Wish Upon a Balloon Part 1
Baekhyun is staring blankly out the window when someone bursts into his room in an explosion of color and words.
“Sehun! I can’t believe you broke a leg trying to impress Luhan with that dance move! You’re so-” The person, a tall and rather gangly boy about Baekhyun’s age, stops speaking when he takes in the sight of Baekhyun gaping wordlessly at him. “And you’re not Sehun,” the boy finishes, lowering the flowers and balloons he is brandishing.
“I-I’m sorry?” Baekhyun stammers out.
The boy flails his arms a bit, causing some petals from the flower bouquet he is carrying to float gently to the floor. “No, I should be sorry! I got the wrong room. Sorry to be a bother!” And like that, he left in the same whirlwind that he came in with. Baekhyun barely has time to wonder what just happened when the boy shuffles back in.
“Ah, sorry, but do you by any chance know where room 1362 is?” the boy asks sheepishly.
“It should be a little further down the hall on your left,” says Baekhyun immediately.
“Oh.” The boy looks surprised. “You know your way around here pretty well. Thanks!” He turns to leave, but then hesitates. “Do you want a balloon?” he asks, gesturing to the cluster of balloons he has. He selects a white balloon from the bunch and offers it to Baekhyun. Baekhyun reaches out to take it, but the tubes keep him from going too far from the machines.
This does not go unnoticed by the other boy. He steps closer and, before Baekhyun realizes what he is doing, ties the ribbon in a neat bow around Baekhyun’s wrist, careful to avoid the tubes. “There,” he says, and the smile that spreads across his face is so wide that Baekhyun has a hard time looking at it. “Thanks again!” He waves as he leaves the room and closes the door gently behind him, a contrast to the loud words that had spilled out of his mouth only moments before.
Baekhyun gazes up at the white balloon, watching it bob lazily as he moves his hand. A slow smile spreads across his face.
-
To say Baekhyun is surprised to see the boy sitting next to his door the following day after his treatment is an understatement. Upon seeing Baekhyun, the boy shoots up and waves at him enthusiastically.
“What are you doing here?” Baekhyun blurts out when the nurse wheels him up to his door.
“I’ll take it from here,” the boy tells the nurse happily, and proceeds to wheel Baekhyun into his room. Baekhyun is too confused to protest when the boy helps him climb into his bed as though Baekhyun isn’t a complete stranger. The boy smiles at the balloon that is tied to the head of Baekhyun’s bed. “You kept it!”
“Yeah,” says Baekhyun dazedly. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you?”
“Park Chanyeol!” the boy chirps. “And you’re Byun Baekhyun, right? I swear I’m not being a creepy stalker or anything!” he continues before Baekhyun can ask. “Your name was on the card under the room number thingy.”
“Oh, okay.” Baekhyun watches as the boy-Chanyeol-drags the chair from the corner of the room to the bedside. “Do you often speak using so many exclamation points?”
Chanyeol looks surprised for a moment before bursting into a carefree, booming laughter that fills up the room with a sort of cheer that it hasn’t seen in a while. “Sorry, I’m kind of a loud person,” he says once the laughter has passed. “I’ll try to be more quiet. Indoor voice.”
“No,” says Baekhyun quickly, waving a hand frantically. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just…not many people around here speak so enthusiastically, and I like it-it’s a nice change.” He says the last part to his lap, too embarrassed to say it to the other directly. When Baekhyun looks up, there’s a grin so wide on Chanyeol’s face that his eye twitches. It would be creepy if it wasn’t so endearing.
“So how’s the food here?” asks Chanyeol, smile not leaving his face. “Sehun spent the last hour complaining about bad it was.”
“It could be worse,” says Baekhyun, and Chanyeol laughs again at the face he makes. “Sehun…your friend who broke his leg trying to impress…?”
“Luhan,” Chanyeol fills in quickly. “Luhan is a senior at our school, and Sehun’s been in love with him since forever. For some reason, Sehun thought breakdancing would be the way into his heart, not the way into the hospital.” Chanyeol chuckles at his own joke.
“Was he impressed? Luhan?” Baekhyun questions curiously.
“Probably not, but he definitely pities Sehun because he was coming in with a bunch of flowers as I was leaving. Sehun’s probably on cloud nine right now. ” Chanyeol brightens and reaches down into his bag. “Speaking of gifts, I have something for you.” He comes up with a miniature foil balloon on a stick and hands it to Baekhyun.
Baekhyun stares at the ‘Get well soon!’ printed in neon yellow lettering across the balloon and feels deeply touched. It has been a long while since anyone has bothered getting him a gift of that sort. “You didn’t have to,” he says, and is horrified that his voice comes out thickly. He sniffs and tries to blink away the tears that have inexplicably sprung up in his eyes.
“It’s just something I got from the gift store downstairs,” Chanyeol interjects hurriedly, eyes wide as a tear makes its way down Baekhyun’s cheek. “It’s nothing much. Please don’t cry.” Tugging down the sleeve of his shirt, he uses it to gently dry Baekhyun’s face.
Baekhyun lets out a choked laugh. “There’s a box of tissues on the night stand,” he informs Chanyeol.
Chanyeol pauses in his ministrations and stares dumbly at the box. “Oh.” He scratches his head as an embarrassed smile graces his lips. “Well then. I feel smart.”
Baekhyun clutches the stick of his balloon and gives Chanyeol a watery smile. With as much sincerity as he can muster, he says a quiet, “Thank you.” Chanyeol’s answering beam is so bright that it momentarily blinds Baekhyun.
-
“Baekhyun!” cries Chanyeol as he bursts into the room, not unlike the way he did the first time he came in. “Guess what I have?”
Baekhyun glances in amusement at the colorful thing that Chanyeol is waving around. “A balloon?” he guesses.
Chanyeol plops down on Baekhyun’s bed and ruffles his hair in a familiar, affectionate gesture. “Not just any old balloon! A balloon for making balloon animals and stuff!”
“You know how to make balloon animals?” Baekhyun asks, a little impressed.
“No,” admits Chanyeol, deflating a bit. “I got it from Luhan. Apparently, he has a part-time job making balloon animals at one of those kiosks in the mall. He was making all sorts of things for Sehun when I got there, and let me tell you, Sehun was thrilled. He turned eleven different shades of red when Luhan made him a heart with two doves in it!” Chanyeol then blows up the balloon and ties the end. They both stare at it for a moment.
“I think this is the part where you start twisting,” Baekhyun says helpfully.
“I’m going to make a puppy,” Chanyeol announces with a determined tone. “Because you remind me of a puppy.”
Before Baekhyun can protest that Chanyeol is the one that’s like a puppy with his constant excitement and eager-to-please nature, Chanyeol gives the balloon a mighty twist. His tongue sticks out between his teeth in concentration as he shapes the balloon, and Baekhyun tries not to smile too widely at the other’s focused expression.
“Um,” says Chanyeol a few minutes later. “That didn’t quite work out the way I planned…”
Baekhyun struggles to keep a straight face. “I think it’s a lovely sausage link,” he says solemnly.
“Argh!” Chanyeol cries in frustration, hands running through and messing up his mop of curly hair. “Okay, I’m going to have to ask Luhan to teach me. I will make you something, I swear!” he promises Baekhyun with such earnestness that Baekhyun just doesn’t have the heart to tell him that he didn’t really want one in the first place.
-
Baekhyun can’t help flushing deeply when Chanyeol bounces in the next day and fixes a clumsily made, oversized golden crown on his head, declaring Baekhyun royalty in a deep, booming voice and mock-bowing to him. Because the way Chanyeol’s eyes twinkle as he smiles at him really does make Baekhyun feel like the king of the world.
-
“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol stage-whispers as he slips into the room. He scurries over to Baekhyun’s bed with barely contained eagerness.
Baekhyun raises an eyebrow. Chanyeol usually enters the room with as much noise as possible, so he knows immediately that something is up. “Is something going on today?” asks Baekhyun carefully, closing the book he had been reading and setting it on his stand.
Chanyeol is practically vibrating with excitement as he clambers onto the bed to open the window. “Come here,” he insists, tugging on Baekhyun’s hand.
Baekhyun allows himself to be pulled to the window. “What’s going on?” He peers out the window and down at the courtyard below.
“Sehun is getting discharged today!” Chanyeol reveals gleefully, rubbing his hands together.
“Yay?” Baekhyun tries, still confused. “If he’s getting discharged, shouldn’t you be helping him with being discharged and all?”
“Nah, he’s got Luhan; he wouldn’t want me there. Besides, I have better things to do with you-” Chanyeol procures a bucket out of nowhere and drags it onto the bed, “-and these bad boys.”
“Water balloons,” Baekhyun states blankly, looking at the multi-colored blobs.
“You see,” Chanyeol explains patiently, “your window is directly above the entrance that Sehun will be using to leave.”
“Oh. Oh.”
Chanyeol smiles impishly. “Now all we have to do is watch and wait.”
A few minutes later, two figures emerge from the entrance. Baekhyun pulls Chanyeol’s sleeve. “Is that them?”
“Yup,” snickers Chanyeol as the figure with crutches hobbles slowly along. “And let the fun begin.” He hands Baekhyun a water balloon. “Here you do the honors.”
Baekhyun shakes his head frantically. “Chanyeol, I can’t water bomb a person I don’t know,” he hisses, pushing the wobbling balloon back to the other boy.
“Come on! It’ll be fun!” Chanyeol maintains, thrusting the balloon tenaciously at Baekhyun. “Sehun’s a good sport; he won’t be too mad. We’ve pranked each other lots of times already!”
“No!” cries Baekhyun, knocking Chanyeol’s hand out of the way. “I can’t!” The balloon slips from Chanyeol’s grip and flies out the window. Baekhyun and Chanyeol exchange looks before scrambling to stick their heads out the window.
“Uh-oh,” Chanyeol murmurs as they observe the trajectory of the balloon. It’s heading in Sehun’s direction, but not quite. “Oh no, no no no no no please not-”
The balloon explodes on the person without the crutches, causing both him and Sehun to jump in surprise. Sehun, losing his balance and toppling over on the grass, escapes most of the water. Luhan bears the brunt of it, the balloon’s contents drenching him from head to toe. Slowly, with water dripping everywhere, Luhan turns around and looks up.
“Crap!” yelps Chanyeol, and he quickly pulls Baekhyun back into the room.
Chanyeol’s phone suddenly rings, Luhan’s name flashing on the caller ID. Giving Baekhyun a horrified look, Chanyeol slowly presses the Answer button. “Hey, hyung! How are you?” he says as chirpily as possible.
“Park Chanyeol,” a sickeningly sweet voice replies. “You clearly do not value your life. No worries. I will relieve you of that burden next time we meet.” There is a click as the call ends.
Chanyeol flops over and buries his face in Baekhyun’s lap. “I’m so screwed,” he groans dramatically. “This is it-this is the end for me. Goodbye, sweet life! If only we had longer.”
Baekhyun takes one look at Chanyeol’s prone figure, and, without meaning to, bursts into laughter, the sound bubbling uncontrollably from his mouth. By the time he finishes, there are tears in his eyes and a mean stitch in his side that leaves him breathless. He looks at Chanyeol to see the latter sitting up and staring wide-eyed at him.
“What?” asks Baekhyun self-consciously. “Is there something on my face?”
Chanyeol shakes his head, curls bouncing. “No. It’s just…” He trails off before shaking his head once more, cheeks coloring slightly. “It’s nothing,” he assures Baekhyun.
Baekhyun doesn’t believe him and proceeds to pester him about it for the rest of visiting hours. But no matter how much Baekhyun pleads, whines, and, as a last resort, tickles, Chanyeol refuses to tell him, an infuriating, secretive smile growing on his face with every passing minute.
-
The next day, Chanyeol whines about how evil Luhan is under his cute exterior and declares that small, adorable people should not be trusted on account of fraud and deception.
“Except you,” Chanyeol adds self-righteously. “My Baekhyun is as adorable on the outside as he is on the inside.”
“You sure about that?” drawls Baekhyun before he pushes Chanyeol off his bed and onto the floor.
“Not you too!” laments Chanyeol when he pops back up, rubbing his butt tentatively. “How could you, Baekhyun? I trusted you, and you betrayed me!”
Baekhyun chortles as Chanyeol gingerly climbs back onto the bed, unable to keep a wide, silly smile off his face.
(Chanyeol can’t keep one off his either.)
-
Baekhyun falls asleep after receiving treatment, and he vaguely remembers being pushed down the hallway, a whispered conversation, and going up, up, up before he drifts off again.
He comes to once more when a warm hand gently shakes him awake. “Huh,” Baekhyun gargles intelligently.
“Baekhyun, wake up,” a voice coaxes.
Baekhyun cracks open an eye and is greeted by a megawatt smile. “Chanyeol?”
“The one and only!”
Baekhyun straightens in his wheelchair and rubs the remnants of sleepiness from his eyes. “What’s up?” When Chanyeol doesn’t answer, Baekhyun peers over at him. “Chan-Whoa!” Baekhyun takes a moment to look around at the chain link fence and the view of buildings touching the sky. “Why are we on the rooftop?” Despite the shining sun overhead, he shivers as a cold wind blows.
Chanyeol holds up a small piece of paper and a pen. “Because we’re going to write our wishes down, attach them to those-” Chanyeol nods at the two floating balloons that he has ready, “-and send them off on a journey!”
“What prompted this?” mused Baekhyun.
“It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do,” Chanyeol says as he places a piece of paper and a pen in Baekhyun’s lap. “Think of a good wish, okay? And no peeking at mine!” He sticks his tongue out childishly and then turns around to prevent Baekhyun from seeing.
Baekhyun bites back a smile before turning to his own piece of paper. What to wish for… Baekhyun peeks over at Chanyeol and sees the other boy in deep thought, back hunched in concentration. Perhaps…
Rubbing his hands together, Baekhyun picks up his pen and, willing his fingers to cooperate with every ounce of resolve he has, puts it to the paper. He moves the tip and produces an indistinct, shaky line. Baekhyun frowns and tries again. The results are the same. Baekhyun bites his bottom lip nervously, glancing over at Chanyeol to make sure he isn’t looking. He takes a deep breath, coughing slightly when the smoky air dries his throat, and turns back to his paper.
There are red flecks peppering the white surface, slowly seeping into it. He stares at it in horror. Baekhyun swallows thickly with rising anxiety as he tastes a faint but tell-tale coppery tang.
“Are you done with your wish?” Chanyeol’s voice rings out, jerking Baekhyun out of his reverie.
Baekhyun quickly rolls the stained paper up clumsily so Chanyeol won’t see. “Yeah,” he says, smiling as Chanyeol turns around. “Ready when you are.”
Chanyeol speedily ties the ribbon around his rolled-up paper before turning to help Baekhyun with his. “Okay,” he says when both of them are holding their respective balloons and wishes. “We’ll think about our wish as hard as we can, and on the count of three, we’ll let them go. Ready?” Baekhyun nods.
“One.”
Baekhyun closes his eyes and thinks about what he wants most in the world.
“Two.”
He reaches blindly to his side, and his hand finds Chanyeol, who laces their fingers together.
“Three.”
Chanyeol squeezes Baekhyun’s hand. Baekhyun lets go of his balloon and opens his eyes.
The two balloons float upwards, the strings tangling briefly before gradually unraveling and allowing the balloons to travel separately. They watch the progress until the two balloons are merely dots in the blue sky. Baekhyun lowers his eyelids and tilts his head back, soaking in the warmth of the sunlight. It’s been a while since he’s gone outside, so he wants to savor every moment of it.
“Baekhyun.” Baekhyun blinks, and Chanyeol’s kneeling in front of him so they are eye to eye. Chanyeol takes both of Baekhyun’s hands. “Baekhyun,” he repeats, and Baekhyun is mesmerized by how the sun forms a halo of light in the other’s hair. “Baekhyun.”
“Yes?” breathes Baekhyun. There’s something in the way that Chanyeol’s lips curve up, something that Baekhyun can’t quite put a name to nor understand. Chanyeol doesn’t answer for a moment, merely holding his gaze with an intensity that simultaneously electrifies and worries Baekhyun.
Then, with a soft laugh, he sets Baekhyun’s hands back in his lap and stands up in one fluid movement. “We should get you back inside,” he says in a lighthearted tone as he brushes off his pants. “The nurses will scold me if I keep you up here any longer.”
Chanyeol gathers up his belongings and wheels Baekhyun back inside, chattering about how Sehun and Luhan are finally together now and how disgustingly lovey-dovey they are with one another.
“Chanyeol,” says Baekhyun, glancing up as said person is ranting about one particularly traumatizing lunch period.
Chanyeol has an inquisitive expression on his face. “Baekhyun.”
“I like balloons,” Baekhyun states plainly, and this time, he doesn’t need to look back to know that Chanyeol has an ear-splitting grin on his face.
“I like balloons too,” Chanyeol admits quietly.
His hands linger when he tucks Baekhyun into bed later, fingers lightly skimming Baekhyun’s jaw and leaving a fiery trail in their wake.
-
Chanyeol bounds in, ready to throw himself onto Baekhyun’s bed, but stops short when he sees more machines than usual.
“What are those, Baekhyun?” he asks, genuinely confused.
“Oh, these?” Baekhyun gestures flippantly with a small smile. “This one is to help me breath when I sleep, and this one is to help me eat because I can’t…it’s a bit hard for me to swallow.”
A weird expression flashes across Chanyeol’s face before he’s smiling and laughing again, asking Baekhyun about his day and telling him about his friend Jongin’s latest antics in his quest to get the cute Chinese transfer student to notice him.
Part 2