the boy next door » baekhyun

xxi

note: go ahead and listen to your favourite sad song to get into the mood. please, just.. prepare yourselves. some tissues, maybe?

—-

LEE HA-YI • I

"Ha-yi.." a voice echoed.

My eyes flickered open, and I found myself standing in a completely white space, with nothing surrounding me. The emptiness was blinding.

"See you next time," the voice continued to speak in a soothing voice. I looked around me, seeing nothing but white. But then a vague silhouette of a person came into view. It approached me, step by step.

"Hello?" I called out to the figure, it just kept on walking towards me.

Once it reached where I was standing, I noticed that it was a man, but his face was completely blurred from my vision.

"It'll all be okay.." the man whispered.

Wait.. it sounded like Baekhyun.

"Baekhyun? Baek!" I called out to the person, before he melted away in front of my eyes, and everything went black.

I shot up abruptly from my bed, panting heavily, feeling drops of sweat form at my hairline. I placed my palm onto my warm forehead, and caught my breath.

It was just a dream.

I checked the time on my phone. 3:23 AM. Wow, fancy having a nightmare at this time?

I lay back down onto my pillow and snuggled up into my sheets, my hands clenching the hem of Baekhyun's hoodie that I was still wearing. But for some reason, he wouldn't leave my mind, and it made it harder for me to fall back asleep.

—-

When I woke up in the morning I felt extremely bored. I mean, it was a Saturday, so there was no school for me to kill time with. I couldn't visit Baekhyun in the day as his parents and brother came at that time.

Around noon, Chanyeol called me and told me to meet him in our neighbourhood's park. Within 10 minutes, I had reached the playground in the park, and spotted him sitting on a bench with something in his hand.

When he noticed my presence, he stood up and gave me a lopsided smile. "Hey Ha-yi."

"Hi Channie," I smiled back, "what's that?" I pointed at the purple box in his hands.

He held it out towards me. "A gift. It's from Baekhyun."

My eyes instantly widened, and I took it from his hands. "What is it?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. He told me not to open it, as it's only for you, Ha-yi."

"Okay.." I nodded. "I'll see you tonight at the hospital, then?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Bye," I waved to Chanyeol.

"See you, Ha-yi!" He grinned as I walked away.

Once I got home, I instantly ran upstairs into my bedroom, shutting the door behind me.

I sat cross-legged on the floor, letting my back lean against the side of my bed, and I placed the box down in front of me.

I wonder what's inside this...

I lifted the lid off the bottom part of the box, and the first thing I saw was an adorable stuffed-toy owl. I took it out, and spotted a gift tag tied around its foot.