Requester: lotsohugs4me
OC Name: Jo Hani
One-Shot Partner: EXO, Baekhyun
Genre: romance, slight angst

“My Turn to Cry” EXO

Hani was hesitant as she raised her fist to knock on the door of the guest bedroom, the tray of toast and Nutella with a container of yogurt and cold milk balanced on her other arm. Will he be sleeping? I know he’s an early riser, but… She jumped, almost dropping the tray of food, when the door swung open on its own. Baekhyun blinked at her in surprise and glanced at the food before looking back up at her. Hani recovered from her shock and cleared .

“Uh…good morning,” she greeted awkwardly and she inwardly cringed. Why do I sound like a cheesy morning weather reporter? “I, umm…my mom said I should bring you breakfast.” She wanted to slap herself across the face. That makes you sound like you didn’t want to bring him breakfast! Now you look like a jerk!

But Baekhyun didn’t say anything—as usual—and just nodded before taking the tray from her and closing the door behind him again. Hani sighed at their lack of connection and trudged down the hall back to her own room to sulk alone.

Byun Baekhyun was a North Korean refugee; his parents had been taken away for “exclusive work purposes” but everybody knew better; his parents had been openly and adamantly against the North Korean dictatorship system of government. They were unafraid of the consequences, and they went with the government officials almost willingly, knowing they’d done what they could to protest against the unfair treatment of the country’s people.

As a result, Baekhyun had his rights to an education stripped away, had no money because of inability to find employment, and he’d been on the streets in a state of near death when Christian missionaries had found him and managed to sneak him across the border to South Korea. He was now under the shelter of Hani’s parents’ home because they were a part of the movement to rescue and house as many refugees as possible.

At first, Hani had thought that this would be like some kind of sleepover and make a new friend, learn new things about the mysterious country that was secluded from the rest of the world. But when Baekhyun came to stay with them, Hani was alarmed to see how emaciated and exhausted he looked; from his eyes to the way he upheld himself, everything about him screamed “PAIN.” He was of few words—not that she could blame him—and they rarely exchanged much more than communication through very simple body language.

The one night, she’d caught him crying to himself while watching a documentary of Middle Eastern countries where oppression due to differences in religious and political beliefs were just as severe—if not more—as North Korea’s. Something in Hani’s heart broke upon seeing the silent boy’s tears, and she set a goal for herself: to make Byun Baekhyun smile before 2014 came to an end.

But thus far, Hani had been unsuccessful, and she partly blamed her pathetic people skills for being unable to reach out to him.

I have to think bigger, she thought, hugging her Rilakkuma stuffed doll to her chest. “What should I do, Kkomi?” She stared at the lifeless doll for a solid five minutes before realizing how stupid this was. I should be brainstorming, not zoning out while staring at a doll. But when she set her doll aside, she threw it a little harder than she thought because her bedside calendar toppled off the table and landed on the floor.

“Arghhhhh,” Hani growled in annoyance and rolled across the top of her bed to pick it back up. But when she set it upright again, a certain date marked with glittery red and green pen caught her eye and her entire expression lightened. That’s it! That’s what I can do! She grabbed her iPad and began jotting down what she’d need. She wanted to make this perfect.

A few hours later, a knock sounded on Baekhyun’s door and he looked up from his book. It was probably one of Hani’s parents; Hani rarely ever knocked on his door and he got the feeling that she didn’t like him very much. Either that, or she was uncomfortable sharing a living space with him. Or both.

But when Baekhyun opened the door and saw Hani, dressed up and completely ready to go as if she was going to spend a night out with friends, standing in the open doorway with an excited grin on her lips. He blinked at her in surprise.

“Get ready to go out. I have somewhere to take you.” She turned to leave, but Baekhyun blurted,

“Huh?”

Hani turned around again with the same grin and repeated, “Get ready to go out. Mind you, it’s quite chilly when the sun sets, so you might want to bundle up a bit more than you think necessary.” Then she turned to go put her shoes on.

“Are you headed somewhere?” her mother asked, sticking her head out from the kitchen. Hani nodded as she slipped on her Ugg Bailey buttons. “Where?”

“I have someplace I want to show Baekhyun.”

Both her parents looked up from what they were doing to stare at ea