Chapter 3 (1/1)

--CHAPTER 3It was the evening now and Baekhyun was carrying his text books in his arms in a carefree way. He really enjoyed the class he had just finished, especially since the teacher was so kind to him. For the longest time, Baekhyun had trouble finding those who would be kind to him since most assumed it’d be too hard to communicate with him, but once he made it to college, he managed to find some individuals who stood out in a sea of inconsiderate human beings.“Have a good night,” Professor Leeteuk called to Baekhyun as he watched his student walk out—flashing his charismatic smile that included pearly white teeth and a dimple on his left cheek.Baekhyun would smile and nod to his teacher as he did this. Professor Leeteuk only vaguely knew some sign language, but at least he tried to communicate and be respectful to Baekhyun.As Baekhyun walked in the dusk sky lighting, he watched as the lights of the college campus began to slowly flicker on—one at a time, each by their own rhythm and light color, with more yellow or some with less so. It was quiet in the hallways and all Baekhyun could hear was his footsteps on the concrete, making him focus primarily on that. He began to drift from reality and his mind drifted into thoughts about a song which its beats correlated with the pace of steps he was taking. Baekhyun breathed through his nose in little puffs that resembled the tune the song in his head took, since he couldn’t hum after all, and he smiled and his eyes began to close while his focus drifted elsewhere. Just then, Baekhyun felt his hand meet something cold and his books pushed against his chest and pushed him backwards so that he fell on his bottom and the text books toppled onto the ground around his open legs.He warily looked around just to see what happened and as his eyes looked upward he saw that it was a pole—a pole that he had run into. Baekhyun pushed his hand on his forehead. How ridiculous this was…“Hey, are you okay?” Baekhyun heard someone say from behind him. This voice was very familiar and recognizable for him.Baekhyun turned his head to the left and there he saw standing behind him was his friend Minseok—cheeks puffed out and eyebrows furrowed in a concerned expression. His hair was messy atop his head, but that was characteristic of him since he was such a studious college student and didn’t take too much time to himself. Baekhyun truly admired that, but he wondered just how Minseok was able to cope without being free to do what he wanted at least once in a while.“I’m fine. Thank you,” Baekhyun signed over his shoulder over to Minseok as he began to stand on his feet. He was lucky to meet someone—finally in college—who fully understood sign language other than his parents and that person happened to be one of the cutest and considerate people Baekhyun had ever known. Despite being busy in his studies, Minseok would still make sure that Baekhyun was doing fine on his own while living in the dormitory away from his parents, not having many people to communicate with, and for that Baekhyun was greatly indebted.Minseok walked over and started to pick up the books that were laden around Baekhyun’s skinny legs. “Did you run into that pole?” he asked slightly hesitantly in order not to offend Baekhyun or anything.Baekhyun stomped his foot and shook his head. “I was spacing out. That’s all,” his fingers fervently moved as he tried to explain himself.“Uh-huh…” Minseok mused as his pretty eyes watched Baekhyun sign and then he giggled.At the sound of Minseok’s upbeat chuckling, Baekhyun folded his arms and pouted in embarrassment. He looked away—a slight pink on his clean cheeks.Minseok now held all the books in his arms and held them out to Baekhyun. “I was just joking,” he said kindly. He showed a smile which Baekhyun could have likened to how a chipmunk might look when it smiled—a very cute and appealing chipmunk. “Here’s your books.”Baekhyun breathed in through his teeth, turned his head to look at Minseok and signed, “Thanks.” He took the books in his arms once more.The two began to walk toward the dormitory together which comforted Baekhyun since it was now dark and he preferred to have someone by his side in such a situation since—if need be—he wouldn’t be able to call for help…“So, did you like Professor Leeteuk’s lecture today?” Minseok asked while they travelled.Baekhyun nodded. It truly was an interesting lecture. Minseok and Baekhyun both had Leeteuk as a teacher and the subject he taught was psychology. Today he taught the students about human interaction and its positive effects it had on people while those who were socially introverted had a harder time dealing with their inner turmoil. It definitely intrigued Baekhyun, but it made him think about what such a case would be for someone like him who rarely had anyone to talk to due to his disability.The night went on with Baekhyun and Minseok going back to their dorm rooms—Minseok most likely studying for hours until he fell asleep against the pages of his text books while Baekhyun looked at the small shelf next to his bed and saw that inside it were numerous books his parents bought for him before he left for college. Baekhyun picked up a mystery novel which he knew would test his wits and whereabouts, and he lied down on his back and read until he slept comfortably on the comforter and mattress.*~*~*~*Since Baekhyun was an adult now, he had a slight inclination that he should at least try his best to make his way out in the world while trying to socialize with people despite his lack of speech. But no matter how he tried to bring himself to do this, he simply couldn’t find the willpower to confront anyone.In fact, he wasn’t the one to approach Minseok when it came to their friendship. No. It was Minseok who went up to the male that no one else would and decided to say a few words, allowing an acquaintanceship to blossom from there.Baekhyun was twenty-one years old now, and when it came to times like this when he’d ponder about his place in the world, he would go and do the thing that he was most comfortable with—sit and read. On the campus there were many grassy areas filled with trees of many kinds, but Baekhyun found a lot of them to be too crowded by other students for his liking. Luckily, he was able to discover a hidden spot behind the main science building where one extremely large tree had its roots planted and its leaves and branches sprawled across the sky and just a bit over the science building’s rooftop. It was mesmerizing for Baekhyun to look at and the best part was that no one else sat there.That was where Baekhyun would sit and read on his free time. Today, before he read is book, he wondered to himself: How come I can’t talk, anyway?Then he thought about a time in his childhood when he vaguely remembered hearing his own voice. He also recalled that with his voice came the presence of a very spunky nine year old. One who he desperately wished he could remember the name to…*~*~*~*“Are you serious right now, Chanyeol?!”“Uhm… Maybe.”The two young men had been running in a flight over fight way for a long time now. Their feet would be in sync with each other’s steps every here and there, and then they would be off again, yet they were still keeping the same pace.

“Maybe I should have listened to you, Jongdae…” Chanyeol said through heavy, exercised breaths.“No,” the male named Jongdae who ran next to Chanyeol said shortly. “I thought it was a cool idea at first too, after all.”The two nodded as they ran and they continued to run.Behind them were loud sounds that were so obscene to them that they thought their ears were only playing tricks on them. There was no way that something alive could have been making such terrifying moans and growls, but somehow it was.“Are we going to die?” Jongdae asked as honestly as ever.Chanyeol gulped and pressed his eyes closed for only a brief moment. “Oh lord, I hope not.” That was some honesty for sure.The two of them had unleashed something that neither of them was quite sure of what it was. Unfortunately for both their cases, Chanyeol and Jongdae were overly curious. Most of the time their curiosity landed them in risky situations, but they never were in such a situation as to where they had to be running from an unknown being that they were certain was feasting for their lives.Though Jongdae was completely out of the loop with what was chasing them, Chanyeol had some grasp on it. He remembered it from his past, but this time it seemed much more menacing than the conception he had of it in his memories. What had been happening that he wasn’t aware of that could make it like this?“This way!” Chanyeol yelped out toward his companion and took a turn to the left through the green mist and began to run down a narrow pathway which was surrounded by two large, black walls. He could barely see his way through this passage because the fog was increasing more and more as he went through, but he felt this was their best bet to get out of the way of the beast.Jongdae followed Chanyeol, but as they went further and still heard the bombarding of the beast in the small distance, Jongdae began to sigh out of fear. “Are you sure you didn’t just get us trapped in here, Chanyeol?” he moaned while he held his hands up in order to squeeze his body through the rocks.Chanyeol didn’t answer. He truly didn’t have an answer. He was trying his best to lead himself and his friend away from their assailant safely, but it seemed that they were only getting stuck—quite literally, actually, since the rocks they walked through consistently seemed to be creeping closer and closer together as they passed through. As he felt the rocks squeezing on his abdomen, soon making it hard from him to breath, Chanyeol remembered something.“My compass!” Chanyeol burst out and while wriggling his body around the best he could to reach to his pants pocket, his fingers slipped inside the opening on the side of his pants and pulled out a round wooden piece with a paper attached to it that had a compass drawn on it. “L-let’s go!” he choked out as he accidentally hit himself in the face with his forearm and raised the compass above his head. Chanyeol breathed in, held his breath, and in a quick moment, managed to slip his body through the small opening between the rocks, causing Jongdae to gasp. He knew what this was, though, and quickly he followed suit and met Chanyeol on the other side where they were now back into a place that looked like a city with houses stacked on houses that tiered down hillsides and the sky hung low with an orange glow that cast shadows throughout the streets.“I don’t really know how compasses work,” Chanyeol murmured as he eyes the wooden object in his hand, “but I do know that they tend to help me when I need them.”“Yeah, whatever,” Jongdae heaved. He placed his hands on his thighs and breathed out heavily from the exhaust he received from their little adventure. “Next time we go to get killed, make sure I’m physically fit for the ‘running away’ part…” He looked downward and shook his head.The two of them spent some minutes catching themselves and gathering their askew thoughts. Then, while Chanyeol stretched his arms and held his eyes in an awkward half lidded way, Jongdae looked to the sky and then over to Chanyeol and asked, “What was that thing anyway?”“I’m not sure,” Chanyeol plainly replied. His arms dropped at his sides and he let out a loud breath of air. He knew that the beast that followed them had something to do with someone he knew from when he was nine years old, but in order to complete his thoughts on that subject, Chanyeol figured he’d have to go back to a place he hadn’t visited in twelve years. Chanyeol turned his head toward Jongdae who was emptily looking around, not particularly focusing on anything. “Jongdae,” Chanyeol firmly said, causing his friend to look at him. Chanyeol slipped his hand in his pocket and fingered the compass-like item within it.“What?” Jongdae asked. He cocked his lips and sounded slightly irritated.Chanyeol breathed in slowly and grabbed his compass between his forefinger and middle finger. “I have somewhere to go,” he said.Jongdae’s head tilted at his friend’s sudden seriousness. “What was that?”Just then, Chanyeol lifted his compass—he himself made—from his pocket and held it above him. “See you later!” he yelled as his voice began to fade and a wind swirled around him and Jongdae, making his curly, messy hair whip here and there.“Chanyeol?” Jongdae gasped as he shielded his eyes from the wind that was so strong that it stung. As the wind passed, allowing Jongdae to lower his arm and actually widen his eyes, he noticed that Chanyeol was gone. “Just what in the hell is that guy up to now?” he grumbled, scratching the back of his head. Instead of dwelling on it and possibly feeling considerate, Jongdae just shrugged and began to walk away. He felt hungry all of a sudden, so he decided he might as well get himself something good to eat. Since Chanyeol had just up and left, Jongdae saw it as a plus because now he would only have to pay for his own food. He was tight on funds, anyway.A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! I've been on break and I've been doing... other things...Well, I hope you like this chapter ^_^Leeteuk is my ultimate bias, by the way <3Also, if you like my writing, maybe you will like my art! Here is a link to my Instagram where I post pictures of only my art work. Follow if you like:instagram.com/nyree_art