Ashore (5/5)
pairing: chanbaek
rating: pg-13
summary: Chanyeol is saved by a man from the sea.
warnings: romance, fluff, slight!angst, siren!au, pirate!au
The men are roaring at the dinner table over another amazing meal delivered by the cooks and plenty of rum. Baekhyun only eats his share before retiring out to the deck. It’s evening and the sky is dark, only illuminated by the light of the moon and the hundreds of twinkling stars. No one else is there, and he’s alone. He wishes for Chanyeol, but the captain didn’t want to be disturbed as he sorted out pirate things with Junmyeon. The latter had come back, but Baekhyun figures that Chanyeol is still busy.
Leaning against the railing of the ship, he listens quietly to the sounds of the ocean and feels the sea breeze kissing his skin. He does miss it - the sea. Baekhyun misses swimming with the marine life, and he misses his people, but it isn’t enough to keep him from Chanyeol or The Phoenix. He knows it’s inevitable that eventually he’ll be found out as a fraud, but he hopes that comes before he’s found. Mother does not take kindly for her children to wander away, and he’s been gone for far too long.
The sound of splashing in the water catches his attention, and Baekhyun blinks and leans over to see white clashing against the dark sea - a humanoid form and a scaled tail. His eyes widen, and he stops breathing as Sehun breaches the surface, eyes meeting Baekhyun’s from far below.
“So this is where you’ve been,” Sehun calls with narrowed eyes, and Baekhyun flinches. “I knew you were too obsessed with those humans. Now you've joined them?”
“It's not like that! I just-I like-”
“That man you spared,” Sehun finishes for him. His hand skids across the water as he lashes his arm out in anger. “You’re in love with him? A human? Have you lost your goddamned mind? You don’t belong there!”
Baekhyun’s fingers dig into the wood of the railing, anger building in his chest. He knows Sehun’s right, but he doesn’t want to admit it. “You don’t know anything!”
“Maybe I don’t,” the blond siren gives a splash of his tail as he turns around, “but Mother will know. She’ll know everything.”
Baekhyun sucks in a quick breath of fear. “Se-!” He can hardly say the other man’s name before he disappears beneath the water. His hands tremble as he realizes the weight of Sehun’s words. He’s going to tell Mother, the queen of all of the sirens. She will end Baekhyun now that she knows where he is - and maybe Chanyeol too. She has the power to cause tsunamis and destroy all land and could drown the entire ship with just a flick of her wrist.
He needs to tell Chanyeol. He needs to warn him...but he can’t. That would mean explaining himself, and Baekhyun could never do that. He’s too afraid that Chanyeol will reject him once he knows the truth.
Letting out a shaky sigh, Baekhyun yanks at his own hair, jostling the two pins still resting there and keeping the hair out of his face. He has to keep quiet for now and hope that Sehun was lying about telling Mother. Baekhyun gathers his stressed emotions and makes his way towards Chanyeol’s quarters in hopes that he can steal some sort of comfort. He ends up passing by Zitao, who gives him a sort of snarky smile instead of the usual glare.
Baekhyun is confused but opens the door to Chanyeol’s cabin. “Chanyeol?” he smiles as he steps inside, seeing the young captain sitting on the edge of his bed. Crossing the distance across the creaky wooden flooring, Baekhyun sits beside him, touching shoulders. “What are you do-”
“Why did you lie to me?” Chanyeol interrupts him, not turning to look at him, eyes focused on the floor.
“Lie to you? Chanyeol, what...?” Baekhyun startles as a hand latches onto his wrist, and Chanyeol finally looks at him with fury and betrayal in his brown eyes.
“You’re one of them, aren’t you? You’re a siren, and that’s why you know so much about them!” the captain’s voice raises to nearly a shout, and Baekhyun’s shrinks away. His head lowers in shame, and his heart beats loudly in his chest, wrist trembling as he realizes that Chanyeol knows. That’s why Zitao was smiling and why he was near Chanyeol’s room. He told him.
“Chanyeol, it’s not like that!” Baekhyun replies quickly, shaking off Chanyeol’s grip and standing up, trying to mend the situation.
“What’s it like then, huh? You come in with a lie and seduce me in hoping that you can trick me into - into loving you! And then when I start to believe it, you’re gonna drag me down too?” Chanyeol’s eyes are glassy and he looks hurt and infuriated all the same. His fists clench at his sides and shake.
“The only lie I told you was my past and who I am! Yes, I’m one of them! I’ve dragged down tons of men and women to their deaths, but I wouldn’t dare do that to you. I mean, I was the one who…” Baekhyun’s voice breaks, and he bites his lip. Moving towards the desk, he yanks Chanyeol’s coat off of the chair and digs into one of the inner pockets, retrieving that smooth white sand dollar. “I was the one who gave you this. I didn’t know why at the time, but I dragged you out of the water and swam all the way to the shore. I ripped your shirt, and I took the water out of your lungs. It was me, and all of this was for you!”
The captain falls silent. He would demand for proof, but the fact that he knew Chanyeol’s shirt was ripped was proof enough. He never told him that. Looking into Baekhyun’s eyes, he sees nothing but truth and pleading. “You’re telling the truth?” he asks in a quiet murmur, moving towards the siren and gently taking the sand dollar from him.
“I have nothing to lie about now, do I?” Baekhyun gives a small smile. “I’m not here to hurt you or anyone. I’ve felt more alive on this ship with you and everyone else than ever before. I wish I could stay here forever.”
“You mean that?” All of Chanyeol’s insecurities melt away when Baekhyun nods, and he places the sand dollar on the bed before taking the shorter man into his arms. Baekhyun buries his face in Chanyeol’s neck and sighs at the comfort in his embrace. And it’s then that he remembers Sehun and the impending arrival of Mother.
With a gasp, Baekhyun pulls away. “Chanyeol, my mother she’s-!”
A crack of lightning and a groan of thunder has them both jumping. Rain begins to pour from the sky and pelt loudly against the deck and window. It’s so instantaneous that they barely have time to hold onto the bolted-down bed frame as the ship rocks at a dramatic angle.
“What the hell?” Chanyeol curses, trying to maintain balance on the rocking ship long enough to grab his coat, stuffing the sand dollar in it for good measure.
“She’s here. Mother is here,” Baekhyun breathes out frightfully. “They’re here for me, Chanyeol.”
“For you?” he turns to him in surprise. “The sirens?”
“Yes, they found out where I am, and now they’re here to punish me and take me back,” he says quietly with slumped shoulder. Baekhyun can already hear the shouts of men against the roar of the ocean and the storm. “We’re not allowed to leave home and meddle with humans.”
“Well then we’ll just make them go away like before,” Chanyeol replies confidently, taking Baekhyun by the hand and leading him towards the door.
“No, Chanyeol, we can’t! This is Mother, and you can’t go against her!” he argues, trying to rip his hand out of the other man’s grasp. His words fall on deaf ears and the door to the deck is thrust open and water instantly pelts them. The wind is strong, and Baekhyun struggles to see against the rain, holding onto Chanyeol’s hand to stay put as the ship rocks back and forth against the angry waves. Yet he manages to get one look at the sea beyond the ship and gapes.
“Chanyeol...look…”
Swarms of sirens surround the ship with their angelic faces and melodic tunes. More than ever before push and shove at the massive ship and call Chanyeol’s men slowly below. Only Zitao is immune somehow as he gathers Minseok and Junmyeon in his hold, even Chanyeol is finding it hard to focus with all the voices calling to him. But Baekhyun tightens his grip to remind him he’s there.
The siren can feel all of his brothers’ and sisters’ glares and hear the aggravation in their songs. But he can feel something else more than anything. Mother is lurking somewhere beneath the water, and it terrifies him.
And then she appears.
A massive black tail, the size of a blue whale’s, appears out of the water, slapping the surface and sending huge waves. Chanyeol almost thinks it’s a whale until a woman the size of a giant appears above the water, long black hair framing her stunningly beautiful face. She renders everyone, including the sirens, silent, and Chanyeol can feel Baekhyun tremble against him. This must be Mother.
“Baekhyun,” she speaks, loudly and clearly over the storm. Personally, he’s hardly ever seen Mother in person. She never mothers them herself, so Baekhyun was raised by older sirens around him. Hearing his own name come from her lips chills him to the bone. “How dare you use the magic I gifted you with to become a traitor? You sided with these humans to push away your own brethren!”
“It was not my intention, Mother! I would never purposefully betray you or anyone. I only left because I feel like I belong here. I love this man, Mother,” Baekhyun says, squeezing Chanyeol’s hand once for emphasis.
“Impossible. You must have lost your mind on this little adventure of yours.” Mother scoffs. “Come now or I will destroy these men and their tiny ship.”
Chanyeol thrashes out and opens his mouth, but Baekhyun stops him with a hand to his chest. He stops and looks down at the shorter man with confusion in his eyes. The siren only smiles at him sadly with tear-filled metallic eyes.
“No, Baekhyun, no,” Chanyeol pleads once he understands, and the other man lets go of his hand. “You can’t-we can still…”
“I have to go, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun murmurs softly, trying to soothe the suddenly distraught pirate. Standing on the tips of his toes he gives him a lasting kiss on the lips and feels Chanyeol touch the pins in his hair one last time. “I’m sorry.”
“Will I see you again?”
Baekhyun just smiles at him before letting go. Chanyeol isn’t sure if the water on his face is rain or tears as he watches Baekhyun dive into the ocean becoming his true self as his clothes disappear and a black tail splashes in the water. He doesn’t resurface.
“I am taking away Baekhyun’s magic,” Mother speaks to Chanyeol, Zitao, and the remaining members of the ship. “He will not be able to meet you on land ever again. I will spare you for now, humans.”
With that, all of the sirens retreat, and Mother leaves with one splash of her huge tail. Chanyeol collapses to his knees on the deck of The Phoenix, holding on to the lingering last moments with his love.
“Got anything for me today, Mr. Park?”
Chanyeol looks up as he hangs the ‘CLOSED’ sign on the door of the bakery and locks up. “No, not today, Mrs. Choi,” he smiles brightly at the older woman. “We completely sold out of bread today.”
“Ah, it’s no problem. I was just on my way home anyways,” she replies with a laugh, her breath showing in the winter air.
“Have you seen Yerim?” he asks before she starts to walk off. “I sent her off to buy apples from Ms. Kim, but she hasn’t come back.” Chanyeol isn’t too worried as his daughter has been known to wander off and come back before it gets too dark.
“Ah, I think I saw her by the shore earlier with a bag full of apples. Such a smart girl you have, Mr. Park.”
“Well, I’ve raised her myself all these years,” Chanyeol bows in thanks. “See you tomorrow, Mrs. Choi. Thank you.”
It’s been eight years since Chanyeol gave up his life on the sea. After what happened, he could only take two more years before he gave the ship to Junmyeon and settled down up in the North. There he started a normal life in a port town, becoming an apprentice to the local baker, even at his age. Somehow, he managed to fall in love again with a woman named Sooyoung, only to lose her as she gave birth to their little girl, Yerim. It broke his heart for the second time, but he’s done his best to pick up the pieces again and raise Yerim on his own. Now she’s a bright five year old and is his entire world.
He tries not to think about Baekhyun anymore, especially now that his wife is gone. Chanyeol tries not to remember his bright smiles, his twinkling eyes, or his voice as he sang. He tries not to recall the soft skin beneath his fingertips or the pretty lips pressed against his own, or even the last kiss. But most nights he finds himself lying in bed and being unable to sleep because he remembers too much from that summer ten years ago.
“Papa!”
Chanyeol turns around to see his little girl running towards him, her blue dress and white coat fluttering as her shoes tap against the cobblestone roads. It’s cute as she puffs out air, carrying the heavy bag of apples. With a bright smile, he bends down and opens his arms as Yerim runs into them.
“Hey, baby,” he kisses her chubby cheek. “Where have you been?”
“I went to the beach, Papa!” Yerim answers cheerily as he takes her hand and starts to continue walking back to their home.
“Did you?”
“Yeah, and I met a mermaid! He was singing and sounded so lonely, so I went and kept him company,” she says, and Chanyeol laughs. Yerim is always making up little stories about monsters under her bed and fairies, so this doesn’t surprise him at all.
“That’s a merman, honey, not a maid,” he corrects.
“He gave me a pretty shell, and he said that I’m the prettiest girl he’s ever seen,” Yerim continues to babble. “He said he knew you, Papa. Do you know any mermaids?”
Chanyeol’s heart pauses, and the man stops walking, looking down at his daughter in surprise. It couldn’t be. “Did he have a name, Yeri?”
“Ah, he did!” She looks up at him with the brightest smile, and the setting sun glints off of a silver hairpin tucked into her hair that Chanyeol can’t recall was there before. “His name is Baekhyun, Papa!”
rating: pg-13
summary: Chanyeol is saved by a man from the sea.
warnings: romance, fluff, slight!angst, siren!au, pirate!au
The men are roaring at the dinner table over another amazing meal delivered by the cooks and plenty of rum. Baekhyun only eats his share before retiring out to the deck. It’s evening and the sky is dark, only illuminated by the light of the moon and the hundreds of twinkling stars. No one else is there, and he’s alone. He wishes for Chanyeol, but the captain didn’t want to be disturbed as he sorted out pirate things with Junmyeon. The latter had come back, but Baekhyun figures that Chanyeol is still busy.
Leaning against the railing of the ship, he listens quietly to the sounds of the ocean and feels the sea breeze kissing his skin. He does miss it - the sea. Baekhyun misses swimming with the marine life, and he misses his people, but it isn’t enough to keep him from Chanyeol or The Phoenix. He knows it’s inevitable that eventually he’ll be found out as a fraud, but he hopes that comes before he’s found. Mother does not take kindly for her children to wander away, and he’s been gone for far too long.
The sound of splashing in the water catches his attention, and Baekhyun blinks and leans over to see white clashing against the dark sea - a humanoid form and a scaled tail. His eyes widen, and he stops breathing as Sehun breaches the surface, eyes meeting Baekhyun’s from far below.
“So this is where you’ve been,” Sehun calls with narrowed eyes, and Baekhyun flinches. “I knew you were too obsessed with those humans. Now you've joined them?”
“It's not like that! I just-I like-”
“That man you spared,” Sehun finishes for him. His hand skids across the water as he lashes his arm out in anger. “You’re in love with him? A human? Have you lost your goddamned mind? You don’t belong there!”
Baekhyun’s fingers dig into the wood of the railing, anger building in his chest. He knows Sehun’s right, but he doesn’t want to admit it. “You don’t know anything!”
“Maybe I don’t,” the blond siren gives a splash of his tail as he turns around, “but Mother will know. She’ll know everything.”
Baekhyun sucks in a quick breath of fear. “Se-!” He can hardly say the other man’s name before he disappears beneath the water. His hands tremble as he realizes the weight of Sehun’s words. He’s going to tell Mother, the queen of all of the sirens. She will end Baekhyun now that she knows where he is - and maybe Chanyeol too. She has the power to cause tsunamis and destroy all land and could drown the entire ship with just a flick of her wrist.
He needs to tell Chanyeol. He needs to warn him...but he can’t. That would mean explaining himself, and Baekhyun could never do that. He’s too afraid that Chanyeol will reject him once he knows the truth.
Letting out a shaky sigh, Baekhyun yanks at his own hair, jostling the two pins still resting there and keeping the hair out of his face. He has to keep quiet for now and hope that Sehun was lying about telling Mother. Baekhyun gathers his stressed emotions and makes his way towards Chanyeol’s quarters in hopes that he can steal some sort of comfort. He ends up passing by Zitao, who gives him a sort of snarky smile instead of the usual glare.
Baekhyun is confused but opens the door to Chanyeol’s cabin. “Chanyeol?” he smiles as he steps inside, seeing the young captain sitting on the edge of his bed. Crossing the distance across the creaky wooden flooring, Baekhyun sits beside him, touching shoulders. “What are you do-”
“Why did you lie to me?” Chanyeol interrupts him, not turning to look at him, eyes focused on the floor.
“Lie to you? Chanyeol, what...?” Baekhyun startles as a hand latches onto his wrist, and Chanyeol finally looks at him with fury and betrayal in his brown eyes.
“You’re one of them, aren’t you? You’re a siren, and that’s why you know so much about them!” the captain’s voice raises to nearly a shout, and Baekhyun’s shrinks away. His head lowers in shame, and his heart beats loudly in his chest, wrist trembling as he realizes that Chanyeol knows. That’s why Zitao was smiling and why he was near Chanyeol’s room. He told him.
“Chanyeol, it’s not like that!” Baekhyun replies quickly, shaking off Chanyeol’s grip and standing up, trying to mend the situation.
“What’s it like then, huh? You come in with a lie and seduce me in hoping that you can trick me into - into loving you! And then when I start to believe it, you’re gonna drag me down too?” Chanyeol’s eyes are glassy and he looks hurt and infuriated all the same. His fists clench at his sides and shake.
“The only lie I told you was my past and who I am! Yes, I’m one of them! I’ve dragged down tons of men and women to their deaths, but I wouldn’t dare do that to you. I mean, I was the one who…” Baekhyun’s voice breaks, and he bites his lip. Moving towards the desk, he yanks Chanyeol’s coat off of the chair and digs into one of the inner pockets, retrieving that smooth white sand dollar. “I was the one who gave you this. I didn’t know why at the time, but I dragged you out of the water and swam all the way to the shore. I ripped your shirt, and I took the water out of your lungs. It was me, and all of this was for you!”
The captain falls silent. He would demand for proof, but the fact that he knew Chanyeol’s shirt was ripped was proof enough. He never told him that. Looking into Baekhyun’s eyes, he sees nothing but truth and pleading. “You’re telling the truth?” he asks in a quiet murmur, moving towards the siren and gently taking the sand dollar from him.
“I have nothing to lie about now, do I?” Baekhyun gives a small smile. “I’m not here to hurt you or anyone. I’ve felt more alive on this ship with you and everyone else than ever before. I wish I could stay here forever.”
“You mean that?” All of Chanyeol’s insecurities melt away when Baekhyun nods, and he places the sand dollar on the bed before taking the shorter man into his arms. Baekhyun buries his face in Chanyeol’s neck and sighs at the comfort in his embrace. And it’s then that he remembers Sehun and the impending arrival of Mother.
With a gasp, Baekhyun pulls away. “Chanyeol, my mother she’s-!”
A crack of lightning and a groan of thunder has them both jumping. Rain begins to pour from the sky and pelt loudly against the deck and window. It’s so instantaneous that they barely have time to hold onto the bolted-down bed frame as the ship rocks at a dramatic angle.
“What the hell?” Chanyeol curses, trying to maintain balance on the rocking ship long enough to grab his coat, stuffing the sand dollar in it for good measure.
“She’s here. Mother is here,” Baekhyun breathes out frightfully. “They’re here for me, Chanyeol.”
“For you?” he turns to him in surprise. “The sirens?”
“Yes, they found out where I am, and now they’re here to punish me and take me back,” he says quietly with slumped shoulder. Baekhyun can already hear the shouts of men against the roar of the ocean and the storm. “We’re not allowed to leave home and meddle with humans.”
“Well then we’ll just make them go away like before,” Chanyeol replies confidently, taking Baekhyun by the hand and leading him towards the door.
“No, Chanyeol, we can’t! This is Mother, and you can’t go against her!” he argues, trying to rip his hand out of the other man’s grasp. His words fall on deaf ears and the door to the deck is thrust open and water instantly pelts them. The wind is strong, and Baekhyun struggles to see against the rain, holding onto Chanyeol’s hand to stay put as the ship rocks back and forth against the angry waves. Yet he manages to get one look at the sea beyond the ship and gapes.
“Chanyeol...look…”
Swarms of sirens surround the ship with their angelic faces and melodic tunes. More than ever before push and shove at the massive ship and call Chanyeol’s men slowly below. Only Zitao is immune somehow as he gathers Minseok and Junmyeon in his hold, even Chanyeol is finding it hard to focus with all the voices calling to him. But Baekhyun tightens his grip to remind him he’s there.
The siren can feel all of his brothers’ and sisters’ glares and hear the aggravation in their songs. But he can feel something else more than anything. Mother is lurking somewhere beneath the water, and it terrifies him.
And then she appears.
A massive black tail, the size of a blue whale’s, appears out of the water, slapping the surface and sending huge waves. Chanyeol almost thinks it’s a whale until a woman the size of a giant appears above the water, long black hair framing her stunningly beautiful face. She renders everyone, including the sirens, silent, and Chanyeol can feel Baekhyun tremble against him. This must be Mother.
“Baekhyun,” she speaks, loudly and clearly over the storm. Personally, he’s hardly ever seen Mother in person. She never mothers them herself, so Baekhyun was raised by older sirens around him. Hearing his own name come from her lips chills him to the bone. “How dare you use the magic I gifted you with to become a traitor? You sided with these humans to push away your own brethren!”
“It was not my intention, Mother! I would never purposefully betray you or anyone. I only left because I feel like I belong here. I love this man, Mother,” Baekhyun says, squeezing Chanyeol’s hand once for emphasis.
“Impossible. You must have lost your mind on this little adventure of yours.” Mother scoffs. “Come now or I will destroy these men and their tiny ship.”
Chanyeol thrashes out and opens his mouth, but Baekhyun stops him with a hand to his chest. He stops and looks down at the shorter man with confusion in his eyes. The siren only smiles at him sadly with tear-filled metallic eyes.
“No, Baekhyun, no,” Chanyeol pleads once he understands, and the other man lets go of his hand. “You can’t-we can still…”
“I have to go, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun murmurs softly, trying to soothe the suddenly distraught pirate. Standing on the tips of his toes he gives him a lasting kiss on the lips and feels Chanyeol touch the pins in his hair one last time. “I’m sorry.”
“Will I see you again?”
Baekhyun just smiles at him before letting go. Chanyeol isn’t sure if the water on his face is rain or tears as he watches Baekhyun dive into the ocean becoming his true self as his clothes disappear and a black tail splashes in the water. He doesn’t resurface.
“I am taking away Baekhyun’s magic,” Mother speaks to Chanyeol, Zitao, and the remaining members of the ship. “He will not be able to meet you on land ever again. I will spare you for now, humans.”
With that, all of the sirens retreat, and Mother leaves with one splash of her huge tail. Chanyeol collapses to his knees on the deck of The Phoenix, holding on to the lingering last moments with his love.
“Got anything for me today, Mr. Park?”
Chanyeol looks up as he hangs the ‘CLOSED’ sign on the door of the bakery and locks up. “No, not today, Mrs. Choi,” he smiles brightly at the older woman. “We completely sold out of bread today.”
“Ah, it’s no problem. I was just on my way home anyways,” she replies with a laugh, her breath showing in the winter air.
“Have you seen Yerim?” he asks before she starts to walk off. “I sent her off to buy apples from Ms. Kim, but she hasn’t come back.” Chanyeol isn’t too worried as his daughter has been known to wander off and come back before it gets too dark.
“Ah, I think I saw her by the shore earlier with a bag full of apples. Such a smart girl you have, Mr. Park.”
“Well, I’ve raised her myself all these years,” Chanyeol bows in thanks. “See you tomorrow, Mrs. Choi. Thank you.”
It’s been eight years since Chanyeol gave up his life on the sea. After what happened, he could only take two more years before he gave the ship to Junmyeon and settled down up in the North. There he started a normal life in a port town, becoming an apprentice to the local baker, even at his age. Somehow, he managed to fall in love again with a woman named Sooyoung, only to lose her as she gave birth to their little girl, Yerim. It broke his heart for the second time, but he’s done his best to pick up the pieces again and raise Yerim on his own. Now she’s a bright five year old and is his entire world.
He tries not to think about Baekhyun anymore, especially now that his wife is gone. Chanyeol tries not to remember his bright smiles, his twinkling eyes, or his voice as he sang. He tries not to recall the soft skin beneath his fingertips or the pretty lips pressed against his own, or even the last kiss. But most nights he finds himself lying in bed and being unable to sleep because he remembers too much from that summer ten years ago.
“Papa!”
Chanyeol turns around to see his little girl running towards him, her blue dress and white coat fluttering as her shoes tap against the cobblestone roads. It’s cute as she puffs out air, carrying the heavy bag of apples. With a bright smile, he bends down and opens his arms as Yerim runs into them.
“Hey, baby,” he kisses her chubby cheek. “Where have you been?”
“I went to the beach, Papa!” Yerim answers cheerily as he takes her hand and starts to continue walking back to their home.
“Did you?”
“Yeah, and I met a mermaid! He was singing and sounded so lonely, so I went and kept him company,” she says, and Chanyeol laughs. Yerim is always making up little stories about monsters under her bed and fairies, so this doesn’t surprise him at all.
“That’s a merman, honey, not a maid,” he corrects.
“He gave me a pretty shell, and he said that I’m the prettiest girl he’s ever seen,” Yerim continues to babble. “He said he knew you, Papa. Do you know any mermaids?”
Chanyeol’s heart pauses, and the man stops walking, looking down at his daughter in surprise. It couldn’t be. “Did he have a name, Yeri?”
“Ah, he did!” She looks up at him with the brightest smile, and the setting sun glints off of a silver hairpin tucked into her hair that Chanyeol can’t recall was there before. “His name is Baekhyun, Papa!”