2014: Futuri Visio (for nestine27)
For: nestine27
From: ANONYMOUS until December 30, 2014
Title: Futuri Visio
Rating: PG
Pairing(s)/Focus: Baekhyun/Chanyeol
Length: 4,384 words
Summary: Baekhyun was bound to find him, somehow.
Warnings: excessive usage of emdashes
Notes: Dear recipient, first off I'd like to thank you for giving me such nice prompts. I know how you love all the pairings that you gave me so I tried my best to incorporate all of them into this fic. Thank you to M, the baddest beta, for reading this over and giving me moral support whenever I needed it. Yay. I hope you enjoy this :>
If you were to ask Baekhyun how many times he'd fallen in love, he'd meekly say he'd fallen in love two times. However, if you were to ask him to tell his tale, he'd probably flip you off and tell you that his love affair is none of your business.
Those were, in retrospect, two times too ephemeral, two phases in his life he'd rather not convey to anyone else-Unless, you were his best friend, Kyungsoo.
Today's the much awaited day of the university fair, and Baekhyun's been running the fortune-telling booth alongside Kyungsoo for two years now-That's because they've both been gifted with the Sight, and this year, it's Baekhyun's first time to handle the actual fortune-telling.
When you've got the Sight, you have this rare ability to read and perceive the future. Just a small dive into the thoughts of others, and you'd be able to sneak a glimpse of what's to come ahead for them. There is a catch, however; You cannot read your own, as well as another future that you're part of.
It was just a habit between them back then, their favorite pasttime whenever they were bored out of their wits. Usually the visions they saw together were the daily topics of their inside jokes. It’s the reason why Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are madly popular within their campus, attracting crazy loads of people everytime they ran their booth. But contrary to popular belief, having the Sight was something neither of them even wanted in the first place.
(And no, they haven't tried reading each other. Don't ask why.)
There is a soft ballad playing over the speakers behind Baekhyun-possibly one coming from those intriguing Spotify playlists he had stumbled upon earlier-to which he hummed along as he finished working on the final touches of the booth.
Signalling the official opening of this year's school fair, the earsplitting blare of a buzzer is heard and the students scramble all around the campus to find something they can splurge their money on. Adjusting the periwinkle curtains that serve as the entrance for the booth, Baekhyun peeked outside to see that there's a great number of people lined up already.
Putting on his silly, lace and sequin-decked headdress a la Lady Gaga, he calls for an already severely irritated Kyungsoo to let their first customer inside.
+
“Daehyun?” Baekhyun blurted out, a mixture of bewilderment and daze building up inside him. He didn’t have time to contemplate about his rather rash reaction, though. In all honesty, he could’ve expected Obama to walk into his booth, or Gandhi would’ve been nice too, but he definitely wasn’t expecting him to be his first customer.
Sure, it had been over years ago, months before their last year in high school. But Baekhyun still can’t help but just stand dumbfounded in the presence of his former boyfriend. But said boyfriend wasn’t just an ex-boyfriend, he was also Baekhyun’s first love.
He thought he’d be able to leave everything involving Daehyun behind once he’d graduated, but no, the guy had to enroll in the same university as Baekhyun did. And he even had his boyfriend, Youngjae, tagging along.
Baekhyun cursed this cruel life silently.
He watched as Daehyun strode confidently towards the table, with his boyfriend following closely. As he’s reminded of the visions he’d seen for these two, he shrugs.
"Hi, Baek," Daehyun greeted, smiling at Baekhyun, who found it kind of difficult to witness again a smile he used to love so dearly. "How you've been? Still the unbreakable duo with Kyungsoo, I see. And ah, you’ve turned your skill into profit, yeah?"
"Fine," Baekhyun affirmed, eyeing the couple’s intertwined hands. He then gestured for the two to sit across him. "It’s mainly just for fun. It was Kyungsoo’s idea. So welcome! What do you want to know?”
Baekhyun remembers a scenario from not so long ago, when he tried reading Daehyun but failing, because the younger boy didn’t want him to. “You’ll ruin the surprise for me, Baek! Besides, I don’t need to know my future. I can already see my future whenever I’m with you,” he’d said, his earnest smile receiving a frown from Baekhyun in return.
He brushes the memory off, bitterly.
“Please read our future! I want to know if we do end up someday-I mean, I’m pretty sure we would, but just to be extra sure!” Youngjae piped up, oozing with enthusiasm and excitement. Daehyun nods in agreement.
Daehyun adds, “Plus, I want to know if Jae loses some fat along the way too!”
Youngjae's hand meets Daehyun's forearm with a loud whack!, sending Daehyun into fits of giggles. "Okay, I'm sorry!"
Baekhyun sighs. So much for ruining surprises. "Please put your hands on top of one another and give them to me."
Even though Daehyun didn’t want him to, at one point, Baekhyun still did read him. He partly regrets doing so because had he not, he wouldn’t have known that he ends up with someone else. They would not have broken up, and maybe his relationship with Daehyun wouldn’t have been so evanescent.
Sometimes he hated his skill, because most of the time, it really does ruin the surprise life has for him and the world around him. While it should be more of an advantage to him than a con, it usually ends up being more of the latter.
To be honest, it wouldn't have been necessary for Baekhyun to read them now in order to recite their fate. He's still got Daehyun's future memorized by heart. But for show, he still decides to do it anyway. Taking both boys' hands into his own, he closed his eyes and delved into their thoughts.
"Yes, you will end up together,” Baekhyun recites, in his best oracle-like voice, “You'll get married and adopt two lovely kids. Their names; Junhong and Jongup. You're gonna be owners of a large company, yes."
But Baekhyun, back then, had read until Daehyun's end. And it wasn't pretty, seeing as it was the subject of Baekhyun’s nightmares for months on end, haunting him the minute his eyes closed.
Daehyun and Youngjae were smiling, and Baekhyun felt a pang of sadness and also a little bit of guilt. So with that, he decides not to tell what else he had read for them, instead.
"Oh and yes, I guess Youngjae will have a thinner face in the future. Just don't forget to exercise!"
Baekhyun let go of their hands and the couple bowed in gratitude and appreciation. He knows he should feel bitterness, but he can't help but feel happy for them instead. He’s well over Daehyun, and his days with first love are the days Baekhyun has since left far behind. Daehyun is happy, with Youngjae, and Baekhyun knew he was okay with that.
"Daehyun, Youngjae, take care of yourselves always, okay?" he adds as a last precaution, to which Daehyun replies, “Sure. See you around, Baek!"
He waits until they're out of the booth, and calls for the next customer.
+
Sixteen customers down and there isn't the slightest trace of fatigue in Baekhyun's system. That's because he'd inconspicuously downed four cups of coffee some hours prior to setting up the booth.
His seventeenth customer is an awkward, girl group-obsessed freshman named Kim Jongin.
"Uh, I want to know, will I get to meet even a girl group someday? Because-uh-I wouldn't want to spoil myself but I really want to know now if I do get to meet one." the boy says, picking at the hems of his loose sweatshirt, which was more or less two sizes too big on him.
"And I want to know too, if by any chance, there’d be a guy named Sehun somewhere in my future." he adds, his words gushing out of his mouth quite hesitantly.
He said the name with such fondness and affection, Baekhyun thought that whoever this Sehun boy was, Jongin must be so smitten with him.
Baekhyun took the boy's slightly cold, trembling hands under his and closed his eyelids shut.
He sees an ecstatic Jongin backstage during a concert, posing for a picture with a group of girls clad in cream and magenta. He guessed Jongin can breathe freely for now. He looked for Sehun next. He hasn’t got the slightest idea of what the boy might look like, but Baekhyun had no trouble finding him.
He sees him in that moment backstage, he’s the one behind the camera. Baekhyun sees him next inside a church, alongside Jongin at the altar. He sees more glimpses of Jongin’s future life, and amidst of it all, Sehun never disappears. He's just there, always beside Jongin.
Baekhyun almost yelped in surprise because his vision hit him right in the feels.
"I'm happy to tell you that yes, you will get to meet one girl group someday. I think it was SNSD,” he pauses, and then adds bashfully, “Sorry, I’m not that much into girl groups!”
Jongin shoots him a scandalized look, as if to say oh my god how could you not?, but lets him continue.
“But I’m happy to tell you that yes, there is a-”
Baekhyun is cut abruptly when a head pokes in between the curtains. A tall, blonde boy with a very well-defined jawline, who was wearing glasses identical to the one Jongin was wearing.
It was a younger version of the boy he kept seeing in Jongin's vision.
"Um, sorry," he says beforehand to Baekhyun, who acknowledged him with a nod. He turned to Jongin, whispering loudly as he gestured for the boy to come with him. "Hey! There's someone selling Miranda Kerr mugs and shirts down Block 380! We need to go!"
"Sehun, I'm busy here," Jongin said, voice almost inaudible for anyone except the boy he was talking to. "I'll follow. Go ahead."
Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Jongin turned his attention back to Baekhyun. "I'm sorry, he can be an ass sometimes. What was that?"
"There's a boy named Sehun in your future life. And I must say, he's gonna play a really, really massive part in it."
The boy's eyes lit up, and Baekhyun thought he literally glowed with optimism and excitement. He stood up and thanked Baekhyun, disappearing behind the curtains, where Baekhyun saw Sehun take Jongin's hand and lead him away.
+
Kyungsoo, however hellish and sadistic that naughty little devil may be, Baekhyun's still actually thankful to have him in his life.
He doesn't think he'd be how he is now if he hadn't met him. Even though just a single scowl from the boy had the ability to leave Baekhyun rigid and scared, Kyungsoo makes changes and plot twists to his life on a regular basis. He has actually learned hella lot of things from the boy since he'd met him.
For example, that guy had changed the way he saw love and destiny.
“You should’ve done so the day you read him,” Kyungsoo told Baekhyun, after he mentioned the split between him and Daehyun. “That would’ve saved you a shit ton of trouble.”
Baekhyun replies no more but a grunt, reaching out to open a bag of chips. Failing to open it the traditional way with his hands, he got a pen and proceeded to puncture a hole onto the plastic bag, releasing a puff of cheese-flavoured air onto his face.
“My grandma told me that when you try to read your soulmate," he started, emphasizing on the world soulmate as if he was trying to rub onto Baekhyun's face the fact that they do exist. "You should be able to see nothing."
Kyungsoo started to reminisce. Baekhyun kept snorting at what Kyungsoo was saying, but the guy was pretty serious with what he was talking about. He ended up listening anyway. It wasn’t because he wanted to-the mere idea of soulmates and destiny and all that crap never interested him at all-but Kyungsoo’s glare was so intimidating and he didn’t have a choice, so he just silenced down and let the younger boy talk.
"She told me that you can't see visions you're part of. That's because you're destined to help write it, something like that."
Both of them know that they can only see and perceive the future, but not change or alter it. It's the truth they had to agree with from the day they discovered their gifts. But that led Baekhyun to wonder how it would feel doing so.
"She also said that when a random face or someone you haven't seen anywhere yet keeps appearing in your dreams, he-or she's usually the one."
So that's it. That's the explanation as to why day and night, a face keeps appearing in Baekhyun’s dreams and his reveries. Baekhyun remembers only traces of this mysterious soulmate - wide eyes. Beautiful teeth. Pretty lips. Ears larger than the usual?
Baekhyun would hate to admit it, but he did try finding him. However, he seemed so distant, he was nowhere to be found that eventually, Baekhyun decided to forget about those features and deem them fictional, non-existent figments of his wild imagination.
"But you won't realize that you're in front of your soulmate until a few moments." Kyungsoo said, taking a sip of his diet cherry coke. "Kinda funny, if you ask me. Imagine finding someone for a very long time then not even realizing they're right in front of you. I think I would."
Kyungsoo doesn't like talking about love, either, and Baekhyun knows that very well. His best friend is pretty much only focused on studying his ass off and making other people's lives miserable.
But out of the blue, Baekhyun found himself asking, "What about you?"
To which Kyungsoo replied a stoic "What about me?", biting a large chunk off a donut.
"Have you found your soulmate?"
Baekhyun waited until Kyungsoo finished chewing and swallowing what he was eating before he got his answer, in the form of a nod.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he whined, spreading his arms out wide to engulf Kyungsoo in his embrace, "Oh my gosh, you're growing up. My little satanic baby is growing up I'm-"
"Don't. Touch. Me." Kyungsoo pushed him away and sent him a vehement glare, pointing a chocolate-coated finger at him.
"Alright, jeez," Baekhyun conceded, putting his hands up in front of him. "Seriously, though. Why didn't you tell me?"
"You never asked, shithead. Besides, I never found a reason to tell you since I knew you hated talking about soulmates with a burning passion."
"Oh."
"Anyway," Kyungsoo spoke, a small, sad smile was starting to find it's way across his face. "His name is Junmyeon."
"Kim Junmyeon? Last year's valedictorian?"
"Yes, that's him. And no, I haven't told him yet. I don't have the guts to do so."
Baekhyun knew, of course, that you couldn't just tap a guy on the shoulder and say, Hey! I don't know any other way to say this, but I'm your soulmate! Please hook up with me!
Kyungsoo sat quietly for the remainder of the day, and Baekhyun decided to follow suit.
But ever since then, Baekhyun began searching for blank visions, as if they were something vital. As if a blank vision would be the key to Baekhyun's completion. But they were nowhere to be found, and Baekhyun kept seeing vivid ones that certainly didn't involve him. He kept seeing visions, even though he sometimes really didn't want to.
+
When he started working on this booth earlier today, Baekhyun never intended for it to be an opportunity to meet and greet both of his fucking ex-boyfriends-and their current boyfriends.
His next customer almost hit his head upon the signpost. He was tall, and he was wearing a leather jacket that looks surprisingly familiar to one owned by-
Oh.
Wu Yifan was smiling up (okay, down, because damn, that guy was huge) at him. He had his arm draped across the shoulders of a petite guy, with copper brown hair and a warm smile-
Double oh.
Baekhyun's brain-to-mouth filter malfunctioned momentarily and he wasn't able to stop himself.
"Kyungsoo's soulmate!" he exclaimed, his hand shooting up immediately to cover his mouth, leaving the two people in front of him looking utterly confused. He apologized and excused himself out for a minute.
"Pssst, Kyungsoo."
Kyungsoo turned towards him, hair already disheveled and face looking profusely haggard. "What?"
"Do you know who's inside the booth right now?"
"Your ex?"
"Yeah, and?"
"One more word and I will eviscerate every single cell inside and outside your body, Byun Baekhyun."
Apparently, that was enough to make Baekhyun slither back inside the booth.
Unlike Daehyun, when Baekhyun had Yifan as his boyfriend, the latter let him read him freely.
Safe to say it was the reason why Baekhyun broke it off with him, too.
Keeping Kyungsoo's words in his mind, he kept telling himself that Yifan had a blank vision. Yes, It’s blank. He's the one, he's the one, he's the one.
Baekhyun kept repeating that in his head, like a mantra, but even he knew that he really wasn't the one.
At first, he did see nothing when he read Yifan. He almost whooped in rejoice because he thought he did it, he finally came across a blank vision, but then he realized something.
He wasn't trying hard enough. He just wasn’t trying hard enough.
So when he did, much to his dismay, he saw it.
An older Yifan, smiling on his way home from work. Parking his car, and on his doorstep, there waited a boy just a few inches shorter than he was. He had natural black circles under his eyes, which made him bear a close resemblance to a panda. The smile on that boy's face was just as wide, equally heartfelt as the one Yifan wore.
Baekhyun didn't know why, but he perfectly knew the reason behind that smile. It was because both of them were home. They looked so happy just because they had each other.
They spoke in a language they both shared, a language foreign to everyone else in their Korean neighborhood-Mandarin, Baekhyun observed.
Baekhyun felt very complete, and a lot like himself whenever he was with Yifan, and it was why he kept what he'd seen in the vision from the basketball star for a few more months. He knew that sooner or later, fate would find ways to rip them apart. But he needed more time with Yifan. And he wasn't quite ready to let him go just yet.
Eventually, he did tell him what he'd seen. It was during Yifan's blowout party for getting crowned MVP in the annual inter-school league.
"So you're letting me go, just like that?" Yifan had said sadly, with his hands in his pockets, his blonde hair gleaming under the moonlight.
"I'm sorry. You need to find your soulmate, and that guy's not me. You need to find him, and love him, alright? And I've got to find mine, too. I know he's somewhere out there."
But even though they didn't last that long, only besting Baekhyun and Daehyun's relationship by a week and three days, Baekhyun really did love Yifan.
"I love you."
Those were Yifan's last words to him, but the fact that he was already walking away prevented him from responding.
Now he was looking into those eyes again. Those cold, piercing chestnut brown eyes that he'd grown used to. He was starting to think that running this booth may have been a bad idea from the beginning, because now he's remembering again the things that should've gone down the drain a long time ago.
But checking Junmyeon out, Baekhyun strongly remembers telling Yifan that he should look for someone tall.
Did he somehow manage to mishear tall for small?
"Hi, Yifan and Junmyeon," he said, nodding at them curtly as he acknowledged them. "What do you want to know?"
It was Junmyeon who spoke. The way he did was so mannered and kind, Baekhyun almost envied Kyungsoo for hitting the jackpot. "We just wanted to know if we'll be happy, someday."
At this, Yifan flashes a knowing look at Baekhyun as if to say, I already know I will.
"Alright," Baekhyun said, his eyes trained down. “Please give me your hands.”
Doing the same routine he's been doing all morning, he closes his eyes and waits for the vision.
As expected, he sees Kyungsoo in Junmyeon's. The smile on Kyungsoo's face was one that Baekhyun had never seen him wear before. He and Junmyeon looked so euphoric, even in the last scene that Baekhyun saw: them, in old age, sitting by the fire. Baekhyun smiled at the sight, his best friend achieving happiness was entirely enough for him.
He didn't have to read Yifan again; he immediately reported what he saw, making it brief and heading straight to the point.
"Yes, I'm glad to tell you that you'll live happy for the rest of your lives."
Baekhyun gave them the most genuine smile he could beget, receiving two just as genuine in return.
"Thank you, Baekhyun!" Junmyeon said, bowing respectfully at Baekhyun. Yifan told him to go ahead, leaving himself and Baekhyun alone inside the booth.
All these months of not seeing each other and all Baekhyun could manage to say was, "Wu Yifan, I am pretty sure I already described to you what your soulmate would look like?"
"Yeah, I know," Yifan said, putting his hand inside his pockets-a habit he was yet to get rid of. "I’m still searching for him, but Junmyeon’s good for me. How have you been doing?”
“I’m great, I guess. Still searching for that damned soulmate of mine,” Baekhyun chuckled. He missed the happiness he felt whenever he was with Yifan. “What’s up with you?”
Yifan smiled sadly, his eyes fixed on the floor, and then on Baekhyun’s face. “I’m going back to China next week, and I won’t be back in like, years. I’m just here to say goodbye.”
Oh, was all Baekhyun was able to choke out, and then he felt himself engulfed within strong, muscular arms.
“I’ve missed you, Baek.”
Baekhyun clings to him for a little while longer, knowing he won’t be able to do this again. “I’ve missed you too, man. What would happen to you and Junmyeon, though?"
"Well, he said he'd wait for me..."
The minute they pull away, the curtains open, and Junmyeon peeks inside then back out. Yifan takes this as a signal that it’s time to go. Pulling Baekhyun into another semi-hug one last time, Yifan bids farewell and exits.
The buzzer rings again, telling everyone that it's time to take a break. Tired from sitting for such long periods of time, Baekhyun stands up and stretches his limbs, and tosses away his silly headdress in the process.
When he got outside, he’s greeted by a cheerful-looking Kyungsoo. There’s a newfound glint in his eyes. “Wanna go grab some lunch? It’s on me.”
+
Most of his customers, who come and go in a blur, are destined to live a blissful life but the others aren't too fortunate.
Some of the visions he'd seen turned out too badly that Baekhyun just wanted to scrape the awful, horrid images out of his head, but he was a person with a tremendous capability of remembering every single detail of his life and the world surrounding him. He remembers every vision he's ever seen, good and bad.
Undoubtedly, this skill is useful when it comes to exams and situations that require memorizing, but sometimes Baekhyun wished he had the normal person's ability to remember just enough, instead. Because when Baekhyun remembers, he remembers everything, even the ones he wants to forget.
Kyungsoo told him that he has talked with Junmyeon earlier hence being in such a happy mood. They didn’t speak about much, just small talk. But it was a start. At least you’re going places, Baekhyun thought, sadly reflecting on his own, miserable, soulmate-less life.
Lunch break was almost over and the booths were going to resume soon. Kyungsoo’s voice could be heard again, loud and harsh against the faint acoustic song playing over the speakers. The people in line have returned, but noticeably more hushed and lesser in number than before. Trusting Kyungsoo to be an expert at handling such dilemmas, Baekhyun sat back, once again wore his headdress, and waited for the last few minutes of his break to pass by.
+
Ecstatic over the thought that he was going to be home soon, Baekhyun sang happily along to the heavy metal rock song currently on play. But as he was executing some passionate headbangs, his last customer literally comes tripping along the entrance.
He hears a grumble of "Watch where you're going, asshat!" from Kyungsoo, who was already cleaning and tidying up outside the booth. Baekhyun noticed that there was a small skip in his step as he did so.
The tall, gangly boy stumbled his way onto the seat opposite Baekhyun, almost knocking off the display crystall ball and the stack of tarot cards atop the table. He was probably new, since Baekhyun hasn’t seen him anywhere before. He exuded off a familiar aura and an air of bliss and jest. He smiled innocently and quite apologetically at Baekhyun before introducing himself.
"Hi, my name's Park Chanyeol," he chirped gleefully, pointing to himself as if there was another person inside the booth besides him that Baekhyun should know about. "I’m new here! I was looking around when this scary small dude gave me one of your flyers today, so I figured out I should give this a try!"
"My name's Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun. I'm-uh, here to tell you about your future, if you haven't noticed that yet."
The boy replied, almost too quickly, "I am very much excited to know about my future!"
"So what do you want to know?"
"Um, wait," Chanyeol said, the enthusiasm in his voice evidently decreased. "I haven't thought about that."
"Take your time, I'm in no rush."
"Oh yeah!" the taller boy exclaimed, jumping in his seat and tugging on the sleeves of his polo shirt. "I wanna know what my soulmate looks like! Describe him to me, please! I want a very detailed description!"
That's the thirteenth time someone requested for that exact, same thing. Oh well.
"Okay, give me your hands," Baekhyun said, reaching out for Chanyeol's hands. The latter extended them out without hesitation, but pulling it away, the moment it came in contact with Baekhyun's.
"Wait, wait," Chanyeol said, his eyes glowing with a telltale gleam of mischief. There was a stupid grin on his face that Baekhyun can't help but find somewhat adorable. "I think I may already have an idea of what you're gonna see there."
"What? Why?"
"Because my Kadabra used Future Sight," Chanyeol dramatically heaved a deep breath, and spoke like he was making some kind of announcement, "And it looks like we've got a future together!"
“Don’t flirt,” Baekhyun said, inwardly cringing and trying desperately hard to prevent himself from slamming his face against the table.
Trying hard to ignore the proud look on Chanyeol's face, Baekhyun reached for his hand again. Although at this point, Baekhyun can’t help but notice that this boy’s teeth were so white, they were blinding, even with the faintest scintilla of light. “I'll just get on with it now, yeah?"
Chanyeol nodded, the grin on his face not faltering. Baekhyun enclosed the former's hands within his own ones, closing his eyes. He willed the vision to come, but to his surprise, it was taking a very long time.
His hands were getting clammy by the second, but he's still seeing nothing. The hands between his own were growing impossibly warm. He was applying so much force to keep his eyelids shut tight, and he felt a strong, tingling sense across his temple.
Suddenly there is a whirl along with a blazing spark, probably one created only in Baekhyun's mind. In no time Baekhyun's past foresights and visions are cascading over him, swirling and flashing before his eyes. But within a moment, they've dissipated into naught.
And then Baekhyun found himself staring into nothingness again, and his eyes shoot open in realization of what's happening-and what he'd just experienced.
"What the fuck."
Baekhyun felt the need to scrutinize the face in front of him, which was now looking equally confused as he was. Chanyeol's features finally began to click altogether in his mind. Gorgeous, pearly white teeth, cataclysmically beautiful brown eyes. Plump lips. Impeccable, flawless skin and large, elvish ears.
Features that, Baekhyun realizes only then, he'd seen so often in his deep slumber and hazy daydreams, features that had once been so vague and so out of his reach but now in the flesh, right in front of him-
The awkward, vociferous silence is loud enough to hear a pin drop, and Chanyeol's face is just hovering some inches shy of Baekhyun's own.
“So, was my Kadabra right?”
From: ANONYMOUS until December 30, 2014
Title: Futuri Visio
Rating: PG
Pairing(s)/Focus: Baekhyun/Chanyeol
Length: 4,384 words
Summary: Baekhyun was bound to find him, somehow.
Warnings: excessive usage of emdashes
Notes: Dear recipient, first off I'd like to thank you for giving me such nice prompts. I know how you love all the pairings that you gave me so I tried my best to incorporate all of them into this fic. Thank you to M, the baddest beta, for reading this over and giving me moral support whenever I needed it. Yay. I hope you enjoy this :>
If you were to ask Baekhyun how many times he'd fallen in love, he'd meekly say he'd fallen in love two times. However, if you were to ask him to tell his tale, he'd probably flip you off and tell you that his love affair is none of your business.
Those were, in retrospect, two times too ephemeral, two phases in his life he'd rather not convey to anyone else-Unless, you were his best friend, Kyungsoo.
Today's the much awaited day of the university fair, and Baekhyun's been running the fortune-telling booth alongside Kyungsoo for two years now-That's because they've both been gifted with the Sight, and this year, it's Baekhyun's first time to handle the actual fortune-telling.
When you've got the Sight, you have this rare ability to read and perceive the future. Just a small dive into the thoughts of others, and you'd be able to sneak a glimpse of what's to come ahead for them. There is a catch, however; You cannot read your own, as well as another future that you're part of.
It was just a habit between them back then, their favorite pasttime whenever they were bored out of their wits. Usually the visions they saw together were the daily topics of their inside jokes. It’s the reason why Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are madly popular within their campus, attracting crazy loads of people everytime they ran their booth. But contrary to popular belief, having the Sight was something neither of them even wanted in the first place.
(And no, they haven't tried reading each other. Don't ask why.)
There is a soft ballad playing over the speakers behind Baekhyun-possibly one coming from those intriguing Spotify playlists he had stumbled upon earlier-to which he hummed along as he finished working on the final touches of the booth.
Signalling the official opening of this year's school fair, the earsplitting blare of a buzzer is heard and the students scramble all around the campus to find something they can splurge their money on. Adjusting the periwinkle curtains that serve as the entrance for the booth, Baekhyun peeked outside to see that there's a great number of people lined up already.
Putting on his silly, lace and sequin-decked headdress a la Lady Gaga, he calls for an already severely irritated Kyungsoo to let their first customer inside.
+
“Daehyun?” Baekhyun blurted out, a mixture of bewilderment and daze building up inside him. He didn’t have time to contemplate about his rather rash reaction, though. In all honesty, he could’ve expected Obama to walk into his booth, or Gandhi would’ve been nice too, but he definitely wasn’t expecting him to be his first customer.
Sure, it had been over years ago, months before their last year in high school. But Baekhyun still can’t help but just stand dumbfounded in the presence of his former boyfriend. But said boyfriend wasn’t just an ex-boyfriend, he was also Baekhyun’s first love.
He thought he’d be able to leave everything involving Daehyun behind once he’d graduated, but no, the guy had to enroll in the same university as Baekhyun did. And he even had his boyfriend, Youngjae, tagging along.
Baekhyun cursed this cruel life silently.
He watched as Daehyun strode confidently towards the table, with his boyfriend following closely. As he’s reminded of the visions he’d seen for these two, he shrugs.
"Hi, Baek," Daehyun greeted, smiling at Baekhyun, who found it kind of difficult to witness again a smile he used to love so dearly. "How you've been? Still the unbreakable duo with Kyungsoo, I see. And ah, you’ve turned your skill into profit, yeah?"
"Fine," Baekhyun affirmed, eyeing the couple’s intertwined hands. He then gestured for the two to sit across him. "It’s mainly just for fun. It was Kyungsoo’s idea. So welcome! What do you want to know?”
Baekhyun remembers a scenario from not so long ago, when he tried reading Daehyun but failing, because the younger boy didn’t want him to. “You’ll ruin the surprise for me, Baek! Besides, I don’t need to know my future. I can already see my future whenever I’m with you,” he’d said, his earnest smile receiving a frown from Baekhyun in return.
He brushes the memory off, bitterly.
“Please read our future! I want to know if we do end up someday-I mean, I’m pretty sure we would, but just to be extra sure!” Youngjae piped up, oozing with enthusiasm and excitement. Daehyun nods in agreement.
Daehyun adds, “Plus, I want to know if Jae loses some fat along the way too!”
Youngjae's hand meets Daehyun's forearm with a loud whack!, sending Daehyun into fits of giggles. "Okay, I'm sorry!"
Baekhyun sighs. So much for ruining surprises. "Please put your hands on top of one another and give them to me."
Even though Daehyun didn’t want him to, at one point, Baekhyun still did read him. He partly regrets doing so because had he not, he wouldn’t have known that he ends up with someone else. They would not have broken up, and maybe his relationship with Daehyun wouldn’t have been so evanescent.
Sometimes he hated his skill, because most of the time, it really does ruin the surprise life has for him and the world around him. While it should be more of an advantage to him than a con, it usually ends up being more of the latter.
To be honest, it wouldn't have been necessary for Baekhyun to read them now in order to recite their fate. He's still got Daehyun's future memorized by heart. But for show, he still decides to do it anyway. Taking both boys' hands into his own, he closed his eyes and delved into their thoughts.
"Yes, you will end up together,” Baekhyun recites, in his best oracle-like voice, “You'll get married and adopt two lovely kids. Their names; Junhong and Jongup. You're gonna be owners of a large company, yes."
But Baekhyun, back then, had read until Daehyun's end. And it wasn't pretty, seeing as it was the subject of Baekhyun’s nightmares for months on end, haunting him the minute his eyes closed.
Daehyun and Youngjae were smiling, and Baekhyun felt a pang of sadness and also a little bit of guilt. So with that, he decides not to tell what else he had read for them, instead.
"Oh and yes, I guess Youngjae will have a thinner face in the future. Just don't forget to exercise!"
Baekhyun let go of their hands and the couple bowed in gratitude and appreciation. He knows he should feel bitterness, but he can't help but feel happy for them instead. He’s well over Daehyun, and his days with first love are the days Baekhyun has since left far behind. Daehyun is happy, with Youngjae, and Baekhyun knew he was okay with that.
"Daehyun, Youngjae, take care of yourselves always, okay?" he adds as a last precaution, to which Daehyun replies, “Sure. See you around, Baek!"
He waits until they're out of the booth, and calls for the next customer.
+
Sixteen customers down and there isn't the slightest trace of fatigue in Baekhyun's system. That's because he'd inconspicuously downed four cups of coffee some hours prior to setting up the booth.
His seventeenth customer is an awkward, girl group-obsessed freshman named Kim Jongin.
"Uh, I want to know, will I get to meet even a girl group someday? Because-uh-I wouldn't want to spoil myself but I really want to know now if I do get to meet one." the boy says, picking at the hems of his loose sweatshirt, which was more or less two sizes too big on him.
"And I want to know too, if by any chance, there’d be a guy named Sehun somewhere in my future." he adds, his words gushing out of his mouth quite hesitantly.
He said the name with such fondness and affection, Baekhyun thought that whoever this Sehun boy was, Jongin must be so smitten with him.
Baekhyun took the boy's slightly cold, trembling hands under his and closed his eyelids shut.
He sees an ecstatic Jongin backstage during a concert, posing for a picture with a group of girls clad in cream and magenta. He guessed Jongin can breathe freely for now. He looked for Sehun next. He hasn’t got the slightest idea of what the boy might look like, but Baekhyun had no trouble finding him.
He sees him in that moment backstage, he’s the one behind the camera. Baekhyun sees him next inside a church, alongside Jongin at the altar. He sees more glimpses of Jongin’s future life, and amidst of it all, Sehun never disappears. He's just there, always beside Jongin.
Baekhyun almost yelped in surprise because his vision hit him right in the feels.
"I'm happy to tell you that yes, you will get to meet one girl group someday. I think it was SNSD,” he pauses, and then adds bashfully, “Sorry, I’m not that much into girl groups!”
Jongin shoots him a scandalized look, as if to say oh my god how could you not?, but lets him continue.
“But I’m happy to tell you that yes, there is a-”
Baekhyun is cut abruptly when a head pokes in between the curtains. A tall, blonde boy with a very well-defined jawline, who was wearing glasses identical to the one Jongin was wearing.
It was a younger version of the boy he kept seeing in Jongin's vision.
"Um, sorry," he says beforehand to Baekhyun, who acknowledged him with a nod. He turned to Jongin, whispering loudly as he gestured for the boy to come with him. "Hey! There's someone selling Miranda Kerr mugs and shirts down Block 380! We need to go!"
"Sehun, I'm busy here," Jongin said, voice almost inaudible for anyone except the boy he was talking to. "I'll follow. Go ahead."
Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Jongin turned his attention back to Baekhyun. "I'm sorry, he can be an ass sometimes. What was that?"
"There's a boy named Sehun in your future life. And I must say, he's gonna play a really, really massive part in it."
The boy's eyes lit up, and Baekhyun thought he literally glowed with optimism and excitement. He stood up and thanked Baekhyun, disappearing behind the curtains, where Baekhyun saw Sehun take Jongin's hand and lead him away.
+
Kyungsoo, however hellish and sadistic that naughty little devil may be, Baekhyun's still actually thankful to have him in his life.
He doesn't think he'd be how he is now if he hadn't met him. Even though just a single scowl from the boy had the ability to leave Baekhyun rigid and scared, Kyungsoo makes changes and plot twists to his life on a regular basis. He has actually learned hella lot of things from the boy since he'd met him.
For example, that guy had changed the way he saw love and destiny.
“You should’ve done so the day you read him,” Kyungsoo told Baekhyun, after he mentioned the split between him and Daehyun. “That would’ve saved you a shit ton of trouble.”
Baekhyun replies no more but a grunt, reaching out to open a bag of chips. Failing to open it the traditional way with his hands, he got a pen and proceeded to puncture a hole onto the plastic bag, releasing a puff of cheese-flavoured air onto his face.
“My grandma told me that when you try to read your soulmate," he started, emphasizing on the world soulmate as if he was trying to rub onto Baekhyun's face the fact that they do exist. "You should be able to see nothing."
Kyungsoo started to reminisce. Baekhyun kept snorting at what Kyungsoo was saying, but the guy was pretty serious with what he was talking about. He ended up listening anyway. It wasn’t because he wanted to-the mere idea of soulmates and destiny and all that crap never interested him at all-but Kyungsoo’s glare was so intimidating and he didn’t have a choice, so he just silenced down and let the younger boy talk.
"She told me that you can't see visions you're part of. That's because you're destined to help write it, something like that."
Both of them know that they can only see and perceive the future, but not change or alter it. It's the truth they had to agree with from the day they discovered their gifts. But that led Baekhyun to wonder how it would feel doing so.
"She also said that when a random face or someone you haven't seen anywhere yet keeps appearing in your dreams, he-or she's usually the one."
So that's it. That's the explanation as to why day and night, a face keeps appearing in Baekhyun’s dreams and his reveries. Baekhyun remembers only traces of this mysterious soulmate - wide eyes. Beautiful teeth. Pretty lips. Ears larger than the usual?
Baekhyun would hate to admit it, but he did try finding him. However, he seemed so distant, he was nowhere to be found that eventually, Baekhyun decided to forget about those features and deem them fictional, non-existent figments of his wild imagination.
"But you won't realize that you're in front of your soulmate until a few moments." Kyungsoo said, taking a sip of his diet cherry coke. "Kinda funny, if you ask me. Imagine finding someone for a very long time then not even realizing they're right in front of you. I think I would."
Kyungsoo doesn't like talking about love, either, and Baekhyun knows that very well. His best friend is pretty much only focused on studying his ass off and making other people's lives miserable.
But out of the blue, Baekhyun found himself asking, "What about you?"
To which Kyungsoo replied a stoic "What about me?", biting a large chunk off a donut.
"Have you found your soulmate?"
Baekhyun waited until Kyungsoo finished chewing and swallowing what he was eating before he got his answer, in the form of a nod.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he whined, spreading his arms out wide to engulf Kyungsoo in his embrace, "Oh my gosh, you're growing up. My little satanic baby is growing up I'm-"
"Don't. Touch. Me." Kyungsoo pushed him away and sent him a vehement glare, pointing a chocolate-coated finger at him.
"Alright, jeez," Baekhyun conceded, putting his hands up in front of him. "Seriously, though. Why didn't you tell me?"
"You never asked, shithead. Besides, I never found a reason to tell you since I knew you hated talking about soulmates with a burning passion."
"Oh."
"Anyway," Kyungsoo spoke, a small, sad smile was starting to find it's way across his face. "His name is Junmyeon."
"Kim Junmyeon? Last year's valedictorian?"
"Yes, that's him. And no, I haven't told him yet. I don't have the guts to do so."
Baekhyun knew, of course, that you couldn't just tap a guy on the shoulder and say, Hey! I don't know any other way to say this, but I'm your soulmate! Please hook up with me!
Kyungsoo sat quietly for the remainder of the day, and Baekhyun decided to follow suit.
But ever since then, Baekhyun began searching for blank visions, as if they were something vital. As if a blank vision would be the key to Baekhyun's completion. But they were nowhere to be found, and Baekhyun kept seeing vivid ones that certainly didn't involve him. He kept seeing visions, even though he sometimes really didn't want to.
+
When he started working on this booth earlier today, Baekhyun never intended for it to be an opportunity to meet and greet both of his fucking ex-boyfriends-and their current boyfriends.
His next customer almost hit his head upon the signpost. He was tall, and he was wearing a leather jacket that looks surprisingly familiar to one owned by-
Oh.
Wu Yifan was smiling up (okay, down, because damn, that guy was huge) at him. He had his arm draped across the shoulders of a petite guy, with copper brown hair and a warm smile-
Double oh.
Baekhyun's brain-to-mouth filter malfunctioned momentarily and he wasn't able to stop himself.
"Kyungsoo's soulmate!" he exclaimed, his hand shooting up immediately to cover his mouth, leaving the two people in front of him looking utterly confused. He apologized and excused himself out for a minute.
"Pssst, Kyungsoo."
Kyungsoo turned towards him, hair already disheveled and face looking profusely haggard. "What?"
"Do you know who's inside the booth right now?"
"Your ex?"
"Yeah, and?"
"One more word and I will eviscerate every single cell inside and outside your body, Byun Baekhyun."
Apparently, that was enough to make Baekhyun slither back inside the booth.
Unlike Daehyun, when Baekhyun had Yifan as his boyfriend, the latter let him read him freely.
Safe to say it was the reason why Baekhyun broke it off with him, too.
Keeping Kyungsoo's words in his mind, he kept telling himself that Yifan had a blank vision. Yes, It’s blank. He's the one, he's the one, he's the one.
Baekhyun kept repeating that in his head, like a mantra, but even he knew that he really wasn't the one.
At first, he did see nothing when he read Yifan. He almost whooped in rejoice because he thought he did it, he finally came across a blank vision, but then he realized something.
He wasn't trying hard enough. He just wasn’t trying hard enough.
So when he did, much to his dismay, he saw it.
An older Yifan, smiling on his way home from work. Parking his car, and on his doorstep, there waited a boy just a few inches shorter than he was. He had natural black circles under his eyes, which made him bear a close resemblance to a panda. The smile on that boy's face was just as wide, equally heartfelt as the one Yifan wore.
Baekhyun didn't know why, but he perfectly knew the reason behind that smile. It was because both of them were home. They looked so happy just because they had each other.
They spoke in a language they both shared, a language foreign to everyone else in their Korean neighborhood-Mandarin, Baekhyun observed.
Baekhyun felt very complete, and a lot like himself whenever he was with Yifan, and it was why he kept what he'd seen in the vision from the basketball star for a few more months. He knew that sooner or later, fate would find ways to rip them apart. But he needed more time with Yifan. And he wasn't quite ready to let him go just yet.
Eventually, he did tell him what he'd seen. It was during Yifan's blowout party for getting crowned MVP in the annual inter-school league.
"So you're letting me go, just like that?" Yifan had said sadly, with his hands in his pockets, his blonde hair gleaming under the moonlight.
"I'm sorry. You need to find your soulmate, and that guy's not me. You need to find him, and love him, alright? And I've got to find mine, too. I know he's somewhere out there."
But even though they didn't last that long, only besting Baekhyun and Daehyun's relationship by a week and three days, Baekhyun really did love Yifan.
"I love you."
Those were Yifan's last words to him, but the fact that he was already walking away prevented him from responding.
Now he was looking into those eyes again. Those cold, piercing chestnut brown eyes that he'd grown used to. He was starting to think that running this booth may have been a bad idea from the beginning, because now he's remembering again the things that should've gone down the drain a long time ago.
But checking Junmyeon out, Baekhyun strongly remembers telling Yifan that he should look for someone tall.
Did he somehow manage to mishear tall for small?
"Hi, Yifan and Junmyeon," he said, nodding at them curtly as he acknowledged them. "What do you want to know?"
It was Junmyeon who spoke. The way he did was so mannered and kind, Baekhyun almost envied Kyungsoo for hitting the jackpot. "We just wanted to know if we'll be happy, someday."
At this, Yifan flashes a knowing look at Baekhyun as if to say, I already know I will.
"Alright," Baekhyun said, his eyes trained down. “Please give me your hands.”
Doing the same routine he's been doing all morning, he closes his eyes and waits for the vision.
As expected, he sees Kyungsoo in Junmyeon's. The smile on Kyungsoo's face was one that Baekhyun had never seen him wear before. He and Junmyeon looked so euphoric, even in the last scene that Baekhyun saw: them, in old age, sitting by the fire. Baekhyun smiled at the sight, his best friend achieving happiness was entirely enough for him.
He didn't have to read Yifan again; he immediately reported what he saw, making it brief and heading straight to the point.
"Yes, I'm glad to tell you that you'll live happy for the rest of your lives."
Baekhyun gave them the most genuine smile he could beget, receiving two just as genuine in return.
"Thank you, Baekhyun!" Junmyeon said, bowing respectfully at Baekhyun. Yifan told him to go ahead, leaving himself and Baekhyun alone inside the booth.
All these months of not seeing each other and all Baekhyun could manage to say was, "Wu Yifan, I am pretty sure I already described to you what your soulmate would look like?"
"Yeah, I know," Yifan said, putting his hand inside his pockets-a habit he was yet to get rid of. "I’m still searching for him, but Junmyeon’s good for me. How have you been doing?”
“I’m great, I guess. Still searching for that damned soulmate of mine,” Baekhyun chuckled. He missed the happiness he felt whenever he was with Yifan. “What’s up with you?”
Yifan smiled sadly, his eyes fixed on the floor, and then on Baekhyun’s face. “I’m going back to China next week, and I won’t be back in like, years. I’m just here to say goodbye.”
Oh, was all Baekhyun was able to choke out, and then he felt himself engulfed within strong, muscular arms.
“I’ve missed you, Baek.”
Baekhyun clings to him for a little while longer, knowing he won’t be able to do this again. “I’ve missed you too, man. What would happen to you and Junmyeon, though?"
"Well, he said he'd wait for me..."
The minute they pull away, the curtains open, and Junmyeon peeks inside then back out. Yifan takes this as a signal that it’s time to go. Pulling Baekhyun into another semi-hug one last time, Yifan bids farewell and exits.
The buzzer rings again, telling everyone that it's time to take a break. Tired from sitting for such long periods of time, Baekhyun stands up and stretches his limbs, and tosses away his silly headdress in the process.
When he got outside, he’s greeted by a cheerful-looking Kyungsoo. There’s a newfound glint in his eyes. “Wanna go grab some lunch? It’s on me.”
+
Most of his customers, who come and go in a blur, are destined to live a blissful life but the others aren't too fortunate.
Some of the visions he'd seen turned out too badly that Baekhyun just wanted to scrape the awful, horrid images out of his head, but he was a person with a tremendous capability of remembering every single detail of his life and the world surrounding him. He remembers every vision he's ever seen, good and bad.
Undoubtedly, this skill is useful when it comes to exams and situations that require memorizing, but sometimes Baekhyun wished he had the normal person's ability to remember just enough, instead. Because when Baekhyun remembers, he remembers everything, even the ones he wants to forget.
Kyungsoo told him that he has talked with Junmyeon earlier hence being in such a happy mood. They didn’t speak about much, just small talk. But it was a start. At least you’re going places, Baekhyun thought, sadly reflecting on his own, miserable, soulmate-less life.
Lunch break was almost over and the booths were going to resume soon. Kyungsoo’s voice could be heard again, loud and harsh against the faint acoustic song playing over the speakers. The people in line have returned, but noticeably more hushed and lesser in number than before. Trusting Kyungsoo to be an expert at handling such dilemmas, Baekhyun sat back, once again wore his headdress, and waited for the last few minutes of his break to pass by.
+
Ecstatic over the thought that he was going to be home soon, Baekhyun sang happily along to the heavy metal rock song currently on play. But as he was executing some passionate headbangs, his last customer literally comes tripping along the entrance.
He hears a grumble of "Watch where you're going, asshat!" from Kyungsoo, who was already cleaning and tidying up outside the booth. Baekhyun noticed that there was a small skip in his step as he did so.
The tall, gangly boy stumbled his way onto the seat opposite Baekhyun, almost knocking off the display crystall ball and the stack of tarot cards atop the table. He was probably new, since Baekhyun hasn’t seen him anywhere before. He exuded off a familiar aura and an air of bliss and jest. He smiled innocently and quite apologetically at Baekhyun before introducing himself.
"Hi, my name's Park Chanyeol," he chirped gleefully, pointing to himself as if there was another person inside the booth besides him that Baekhyun should know about. "I’m new here! I was looking around when this scary small dude gave me one of your flyers today, so I figured out I should give this a try!"
"My name's Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun. I'm-uh, here to tell you about your future, if you haven't noticed that yet."
The boy replied, almost too quickly, "I am very much excited to know about my future!"
"So what do you want to know?"
"Um, wait," Chanyeol said, the enthusiasm in his voice evidently decreased. "I haven't thought about that."
"Take your time, I'm in no rush."
"Oh yeah!" the taller boy exclaimed, jumping in his seat and tugging on the sleeves of his polo shirt. "I wanna know what my soulmate looks like! Describe him to me, please! I want a very detailed description!"
That's the thirteenth time someone requested for that exact, same thing. Oh well.
"Okay, give me your hands," Baekhyun said, reaching out for Chanyeol's hands. The latter extended them out without hesitation, but pulling it away, the moment it came in contact with Baekhyun's.
"Wait, wait," Chanyeol said, his eyes glowing with a telltale gleam of mischief. There was a stupid grin on his face that Baekhyun can't help but find somewhat adorable. "I think I may already have an idea of what you're gonna see there."
"What? Why?"
"Because my Kadabra used Future Sight," Chanyeol dramatically heaved a deep breath, and spoke like he was making some kind of announcement, "And it looks like we've got a future together!"
“Don’t flirt,” Baekhyun said, inwardly cringing and trying desperately hard to prevent himself from slamming his face against the table.
Trying hard to ignore the proud look on Chanyeol's face, Baekhyun reached for his hand again. Although at this point, Baekhyun can’t help but notice that this boy’s teeth were so white, they were blinding, even with the faintest scintilla of light. “I'll just get on with it now, yeah?"
Chanyeol nodded, the grin on his face not faltering. Baekhyun enclosed the former's hands within his own ones, closing his eyes. He willed the vision to come, but to his surprise, it was taking a very long time.
His hands were getting clammy by the second, but he's still seeing nothing. The hands between his own were growing impossibly warm. He was applying so much force to keep his eyelids shut tight, and he felt a strong, tingling sense across his temple.
Suddenly there is a whirl along with a blazing spark, probably one created only in Baekhyun's mind. In no time Baekhyun's past foresights and visions are cascading over him, swirling and flashing before his eyes. But within a moment, they've dissipated into naught.
And then Baekhyun found himself staring into nothingness again, and his eyes shoot open in realization of what's happening-and what he'd just experienced.
"What the fuck."
Baekhyun felt the need to scrutinize the face in front of him, which was now looking equally confused as he was. Chanyeol's features finally began to click altogether in his mind. Gorgeous, pearly white teeth, cataclysmically beautiful brown eyes. Plump lips. Impeccable, flawless skin and large, elvish ears.
Features that, Baekhyun realizes only then, he'd seen so often in his deep slumber and hazy daydreams, features that had once been so vague and so out of his reach but now in the flesh, right in front of him-
The awkward, vociferous silence is loud enough to hear a pin drop, and Chanyeol's face is just hovering some inches shy of Baekhyun's own.
“So, was my Kadabra right?”