//

the sky.

deep. vast. unmoving, aside from the trillions of sparkling dots littering its expanse, that shone repeatedly and dazzled for miles. cornered the edges of vision. forces of power urged these elements together.

were one.

like magnets: attracting.

breathing. reproducing and coming alive. cells being fused together; forming a new configuration of material. static fission.

the colour red. it forced a scarlet invasion of masses, crashing into one another and causing a big bang. embracing hearts. a division of cells, now. breaking into separate parts.

he swore he could hear it.

please. no.

heart stopped. and started. and stopped.

the sun.

obliterating the expanse of nothing into nothing but a shining visualisation of brightness. blinding. juxtaposition between the black sky and the dangerous, yellow rays.

division.

split.

a giant, thunderous cracking sound.

filling every breathable space in the atmosphere.

tornado of debris and nothing.

two suns. look alike. a creation of two new worlds, perhaps. so big, so expansive--but he felt so insignificant and emotional in comparison.

see the same sky but stand on different grounds.

he reached out his fingers. like water, his hand motioned against the black, the liquid slipping in between his digits, against his will. eyes wide shut. wanted to force his mind over his body. no. no, no, no. it was just nature.

the sky was a nightmare. a kaleidoscope of fear; divergent colours were visible. contrasts. nothing could be done; only that they were now united.

a potency--a dark and tangible strength--which pushed its way into their bodies, exerting the forms of struggling divisions backwards. born cells: intrusion of new life.

not a single fault; a desired and concocted perfection that required poisoning of the veins and arteries. flowing. deep red and flowing, flooding into every available space within. wound its path around the centres--the pumping hearts--now, surrounded in a prison. no escape. incarceration.

no escape.

the phrase was yelled out.

sun shone, blinded the eyes of on-looking masses, but it was colder than the deepest depths of the formidable oceans. the freezing temperatures encapsulated each formation. trapping them, again. hidden within the darkness.

and, then. fire.

he reached his hand out again; like elevating a heavy weight, fracturing his bones. forming his insides. wanted to touch the red colour that circulated before him. it looked appealing, hypnotising his actions. bad move: his hand burned, transformed a deeper shade of crimson.

screamed out in agony.

made eye contact with the other force: saw the desperation in the deep profundity of his flaming irises.

one.

red sun.

red forces.

burning and blinding and damaging their bodies. infusing and generating.

too bright for him; so bright, blazing. too much to handle.

cold. heat. life.

red.

another cracking sound. like a definitive denouement to something that was just beginning. felt himself being flung forward. all of them travelling in opposite directions.

end of an era.

hurtling through space and time and all dimensions.

landed with a thud.

then,

darkness.

and,

a blank canvas of nothing.

black closed in around his visibility.

light gone.

//

Seoul. 16:10.

january 30th 2012.

a pleasant phase of sky had welcomed the modern city, despite the wintery month bringing near-freezing temperatures and heavy, white snow that came up to your knees. the sky's milky complexion of pale, timid hues allowed the sun, hanging low in the sky, to settle amongst the plentiful clouds.

it was cold. very cold. the kind of cold that made your lips dry and chapped, and that possessed a wind which cut past your exposed skin and chilled you down to your bones. the kind that turned your cheeks a cherry-red and made you wrap your coat tightly around you.

baekhyun almost slipped as he rounded a corner, the ice on the ground almost knocking him over. he managed to grip hold of the wall adjacent to his fumbling stance, keeping him upright. he subconsciously looked around him, glad that no-one saw.

his jacket was nowhere near warm enough. baekhyun shoved his hands into his pockets, zipping his jacket up to the top. skin felt frozen; the sharpness of the january gales hit his face like hundreds of small knives.

trainers scraped across the concrete ground. his steps were very careful not to fall again.

he sighed deeply, his breath fogging against the blue air.

baekhyun was tired from studying all day. exhausted, really, his eyelids drooping, the cold only accentuating his over-worked attitude. he'd just left his final lecture, his notes an incomprehensible mess as he hadn't been paying attention properly. fuck, he thought to himself. he needed to pass his next exam otherwise he'd be in so much trouble.

brought back to reality by his phone vibrating loudly in his jacket pocket. scared him momentarily. he stopped at the traffic lights, the crossroads busy with cars rushing, all of them driving slightly slower to avoid accidents.

he pulled out his phone.

it was from junmyeon.

baekhyun held it up to his hear, his breath bated.

"um, hey," he greeted, finding it difficult to mask his fatigue with a cheerful façade.

"hey, baekhyun," junmyeon replied, pausing slightly. the only sound being baekhyun's laden breathing. baekhyun could feel his worry transmitting through the receiver. "hey, are you okay?"

baekhyun gulped. yawned quietly.

"oh, um, yeah. yeah, i'm good. just had loads of work and shit to do today, that's all," he answered back. it kind of wasn't all, but baekhyun didn't particularly feel like going into detail.

"ah, right. yeah, me too," junmyeon said. another slight, weighted pause. "are you still planning on coming out tonight, though?"

"oh, that," baekhyun remembered, silently cursing to himself. baekhyun was never one to turn down going out, but he really wasn't feeling it tonight. felt like a giant and unavoidable weight was resting on his shoulders.

"can you make it?" junmyeon repeated, signalling that baekhyun just hadn't replied. "jongin might not forgive you," he added jokingly, stifling a chuckle.

"i'm not sure. i said i'd spend time with soojung." part-truth, part-lie.

"but we haven't been out in so long, come on. i'm sure soojung won't mind, she seemed pretty chill last time. bring her along if not."

he wanted to tell him, actually, how furious she'd been.

it wasn't that baekhyun didn't want to spend time with his friends. he just felt drained of energy; didn't feel like starting a pointless argument with her. he could picture it now, her narrowing her sharp, dagger-like stare at him, zeroing in on him, making him feel weak and helpless. and she'd cross her arms over her chest and say something like, 'it's up to you', when it was never up to him

her dark eyes practically killed him inside.

"uh, okay. i mean, i'll see, if that's alright with you guys. i'll try and come. will you be in the usual place?" baekhyun said, coming up with the easiest response he could think of.

"okay, that's cool," junmyeon said. "let us know, yeah?"

"yeah, yeah, will do," baekhyun smiled down the phone, feeling bad for being such a shit, unreliable friend. "i'll text you."

he ended the call. crossed the road, shoving his hands back into his pockets. so cold. at least his dorm wasn't far. didn't want to think of conversations he'd have to have later.

his room was as messy as he'd left it in the morning, papers strewn across his desk, bed unmade, clothes sitting in dirty piles on his carpet. he was just grateful for the sheltered warmth from the outside world.

baekhyun checked his phone; he'd already received three texts from jongin demanding to know why he wasn't coming out. he groaned, throwing his phone onto his bed. his back and neck muscles ached. he took his clothes off. went to have a much-needed hot shower. ignored responsibilities for five minutes.

once he was out--a warm sweater on and a cup of tea made--he sat down on his bed and called soojung. he held his breath in his throat. prepared himself mentally for her mind games.

"hey," her soft and girly voice replied down the phone. he hadn't seen her in a couple of days now, their last interaction being an awkward dinner in which she blamed him for not spending enough time with her.

"hey, soojung," he said, putting on the cheeriest voice he could muster, "listen, um, some of the boys are going out tonight, the usual place. i was, um, wondering if you wanted to come with me?"

held his breath.

"um," she started. he could feel her tapping her foot; sense her trying to come up with a valid excuse. "what, not just you and me?"

"well," baekhyun began, "um, i mean, they'll be there and i'll just say hi, but then we can go somewhere else. i-if you wanted."

she hesitated.

"um, okay. actually, yeah. some of my friends are going out tonight, too, to the same place. so, we can just meet afterwards, yeah? i'll call you, yeah?"

"oh, right. yeah, sounds good," baekhyun agreed quickly, slightly flustered by how nice she was being about it. didn't want to mess her good mood up. "see you around eight?"

"yeah, babe, see you then," she said happily, "love you, bye."

"love you, too," he replied automatically.

she cut the line off.

baekhyun felt pleasantly surprised. he sipped his hot drink, feeling reposed and at ease. maybe they had just hit a rough patch. maybe things were going to be okay.

he smiled to himself encouragingly.

it was going to be alright.

baekhyun felt the ice-cold wind pick up, whistling around his small room.

he got out his books and tried to distract his mind.

//

19:55.

the bar was busy. loud chatter and happy noise emanated from within as baekhyun walked in, met with people drinking and having a good time. he brushed off the layer of frost that had collected on his shoulders, shrugging his jacket off and running a hand through his damp hair.

baekhyun recognised a few of his fellow students, waving politely at them as he searched the pub for his group. a few already-drunk girls bumped into him, saying sorry in an abrupt and annoying manner.

he managed to locate them, noticing sehun's tall stance, towering over the table. faked a playful grin. kai saw him first, immediately standing up and almost knocking over some of the glasses. baekhyun motioned for him to quieten down.

"baekhyun!" he sang out, pushing his way towards him and wrapping his arms around him. baekhyun patted his back, laughing at kai's antics. the others soon realised, too. an eruption of cheers sounded from the table. baekhyun felt happy for a split-second.

"so glad you could make it," junmyeon said, pulling up one of the chairs for him.

"yeah, thought you were going to bail on us, like minseok," jongdae added, grinning from ear to ear.

"minseok's not here?" baekhyun asked, gratefully sitting down on the stool.

"yeah, we don't know where he is. just said he couldn't make it," chanyeol contributed, patting baekhyun on the shoulder.

everyone was here, apart from minseok. kai, sehun, junmyeon, chanyeol, jondae, yixing, kyungsoo.

"let's get baekhyun a drink," kai announced excitedly.

"oh, wait, i said i'd meet soojung later, so i might have to go and come back," baekhyun said.

kai looked offended.

"no, it's just us guys tonight, i thought," he frowned. "she's been such a bitch recently, anyway, just dump her, man," kai added, downing the remains of his drink. baekhyun noted the tipsy slur in his words. something he normally wouldn't ever comment on in front of baekhyun.

junmyeon glared at him, signalling to not go there.

baekhyun flinched.

"she said she'll be here, so i'll go have a look. but i'll be back, promise," baekhyun said, putting on a grinning expression. he fist-bumped kai as a promise that he'd return.

junmyeon beamed kindly. their conversation returned.

baekhyun weaved his way through the crowds of students, his smiling expression fading from his lips. he knew the spot where soojung and her friends normally sat. so many people. could barely even breathe.

he saw a clearing.

all the lights shut off. aside from the yellow glow coming from right in front of him.

his mouth hung open.

soojung was here. but with someone else.

baekhyun couldn't believe what he was seeing. soojung's long, black hair cascaded down her back, her short, strapless dress, her legs crossed, stilettos resting over the other guy's feet. their heads close. his hand was on her bare thigh. she was laughing lightly, biting her lip. he was grinning, too.

the room was spinning.

their lips touched. soojung's hand on his neck, his hand travelling further up her black dress. the dim lighting coveted their interaction.

baekhyun felt his heart breaking. he was dizzy; couldn't see. couldn't breathe. needed some fresh air.

she was still making out the stranger.

baekhyun turned. bumped into kai who looked on his way to the bar. kai looked at him. he'd seen. kai had a pained expression on his face, as if trying to apologise for something that was out of his control.

he blinked back the heartbreak. ran past kai who attempted to stop him.

it was dark and so, so cold outside. didn't care. baekhyun rested his hands on his thighs, hyperventilating. didn't know why. he felt alive, all of a sudden. like, on fire. insides burning, his brain fucking with his thoughts. like it was on speed, or something.

unbearable. he yelled out, in anger, in fury, in pain. couldn't see. couldn't do anything to stop this.

felt his body freezing over. every cell shutting down slowly: one by one.

the lights flashed on and off. the street lamp's ignition exploded, shattering a million shards of orange embers on the pavement. ice worked its way over the pavements, covering each slab.

lights.

darkness. then, bright white.

he screamed out, again. his heart felt trapped in a cage of destruction. baekhyun fell to the floor. hands pressed firmly to the ground.

"baekhyun."

looked up. minseok was on the ground, in front of him, the fear and confusion mirrored in the reflection of his glassy eyes.

the ground shook. the lightning struck. the wind howled.

his heart burned fiercely in his chest.

one second he could see, the next his vision was plummeted into a pitch-black darkness.

"baekhyun, what's happening?"

fear. lips quivered severely, their hands clawed to the earth.

the sky and the sun.

baekhyun forced his gaze upwards.

the others were there, too. the same panic of the foreseeable future locked in their petrified orbs.

new moon; passed between the earth and the glaring star of the sun. dazzling rays blocked: no light could escape. trapped forever. a dark shadow was cast upon their frozen figures, huddled together.

eyes burned, but he forced them to acknowledge the expanse of the sky, alight with dancing flames and diamonds.

sun was black, rimmed by a fringe of deep amber, pulsating like a heartbeat. giving them purpose. black, orange, black. a pattern. his inner-body caved in.

solar eclipse.

meant something.

his heart ached.

the lights changed frantically. the darkness followed him into oblivion.

one, two, three.

flex.

he collapsed.

//