Random Rambles: Okay, possible cheesy chapter alert XD Guys what even, how did I manage to go too far with this story? It's in the 90s and it's still not finished ;A; ahh guess I'll have to remedy that soon... Hope y'all still like the story and thank you again for bearing with me ^^; love love love <3 

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No amount of exhaustion could prevent the dreams from bothering my rest. I didn’t know why I would even thought I could be given a break, even if it was for a short time. I was plagued by terrifying images of black snakes and horrid women with misshapen fox-like faces. Green eyes followed me wherever I ran, followed by the screeching sound of a metal blade being dragged over the concrete floor. A white snake was coiled around a gigantic tree, its flesh melting off the bone by scorching black fire before turning to dust like the tree it tried to protect. 

Evil, golden eyes peered from the darkness before it targeted me and swallowed me whole before I could even scream. 

I woke up with a jolt, my heart pounding in my ears as the fear from my dream still lingered and settled in my chest. I gasped softly for breath, trying to calm down, telling myself that I was safe, that I was still in Suho’s house, that the boys were here too. 

The boys… 

Something felt off as I stirred in the bed, and even though it was dark, the curtains weren’t thick enough to stop the light of the moon from coming inside the room. It was warm in the soft, big bed. A bit too warm. When I turned to my side to adjust my position, I nearly yelped at seeing Sehun sleeping there, his mouth slightly ajar, his face mere inches away from me. I shook my head and scoffed, but I didn’t want to wake him. I turned to the other side, hoping to create more space between us. However, I nearly shrieked again at the sight of a softly snoring Chen, sprawled out on the other side of the bed. 

As I carefully sat up, I noticed that my feet were particularly warm as well, and sure enough, there lay Chanyeol, sleeping comfortably across the double king size bed near our feet, hugging his pillow tightly, his hair a mess. 

Unbelievable. I prevented from laughing when I saw how the boys were sprawled around the room like a bunch of puppy dogs. Kai and D.O. had put a couple of sofas together and slept soundly near the bed. Lay, Luhan, and Xiumin slept on the floor, covered in blankets, with Luhan’s arms and legs draped over his hyung and dongsaeng since he was sleeping in the middle. Suho was sleeping on a classic loveseat by the window, and looked to be dreaming too. I hope his dreams were better than mine, though. I smiled upon seeing that he had curled himself up like a shrimp to make himself comfortable. It was kind of endearing to see. 

Another adorable sight I never thought I’d see was a too-tall-for-furniture Kris, lying on a couch with his feet over the armrest, exposed by the blankets that he had pulled up to his chin, with Tao curled up beside him. I startled when I thought I heard him talking, until I realized what he was saying. 

“Oongya, oongya…black soda drink, style aniya…erm…give me chicken…”

I bit my lip as I shook my head. Another dreamer in the room… I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I continued to look around the room. Even though I felt rather awkward about sleeping in a room filled with dudes, I couldn’t help but smile. The way they huddled around me, as though I was the focal point- I don’t know…was it stupidly girly of me to think it flattering? Gah, I’m glad it’s dark though. This way no one would ever have to see how red my face probably is. 

These guys though, these band of brothers… it was nice to be part of this pack. No matter what the past used to be like, this is the here and now. I have to remember that. These group of guys were willing to do whatever it took to save the world and to protect me, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t feel the same way about them. 

“Hrm, no-noona, no…” I looked to my side to hear Sehun mumbling in his sleep, his face nearly buried within the blankets. 

“No, noona, don’t…no…” he stirred and I went to check on him. It didn’t look like he was dreaming about ordering food like Kris. Carefully, without waking him, I his forehead, running my fingers ever so gently through his hair. He looked particularly young sleeping like that. Then again, all of them looked like regular teens, instead of magical wolf guardians. 

“Shh, it’s okay, Sehunnie. Just relax,” I murmured quietly towards him, retracting my hand when he stirred again. 

“Noona, no, no!” he mumbled, a deep frown on his face. Should I wake him? What if he was having a nightmare, too?

“Noona, no- no…not the green tea flavor! Cho-choco bubble…” he muttered before falling deeply asleep again. 

“Oh my gosh, seriously?” I giggled softly to myself. This kid’s life revolves around bubble tea, I shook my head. I leaned forward to push his hair from his face. “Never change, Sehunnie,” I whispered, pulling away again. Still sitting up, the sight of seeing the others sleep so peacefully nearly tempted me to try to sleep again as well, but after the dream I had, I doubted that it would work out. I let my eyes wander over their sleeping forms - trust me it’s not as creepy as that sounded - and suddenly felt like something was missing. Or, rather, someone. 

My first instinct, after everything that’s been going on, was to panic. I made a quick headcount. Three were in the bed with me, two on the shared sofa, two more on the couch. One on the loveseat, three on the ground. I know math wasn’t my strong suit, but I’m pretty sure the total makes eleven. I used my fingers to count again, just to be sure, but still ended up with eleven.

Oh no… I shouldn’t panic immediately, right? I should stop and think a moment, or should I wake the others? Who was even missing? 

My eyes widened. “Baekhyun,” I whispered in alarm, feeling the need to wake up the boys and disrupt their slumber, until a strange flash caught my eye. I looked towards the door and saw another pulse of light appear, casting long shadows through the crevices of the closed door before disappearing again. 

Taking a few deep breaths, I wriggled my way out of the blankets, moving slowly and as quietly as possible to not wake anyone. I managed to make use of my heightened agility to jump over Chanyeol, landing my bare feet on the cold floor with a soft thud. Making sure I hadn’t awakened anyone, I made for the door and opened it. 

A group of white flecks of light hovered in the hallway, giving light to the cold darkness. When I hovered my hand near the light, I could sense Baekhyun’s energy, memories of linking with him before floating into my mind. I followed the light as it glittered in the darkness, seeing the source standing on the balcony. The sliding door was opened, a gentle breeze rippling the soft fabric of the curtains, as more light flew into the house. 

I stopped in front of the threshold, watching Baekhyun lazily playing with the sparkling orbs he produced from his hands, sending them into the night sky. His eyes shimmered as he followed the light ascend the heavens and only now did I notice that there were hardly any stars in the sky. The moon glowed behind shreds of clouds, but it was Baekhyun’s light that shone brighter. 

What was he doing out here by himself? I wanted to go and ask him, but I nearly felt like I was intruding on his privacy just by standing here, looking at him. I shouldn’t bother him. Turning softly on my heels I moved away from the opened door, wanting to leave him be. 

“You don’t have to leave, noona.” 

My ears twitched and my heart thumped, startled. Feeling embarrassed, I cringed and slowly turned back around. Baekhyun wasn’t facing me, but I could see him smiling. 

“I didn’t mean to disturb you,” I started, when he finally turned his head to look at me. 

“I know, you can’t help how you smell,” he chuckled and I blinked, quickly checking my breath. Did I smell so bad? 

Baekhyun laughed a little louder at seeing my concern. “Jasmine, noona. You smell like jasmine, you knew that, right?” he asked as I hummed in realization. 

“Right. Of course. I forgot,” I smiled sheepishly, then trying to sniff out Baekhyun’s scent. I frowned when I couldn’t smell a thing. The air filled itself with Baekhyun’s laugh once more, the lights flickering a little more brightly as he did so. 

“Kkaebsong, Jae-noona, you can’t smell a thing, can you?” he teased, gesturing for me to join him on the balcony. 

“I can’t,” I confirmed, taking another whiff standing close to him. “How is that possible? Did something happen?” I asked. 

Baekhyun grinned, blowing another cloud of sparkling lights into the sky. “It’s a little trick I picked up on when I was a kid- in Exo, that is. I just remembered how to do it. Helped me get out of a lot of trouble back then,” he smiled to himself as though he was reliving fond memories before looking up playfully at me. “If you’re good, noona, I might teach you how to do it.”

I scoffed in jest. “Please, I’m always good,” I replied, scooting over to him. “So, tell me.” 

Baekhyun laughed again as we were surrounded in his light and I only now noticed how boyish he looked. As ridiculous as it sounded, I thought he looked rather pure- lame, I know, but Baekhyun wore a simple white shirt with long sleeves that were perhaps a size too big for him. His hair was unkempt, his face clean, and emitting all that light…He looked like a different Baekhyun, and yet he was so very familiar to me. 

“I don’t know if I should,” he continued teasing. “I like your scent, noona. I think I’ll keep my trick a secret. It’s nice being able to tell where you are.” 

“Yeah, wow, that wasn’t creepy at all,” I remarked and he awkwardly bit his lip, chuckling. 

“Sorry,” he apologized, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s just that your scent is soothing, noona,” he then said, though that didn’t sound like much of an improvement where the creepy-scale was concerned. Baekhyun seemed to realize that when I purposely gazed at him, arching an eyebrow just to mess with him. 

“Ah! No, that’s not what I mean- you know, it’s just smelling the scent of jasmine heightens my senses, gets me going- n-not in that way! I don’t- ,” he sighed deeply, lowering his head and covering his face with his hand. 

I nudged him with my elbow. “Kkaebsong,” I taunted good-naturedly, making him look at me with another deep sigh. 

“Yah, noona! You wanna fight, huh?” he pointed in accusation at me, though his joking tone of voice was evident. I raised my fists at him. 

“Come at me, bro! I’ll attack you with my special jasmine attack; the Jas-Mine! A bomb that goes poof and entraps you in a cloud of jasmine to incapacitate you,” I replied, realizing a little too late how utterly lame and embarrassing that sounded. I lowered my head in shame when we both fell silent and Baekhyun started to laugh again. What was it about being around this guy that brought out the childishness within me? 

“Eh, noona, what-,”

“Yeah, I don’t know what that was either,” I breathed as Baekhyun grinned and nodded his head. 

“Good. Otherwise I’d be really worried,” he joked and played with the shimmering lights that floated around us. It became quiet then, the sound of the wind and rustling leaves dominating the atmosphere. I thought I heard celestial bells too, though, but very softly, as if they came from the lights Baekhyun had summoned. 

“Here,” he murmured quietly, spinning a tiny daisy made out of pure light in the palm of his hand, and placed it behind my ear. “The night is particularly dark tonight. Some light should scare it away,” his voice was so tender when he said it, not at all like the rowdy, loud Baekhyun I came to know. When I blinked at him, he shot me another smile. “You should go back to sleep, noona. You need the rest,” he said. 

“Pot calling the kettle black,” I remarked. “Don’t you need the rest too?”

“I’m okay, noona. I’m gonna stay here for a while,” Baekhyun assured, but he wasn’t at all convincing. He had already directed his gaze towards the black horizon, his lights shining brightly against the dark backdrop. 

“Why are you out here?” the question flew from my mouth without permission, but the way he had looked out into the night struck me, for whatever reason. I’ve known Baekhyun to be somewhat of a loud moodmaker, the kid that always joked around, wasn’t all too serious- I mean come on, do I have to mention ‘Bacon Jr.’?  So, I guess seeing this calmer, more quiet side of him had me intrigued? Curious? Concerned? Maybe all of the above. I’ve never seen him this way before. I nearly gasped when he turned to face me again. Maybe it was because of the glistening lights surrounding us, but I could have sworn that the bright, always cheerful Baekhyun had a tinge of sadness, maybe fear, in his eyes. 

“Sorry,” I promptly apologized. “I don’t mean to pry. You don’t have to answer,” I told him, but he must’ve sensed my discomfort and I saw him relax. 

“I could ask you the same question, noona, but maybe we also have the same answer,” he sighed, leaning forward on the railing of the balcony to look out over the Kim-property. Since it was so isolated from civilization, there were hardly any streetlights here, hence, only darkness remained. Baekhyun’s light only dimly lit the vast landscape below us, though they withered and were snuffed out after a while. We watched them in silence for a moment until Baekhyun spoke. 

“Let’s just say that having most of our memories back isn’t entirely fun and games, noona,” he tried to chuckle to keep the conversation lighthearted, but it was obvious the laughter was forced, and weak. “I’d forgotten that I don’t like the dark,” Baekhyun muttered, emitting more light. 

I swallowed, still watching him. “You’re afraid of the dark?” I asked, but Baekhyun shook his head. 

“No.” 

Shortest answer ever. I didn’t want to push the matter since it was obvious that Baekhyun didn’t seem to want to talk about this much and I certainly didn’t want to impose. With his back still turned to me I didn’t know what else to do but to reach out to touch his shoulder as support. Except when I wanted to rest my hand on him, he abruptly turned around, causing me to nearly cup his cheek instead. 

Flustered, I pulled away, but Baekhyun moved fast and grabbed my hand. I felt the pulse of energy flow from his hand to mine. Were we connected? 

“I’m not afraid of the dark, noona,” he said quietly, looking at my hand. “But I am dependent on it, and that frightens me,” he confessed so softly. 

I frowned, feeling rather inadequate because I had no idea how to comfort him. “I…I don’t understand,” I muttered in reply, the lights floating gently around us now. “How can you be dependent on darkness? You’re light itself,” I tried to cheer him up, but I doubted that worked. 

“Light shines brightest in the dark,” he said, a wan smile on his face. “The Tree of Life told me that once, I think,” he continued and I could see him digging back into his newfound past. “My heart wavered before I became a guardian. I didn’t know if I was well-suited for the job,” he regaled. “You see, because I work with the power of the light, I often found myself in darkness. It’s not that I purposely sought it out, but the Tree made a point. What use is there for someone like me to shine when there’s no darkness to shine in? For a long time, I thought that it probably meant that deep down inside, I wasn’t made of light, but out of darkness. The kind of darkness found in the Black Imoogi.” 

“Oh, come on, Baekhyun, that’s silly,” I said. “And to dwell in darkness to shine brighter is probably not what the Tree meant to tell you.”

“No, you’re right about that, noona. It was a warning,” he replied soberly. “Those who emit the brightest light…” he murmured, the white orbs around us intensifying in brightness so much I had to squint my eyes. “Cast the greatest shadows,” he said, finally looking at me when all of a sudden all the lights he had summoned went out. Even the daisy behind my ear dispersed and went away. 

I startled at the sudden blackness in front of my eyes and if Baekhyun hadn’t kept hold of my hand I would’ve believed he had left as well. 

“This is why I remembered that I don’t like the dark. I don’t like sleeping in the dark. I’m afraid that if I linger too long it, I might get too comfortable, and I’ll never be able to shine again.” His voice was low and close by, filled with unexpressed emotion.  

“You’re not the black snake, Baekhyun,” I told him with a strong, determined voice, removing my hand from his when my sight got used to the darkness. I lifted his chin so that he could look at me, but he refused to meet my gaze. 

“Well, noona, I’m not a good guardian either. Even when I try to sleep images of the past flash before me, and they all end in darkness.” 

“Baekhyun,” I started, but he cut me off. 

“On the last day in Exo planet, when our home was burning, I was fighting off these - shadows, with Xiumin and Chen. The more I used my light to defeat them, the greater the shadows became. I nearly…” he trailed off and turned his back on me again. “I nearly got my brothers killed,” he stated, almost angrily. I saw him balling his fist to hit the stone railing of the balcony. “With everything that’s happening now, what if my supposed light attracts more darkness? How am I supposed to protect my brothers- protect you, noona?” he sighed. “I’m back to where I started. Not feeling like I’m worthy of calling myself a guardian.” 

It was more than a shock to hear Baekhyun, of all people, talk like this, to hear him say such things- I honestly never expected to hear those words come out of his mouth. The desperation and helplessness in those words, the pain and anger… 

This wasn’t the Baekhyun I knew, and maybe it was selfish of me, but it wasn’t the Baekhyun I wanted to see, because I knew that everything he told me, wasn’t true. And it hurt to see that he believed those words. 

Not knowing what else I could do to comfort him, I moved forward and wrapped my arms around his waist, leaning my head against his back. I could sense him tensing up, startling lightly and stood completely still. 

“Noona?” he asked. 

“You’re an idiot, Byun Baekhyun,” I mumbled into his shirt. “To doubt yourself, to doubt your heart, to even think that darkness stands a chance of consuming you- you’re an idiot,” I said, holding him a bit tighter. “I seem to recall a young man telling his brother how this world is supposed to be filled with opposites, so that a balance can be created. Without light no darkness, but without darkness no light, don’t you remember that?” 

“That’s bravado, noona,” Baekhyun said, still unmoving. “I’m a showman, remember?” he joked weakly. 

“I’m being serious, Baekhyun,” I told him, gripping his shirt angrily. “You’re the brightest member of the pack. Your heart is strong and filled with light. You shine when you’re in the room- how can someone like that be filled with darkness?” 

“But, the Tree said-,”

“Screw the Tree!” I shouted in anger, forcing him to turn around so he could look at me. “I know you. Your brothers know you. When darkness falls, you’re the one everyone looks to first,” I told him firmly. “Yes, light shines brightest in the dark, that’s true. But it wasn’t a warning, it wasn’t the Tree telling you that it meant that you were dependent on the dark or that you were darkness itself! Don’t you get it? The Tree chose you to become its guardian because it knew that you were the person people could rely on when all they saw was darkness. When the light of hope fades, that’s when you shine brightest to remind everyone that hope is never lost.” Baekhyun blinked at me as if it took him some time to process what I was telling him. I chuckled at the puzzled expression on his face and flicked him on the forehead. “Babo. Can’t believe you needed the help of a lowly peasant girl to figure this out,” I added with a smirk which widened when Baekhyun finally granted me a genuine smile. 

“You are a lot of things, Jae-noona. But there’s no way that you’re just a lowly peasant girl,” he commented prodding my forehead with his finger as we laughed quietly. “‘Screw the Tree!’” Baekhyun suddenly imitated me, his voice high-pitched and creaking. I slapped his arm. 

“I do not sound like that!” I protested, but he only chuckled, rubbing his arm. 

“Thank you, noona,” he whispered sincerely and I gave a small nod, scratching my cheek. 

“I didn’t really do anything though,” I shrugged. 

“Well,” Baekhyun mused, his old self slowly coming back, “you acted like a light amidst my darkness,” he wiggled his eyebrows, his smug grin slowly turning into one of utter embarrassment. 

“Wow, I don’t know what that was, but that was beyond cheesy, dude. I don’t think that even Suho would be that cheesy,” I mocked, happy to see that he seemed better now. 

“Omo, I think you’re right, noona,” he cringed, whining dramatically. “Guess it means I do need the sleep after all.”

“We both do, probably,” I said, tugging a strand of hair behind my ear. Baekhyun nodded and then leaned forward a bit. 

“Then why aren’t we moving?” he asked in a whisper and I sighed. His expression stood worried now. “Were you plagued by that memory, noona?” he asked carefully. 

“Sort of,” I replied. “It’s mostly just general bad dreaming, though, about black snakes and fox-like women trying to kill me…I’m lucky like that,” I shrugged, making sure to smile. “But you should definitely go and catch some sleep. Who knows how long you’ve been out here before I found you,” I told him, knowing that I couldn’t go back to sleep with the nightmares still fresh in my mind. 

Baekhyun hummed as he pondered about something. “You know, they say that a little light can keep the nightmares away,” he remarked. 

“Thank you, but I think that sleeping with the lights on won’t do much for me,” I bit my lip. 

“Well then, in that case-how about talking with the lights on?” he suggested with a wink. 

We talked on that balcony, about everything and nothing. I think the both of us purposely steered clear from any topics that related to the black snake, or the problematic situation we were in, in general, which suited me fine to be honest. Nighttime was the time to forget, to not worry about the things that keep us occupied during the day. I honestly don’t know how long we spoke to each other, but Baekhyun was good company. After our talk he was back to being himself, playing around, joking, making me laugh and telling all sorts of crazy stories that he remembered again. He didn’t tell me about how he could mask his scent, by the way, but he promised that one day he’d share the secret with me. Said that ‘a man should keep his mystery to keep the ladies intrigued’… the dork. 

Somewhere along the way, we moved our conversation from the balcony to the couch in the room that led up to the balcony. Honestly, Suho’s mansion was huge. I didn’t know if we were sitting in another living room or guest room, but it was cozy enough. It would’ve been the perfect movie ending if I said that we talked to each other until the sun came up, but that wasn’t the case at all. Despite our relaxing and lively conversation, sleep decided to visit us both. I couldn’t even recall who fell asleep first or how we drifted away. 

All I knew was that I could sleep without fearing the darkness this time. The nightmares didn’t pay me a visit at all. I guess they got scared of the bright light that was watching over me.

Then again, I’d be running scared too, hearing how loud this particular light could snore…ah, kkaebsong...