The next morning, Baekhyun did what he always did. Clean the kitchen, light the fireplace, dust the shelves, tidy the rooms. It was not that he had forgotten the old lady's words from the previous day, it was out of habit. If he sees a plate out of the cupboard, he would automatically put it back. A piece of paper on the floor? It would always go into the bin. As a result, Baekhyun could not stand seeing the house in a mess.

He wasn't due to meet Chanyeol until 9.00, so Baekhyun swept the floor at a more comfortable pace since there was no pressure from the old lady any more. From time to time, Baekhyun felt around his pocket for the little metal box to ensure he hadn't left it lying anywhere. After the incident yesterday, he was not ready to lose it again. It was about half-past eight when he reached the old lady's room.

At this time, she would usually be in the study sketching new designs for the company, but this morning, she sat on a chair with a very frazzled Sehun looking at her. "Ma! Just tell me!" was what Baekhyun heard as he stopped in front of the door with a broom in a hand and a dustpan in the other. The youngest was dressed in an office shirt, probably going back to Seoul but the reluctant look on his face told Baekhyun otherwise.

"What were those papers?" Sehun demanded as he pointed in a childish demeanour at the stack of papers the old lady was holding. At that, Baekhyun's line of sight went to the frail looking fingers clutching the said papers. The old lady answered as she smiled at her son warmly, "They're just official statements from the Main Office, sweetie." Unconvinced, Sehun glared at her before pointing out, "I saw something 'hospital' on the envelope."

Baekhyun swallowed down a gulp while continuing to sweep up the dust on the floor though at a slower pace. Did I listen on something private? I should move away... Just as he turned his body around, the old lady exclaimed brightly, "Ah here's Baekhyun! And Sehun you're going to be late if you don't get going now."

"Mummy!"

"Get going."

There was a harsh finality in the old lady's tone which was something Baekhyun had heard countless of times, but it had never been directed at her sons, especially Sehun. Quickly, Baekhyun backed away a little as Sehun stormed out of the room past him, down the staircase. Quite frankly, he had never seen Sehun so agitated before. He then quietly shuffled into the old lady's room and began sweeping again.

With his eyes fixed on the floor, Baekhyun concentrated on his work as he heard barely audible sighs escaping from the old lady. There was only a scrapping sound of the hard bristles of the broom against the floor for a while until the old lady jerked sharply from her chair, coughing hard. They were then followed by a series of painful wheezes, causing Baekhyun to look at her with concern.

"I-It's nothing," the old lady said as she stiffled her wheezes with clear effort. In that few seconds Baekhyun looked at her, age seemed to have drawn a few more of its lines across her forehead. He then looked suspiciously at the pieces of paper in her hand but before he had anymore time to process it, she swallowed down another cough and smiled at Baekhyun, "What are you doing here, cleaning my room? I thought I said you didn't need to do all these anymore?"

Baekhyun shrugged in reply as he moved forward to clean the corner of the bed post. To his surprise, the old lady stood up feebly and gestured to the broom and the dustpan kindly, "Let me do it." As if on cue, she started coughing, this time sounding much more painful than the first seizure. The old lady squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to calm herself down and Baekhyun stared half skeptically, half worriedly at her. She was definitely ill.

Placing her hand on to cover it tightly, the old lady sat back onto her chair in a reluctant resignment. However, she still looked up at Baekhyun and shook her head comfortingly though with a pained look in her eyes, "I'm fine." 

I'm fine.

It took Baekhyun a quick second to register that as a lie, a long while to remember that it used to be his lie as well.

------

"Hello?"

"Hey hyunngggg!"

"Why are you calling me so early in the morning?"

"Because you've come back to Korea!"

"Yah you sound so excited."

"I am! I want to meet up with you as soon as possible."

"Ah fine you lil . I'm going over to my studio over there tomorrow. Meet you soon!"

"Okay. Bye!"

"Bye."

Baekhyun cast a curious look at the taller man as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. Chanyeol only took notice of him when he walked a few steps closer. "Hello Baekhyun," Chanyeol greeted with a lingering smile. He then nodded his head in response, wondering in his mind who it was that he had called that made him so delighted.

The taller continued in a light tone, "You're on time. Let's go."

Somehow and somewhere along the walk, the two of them had begun communicating using Chanyeol's phone again. It was also when Baekhyun found out that, as jovial as the other seemed, he had a really bad sense of humour.

You want to hear a joke?

Amused, Baekhyun wrote back on the screen, Okay.

Why did Simba's father die?

Um, because of Scar?

Nah it's because he couldn't Mufasa! Getit getit?

At the reply, Baekhyun just turned his head and stared blankly at Chanyeol who was busy grinning away in his own world. Okay... Still grinning, Chanyeol asked, this time verbally, "What do you call a fish with no eye?" Before Baekhyun even had the chance to shrug, the taller answered his own question in delight, "Fsssh."

When they got to Chanyeol's house, Baekhyun was ultimately relieved. Some of the jokes were admittedly hilarious, but some... Meh. While Chanyeol unlocked the front door, Baekhyun then took the time to observe the garden which he didn't have the privilege to the last time. There were numerous varieties of flowers planted around, but the most common were the rose bushes. As it was not in season yet, the bushes stood with only their green leaves.

"My sisters have a fondness of gardening, especially the younger one," came Chanyeol's voice from behind. Baekhyun quickly turned his attention back to the front upon hearing the other's voice and nodded his head understandably. The door had already been unlocked, but Chanyeol still stared at the garden with narrowed eyes before muttering, "Wow she finally watered the Baby's Breath." Deciding not to decipher what that meant, Baekhyun then followed Chanyeol into the house. 

The interior of the house caught his attention again as he lifted his head to look around in wonder. "You can have a look around first," Chanyeol told him as he threw the keys into a basket near the door before walking off into another direction, "I'll go check on my sisters." With that, the taller left Baekhyun alone in the large living area.

Smiling with a little happiness, Baekhyun immediately jumped onto the colorful mass of bean bag chairs near him. He immediately sunk into the pile comfortably and leaned his head down with a content sigh. The air smelt faintly like lavender and it also had a ligering sense of peace. Baekhyun closed his eyes for a while until a female voice asked, "Hey! You're Baekhyun right?"

Immediately, he opened his eyes and came face to face with a lady... or a girl. She definitely was more than twenty years of age but her face still held the ages of youth and her lips were curved into a happy smile. She cocked her head questioningly, her ponytail swishing in the same direction. Looking at the lady in slow shock, Baekhyun nodded his head.

"Ah I see," the lady answered as she sat onto the shaggy carpet, "My sister told me about you." She then inched a little closer to his face, causing him to jerk back his head suspiciously. Innocently, she complimented, "You have nice eyes." Baekhyun did not know how to respond to that sentence. Fortunately, Chanyeol's low voice reverberated through the living room in a chastising tone, "Chan Ri, don't scare him off on his first visit."

At that, the lady pouted and moved backwards before sitting upright on the carpet. Her eyes followed innocently as Chanyeol walked over to them and leaned against a higher sofa, "I wasn't scaring him off." "He looks so stiff how you not be scaring him?" the taller answered as he looked at the lady with a pokerface. It was only then that Baekhyun realised he had been in the same position for the past few minutes and he discreetly moved his shoulders to get rid of the stiffness.

Chanyeol then blinked his eyes a few times in an attempt to remember something before asking lightly, "Oh yeah. Where's Yoora noona?" "I think she went to get your Xbox repaired-" Chan Ri replied in an unmindful haste, then her eyes widened before cupping her hand over . Baekhyun tried not to laugh when the color drained out of Chanyeol's face.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing oppa."

"If you admit now you're not going to get it from me later-"

"WewerejustplayingJustDanceandYooraswungthecontrolontotheflooranditspoiltandsomethinghappenedtothebox. Happy?"

Baekhyun should have seen the cushion coming. But he did not. So he ended up with his face full on the fortunately soft pillow. Quickly peeling it off his face, Baekhyun glared at Chanyeol and the taller immediately apologised, "I was aiming for that girl-" Without waiting for his explantion, Baekyun hurled the object at Chanyeol direction and it hit his body spot on.

Seeing the commotion, Chan Ri then giggled childishly and waved another two pillows, "Pillow fight! Last person out of the living room gets ice cream!" And the following minutes, were probably the most fun Baekhyun had ever had.

"Quick quick inside!" Chanyeol urged him and he ran up the last steps. Baekhyun quickly zipped into the room before Chanyeol locked the door behind him. It wasn't a moment too soon. A series of high pitched whining ensued outside the door as Baekhyun leaned against it, catching his breath with an elated grin. "Go away Ri! We won! You treat us ice cream!" Chanyeol shouted back.

"Park Chanyeol I'll get you next time!" came the agitated reply as Chan Ri's footsteps faded away down the staircase. Chanyeol put his hands on his hips and caught his breath, but not without a crazed smile. He then looked up at Baekhyun and assured, "She doesn't mean it. Her threats are always empty." Baekhyun nodded his head happily.

Chanyeol then walked over to a drum set near the door and tapped lightly on the top of the clash, "Anyway, welcome to my studio." 

It was amazing. That was all Baekhyun could think of as Chanyeol gave him a tour. There were so many instruments, he just felt happy looking at them. Finally, Chanyeol left him to play the piano as he went to work on a piece on the computer. For a long while, Baekhyun just played and played and played. It was a refreshing sense of freedom as his fingers ran over the keys. He was quite surprised himself that he could still remember how to play songs that his father had taught him, which made him feel more pleased.

When Baekhyun finished a piece, he turned around on the seat of the piano to look at the giant. Chanyeol seemed deep in thought as he spun a pencil around his fingers, his eyebrows furrowed at a score sheet. His confidence somehow boosted by his playing of the piano, Baekhyun walked over to Chanyeol's side and wrote on the score sheet the other held with another stray pencil.

Let me help you. Ok?

Obviously taken by surprise, it took Chanyeol a while to answer as he stared with wide eyes into Baekhyun's own ones. After a few seconds, the giant nodded his head. He then wrote on the paper in reply.

The melody for the last four bars sound weird. I sort of need some edit.

Chanyeol passed the score sheet to Baekhyun and it took him a while to remember the meaning of the musical notes and a thousand other details, but it all came back to him surely as he lightly penned, skimmed and corrected the notes. With every note, he sang it in his mind with an unusual alertness. Finally, he handed the sheet back to Chanyeol, bubbling in excitement.

"Jeez people get high on drugs and you get high when you write music," Chanyeol chuckled softly as he scanned through the notes diligently with Baekhyun kneeling on the carpeted floor, his chin resting on the chair's armrest. A few minutes passed and Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol questioningly. I hope it's okay, he wrote sketchily atop the paper.

When the giant did not answer him as he scanned through the melodies continuously, he began to feel worried. Suddenly, the serious look on Chanyeol's face gave way to a bright smile and he said, glancing at Baekhyun, "This is really good! I didn't think of this arrangement." At this, Baekhyun grinned unsconsciously to himself as he read through his composition at the side once again. Really?

The room was silent for a while, until Chanyeol asked with a slightly hopeful tone, "Actually, Baekhyun." He looked up at Chanyeol, still grinning but he faltered when he saw the giant looking with an unknown light in his eyes. It seemed like curiosity, but at the same time it seemed deeper than that. "I'm going back to Seoul tomorrow."

For some reason, Baekhyun felt his heart drop a little at hearing Chanyeol's words. Oh. Then he continued much to Baekhyun's surprise, "Do you want to follow? You could help me with my work." What...? Go.. back to Seoul? Baekhyun could barely breathe. Excitement fizzed in his veins again. He could go back home. Home.

Unconsciously, he slipped his hands into his pocket and searched for the music box. He also had Chanyeol with him. 

"I'm not forcing you. But I honestly feel you have potential. You could work with me."

The encouraging yet firm look Chanyeol gave Baekhyun was more than enough to seal his answer. Feeling on cloud nine, Baekhyun returned the look and nodded his head.

------

That night during dinner, Baekhyun wondered how to break the news to the old lady. He had not thought about it, but now as he stared at her frail figure, it had become closely impossible to tell her that he was going to leave. He slowly placed a spoonful of vegetable soup in his mouth and swallowed it at an equal pace. The old lady seemed to be deep in thought as well.

Beside him her eyebrows sometimes relaxed, but they would always crease in the next minute. For the first time, Baekhyun felt truly sorry for her. 

"You seem like you have something you want to tell me?" the old lady asked as she put down her spoon on her plate. Nevertheless, she was still as sharp as a knife in spotting things that were amiss. Baekhyun in a deep breath silently before pulling out the piece of paper from his pocket. He had prepared the note the very moment he had gotten back from Chanyeol's house.

Flicking his gaze between the note and the old lady, Baekhyun smoothened it on the wooden table before pushing it with resolve toward the old lady. While she read, Baekhyun fixed his eyes on the soup in front of him. He was afraid of her reaction. As time ticked by, Baekhyun wished he had added an extra 'sorry' at the end. 

Finally, the old lady said as she put the note back on the table gently, "You don't need my permission, Baekhyun. You may go." Baekhyun then looked up at her. Her voice had sounded a little stiff, but the look on her face was one of resignment. He nodded his head simply and scooped another spoonful of soup. Suddenly, the once appealing aspect of drinking the soup he had wanted to boil for a long time turned bleak.

He realised that the old lady would be all alone, in the house. He knew it was not a nice feeling to be left alone, much less an old lady. He knew for he had been lonely before. Stealthily, the old lady stiffled a cough and picked up her spoon again to continue eating. When she coughed another time, Baekhyun had entirely lost his appetite. Guilt which he had not felt for a long time started filling his heart and mind. 

In the spur of the moment, Baekhyun quickly put down his spoon and cupped his hands over the old lady's wrinkled ones. She looked up at Baekhyun with a weak smile and said reassuringly, "I'll be fine, Baekhyun. You can go." Baekhyun knew that it was a lie. She was ill. The habit of taking care of the household and her was one. But leaving her in this condition..? Biting onto his lips, Baekhyun unconsciously tightened his grip around the old lady's hands.

The old lady laughed softly as she slipped her hands out of his and covered his with hers instead. "You don't need to be worried. I'll take care of myself." Baekhyun still did not believe her. Suddenly, the laugh faded out of her voice, causing Baekhyun to look at her again worriedly. 

"But can you promise me something?" The old lady looked downcast before gripping his hands and continuing, "Watch over Kyungsoo and Sehun for me. I'm worried about Kyungsoo's temper and jealousy. I'm afraid he has followed my footsteps too much. And Sehun... He still does not want to love... I'm worried for both of them. But if you don't want to, I understand."

A deafening silence ensued and Baekhyun questioned his thinking all along. All those seven and more years, he had seen her as the evil stepmother. But he had failed to see her as a mother. She still had brought the three of them up single-handedly, through the hardest teenage years. If it was not remarkable, he did not know what it was.

It felt like his whole world just flipped upside down. The change in heart was hard to accept, and he shifted tiredly in his seat. Both guilt and loss began engulfing him at the same moment. Guilt for leaving the old lady behind. Loss for losing a reason to dislike her. 

The old lady then looked at him with despair for a second, but it was soon replaced with a thin warmth. Finally, the corners of his lips tugged upwards haltingly as Baekhyun returned the gaze.

"I-I... Promise... M-Mother.."

A/N:

And I was listening to Cupid by Oh My Girls while writing this.
The irony. Lol.
Please comment! :)