18k monster guys!
(seriously, half of this joy, and then the other half is kill-joy)

Kris is a no-nonsense man of facts, statistics, the believe-it-when-I-see-it-and-maybe-still-not-because-I-refuse-to type. He doesn't take from anyone, but he might do another's projects if he's given a good incentive, or money -either works.

He spends most of his all of his time cooped up in his room. He doesn't remember the last time he felt the sun on his face and when he looks out the window to attempt marveling at the beauty of the sunlit sky, he only sees stars struggling to shine against the polluted atmosphere. The moon is ugly tonight, he observes (The moon hisses back a silent insult). Kris shuts the curtains when he realizes with a resigned sigh that he was off from the supposed daylight time by a full twelve hours (where does time go?).

It doesn't matter though, because time flies when you're having fun, and writing up in-depth word docs that exceed the required word limit for project reports is very very fun. Even if his back kills him from sitting in one position all day and his knees tremble when he attempts to walk to the refrigerator or the bathroom with a straight back.

Kris hears the front door open with a loud bang and his flat mate's voice as he returns in his full drunken glory.

Kris pities the male.

Park Chanyeol has little brain cells to begin with. His flat mate's ritual nightly drinking, Kris believes, helps the male lose little parts of his brain every time he trips down the stairs, receives a slap or suddenly drops down in slumber whilst simply walking. It is a miracle the man is still alive and plain stupidity that he goes out drinking with his chums each night despite all the alcohol induced accidents he gets into. He had the galls to even invite Kris - absolutely scandalous! It's bad enough they're flat mates.

Kris waits for the sound of the door slamming shut.

Even in normalcy, Chanyeol doesn't open and close the door like normal a person should, could and must.

When Kris doesn't hear the exploding boom that he has filed as 'Drunk Chanyeol 2', he irritatingly gets up, his joints scream in pain and sigh in pleasure simultaneously, and he meets the sight of his flat mate laying still in the middle of the small corridor. Unfortunately, Chanyeol is neither covered in blood nor dead or dying.

The male steps over him to lock the door when a monstrous bug flies in and Kris has half a mind to keep himself from screaming. He can't remember where they put the electric fly swatter. Did they ever even buy one? Or did he stop the purchase at the last minute because he thought Chanyeol might kill him with it by accident?

Dismissing any regretful thoughts, he quickly picks up one of the flip flops lying next to the door and with a well aimed and calculated slap, smashes the bug against the wall.

Nothing makes Kris happier than success. Except money. Money and success are interrelated.

Also, nothing maddens Kris like Disney. It might have something to do with his senior year graduation title being 'Grumpy of Snow White', but Kris disagrees. He insists it's because he hates lies as fodder for entertainment.

News, stock exchange updates and transport schedules are entertaining enough.

Thus, when Kris' eyes zero in on the bug, which has now slid down the wall, he thinks he might have caught Chanyeol's stupid.

Stupidity isn't supposed to be contagious. He had checked the first week he moved in with the male.

Really though, nothing can explain what he's seeing right now except alcohol, or drugs, or rose-tinted glasses, or a wickedly imaginative imagination, or being Chanyeol.

Kris pinches himself two times, makes sure he hasn't exchanged bodies with Chanyeol and goes through his Ten Breaths Procedure that he uses every time he thinks he might have a panic or rage attack.

The thing is still present. Laying there with a tiny human body, twitching limbs and transparent wings with glittering veins.

It's magnificent and absurd and unbelievable and this is a ing prank isn't it?

Kris picks up a small glass jar placed in the corner -this apartment has a brilliant history with that specific jar- and pokes the little retarded bug with it. Since the little thing obviously does not fit the definition of an insect, Kris terms it a 'mutant'. Damn radiation.

The only reason Kris traps the thing under the jar is because it looks too real and alive to be let go of so easily. Admittingly, he's also insanely curious.

Kris must prepare a private case study of this mutant.

Kris must plan manslaughter if he finds out this is a hoax.

He would have touched it properly to examine it thoroughly, but he's afraid he might catch the radiation. Chanyeol's existence would finally come in use here, in other words, the purpose of Chanyeol's birth has finally been revealed. Little sacrifices needed to be made for the greater good of gaining knowledge.

-

It's one of those rare mornings where Kris is woken up by Chanyeol instead of the other way round.

Wait ...

Kris never wakes Chanyeol, and Chanyeol never wakes up on time.

The youth slowly sits up in his bed, brows pulled down, pupils constricted and focused on his flat mate in a menacing glare.

"Why are you polluting my room with your presence?"

Chanyeol doesn't look the least bit fazed - he never does. A tank could be rolling out his window and he'd still be looking for a matching pair of socks in his cupboard.

Kris hopes Chanyeol hasn't misplaced anything in his room. His lanky flat mate has a tendency to make inanimate objects commit suicide every time he enters a room -especially the kitchen. Things just start falling off for no logically apparent reason. Park Chanyeol is one of the enigmas of the universe that Kris will neither dare nor take the time to figure out.

"Krease, get up! You have to help me!"

Kris slaps his hand over his face. His palm slowly drags down, stretching his skin, as he tries to make his irritation obvious.

"What did you try to cook and on a scale of one to ten, with ten being highest, how much is it moving on your plate?"

"I didn't cook anything, now, come on! Get up! You really have to see this!" Chanyeol bounces on his spot, his expression the opposite of his usual teeth-rich-happy-go-lucky face. It is then Kris notices that the male is wearing glasses, and Kris knows now that whatever it is, it's serious- because it's eye glasses.

He finally resigns himself to his fate.

Kris straightens down his old shirt and follows the other out into the kitchen where his vision instantly zooms in on the only thing out of place.

"Why is the dustbin on the counter? Why is it upside down in the first place? Why do you struggle to think normally? Why have I tolerated you for this long? Did I say that out loud?"

Chanyeol ignores him completely, "Krease! Look!" He exclaims as he stands next to the counter and animatedly points at the netted bin.

"Why on Earth would you hold a mouse under a bin?" Kris cries out exasperated.

"I wish it were a mouse, but I don't know what it is. I think my eyesight has gotten worse!" Chanyeol clutches his face desperately, "I can't remember what I did last night. Oh God!" The male reaches into his pocket to take out another pair of glasses and puts them over the one he's already wearing. He looks at the downturned bin, blinks furiously a few times before he miserably turns to his taller flat mate, "It's still a fairy!"

Last night comes back to Kris like a rock plummeting in his stomach juices -forever to remain undigested. It feels like he's the one with a memory loss from a being drunk instead of Chanyeol. "It's really a fairy?" Kris asks in a quiet voice.

"It is?"

"I'm asking you."

"I don't know," Chanyeol whines, "I'm stressed!" He gestures to the two pairs of glasses he's wearing.

So then, the little mutant he saw last night wasn't a joke from his flat mate. But ... "How did it get here?" Kris asks because he remembers he trapped the mutant in the entry way.

"It was under my special jar," Chanyeol pouts, "So I brought it here and put it under the bin."

"Chanyeol, I swear to God, if you try to grow an Opium Poppy in that jar again-"

"It's going to be a Cannabis this time." Chanyeol cuts him off. From the expression apparent on the younger's face, Kris can tell Chanyeol clearly remembers the day Kris yanked the Poppy out of the jar and started whipping Chanyeol with it.

"Isn't that what is made of?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Really? Jongin already sold me the seeds." Chanyeol frowns, "Maybe I'll just grow a Cactus."

Kris doesn't want to risk damaging his IQ so he turns his attention to the netted bin and tries to peer at the thing inside. He isn't sure if his eyes are deceiving him but the little mutant/fairy is sitting cross legged with arms crossed and staring back at him.

It looks like a little diva, Kris thinks to himself.

"Chanyeol," Kris calls, "Can you pick this thing up. I want to see it up close."

"Should we call him Tom Thumb?" Chanyeol asks, his nervousness at his deteriorating vision turns into excitement for other unimportant things of the world.

He picks up the dustbin and the little thing suddenly whizzes out past their waists, leaving a trail of shimmering gold dust in its wake. Kris swears he sees it turn its little human face around to stick a little pink tongue at them, and then the flat mates wince when the thing suddenly crashes heard first into the wall. The sound of the harsh contact is very loud in the small room. No one would be surprised if the thing broke a bone, or two, or all two hundred and six.

"Do you think Tom Thumb is ok?"

Kris is hesitant about picking up the mutant -he doesn't want to have any direct contact with anything created from radiation- but he doesn't have to worry much. (Now that he thinks about, just having something around him made out of radiations is dangerous. He hopes Chanyeol is an absorber -in order to fulfill his destiny and be a meaningful contributor to the society. There are enough people who puke on deserted side walks, thank you)

Chanyeol, ever the good silly Samaritan, hurries over to the thing and starts prodding it. "Hey, are you ok?" Kris rolls his eyes. "Krease look, I think his wings are broken."

Curious, Kris saunters over and crouches beside Chanyeol. His younger flat mate picks the thing and places it on his palm (good job, radiation absorber). Now Kris can clearly see the thing is a 'he'. The mutant boy is out cold, except for the tiny leaves stringed between his legs with a thin cord, and indeed, as Chanyeol points out, one of the wings looks immensely wrinkled, crippled. The other also looks damaged but not as much. The wings aren't glittering as Kris remembers them from last night.

Kris has an odd feeling brewing in the pit of his stomach when he gets an inkling of suspicion that he might have been the person to damage those wings.

Of course, he's not sure.

It could have been anything, really. Even flip-flops (which make it NOT Kris' fault because they weren't his flip-flops. Not anymore anyway. He disowns them from this moment onward)

It could have even happened right now.

"What do we do?" Chanyeol asks as if the matter is of great stress and importance to him.

"Try to straighten out his wings...?" Kris suggests, not wholeheartedly.

Chanyeol immediately begins brushing his finger over the thin transparent organ. "It's not working." He whines.

"May be he's dead?" He sounds more honest this time.

"Oh no!" Chanyeol looks like he's genuinely in pain from the news. Kris is dumbfounded at the intensity of the emotions. The only thing that gets Kris so emotionally involved is, of course, money. "We have to help revive him, Krease! What if he's the last of his kind? What if he's from an extinct species? What if he's on the verge of extinction?"

"What if he's a mutant?"

"Or an angel? Or a fairy? He looks like a fairy though."

The edges of the little creature's wings start to shimmer, thin twinkling veins appear on them as the miniature human starts rousing back to consciousness. Chanyeol restarts his attempt to straighten the small wing with a newfound vigor. Kris is about to warn him, that he's perhaps doing it a bit too enthusiastically (read recklessly), when the wing under Chanyeol's finger suddenly plucks off and the shining fades.

Kris stares.

Chanyeol stares.

The little guy shoots upright, and stares.

They keep on staring at the wing separated from his body.

"Well, huh?"

Kris might -and that's a BIG might- have crippled the wing, but he's sure nothing beats breaking it.

-

Kris spends most of the remaining day isolated in his room, as usual.

The time he does comes out, he sees the fairy weeping and Chanyeol on a spiel of apologies. The second time, Chanyeol is making stupid faces and the fairy is watching him as if scrutinizing his intellect. The third time he is manhandled out of his room by an excited Chanyeol who claims that the fairy's voice is like little tinkling bells, "It's amazing, Krease!"

Kris and the fairy -the two flat mates came to a mutual agreement to call him 'fairy' instead of mutant or Tom Thumb- stare each other down.

Chanyeol tries to make the little thing talk but it refuses to open its lips.

"Awh, you're missing out on something great." Chanyeol says teasingly.

"I'm not really interested in listening to a little mutant talk." Kris responds.

The fairy visibly flares up; face and chest turning red. Chanyeol tries to calm it down by tickling it with his finger, but the fairy bites down on it.

That concludes Kris' entertainment for the day.

-

The next day, Kris wakes up at his usual hour.

He is sleepily heading towards the bathroom when he hears a musical sound and pauses in his steps. It's unlike anything he's ever heard before; a tintinnabulation with a small tinker, a ping ringing in between before the peal resumes, and, Heaven help him, the sound is so beautiful it actually makes things inside him stir. This diluted ringing and chiming, all by itself, sounds like a melody weaved with tales, sounds like foreign lyrics, sounds like love.

Kris is in love with bells.

He follows the sound to the tiny kitchen but sees no source. He wonders if it's a ringtone that Chanyeol has or if it's a sound floating in from outside. He walks around in circles in the kitchen, chasing the music before it gradually fades out as the notes end and Kris wants to tell it to wait, to replay or extend, but he doesn't know whom or where to direct his voice to. So he miserably shuffles out and settles back into his routine.

It's when he's having breakfast that a haggard looking Chanyeol stumbles into the kitchen.

"You're up early," Kris raises an inquisitive brow.

"Fairy," Chanyeol answers before he goes to the counter and taps on the tissue box. The fairy pokes his head out, "How are you?"

Kris will never admit that he 90% forgot they had found (or maimed, whatever suits one's taste) a fairy. His entire life is oriented around a schedule filled with a laptop and project deadlines, so it's easy to side line most other things and forget even his own name.

By now the fairy has stepped out of the tissue box, where it apparently spent the night, and is fluttering its remaining useless wing.

He looks sad.

He has a really small face, and still Kris can tell just how ing sad he is. Kris doesn't need these feelings. He doesn't need these emotions. He doesn't want to see a little man show such sadness. This fairy was supposed to be a case study and one doesn't get emotionally involved with a case study. Now that Chanyeol is involved though, Kris wants nothing to do with it.

He cleans his bowl and leaves.

-

Kris is busy typing freelance articles when he hears Chanyeol's scream, categorized as 'Gleeful Chanyeol -no need to react'. He resumes his work.

"Krease!" Chanyeol hollers. He is purposely ignored. "Krease!" Ignored. Another scream. "Krease!" Ignored. "Krease! You have to see this!"

The door bell rings and Kris knows it's the neighbors. If he doesn't get up now it will be the cops next.

He stretches himself and leaves the sanctuary that is his sunlight deprived room, "What, Chanyeol?"

"Over here."

It had better not be anything stupid and-WHOA!

Kris takes a step back because- WHOA!

His brain is still processing this information- WHOA!

WHOA!

"Whoa!"

"I know!"

Chanyeol is levitating. ing levitating. With all his ing stupid teeth on display.

Kris is a man of facts and statistics- Bull.

He realizes on that very moment that he's been lying to himself, and everything has been lying to him all this time. Facts say that humans can't fly and fairies don't exist and happiness can't be bought.

Kris thinks he is a man of facts and statistics, a no-nonsense believe-it-when-I-see-it-and-maybe-still-not-because-I-refuse-to type. Right now he sees it and he believes it. He has Park Chanyeol for a house mate. The day the two shook hands should have been the first sign for him that he was a man no longer lead by rationality. Accepting the fairy as something in existence should have send red lights flashing in his head. They probably did though. He wondered why he never noticed them.

"How on Earth-" Kris cuts himself off as Chanyeol laughs gleefully, "It has to be you." He whips his head towards the counter where the fairy sits on packaged bread and smiles back at him. With his little hand he gestures Kris to come forward and the male curiously does so. The fairy narrows his little kohl lined eyes at the human, boring into his eyes as if seeking out his soul. He suddenly turns his attention to something else and sighs helplessly, as if silently declaring that Kris is a lost cause.

Kris feels scandalized.

Chanyeol spends a good amount of time floating in the air when Kris decides he's seen enough happiness and any more will give him a stomach ache, "Chanyeol, Yura's calling."

He doesn't expect Chanyeol to suddenly drop out of the air but Kris can't say he's sorry, or disappointed for that matter.

-

The week slips by like water through a sand filter.

The fairy becomes a part of routine and Chanyeol even sneaks him into classes. That's what Kris suspects anyway. Close to nothing changes for Kris but quite a bit of things change for Chanyeol.

Instead of going out with his drinking buddies, he spends the time watching movies with his new fairy friend and teaching him how to pronounce the syllables. Despite all the hard work he puts into the it, the only sound that escapes those tiny pink lips is still that of chimes.

By now Kris has also heard it many times. He's often walked in on Chanyeol and the fairy talking, as if they both understand each other's conversations. It's also within this week he discovers that the fairy sings every day early in the morning when he thinks everyone is still asleep.

Kris enjoys the sound a lot. He waits quietly out of sight until the fairy finishes his songs before Kris starts with his routine.

At the end of the week, the fairy's second wing falls.

At the end of the week, Kris realizes he's accepted a small change in his routine without putting up much of a fight.

-

Kris wakes up, early as usual. Rubs his eyes a bit. Checks the time. Checks the work he's lined up for himself. Leaves his room quietly and sits outside his door.

He waits for a few minutes but he doesn't hear the sound he's made himself a secret audience for the past week. Instead, he hears the kitchen cabinets open and close and things being moved around. He remains stunned for a moment because how the did Chanyeol wake up so early? Did he pull an all-nighter for an exam or project submission?

Kris goes into the kitchen and before he knows it, he's screaming.

The man in the kitchen also yelps, the slice of bread hanging from his mouth drops as he matches Kris' pitch. Kris shuts up and so does the stranger.

Kris is furious.

He marches towards Chanyeol's room and is about to barge in when he considers the state his flat mate must be in. He resorts to furiously pounding the door.

"Five more minutes!" Chanyeol yells.

"NO! Get out ing right now or else!"

"I hate you!"

"That's an established fact." Kris replies. In his peripheral vision he can see the male coming out of the kitchen to check what the racket is about.

"What?" Chanyeol groggily asks as he opens his door. Over Kris' shoulder, he sees the stranger standing in the kitchen entrance before his eyes return to the hold the elder with a knowing look. Chanyeol suggestively quirks his brow, "Krease? Had a lucky night?"

"What?" Kris' brows furrow, "If that's not your buddy ..." Chanyeol also seems to be suddenly grappled in the confusion. "I thought you brought someone here last night."

"I didn't go out," Chanyeol answers, "You made a rule not to bring anyone home." Yes, because they have thin walls and not being laid is not nice.

The frown marring Kris' brows deepens. He turns around to address the human body displayed in all of his natural glory, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Baekhyun!" The youth chirps. His expression suddenly turns into one of surprise, "My voice!" He grasps his neck, "I'm Baekhyun." He repeats, "Baekhyun, Baekhyun, Baekhyun, Baekhyun, Baekhyun,"

"We got that!" Kris holds up a hand to shush him.

"You can understand me!" Baekhyun exclaims, though his face remains flabbergasted, "Did my face change too? Can you not recognize me?" He pats his cheeks and keeps babbling on.

The flat mates lean a bit closer and squint their eyes at the stranger. Kris tries very hard to keep his eyes away from those s or to wander anywhere else inappropriate. It clicks in both their heads at the same time.

"The fairy!"

"You're the fairy!" Chanyeol exclaims, "Magic is real! Please tell me Santa is real too!"

Baekhyun steps out of his reverie, "You broke my wing."

-

It amuses Kris to no end how Chanyeol avoids Baekhyun as if the latter is an ex he recently had a bad falling out with. The two were joined like a soul to the heart and now Baekhyun is being cut off like an appendix at the operating table.

The situation is so ridiculous Kris laughs out loud for a good full minute.

There's fairy in his house, and currently it's a human and Kris has no idea what the is going on.

It amuses him, until Baekhyun saunters into his room and stands behind him as he works on his laptop. Kris knows it's Baekhyun because the door opens and closes humanely. His bare feet are silent and he carries with him a scent exclusive to himself; something a mixture of mint and citrus, something a bit flowery too -lavender perhaps? He's not too sure. It has been ages since he has last seen an actual living flower, let alone smell one. Basically the smaller male smells like nature.

The looming presence of Baekhyun over his shoulder suddenly gets too much and Kris abruptly stops working. He swivels around in his chair, crosses his arms across his chest and folds one leg over the other.

He instantly scrambles back to his old position, tries to tear the sight of the male out of his eyeballs and hopefully his neurons too -forever. It's one of those moments when his father's voice echoes inside his head, and he hates it, because of course it will be an inappropriate time ("You can tell the level of a man's wisdom by the size of his !"  Greek philosophers must have had amazing sizes then.)

"Yes?" Kris squeaks more than demands.

"Nothing." He receives as answer. ("A man isn't a man if his isn't bigger than the size of his shoe!"  Father, please be quiet!)

The tall male saunters towards his cupboard, careful to keep Baekhyun out of his peripheral range. ("A should be strong enough to puncture a hole through-" Oh God no! Not that one!)

"You need to put on some clothes." He demands in one quick breath as he goes through his collection. He knows none of his sizes will fit the fairy, not even the ones he's outgrown but refuses to throw. So he finds the ones he hates the most and tosses them over his head. "Put these on."

"Will I be able to go outside then? I need to find Chen."

"Yea, yea." Kris answers carelessly, slowly closing the cupboard as the sound of clothes rustling fill up his room. The fairy takes up enough time to make him concerned that he might have to help with a dress up game, but mercifully, the need doesn't arise. The fairy has observed Chanyeol enough. ("The thing about is-" One extreme mental slap is ordered and received.)

When he turns around, Baekhyun stands before him, his smile a brilliant beam that shoots straight into Kris heart, his eyes sparkle with silent mirth and are radiant in a manner one can only find in innocent children. Kris' eyes trail down to thin pink lips. Somewhere in the back of his head he can hear bells tinkling and chiming. His heart skips a beat.

"These are very big." The tiny male says. His hands are fisted at his waist where the large shirt is held crumpled beneath his closed fingers, holding up his pants under them.

Kris hands him a belt but Baekhyun has no idea what to do with it. Thus, after a torturously slow gulp, Kris bends down to show him how to put it on. He ignores the fat that's he's very much aligned with Baekhyun's- and Baekhyun should probably roll up the bottom of the pants a bit too. They slip under his heels and make him look like a dwarf. So, Kris does that as well.

"Have you ever been to Neverland?" Baekhyun asks suddenly, curiously, when Kris stands up.

"What?"

"Neverland? Have you ever been to Neverland?" He repeats

"Is it at Disneyland?" Kris slumps back in his chair, body sagging with relief at the respectable distance between the two of them.

"Nah-uh, just Neverland. Second star to the right, and then straight on till morning." Baekhyun informs animatedly as he moves his hands around to specify the directions. Kris wonders if he caught it from Chanyeol or if it's his own habit. Then he wonders what the  because these directions make no sense. Must be a fairy thing.

"You look familiar," Baekhyun says as he taps his chin thoughtfully. His eyes roll up to stare at the ceiling, "Where have we met before?"

"I've never met anything before." Kris answers and turns back to his laptop. He knows he won't be able to get any work done with Baekhyun's shadow hovering around him, but he pretends to be busy anyway.

"Are you, by any chance, on the Jolly Roger's crew? Or perhaps you once were?"

"Jol- what?" Kris frowns. He throws a look over his shoulder to let the intruder know his words, nor his presence, are appreciated. No matter how pleasant he is to look at.

"Oh!" Baekhyun pounds his fist onto his small palm - Kris can't help but notice from the corner of his eyes, "Now I know!" He exclaims.

"Yaey," Kris deadpans as he starts scribbling non-existent alphabets on a sheet of paper. He is very very busy. He hopes Baekhyun realizes that and leaves or else his entire room will accumulate Baekhyun's scent. 

"You look like Kevin!" The fairy exclaims. Kris chokes on his saliva. "There's a painting of Kevin in the lagoon. The mermaids made it ages ago in one of abandoned parts. You look a lot like him, I swear! Except older, I suppose."

"Who was Kevin?" Kris asks, and definitely not out of curiosity.

"He was the previous Fisher King," Baekhyun says excitedly, "I'd never met him though. I wasn't born then. But Chen knows him. Chen was a Lost Boy at the time."

Half of the things Baekhyun says make no sense to Kris. He vaguely wonders if it really is a fairy thing or if Baekhyun is a mental asylum escapee. Surely fairy cities must have them too.

"Alright," He answers.

"I have to find Chen so he can take me back home." Baekhyun shuffles closer to Kris and the taller scoots backwards, attempting to sink himself into his chair, "But I can only recognize things from the sky. I would be lost on the ground. Will you help me?"

"Take Chanyeol," Kris waves his hand at the other's face in an attempt to shoo him away and herd him into Chanyeol's room instead.

"Chanyeol does not want me around anymore," Baekhyun pouts, his lower lip juts out in a way Kris wants to declare forbidden in this apartment. "I've lost my wings and grown into human size. I do not know what else might happen if I stay here any longer. I really need to find Chen."

Kris does not want to leave his laptop.

The machine is challenging him, a faint whir of the fan in its system, daring him to even try. He looks at Baekhyun's sad slash hopeful face, and then at the infinity of alphabets all staring back at him, his soul. Baekhyun's fair face and pretty pretty eyes, then his laptop's screen which dims due to inactiveness. It's a bleak representation of what his life is like. The answer is a no brainer for him.

He doesn't even have to think twice.

"No." Kris swivels around, tapping the touchpad to bring his laptop screen back to life. He can hear Baekhyun let out a disappointed sigh. It's not long after he hears his door quietly shut.

When Kris leaves his sanctuary to raid the kitchen, he's met with the sight of Baekhyun staring out the small window, chewing on a slice of bread. The gloom rises off the smaller male in constant incoming waves, maybe even radiation. Kris isn't a people's person so he pretends Baekhyun is a housecat going through menopause, or divorce or something.

It stifles his conscience somewhat until the next time he comes out and sees the brunet sitting on floor and staring into space.

There's a little part of him that tells him he should drag Chanyeol out and force him to help Baekhyun. Kris has a lot of work to do and he can't spare any time for pretty lost boys or any Chens. He has to meet the deadlines for projects that don't belong to him and there was another freelance article he saw an hour ago that he wanted to type up. If he weighs Baekhyun against money, he doesn't have to think twice about what he's going to prefer. It's not like owes the male anything. He doesn't even know him.

Then it's beyond him why he's grabbing his bag -more out of instinct than need- and running out, down the stairs and almost breaking the entrance door on his way out to chase Baekhyun.

It's way past sundown, with streetlights on and the night coming to life. He wouldn't even have noticed the fairy (is he still eligible to be called that?) had slipped out unless Baekhyun had crashed into the metal bins with a loud cry and send them toppling against each other in a clatter of obnoxious noise, right under the window of Kris' bedroom.

Kris is surprised at the stamina he exhausts in catching up with a person as small as Baekhyun. His stature betrays how fast his legs carry him, and Kris is slightly panting when he grabs a fistful of the smaller male's shirt to pull him back to a stop.

"Where are you going?" Kris asks just as Baekhyun turns to look over his shoulder, eyes wide and surprised.

"To find Chen," He answers like it's a fact. Perhaps it is, because that's all Baekhyun has been talking about ever since he could properly communicate.

"Where is Chen?" Kris asks, because he wants to prove to the other what a stupid idea it is to go out in search of someone that could be anywhere in a city i.e., equal to non existence.

"Where there is happiness," Baekhyun answers and Kris raises a brow.

"So, where exactly is Chen, again?"

"Over at the lights," Baekhyun says as he points ahead. Kris follows the direction of his finger to the grey building. "I saw it from the window. It looks like a place where he would like to go."

The amusement park.

Kris weighs the pros and cons of it. He can humor Baekhyun and who knows, this Chen might even turn up and get the boy off his hands, or he'll waste a good few hours on exercise he doesn't need and welcome fatigue that will haunt his muscles for days after. In the end, Baekhyun decides for him as he starts jogging ahead.

Kris grabs the other's elbow and locks his grip there. Baekhyun rushes forward like a hyper pup and the taller is dragged after him towards 'the lights'. The small male keeps tripping over his feet because of the large flip flops he wears and Kris knows he's supposed to feel irritated about it, but he feels endeared instead. A bus arrives at the stop just as they do -Kris thanks any deity willing to listen- and guides Baekhyun onto it. The smaller still manages to trip twice and hits his head against a pole.

Wait, are those his flip flops? The one he never wears but still doesn't let anyone touch?

His thoughts are dissipated by the sound of Baekhyun's laughter. Apparently Baekhyun finds bus rides extremely funny. He continuously mentions how his entire body is vibrating and keeps asking if the bus will really take them to 'the lights'. Kris wishes the male would shut up now because the girl sitting two seats ahead of them turns back around a number of times to see who's saying such psychotic things. He supposes the sight of a youth in oversized everything must not seem very normal either. Top that off with being accompanied by an oversized male with, as one of his exes put it, 'a default face'.

They have to change to another bus line and Baekhyun keeps him entertained and embarrassed by asking about anything and everything he sees. A bruise starts forming on Baekhyun's otherwise unblemished skin, where he's hit his forehead on a pole each time he entered a bus and tripped. Kris supposes he should call him a klutz, but he calls him precious instead -in his head only.

The second the vehicle stops and the door opens, Baekhyun is out like a hunting dog released on his prey. This time Kris is only able to catch up because Baekhyun can't get past the tall barrier of iron railings that separates the amusement park from predators like Baekhyun. He extends his hands, whines mournfully and tries to reach for something past Kris' sight on the other side of the barrier.

"Doesn't look like Chen's here," Kris is in no mood to spend his hard earned money on tickets and something called Chen.

"We have to get closer," Baekhyun answers without even sparing him a glance, "As close to the lights in the sky as possible. We have to get to the other side." Baekhyun tries shaking the metal rods, tries bending them, but only ends up turning his arms at odd angles until a security guard yells at them to scamper off. Kris is about to put in his two cents of pessimism when Baekhyun's is struck by a revelation and he runs to where everyone is queued up. He excitedly points out his discovery to Kris.

Kris has half a mind to turn around and leave the male, but a string -more like two dozen of them- rivet him to Baekhyun, and he ends up getting two entry passes. Baekhyun, the little dodger, does not thank Kris for sacrificing his money for his selfish little cause and instead gets lost in the crowd within two minutes.

Kris has to place an announcement for a lost male with oversized clothes, a brilliant smile (the operator raises a judging eyebrow here) and ugly blue flip flops, before someone calls the center and tells them where the boy was seen.

The fairy-turned-human is trying to get on the Ferris wheel and the keeper is struggling to keep him off. With another mournful sigh, Kris reigns in the male, purchases tickets and they queue up for the ride.

"Chen will be at the top," Baekhyun sounds so assured, Kris actually believes him. His eyes are sparkling as he watches the Ferris wheel go round and round, its twinkling lights shining against the black starless sky. "He flies the highest amongst us all."

"Mhm."

"When I find Chen, he will take me home."

"I'm sure." Kris nods absently. He feels uncomfortable surrounded by so many people. At the same time he feels astounded by Baekhyun's ludicrous statements, because of course, it's very logical for a Chen to be flying around the top of the Ferris wheel waiting for Baekhyun. "What if he isn't there?"

"He will be." Baekhyun's eyes remained trained on the large wheel, "Chen loves gatherings like this. He likes lights and music. That's why I'm his favourite. I shine the brightest amongst all the fairies, and I am the best singer!" Baekhyun giggles. Kris rolls his eyes at Baekhyun's obvious crush on this Chen thing, but he can second Baekhyun's claim of being the best singer. It's the only thing he likes about Baekhyun, honestly. What about his smile? And twinkly eyes? And-

Baekhyun throws himself in the passenger cabin. With just the two of them, the wheel moves a bit to let other visitors into the next cabin.

"How will you be able to see someone so small in the dark?" Kris inquires.

Baekhyun finally looks at him, "Who?"

"Chen?"

"Chen isn't little. Only fairies are that size," Baekhyun says as if it's common knowledge and manages to make Kris feel silly, "Chen is the Fisher King. He'd be as tall as any boy should be."

Joy. A boy flying around the top of the Ferris wheel. Kris wonders if he'd even be able to see Chen or if only Baekhyun's eyes would be able to spot him.

Baekhyun is restless in his seat. He keeps looking out at how high they are, keeps darting his eyes everywhere around them. When their cabin pauses at the very top, Baekhyun stands up and starts looking at the sky.

"Is Chen here?"

"He will be." Baekhyun replies, resolute. The ride starts its normal rotation as soon as its full. "We fly higher than this. Much, much higher," Baekhyun says, his eyes fixed on the dark abyss that serves as the night sky. "It would be difficult for him to see me." It sounds more like he's trying to convince himself of something rather than reciting a fact to Kris. "I'd know if he was around." He murmurs, a hand going to rest right over his heart.

When the ride is over, Baekhyun refuses to get off. He stubbornly clings to the cabin as Kris purchases another ticket for him. Baekhyun takes two more rounds with other people before Kris puts his foot down.

"I think I know where he would be." Baekhyun grins. He loops his arm around Kris' and drags him through the families towards the loud and flashing carousal.

"Oh God, no."

Kris' feet are bleeding. Or he's pretty sure they are. But it's really just him sweating from all the strenuous activity required, both physically and mentally, to keep track of Baekhyun. It's already past midnight, past Kris' self declared curfew time and past dinner time. What started as a search for Chen gradually turned into an adventure of a curious visitor. Baekhyun is wilted in spirit, but Kris has it ten times worse. He's drained out of every ounce of energy, the thought of his disrupted schedule and abandoned projects haunt him, and the fact that he had to consume food prepared under probable unhygienic conditions makes his stomach churn uncomfortably.

"Please, we can come back here tomorrow," The words slip past his tongue before he even knows what he's saying. Baekhyun's face lights up at the promise. Kris groans loudly.

With the public transits shut down, they have no choice but to accept a ride from an old couple. The old woman looks convinced that Kris is a pimp in training and Baekhyun is his little money-maker. She doesn't say it, but her eyes accuse Kris of all the cookies he's never stolen from the jar. Kris is glad when they reach home (and he's not sure if he imagined it or if the woman really just noted down their residential area address on her phone).

"I know you're angry," is the first thing Baekhyun says as soon as Kris shuts the door after them, "I promise I'll leave as soon as Chen comes. I'll go back to Neverland and will never be a bother again."

Kris is tired, and he's angry, but the only reason he doesn't explode is because of his perfect Ten Breaths technique and the underlying guilt that it's his and Chanyeol's fault that Baekhyun is stuck here like this. But Baekhyun doesn't know that, so he's not going to say anything about it either. He's also not going to tell Baekhyun that Neverland sounds more like a place a crack recluse would retreat to but, ok, never mind, whatever.

Baekhyun goes into the kitchen. Kris takes a peek in and sees the smaller prodding the tissue box. He seems despaired as he looks up at Kris, "My bed." His lower lip and chin quivers, and it's been a long day, and Kris is tired, and Baekhyun is disappointed and he's home sick, and Kris has wasted a lot of time and this really just can't get any worse.

"Take my bed. I'm sleeping elsewhere."

His tongue is out of control!

"I can sleep in your room?" Baekhyun asks surprised, and then excited. In the little time he spent here, he knows Kris hates Chanyeol in his sanctuary.

"Don't touch anything." Kris says sternly, letting him in.

"I'm really going to spend the night in here? Where will you sleep though?" It's a very good question, because they don't have a living room. It's just one straight corridor, a kitchen, a bathroom and two bed rooms.

"You can sleep in these clothes." Kris says instead, gesturing to the clothes Baekhyun is already wearing.

It's an inconvenient setting, but Kris makes a bedding for himself on the floor, right next to his rightful sleeping place. After changing and laying down ramrod straight, Kris attempts to find peace within himself but his heart is thudding at an unnatural pace due to unexplainable reasons. Every muscle fiber, every bone hurts and his head is pounding from stress but he can't seem to find any sleep. Baekhyun's head peeks over the bed. Kris can make out most of his features due to the light that sneaks past the blinds and his adjusted night vision.

"We'll go to the place with the lights again, right?"

"It's called an amusement park." Kris answers, rubbing his temples.

"I like amusement parks."

"Go to sleep, Baekhyun."

"Okay," He answers in a small voice, and then in an even lower tone, Kris hears a muted, "Thank you." before Baekhyun retreats from his vision.

Kris isn't sure when he falls asleep in the night, but it feels like only a second has passed when he closes his eyes, before a weight suddenly drops on his chest and he's screaming himself awake.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Baekhyun yelps and screams, jumping away from Kris.

The bloody jinx stepped on him!

-

Yesterday it was funny, but today Kris finds it absurd and ridiculous how Chanyeol avoids Baekhyun. He thought he was the one who ran away from his problems, but Kris realizes that he not only solves his own problems, but other people's as well - for example all these projects he does for a fair fee.

Baekhyun wants to follow Chanyeol outside. He still wants to look for Chen, and frankly, if Kris was in his place he'd have given up and moved onto plan B by now. Physical activity and Kris don't go in the same sentence unless it's a negative sentence. But Kris has an inkling Baekhyun's search has more to do with the little taste of freedom he had last night instead of any real enthusiasm for finding any Chen.

He has every intention to let Chanyeol babysit the male while he rests his sore muscles. Then he hears the familiar clanking of metal bins as they tumble down the stairs and Baekhyun's familiar yelp and he sighs deep and regretful, because he suddenly remembers that Chanyeol would have left for his class by now.

Kris grabs his bag, curses any Heavenly body laughing at him and forces himself to trace Baekhyun's trail -who's already a rapidly shrinking figure on the road.

The sun stings his eyes. It's been so long since he last stepped into any source of natural light. He pathetically runs after Baekhyun but can't catch up. Then he notices that the male himself is chasing school children.

Oh God. No. Just no.

He speeds up and reaches the menace just as he's about to follow the children inside the school gate.

"Stop!" Kris hisses, grabs Baekhyun's wrist and pulls him back towards himself. "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for Chen." Kris is sure if he hears that name one more time...

"I was not under the impression that Chen is under ten."

"Oh no, Chen isn't that little. It's usually the Lost Boys," Kris makes a grand show of rolling his eyes, "But, you usually find Chen where there is happiness. And children are the happiest amongst everyone, aren't they? That's why Neverland calls out to them." Kris squints his eyes, as if doing so will tell him what drugs Baekhyun is on. Then he remembers that Baekhyun's supposed to be a mutant fairy, so he stops racking his brain for the other's words to make sense.

"We should leave." Kris says when he hears the bell ringing.

"I want to wait for Chen."

Kris huffs.

It's like dealing with a spoilt child. Somehow, he manages to convince Baekhyun to at least get away from the school and they crash in the park on the opposite side of the road. Baekhyun plays on the swings, climbs the jungle bars, takes the slide, the seesaw, the sandpit, everything. Kris verily sits on a bench and observes the smaller as he runs from one kiddy attraction to the next, finally approaching Kris when his nails are filled with grime, the knees of his jeans dirty and his eyes and grin so bright and alight, they compete with the morning sun.

"Maybe Chen will detect your happiness and find you." It's meant to sarcastic and it comes out anything but.

Baekhyun seems jubilant with the comment, "Maybe,"

They both look up when two children come running into the park, one of them singing a nursery rhyme at the tops of his lungs. Kris isn't sure what the kids are doing here when they're supposed to be at school, but Baekhyun looks elated to see someone of his mental age, Kris believes. No sooner, he joins them with a bounce in his steps and the kids take to him like flies to a candy. Kris thinks Baekhyun would make a good babysitter.

Baekhyun starts singing. This time there's no chiming bells or tinkering sounds. It's words and full sentences. It's a human voice, and it's beautifully melodious and it's beautifully Baekhyun. He's singing the nursery rhyme the boy came singing in his pitched voice. Kris doesn't know how Baekhyun manages to make the poem sound like a beautiful musical piece. He watches in awe as Baekhyun enchants his small audience. It's no wonder Chen marked Baekhyun as his favourite. If Kris were in Chen's place, he'd have done it too.

When midday rolls around, Kris has had enough. He's starving, he's sleepy and all of Baekhyun's optimism is killing him.

Baekhyun is enjoying himself, and he's not ready to be cooped into an apartment. Kris pushes his backpack in the smaller male's arms before he lifts Baekhyun up and hoists him over his shoulder. The male shrieks in surprise, but he laughs all the way back. Goddamn it, Baekhyun is not as light as he looks.  

Kris takes an apple from the kitchen, finishes it within a few bites on the way to his room and promptly falls asleep. He wakes up around sundown half hanging off his bed, to the sight of Baekhyun laying on his stomach on the mattress set on the floor next to his bed.

"Hey," He beams at him. Kris wonders why Baekhyun's smiles always seem to make him so fuzzy and warm.

"Have you eaten?" Kris asks.

The other nods. "We're going there again today, right? The place with lights- the amusing park...?"

Kris had forgotten all about that. He eyes his laptop lying on his study table, neglected since yesterday night. It's the longest he's gone without it, and the device makes sure to make him feel extremely guilty by looking extra shiny. "I'll see if Chanyeol can take you today."

"Okay." Baekhyun nods enthusiastically.

Kris frowns. It's so rude of Baekhyun to replace him so easily. Kris spends his precious, valuable, money making time with Baekhyun and he expects some appreciation for it. "Thank you, for everything so far." Baekhyun smiles widely. It's easily one of the best smiles Kris has ever seen and the only one he's been blinded by so far.

-

Kris tried. Really, he did. He wanted to spend tonight working on his laptop, hunching his back and having his eyes pierced by rays from computer screens. He slept all day, wearing out his exhaustion and he now wanted to get some work done.

Instead he was once again taking the bus to the amusement park, one firm hand wrapped around Baekhyun's elbow. He belatedly notes that Baekhyun's clothes are pretty wrinkled and the male looks absolutely ridiculous in a pair of oversized slippers.

The first thing he does is buy a pair of crocs for Baekhyun, who is utterly fascinated by the shoes -it's only too late when Kris realizes the shoes glow in the dark. Now the fairy keeps bumping into things because he can't keep his eyes off his feet. Kris pulls an arm around the other's waist to keep him steady and close. He wonders why his heart lurches when Baekhyun's arm also comes to hang around his waist.

It's a repeat of yesterday; the Ferris wheel, carousal, flying scooters, pirate ship, troika, wind seeker and then some slow kiddy rides to keep the food from coming back out. Bakehyun rides alone this time, accompanied by kids, embarrassed siblings and overprotective parents on the children rides. Kris uses the time to practice on shooting games and realizes he has pretty decent hand-eye coordination. Maybe he can offer some other services too, apart from just writing ...

When Baekhyun does not meet him at the designated spot he has to put an announcement for a lost person in outsized clothes and glowing crocs. This time he drags Baekhyun home before the public transits shut down.

-

As soon as he enters his room, light glints off the sleek lid of his laptop, blinding his eyes and one of his organs plunges into another. All those untouched assignments. He's suddenly very glad for working ahead of deadlines. Baekhyun ducks from under his arm and drops on the bed with a satisfying moan. Kris' eyes shift between the bedding on the floor and his laptop on the table. One of the two things is glaring at him and the other is holding out welcoming arms. Then Baekhyun pats the spot next to him, and Kris ignores them both to let himself fall next to Baekhyun with a contended sigh.

"Did you have fun today?"

"No." Kris answers, voice muffled by the mattress beneath him.

"I had fun," Baekhyun says, "I made a lot of friends too."

"They aren't your friends." Kris turns his face to stare at Baekhyun's, "When you meet someone once, they are not your friends."

"Then I met a lot of happiness. That place makes me really happy. What about you?" Baekhyun raises a small finger to softly touch the tip of Kris' nose. Kris scrunches his nose to shoo Baekhyun's digit away.

"That place makes me really tired."

Baekhyun laughs, "You're such a sloth! Everything makes you tired or angry. What makes you happy?"

"Money," He answers without hesitance.

"What about people?" Baekhyun's finger pokes his eye playfully.

"People are annoying,"

"But you are a person too." Baekhyun tries to stick his finger up Kris' nose. The taller clamps Baekhyun's annoying hand under his large one to stop it from any further movements.

"I'm not a person, I'm a robot."

Baekhyun's eyes light up at the word, probably proud of himself for knowing such a thing. "What about Chanyeol?"

Kris sighs, "There's something wrong with him."

"No," Baekhyun slips his hand out from under Kris', "Nothing's wrong with him. But something is wrong with you," He places a pointed finger exactly over Kris' heart, "Here," Kris stares back at him, dumbfounded and offended. "Why is your heart so black?"

Kris smiles thinly, "It's because there's a galaxy in there. A big black galaxy." He turns around to face away from Baekhyun. He can feel the other budge from the way the mattress shifts under him. Then he hears a faint 'Thank you', just like yesterday.

When Kris wakes up, he's lying properly on his bed, it's early morning, Baekhyun is absent, and Kris can hear a nursery rhyme being sung from somewhere inside the apartment. It's a beautiful sound to wake up to.

He mentally tacks a new schedule in his brain, because he needs to rearrange everything if he's going to be leaving with Baekhyun every day until his hands are clean of the fairy.

-

The new schedule, as expected, is hectic. The time for working on projects dwindles down drastically in order to create an equilibrium for work, rest and fun.

Fun?

He meant 'the amusement park'.

This night Baekhyun takes no excuses and drags Kris with him on the children's ride. Kris feels the parents secondhand embarrassed for him. But he's too busy making sure the face mask (with broken grinning teeth) and his massive heart shaped sunglasses, an ugly neon colour, (that Baekhyun grabbed because there was a matching set) don't fall off to expose his face to anyone. The workers here are beginning to recognize Baekhyun as a regular customer, and today, when Kris walks in to make an announcement for a lost Baekhyun, the operator already knows what to announce, "What shoes was the kid wearing today, son?"

"Come on, Kris," Baekhyun points to the rollercoaster, something he has yet to try, "I want to see how you look laughing."

"How will that help you find Chen?" Kris eyes the long queue verily.

"I think Chen can't find me because of you," Baekhyun jabs a finger at the taller male's chest, making him wince, "Your big black galaxy heart swallows everything in despair. Maybe if you were happier, he'd be able to see me shine."

Kris thinks Baekhyun would shine even if he was surrounded by tens of thousands of miserable Kris clones. "I don't swallow things in despair," Kris mutters, eyeing the ridiculous glowing crocs. He decides to show Baekhyun that he's not really the king of gloom and doom, but actually very pleasant company. His heart squeezes itself, as if punishing him for even thinking of such a thing.

When they're seated in the Ferris wheel and the ride starts, Baekhyun stands up to start swaying the cabin. Kris instantly latches onto the sides, "What do you think you're doing?"

Baekhyun only laughs back, "Isn't this fun?"

"This is dangerous!"

"Oh my God!" A voice screeches from below their cabin, "Someone is having above us!" Kris turns red down to his toes.

"Oh God, Baekhyun, please stop!"

"Oh my God!" The same voice screeches, "Someone is getting above us!"

"Baekhyun, stop!"

Baekhyun is laughing even when the ride is stopped and they're being pulled away for questioning by the managers. Kris is scandalized by how everyone treats Baekhyun as if he's the victim and Kris the molester. He's pretty sure his face says how innocent he is. But when you compare it to Baekhyun, there's really no competition. Kris just hopes he doesn't end up in jail. He's intimidated by the interrogators and they're intimidated by his eyebrows. He's not helping his case by thinking long and hard about his answers, as if contemplating a mass murder, when he's only really thinking of donating Baekhyun to an orphanage.

-

"I thought for sure I'd be home by now."

Kris' eyes snap open at the voice.

The lights are off, the room is dark. His ankle muscles are sore and he really just wants to sleep until the sun comes up and Baekhyun is secretly singing. "I'm sure Chen will be there one of these days." Kris sleepily mumbles back.

Baekhyun's head peeks from over the bed. Kris blinks the sleep from his eyes. He can tell Baekhyun is in a mood to talk. He doesn't know why it always has to be in bed.

"I had fun today." He grins.

"You have fun every day," Kris retorts, "My money makes sure of it."

"Do you really like money more than you like people?"

"I like sleep too."

Baekhyun laughs, light and melodious. Everything unlike Chanyeol. He wishes Baekhyun had been his flat mate instead of Chanyeol.

"I think Chen has forgotten me."

Kris's drooping eyelids scatter away any remaining fragments of drowsiness. "Why would you think that?" He asks, a bit more urgently than he intends.

"I can't feel him." Kris can't see it clearly, but he knows Baekhyun just placed his hand over his heart, "I think he went back without me."

"That's absurd." Kris replies, "You're his favourite, aren't you? Nobody forgets their favourites."

There is a moment of silence. "What's your favourite memory from your childhood?" Baekhyun asks.

"I don't know," Kris grumbles, then instantly realizes the mistake he made.

"You forgot?" Baekhyun snickers, but it sounds forced, fake.

"Ok then, when I graduated from high school." It's the first thing that comes to his mind.

"Oh. Why is it your favourite?" Baekhyun's fingers reach down to poke Kris's collar bones. "Was it because you were really happy?"

"Yes. Everybody's happy when they leave a hellhole."

"Then why is your heart still black? Shouldn't thinking about happy things make it a bit white?" Kris jerks away when Baekhyun's finger pushes against his .

"Don't do that." He warns. Baekhyun giggles. He pokes the other's shoulder blades.

"You're such a strange person."

"Go to sleep." Kris wiggles away from the other's touch until he's on the floor. Baekhyun complies with a barely heard, 'Thank you'. "You're welcome." Kris answers for the first time. He can't see it, but he feels Baekhyun's smile.

The lights are off, but the room brightens around him.

-

At the amusement park they play with darts. Baekhyun's aim is awful. He tries hitting the bulls-eyes, but every little missile pins itself on the stall keeper instead of the board. Even when the man leaves the area, Baekhyun manages to jab his elbow in the man's nose before his missile impales itself in the keeper's shoe. 'Oops' doesn't remove the red that's rapidly creeping up the man's neck.

Kris keeps his eyes alert for any prepubescent boy that might take an interest in Baekhyun. Unfortunately, a lot of people take an interest in the small male. He's befuddled at how he didn't notice it before. Children seem to be enthralled by him, for whatever reason (maybe it has something to do with how Baekhyun distributes candies and balloons among them, that Kris buys specifically for Baekhyun. It still doesn't explain why the kids tell the smaller that he's 'shining like a light bulb!'). Baekhyun only curiously looks back at who pinches his arm, or rear, or stuffs slips of paper in his pockets before turning his attention back to a wide-eyed Kris. "What's wrong?"

Kris gapes at him. He schools his expression into neutrality before he takes out the paper stuffed in the fairy's hoodie and pockets, barely looking at the numbers scribbled there, discarding them right there on the floor. "Stay close," Kris orders, placing an arm around the smaller male's waist and leading them towards the Ferris wheel.

Baekhyun had mentioned it being his favourite ride. 'It's not like flying, but it's close enough,' He had said, 'It's the highest we can go, right?'

The thought gives Kris an idea.

They leave the park amidst Baekhyun's protests, board a bus and after half an hour of a restless trip, end up in front of a lightened tower that stretches up to the sky.

"This is the highest place, as far as I know." Kris says as he directs Baekhyun into the tower. They take the lift up, and Baekhyun curiously looks at all the couples around. "Maybe you can spot Chen flying on top of the city or something. I don't know."

"Should we hold hands?" Baekhyun asks instead, voice a quiet whisper.

"Not . . . necessarily," Kris mumbles, even as Baekhyun wraps both hands around Kris' elbow. Kris has an inkling Baekhyun doesn't like this place. Maybe it's the tight space?

When they leave the lift, Baekhyun makes a beeline towards the glass walls, forgetting all about Kris. The taller only points a finger towards the door, and then the fairy is hurrying out and jumping onto the gallery. He looks back, laughing, eyes reducing to nothing but curved lines, as his hair is blown all over by the wind. Kris hopes Baekhyun doesn't somehow topple over the railing.

"Why did you keep this from me?" Baekhyun shoves Kris, and Kris hopes he doesn't somehow topple over the railing. He creates a safe distance between them both, making sure they're still close enough for Kris to grab the younger incase he decides hanging off the side is fun too.

"Look around for Chen."

And Baekhyun does so, very unconventionally. He strains his vocal belts and calls out the male's name over and over, running around the perimeter until Kris steps in his path to stop him. Baekhyun laughs hysterically, tears b in the corner of his eyes as he gasps out 'Chen, Chen, Chen'.

"You've gone mad!" Kris holds him upright. Baekhyun slumps against him, hands tightly clutching Kris' shirt at his waist, hair tousled and form breathless. He's still laughing as Kris guides him inside.

"That was exhilarating!" Baekhyun mumbles, ignoring the looks thrown their way by other people. "You should try it too."

"Let's go get something to eat," Kris suggests instead.

The food here is different than at the amusement park. They have to meander around the food street and Baekhyun wants to put everything into his mouth. Kris notices that the fairy doesn't look as high as he usually does by this time of the night. He actually looks like he's been kissed by exhaustion. Baekhyun's eyes flick up towards Kris' in a curious manner.

"Am I shinning?" He asks cheekily before he bites his roasted meat off a stick. "I shine when I'm happy."

"Too brightly,"

Not bright enough tonight, actually.

When they arrive home, they run into Chanyeol as soon as the door opens. The male doesn't hide his face or race to his room as he usually does. In fact, he comes forward to cheerfully greet them both.

"I'm Chanyeol, the roomie," He introduces himself to Baekhyun, then discreetly wiggles his brows at Kris, murmuring a light, 'getting lucky, eh?' before he asks if anyone of them would like anything to drink.

Kris gapes at him.

Baekhyun turns around and slams into Kris in his haste to leave. Kris steadies him by the shoulders and sees his eyes filling up with tears.

"It's happening," He squeaks. He tries to get away, but Kris keeps a tight grip on his arms to keep him around. "Baekhyun?"

Baekhyun takes in deep breaths, but its futile in calming him down. "Chen, oh Chen. Chen! Chen! Chen!"

"I think he's having a panic attack," Chanyeol whispers harshly from his place, obviously under the illusion that the new guy can't hear him.

Kris shoots him a glare which has the male retreating into his room to give them privacy.

"What's wrong?" Kris' brows furrow.

Baekhyun is sobbing, tears suddenly streaking down his cheeks, face turning pink and his lips stretched wide to let out wails of misery. Kris is befuddled on why the fairy is crying as if someone killed his mother, his cat and amputated his leg.

"It's happening!"

"What's happening?"

"I'm never going back home!" He cries out, head hung low and hair hiding his wretched expression.

"Baekhyun," Kris shakes him and tries to put some sense into him. Something comes to the forefront of his thoughts and reminds him he is always dumped because he is bad with human contact. Especially consoling distressed people. Just dealing with feelings in general psyches him out. "Ten deep breaths alright. Listen to me, take a breath only when I say a number. One deep breath for every number," He instructs, "You do know numbers, right?"

He receives frenzied nods. Baekhyun calms down by three, but they go on till five and stop when Baekhyun pouts.

Kris guides Baekhyun around; having him clean his mouth with a mouthwash, asks him to change into one of Kris' old clothes for the night (a vest that hangs on him more than fits him) and trousers they have to string tightly around his waist to keep them from slipping off.

They retreat quietly to their beds afterwards, and Kris patiently waits for Baekhyun to start talking as he does every night.

"Kris?"

"Hm?"

"Can I come down there?" He asks unsurely.

"Um, okay...?" Kris replies even more unsurely.

Baekhyun slowly slips down, accidently kicking the other but he decides not to complain, and then the fairy presses himself flat against Kris' side. Kris stays rock still, waiting, waiting, waiting...

Baekhyun repositions himself to get comfortable. His breath ghosts on Kris' collar bones, even sneaks past the fabric of his clothes to make him shiver. He's still waiting ...

"They told us, in Neverland, that if anyone gets lost, they are forgotten."

"That's absurd." Kris replies.

"I know," Baekhyun says strongly, "How can you forget someone that makes you so happy, you fly into the clouds? How can you forget someone who makes you so sad, Neverland brings in storms? Right? You can't forget things like these, right? We were only playing a game when I got separated from the group. They couldn't have forgotten me so suddenly, right?"

"Right," Kris answers.

"But, it's true," His voice falls into a low quiver, "You forgot Kris. You forgot what your happiest memory was."

"It was just a memory, Baekhyun. A person is something entirely different. I don't think I'd ever forget a person who made me so happy, I'd reach the clouds."

"Didn't that memory have people? Didn't these people make you so happy, you remembered them? You turned them into a memory. You tried to preserve them."

Kris falters, "It's different."

"People and memories are the same. If you lose sight of either, you can't remember them anymore. When you get lost, people forget you." He whispers.

"No. When you get lost, people look for you." Kris says.

"And when they can't find you?"

"They look harder." Kris states in a voice that rings with finality.

"I wonder if Chen's looking for me anymore." Baekhyun shifts again, "I'm tired."

"Let's go to sleep."

And Kris realizes, this is the first time Baekhyun has even said the word 'tired'.

"Thank you." He can hear it clearly now that Baekhyun is lying right next to him.

"You're welcome."