It's a cloudy day in Europe when Kyungsoo first catches a glimpse of him.

With the sun hidden behind the clouds that threatened to spit rain at his umbrella-less self, he chooses to seek shelter in the museum and stall for a little while, just until the sky clears again. (Stupid weather forecast telling him lies.)

He finds himself in the section of 'photography through the years', the glass shelves laden with different types of cameras from the old-fashioned Polaroids to the digital cameras and DSLR cameras that almost aren't just for professional photographers anymore.

He decided to forgo the latest cameras for this trip around Europe, with his special Polaroid camera as his only companion along with an ample supply of ink cartridges and film. He doesn't exactly know the reason why-- his instincts just told him to on the day of his flight.

After having seen all of the cameras on display, Kyungsoo thinks he has ran out of things to look at, that is, until he spots a man of much bigger height than him. He doesn't even know what draws him to that particular man; perhaps it's the way he smiles fondly at the camera on display, his eyes distant with a sense of nostalgia. Maybe he used to own the camera on display?

Kyungsoo's body automatically follows the man now making his way out of the museum, his breath caught on his throat as he feels some strange force making him gravitate towards the man. With his arms brought up, he takes a picture of the tall man standing by a statue perched by the steps outside the museum, his chocolate brown hair tousled by the wind as the flash of the Polaroid camera inevitably catch the other's attention.

Kyungsoo squeaks internally, wishing his life was over because for all he knows this man could report him for stalking. Ending up in jail in a foreign country doesn't sound too appealing, if he's honest. The man merely smiles at him though; that same smile he saw earlier on with a knowing twist to it-- as if this man knows who Kyungsoo is.

A fire alarm from inside the museum rings throughout the area, a sea of people rushing to get out nearly drowning him in his own anxiety.

He never sees the mysterious man again though. And he doesn't know what to do with that picture he took of him.

-

Now back in his own country, he lies in bed with the collection of Polaroids he took during his holiday in Europe. He has somehow fallen asleep whilst going over them, recalling the different memories each picture represented.

The clash in the kitchen jolts him awake though, the Polaroids rustling down to the foot of his bed with some ending up on the floor as he scrambles out of bed. He takes careful steps towards the door, however, now blatantly wishing he had a bodyguard to protect him from this intruder.

He twists the door knob with utmost caution, his other hand moving to blindly look for a weapon to protect himself with. He grabs onto a feather duster, his hand rigid with fear because he still hears the noise coming from the kitchen.

He slowly creeps across the living room and makes his way to the kitchen, making sure his steps are silent and precise. What he's met with is something he doesn't expect though, and he continues to stare at the figure (trying to) make breakfast in front of him, the other still oblivious of his presence.

The only question that Kyungsoo manages to coherently ask himself is, "Why is the man from the picture frying egg in my kitchen?"

"Oh, you're awake! Good morning," the man from the Polaroid exclaims as he turns off the heat to the stove, wiping his hands on Kyungsoo's apron before making his way to him to plant a soft kiss on Kyungsoo's forehead.

In any other situation where Kyungsoo actually has a boyfriend and wakes up to this kind of scene, he would probably like it so much that he'd offer a make-out session right there and then... But this is a stranger and he's cooking (a possibly poisonous) breakfast in Kyungsoo's kitchen.

The only appropriate thing for Kyungsoo to do is scream, his voice screeching in a way he's never heard himself do before. The other man is startled, his arms flailing about as he thinks of what to do to pacify the screaming boy in front of him.

A kiss on his lips? No way. Kyungsoo swats at his face with the feather duster at the man's attempt of kissing him, his legs taking desperate steps back to try and escape out of the kitchen.

"Kyungsoo," the man calls out, "what's wrong? It's only me." He steps closer and closer every time Kyungsoo shuffles backwards, although not too close this time to avoid the wrath of the feather duster.

"Right, it's only you," Kyungsoo replies, panic-stricken, "I don't even know you and you're supposed to be in Europe, why are you in my kitchen?"

The taller male's brows furrow at this, not one of anger but one of utter confusion; as if Kyungsoo's actually the one talking gibberish here. "But I'm your boyfriend..."

Kyungsoo chokes on air, his eyes widening abnormally at the mention of the word 'boyfriend'. And that's when it all clicks. He remembers lying in bed the night before, staring longingly at the picture taken of the man in Europe and another of the Eiffel Tower as he wishes he had someone to fall in love with, just like all the couples he's seen during his trip in Paris.

"How on earth did I manage to get a boyfriend in Europe? Someone as hot as you..." Kyungsoo wonders out loud, earning a small chuckle from the other male whose confusion still remains despite the slight amusement at the indirect compliment.

"We met at photography class over a year ago," he clarifies, "but you never went to Europe."

Kyungsoo's heart drops down to the pits of his stomach, goose bumps rising on the back of his neck. He's clearly gone to Europe. He spent a whole two months travelling from country to country, his last stop being the country he saw this weird man in. Of course he's gone to Europe, because he's been looking at all the pictures he's taken just last night and they're--

Replaced by pictures of Kyungsoo and this unknown man together during graduation. Kyungsoo stumbles a little and the other male dashes forward to try and balance him. "I'm sorry, I don't remember anything." Kyungsoo says dizzily, the taste of guilt stinging his tongue because maybe it's him who's gone crazy.

The other man wears a look of masked understanding, and Kyungsoo knows deep down that he's probably just as confused as he is. They've been living together, but not really together, with each of them having memories of each other that neither of them can remember.

"T-That's okay. Let's start over. I'm Chanyeol." Chanyeol says with a sense of finality but with the hope of a somewhat new beginning, offering his hand for Kyungsoo to shake.

Kyungsoo does. It feels foreignly familiar.

-

Kyungsoo soon learns that Chanyeol is a handful. Not even that-- maybe two lots of a handful.

"Chanyeol, stop making breakfast if you're going to burn all my eggs," He complains frustratedly as he watches the taller male make a mess of his kitchen as he finishes his fourth attempt at making scrambled eggs. "And that's my apron, stop wiping your yolk-soaked hands on it and wash them first."

Kyungsoo also learns that Chanyeol remembers him as someone who nags a lot, so perhaps the Kyungsoo he's known is someone a lot like him-- if it isn't actually him. Who knows?

He also learns that Chanyeol is great at making people feel like crap about themselves, because once the kicked puppy expression is put on, it becomes more of a battle between Chanyeol's persistence and Kyungsoo's pride and willpower more than anything else.

"But I'm trying to make breakfast for you, can't you at least be a bit more appreciative?" The lanky male pouts, his expression a complete contradiction to his voice which sounds like a sensual radio DJ saying goodnight over and over again.

(Kyungsoo secretly likes it-- but not when it's all you can hear in the middle of the night, the voice calling out his name to annoy him eighty times over.)

"I would appreciate it more if you were to be sensible enough to realise that I'd prefer a nice bowl of cereals over a disaster of a kitchen." Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, dragging his feet into the kitchen as he begins to clean up after the giant puppy.

Chanyeol's ears metaphorically perk at the other's words, moving at once to prepare the said bowl of cereal before being stopped again. "Actually, I'll make my own breakfast. I don't trust you with the bowls either." Kyungsoo interrupts. Chanyeol's shoulders deflate, having nothing else to do but to follow the shorter male around until breakfast actually gets on the table.

In the end, it's Kyungsoo who makes the breakfast and does twice as much of the cleaning up. He doesn't forget to squeeze out some extra ketchup for Chanyeol's hash browns and bacon, just the way the taller male likes it. This has now become a normal occurrence in the morning-- and Kyungsoo surprisingly doesn't mind.

-

Kyungsoo learns that no matter how Chanyeol loves going on adventures, adventures do not like him.

Chanyeol drags Kyungsoo out to go ice skating on a Saturday because it's apparently 'cool'. This would be when Chanyeol would laugh at his own pun and say. "Ha. Ha. Get it? Cool? Ice skating? Ice? Cool?" And this would inevitably be where Kyungsoo would face him with a stoic expression that tells Chanyeol to 'shut up or feel the wrath of my choke hold'. That's the thing. Kyungsoo doesn't know why on earth he agreed to go, but he figured it wouldn't hurt.

Wrong.

Twenty minutes into their time at the rink, Chanyeol still refuses to let go of the barriers along the side of the rink. "Soo, this is so scary. I don't think I can." He whines pitifully, his knuckles whitening as he continues to grip onto the sides.

"Come on, you big baby. You'll be fine. Put your long legs to good use." Kyungsoo insists, though he can't help but smile in amusement at the way Chanyeol's expression is twisting into all sorts of emotions: from fear to consideration, then to determination and then to fear again. It's actually kind of cute now that he thinks about it.

"I can't."

Letting out a sigh, Kyungsoo lifts his hand to offer it to Chanyeol. He's been skeptical about physical contact from the very beginning. For most of his life, all the touching he's been doing has almost only ever been hitting someone out of spite or playfulness, but mostly the latter.

Chanyeol shows no hesitance in taking his hand though, his legs wobbly and unstable as he reaches out for Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo takes the chance to retract his hand further away from the giant puppy, and Chanyeol skates to reach for his hand only to have it retracted again. The process happens repeatedly and before they know it, they're right in the middle of the ice rink.

Kyungsoo smiles triumphantly at successfully getting Chanyeol to the middle without holding onto anything, with Chanyeol catching up with the thought soon after as he squawks and flails to grab onto something, anything-- anyone. Chanyeol lurches forward to reach for Kyungsoo and eventually loses his balance, dragging the smaller male down with him as they both slip across the ice, Chanyeol turning them around in time to break the fall.

"I hate you." Chanyeol whimpers from beneath with Kyungsoo on top of him, the smaller male having the ability to see the giant puppy's expressions clearly. It doesn't seem like he's injured anything which is a good sign, but with the way Chanyeol's eyes are half-lidded and his breath ghosting in front of him due to the low temperature, Kyungsoo is unable to think straight.

Kyungsoo then laughs. He laughs in a way he's never laughed before because this seriously can't be happening.

-

Kyungsoo learns that Chanyeol loves music like him. He lets Chanyeol play the guitar on display at the music shop they visit one afternoon, his jaw dropping at how Chanyeol seems so natural at playing not only the guitar but a selection of instruments, including the drums and the piano.

They have a mini jamming session at one corner of the music shop, accidentally attracting the attention of many onlookers, most of them stopping to listen to them with a look of approval. Kyungsoo thinks he could never get over his stage fright from many years ago, but Chanyeol's smiles of encouragement and his low, baritone voice that compliments his own say otherwise.

Kyungsoo now knows that his one source of strength is Chanyeol.

-

Kyungsoo finds out that Chanyeol sleeps like a baby. Literally. With the giant's body curled up into fetal position, Kyungsoo watches Chanyeol sleep soundly on the sofa that barely accommodates his whole body. That's when he realises just how badly he's been treating the poor puppy the whole time he's been staying at his apartment.

He has no idea exactly how long Chanyeol has been with him, since talking about the different memories of each other that they don't share isn't the most comfortable of topics to talk about-- it's too surreal; too much like a nightmare of a fairytale. It's a taboo topic between them, he could say, but what's been like a silently ticking time bomb will surely soon explode and he doesn't know when and how he should approach this.

His time is nearly up as he knows he's falling for Chanyeol.

-

They open up to each other on one alcohol-influenced night. They stay seated on the chairs in Kyungsoo's balcony, both of them having one too many or perhaps just enough for the both of them to finally talk about the taboo topic they have both been avoiding.

"You came from a Polaroid picture," Kyungsoo slurs as he shifts to steady his gaze on the man in front of him.

"I did," Chanyeol chuckles, "you saw our graduation photos, huh?"

"Bull. I know you know I'm not on about that. I know I went to Europe and saw you there." Kyungsoo snarls, since whatever emotion he currently has at that split second shows a lot more with the alcohol running through his bloodstream.

"You're a lot like my Kyungsoo," Chanyeol points out, “you don’t take bull from anyone.”

“So tell me, what kind of things did you do with your Kyungsoo?”

Chanyeol hums questioningly, as if wanting to double-check whether the question he thinks he’s heard is the question he’s been asked. “Well,” he begins, “We loved each other, obviously. Like I told you before, we met at photography class a year before our graduation. He hated me at first because I made him fail during a group project and his partner happened to be me. I decided to try and make it up to him and make him forgive me by visiting him at the library everyday with peace offerings like chocolate and I even gave him a new camera. Now that I think about it, he could’ve easily avoided me by not going to the library but he was always there. On the same spot by the window, reading the same genre of books and using the same method of bookmarking by giving the pages dog ears. Wow, that bastard must’ve fallen for me because I got him a new camera.”

Kyungsoo visibly stiffens at the last comment, before Chanyeol quickly clarifies by saying, “I was kidding. God, Soo.”

“What did you like about him?” Kyungsoo asks, more quietly this time.

“I don’t know. I just knew he was my soulmate.”

A snort is heard from the shorter male’s side, earning a glare from Chanyeol. “You believe in that kind of stuff?”

“I do.”

“Did you go far?” Kyungsoo’s voice is quieter this time, although he plays it off nonchalantly since he can tell Chanyeol that it’s all the alcohol’s fault.

“What do you mean by that?” Chanyeol raises a brow, surprised that Kyungsoo would ask a question like that.

“You know what I mean.” The shorter male reddens, visible even with the crescent-shaped moon and the sprinkle of stars as their only source of light.

A pregnant pause ensues before Chanyeol finally answers, “… Well, yeah. We hugged, kissed, stuff like that…”

“Were his kisses nice?”

“They were. Like fluttering butterflies landing softly on your nose.”

Kyungsoo wrinkles his nose at the thought, not really liking the thought of having a butterfly land on his face. Chanyeol only laughs at the sight, and this is when he realises that it’s probably time to put Kyungsoo to bed before he decides to have any more drinks.

“Let’s get you to bed.” Chanyeol announces, standing up and staying still for a moment to regain his bearings.

The next thing he feels is Kyungsoo’s lips against his, the feeling of butterflies exact and like home. He’s been waiting for this for so long, and the fact that it’s taken this long for this Kyungsoo to do this is all worth it.

Chanyeol responds by pulling away, not willing to do anything where Kyungsoo is in a state of possibly not being able to remember anything the following day. No, it wouldn’t be fair.

“I like you. Really really like you.” Kyungsoo murmurs against Chanyeol’s neck.

-

Kyungsoo wakes up with his head pounding but with his soul feeling strangely complete. He spends a few minutes in bed pondering over whether he should get up or not, and once he finally does, he resists the urge to run to the bathroom to retch.

He freshens himself up before going back out of his bedroom in search of pain-killers for his headache and to probably stop Chanyeol from burning his kitchen down again.

What he finds, however, is an empty living room with an unoccupied sofa, as well as a kitchen that doesn’t seem to have been ‘Chanyeolified’ just yet. He frowns because Chanyeol is nowhere to be found in his apartment. He wants to think positively because all his stuff are still where they were before, but all the things he did the night before hits him like bullet train.

Did he go too far? Is he really not the Kyungsoo that Chanyeol wants?

He doesn’t remember when the tears start falling; as he’s never been this desperate for someone, to want someone all to himself, and to want someone to love him back just as much as he’s learned to love them.

He’s ultimately scared of being alone and seeing him with someone else, or even worse, ‘Chanyeol’s Kyungsoo’ whom he’s managed to know a bit about the night before. He’s scared of going back to his mundane routine of being a boring photographer with a barely adequate salary, without Chanyeol to turn to, without anyone greeting him in the morning with his kitchen at risk of catching fire.

The front door unlocks and the footsteps pad closer. Kyungsoo’s heart stops at the sight of Chanyeol sporting a surprised look that eventually transitions into one of concern. Kyungsoo scurries over into Chanyeol’s arms who more than gladly welcomes him, the taller male still immensely dumbfounded as he tightens his hold on the plastic bag just as when he wraps an arm around the small of Kyungsoo’s waist.

“Soo? What’s wrong?” Chanyeol asks, his chin tilting down to try and catch a glimpse of Kyungsoo’s teary face.

“I thought you were going to leave me…” Kyungsoo whimpers, fingers delicately curling around the edge of Chanyeol’s shirt.

“Why would I? I just went down to buy some soup because I figured you’d want something warm and you wouldn’t want to wake up to a burning kitchen. Not with a hangover anyway.” He replies, chuckling softly as he reaches to swipe away the tears on Kyungsoo’s cheeks with the pad of his thumb.

“I don’t think I’ve ever told you that I love you. Whatever you are. Whoever you are. I love you, Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo pulls away to gaze up at the taller male’s gleaming eyes.

“I love you too, Kyungsoo.”

-

Some Time in the Past

After losing his lover in a car accident, Chanyeol doesn’t know how to cope with the drastic change in routine. Heck, there’s no one even there to tell him to change his routine. Routines, schedules, limits, waiting, and time. All Chanyeol ever has in mind now is time. He thinks of ways to turn back time – to perhaps try and prevent the accident from ever happening or to relive the last few days, weeks or months before the accident.

The only thing Kyungsoo left him is the camera that Chanyeol himself has given him as some form of peace offering when they first met. And so he uses that to travel the world, taking pictures of whatever he thinks Kyungsoo would like and take a picture of. His last stop is somewhere in Europe where he hears of a museum which accepted cameras for display as part of an exhibition. Chanyeol ends up putting Kyungsoo’s camera up on display in the museum with a watch being given to him in return, and he goes back to see the camera year after year.

On the third year, however, everything changes. He wakes up to a universe where Chanyeol and Kyungsoo have never met and he sees him at the museum in Europe.