The Names I Call Chanyeol || Chanbaek

Dumbo

Song to listen to when reading this chapter: Rainy Day by Morrie

When a kid is five years old, they don't care about much other than snacks, toys, getting attention and friends.

For four year-old Baekhyun, all of the above was true. He lived off of graham bears and grape juice and never let his little hands let go of his favourite transformer toy. He was the master at cheeky smiles and never failed to get his father's attention with his puppy-dog eyes. The only thing he was missing from the perfect little-kid formula, was a best friend.

He was an only kid, born into a house where his parents were usually busy and the house was always too silent for his liking. He wished he had a brother, or even a sister to spend time with rather than wallow in his loneliness. The worst part was, up until then, the neighbourhood didn't even have any children living nearby.

That's why, when the new kid moved in down the street, he went sprinting towards the moving van with two boxes of grape juice and mismatched sandals. He ran incredibly fast for a kid as short as he was, and although he managed to trip over a couple of bricks on the way, he was unfazed. Baekhyun was too happy to be tired.

The first person he met was the kid's mother. She was tall, and dressed in what Baekhyun's childish mind described as: Easter colours. He didn't remember much about her, but he did remember that she had called him too cute. He took that comment to heart.

With the absence of his mother, Baekhyun introduced himself and then was swept away to meet the two kids who would hopefully be cool enough to become his best friends. Along the way, he met their father and found a collection of books that he didn't care about - because he couldn't read yet. Baekhyun was also stopped in front of boxes marked with a name scribbled in unpracticed handwriting and had an urge to rummage through its contents because at first glance, he could make out the hand of a superhero action figure that his older cousin owned.

Before he could take action, two kids around his age were shoved into his line of sight.

One of them, was a taller girl who had her hair clipped short and who wore an overly bright, pink shirt under a pair of jean overalls; while the other was a small boy. The only words that came to mind when Baekhyun saw him were: garden gnome.

He was too short, his cheeks were what could only be described as dumplings, his eyes were too wide, and his ears were too big.

The excitement Baekhyun had originally felt dissolved almost immediately after laying eyes on the boy who was apparently born in the same year as him. He had wanted a cool friend and was instead given a steamed pork dumpling.

"Park Yura," the girl had said while Baekhyun had been staring solemnly at her younger brother. He didn't really register her name because the boy spoke up as soon as she had finished.

"Park Chanyeol," he said with a dimpled grin.

Except, to Baekhyun, it sounded like a baby mouse had shouted: "Park Shanyeol."

"Shanyeol?" Baekhyun asked, hoping to clarify because he couldn't be sure with the way Chanyeol had said it. His voice was strangely high-pitched and Baekhyun didn't like it at all.

The siblings' mother laughed from behind him and he knew he had heard wrong.

"No, Chanyeol," Chanyeol corrected.

But Baekhyun still heard Shanyeol.

"You're saying Shanyeol."

"No, I'm saying Shanyeol."