Byun Baekhyun was always the demure, quiet type. He didn’t really have friends but nobody outright bullied him harshly either. Just little snips and snide remarks made about him. Being 16 years old, it’s not like he never tried to make friends but he gets so nervous, all that comes out are stutters and people have to strain themselves so they could hear him.

Baekhyun lived a quiet life. He faded into the background wherever he went. In gym class, he was always the last one picked for the team and for group projects, everyone left him alone to go off with their own friends. 

It’s not like he liked or appreciated the silence. There’s no joy in just being able to only hear yourself. He just felt so alone. Even at home, nobody paid attention. His parents are successful architects and so they travel all the time, leaving him at home for weeks on end with no one to talk to. He never said anything due to him not wanting to inconvenience his parents. And because he never said a thing, they didn’t know his struggles.

The only communication he really has is through a really old, wrecked puppy plush doll. He knows it’s ridiculous to be talking to a doll at his age and no doubt if someone were to find out, the bullying would probably start. But this puppy doll, who he named Mr. Giant (even if the name is pretty ironic), was with him through everything. When he felt like he was going to go crazy because of the silence or when his parents left him once again to go travel the world, Mr. Giant was there. 

The story of how he got Mr. Giant in the first place always makes his heart swell and it feels like it would burst every single time. He can still remember the carnival his then babysitter took him to once his parents were out. The sounds of people’s laughters, the bells going off when people won prizes, the sound of the merry-go-round, everything was just loud and exciting. 

The happiness he felt ended when he was too in awe of the place, he unknowingly got separated from his babysitter. Everything happened all at once. People were running and pushing past each other in excitement, knocking him left and right. At 7 years old, Byun Baekhyun is a tiny little thing, even at that age he was invisible. As his fear was holding a tight grip on his little heart, he was knocked down so hard he fell to his knees. Tears gathered in his eyes and falls down to his scraped up knees. 

“P-please.. someone help me. I-it hurts…” he can only whisper because the sounds were too loud. 

For five minutes, he just sat on the ground while everybody ran past him, not giving care about the little boy who was lost and alone. The tears never stopped. All too suddenly, a hand reaches out and wipes away a stray tear on his left cheek. His eyes widens and he slowly turns his head upwards, the sun in his eyes as he squints to see who bothered to come help him. 

There stands a lanky boy with a smile too bright and too wide for his face. The boy still has his hand on Baekhyun’s cheek. “Don’t cry, little guy. My mom tells me that boys have to be strong, so you shouldn’t cry.” 

Baekhyun’s still sniffling and whimpering because of the pain, “But it hurts….”

The boy’s face mars into a frown and looks to his scraped knees. He crouches down, back turning to face Baekhyun and tells him, “climb on, little guy. I’ll find us a place to sit.”

Even though Baekhyun remembers his parents telling him not to talk to strangers but he guesses he can make an exception because there’s nothing else to do, he can’t even find his babysitter. ….And this boy doesn’t seem like a bad person. 

“Get on!”, this strange boy urges. And so Baekhyun goes. He climbs one with his arms wrapped around the taller boy’s neck. Something in Baekhyun flutters because this is really the first time he got this close to anyone who aren’t his parents. 

He gets up with Baekhyun on his back and walks for about 3 minutes before he finally finds an unoccupied bench. He sets Baekhyun down first and then settles on the bench next to him. Baekhyun yelps when suddenly the boy grabs his injured knee and puts it on his lap and proceeds to blow on it. The cooling sensation somehow makes his knees feel tingly and Baekhyun blushes a pretty pink. 

The boy finally looks up at Baekhyun’s face and sees that he’s red. “Are you sick too? You’re like a tomato!! Let me feel your face.” The boy says as he puts his hands on Baekhyun’s forehead and moves to his neck, which makes Baekhyun let out an embarrassing giggle because it’s ticklish. He can feel his face get redder as he covers his mouth because this has never happened before. 

The boy’s eyes widen before breaking out into a grin, “You should smile and laugh more. You’re prettier like that!!” 

Baekhyun’s face turns a bit grim and he can tell the other noticed. “There’s really not a lot to be happy about.”

“That’s easy! Then find something to be happy about!!”, the boy says like it’s the easiest thing in the world. 

Baekhyun purses his lips, clearly not understanding. “How do I do that?”

The taller boy his head to the side and his face lights up, “I have something! Just wait right here and don’t move!” Before Baekhyun can get a word in, the boy dashes off into the distance, his long legs stumbling over themselves and he almost falls over too many times to be considered healthy. Baekhyun can only give a small smile because this boy is pretty amusing and different than anyone he’s ever met. 

10 minutes past by and the boy is still not back yet. Even though Baekhyun enjoyed his company for those few minutes, he’s not really sure if the boy would really come back for him. Surprisingly once doubt gnaws at his insides, he hears a voice in the distance yelling out a familiar nickname, “LITTLE GUY!! LITTLE GUY! GUESS WHAT!? I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU!!” Baekhyun can only let out a laugh because this charming boy is flailing his left arm all over as if Baekhyun can’t already tell it’s him. 

Baekhyun flushes as he notices more people are looking at the boy strangely as he runs over back to Baekhyun. He catches sight of something in the boy’s right hand as he tries to hide it behind his back. The boy smiles that same smile that takes up too much of his face, excitement clearly shown in his eyes. 

“Close your eyes, little guy. And hold out your hands!” 

Baekhyun’s curiosity gets the better of him as he does what the boy wants and holds out his hands when he suddenly feels something soft and furry in his arms. He slowly opens up his eyes and sees the cutest stuffed animal. He looks up at the boy and blinks rapidly. 

“I-it’s for me?” Baekhyun whispers as his fingers gently caresses the stuffed animal.

With a sheepish look, the boy nods. “I know it’s not much but I think he can make you happy.”

Baekhyun doesn’t really know what to say because this is probably the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for him. So he settles for the most genuine thank you coupled with one of his rare smiles because the boy said he should do it more often. 

“I know it’s a bit late but uh… you can call me Park Chanyeol!” He awkwardly shifts his foot so he’s standing lopsided.

“Uh.. I’m Byu-“

“PARK CHANYEOL!! WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN?! I WAS WORRIED SICK FOR YOU!” 

Baekhyun sees an older lady in her 50s stomping over and without sparing him a glance, he grabs onto Chanyeol’s arms and drags him away, all the while ranting about how worried she was and she thought something happened. Chanyeol turns around and waves to Baekhyun. He can only smile and wave back, feeling kind of sad their time was cut short. He looks down at the animal and smiles.. 

“Park Chanyeol huh…”

Hello! So this is my first BaekYeol story.. I have no idea if it's good or not but I really hope so. Been wanting to write them for a while cuz Baekyeol is my OTP. I'll probably be updating once a week? It depends! Thanks for reading if you're reading! Btw it's probably gonna move a bit slow but not too slow. I think this chapter is slow just cuz I wanted you guys to at least get a feel of Baekhyun's background and admiration for a certain giant!