[Entry 5] Texts and Angel Feathers [7/9]
Baekhyun sat back down with a sigh and turned away from the scene as his eyes focused on a girl and a Matchmaker sitting together and laughing. He glared from his position as he watched them jealously. “Matchmakers are lucky,” he sighed dreamily. “People get to see them.”
Jongdae glanced to the scene and mumbled, “Do you really want to help other people get together when you’re only doing it because you can’t get together with the person you want to be with?” Baekhyun glared at Jongdae and opened his mouth to respond, but Jongdae spoke before him.
“Scratch that - do you want to be on an assignment to match Chanyeol with someone else?”
Baekhyun furrowed his brow and responded, “Chanyeol won’t want to be with someone else once he sees me though.”
Jongdae rolled his eyes. “You know the way the twins work - once they pair up people, it’s not going to change.”
“I’d find a way to change it,” Baekhyun muttered to himself.
Jongdae sighed and added under his breath, “I doubt it,” and rolled his eyes.
Baekhyun turned back to Chanyeol, heart aching as he laughed with Kris.
“Jongdae?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you ever think sometimes Fate gets something wrong?”
Jongdae glanced to Baekhyun as he continued speaking. “Maybe I’m not supposed to be Chanyeol’s guardian. Heck, I’m still supposed to be alive, aren’t I?”
Jongdae frowned. “Everything Fate does is for a reason, even if we can’t explain it when it happens, or even if it’s something we don’t want to happen.” He paused and added, “Even this whole Kris and Chanyeol thing… what you may consider to be a curse, a burden, or a demon may be what Fate is intending to happen.”
Baekhyun sighed. “I’m mainly here to make sure that Chanyeol stays happy and doesn’t mess up his life, right?” He glanced toward the two giants and frowned. “But if that’s the case, it seems like he’s pretty much got it under control by himself. Maybe the fact that I’m here is just messing it all up.” Chanyeol wrapped his arm around Kris’ nape and rubbed their foreheads together. Baekhyun cringed and looked away as he ripped the assignment paper quickly. “Didn’t need to see that. Pretending I didn’t see that.”
Baekhyun stayed silent for about a minute before he glanced toward Jongdae. “Have you ever spoken to Fate in person?”
Jongdae shook his head in response, before letting out an awkward, “Why?”
Baekhyun turned back to the boys and muttered, “I have a few choice words for her.”
Jongdae opened his mouth to speak, but a familiar voice took them out of their conversation.
“What’s up, losers?
Jongdae and Baekhyun glanced up to see the familiar red hair of Minseok in the tree above the table.
“What are you two doing away from Haven?”
Jongdae elbowed Baekhyun’s side. “Baekhyun’s on an ‘assignment.’”
Minseok glanced to Baekhyun, who looked extremely unamused. “What type of assignment?”
“One that deals with Chanyeol.”
Not following the situation, Minseok yawned. “Oh? How are Chanyeol and the gang nowadays?”
Baekhyun gritted his teeth, much to Jongdae’s amusement.
“Chanyeol’s got a boy toy,” Jongdae snickered, earning a slap on the back of the head from Baekhyun.
Minseok quirked an eyebrow. “He’s not actually dating anyone though, right?”
Baekhyun practically melted into the table as he mentioned, “He and Kris are unofficially official.”
Minseok’s eyes widened. “Chanyeol seemed like he’d never get over you.”
“Kris is more like rebound sex if anything,” Jongdae teased.
Baekhyun groaned. “That’s just as bad.”
Minseok frowned. “Are you sure that they’re actually… you know…”
Jongdae pointed in the direction of the two. “You can observe them for your own enjoyment if you’d like.”
Minseok glanced up to the two and watched them interact. “You know…” he mumbled softly, “he was freaking out at first when you disappeared.”
Baekhyun didn’t look up as he responded, “I know, but apparently not anymore.”
Minseok growled before dropping from the tree and marching toward the two irritably. Baekhyun sat up and stared toward Minseok in amazement, shouting his name, before noticing Minseok slip a ring onto his finger and shout something angrily.
“Chanyeol!”
Baekhyun’s jaw almost dropped as Chanyeol turned toward him with a surprised smile on his face.
“Xiumin? What are you doing here?” Chanyeol got up from his blanket with Kris and ran over to his old friend.
He shrugged. “I was in the area and noticed your incredibly annoying voice.” He looked over Chanyeol’s shoulder and frowned. “Who’s that guy you were sitting with?”
Chanyeol glanced back and replied with a smile. “Who, Kris? He’s my roommate from college.”
Minseok narrowed his eyes. “What are you two doing?”
“Just sitting around, playing… having fun… ignoring the ominous shadow of an upcoming hell-week.”
Minseok frowned a little. “Are you two… dating or something?”
Chanyeol blinked twice. “Why would you think that?”
He shrugged. “It just kind of looks like that.”
“No… we’re just roommates.”
Minseok glanced toward Kris. It doesn’t look like he thinks so.
Minseok pursed his lips as he looked back to Chanyeol. “And… Baekhyun?”
Chanyeol frowned before speaking softly. “Slowly getting over him…”
Minseok raised an eyebrow. “Slowly getting over him?”
“I’m keeping a journal… it’s supposed to get my mind off him, but most of the stuff I write tends to be about him anyways,” Chanyeol mumbled quickly. “He’s not coming back, and I know that, and everyone’s just telling me to get over it, but for some reason it seems like I can’t…” He glanced up sheepishly. “I miss him like hell though.”
“Well that’s understandable - you were in love with him for quite a while-”
“I still am.” Chanyeol blinked at his confident interruption and how certain he sounded before adding hesitantly, “… I think I still am… is that a bad thing?” Minseok shook his head slowly. Chanyeol frowned as he added, “I’m trying to move on. It probably isn’t healthy staying this attached anyways.”
Minseok sighed and glanced away. “Well then… okay… have a good day, Chanyeol.”
“Wait, Xiumin, don’t you want to stay with us?”
Minseok gave an apologetic smile. “I’m kind of busy at the moment. I couldn’t stay and bother you two anymore than I need to.”
Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows together but mumbled, “Oh, okay… I’ll see you later.”
Minseok nodded as he turned away from Chanyeol. He walked back toward Baekhyun and sat down on the opposite side of the table as he took off the ring. “Well,” he sighed, “they’re not dating. Or at least Chanyeol won’t say they are.”
The two angels stared at Minseok, who sprawled out across the table and gave a dejected sigh.
Jongdae chose to speak up first. “Minseok, I thought you weren’t a matchmaker anymore.”
Minseok raised an eyebrow. “I’m not. But that doesn’t mean I lost my ability… Destiny couldn’t take this ring away from me if she tried,” Minseok responded and held up the small gold ring with a soft chuckle.
Baekhyun stared at the ring and tuned out of the conversation as the two continued speaking.
“I thought it was a Matchmaker skill.”
“It is. The ring just makes it easier. It’s a pain walking around the entire day without the ring to back you up.”
“Wait wait…” Baekhyun finally cut in, “that ring is your cupid powers that you can use despite not being a matchmaker?”
“Essentially, yes…” Minseok nodded a bit, eying Baekhyun as he slipped the ring into his pocket. “Once you get an item, you don’t lose it.”
A small smirk tugged at the corner of Baekhyun’s lips as he turned away, a small plan forming in his mind.
A couple of days later, Chanyeol was lying on the couch staring at the television as Kris entered the room.
“Chanyeol, is something going on that you want to talk about?”
Chanyeol didn’t look at him as he shook his head.
“Are you sure? There really seems to be something different about you…”
Chanyeol sighed and responded, “I’m pretty sure there’s nothing different… what are you talking about?”
Kris’s voice started as a helpless mumble. “You’ve become really weird and distant lately. You don’t pay attention to me unless I make you, you’re always zoning out, and you’re obsessed with these stupid feathers, and I just…”
Chanyeol turned around quickly, seeing Kris holding a few of his feathers.
“Where did you get those?”
“They were in your room.”
“Well, give them back.”
Kris scowled. “See, this is what I’m talking about… I don’t see why they’re so important to you! Are they more important to you than I am too?!”
Kris pulled a lighter out of his pocket and held the flame up to one of the feathers.
“No, no, don’t do that!” Chanyeol shouted as he jumped off the couch and ran toward Kris as one of the feathers caught fire. “Kris, stop!” He shouted as he slapped the lighter out of Kris’ hand, snatched back the feathers, and blew out the flame.
Chanyeol glared up to Kris and gave an intimidating snarl before he turned to walk away without a word.
Kris stood there, still gaping at the scene. “I… I don’t understand, Chanyeol! What’s going on?!”
Chanyeol didn’t respond as he continued walking away, trying to get all of the negative images about Kris out of his mind as he slammed his bedroom door shut.
---------------
It took Baekhyun a couple more days to return to check on Chanyeol, but when he went to his room, the giant wasn’t there. Baekhyun looked around Chanyeol’s empty room before poking his head out the door and seeing Tao in the corner of his eye. Baekhyun took a step out and asked quickly, “Where’s Chanyeol?”
Tao glanced up and back to whatever he was focusing on. “He left a minute or two ago.” His voice trailed off as he mumbled, “I think they said they were going out to dinner…”
Baekhyun frowned and wandered over to Tao’s side, wondering what he was staring at.
Baekhyun blinked in the presence of Kris before the words, “Oh my god he’s actually really hot,” tumbled clumsily out of his mouth. Tao immediately shot him a glare, causing Baekhyun to regain his composure as Tao rolled his eyes.
Kris ran his fingers through his tousled, blonde hair and adjusted his jacket as he stared at his appearance, making sure that he looked good. His black skinny jeans clung to his thighs and calves in a way that Baekhyun only dreamed of, making his already long legs look even longer.
Baekhyun frowned. He had seen Kris up close before, but for some reason, seeing him alone like this in an unbiased state was eye-opening. “No wonder Chanyeol’s head over heels for him.”
Tao sighed. “I know you hate their situation as much as I do, but complaining about it isn’t going to help.” Baekhyun blinked and looked at Tao as he whispered something. “But you know what I find odd? I haven’t seen a Matchmaker around these two.”
Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. “So they’re not in love?”
Tao shrugged and looked back at Kris who was shrugging off his jacket and winking at himself in the mirror. “I don’t know, but Destiny at least isn’t ready to admit it if they’re supposed to be.”
Baekhyun shot his fist into the air, giving himself a mental boost and shouting “Yes!” catching a very confused glance from Tao. Baekhyun mumbled to himself excitedly, “So maybe Fate doesn’t intend for them to be together, and this whole ‘personal demons’ thing can actually make sense? If I’m actually able to go through with this thing, maybe all of his demons will go away!”
Tao stared at him with a very perplexed look. “Uhh…”
Baekhyun shook his head and started over a bit slower. “So I can change Chanyeol’s mind?”
Tao frowned, “Well you’re still an angel -”
“Yeah yeah, but in theory?”
Tao paused. “…In theory, sure.”
Baekhyun beamed and whispered to himself, “Fighting!” as he turned away from Tao to return to his home. Tao stared in the direction that the other angel had disappeared in before shaking his head and showing off a small smile. “Baekhyun, fighting.”
-------
It was the Sunday before hell week, and Kris had made plans to make amends with Chanyeol by going to out to dinner just because they could, and because they wouldn’t see each other after hell week was over until next semester.
Kris wanted to take Chanyeol out to a fancy restaurant, so he managed to force him to stop playing with those feathers he seemed addicted to, dress up nicely, and leave his psychology book at home to just enjoy a nice dinner out together.
As they sat down at their table and ordered their food, the two escaped into meaningless chatter. It was about ten minutes after they started eating that Kris noticed how detached that Chanyeol seemed to be, and he felt that he definitely knew the reason.
“Chanyeol, I’m sorry about the feathers, but…”
“That was days ago. Please, just drop it.”
A few more minutes of awkward silence passed.
Kris frowned, twirling his pasta with his fork. “You know, Chanyeol, I still really think you should give up on this Byun kid.” Chanyeol stopped eating and glanced up to Kris. Kris frowned. “He’s gone, and I think you should just accept it. It’s really messing with me, and it’s obvious that it’s messing with you. You can’t focus on most of the stuff that you do anymore.” Kris stood a little and leaned over the table to wipe a bit of pasta sauce off Chanyeol’s lower lip with his thumb. “You can’t focus on us at all.” Kris moved to put his finger into his mouth, but Chanyeol caught his wrist and wiped his thumb with a napkin.
Chanyeol glowered at Kris and muttered lowly, “I can clean up myself.” The only person who’s done that before was Baekhyun.
Kris sat down and rolled his eyes. “I still think that this Byun kid is messing with your head.”
“Baekhyun.”
Kris glanced up and tilted his head. “I’m sorry, what?”
“His name… is Baekhyun.”
Kris narrowed his eyes. “Okay, well then this stupid ‘Baekhyun’ is taking over your mind, and I don’t like it. I can’t even attempt to play the game if all you’re thinking about is Baekhyun.”
Chanyeol narrowed his eyes at Kris, slightly annoyed.
“It’s just not fair that you won’t even give me a chance… So Chanyeol, just forget about him… it’s not fair to me, or to you, and I can’t stand this anymore.”
Chanyeol’s eye twitched and he muttered lowly, “Why are you so damn adamant?”
“Because, Chanyeol, do you know how hard it is fighting with someone who disappeared from your life a year ago? I’m here, but all that you think about is Baekhyun! It’s always about Byun Baekhyun! Chanyeol, I just want you to love me the same way you love him! Is that too much to ask?” Kris groaned. “I’ve come to hate that kid. He messes with you in a way that I can’t fix; I can seduce you or get you drunk or whatever, but nothing changes! What the hell did he ever do for you besides leave you? Did he take you on romantic dates? Did he stick with your thick-headed skull when you were too busy to notice him? I don’t see what makes that brat so much better than me.”
Chanyeol stood up and pulled Kris by his crooked tie over the table. Kris’s eyes widened in shock as Chanyeol’s voice came out as a menacing growl. “Don’t… insult him. His name isn’t pure coming from your vile lips.”
Chanyeol let go of his tie with a snarl, causing Kris to stumble backwards into his seat, and Chanyeol silently stepped out from the table, turning to walk away.
Kris blinked. “Wait… where are you going?”
Chanyeol took a step. “Home.”
“Why?”
“I have to study.”
Kris stumbled after him blindly. “But what about dinner? We were going to eat together and then -”
“Whatever you were planning, I don’t want to take part in it,” Chanyeol mumbled as he kept his eyes fixed on the door.
“Wha… why? Why, Chanyeol?”
Chanyeol pushed open the door silently and stepped outside, immediately followed by Kris.
“Is… Is this because of that stupid Byun kid?!” Kris screamed, finally managing to make Chanyeol stop. “Because of that Byun kid, you’re just walking away?”
Chanyeol blinked and turned to Kris with a small smile. He spoke softly. “Yes. It is because of my stupid little angel, Baekhyun.” Chanyeol’s smile widened a little and he responded, “I love him. I love him way too much to give up now.”
Kris gaped in his direction as Chanyeol turned away to leave. “Wait… wait, wait.” Kris ran toward him and caught Chanyeol’s sleeve as he slid to his knees. “Tell me what he does for you. Tell me how I can be just like him for you.” Chanyeol looked down to Kris with an eyebrow raised. Kris never seemed like the type to beg. “Tell me… tell me how I can keep you and get him off your mind… I’ll change completely for you. I’ll be everything you want him to be for you. Just please, Chanyeol…”
Chanyeol looked down to Kris with that small, soft smile. His voice came out in the sound of a soft whisper. “But that just won’t do.”
Chanyeol turned on his heels and walked away, leaving Kris alone in the middle of the street.
---------------
On Monday of Chanyeol’s hell week, Baekhyun had roamed around Haven all day looking for Minseok to finally put his plan in action after being further cheered on by Tao the day before. He had texted him earlier that day, but got no response, so he was forced to blindly wander around and hope to find him.
He was about to give up when he noticed the boy and Jongdae walking around together.
“Minseok!” Baekhyun jumped on to the baozi’s back and growled playfully into his ear.
“Baekhyun, what are you doing?”
Baekhyun smiled playfully down to the boy and said, “You know how you feel awful for breaking up me and Chanyeol?” Minseok raised a curious eyebrow as Baekhyun continued. “Well I know how to fix it.”
“Is it stupid, illegal, or dangerous in any way?” Minseok responded playfully.
Baekhyun pursed his lips thoughtfully. Just the sight of Baekhyun’s lips caused the playful smirk to disappear from Minseok’s face. “… Maybe all three.”
Minseok shoved Baekhyun off his back and scoffed, annoyed. “Why would I do something like that?”
Baekhyun scowled. “Because you ruined my chances with Chanyeol.”
Minseok shook his head. “Well something like that isn’t worth dying over.”
Baekhyun made his best puppy dog face and stared at Minseok sadly.
“No. No, don’t do that.”
“… But Minseok…”
“Baekhyun, stop it.”
“All I wanted is to be happy…”
“I understand that, Baek, but I can’t just-”
“Minseok, please~”
“… Baekhyun…”
Baekhyun sniffed and turned away from Minseok sadly. “Fine then… I’ll just live my miserable life in misery and… and…” Baekhyun let out a small whine.
Minseok turned to Jongdae for help, but Jongdae shrugged. “I’ve never been able to say no to that face. You’re pretty much doomed.”
Minseok sighed exasperatedly. “… God, Baekhyun. What the hell do you want me to do?”
Baekhyun turned around quickly. “Lend me your cupid prowess so Chanyeol can see -”
“Oh no. Definitely no. Nope. We are not going there.”
Baekhyun’s face immediately fell. “Ehh, why? How am I supposed to win over someone who can’t even see me?!”
Minseok sighed as he stared at Baekhyun. “I understand what you’re saying, but this is serious, Baek. Like really serious. You can get kicked out of Haven for that. You could get kicked out of existence for that. The council would punish you so hard, you don’t even know.”
Baekhyun frowned. “It’s really that bad?”
Minseok nodded seriously and frowned. “Not only are you switching powers without permission to do so, but you’re also doing it to directly mess with Fate’s orders. Punishment for that kind of stuff is brutal. Forget getting Chanyeol to see you - you’ll never see him again.”
“I don’t care,” Baekhyun replied firmly. “I just need him to see me once.”
“Wait, Baek,” Jongdae cut in, “This stuff is serious. You don’t just give other people someone else’s job items. I couldn’t give you my shoes -”
“Like I can’t just give you my ring -”
“No, you can,” Baekhyun added. “You just won’t because you’re afraid of the consequences.”
The two of them glanced to each other and back to Baekhyun. Jongdae spoke up with wide eyes. “You could get all your angel rights revoked. I heard that sometimes, they rip off angel’s wings and send them back down to earth or wipe out their entire existence. They say that they take something that the angel values most. Because they find being angels to be a valuable privilege, they’ll take that privilege away from you.” He winced. “I don’t want to see you lose your wings, Baek.”
Baekhyun frowned and responded, “I’ll lose anything for Chanyeol.”
---------------
Chanyeol’s hell week went by slowly, but Baekhyun didn’t go down to watch him much. He was still determined to convince Minseok to give him his Matchmaker ring so he and Chanyeol could finally meet face to face. Days, Baekhyun spent in Haven; nights, he spent next to Chanyeol making sure he was getting enough sleep. He would also be keeping him away from Kris, but the giant had been doing well enough in that part alone to where Baekhyun didn’t need to interfere. Considering how he wasn’t able to plant thoughts to make Chanyeol think of only him anymore, Baekhyun didn’t press the issue, but he was still glad to know that Chanyeol was thinking of him on his own accord.
Baekhyun got into a habit of following Minseok and Jongdae around whenever he spotted them.
“Senpai! Notice me!”
“Go away, Baekhyun!”
“Minseok, please!”
Minseok stopped abruptly and faced him. “Baekhyun, I’m not going to allow you to be banished from Haven.”
Baekhyun pouted. “You don’t even know if I’ll be banished.”
“No, but you’ll definitely get punished in some severe way.”
Baekhyun smirked stealthily. “They won’t catch me.”
Minseok groaned. “Baekhyun, as much as I would love to help you out, you don’t have the qualifications to be a matchmaker either. The ring would either drain your energy an incredible amount or reject you entirely.”
Jongdae spoke up. “And I don’t think that you want to waste all that time to take the matchmaker’s
qualification test.”
Baekhyun smiled. “I have a solution to those problems.” He turned slightly toward Jongdae and said, “A messenger’s sandals help with travel and replenish energy to allow you to do your job promptly and stuff, right? And if you’re qualified for one thing, you’re pretty much qualified for anything on the same rung or lower status? Even if I don’t have matchmaker or messenger qualification, I am of status and should be able to use them, in theory. So if I use both your ring and your sandals, I don’t have to worry about the energy draining because they’ll balance each other out and-”
Jongdae and Minseok both immediately opened their mouths to speak. “No.”
Baekhyun blinked and pouted. “No need to reject me in unison...”
Minseok pushed his fingers to his forehead and groaned. “Baekhyun, they don’t work that way. You couldn’t just get your item and use it easily. There were abilities tests and everything, remember? The items could still completely reject you.”
“Then I’ll train with it before I go.”
“It’s not that easy, Baek. Especially without the qualifications. It takes months to prepare for those tests.”
“We might as well try…” Baekhyun mumbled softly, losing his resolve after being turned down so many times and finding too many unnecessary complications.
Jongdae groaned. “Baekhyun, I really don’t need you getting in trouble over something like this.”
Minseok added, “It’s better to stay on the safe side.”
Baekhyun’s eyesight dropped to the floor. “… Okay.”
Jongdae blinked. “I’m sorry, what?” The Baekhyun he knew definitely wasn’t this compliant.
“Fine fine,” Baekhyun mumbled, turning away from them. “You guys win. I’ll stop.”
Minseok and Jongdae glanced to each other before turning back to Baekhyun who was walking slowly away from them with his head bowed.
Baekhyun retreated to the clouds at The Observatory to watch Chanyeol with a dejected look. “I’m sorry…” he whispered, “I’m sorry I can’t get close enough to you… but I tried.” He buried his face in the fluffy clouds and sighed. “I really did.”
---------------
The day after Chanyeol’s last week of college, he returned home. Baekhyun still wasn’t following him around. There were 10 days until Christmas, and Baekhyun found himself incredibly alone. He was still getting a couple of texts from his friends, but he had few face-to-face encounters with most of them. Jongdae was making too many trips back and forth between places delivering messages, and Minseok had been busy in the weather department because winter was his main season to work. Luhan and the others were all off doing their own things, and Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel like an outcast. It was terrible being alone like this.
Within the first couple of days that Chanyeol was home, Baekhyun returned to The Observatory to watch Chanyeol more often than not. He thought seeing the giant would make him feel better, but he usually ended up feeling worse. Baekhyun refused to waste the energy to go down and actually follow him around, but he still had to do his job, so he was forced to watch him from the clouds anyway. The only thing that actually stuck out to him was that Chanyeol began to text Kris less and less, until he began making annoyed faces whenever he would get a text from him, and eventually stopped responding to his texts altogether.
Baekhyun thought that at least deserved a smile.
As Chanyeol was leaving his house a few days after returning home, he met up with Kyungsoo and Jongin. Baekhyun smiled at the reunion of his old friend group (or what was left of it at least) as they went out to dinner together and talked about the time that they had spent apart and memories of high school together. Baekhyun wanted to join in.
Jongin left first because of some business he had to attend to, and left Chanyeol to make sure that his boyfriend got home safely.
At the end of their dinner, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo slowly strolled toward Kyungsoo’s house in silence.
Kyungsoo broke the silence first. “How are you holding up recently?”
Chanyeol frowned. “Could be better.”
Kyungsoo frowned too and allowed the silence to return for a minute or so before he started to sing a song that he remembered that he and Baekhyun used to sing together often. From the clouds, Baekhyun smiled a little and began to sing the song along with him.
Chanyeol suddenly grabbed Kyungsoo’s wrist and pushed him against one of the walls of the buildings on the street.
Kyungsoo blinked in bewilderment and panic. Baekhyun gaped in terror.
Chanyeol held their foreheads together and mumbled, “Kyungsoo… Kiss me…?”
Kyungsoo blinked quickly. “But… but I have Jongin. And… you have Kris right?”
Chanyeol shook his head and responded with a hint of a hysterical anguish in his voice. “It’s not the same… Kris isn’t… Kris won’t be…” Chanyeol planted a soft kiss on Kyungsoo’s forehead and then leaned over to trail them down Kyungsoo’s neck.
Baekhyun stood up, appalled.
“Chanyeol, stop… stop!” Baekhyun found himself shouting the words along with Kyungsoo.
Chanyeol looked up to Kyungsoo. “You remind me of him so much… I can’t just stop…”
Kyungsoo blinked. “I remind you of…”
Chanyeol cut off his words by capturing his lips in his own. Baekhyun’s chest burned with regret. With guilt. With betrayal. He wanted to go down there and slap Chanyeol or fill his mind with thoughts of him, but his feet wouldn’t move, and it felt like if he did, he’d only make Chanyeol’s condition worse.
Chanyeol wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo, his voice and body shaking with frantic desperation. “Your height… you fit perfectly in my arms like he did… and your voice is heavenly… You’re like… you’re like…” When Kyungsoo’s eyes widened in recognition, Chanyeol squeezed him tighter and mumbled softly into his ear, “Please just let me pretend for once…”
“No, no Chanyeol, we’re not going there.” Kyungsoo pushed Chanyeol away stubbornly. “Don’t tell me stuff like that. I’m not Baekhyun, and I never will be. Don’t try to force your feelings onto someone else when we all know how much you’re still in love with him.” Chanyeol slid dumbly to the floor as Kyungsoo continued chastising him. “We all know he’s gone and we’re all dealing with it differently, but trying to find him in someone else isn’t going to work, Chanyeol… either get over it, or admit it.” Kyungsoo stopped speaking and sighed as he put his hand on Chanyeol’s head. “I know it’s hard… but it’ll be worse if you don’t confess now.”
Baekhyun’s lips parted to say something, but he didn’t know what to say. He stared as Chanyeol cried into his knees. His chest swelled with a pain that he’d been getting used to recently. Baekhyun wanted to put his hand where Kyungsoo’s was, or fall to the floor and hug him tightly, crying with him too. He wanted to be with him at this moment more than anything else right now.
Baekhyun flinched at the touch of someone’s hand on his shoulder. When he turned around, Minseok was staring at him, and Jongdae shoved past him to stare at the scene.
“…Minseok…”
“I’ll give you my ring.”
Baekhyun gaped at Minseok, but the boy turned away from him.
“Only for one day.” He looked away from him and down past the clouds until his eyes locked onto Chanyeol’s trembling figure. “You’re not the only miserable one in this situation.” Minseok looked back up to Baekhyun with a remorseful look. “I still don’t agree with this plan of action, but I really do think that things will get worse if you don’t step in. Plus your assignment is to keep him from doing anything stupid, right? Well what he’s doing right now seems pretty stupid. Perhaps this will get him to stop.”
“… Minseok… I… I don’t know what to say…”
A smile spread across the boy’s face. “Then don’t say anything. But I can get in huge amounts of trouble for this too, and so can Jongdae, so you better be thankful.”
Baekhyun gaped at Minseok in disbelief. “Thankful? I’m so much more than that.” He threw his arms around the boy and hugged him tightly. “Minseok, I really can’t thank you enough.”
He chuckled. “The only thing I want out of this is to know that you’ll be okay when it’s all over.”
---------------
They made plans to exchange items on Christmas Eve.
Every night before December 24th, they would meet up and give Baekhyun their items to practice his endurance and teach him how to use them correctly. Baekhyun would slip off his guardian angel pendant and step into Jongdae’s shoes and slide on Minseok’s ring, entering a world of danger and uncertainty. Baekhyun knew how risky it was: balancing the two item’s power, matching his own energy with two other items that he’s not synchronized with, and attempting to remain stable without the proper training could permanently damage him if he did it incorrectly, but he was determined. He had to do this. He had to see Chanyeol.
So he practiced. Every night, he practiced. Every night, he grew further away from the depths of despair and closer to hope. Every night, he thought about Chanyeol.
Chanyeol’s going to see me. Chanyeol will. Wait for me, Chanyeol.
---------------
When the day finally came, everyone was feeling a bit apprehensive.
“You know you won’t have much time with him down there, right? You won’t get an entire day - maybe a few hours at most, but it won’t be long.”
“Any time I get with him is better than none at all.”
“…They’re going to follow you.”
“Let them follow.”
Minseok groaned. “I’m suddenly regretting this. We’re going to get in a hell of a lot of trouble.”
Baekhyun smirked. “And?”
“You have so much to lose.”
Baekhyun’s smirk turned into a confident smile as he pocketed the ring. “But I’m willing to lose it.”
-------
“These shoes are going to be too small for you.”
“… What are you talking about? I’ve been trying on these shoes for the past week!”
“I just think my feet are perfection and yours may not be.”
“Jongdae, just give me the shoes.”
“… I’m really scared of the consequences.”
“You’re a messenger! You don’t have that much to lose but that man purse of yours.”
“…”
“Hey… hey! Don’t hit me with your shoes! What did I do to deserve this?”
“…I’m not worried for me, you idiot… I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Ew, Jongdae. Don’t get all sentimental on me. Just give me the shoes and let me deal with it if it happens.”
“… You’re my best friend, Baek… I wish you the best of luck.”
“Thanks… I hope we’ll still be able to be best friends when this all ends.”