Cursed Freedom

Hiding the Truth

(Story under construction  🏗)

Chanyeol and Baekhyun sat at the dinner table talking and eating for hours. The birthday cake was an especially good treat, and the two of them never seemed to run out of things to talk about.

Eventually though, (and Chanyeol knew it was coming,) Baekhyun asked him what he was doing out here all alone.

Chanyeol had been silently thinking about what to say when this finally came up, and it wasn't such a hard question to fake an answer to.

"Well, like you, my parents passed away when I was 13." Lie. His parents could possibly still be out there somewhere.

"And I didn't want to wander out into the forest and get lost." Lie. He knew exactly the way back to civilization, but the house would never let him leave.

"I'd rather stay here where I have everything I need instead of ending up lost, cold, and starving out there like you had been." Another lie. He longed to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. Even if it was only for as short a time as a few minutes.

"So..." Baekhyun's face scrunched up in amazement and disbelief, "you've been out here since you were only 13 years old?! Who took care of you? Maybe someone who could help you get out of here?"

"There's been no one. I... kind of raised myself. I didn't really have any other choice. You're actually my very first visitor since I was left here." The very first truth in his story.

"Well, no wonder you're so talkative!" Baekhyun giggled and gave him a sly smirk. He turned around and craned his head to look into the sitting room as he heard the great grandfather clock dong 12 times.

"Is it really midnight?!" Chanyeol jumped up. "You must be exhausted! I know I am. I can clean all this up later," he said, gesturing to the used bowls and plates and empty serving dishes.

"Actually..." yelped Baekhyun as he jumped up as well.