Wish Upon a Balloon Part 2
Baekhyun is just about nodding off when the door opens and in walks Chanyeol, who looks taken aback to see him.
“Baekhyun,” greets Chanyeol, surprise coloring his tone. He glances down at his watch. “Shouldn’t you be in treatment right now?”
Baekhyun shakes his head, feeling much more awake. “I don’t have treatment anymore.”
“Oh.” Chanyeol frowns. “Well, I was going to surprise you when you got back, but I guess…” Before Baekhyun can ask, Chanyeol reaches out in the hall and pulls in numerous colorful balloons, so many that by the time he’s done, Baekhyun can’t see the ceiling anymore.
Baekhyun gapes wordlessly at the balloons. “Chanyeol? What is this?” he manages.
Chanyeol shuffles his feet and scratches his ear. “Surprise?” he offers. “I got as many balloons as I could-that is, as many as the store offered-and I-” He swallows. “I wrote messages to you, one on each balloon. Do you like it?” He looks at Baekhyun, eyes wide and anxious.
“Do I like it?” Baekhyun repeats disbelievingly. “I love it!”
At the approval, Chanyeol perks up, a wide and oddly bashful beam lighting up his features. “Would you like to read the messages now? They’re not much, but…”
Baekhyun pats the spot on the bed next to him, and Chanyeol walks over and sits snugly beside him. “Will you read them to me?” Baekhyun asks softly, twining their hands together.
Chanyeol’s answering smile is affectionate. “Of course. That green one says, ‘Your smile is brighter than the sun.’ That red one is, “I like your eyes.” The blue one over there-”
“Hold up,” Baekhyun interrupts. “How do you know what they say? You’re not even reading off of them. Are you making them up as you go along?”
Chanyeol rolls his eyes and flicks Baekhyun’s forehead playfully. “Because I gave each quote a lot of thought before I wrote them, so I remember what they all say.” He looks quite proud of himself for this accomplishment.
“Is your brain always so mushy?” Baekhyun teases him, bumping their shoulders together.
“Oh, hush, you. You like my mush,” Chanyeol shushes, hand coming up to push Baekhyun’s head down gently so that it is resting on his shoulder. “There. You can sleep if you want now. Your eyes are doing the squinty thing it does when you’re sleepy.”
“It’s not!” Baekhyun protests, squinting up at Chanyeol, who muffles a chuckle behind his hand. “Okay, I might be a little tired,” Baekhyun admits grudgingly. “But I don’t want to sleep when you’re here; it’s a waste of time. And I want to hear what you wrote.”
Chanyeol falls silent for a moment before speaking up. “How about I continue reading until you fall asleep?” he suggests.
“I’m not going to fall asleep,” Baekhyun grumbles. “But fine.”
“Sure, whatever you say,” laughs Chanyeol. “Okay, as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted, the blue one over there says, ‘I’ve never met anyone as easy to talk to as you.’ And the purple one is, ‘With you, everything feels possible.’ Oh, and that orange one over there…”
Despite his protests that he wouldn’t fall asleep, Baekhyun’s eyelids feel heavy, and after struggling for a few minutes, he gives up and allows them to drift shut. Chanyeol’s deep voice washes over him like a soothing, calm wave, and Baekhyun wants nothing more than to lose himself in it, to immerse himself so deeply that he can’t find his way back out. And that, Baekhyun dimly thinks, really wouldn’t be a bad way to go.
-
When Baekhyun jerks awake some time later, he is lying down properly on the bed with his oxygen mask in place, and Chanyeol is nowhere in sight. Baekhyun blearily notes with not a little disappointment that the room is dark and visiting hours must be long over. Heaving a sigh, he adjusts himself and feels a slight tug at his wrist. Baekhyun looks up.
There’s a white balloon tied loosely to his wrist, much like the one Chanyeol had given him when they first met. However, this one is slightly different; there’s a wide smiley face drawn on it with wild curls on top finishing the simple picture. And when the balloon turns lazily, Baekhyun can see that written on the back is, I will always be by your side.
Baekhyun falls back into a deep slumber with a smile on his face, feeling a kind of warmth that his blankets cannot provide, and dreams of a world far away, where a boy who means everything can have his happy ending.
(“Me too, you know,” Baekhyun mumbles when Chanyeol seats himself next to the bed the following day.
“You too what?” asks Chanyeol, absently stroking the back of Baekhyun’s hand with his thumb.
“I will always be by your side too, no matter what. You know that right?”
Chanyeol’s thumb stills, and his hand tightens almost imperceptibly around Baekhyun’s before he brings it up to his lips and places a butterfly kiss on Baekhyun’s first two knuckles-carefully-as though Baekhyun will break if any more force is exerted. Chanyeol exhales, breath tickling Baekhyun’s skin. “I know.”)
-
It’s getting harder and harder to stay awake for long periods of time with all the medication they are pumping into him so Baekhyun takes care to sleep as much as possible before and after visiting hours so he can spend those scant times conscious to the world.
It isn’t enough though, and Baekhyun still finds himself nodding off from time to time as Chanyeol wheels him around the hospital or, after Baekhyun is no longer allowed to leave his room, when Chanyeol tells stories of his school life or dances to the newest pop songs in a flurry of uncoordinated limbs. He tries to make up for it by smiling wider (even though it takes more effort), laughing louder (even though it leaves him too breathless too fast), and being more enthusiastic (even though he has no energy left). Baekhyun just hopes that Chanyeol doesn’t notice the darkening circles under his eyes, the hollowing of his cheeks, or the sallowness of his skin.
(He does).
-
Baekhyun wakes up one day during visiting hours and finds a conspicuous lack of Chanyeol in the room. To say it is disappointing is an understatement, and Baekhyun is so preoccupied with wondering where the other boy could be that it takes him a good few minutes to realize that there’s a phone on the chair Chanyeol usually sits in. Attached to said phone is a post-it that says, Baekhyun, call the number listed when you wake up, okay? :) in Chanyeol’s messy scrawl.
With unsteady hands, Baekhyun reaches for the phone and follows the instructions. The phone barely rings once before the other line picks up.
“Baekhyun,” chirps Chanyeol’s familiar voice happily. “You’re up.”
“Yeah,” replies Baekhyun, trying to sound casual and not too frantic. “Where are you right now?”
Chanyeol chuckles. “I’m outside.”
“And why are you outside?” asks Baekhyun, humoring Chanyeol’s playful tone.
“You’ll see in a minute. Baekhyun, look out the window, okay? Don’t look away or you might miss it!” Chanyeol warns. Then, in a muffled, faraway voice, he shouts, “Are you ready, guys?” There is a chorus of muted affirmatives before Chanyeol says, “Okay, in three…two…one!”
Baekhyun keeps his gaze fixed on the white clouds and blue sky outside, pondering what it is exactly that Chanyeol doesn’t want him to miss. He doesn’t have to think for long though because the room suddenly explodes into hundreds of colors.
The phone slips out of Baekhyun’s hand. He stares in awe as dozens upon dozens of balloons of every color float by, completely blocking out the window and casting vibrantly tinted light all around the room. Weariness forgotten, Baekhyun struggles to the window and presses himself against the cool glass as the last of them passes by, looking up as easily a hundred balloons fly up and dot the sky like a bunch of colorful stars. It is simply the most beautiful sight Baekhyun has ever seen. He laughs, feeling inexplicably uninhibited, and continues to watch the sky until long after the balloons are out of sight.
“Did you like it?”
Baekhyun turns, and there at the door stands Chanyeol, phone still in hand with cheeks flushed and forehead slightly damp from what was probably a sprint from the outside courtyard to Baekhyun’s room. Despite his obvious breathlessness, there is a wide smile playing on his lips, and Baekhyun rescinds his previous thought, because what is a bunch of colorful balloons compared to this person-this kind, playful, big-hearted person before him.
There are no words for this moment, so Baekhyun just nods, and when Chanyeol comes over, Baekhyun clutches his hands tightly.
“Did you do this all by yourself?” Baekhyun asks once his speech has returned.
“I had a bunch of friends help me fill the balloons up and release it and stuff,” Chanyeol answers, finger idly tracing patterns into Baekhyun’s palm.
Baekhyun curls his hand around Chanyeol’s finger, and Chanyeol looks curiously at him. Leaning in until they are a breath apart, Baekhyun presses their foreheads together, and, hoping that Chanyeol will understand the lifetime of emotions he is trying to convey in too little words, whispers, “Thank you. For everything. You know.”
The corners of Chanyeol’s lips tug upwards. His eyes glimmer with an odd brightness, and Baekhyun is close enough to know that it is reflected in his own. “I know.”
-
“Baekhyun, are you cold?” Chanyeol asks worriedly. “You’re shivering. Should I go get more blankets?”
Baekhyun would not have noticed if Chanyeol hadn’t pointed it out. He quietly spreads out the fingers of a hand and sees that, yes, he is indeed shaking. “I’m not cold,” Baekhyun laughs, and try as he might, he just can’t keep the tiredness out of his voice. “I just…ache. Everything aches; I can feel the ache all the way down to my bones.”
Chanyeol takes his hand silently, and even though it is painful to his hypersensitive nerves, Baekhyun holds on tighter to the only thing keeping him anchored there.
-
Everything becomes a blur from there. With the doctors prescribing more medication and painkillers, Baekhyun finds himself sleeping for most of the day, sometimes even through visiting hours despite his attempts to wake up in time. Chanyeol assures him that it is perfectly fine and that Baekhyun should just sleep whenever he feels the need to. But sometimes, Baekhyun drifts awake when Chanyeol is there, when Chanyeol thinks he’s asleep.
Chanyeol’s grip on Baekhyun’s hand is always gentle, but desperate. With his head bowed and his expression set in an unhappy frown that does not match his normally cheery face, he breathes out hushed pleas and prayers.
“Please don’t go, Baekhyun,” Baekhyun hears him whisper. “I don’t want you to go. Please don’t leave me. I’m not-I’m not ready, even though I thought I was. I just-” Chanyeol’s voice cracks, and Baekhyun feels something inside him break.
-
Baekhyun wakes up to his bed being turned around. “Chanyeol?” he rasps, as the culprit can be no other than he.
“Present!” Chanyeol appears beside Baekhyun once he finishes turning the bed so that Baekhyun is facing the window. He’s smiling widely, and his teeth glow in the darkness.
Baekhyun blinks blearily as his vision adjusts to the dimness of the room. “What are you doing? Visiting hours should be over.”
“They are.” Chanyeol bobs his head in agreement, his curls springing along. “I just snuck back in.”
“To rearrange my furniture in the middle of the night?” Baekhyun chuckles weakly at his own joke.
“Something like that,” Chanyeol hums contentedly. He carefully shifts Baekhyun to one side of the bed before kicking off his shoes and climbing in himself. In a bed meant for one person, the addition of Chanyeol with all his long limbs is awkward, but Baekhyun is glad for it because Chanyeol wraps an arm around his shoulder and presses close to him.
“Really now.”
Chanyeol’s laugh vibrates from his chest, deep and rumbling. “We’re going to watch the stars,” he says, voice dropping into a dreamy whisper. “I think I see the Big Dipper over there! Do you see it, Baekhyun?”
Baekhyun nods, and he closes his eyes as Chanyeol’s fingers find his hair and play with it. Chanyeol starts humming a song, one Baekhyun vaguely remembers hearing before. It is the only sound breaking the silence for a while, the lilting melody, and it lulls Baekhyun back to sleep several times.
“Baekhyun, look.” Chanyeol nudges him awake gently and points out the window. Baekhyun follows his finger in time to see a star streaking across the night sky, leaving a trail of fading light in its wake. “A shooting star. Make a wish.”
His words jog something in Baekhyun’s memory. “Hey, Chanyeol?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you remember on the rooftop?”
“The wishes tied to the balloons? I remember.”
“What did you wish for?”
Chanyeol laughs softly. “I wished that you would get better. You?”
“I wished that you would never lose your smile even when I’m not there to see it.”
Chanyeol laughs again, but this time, there’s a melancholic undertone to it. “That’s a good wish,” he says wistfully.
“Will you?” Baekhyun mumbles, lifting his head slightly to look at the way Chanyeol’s profile is bathed in the pale moonlight. Chanyeol’s expression is contemplative, and when he turns to Baekhyun, his eyes lack their usual brightness. Chanyeol’s eyes sweep over Baekhyun’s face, taking in his features silently for a moment before answering.
“Yeah,” Chanyeol says simply, and Baekhyun knows that he understands.
-
“…not much longer…”
-
There’s a white balloon tied to Baekhyun’s wrist, carefully and loosely as to avoid all the tubes. He tries to make it bob lazily, but finds that he can’t even move his hand, much less the balloon. This numbness doesn’t scare him though because it hurts much more when Chanyeol grins at him and he can’t return the motion and Chanyeol’s smile fades just a bit.
-
“…very sorry, but…”
-
Baekhyun wakes up one day with the sun shining on his face and the birds chirping merrily outside his window, feeling like he is bursting with energy. He vaguely wonders if he’s dreaming and decides that it doesn’t matter.
Sitting up, Baekhyun takes off his oxygen mask and carefully removes the needle in his hand. He swings his legs out of the bed and stands up, giggling at the sensation of the cold floor beneath his bare feet.
Chanyeol, who had nodded off in the chair next to the bed, jerks awake at the sound and stares incredulously at him. “B-Baekhyun?” he stammers disbelievingly, rubbing his eyes. “What are you…”
“Come on!” Baekhyun says encouragingly as he jogs over to the door and opens it. Without waiting to see if Chanyeol is following, Baekhyun breaks out into a run down the hall, scaring nurses and orderlies as he whizzes by. He slides into the elevator as it opens and presses the button for the first floor. The doors start to close, but before they can, Chanyeol sticks a hand in to prevent them from doing so.
“Leaving without me?” he asks, feigning hurt. Baekhyun’s answering smile is so wide that his face aches.
When they get to the bottom floor, Chanyeol holds out his hand, and Baekhyun takes it before they are off again, dodging all the astonished people in the lobby and ducking past the approaching security guards to get out the door. The automatic doors open with a gust of air, and they are outside. The pavement feels warm beneath Baekhyun’s feet as does the sun on his face, but they don’t compare to the heat of Chanyeol’s hand.
They reach the grassy area of the courtyard, and there is a hot air balloon waiting, standing several stories high, the rainbow pattern on it bright and vibrant in the morning sunlight. Baekhyun and Chanyeol slow their pace until they are walking, intertwined hands swinging between them.
“Well, this is me,” Baekhyun says when they finally reach the balloon.
“Nice ride,” Chanyeol jokes, letting out a low whistle. “Need help getting in it, Princess?” Baekhyun rolls his eyes at Chanyeol’s mock bow, but takes the proffered hand with a smile and, with Chanyeol’s help, manages to clamber into the basket with relative ease.
Chanyeol scratches his head once Baekhyun is settled in. “I guess this is goodbye then,” he says softly, eyes downcast.
Baekhyun rests on his elbows against the edge of the basket and takes Chanyeol’s hands one more time. “No,” he disagrees, smiling. “This is just a ‘see you later.’”
Chanyeol looks up at Baekhyun, grinning, and there’s a twinkle in his eyes, full of life and happiness. “Alright. See you later then, Baekhyun.” He gives Baekhyun’s hands one last squeeze before letting go, their fingers lingering for as long as possible.
With that, Baekhyun casts off the rope that is keeping him anchored there, and the balloon begins to rise slowly. Chanyeol jogs beside the basket as it moves until it picks up speed and altitude and he can’t match the pace anymore, but he keeps jogging anyways, trying to keep Baekhyun in sight for as long as possible. Baekhyun leans precariously over the side of the basket and waves at him until his arms ache from the exertion, and keeps waving anyways, even when he’s not quite sure if Chanyeol can still see him. He cups his hands around his mouth.
“See you later, Chanyeol!” he yells to the figure below. “That’s a promise!” Chanyeol’s big grin is visible even at Baekhyun’s elevation. Baekhyun commits the curve of those lips to memory as the balloon floats higher and higher, past the buildings and into the clouds. Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, Baekhyun looks up towards the sky above him and smiles as the breeze ruffles his hair in a familiar manner.
He is finally free.
-
A/N: My OT3 Chanyeol/Baekhyun/balloons haha.