The camera had cut most of him off, only his rosy, puffy cheek and a small bit of his face had made it into the photo. This wouldn’t do at all! He didn’t want Chanyeol to remember him like this!

No! No, no, no! Bad selfie! Bad!

Frantically, Baekhyun started tapping his hands on the screen, hoping – praying – it would do something.

And it did.

The camera disappeared, replaced instead with the phones home screen. That was a start, Baekhyun sighed on relief. At least he didn’t have to see the photo. But how was he supposed to know if he had deleted it?

The screen darkened gradually, before fading to black entirely. Worried, Baekhyun tapped the screen several times before using both of his hands to hit the button at the bottom of the phone.

It lit up immediately, the photo of Baekhyun with his puffy, rosy cheeks and wide, astonished eyes decorated the phone’s background.

Embarrassed and at loss for what to do, Baekhyun sunk to his knees. Chanyeol was certainly going to remember him. Or, at the very least, the photo.  

Finished another assignment last night.
Time to reward myself with updating this.
And tea. Lots of tea. 

And now ... It's late.
Time for bed!~
 

Thank you to NeverlastingEverland for the #selfie idea!~