Destined

Tears.

It wasn't a surprise to say that Baekhyun was overwhelmed with emotions as he took off running towards his mother who dropped the door handle to meet him half-way, their bodies crashing together in jumbled limbs and broken sobs. She was exactly as he had remembered, roughly his height (still shorter) brown hair and eyes and smelling of citrus. He engulfed her in his embrace, lifting her from the ground to spin her around before placing her back down when she giggled ever so softly into his ear.

"My boy.." she cried, running her nimble fingers through his neck hair. "you have grown so much let me look at you." Baekhyun couldn't stop the smile from pulling on his lips as he stepped backwards just enough to be able to keep her in his arms, his mother smiling as she drank in his sight. "Come, there are still a couple more people you should meet!" He pushed his arm out and laughed when his mother jumped to enclose her hand with his, she patted his shoulder before leading him into the cottage.

The bright light stunned him for a moment but he was able to handle it when his eyes adjusted, his breathing catching in his throat at the room filled with people all of which were ready to begin crying at the sight of him. The cottage had an open floor plan so there were no walls to separate the living room from the kitchen, he could feel the heat from the heart in the living room where two women sat on the couch holding one another, their hands by their lips as they watched him walk through the door. A man was standing by the kitchen sink, a proud smile on his lips and a cup of tea in his hands while another was sitting at the table in the middle, holding on tight to another man's shoulder. They looked somewhat familiar but for now his eyes were trained on the man who was ever so close to crying, he dropped his mother's hand and rushed to his side, the tears dripping down his cheeks now. "Dad!"

"Baekhyun." The man's voice was raw from the tears in his eyes but his grip on his son did not loosen up, he held on tight to his son who began sobbing into his chest like he had done with his mother minutes ago. "Oh Baek you really have made me a proud man."

"I'm so sorry." he cried, clutching his father's jumper tighter. His hands forming fists, never wanting to let go. "I'm so sorry for everything, I didn't mean to kill you I swear that I didn't -"

"We know sweetheart," his mother whispered from behind him, hugging him from behind so that he was enclosed by both of them. Baekhyun reached an arm around himself to include her in the embrace, her little giggle making his heart melt. "we know that you had no control over your actions. We don't blame you for what happened."

"I do."

"We know you do, that's why your first life has brought you to us so we can tell you ourselves that we don't hate you for what you did. We knew that Daehyun had a hold on your mind, we knew that he was corrupting you baby. Our death is not your fault."

"I'm so happy to see you both again." he sniffled, pulling away and stepping to the side so he could see them both properly. His mother had both of her hands resting against her chest while his father had a hand around her waist, even though they had their rough parts in their relationship Baekhyun never once doubted the love they had for each other.

A gentle sob from the couch had him turning back to see the two women, one was attempting to comfort the other but it appeared that she was too upset to even allow herself to be embraced. Baekhyun didn't recognize her, he looked at her dark hair and her red-rimmed eyes but nothing was ringing a bell. He then turned to her clothing, a simple but elegant white dress sat on her shoulders draping down to her knees were it bent and cascaded down to the ground covering her feet. Baekhyun was suddenly reminded of the lilies that were planted just outside the cottage, his chest heaving as his legs buckled out from under him. He crawled across the floor, his hands reaching out to touch the cheek of the crying woman who looked up at him through her tearful eyes.