"Don't be cra-"

"Shut up!"

"You idiot!"

"No, listen to me."

"You're insane!"

"SHUT UP! Baekhyun will hear!"

Too late, Baekhyun thought, he wasn't sure how his parents thought they could hide their arguing from the neighbours let alone him. He tried to shut their shouts out, but they rang through the wilderness like the wolves' cry that Baekhyun could hear every full moon. They were probably going at each other's throuts because of money again, which is ironic since they moved out here to forget about all that. Baekhyun's parents thought it would be a 'great reuniting with nature and finding themselves again' project. They thought they could show their love again through buying some backpacks and tents and walking across the United States and Canada. Of course, they had to take their child with them. So, Baekhyun had been cut off from the outside world for three whole years. Which, might have been okay because Baekhyun liked sleeping outside and he liked walking for hundreds of kilometres and he loved his parents except that Baekhyun had really loved his life back in Seoul. He had liked the kimchi with every meal and he had liked the high speed internet but most of all he had loved his boyfriend. And now Baekhyun was starting to forget what his Chanyeol would say in the morning when he would meet him before school, and what colour his hair had been before Baekhyun had left. He couldn't remember whether Chanyeol liked strawberry ice cream or rasberry sorbet. And he hated himself for it. 

"WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY," Baekhyun heard from behind him. His parents were still at it so he ran. He ran past trees with orange and yellow leaves and the big old oak that still had green leaves, he nearly tripped over the bush the family of rabits lived in. He ran until he couldn't hear his parents yell, he ran until he could see the highway in the distance. That was when he slowed and started to cry. His father was sick. They didn't know why he was sick but they knew it was bad. His mother wanted them to forget the trip and take everyone to the hospital, his father had many excuses lined up but it always came down to the fact they had no money. Not enough for treatment at a hospital, not even enough to go back to Seoul. 

Baekhyun stopped dead in his tracks. He had come up to the highway that seemed to stretch on forever. Baekhyun felt so alone. He wanted Chanyeol to come and hug him and tell him it would be okay. Ha! Yeah right, he thought, Chanyeol has probably forgotten all about me and he's probably moved on. Out of sadness, anxeity and regret Bakehyun began to sing. Eyes closed, swaying back and forth a little bit...

~ Almost Heaven, South Korea

~ Namson Mountains, the Nakdong river

~ Life is old there, older than the trees

~ Younger than the moutains, growing like a breeze

A car pulled up while Baekhyun was singing. 

"Hey! Kid," shouted a very stately man from the back seat of the black sedan.

Baekhyun spun. Should I be scared. He started to back away slowly.

"No worries, kid. I'm not here to kidnap you," the sedan man got out of the car, "I just heard you singing (and saw your ) and I was wondering. How would you like to come work for me? I'm in the entertainment industry and you have a wonderful voice. We could use talent (and looks) like yours. I'm thinking big bucks."

"With all due respect...sir, I don't know you."

"It's okay, I'll give you a few days to think about it. Here's my card. Give me a ring." The man got back in his car and it drove away. 

Baekhyun stared after the sedan for several minutes before rushing back to his parents and their campsite. 

The next morning when Baekhyun woke up, he yawned and stretched in bed before snuggling back down into the sleeping bag. it's too cold to wake up, he thought. 

"NO! WE ARE NOT GOING TO DO THAT!" 

They're at it again, freaking again! groaned Baekhyun, and he rolled over and tried to cover his ears with his pillow. 

"NO, NO, NO"

There was something sharp sticking into Baekhyun's side. 

"WE COULD TAKE OUT LOANS! IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL." 

Baekhyun pulled a card out from under him.

"IF IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL THEN WHY ARE YOU YELLING?!?"

It was the card the sedan man gave him yesterday. 

"BECAUSE YOU WON'T LISTEN - "

It had an adress on it.

" - YOU NEVER LISTEN."

Big Bucks the man's words echoed in Baekhyun's mind.

"Please, think of Baekhyun."

He could hear the pleading in his mother's voice. He knew his father was very sick. He knew they would never have enough money to pay off loans. Baekhyun knew all this and he made a plit second decision. Baekhyun got up quietly. He got dressed. He packed his few belongings into his backpack. Then he wrote he took out a pen and a scrape of paper, he wrote;

Gone to find work. Don't worry, we'll have enough money soon. This is my decision, you did not influence me. I'm 19 now, I can make my own decisions. 

Let's meet at the Sunny Dale Hospital in 6 months.

I love you both so much.

Baekhyun

Baekhyun also wrote down the number from the card. He placed the note on his mother's pillow and snuck out the back of the tent. He walked past the old oak (before running back to give it a hug...Baekhyun's not that weird) and the yellow and orange leaved-trees and the rabbit family bush and he came to the highway and then he sat down and waited.

About twenty minutes later a old, rusty truck came bouncing along the road. Baekhyun stood up and made the "hitchhiker" sign, hoping this worked like he had seen in the movies he used to watch with Chanyeol, hoping the person in the truck was not a e who liked to pray on 19 year old boys. The truck slowed as it neared Baekhyun and then stopped completely. 

"Hey bro! Where you headed?" Came the strong male voice from the truck. 

"Uh..." Baekhyun hesitated and checked the card.

"Hey! You going to JN entertainment?" The man had spotted his card.

"...Yes!" Baekhyun said with uncertainty.

"Cool, bro! Hop in! I'm headed there too."

Baekhyun walked around the truck and got into the passenger seat. He saw the man had a bob haircut, with died brown hair. He was asain, or at least of asain descent and wore black sunglasses. He had a defined jaw and his lips were turned up slighty so that he looked like he was always smiling. 

"I'm Baekhyun," he told the stranger and held out his hand.

"Jongdae," the stranger grasped Baekhyun's hand and shook it heartly, "but you can call me Chen."

(A/N If anyone is actually reading this, I am very sorry for my awful "South Korean" edition of Country Roads...I might change that later since I cringe eveyrtime I think of it...also, I hope the grammar and spelling wasn't too bad...and I hope I can write more later...I'm thinking multiple small chapters...Saranghae <3)