Euthymia

Vertigo

Chanyeol returns by late afternoon. Hours of wandering the streets, driving through the hills, burning gas and getting caught in the rain. He never went to the store. They don't really care about the table. Sehun wanted him gone. Baekhyun needed a break. He didn't mind a couple hours on his motorcycle.

Then the rain came down and he decided he should go back. He should be watching over the house, sitting beside the sniper rifle, putting his feelings aside and doing his job. Regardless of where he stands with Baekhyun, he needs to keep him safe. There's a glaring target on his back and Chanyeol's absence leaves him vulnerable to Itaewon's aim. They must've replaced him with some new hitman by now.

He motors down the winding road cutting through the hills, the face shield of his helmet blurry with misty rain. He drives slowly, careful not to slip, careful not to get back to the house too soon so he can avoid Sehun a little longer. Water pitter-patters atop his head, filling his ears with a muffled rhythm that falls to the back of his mind like white noise. When he nears the beach, the smells of petrichor, sea salt, and flowers become more pungent.

He parks the motorcycle at a distance, the house in sight but not close enough for Sehun or Baekhyun to peek out a window and see him. He removes his helmet, letting the rain soak his hair, drip down his leather jacket, wash the wishful thinking and the stupidity out of his head. That subtle scent of sugar and butter wafts past his nose and he knows Baekhyun is near, he's downstairs, he's probably avoiding Sehun too. Chanyeol wants nothing more than to run into that house, scoop him up in his arms, and run off with his soulmate like Sehun never existed. But that one ring – that one obligation – weighs Baekhyun down to a life of misery that he's too deep in to walk away from so easily.

There must be some feelings involved – some phantom of love that haunts Baekhyun, floats over his head, lingers in his heart. Something existed between him and Sehun once upon a time. Something real, something true. Maybe romantic, mostly platonic, but real. No matter how far they stray from happiness, Baekhyun will always keep a place open in his heart for Sehun and Chanyeol needs to stop deluding himself into thinking he can make that place vacant for himself. He'll have to find his own spot. Baekhyun isn't making it easy.

He sets the helmet on the seat of the bike and ambles towards the front steps, wind pushing him around and rain trying to drown him. He finally spots the two of them through the window – Sehun on the couch and Baekhyun slaving over a pot in the kitchen. Baekhyun has his back to the window, head down. Sehun isn't smiling and he isn't watching TV, just staring. Something must've happened. Chanyeol smells lilies.

But it's not the only flower he detects. He pauses at the door, hand hovering over the handle, one step away from entering the house and causing a ruckus again. Not just lilies. Hydrangeas. A perfumy, toxic smell. An earthy masculine smell and flowery feminine smell. Something dangerous and familiar. He's smelled this scent before, but he can't remember where.

He backs away from the door, his hand retreating, and watches the beach over his shoulder. No one in sight. The rain dims his senses. He walks down two steps, moves his head from one side to the other, and reaches for his gun.

Then a little ping sounds and a blur of spindly metal flashes at the corner of his eye. He hears the thump and splintering of wood behind him, some collision with the front door, but doesn't turn around. His cheek burns. He reaches up and touches his fingertips to the sting under his eye. A clean, paper-thin gash raining blood. Precisely missing his eye. Hydrangeas. He remembers now.

Spinning on his heels, he leaps up the steps and throws the front door open before slamming it behind him. He doesn't miss the dart lodged in the wood on his way in.