“Yah, Yeol!” Baekhyun shouted for the thousandth time that day, while he and Chanyeol turned the latter’s bedroom upside-down. He was currently throwing all of Chanyeol’s clothes out of his closet, making a big pile of complete mess on the floor.

“Yah, Baek!” Chanyeol answered, upside down in his laundry basket. Baekhyun had explained his plan on the roof of the City Hall, but just seconds later they had encountered their first obstacle.

“I can’t believe you managed to lose all those balloons like that!” Baekhyun exclaimed loudly, while throwing a light green t-shirt on the floor. And he couldn’t either. How could one possibly lose that many balloons? It shouldn't be possible, but then again Chanyeol was Chanyeol after all. If it was him, nothing was unimaginable.

“Well, we bought them four years ago, how would I know we needed them now?” Chanyeol replied, looking between his socks and trousers for something he already knew wasn’t there. But he had to make sure, just in case. He still had his head and arms inside the basket when he straightened up to finish his searching and as a result it followed, and he was completely blinded with the basket on his head. His arms were stuck inside it, and as he tumbled around in the room trying to get it off, he bumped into quite a lot of things - including almost every piece of furniture in his room. And it really hurt as well.

Baekhyun shook his head, taking one of the boxes Chanyeol used to store his socks in out of the closet, turning it upside down on the floor with the other clothes. “It should be obvious that we would need to use a thousand balloons sometime!”

“You know, normal people would not see the reason to even buy a thousand balloons!” Chanyeol shouted from inside the laundry basket.

“Are you calling us normal?” was Baekhyun’s short reply, as he made faces at some of Chanyeol’s underwear. One Piece? Really?

The two of them kept on bickering as they trashed Chanyeol’s room by messing up everything, looking for the thousand balloons. They had bought them a long time ago for almost nothing, but never got to use them. Whatever they originally were supposed to do with them both Baekhyun and Chanyeol had forgotten, but they knew that the balloons should be here somewhere, and that they needed them soon.

Chanyeol got out from the laundry basket after quite a while of struggling, and suddenly remembered he had completely forgotten.

“The attic!” he exclaimed. Baekhyun, who was busy getting tangled up in Chanyeol’s jackets, quickly stuck his head out from the closet.

“What?” he asked.

“Maybe it’s in the attic!”

The attic was dusty, no doubt about that. The roof was low and a small window let in the only light in the room. On both sides, leant into the walls, big, brown boxes marked with black sharpie dominated. As soon as they got into the room Chanyeol started to look for the boxes with his name on, which the balloons had to be in.

At the same time, Baekhyun decided to help Chanyeol, and started looking himself. After a couple of minutes, he found a big box with the text “Chanyeol 4 – 8 yrs. old” written on it. Carefully he lifted the box, which was surprisingly light. Then he glanced over at Chanyeol, who had found his own box. Baekhyun considered his choices. Letting the box be, and maybe leave unknown treasures. Opening the box, and maybe find some super-embarrassing pictures of his best friend. And it was obvious what he chose to do.

As Baekhyun opened the box, the first thing that caught his attention was a pile of pictures, with a rubber band wrapped around them. So it was pictures, after all, just like his guess. He remembered how Chanyeol's mother always had carried a camera around - so this is where it all ended up. But what really surprised him, was that the first picture wasn’t just five-year-old Chanyeol. It was another, shorter boy in the picture, grinning and showing the victory-sign. He recognized the other child instantly. It was himself.

Baekhyun sat down on the floor with his legs crossed, and looked through the pictures. Flashbacks and feelings of nostalgia kept coming and surged through him, like a waterfall during rain season. When had these photos even been taken? They looked so happy, so oblivious to the world. He looked at Chanyeol, and then back at the boy on the picture. Yes, it was a clear resemblance between them, that was for sure. Chanyeol was tall for his age even in that picture, just like Baekhyun had been small for his age.

Without even noticing, Baekhyun began to smile, remembering all the things they used to do. When they had spent countless hours out in the meadow, chasing the butterflies and kicking footballs. When they had run around in the woods, trying to find all the mysteries they had heard so much about. They had done so many things, he couldn’t even remember it all. Now he did.

After a while he got through looking at the photographs, and continued to search through the box after precious memories.

And what he found underneath the diamond amongst all the gold. “Oh my god!” he exclaimed, gasping as he held up the thing. Chanyeol, who was halfway through his third box, looked over at Baekhyun to see what all the commotion was. And then, he gasped as well. To anyone else, it would’ve looked like a plain, normal kite with the picture of a dragon on. But to Chanyeol and Baekhyun, it was the most precious memory of them all, the one that mattered the most.

‘The first time Chanyeol and Baekhyun met, Baekhyun had been crying.

It had been a clear day in the spring, and he had just gotten some new shoes. It didn't happen very often, and he couldn't wait to run around in them, chasing the fairy tales his father always told him about. Maybe today, he would see the pixies that lived in the woods. Maybe his new shoes had magic power. So as soon as he put them on, he ran out of the door from his house. He bolted down the stone steps to the garden, and sprinted out of the white-painted gates. His course was set to the woods now, to catch pixies and small rainbow-elves. Because his new shoes were magical, after all.

But as he ran down the road of hard-packed soil and gravel, he tripped and tumbled down the slightly steep road. He rolled a couple of meters, before he hit his head on a stone and stopped. It didn't even take one second before he felt something wet and sticky on his forehead, and he looked up to see if something was dripping down on him. But it was nothing, only the blue sky. He quickly reached to the place that was wet, and studied the red that tainted his hands. Now, as he looked at himself, he noticed that he had big grazes on both of his knees, elbows and palms. And it hurt. It hurt really badly. But Byun Baekhyun was a strong and tough boy. If he just kept the tears inside he would certainly be recognized by his brother as a big boy. However, even if his determination was on top, tears rolled down his cheeks slowly afterwards. He sniffled and quickly wiped them away with his hand, which caused his palms to hurt even more.

About then, another boy with a kite in his hands came into sight. He had to be older than Baekhyun, because he was very tall already. And he looked so cool, that was what Baekhyun immediately thought. He looked at the boy, and even forgot that he was hurt for a couple of seconds. But then he tried to move, and the red liquid from his forehead reached his eye. This scared Baekhyun as he didn't know what it was, and he started to cry again. Even in front of the cool boy. He certainly looked like just another cry-baby now. But he couldn't do anything about it, it just hurt so much.

Baekhyun had expected the boy to walk past, but he didn't. Instead, he sat down on his knees in front of him, and smiled unsure. He had a really nice smile, Baekhyun thought for himself.

"Are you okay?" the kite-boy said. He put the kite down beside him, and took a look at Baekhyun.

As an answer, Baekhyun shook his head and sniffled. "It hurts so much," he muttered.

The kite-boy nodded, and smiled. Then he stuck his hand in his pocket, and took out a small thing wrapped in red. A candy. "Do you want it?" he asked in a kind voice. "I've got plenty already," Baekhyun didn't know at that time, and he still didn't, but the kite-boy had lied just then. It had been his last candy, which he had gotten from his grandmother when he helped her clean her house. But as Baekhyun thought the kite-boy had other candies as well, he smiled and accepted it, happily unwrapping the paper, which revealed a red strawberry lollipop. He put it in his mouth, and it was the best thing he had ever tasted. After that day, strawberry remained one of his favourite flavours.

The kite-boy looked curiously at Baekhyun, who had stopped crying. Then his eyes wandered to the wounds Baekhyun had gotten on his palms and knees, and he sat down.

"I live just down the road, and my mommy is the best in the whooole world to make pain go away. Do you want to come with me? Right now my sister is making buns," he said, with a faintly worried look in his eyes, like he was expecting Baekhyun to be scared and run away. But Baekhyun just sniffled once again and nodded, and wondered how someone could be so nice. He looked at the kite-boy in pure awe and admiration, as he held his hand forward for Baekhyun to take it. "I'm Park Chanyeol. Let's go," the kite-boy smiled, and helped him up.’

“Yeollie,” Baekhyun said under his breath, his voice barely there. “Do you remember this?”

Chanyeol closed in with slow steps, looking at the tattered, old kite. Hadn’t that been thrown away? He was kind of relieved that it hadn’t, and with careful hands, like he could break it, he took the kite out of Baekhyun’s hands. It was a very normal kite. It was blue with a picture of a dragon on, and after years in a box, it was a little bit worn.

“Oh my… Baekhyun, this is the kite, isn’t it?” he whispered.

Baekhyun’s stare wandered from the kite to Chanyeol, and he slowly nodded. “I think it is,” his eyes widened, and then he stood up.

“Let’s find those balloons quickly,” he said. “And then, we’ll go out in the meadow and try that kite,”

Chanyeol nodded, and soon they were frantically searching for the lost balloons again.

It hadn’t taken long to find the balloons, in the end. They were in a box named “Things Chanyeol refuses to throw away”, together with a couple of Pokémon-cards, some teddy bears and other unnecessary stuff.

And so Baekhyun and Chanyeol quickly ran to the meadow, without even cleaning up the mess that once had been Chanyeol’s room.

The meadow was just as they remembered it. They hadn’t been here for ages, but even though they had changed, the meadow had stayed the same. The big trees covered in pink still stood where they had years ago, and white, yellow and purple flowers still bloomed beautifully. Tall grass covered the field, and butterflies daced in the wind. The birds sang just as fairly as they did before, and everything had a somewhat timeless look.

Chanyeol blinked a few times, just to be sure he wasn’t dreaming. They had their kite. They had their meadow. It was like they hadn’t grown up at all.

“Hey, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asked while holding the kite like it was a fragile glass-vase.

Chanyeol cocked his head slightly and looked at Baekhyun. “What?” he asked.

Baekhyun’ eyebrows crept together and he got an unsure look on his face. With a touch as light as the first snow in December, he held the kite up against the sun. “Do you think it’ll be fine?” he wondered. “You don’t think it will break?”

Chanyeol considered it for a couple of seconds, but then shook his head and patted his shoulder. “It held ten years ago, right? And we were much more violent with it back then. Baek, I think it will do just fine now.” He smiled reassuringly. It wasn’t just some cheap thing, after all. Then it would’ve broken a long time ago already, due Baekhyun and Chanyeol being its owners.

Baekhyun smiled thankfully at Chanyeol, and threw the kite into the air. The soft, warm summer wind caught it after a second, and the kite flew up. The cloud-free sky made the kite dominant, and even though it was blue, just like what it desperately tried to reach way up, it was the first thing one spotted if they looked towards the sky.

Baekhyun laughed just like he had done ten years ago, and even if puberty and voice change had come along the way, Chanyeol still thought it sounded exactly the same. As He looked at him, it was like he aged backwards, turning into the seven-year old who had run over these fields with him. He moved closer to Baekhyun, and together they steered the kite together.

After a while, Chanyeol laid on his back in the field, exhausted from laughing and having so much fun. Baekhyun still didn’t back down, and kept the kite in the air like there was no tomorrow.

“Weird,” Chanyeol said and squinted at the sky, trying to focus on the kite. “I don’t remember it flying so low,”

Baekhyun laughed as he averted his attention from the kite to Chanyeol for a couple of seconds. “That’s because you’ve grown, giant-Yeollie,” he grinned.

Chanyeol considered this for a little while, before he shook his head. “No, I’m laying down, right?”

Baekhyun looked at the kite again, but continued to smile. “Then there’s only one reason, right? You’re becoming old,” he said and lifted his eyebrows mischievously.

Chanyeol sat up in the warm grass. “Yah, Byun Baekhyun, are you calling me an old man already?” he exclaimed.

“Watch out so you don’t hurt your back now, ajusshi,” Baekhyun replied in the way people talked to their old grandparents.

“In that case, then you’re older than me, Baekhyun-hyung,” Chanyeol joked back to the other. He never called Baekhyun for hyung, ever.

Baekhyun threw his hands up in the air, admitting defeat. The sun bathed him in sunlight, making him seem a little unreal, where he stood. “I surrender, oh great Park Chanyeol. We’re both oldies now, and we’re soon to reach post work-age and die on the porch in a retirement home. How does that sound?”

Chanyeol nodded and grinned. “Sounds, great, my dear retirement-fellow.” He agreed.

Baekhyun joined Chanyeol shortly afterwards in the grass, and they lay side by side. For a while they shared old memories together, and remembered the things that had happened. They laughed about the time Baekhyun had fallen into the little stream in the woods because he got scared by a frog. They almost died laughing from when Chanyeol had gotten an earful from an old lady in public when he was in third grade.

But the conversation slowly flowed and moved forward in time, and they went from talking about when they were five year olds, to when they were fifteen, and up until now. In the end, they started to talk about their big goodbye-stunt.

“You know,” Baekhyun said while pointing in the air, though at nothing at all. He rested his other arm on his forehead, and squinted up at the clear blue sky. “I think people will be happy this time. Remember when we painted the whole pedestrian blue? They were pretty pissed. But now… I think they will love it.”

And Chanyeol couldn’t agree more. This time, they would do something to make people happy, before they left. They would leave something so great, so beautiful, that people would remember it with fondness.

“Then,” Chanyeol smiled and turned his head to Baekhyun. “Why don’t we plan it carefully? So we don’t fail. So people will remember us, even if we leave,” he rested his head in his arms, enjoying with warmth of the sun. He didn’t want this day to end. Ever. He just wanted to lay here with Baekhyun forever, not needing to worry about anything at all. He wanted to feel the sun on his face, the grass whisper in the soft touch from the wind, butterflies flying past over their heads every now and then. This was the kind of day he knew he would always cherish, because in that moment, everything felt complete.